Chapter 191 The Golden Flame Award

Chapter 191: The Golden Flame Award

The moment Lu Xu asked, “What award?”, he had already come to his senses, his bewildered expression shifting into one of disbelief.

When he looked up, the presenter on stage was smiling at him, and the director urged him again.

“I’m really curious—did Lu Xu even prepare an acceptance speech?”

“This is hilarious, how little confidence did he have in winning?”

“Hahaha, seriously! Our Kid sometimes comes off as sharp, but other times, you just have to admit, he’s really clueless.”

“Clueless, agreed!”

On forums, some netizens mocked Lu Xu’s reaction to winning, while others analyzed the significance of him securing another Critics' Award.

“Now the pressure shifts to the Golden Flame Award and the Critics' Award.”

“I looked it up—in the decades-long history of the Critics' Award, only three actors have ever won Best Actor twice. Lu Xu is the third. Not only is he the youngest Best Actor winner in the award’s history, but he also holds the shortest gap between wins. Lu Xu is just in his early 30s—if he keeps acting till 60, he’s got plenty of time to claim a third trophy and make history for himself and the Critics' Award.”

“So impressive! But I still have to say—our Kid absolutely deserves it!”

“Deserves it +1!”

“The Critics' Award didn’t make an exception for Lu Xu—it’s just that his portrayal of Bai Qianshan was worthy of the trophy.”

The moment the presenter announced Lu Xu’s name, just like during the *Reversal City* win, it instantly blew up on trending.

*Fearless Life* was undoubtedly deserving of a Best Actor award. What had held Lu Xu back were factors beyond his performance—yet no one expected the Critics' Award to outright dismiss those external influences and simply hand the trophy to him.

“OMG!! Seeing Lu Xu on stage has me screaming!!”

On camera, Lu Xu remained as handsome as ever. His stunned expression from earlier had now settled into calm composure. He lifted the trophy gently, displaying it to the cameras.

Fans, however, peered at his palm, wondering if he might have hidden an acceptance speech there.

In the end… they saw nothing.

Lu Xu’s expression was gentle: “My second trophy…”

“When I took on the role of Bai Qianshan, I kept telling myself—I had to honor his legacy. Because he was a sincere, good man, someone willing to make sacrifices. An actor might not always elevate a character, but they must never do them a disservice.”

“Standing on the barren hills of the filming location, I tried to become Bai Qianshan—to think, when he stepped onto that same land, what was going through his mind? But I was only there to play a role for a few months, while he had devoted half his life to that place.”

“After *Fearless Life* was released, as the actor who portrayed Bai Qianshan, I received a lot of praise. But I feel what I showed on screen didn’t even capture a tenth of the real Bai Qianshan. Even now, so many people still remember him.”

“It’s the greatness of the character, not me—that’s what this trophy reminds me. Thank you, Director Miao Zhi. Thank you to the Critics' Award committee. And finally—this is definitely not the last time!”

The crowd erupted in applause. Perhaps because Lu Xu’s eyes radiated sincerity, both the live audience and viewers at home could tell—he truly loved his character.

“Lu Xu is a beacon of light!!”

“A new superstition is born—every time he says 'this is not the last time,' another trophy is guaranteed!”

“Lu Xu’s speech moved me, but he’s speaking facts. After winning Best Actor at the Critics' Award for *Reversal City*, he brought an entirely different Bai Qianshan to the audience. I love Lu Xu—he never breaks his promises!”

Though Lu Xu’s dedicated hater sneered, “Did the Critics' Award run out of actors?”, fans were too busy celebrating to care. Just petty backlash.

But for those in the industry who kept a close eye on Lu Xu—dreading his possible win at the Golden Flame Awards, quietly relieved that Liu Rennong was the Jury President—the question now was: How will they deal with a Lu Xu who’s now won two Critics' Awards?

At this moment, the ones who should be troubled are definitely not Lu Xu and his fans.

"Puppy’s achievements +1~ so many awards~"

"When it comes to Contention Award nominations, many people have empty hands, but the pup already has two trophies—a natural-born actor."

"One day, I’ll grow numb to Lu Xu winning awards. I was so, so excited when he won his first one, but the second one felt much calmer. Can’t be helped—we’ve been feasting too well before."

On film forums, the long-updated post titled "The Landscape of New-Generation Film Actors" quietly revised its main page. This post was originally made the year Lu Xu filmed *Deceit*, which at the time was marked with a question mark because the poster couldn’t predict the film’s prospects.

Over the years, the post was updated repeatedly, with Lu Xu’s entries revised and corrected. After he won Best Actor at the Contention Award for *Reversal City*, the poster declared that Lu Xu’s name probably didn’t belong in this thread anymore—only for *Fearless Life* to become a massive box office hit soon after.

Now, Lu Xu’s name has finally been deleted. Whether in terms of box office or awards, his presence among new-generation actors is simply a tier above the rest.

"...Winning awards = losing your name, LMAO."

At this year’s Contention Award, the peak of attention naturally came the moment Lu Xu won his second Best Actor trophy. All the pre-ceremony suspense was settled in that instant—no one thought he was undeserving. Audiences who had seen *Fearless Life* agreed it was well-earned.

"I feel like the Contention Award isn’t even the same award I knew."

"Hehehe, rather than saying the Contention Award is being bold, it’s more like the pup’s taken over the world! Terrifying indeed, bow-wow roar!"

"Things like the Golden Flame Award... they don’t matter as much now!"

Lu Xu stayed on the trending list for three consecutive days. Thanks to the Contention Award win, *Fearless Life*’s online viewership also surged. Several video platforms even launched a dedicated Lu Xu section—while each platform only had one or two of his TV series, adding his films made for a respectable collection.

"Lu Xu should film more. It’s the first time I’ve realized his body of work isn’t actually that extensive."

...

Not long after the Contention Award ceremony, the Golden Flame Award also announced this year’s nominations.

The lineup was similar to last year’s—the Best Actor nomination list had a 60% overlap with the Contention Award’s. Both Lu Xu and Yue Hui were nominated, along with Zhu Qiong from *Through Storm and Hardship*.

This result wasn’t far from public predictions. After all, no matter how unreasonable Liu Rennong is, he wouldn’t let *Fearless Life* miss a nomination.

Of course, *Fearless Life* had quite a few liabilities—Lu Xu and Miao Zhi being the main ones.

Given that *Fearless Life* had already won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor at the Contention Award, if it didn’t even secure a single nomination at the Golden Flame Award, the controversy wouldn’t be directed at the film’s team.

"Now we just wait for the awards ceremony."

Lu Xu had assumed Miao Zhi would skip this year’s Golden Flame Award, given the director’s long-standing stance of cutting all ties with Liu Rennong. But not only did Miao Zhi attend, he dressed extravagantly and arrived with the *Fearless Life* team in grand procession.

"Why wouldn’t I go?" the director said. "He even put his new film on hold for this. How could I not show up?"

Only then did Lu Xu remember—Liu Rennong’s new film was still in production.

For directors, occasionally missing a day or two of filming for an awards ceremony isn’t unusual. But as Jury President, the responsibilities are more complex—Award juries usually prefer directors without ongoing projects.

Still, Lu Xu didn’t want to assume the worst of Liu Rennong. If the man had agreed to serve as Jury President for the Golden Flame Award, he must have already coordinated all necessary arrangements. There was no need to worry on his behalf.

This was Lu Xu’s third time attending the Golden Flame Award. Like the Contention Award, *Fearless Life* was seated in the prime section, having been nominated for nearly all major awards. On the red carpet, organizers even delayed the next group’s entry to give *Fearless Life* more spotlight time.

The result? The last few crews were delayed, and by the time they arrived, the red carpet had wrapped up.

Not to mention the chilly seasonal wind—the actresses’ meticulously styled looks became "only for Weibo posts," leaving both the stars and their fans deeply resentful.

Before winning any awards, *Fearless Life* had already caught flak for one mishap.

Upon hearing the news from the guest seats, Miao Zhi let out a silent, cold laugh and asked Lu Xu, "Isn't this something?"

"Very interesting," Lu Xu replied. "Not something the average person would consider."

Smooth move, deflecting the blame like that.

But pissing off the organizers won’t do the crew any favors—unless they didn’t plan on attending the Golden Flame Awards next year.

That was Lu Xu’s mindset this year: three strikes and you're out. If he missed out again, he wouldn’t bother coming next year.

"You don’t have a film dropping next year, do you?" his agent promptly corrected his misconception.

Lu Xu: "...You’ve got a sharp memory."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Even if *Night Sky Observations* drops before Lunar New Year, Lu Xu would likely still miss out on awards, and his next sci-fi flick had even worse odds.

Lu Xu talked the talk, but he wasn’t desperate to win. His mindset was somewhat similar to Miao Zhi’s—he was really just here to see Liu Rennong’s next move.

After winning the award for *Reversal City*, Lu Xu had also learned about the behind-the-scenes voting.

At the post-ceremony celebration, Liu Rennong even approached Lu Xu for a chat, expressing his admiration. Yet, among the jury members, he was one of the few who’d voted against him.

So, when Zhu Qiong won Best Actor at this year’s Golden Flame Awards, Lu Xu wasn’t surprised. *Fearless Life* did take Best Picture, but Miao Zhi missed out on Best Director.

A term flashed in Lu Xu’s head: *surgical strike*.

At least they didn’t have the guts to snub *Fearless Life* for Best Picture.

However, when the presenter announced *Fearless Life* as the winner, the camera panned to Miao Zhi, whose stone-faced expression broadcast in HD on the big screen. The presenter called his name three times, but Miao Zhi didn’t react at all, turning the whole thing way more awkward than anyone bargained for.

In the end, Miao Zhi still didn’t take the stage—the cinematographer stepped in to grab the award for him, who’d been nominated too but came up short.

Marketers branded the moment *The Silent 89 Seconds*, and it blew up on trending fast.