At the Cannes Film Festival award ceremony.

Huang Sibo, Zhu Xiaocai, Lu Zhiyao, Zhang Zuting, Lin Ruyi… The main cast and crew of “A Beautiful Tomorrow” sat in a row in the audience.

Huang Sibo was dressed in formal attire with a bow tie, looking quite presentable. Though his face wore a confident smile, unfortunately, he could barely understand either English or French being spoken at the venue.

Only in such situations did he realize that his college English proficiency was practically useless.

“Xiao Lin, when they announce the awards later, will they speak in English or French? We won’t miss it, right?” Huang Sibo asked in a low voice.

Lin Ruyi glanced at him: “Brother Huang, what are you thinking? We should consider ourselves lucky just to walk the red carpet and make a brief appearance. Are you expecting to win an award?”

Huang Sibo disagreed: “What do you mean? Do you think Mr. Pei’s script isn’t good enough, or that Actor Lu’s performance isn’t brilliant enough?”

“Besides, when it was screened earlier, the audience response was quite enthusiastic. Everyone applauded warmly, and I observed that only about twenty or thirty people left midway, while everyone else watched the entire film. Doesn’t that deserve an award?”

Lin Ruyi shook her head. She had initially kept her voice down, but then realized no one around them understood Chinese anyway, so she raised her volume slightly.

“Brother Huang, you’re not familiar with this area, so it’s normal to have such thoughts. After all, Lin’s company handled everything about submitting this film to the festival.”

“There are conditions for films competing at Cannes. They must be completed within 12 months before the festival and cannot have been screened at other international film festivals. Commercial distribution in the home country is allowed, but in principle, commercial distribution in other regions outside the home country isn’t acceptable.”

Huang Sibo was surprised: “There are such rules? Then our film doesn’t seem to meet the criteria, does it?”

Lin Ruyi nodded: “That’s right, but film festivals are ultimately about connections. Rules are made by people. Although ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ has been released, it currently has extremely low popularity and hasn’t generated particularly heated discussions, nor has it participated in other film festivals.”

“The reason these film festivals establish such mandatory requirements is simply to secure more quality film resources and ensure the quality and popularity of the festival.”

“Some films that have won awards in Berlin, Venice, and other places can also participate in the Cannes Film Festival. It’s just that apart from some exceptionally outstanding films that can win awards, others generally find it difficult to be selected.”

“In addition, Cannes has a complex relationship with film distribution companies. Some terrible films can enter the main competition unit, allegedly due to resource exchanges. Of course, such cases are extremely rare. And at most, they might make it to the candidate list, but whether they can win an award still depends on the quality of the film itself. That’s Cannes’ bottom line.”

“So, do you understand now? ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ has low popularity abroad, but it has solid quality. Combined with some factors we’re unaware of, the jury made an exception to let us make a brief appearance, but don’t expect to win an award. Being able to walk the red carpet here and gain some experience is already a huge win for us.”

Huang Sibo felt somewhat disappointed. Despite being the head of Fei Huang Studio, he was the most amateur among everyone present. Having been “in shock” recently, though he had been furthering his studies, he hadn’t yet learned about these matters.

Not having been responsible for submitting the film for evaluation, he naturally didn’t know these intricacies.

“That’s a bit of a shame. If we had known, we could have submitted the film for evaluation before releasing it,” Huang Sibo said irritably.

Lin Ruyi shook her head: “You’re overthinking. Many good domestic films come to Cannes and leave empty-handed; ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ would likely face the same fate. Besides, who could have thought that far ahead back then?”

“Moreover, you need to be a familiar face at these film festivals. Many award-winning directors participate multiple times and have a close relationship with the festival. As for us, forget about Cannes, we don’t even have much recognition domestically…”

“So don’t think too much about it. Let’s just make our brief appearance and be done with it. The fact that we can come here to make an appearance is already a blessing from Mr. Pei, far surpassing many domestic films, okay?”

Huang Sibo thought about it and felt that it made sense.

However, at this moment, Zhu Xiaocai, who had been listening to the two discussing, interjected: “Xiao Lin, Cannes is different from the Oscars. At this final award ceremony, if there’s no nomination for any award, the organizing committee generally wouldn’t notify the production team to attend; they could just pack their bags and leave. In other words, we must be winning at least one award.”

Lin Ruyi’s eyes immediately lit up: “Really?”

Zhu Xiaocai hesitated: “Well… that’s how it works in most cases, but in rare instances, they do invite some nominees. Anyway, I think we have a chance to win an award like Best New Talent or something similar.”

“After all, the quality of our film speaks for itself. We should have confidence.”

While everyone was discussing, the awards began to be announced one by one.

Short Film Palme d’Or, Best First Film, Special Mention…

After each award was presented, the lucky winner would walk up the red carpet to receive the award, and the audience would respond with prolonged, enthusiastic applause.

In such a place, outstanding filmmakers would be respected like gods.

Zhu Xiaocai and the others also applauded, but the longer they waited, the more uneasy they felt.

The entire award ceremony would last just over an hour from the official start to the end, but looking at the time, over forty minutes had already passed.

Even the Best Actor award had already been presented, but they still hadn’t heard the name “A Beautiful Tomorrow.”

Zhu Xiaocai had originally thought that if the film could win an award, it would at most be Best First Film or Best Screenplay, yet neither had materialized.

As for Best Actor, the chances were slim from the beginning. Although Lu Zhiyao had delivered his best performance in the film, there were simply too many major male stars waiting in line at the film festival.

But the problem was, the later it got, the less likely it seemed.

Best Director – again, not them.

Huang Sibo felt fine beads of sweat forming on his palms, and his heart was pounding.

What did this mean? Surely they couldn’t be winning the Palme d’Or? That was impossible, right?

Or had the staff made a mistake, and they weren’t winning any award at all?

The presenter on stage had changed again. A venerable veteran star approached the microphone and smiled slightly.

“Thank you.”

“It’s a great honor to present the special Jury Prize award. I believe today has been an unforgettable experience for everyone present, but we always believe that tomorrow will be even more beautiful. So, Mr. Chairman, can you now tell us which film has won this precious award?”

The Jury President, seated first from the left on the right side of the stage, stood up: “The Jury Prize goes to…”

“It’s for ‘Tomorrow is Beautiful’, for Zhu Xiaocai!”

As soon as the film’s name was announced, the venue erupted with cheers and applause. Zhu Xiaocai froze in his seat, completely dumbfounded and unable to move.

Huang Sibo had already started cheering and grabbed Zhu Xiaocai in a hug: “Damn! We won an award!!”

Even someone with poor English could recognize the English title of “A Beautiful Tomorrow” and the completely non-standard pronunciation of “Zhu Xiaocai.”

Amid the applause and cheers, Zhu Xiaocai dazedly walked onto the stage, cordially shook hands with the award presenter, and then approached the podium.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t prepared a speech in French or English, because I never imagined we would receive this award.”

“I… find it difficult to express how overwhelmed I feel at this moment.”

“As a new director, creating this film wasn’t just my achievement. Here, I hope the crew members present can come on stage to share this honor that belongs to all of us together…”

Zhu Xiaocai paused after each sentence, leaving enough time for the translator.

Huang Sibo, Lu Zhiyao, and others also went on stage, standing behind Zhu Xiaocai, expressing their gratitude to the audience and jury members below.

Tears welled up in Zhu Xiaocai’s eyes, and his voice sounded somewhat strained: “Here, I pay tribute to all the predecessors in the film industry, thank all the staff members of our crew, thank…”

After a series of acknowledgments, Zhu Xiaocai changed his tone.

“Besides this, everyone in our crew wants to especially thank someone who isn’t present today. He infused this film with soul, crafted exquisite performances for our actors, and provided ample funding for our film, allowing us to express ourselves without any worries.”

“Mr. Pei, thank you for providing the inspiration and soul for this film. Under your influence, together with all the cast and crew, I have given this film life.”

“Thank you all!!”

The applause from the audience thundered once again!

…

…

May 24th, Monday.

Pei Qian slept until he naturally woke up, checked his phone, and saw the alarm hadn’t gone off yet.

His early-to-bed, early-to-rise plan was a great success. What a beautiful day.

He touched the control panel at the head of his bed, allowing sunlight to shine through the smart glass.

Looking at the bright sunshine, Pei Qian suddenly felt like he had forgotten something.

Then, he abruptly remembered.

The Cannes Film Festival award ceremony!

After chatting with Ruan Guangjian yesterday, Pei Qian, fearing he might be bombarded with various messages at night, had put his phone in airplane mode, keeping only the alarm active.

The Cannes award ceremony should have ended yesterday in the early morning.

Pei Qian, with complex emotions, cautiously turned off airplane mode.

Then various new message windows began to pop up frantically, and the little red dots on his chat app quickly turned into 99+!

Pei Qian: “…”

Oh no, they didn’t win an award, did they?

Calm down, calm down, perhaps they received nothing, and everyone was coming to console him?

Pei Qian calmed himself down, and just as he was about to use his trembling finger to tap open the chat app, a news push notification’s headline had already spoiled the outcome.

“After eleven years, a domestic film once again receives the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize!”

Pei Qian: “…”

He didn’t know exactly what the so-called Jury Prize was.

But judging from this headline, the situation was very unfavorable!

Pei Qian couldn’t help but hold his head in his hands.

Oh no, something major had happened!