"When I went up on stage to accept the award earlier, I saw the face of Shang Ling, the 'Most Charismatic Actress of the Year'. I never expected that her glamorous photos plastered all over the trending searches were all photoshopped. Up close, there were three thick layers of makeup on her face, and she even had crow's feet and laugh lines, huh..."
He shuddered as if the image had suddenly come back to him.
On stage, the host read the last page of his cue card and grandly announced the male and female stars of the night—the showstoppers—Jiang Wanze and Cheng Jingshu.
At the mention of Cheng Jingshu's name, Ye Xian's attention divided, and she looked straight up at the stage.
Today, Cheng Jingshu was wearing an off-the-shoulder, lake blue fairy dress and had her hair done up in an elegant and poised style. As she picked up her dress and walked step by step onto the stage, she carried an air of grace and ease, her smile as gentle and warm as the blooming of spring flowers—truly a gentle goddess.
It was just really hard to associate such an image with the vicious woman who had been seen cornering a young assistant with a twisted face behind the toilets.
What a 'good actor' she was.
Offstage or onstage, she was fully committed to her role.
After Cary shared the gossip with great interest, he realized that Ye Xian wasn't listening but was looking at Cheng Jingshu on stage with disgust.
"Hey, what are you doing? You're not listening to me, are you?"
He slapped her dissatisfiedly.
Only then did Ye Xian come back to her senses, "Huh? Say that again."
"Bullshit, Ye Xian, are you jealous that Sister Jingshu gets to stand on the stage next to the captain to receive the award? Let me tell you, don't even dream about such things. I thought you'd turned over a new leaf and stopped pestering the captain, but it turns out a leopard can't change its spots."
Ye Xian looked at him with amusement, thinking how rich his imagination was.
She didn't even bother to explain and continued watching Cheng Jingshu on stage.
After Jiang Wanze and Cheng Jingshu made their separate speeches and were forcibly cued by the host for a bit of couple vibe, they were about to leave the stage but were stopped.
"Does everyone really think tonight's award ceremony is over now? However, there is one last surprise award that we haven't announced yet!"
The host, spitting with excitement, even the audience below could sense the excitement in his voice, and they perked up, ridding themselves of any tiredness and concentrating their attention.
There hadn't been any mention of other major awards tonight. Could it be a special surprise prepared by Xiangfei Video?
"That is..."
The host looked at a silent audience, intentionally dragging out his words, raising the tension and anticipation to a climax.
"The Rotten Sour Plum Award!"
As the words dropped, the crowd below buzzed with shock.
The Rotten Sour Plum Award, as the name implies, rotten, sour, and foul-smelling, a turn-off at the mere mention, is specifically given to stars with extremely poor acting, reputation, works, and style in the industry.
Five years ago, when Xiangfei Video first held the Scream Night, wanting to grab all the attention, they intentionally set up this award and even invited the winner (a heartthrob who rose to fame on his good looks) to the event. However, when the trophy was presented, the unsuspecting heartthrob was furious and left the venue on the spot, refusing to accept the award.
The heartthrob's fans caused a commotion for half a year, which also caused some trouble and impact on Xiangfei Video, and it wasn't until then that the award organizing committee decided to cancel the Rotten Sour Plum Award.
But no one expected that, after a lapse of five years, the Rotten Sour Plum Award would re-emerge in the Itinerant World and even appear as the grand finale of the awards.
"The Rotten Sour Plum Award? There was no notification about it when I arrived."
"What's there to be afraid of? With your acting skills, Movie King Liu, it's unlikely it will fall on you."