“I’m just focused on my work,” Qiao Huaiyao said, resting his chin on one hand and glancing to the side. “Paying attention to your work is normal. I have my interests, and people can pay attention to me as well.”
It wasn’t about academic matters; it was from when they had done variety shows before. Qiao Huaiyao guessed it was created by Bai Jinyan’s fans, but his secondary account followed Bai Jinyan’s updates, so he hadn’t followed himself.
Bai Jinyan casually replied, “I followed you.”
Qiao Huaiyao hesitated for a moment. “I remember… my account didn’t follow anyone?”
Even the follows were only Bai Jinyan’s. Seeing Bai Jinyan staying silent, Qiao Huaiyao raised an eyebrow playfully. “Brother, are you…?”
“Cough, watching the dance. It’s the ending of an ancient palace movie, not bad.”
Saying this, Bai Jinyan kept his eyes fixed on the stage, as if this performance particularly captivated him, and nothing could distract him.
Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t help but smile. He raised his hand and lightly poked Bai Jinyan’s cheek. “Is my secondary account in your interests?”
“…” Bai Jinyan didn’t say anything, making Qiao Huaiyao even happier.
Bai Jinyan gave him a subtle sideways glance, noticing his amused expression, and involuntarily smiled as well.
The awards ceremony was halfway through. Bai Jinyan had already won five awards. From Best Supporting Actor to Best Original Song, every award was an individual one, and there was also an award for the entire cast. Many people were hardworking like Bai Jinyan, but while being diligent, producing high-quality movies with solid plots and good logic, and receiving good audience ratings, was quite rare. Bai Jinyan single-handedly collected numerous awards.
When it came to announcing the Best Actor, the presenter holding the cue card couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow!”
“This is really amazing,” the presenter looked at the card and then the audience below, “one person, being able to take away so many awards at a ceremony like this, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this.”
The smaller awards seemed to be paving the way for Bai Jinyan’s grand slam.
The presenter couldn’t help but joke, “I think he probably came here to buy in bulk. He’ll probably just carry all the trophies away in a box.”
Saying this, he turned back to the backstage and asked, “Is there anyone backstage? Prepare a bag, a larger and sturdier one, or it will be hard to carry them all.”
“Alright, without further ado, let us congratulate… Bai Jinyan!” As soon as he finished, applause thundered through the venue.
The presenter also applauded and couldn’t help but praise, “Taking away so many awards at a single awards ceremony, this is really incredible.”
Bai Jinyan stood up, but this time he didn’t go directly onstage; instead, he turned to look at Qiao Huaiyao. Before he could speak, Qiao Huaiyao understood what he meant and immediately stood up to hug him. “Congratulations, brother, on receiving another Best Actor award!”
In the previous awards ceremony, Qiao Huaiyao hadn’t graduated yet, but he was sitting next to Bai Jinyan, and after the announcement of the Best Actor, he stood up to hug him.
After a brief hug, Bai Jinyan went up to the stage and received the trophy from the presenter. A 23-year-old dual Best Actor.
Compared to the excited hosts and audience, Bai Jinyan was the calmest. His usual line was, “I’m very honored to receive this award, thank you.”
After hearing Bai Jinyan’s words, the audience couldn’t contain their laughter. One fan couldn’t resist and directly shouted:
—”Can Bai Jinyan say a few more words?!”
As soon as this was said, the whole venue burst into laughter. Even Qiao Huaiyao laughed out loud. Everyone had been quiet, waiting for Bai Jinyan to speak after winning the award.
The moment Bai Jinyan finished speaking, it was the quietest. When this fan yelled, the sound echoed throughout the venue, reaching every corner without needing a microphone.
Bai Jinyan raised an eyebrow and came back to the microphone, “I’m very honored to receive this award, thank you all.”
“Haha…” Qiao Huaiyao burst into laughter and leaned back. Those two extra words were truly unexpected.
All the invited stars were holding back their laughter, some even laughing heartily, not caring about their image.
The host was laughing so hard he wanted to bang his head on the table. After pounding the table twice, he managed to speak, “Alright, alright. This acceptance speech is something I’ve never heard before. It’s quite unique.”
After this little disturbance, everyone’s previously tense nerves relaxed quite a bit, and the atmosphere became lively. Bai Jinyan received the trophy, and the host quickly followed through the remaining proceedings, riding on the lively atmosphere.
“Shall we go now?” Bai Jinyan saw that Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t hold the trophies anymore, so he took a smaller award and placed the Best Actor trophy there.
“Is it too hasty?” Qiao Huaiyao supported the trophy, and the cameras were still rolling. It didn’t seem appropriate to leave the stage immediately after receiving the award.
Bai Jinyan said, “It’s fine.”
Many guests in the front row had left by now. Their leaving at this point wasn’t too abrupt. They had been sitting here all day, and Qiao Huaiyao had only eaten some candy. At one point, Bai Jinyan suggested that Lu Lu take them out to eat, but Qiao Huaiyao declined. He also didn’t want Lu Lu to bring takeout. It didn’t make sense to continue watching the nominations; it was meaningless.
Bai Jinyan had already ordered the meal early in the morning. Lu Lu had the driver stop at the exit, and they got in the car directly.
Although Lu Lu wasn’t inside, he had watched the live broadcast of the program and naturally knew that Bai Jinyan had won all the nominations.
“Brother Bai is really amazing,” even Lu Lu, the assistant, couldn’t help but feel amazed. “So young, a double Best Actor. And not from an acting background, not even majoring in acting in college. It’s really amazing.”
Qiao Huaiyao nodded, “He’s really incredible.”
Bai Jinyan raised his hand and ruffled Qiao Huaiyao’s hair, letting it fall on Qiao Huaiyao’s shoulder.
“Hey, by the way, Brother Bai, did you start school relatively late?” Lu Lu thought about it. He was about the same age as Qiao Huaiyao, but Bai ge was older than him. Meanwhile, Qiao Huaiyao and Bai Jinyan were from the same graduation year.
This… Bai Jinyan calmly said, “Yes.”
Qiao Huaiyao blinked, Bai Jinyan started school late, but it wasn’t too late, in fact.
Auntie Meng leaned towards the Western education system, but at the time, she was busy with work and had to stay in the country. She also brought little Bai Jinyan on set.
Even so, she didn’t give up on Bai Jinyan’s studies and, although not going to formal school, hired a tutor for Bai Jinyan, paying a high price for it.
Later, Bai Jinyan went to school because of… Qiao Huaiyao not wanting to go to school.
At that time, Qiao Huaiyao didn’t want to go to school.
Qiao Huaiyao was close to Bai Jinyan, and his parents weren’t around, so the person he trusted most was Bai Jinyan. Later, Bai Jinyan went to the school Qiao Huaiyao was supposed to attend.
Auntie Meng went abroad to film, and Bai Jinyan didn’t go with her.
Qiao Huaiyao ate snacks, thinking about the past. He couldn’t help but smile at the memories from his childhood.