Opening the chat app, there were congratulatory messages everywhere.
Zhu Xiaocai and the others had even sent a short video clip from the scene, though it was filmed chaotically, showing what appeared to be a crowd of people cheering loudly.
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment, deciding to first clarify the most basic question.
What exactly was this Jury Prize?
Although Pei Qian watched movies regularly, he had barely any knowledge of these professional award ceremonies, at most knowing about the Oscar statuettes.
At this point, he could only turn to Baidu for help.
Two minutes later, Pei Qian understood.
The Cannes Film Festival had many awards, with the most important being the Palme d’Or, which, along with the Golden Bear and Golden Lion from the other two major film festivals, represented the highest international awards in the film industry.
The last time a domestic film won the Palme d’Or was in 1993, and that was the only time.
The Jury Prize was considered the second-highest award.
The last time a domestic film received this award dated back to 2000, which explained why the news headline read “An Honor Received Again After Eleven Years.”
After reading Baidu’s explanation, Pei Qian didn’t know whether he should feel upset or happy.
At least it wasn’t the Palme d’Or, just second place.
Pei Qian feared his extraordinary luck might manifest again—if they had won the Palme d’Or, the situation would have truly escalated!
That wasn’t entirely impossible, after all, the more professional the film critics, the more they tended to over-interpret. Who knew what these Western critics might read into a film like “A Beautiful Tomorrow”?
However, the current situation was already enough to leave Pei Qian speechless.
Even though it was second place, that was still incredibly difficult to achieve!
Domestic films had been trying for eleven years, sending premieres to Cannes almost annually, but most ended up as mere participants, with no chance of even securing second place.
Yet he had made a film, originally just intending to feed viewers some “poison” and lose a bit of money, but not only did it become a box office success domestically, it even won an award at a film festival.
Something was wrong with this world…
…
Pei Qian silently got up, washed, and went to the company.
On the 16th floor of Shenhua Haojing, all employees were working diligently, creating a peaceful and quiet atmosphere.
Pei Qian let out a long sigh, secretly relieved that he had put Fei Huang Studio in “shock” mode. Otherwise, the entire staff would have been crowding at his office door today to congratulate him, and who could handle that?
At least his sanctuary was safe.
However, just as Pei Qian stepped into his office, he heard a loud “pop” as a champagne cork flew into the air!
Simultaneously, the sounds of party poppers and streamers erupted from all directions, instantly transforming the entire office area into a lively celebration.
“Surprise!!”
“Congratulations, Mr. Pei!”
“‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ won an award, and Director Zhu Xiaocai specifically thanked you! May I ask, how do you feel right now?”
Everyone rose from their seats in unison, some holding party poppers and streamers, others applauding, and still others pouring champagne.
Pei Qian looked at Assistant Xin with a bewildered expression: “This…”
Assistant Xin smiled and explained: “Mr. Pei, considering that the employees of Fei Huang Studio are all on vacation, and the main creative team is still abroad, we prepared this celebration on their behalf.”
“After all, such a celebratory occasion can’t be glossed over, can it?”
Pei Qian: “…”
How thoughtful of you all.
But I don’t need this kind of celebration, damn it!
Someone brought over champagne, with a glass for everyone present.
Pei Qian could only silently raise his glass and drink it all in one go.
Hao Yun, standing nearby, was a bit confused and asked: “Um, Mr. Pei, shouldn’t you say a few words first?”
Pei Qian put his glass down on a nearby table: “It’s all in the past, what’s there to talk about? Alright, everyone, get back to work!”
Still celebrating?
Celebrate once now, then celebrate again when Huang Sibo and the others return—trying to make me suffer twice?
No way!
After Mr. Pei went into his office and closed the door, Assistant Xin smiled slightly and said to everyone: “That’s just Mr. Pei’s character. Alright, everyone, get back to work. We can celebrate properly when Huang Sibo and the others return.”
Meanwhile, Wu Bin was quickly taking notes in a small notebook.
“Indeed, after all this time, Mr. Pei’s character hasn’t changed.”
“I heard that Mr. Pei was just like this when ‘Sea Fortress’ achieved great success—he just symbolically took a sip of champagne to celebrate, then immediately immersed himself in the next project.”
“When I heard about this from Bao Xu, I thought it was just artistic exaggeration.”
“After all, even if successful people don’t rest on their laurels, they wouldn’t skip even a brief celebration, would they?”
“Now I see it’s true, not exaggerated at all. This is just who Mr. Pei is.”
“Hmm… this segment could be included in the annotations of the Tenda Spirit. I’ll send it to Cui Geng, let him consider how to use this material.”
…
In his office, Pei Qian took out his phone and began browsing through the 99+ unread messages.
The vast majority were congratulations, with identical content, which Pei Qian silently ignored.
He couldn’t possibly reply to them all, and if he did, the other party might seize the opportunity to start a conversation, praising “A Beautiful Tomorrow,” which would be a second injury to Mr. Pei, wouldn’t it?
So, Pei Qian considered posting a moment later, saying he greatly appreciated everyone’s messages but couldn’t reply to each one individually, then blocking new notifications for his moments, and that would be the end of it.
As he scrolled, Pei Qian suddenly stopped.
His gaze lingered on a message from Lin Chang.
“Mr. Pei! Congratulations! When I visit Jingzhou in a while, you must treat me to a good drink! Although winning the award is due to the film’s quality, I managed to get your film selected for Cannes, so I should get some credit, right?”
Pei Qian: “???”
He quickly typed a reply: “You submitted the film?”
Not long after, Lin Chang responded.
“Mr. Pei, why are you only replying now? Were you too excited last night, got drunk?”
“Of course, I found someone to submit it. Cannes has always favored films premiering at their festival. Without some connections, the jury wouldn’t even accept it.”
“But Mr. Pei, I’m not claiming credit here. I honestly didn’t expect ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ to actually win an award. I just saw the film was doing so poorly at the foreign box office and thought I’d lend a small hand.”
“The main reason it won is that your film is excellent, Mr. Pei, completely conquering the jury. No amount of connections would help otherwise.”
Pei Qian: “…”
Found the culprit!
So it was you pulling strings behind the scenes!
Pei Qian seriously considered whether he could find a way to assign the Loss Manager to a position within Shenhua Group.
Perhaps in the president’s office of Shenhua Films?
He might understand the company’s internal affairs, but he was completely blind to external matters!
“That truly wastes your good intentions. As far as I know, ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ seems to be performing so poorly at overseas box offices that it’s about to be pulled, right?” Pei Qian typed back with a grim expression.
His main concerns were twofold: first, the revenue-sharing contract signed with AiLiDao—now that the film had won an award, a large number of new viewers would certainly go online to watch it, generating more income; second, foreign video websites might pay a high price for the international streaming rights to “A Beautiful Tomorrow.”
As for the overseas box office, “A Beautiful Tomorrow” had been released at the beginning of the month with a low screening rate and poor box office performance, likely to be pulled soon.
Lin Chang: “Pulled? The latest news is that after ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ won the award, it’s been all over foreign media! Theaters have extended their run by a month, and the screening rate has already increased.”
“How could they pull a film that won the Jury Prize and has good commercial potential? Theaters also want to capitalize on this popularity!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Why did I even ask?
Truly, good fortune never comes in pairs, and misfortunes never come alone!
He had initially thought “A Beautiful Tomorrow’s” overseas release was a false alarm, but now, after the film festival, everything had changed!
Pei Qian felt incredibly dejected. The pressure in this cycle had increased dramatically.
What happened to making a bad film and burning money?
This movie was making money domestically, making money internationally, making money in theaters, making money online… would it ever end?
Pei Qian felt this was his most failed investment.
Uh… no, perhaps the second most failed.
The honor of the most failed should forever belong to “The Lonely Desert Highway” and those fifty thousand yuan.
Lin Chang continued: “Also, Mr. Pei, in a couple of days, the second round of interpretations of your film should begin. Are you prepared to be showered with praise?”
Pei Qian: “?”
Lin Chang: “Sometimes, you know, a good thing receives one kind of evaluation before going international, and quite another afterward.”
“I’m particularly curious now. Previously, many people thought ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ was neither here nor there, disliked by both Chinese and foreign audiences. But now that ‘A Beautiful Tomorrow’ has won at Cannes, what will they say?”
“Alright, Mr. Pei, continue being happy! Remember to treat me to a drink when I come to Jingzhou!”
Looking at the chat history with Lin Chang, Pei Qian fell silent.
This was truly maddening!
…
Meanwhile, at Slackin’ Internet Café’s Handong University branch.
“Hello, I’m Xiao Peng, the manager of Slackin’ Internet Café. And you are?”
Liang Qingfan shook hands with Xiao Peng: “My name is Liang Qingfan, I’m the designer for Mr. Pei’s Sloth Apartment project.”
“Oh! Please, have a seat.”
Xiao Peng and Liang Qingfan sat by the window in the café area, and a server brought over two cups of coffee.
After some small talk, Liang Qingfan expressed his purpose.
“Mr. Xiao, would you be interested in changing the interior design style of Slackin’ Internet Café?”
After completing the Sloth Apartment project, Liang Qingfan had been traveling around Jingzhou, collecting inspiration and waiting for Mr. Pei’s next instructions.
However, after waiting for a long time without news, he felt somewhat bored.
So, Liang Qingfan decided to scout locations first.
Mr. Pei had many businesses under him, including Slackin’ Internet Café, Slackin’ Takeout, Tuoguan Fitness, Sloth Apartments, and more, all of which needed interior design.
If he could take on all these projects and design several well-received, famous cases, it would be crucial for enhancing his reputation.
Moreover, he knew very well that Tenda’s departments were not short on money, so he wouldn’t lose out on design fees either.
Therefore, today he strolled over to Slackin’ Internet Café to meet Xiao Peng, intending to get acquainted in advance, which would make future cooperation more convenient.
Xiao Peng thought for a moment: “We don’t need it at the moment. Slackin’ Internet Café 1.0 and 2.0 have been well-received by consumers, so changing the style abruptly might not be appropriate. As for Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0, it’s currently under renovation, so it’s not convenient to make changes now.”
“Of course, if we launch Slackin’ Internet Café 4.0 in the future, I’ll contact you first.”
“However, I do know a place that needs help. Why don’t you check out the Horror Lodge?”
“I’ll give you the contact number for the manager there. His surname is Chen. Just contact him directly.”