IPCFS: Chapter 76 Part 1

As an established awards ceremony, the China Television Awards had a well-established set of judging criteria. Naturally, the organizing committee wouldn’t change the shortlist at will due to revelations on the Internet with no real proof.

On August 15th, the official shortlisted invitation list was published online.

Ji Li still successfully qualified for the three nominations of ‘Best Newcomer’, ‘Best Supporting Actor’, and ‘Most Popular Actor.’

There were black fans who were so angry that they jumped onto Weibo and made foul remarks. Someone like Ji Li who was an undying cockroach—who would believe that he didn’t have a wealthy backer? He must’ve been raised!

Ji Li’s fans had long been used to the sarcastic strangeness of their remarks and casually sent screenshots to Chaoying’s official Weibo without even bothering to say a word of rebuttal.

In two hours, the red carpet awards would be livestreamed, and they were all waiting to see their baby Ji Li shine. Who had time to take care of psychologically twisted creatures like the black fans?

Just keep jumping around. Our family’s Ji Li will just get stronger and stronger!

***

According to the organizer’s process requirements, the main creators and actors of ‘Schemes of the Great Zong Dynasty Youth’ walked the red carpet together.

Therefore, Ji Li and the others were arranged in adjacent lounges.

Zhou Qingming stood in front of a mirror. He looked at his outfit and only smiled with satisfaction when he confirmed that he was properly dressed.

The popularity of ‘Schemes of the Great Zong Dynasty Youth’ boosted his own popularity as the male lead of the drama. After years of being unknown, he finally gained the love of the public.

The number of jobs he received had increased compared to the past, and his career was rising.

If he could win the Best Actor at the China Television Awards this time, it would definitely be a big springboard for his career.

His agent Xu Xiang asked with a smile, “Xu Miaomiao is next door. Do you want to go and greet her?”

“Of course.”

The moment he finished speaking, there was a knock on the lounge door.

Xu Miaomiao dragged a dark blue glittery dress and walked in with a bright smile. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time in my full outfit, but I didn’t see you take the initiative to come to me. You really are out of the act. There is no ‘love’ left for me.”

Zhou Qingming’s lips curved and he immediately greeted her. “Miaomiao, long time no see.”

During the airing period, the two of them received a lot of love as a couple in the drama. Combine this with the variety show publicity outside the drama, and the two of them had many CP fans that extended from inside the drama to outside the drama.

Despite such real person CP hype, both teams maintained a tacit attitude.

After all, in this entertainment industry, being able to attract fans was king.

However, there were no calls between Xu Miaomiao and Zhou Qingming. Their relationship was a pure friendship between colleagues.

The former was shortlisted for ‘Best Actress’ for the drama, but the other actresses who were shortlisted were too powerful, including Weng Li, who had been nominated for a second time.

Therefore, Xu Miaomiao and her team were very peaceful, and they were prepared not to win the award.

On the other hand, the red carpet was an invisible battlefield for female stars, and no one would slack off in this matter.

The dark blue glittery evening dress had a low open back and a ruffled off the shoulder design. It showed Xu Miaomiao’s curves to the extreme, and her overly long curls were scattered over her shoulders, showing a bit of sexy femininity.

Xu Miaomiao flicked the hem of her dress and asked Zhou Qingming and the other staff members with a wink, “Sister is like this tonight. Is it enough to overwhelm the crowd?”

Before everyone in the room could reply, a familiar and pleasant compliment was heard from behind her. “Sister Miao, you are naturally qualified.”

The moment the words finished, everyone in the lounge showed amazed expressions. Without exception, their gazes crossed past Xu Miaomiao and looked behind her.

Xu Miaomiao’s complacent smile froze, and she obviously understood who was coming. After all, she had been in the crew for over two months and she was very familiar with Ji Li’s voice.

This kid, why did he steal her limelight as soon as he came?

Xu Miaomiao turned around in an angry yet amused manner. Then the moment she caught sight of Ji Li, her eyes completely widened, and the star chasing girl in her mind jumped three feet high.

Ahhhhh!

Tonight’s Ji Li was really seductive!

Xu Miaomiao’s impression of Ji Li was still stuck on the live broadcast the night of the finale. At that time, he had cut his hair for a movie role.

Now Ji Li deliberately grew his hair long and dyed it a dark gray tone which made his complexion shine.

His bangs were brushed back and left only a few strands of wet hair to modify the shape of his face, exposing his delicate and beautiful forehead.

His natural bone structure was shown to the greatest advantage, making people unable to take their eyes off him.

On the bridge of his tall nose was a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. His black mole was hidden under the refraction of the lens, and it had an indescribable evil air when viewed closely.

Unlike the usual meticulous three-piece suit, Ji Li wore a dark gray, checkered tuxedo.

There was a light gray linen shirt underneath and slim fit trousers of the same color on his lower body that completely outlined his superior proportions.

His clothes were buttoned to the top, showing off his superior neckline and small and sexy Adam’s apple. It gave him an educated and ascetic, aristocratic look.

Xu Miaomiao couldn’t help gulping. She was already stunned by the beauty of the person in front of her.

Wu wu wu, overwhelming the crowd? She wasn’t even as good-looking as Ji Li.

“Ji Li, long time no see.”

Zhou Qingming in the center of the room was the first to recover his mind and quickly greeted him.

Ji Li looked into Zhou Qingming’s sincere eyes.

There was a saying in the entertainment circle that popularity could raise people. Compared to last year, Zhou Qingming’s state was indeed a lot better.

Ji Li smiled. “Long time no see.”

“Come in and sit.” Zhou Qingming invited both people standing at the door to enter.

Wen Yu and You Shuang, who played the male and female supporting roles in the drama, joined a crew last month and partnered as a couple. They were filming in Hengcheng at this time, and it was too late for them to rush over.

In addition to them, there was still Director Yao Chuan and Screenwriter Fang Zhixing left. The two of them would be walking separately on the red carpet.

The three of them sat around chatting and naturally talked about the recent public opinion on the Internet.

Xu Miaomiao and Zhou Qingming glanced at each other and the former took the initiative to ask, “Ji Li, what is the reason for your fight with Shen Yanda? Why is he targeting you like this?”

Shen Yanda’s status in the screenwriting circle was famous, but Xu Miaomiao was obviously more willing to trust Ji Li, a colleague they had cooperated with, than a bigshot they had never met.

It was just that Xu Miaomiao’s main field was television, and it wasn’t good for her to openly stand in line with Ji Li and offend the other person.

Zhou Qingming nodded. He obviously had the same idea.

In the entertainment industry, it was normal to weigh the pros and cons.

Ji Li didn’t blame them for ‘not fighting’ for him in the slightest, but he just revealed a bit of the issue. “There were some problems with the script. I didn’t want to accept it with a bad conscience.”

The people present were all smart.

The issue wasn’t stated clearly, but it was enough to make them understand.

“Shen Yanda’s studio approached me a week ago. I knew it was a script rejected by you, so I was a bit hesitant. In addition, the salary…”

Zhou Qingming paused for a few seconds before giving a smile of mutual understanding. “Sister Xiang rejected it for me.”

“However, the heroine of the drama has been set as our company’s big sister, Shi Meng.”

Shi Meng was a popular star and an absolute topic queen in the entertainment industry.

She and her management team were well versed in hype routines. Once she teamed up with the producers of ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’, who also loved hype, the drama wouldn’t be lacking in topics.

Ji Li wanted to smile. “Let them do as they please.”

The greater the hype for this drama, the more chilling it would be when they fell down.

He carelessly pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses, and there was a bit of sharpness in his always soft eyebrows. His aura gave off a sense of compulsion and a ‘desire to kill.’

Xu Miaomiao felt his terrifying temperament and felt her heart thump rather than panicking.

Help!

She really wanted to watch Ji Li play an educated scum! It was best if he acted with Brother Yue!

After less than half a year, she had gone from being a Qin Yue sister fan to being a Chinese Rose CP fan.

If the man was destined to not be available to her, then she would arrange another man she liked to conquer him!

Talk about the person and the person would appear.

There was a knock on the door of the lounge. The staff members on the side saw Qin Yue’s figure and suddenly showed a surprised look.

They involuntarily straightened to show their respect. “Hello, Teacher Qin Yue.”

Qin Yue walked in and his gaze fell on Ji Li’s body in seconds. He saw how the other person was dressed, and there was a deep urge in his eyes. Then he quickly suppressed it.

“Hello, Teacher Qin Yue.”

“Brother Yue, long time no see.”

Zhou Qingming and Xu Miaomiao got up to greet him. Only Ji Li treated the man normally.

Qin Yue’s gaze never left Ji Li. “I saw that the next door lounge was empty and heard a knock on the door here, so I came to take a look.”

Xu Miaomiao desperately suppressed the smile on her face, and her eyes moved back and forth between Ji Li and Qin Yue.

Listening to the meaning of Brother Yue’s words, he specifically came to find Ji Li?

Thank you, thank you, I ship it!

“Brother Yue, why are you here?” Ji Li slightly raised an eyebrow and his gaze instinctively swept over Qin Yue from head to toe.

The other person wore a low-key suit from a brand and it was privately customized. He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. Under the wrapping of the suit, it was an almost inverted golden triangle with superior proportions.

He had the aura of a natural controller, and people couldn’t help wanting to surrender to him.

Ji Li’s Adam’s apple silently moved.

To be honest, he had always been hungry for Qin Yue’s body proportions, which were really perfect.

Qin Yue was burning under Ji Li’s gaze. “I received an invitation from the organizer. I will be an audience member in the guest seats later.”

This was the 70th anniversary of the China Television Awards. As a ceremony for one of the 10th anniversaries, the organizer specially sent out guest invitations to previous winners at the awards.

Qin Yue was naturally on this list.

He remembered that this was the first award ceremony since Ji Li entered the circle. Combine this with the public opinion turmoil on the Internet a few days ago, it really made him feel uneasy.

After thinking about it, Qin Yue agreed to the organizer’s invitation in order to take an honest look at Ji Li in the name of work.

“Ji Li, there is still some time before the red carpet. I’ll take you upstairs to the banquet hall to meet some teachers in the circle.” Qin Yue got straight to the point.

In front of outsiders, he didn’t hide his blatant preference for Ji Li at all.

Ji Li was surprised for a moment before quickly getting up. “Okay.”

He bowed to his two actor friends in the lounge. “I’ll come back later.”

“Yes, go ahead.” Zhou Qingming spoke with none of his previous jealousy. There was only pure envy.

He knew the connections that Ji Li now had, including Qin Yue, were all obtained by him through hard work and sincerity.

Zhou Qingming watched the backs of the two people leaving the lounge before shifting his gaze back.

Next to him, Xu Miaomiao’s face was red and her eyes were on the empty doorway.

“Miaomiao?”

“…I have to go find the dentist.” Xu Miaomiao held her face with both hands. She moved on her high heels and stomped the ground with a small amount of excitement while muttering something.

A good match! A perfect match! An immortal match!

Zhou Qingming couldn’t understand the reason why.

However, his female assistant saw that Xu Miaomiao was in good condition and cautiously approached. “Sister Miaomiao?”

“Chinese Rose.” She vaguely pronounced these words.

Xu Miaomiao looked at her female assistant and confirmed it was a person who shipped them together.

“It is real!”

The moment they finished speaking, the two girls didn’t show the difference between a star and an assistant. They directly shouted while hand in hand.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!”

They ate candy on the front line and could also share the joy with a sister!

“……”

Zhou Qingming looked around at the men present in confusion and found that their faces showed the same doubts.

W-What was going on?

Why were they so happy all of a sudden?

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Proofreader: Azure