CH 11

CHAPTER 11—On and Off the Field

Xie Yu quickly passed through the red carpet in front of the movie palace, and left a strong impression in the hearts of the interstellar audience in that short time.

The news of his arrival at the Tourist Star was exposed before, and many red and black fans had begun to pay attention to this film festival.

And after seeing Xie Yu’s styled up appearance, fans all went after him—black fans couldn’t attack the suit, so they could only talk about the Golden Toilet Awards.

[I’m afraid everyone has forgotten, what award was he invited for?]

[The most disappointing actor? I’m afraid this guy is going to withdraw immediately after receiving the award, hahaha!]

[I still like him now, seeing him go to get the Golden Toilet. It’d be sad to lose him.]

[In the first half, the Golden Laurel will be full of stars, and in the second half, he will be the only one in front of the entire interstellar audience, being watched and criticized.]

[Can you choose the most embarrassing moment of the year?]

[I’ll bet a chicken leg on Xie Yu. The Golden Toilet will never let him go home empty-handed.]

[He deserves it—so many years with top-tier net worth, he had to have made a lot of money already? So it’s time to apologize!]

The black fans spoke mercilessly, but there were still a lot of points made with their aggressive words.

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Most of the passers-by and the audience were confused by the rhythm brought by the black fans, and so they also began to stand in line. (TL: ‘rhythm’ here is referring to the flow of conversation or main topic that has overtaken everything, so that everyone ends up just joining the conversation as well or ‘standing in line’)

[His appearance is really good, but why did he come to the film festival? I still want to be his fan, but when I think about the name Xie Yu being associated with the Golden Toilet, I feel afraid to tell my friends that I like him.]

[Xie Yu has debuted for ten years already, right? I know that he’s always been the best in appearance, but I’ve watched the films he acted in a few years ago. Although his acting skills are not good, at least there were no major mistakes. Should he be criticized like this?]

[I don’t know about his previous work, but Xie Yu’s latest film is <Legend of Aquarius> directed by Li Dayiao.]

[Legend of Aquarius, hahaha! Isn’t that the annual flagship IP that was said to have two billion readers, three billion sailors, and four billion invested in major productions?] (TL: ‘sailors’ are people who talk about the topic, usually online)

[Li…Big Bird? Well, I understood the name instantly. Is it the big bird who likes rainbow colors the most and shoots upside down?] (TL: ‘Big Bird’ is a play on the director’s name Dayiao, and just joking about his inability to make a movie good and connecting it to his name, from what I could understand)

[I slipped away and found the trailer for this movie! The male protagonist with facial paralysis and mental retardation is like an adult baby, and Xie Yu in a flirty pink and purple outfit, no matter how good-looking he is, I can’t be moved by that.]

After Xie Yu appeared on stage, the barrage on the official live channel increased explosively and did not show a decreasing trend.

Glancing around, most of them were ridiculing and criticizing Xie Yu, and the messages of support were drowned in the torrent of negativity, and were squeezed out of sight.

After keywords such as “Xie Yu’s outfit” and “Xie Yu’s Golden Toilet” appeared in the hot search, many netizens also followed Xie Yu’s dynamics directly on the homepage of Weibo.

At the Golden Toilet Awards, where no one had ever been present to accept the award, Xie Yu’s earth-shattering move attracted the attention of everyone.

And a netizen who had already lost their feelings as a fan edited a long Weibo posts to express their complicated feelings.

[After goodbye, I also want to say blessings: I have been a fan of Ayu for many years. I’m also now married after graduating as a student. I think I have the right to say whether he works hard or not. Of course, I also understand that his acting skills have not improved. But that was until after he accepted an obviously out-of-the-ordinary big production, and was willing to shoot rubbish stuff for a high salary. Since then, I’ve felt that this person has changed, and after a long time of hesitation, I finally no longer considered myself his fan.

The Golden Toilet Awards want to criticize him. If I were still a fan, I would definitely not be able to accept it, thinking that my idol was being targeted. But after taking off the powder and looking at it again, I’m much more objective, and I feel that the Golden Toilet has done nothing wrong. I thought that Xie Yu would not be present, nor would he accept the award, just like the popular actor and actress did before him.

But I suddenly found that he was a person willing to face criticism. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt a little sad, yet quite proud. The word pride may not be understood by non-fans. After all, what can you be so proud about for accepting criticism? But compared to so many industry colleagues who spend all their fans’ money through shooting bad movies and refuse to admit their own shortcomings, I at least am not wrong about Xie Yu.

I have no intention of using pride to build momentum for Xie Yu, and I believe he doesn’t need it either. My personal position is iffy, and it really just depends on Xie Yu’s attitude towards the Golden Toilet. If he is really willing to reflect on himself, then I will return to his fan base, and will not say goodbye but just blessings.]

This long Weibo post quickly became popular, and this rare fan confession was forwarded and commented on by many users, becoming a hot topic under the super topic of the film festival. (TL: super topics are something found on Weibo, and is somewhat like a mix of a hashtag and a thread)

There were different opinions circulating on the Internet, but Xie Yu, who just entered the venue, didn’t know anything.

He just followed the staff to the second floor and entered the seating area.

“You sit here. Drinking water and other items are stored in the partition under the chair.”

The staff of the film festival, in their long time working, have also been through big happenings and situation.

So, when they saw this first-line superstar who was obviously here for the Golden Toilet Award, they did not show the slightest abnormality on their faces.

They only politely took Xie Yu to his seat and confirmed that he had no more questions or requirements. Then after that, they turned and left.

Xie Yu thanked the staff casually, glanced at his seat, and looked up at the seats floating in the air, and let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

He was arranged in the first few rows of the entire seating area, close to but not that close to the aisle, which was indeed a good position favored by the camera.

A few people sat around here and there, and when they saw Xie Yu approaching, they all greeted him politely.

While Xie Yu politely returned their greetings, he rummaged through the memory of the original body for impressions related to several people.

Coincidentally, among these popular stars, there was a previous winner of the Golden Toilet Award.

Of course, this person also refused to accept the award.

Xie Yu avoided the man’s meaningful scrutiny, and turned slightly to look for his manager’s position.

Zhou Cheng was sitting in the back corner of the venue.

He seemed to have been paying attention to Xie Yu.

When he saw him turning his head, he quickly raised his hand to attract his attention, and then gestured for Xie Yu to look back quickly.

The original body was a frequent visitor to the film festival, and there was a lot of related content in his memory.

Xie Yu himself has had many years of experience in the entertainment industry in his previous life, so he naturally wouldn’t be frightened when facing an awards ceremony.

It’s just that after such a big change in environment, he still had to face an award that he’d never experienced receiving before, so it was inevitable that he felt bewildered and disconcerted.

But catching a glimpse of the members of his team now allowed him to feel a little more at ease, and he was able to maintain a decent expression as he brought his focus back to the camera.

People from all walks of life were entering the venue quickly.

Before Xie Yu had time to observe the stage set, he saw a person in a black suit approaching the seat in the same row as his, between the aisle and his seat.

Xie Yu raised his eyebrows in surprise and smiled, “Mr. Shen, are you sitting here?”

Shen Qi hummed, and after seeing off the staff, he sat down directly and unbuttoned the suit jacket at his waist.

He probably still felt a little stuffy, so he continued to tug at his neckline.

The strength used was not well grasped, and as a result, the neckline was torn loose, and the bow tie became obviously skewed.

Shen Qi also noticed something was wrong, but he really didn’t understand the details of wearing a vintage suit, so he frowned with his back straightened, and fiddled with his bow tie in a daze, unable to find the trick to fixing it.

In order to pursue a 100% restoration of the suit style, the design of the neckline part abandoned the simple bow tie and followed the most orthodox hand-tied method.

Before departure, Mrs. Shen rearranged everything for the two of them, but she probably didn’t expect that Shen Qi’s would tug and break the bowtie loose.

Seeing that the awards ceremony was about to start, Xie Yu also sweated for Shen Qi.

After Shen Qi fiddled with it for a while without making any progress, he resolutely called out in a low voice, asking Shen Qi to look over towards him.

“Wrap it around first, then put it over here, and hold…” Xie Yu was familiar with how to wear a suit, and so he immediately made small gestures on his own bowtie to show how to tie it.

Shen Qi stared at Xie Yu’s hand intently, following the movements, but failed after trying twice.

The red carpet outside the venue had long been finished, and the camera had already cut to the inside of the venue at some point.

Xie Yu was so busy teaching Shen Qi that he didn’t even notice that the camera above his head was stationary now.

And at that time, the lights were already on and everything was starting to operate and proceed forward.

As a current attention-grabbing yet ridiculed existence, Xie Yu was locked as soon as the camera was turned on.

And he had no idea that the entire interstellar audience in the live broadcast room was now watching them tie their bow ties.

[My God, these two are responsible for my saliva flow today!]

[I know Xie Yu, who is the other one? He’s super stylish.]

[Yes! The person sitting near the aisle—I can see chest muscles through his clothes, and that sense of power he exudes is enviable.]

[Hahaha, they’re poisonous! Do they have to sit across their seats and chat?]

[Are those… loose clothes?]

[Wait! Xie Yu! What is he doing!]

When the background music started to play, Xie Yu had no choice but to wave for Shen Qi to come over to him.

Although Shen Qi didn’t know why, he still kept sitting on his seat, but leaned half of his body over the armrest on his elbows, and approached Xie Yu.

Xie Yu quickly pulled on the black tie around Shen Qi’s neck, started to move skillfully with his fingers flying, and completed the recovery of the shape of the bowtie in an instant.

And in the end, he adjusted the lapel of Shen Qi’s shirt, patted him on the shoulder, and pushed him back.

Shen Qi who was slightly bowed over due to Xie Yu’s strength when fiddling with his bow tie, was a little dazed when he was pushed back.

After coming out of his daze, he touched his neckline and quickly said thank you.

Xie Yu wanted Shen Qi not to be so polite, but just as he was about to wave his hand to brush off his thanks, his gaze wandered, and he caught sight of an actress who had been standing in the aisle for some time.

She was an evergreen tree in the interstellar movie circle, an old-fashioned action actress with excellent work and character, who had also cooperated with the original body, and taught him how to shoot scenes on the set before. (TL: ‘evergreen tree’ is just used to describe the actress as an old veteran in the industry)

Currently, she was wearing a strapless long dress, and had came just in time to watch the friendly interaction of two gentlemen in suits.

“Good evening, both of you, my seat is here.” She pointed to the empty seat between them.

Shen Qi had already stood up, and stepped back along the aisle to wait for the actress to pass by.

But the actress was not in a hurry to sit down after walking over, instead she patted Xie Yu on the shoulder.

“Xie Yu, let’s discuss something.” The actress was an extroverted person, with an obvious bright smile, “Can I change seats with you? Because of the way you two look today, I’m under a lot of pressure and it’s not suitable for me to sit in the middle.”

“No, stop teasing me…” Xie Yu laughed and quickly evaded.

“Hey, I’m serious.” The actress did not deny her mentality of watching the excitement, “If you dare to wear such outfits today, you should receive the attention of the media. I’m old, so I came here just for the nomination. Count it as the whim of an old woman, and let me sit on the side.”

As she said that, she placed her hand on Xie Yu’s arm, making a gesture to pull him up.

At that point, Xie Yu had no choice but to stand up quickly and move to the next seat over.

The actress sat down and turned around to talk to Xie Yu.

“That’s right, I thought you wouldn’t come.” She said so directly, and although there was surprise on her face, there was also obvious approval in her eyes, mixed with more satisfactory meanings.

“It was time to come.” Xie Yu expressed his position simply and earnestly.

“Okay… not bad, not bad!” The actress stroked her chin, and the smile on her face grew wider, “After tonight, you will still be able to stand out in the future.”

“I would like to borrow your good words.” Xie Yu conversed with his female acting senior, and when he turned back around, he met Shen Qi’s gaze.

Seeing his figure in the same outfit as himself, he could only look back silently, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He had already expected that he and Shen Qi, the quasi-Golden Laurel favorite, would receive special attention from the camera since they were now sitting together.

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TL: Have to say, knowing how to tie a bowtie is a subtly attractive skill. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧