Chapter 192 No Limits

Chapter 192: No Lower Limits

"..."

"..."

"If I were the award presenter, those 89 seconds of dead air would’ve made me cringe so hard I’d pass out."

"Ahhhh, at that moment, I seriously wanted to die (of embarrassment)."

"You two commenters above, this is exactly why you’d flop in showbiz."

"I’m not at all surprised by Director Miao’s reaction. Does anyone really think it’s normal for Lu Xu not to win Best Actor and Director Miao not to win Best Director? As for Best Picture, I won’t even comment—who else could the committee possibly give it to besides *Fearless Life*?"

"Honestly, I never expected the Golden Flame Awards committee to pull something like this. Director Miao has guts, no lie... Lu Xu was nominated three times and got zero wins—is he just cursed with the Golden Flame Awards?"

"...Although I thought the Golden Flame Awards committee was capable of this nonsense, I didn’t actually expect them to go through with it."

"*Fearless Life* not winning? What kind of nonsense is this?"

Among *Fearless Life*’s most prestigious nominations, Lu Xu’s Best Actor category was the first to be announced, marking the most anticipated moment of the entire ceremony. Data showed that the moment the presenter took the stage, viewership for *Fearless Life* hit an all-time high.

After that, the ratings continued to climb—regardless of whether Lu Xu won, the subsequent awards promised plenty of mess to enjoy.

Even without any knowledge of the Golden Flame Awards’ judging criteria, most netizens believed this year’s Best Actor should have gone to Lu Xu.

During this cycle, no other film came close to *Fearless Life* in terms of competitiveness.

The moment the award was announced, when the presenter read out "Zhu Qiong," the camera didn’t capture Lu Xu’s face but instead focused on Zhu Qiong’s expression—unlike Lu Xu’s stunned look at the *Contention Award*, Zhu Qiong’s face was filled with panic.

Shock, panic, and a hint of jitters—when he went on stage to accept the award, Zhu Qiong never once held his head high, keeping it bowed the entire time.

"...What exactly did the Golden Flame Awards do? Is this the look a freshly minted Best Actor should have?"

"Who really deserved the award this year? The nominees themselves must know, right?"

Even more absurdly, after the Best Actor award was announced, Lu Xu seemed to vanish from the cameras. For the next several dozen minutes, the cameras barely showed Lu Xu again.

Even if tabloids wanted to speculate about Lu Xu’s reaction in that moment, they had no leads.

Meanwhile, as the Golden Flame Awards unfolded, the hashtag #GoldenFlameAwardsBestActor blew up online.

Everyone knew Liu Rennong and Lu Xu didn’t get along, but no one expected a surefire Best Actor win to slip away. Logically, winning the *Contention Award* should have been harder for Lu Xu than the Golden Flame Award, yet he secured the former but lost the latter.

The Golden Flame Awards’ official Weibo was naturally flooded with skepticism.

Lu Xu not winning Best Actor alone was enough to make this year’s Golden Flame Awards a total joke. But when it came to Best Director, even Miao Zhi didn’t win.

The winning director wasn’t on bad terms with Miao Zhi—he did take the stage to accept the award, but he gave the shortest acceptance speech ever.

"Ridiculous. Did you catch what Director Shi Peng really meant?"

"Between mainstream and niche works, individuals might prefer niche ones, but I favor mainstream works. Whether it’s the struggles of individuals or the tears and sweat poured into them, they all deserve to be cherished—my god, how far is the Golden Flame Awards putting both sides in a bind? Director Shi Peng might as well have spelled it out."

"I personally feel bad for the *Fearless Life* crew, but the winning team isn’t having it easy either. This is basically putting them on the spot."

Without a doubt, this year’s Golden Flame Awards delivered a major upset.

The last time Lu Xu was nominated and didn’t win, netizens could cut him some slack—after all, the villainous role in *Reversal City* wasn’t exactly Oscar bait. But this time, his portrayal of Bai Qianshan was so authentic, yet the Golden Flame Awards gave him the cold shoulder, leaving fans downright furious.

Great works deserve recognition—that’s an unshakable truth.

Although the Golden Flame Awards finally handed *Fearless Life* the lone Best Picture win at the end of the ceremony—on paper, the night’s top honor—the problem remains: Lu Xu, the lead actor, didn’t win Best Actor, and Miao Zhi, the director, didn’t take home any awards either. Who actually believes this award was deserved?

Miao Zhi even had the cinematographer accept the award on stage, which was already doing the Golden Flame Awards a courtesy.

...

In any case, this year’s Golden Flame Awards might be the most talked-about edition in recent years—ever since Lu Xu missed out on Best Actor, the ceremony’s ratings kept climbing. Even though the director didn’t cut to Lu Xu’s reaction, it didn’t stop netizens from dissecting every frame of the live stream for hints.

There were over a dozen hot topics, from *#LuXuMissesBestActor* to *#MiaoZhiRefusesToGoOnStage*, then *#ZhuQiongExpression*, *#YueHuiExpression*, and *#AudienceExpression*—every tiny detail was dragged by Twitter fingers.

The show wasn’t over when the curtain fell.

Miao Zhi’s decision to have the cinematographer accept the award was criticized that same night by an industry vet, who claimed Miao Zhi had no respect for the Golden Flame Awards: “Nothing’s set in stone. Before the final decision is made, even the favorite isn’t a lock.”

No sooner had this insider finished criticizing Miao Zhi than Golden Flame Awards staff discovered that the Best Picture trophy for *Fearless Life* had been abandoned in the seats—Miao Zhi hadn’t taken it with him.

Once this news broke, all hell broke loose.

Netizens had thought Miao Zhi’s refusal to accept the award in person was already bold, but he turned out to be even more defiant than anyone expected.

Naturally, Miao Zhi faced a new wave of backlash.

In response to the criticism, the director simply brushed it off, saying it slipped his mind. If the organizing committee was willing, they could mail it to him—but he wouldn’t pay for shipping. If they weren’t willing, they could dispose of it themselves.

“…Director Miao’s implication is that this ‘Best Picture’ trophy isn’t worth the shipping fee.”

“What a power move!!!!”

“LOL, what does Director Miao have to fear? He’s been beefing with Liu Rennong for years—worst case, the Golden Flame Awards just never give him another award. How many films does he even have left in him?”

“The Golden Flame Awards just destroyed their own credibility—can’t blame Director Miao for not playing their game.”

After the ceremony, the *Fearless Life* crew was swarmed by reporters in a media scrum at the theater entrance. Lu Xu was picked up by Xu Wen, but even with Xu Wen’s driving skills, they couldn’t break through the blockade. Left with no choice, Lu Xu had to step out and face the press.

“I have no thoughts. I respect the organizing committee’s decision.”

“Don’t you feel any regret? Many people support you—they believe this was your closest shot at the Golden Flame Award.” The reporters refused to give up. This vanilla comeback was totally out of character for Lu Xu—he should be saying something spicier, more in-your-face.

Lu Xu’s expression remained calm. “Is that so?”

“What seems within reach is often furthest away.” He continued, “So I respect the choice the organizing committee made. The judges can choose whichever film they prefer—just as I can’t be bothered with any awards ceremonies I find unnecessary.”

The reporters looked at each other knowingly, all catching the subtext in his words.

Sure enough, Lu Xu’s next statement was: “As a member of the *Fearless Life* team, of course I stand with the crew. Awards have their criteria—but as an actor, I also have my own standards for which awards I’ll submit my work to.”

He stopped short of saying it outright, but his implication was clear enough.

Lu Xu was saying—

“He’s refusing to submit to the Golden Flame Awards?!!!”

“HUGE NEWS!!!”

“The *Fearless Life* crew is really going to war with the Golden Flame Awards! First the director ditches the trophy, now the lead actor refuses to submit—now that’s drama!”

Lu Xu later clarified, emphasizing that he knows his limits as an actor and would rather spend his time improving himself than chasing shiny trophies that don’t mean shit.

"In other words, the Golden Flame Awards have no limits or standards in their judging. He can't keep up, nor does he want to."

"Classy Little Lu!"

Although both Miao Zhi and Lu Xu faced criticism, the Golden Flame Awards committee received even more backlash.

First, appointing Liu Rennong as Jury President, then the most anticipated film of the awards season, *Fearless Life*, crashed and burned. Despite winning Best Picture, the film became a lone winner—usually, a Best Picture win should be accompanied by other major awards like Best Actor or Best Director. Without these, the prestige of the Best Picture win naturally diminishes.

"Given Liu Rennong's past scandals, what was the point of inviting him as Jury President?"

"Isn't this a double blow to Director Miao Zhi?"

"Zhu Qiong's behavior while accepting his award was already awkward. After the ceremony, he posted a 1,000-word rant emphasizing how undeserving he was of the Best Actor trophy. @GoldenFlameAwards, maybe listen to public opinion instead of basking in the glory of being one of the 'Big Three Awards,' huh?"

In response to online criticism, the Golden Flame Awards committee issued a tepid response, insisting that the judging process was absolutely fair and impartial. The loss of certain nominees was a unanimous decision by the jury, not the result of any single individual.

"How shameless!!!!"

"So mad I could punch a wall!!!"

Fans were livid, but it did nothing to sway the Golden Flame Awards' stance.

As for this year's nominees, hardly any openly criticized the awards—no one wanted to offend such a prestigious awards body, given the possibility of future nominations.

However, audiences subconsciously started steering clear of the Golden Flame Awards.

As one critic noted after observing the online discourse, while the Golden Flame Awards may have "humbled" the *Fearless Life* team, they lost the hearts of the audience.

...

After the Golden Flame Awards, *Fearless Life* cleaned up at the Critics' Awards, with Lu Xu winning his first Critics' Award trophy. During interviews, reporters brought it up again, pressing Lu Xu to confirm whether he would boycott the Golden Flame Awards in the future.

Lu Xu honestly nodded.

Following this year's Golden Flame Awards, Lu Xu stopped going after the committee—after all, the ceremony was over, and further comments wouldn’t change the outcome.

From Director Miao Zhi to the rest of the *Fearless Life* team, none said much in response.

The hate kept coming online, but these voices mostly echoed the Golden Flame Awards committee's perspective, making it hard for audiences to relate.

Today, perhaps in high spirits from his win, Lu Xu surprisingly got candid about his reflections on the recent Golden Flame Awards.

"I braced myself for that outcome," Lu Xu even smiled slightly on camera. "Ever since the Golden Flame Awards announced the jury list."

"The jury's style determines the awards' style. They may not raise the bar, but they can drag it down endlessly."

"We all know some people have no limits."

Reporters: "..."

Netizens: "...Only you!"

Promising not to provoke anyone, yet still managing to take a dig.

"I knew Lu Xu wouldn’t disappoint me!!! Hehehe!"