Chapter 84: 084 New Nominations

Chapter 84: 084 New Nominations

When the Starlight Award nominations were announced, Lu Xu was sitting on a bench on the set, nibbling on a sweet potato.

Filming a slice-of-life drama had its perks, like the abundance of edible props. The only regret was that there weren’t many people to share snacks with, and Lu Xu couldn’t help but reminisce about the days when he worked with Shao Yao on *Voices of the Dead*.

The food near the set was really good.

Just as he was biting into the sweet potato, Mu Qian suddenly slapped him hard on the back, causing half of the sweet potato to fall to the ground. Lu Xu shot the director a reproachful look.

Mu Qian: "...Three-second rule. The sweet potato’s skin is still on, so it’s fine to eat."

Lu Xu: "..."

Haha.

The interruption nearly made Mu Qian forget the main point. Then he pointed to his phone screen and told Lu Xu, "This year’s Starlight Award nominations have been announced."

"You’ve been nominated."

Lu Xu checked his phone and saw that the *The Path of Bones* crew was tagging him. Directors and actors from past projects like *The Son of Heaven* and *Voices of the Dead* had also congratulated him.

Shao Yao sent a rocket dog emoji; "Whoosh," and the dog soared from the ground to the sky like a balloon, looking proud and mighty.

#The person with the most dog emojis in the world#

But he couldn’t blame Shao Yao—it was his own doing.

After responding to the congratulations, Lu Xu finally checked Weibo.

On the trending list, the hashtag #StarlightAwardNominationsAnnounced had already reached the top spot, while the second spot was taken by #LuXuSecondStarlightNomination. Unlike his previous nomination, this time Lu Xu was up for Best Actor.

"So impressive, *The Path of Bones* only nominated him."

"Is Lu Xu the youngest Starlight Award Best Actor nominee? I can’t recall anyone younger being nominated."

"Replying to the above, he is indeed."

"Wow! That’s really impressive! Lu Xu’s performance in *The Path of Bones* was outstanding! Well deserved!"

"Zhang Che’s fans seem to mock the Starlight Award, but I doubt Zhang Che will ever be nominated, right?"

"...I just checked the nomination list and realized this is a particularly strong year for the Starlight Award."

What’s a strong year? It’s when the nominees are exceptionally talented, and the competition is particularly fierce. Any actor who succeeds in such a year can brag about it forever.

On the Starlight Award homepage, the Best Actor nominations were listed in sequence—

Zheng Yeping, *Spring River Water*.

Yue Hui, *Ups and Downs*.

Lu Xu, *The Path of Bones*.

Xia Zhengrong, *The Flag is as Beautiful as a Painting*.

Liu Fang, *Who Am I*.

Among the actors, Yue Hui, a film emperor, was returning to TV dramas. He stumbled with *Watchmen* initially, but his talent was widely acknowledged, and *Ups and Downs* secured him a Starlight Award nomination.

The names Zheng Yeping, Xia Zhengrong, and Liu Fang—each one carries significant weight in the industry.

Lu Xu ranks third among the nominees, but as a young actor, having his name listed alongside these veterans is already a tremendous honor.

"Haha, I’m a fan of Lu Xu, but I dare not dream of him winning the award."

"Trembling with excitement."

"Haha, I’m so happy! My idol is absolutely incredible—I’m so proud of him!"

"Hey, I’ll dare to dream, because among these people, except for Yue Hui and Lu Xu, all have won the Starlight Award for Best Actor. Yue Hui’s in the film industry and has already bagged several Best Actor awards."

"Lu Xu is such a powerhouse!"

When the Starlight Award announces the nomination list, they release a clip of the actor’s performance in the show—Zheng Yeping and Yue Hui displayed seasoned acting skills, while Lu Xu, playing Yu Yi, though with a young face, is not much inferior in acting compared to the others.

"With this nomination list, it feels like Lu Xu is leading his peers."

"I wouldn’t go that far—Lu Xu can’t land roles in Zhang Zhizhen’s films; he’s not on their level."

"And let’s not compare—they’re about to take Chinese actors global, while our Lu Xiao Gou is just a small-time TV actor."

...

Even though Zhang Che is part of the "Xia Ke" crew, he got wind of Lu Xu’s Starlight Award nomination early.

He was joking around with the crew, but the second he heard the news, his expression turned icy.

Zhang Che had a gut feeling about Lu Xu’s nomination, and it was his biggest source of anxiety. If not for that, he wouldn’t have jumped at Zhang Zhizhen’s offer to star in a film.

He can’t top the popularity of "The Path of Bones" and "Voices of the Dead." The only way to outdo Lu Xu is by winning a Starlight Award.

But his odds of winning the Starlight Award are slimmer than Lu Xu’s.

So, Zhang Che had to pivot, shifting his focus to the film industry.

As expected, Lu Xu landed a Starlight Award nomination.

And for Best Actor, no less...

He pulled out all the stops for a Starlight Award nomination, working with every director he could, but he hasn’t even come close.

Lu Xu’s only been acting for a few years, and he’s already got a Best Actor nomination?

Zhang Che is bitter and jealous. Even though he thinks he’s way ahead of Lu Xu, the news of Lu Xu’s nomination still stings.

What does Lu Xu even have going for him?

At least he’s in "Xia Ke"—he hasn’t lost yet.

So what if Lu Xu has a Best Actor nomination? He’s not going to stay in the TV world forever, right?

When Lu Xu starts making movies, he’ll be starting from zero, but Zhang Che just stepped into the film industry and is already working with a top director—that kind of luck is unheard of.

Plus, he’s now the face of M brand.

Lately, Zhang Che’s been hitting up film festivals and M-brand events, making tons of new connections.

Only now does he see how limited his perspective was, stuck in the small world of TV.

When "The Swordsman" is released globally, what does the Starlight Award even matter?

Previously, due to the lack of nominations, Zhang Che had hardly attended the Starlight Award ceremony, but now he’s welcomed in the film industry’s awards. The Starlight Award committee's arrogance made Zhang Che pretty pissed off.

"You’re more than qualified to attend," his agent reminded him. "You’ve got nothing to feel inferior about—you’ve already started making movies."

In the past, Zhang Che was qualified to attend the Starlight Award, as other top young actors of his age had done. However, Zhang Che was too full of himself and didn’t want to be seen as someone just walking the red carpet, so he had always refrained from going.

He had fought for nominations so many times without success, and being around actual nominees made him feel small.

But now it’s different; actors from the film industry attending the Starlight Award wouldn’t be a downgrade.

Zhang Che sat around waiting for the invitation from the Starlight Award committee, but after waiting for a long time, he still didn’t receive it. Zhang Zhizhen even chewed him out for being distracted during filming.

"Are you out of your mind? If you don’t want to film, get out now!"

His face twitched with anger, but he bit back his frustration and apologized, then continued with the shooting.

Zhang Zhizhen has a massive chip on his shoulder and is not easy to get along with. After joining the crew, Zhang Che had said many good things about him in front of reporters, but as soon as he made a slight mistake during filming, Zhang Zhizhen would scold him harshly, humiliating him in front of everyone.

The key point is, Zhang Che couldn’t get a handle on the character.

He hadn’t even understood the script.

But Zhang Che didn’t dare to say this in front of Zhang Zhizhen. Not only would he be scolded for nothing, but Zhang Zhizhen would also say things like "You come from the TV world—it’s no surprise you don’t get film art."

In the TV world, Zhang Che was a top young actor, the top dog, but in "The Swordsman" crew, he was just "that TV actor." Although the mockery and discrimination were only implied, Zhang Che was naturally more sensitive than others and could detect the sideways looks from others.

He knew how those people looked at him.

...

The invitation from the Starlight Award never came.

Zhang Che was barely holding onto his pride. He couldn’t help but contact his agent, but on the phone, the agent hemmed and hawed for a long time before saying, "...I heard that M brand was not designated as the official jewelry partner for the Starlight Award this year."

Naturally, Zhang Che, as the spokesperson, couldn’t walk the Starlight Award red carpet.

"If I can’t go, so be it," Zhang Che paused for a few seconds. "I don’t care."

After all, he was going with the idea of flexing.

One day, Zhang Che suddenly realized something was wrong.

During the filming of "The Swordsman," Zhang Zhizhen had dragged him to a bunch of events, and he himself had taken leave to attend events. Previously, whenever he appeared at major events, M brand’s official blog would give him a shoutout, and fashion bloggers would highlight the M brand elements he was wearing.

Zhang Che knew clearly that M brand was putting their money on him.

To be precise, like him, M brand was also betting on the movie "The Swordsman."

But since the Starlight Award nomination list was announced, Zhang Che noticed that M brand barely tagged him. In the past month, M brand had only mentioned him once.

You should know, the end of the year is a time for many major events—year-end parties, brand summaries, award ceremonies... events followed one after another. Zhang Che was so busy that he was running himself ragged. He believed he had fulfilled his duties as a spokesperson, interpreting M brand’s jewelry in different styles at every event.

But M brand really only mentioned him once.

Also, whether it was his illusion or not, M brand was cheaping out on the jewelry they lent him. Previously, they were high-end necklaces and bracelets, but now they were just decorative brooches, and they were all of a delicate style, not grand enough.

No matter what, if the brand suddenly downgrades the treatment for their spokesperson, they owe him an explanation, don’t they?

Zhang Che reported how he was treated to his agency, Wild Sea Agency, which promptly communicated with M brand. However, both Zhang Che and Wild Sea Agency seemed to have forgotten that there is a fourth party between celebrities, agencies, and brands—the fans.

In fact, Zhang Che himself had already noticed the decline in his treatment. How could the fans, who pay attention to Zhang Che's outfits every day and usually demand explanations from the agency for his styling, not have noticed?

If the brand reduced Zhang Che's treatment, naturally, the fans would call out the brand.

"@M brand, please give our Zhang Che the treatment he deserves as a spokesperson, thank you."

"@M brand, it is an honor for your brand to have Zhang Che as a spokesperson. Please restore Zhang Che's rightful high-level treatment, and let him stand in the C position for the new season's poster, thank you."

"Is the spokesperson just a decoration? @M brand @M brand @M brand @M brand, deserved to have the cooperation with the Starlight Award canceled, serves them right."

The fans flooded M brand's official Weibo with comments for several days, and the result was—

At the latest public event, Zhang Che only wore the most understated pair of earrings from M brand, without even a brooch.

That wasn’t even the main issue. The key point was that an ambassador of M brand was fully adorned with brooches, bracelets, and necklaces.

#This is totally backwards#