Side Story 2

As long as you continue walking forward, you’ll definitely get the chance to see the light.

After the incident with CEO Song’s cute childhood picture passed, The Performer‘s ticket sales continued to rise steadily. At the same time that she heard from Chen Sheng that she’d been nominated for Best Actress, the production team was also invited to a foreign film festival. They were invited to the red carpet event before the film screening as well.

Originally, the director had wanted to register to participate in the film festival, but they’d unfortunately missed the deadline. He hadn’t expected that the organizing committee would reach out to them and invite them as audience members.

Of course they would also be able to show off a bit.

Pei Ying, who’d have never expected to be able to attend a foreign film festival, didn’t know what to think. She was both anxious and excited. Universe Pictures and The Performer accounts posted this news on Weibo at the same time, and the ticket sales for the film came like a waves from two sides.

A lot of fans flocked to Pei Ying’s Weibo to leave congratulatory messages as well. Some even nicknamed her International Pei.

After evening exercise with Song Nanchuan, Pei Ying leaned against his chest and looked to him. “The director told us today that we’d be attending an international film festival next week, and there’s a red carpet.”

Song Nanchuan had heard Xiao Zhang mention this before. He nodded. “Mmh. How many days does it last?”

“The director said we’ll be there for about a week.”

“A week?” Song Nanchuan’s brows furrowed slightly. “Then I’ll take my business trip next week.”

Pei Ying, “….”

And Song Nanchuan really did go abroad on a business trip for a week. He was even on the same plane as the crew of The Performer. Before they arrived to their destination, Pei Ying grabbed hold of him to practice her English pronunciation. She was worried at how disgraceful her English would be.

Actually, because they’d spent their honeymoon abroad, Pei Ying had pushed herself to learn a bit of English. It didn’t necessarily mean that what she studied would always be of use, but it gave her a slight boost in confidence. Moreover, things weren’t the same as when she was in school. Back then, like other kids, she just wondered ‘What good will learning this do for me?’ But now, she really wanted to learn a bit more every day.

After they arrived to their destination, Pei Ying realized that, not only had Song Nanchuan taken the same plane as them, he was also staying in the same hotel. He’d reserved an expensive and luxurious room, which he had Pei Ying stay in with him. The director just laughed and thought about how great it was that they could save on fees for the crew.

Everyone spent the first day adjusting to the time difference. Then, the next day, the film festival began. The crew got ready very early. Because only the film crew had been invited to the event, Mo Zhen and Pei Ying walked in together.

It wasn’t Mo Zhen’s first time attending a film festival like this one. He’d even won an award at them previously. The foreign audience and reporters were rather familiar with him, so as his partner, Pei Ying was also thrust into the spotlight.

Pei Ying was wearing the same outfit she’d worn for her character stills, a red qipao. Only the dress she wore that day was custom made per Song Nanchuan’s orders, and it was even more exquisite than the one she’d worn for the promotional posters. She also had on her favorite pair of red 7cm tall heels.

Her heels put her height at about 180cm. Fortunately, Mo Zhen was just a bit taller than that, so the two looked pretty well matched.

Though no one recognized Pei Ying abroad, her long legs and stunning Chinese-styled appearance were enough to kill off the media’s camera film. Some groups even asked her for more information about her.

After signing the autograph wall, the host for the evening walked over to ask the pair a few questions. The questions had all been prepared beforehand, for Mo Zhen. But of course, with Pei Ying being the female lead, even if she was an unknown face, the host couldn’t ignore her.

Pei Ying spoke about three lines during the entire thing, but she’d practiced those three lines for a very long time before she could sound that fluent.

After they entered the event, Mo Zhen said to her, “Back when we were filming, I figured your English was pretty good.”

In all of Pei Ying’s years, it was the first time anyone had praised her for her English skills. She was completely flattered. “I’ll tell you a secret. Actually, I had to cram really hard with Song Nanchuan to get those lines down.”

Mo Zhen chuckled. “When he’s got time, he should teach me a few lines too.”

Pei Ying replied with surprise, “Your English is really good!” She wasn’t kissing up to Emperor Mo or anything. It was more like the class’ last-place student admiring the class’ top student.

Mo Zhen replied, “I started acting when I was 16 years old. Do you think I really had the time to study? I’ll tell you a secret too. I also cram for it. Only, after so long, I seem more collected.”

“Pfft,” Pei Ying laughed. “I guess we can really sympathize with each other then.”‘

It seemed she’d gotten closer with the emperor.

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The photos she’d taken with Mo Zhen on the red carpet soon made their way back to China, and Weibo turned into a beauty-admiring festival.

“Pardon my boastful comment. Mo Zhen and Pei Ying’s beauty are enough to fill me up 2333333” (t/n: Apparently, 23 is akin to a laughing emoticon, like XD …?)

“Pei Pei, jiayou! My Pei is becoming an international sensation!”

“I hope that Zhen Zhen and Pei Pei win Best Actor and Best Actress!”

“Zhen Zhen’s so handsome, and Pei Pei’s beautiful! Hope that The Performer breaks three billion ticket sales!”

With all the fans’ devotion and expectations, The Performer really did surpass three billion ticket sales. The crew found out the news while abroad, and they were ecstatic. The director even generously offered to treat everyone to barbecue kebabs!

In the end though, it was Song Nanchuan who treated everyone to a grand meal.

After returning home from the film festival, Pei Ying rested for a bit. The Academy Awards were approaching. Perhaps because of Pei Ying’s trip to the film festival, there was a large outcry for Pei Ying to win an award.

There was fierce competition for this season’s awards though, as Ni Bai and Li Sisi had both been nominated. Even Tao Tao, who’d been laying low for awhile, would also be there to present an award.

Pei Ying was excited at the prospect of winning an award, but she’d also prepared herself for the alternative.

She seemed to have been walking down red carpets a lot this year—at her first wedding ceremony, then for the movie premiere, for the film festival, and now for the award ceremony.

Three times out of four, she’d walked with the same person.

Walking down the red carpet with Song Nanchuan, Pei Ying quietly whispered, “This is already our third time walking on a red carpet this year.”

Song Nanchuan laughed and responded, “I think I’ve been sufficiently prepared to handle the flashing now.”

Pei Ying chuckled as she held his arm and walked into the event building.

Awards like Best Actress were left for the latter part of the event, so Pei Ying remained uneasy as she watched the awards being given out. But when the presenter called out her name, all her emotions seemed to condense into water, welling in her eyes.

Pei Ying walked onto the stage and accepted the award trophy. She was so overwhelmed that her award speech started to sound a bit incoherent. “Thank you to Teacher Xing Xin for writing such a stellar piece of work, and then for letting me act as the female lead. Thank you to Universe Studios for investing in the film, and for giving me the chance to audition. It’s been four years since I made my debut, and though I may not have much to show for that time, for me, those four years were really amazing.”

At this point, she paused, as if needing to collect her emotions a bit. Then she continued, “I’d like to say a few words to the actors that have just started working. When I was working on The Performer, I met a walk-on who reminded me a lot of myself when I first started. I acted as a corpse, and I had many walk-on roles. But still, we continue to carry our dreams of being actors, for that is what gets us through our days. I hope that no matter how many obstacles you may face, you don’t easily give up on your dreams. As long as you continue walking forward, you’ll definitely get the chance to see the light.”

The audience exploded with applause. Pei Ying took a bow and added on, “Oh, and I have to thank my husband, Song Nanchuan, too. Even though I don’t know what to thank him for, I still want to thank him.”

Laughter sounded from the crowd. Pei Ying took another bow and then walked off the stage.

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The Best Actor award went to, no surprise, Mo Zhen. Having also won Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor, The Performer was undoubtedly the biggest winner of the night.

Even after the award ceremony ended, Pei Ying’s heart was still unable to calm itself. Even taking a shower didn’t help.

She walked out from the bathroom, with her spirit having seemingly floated off elsewhere. Song Nanchuan walked over and hugged her. With a low chuckle, he asked, “You still haven’t recovered your senses?”

Pei Ying simply nodded her head. Song Nanchuan’s brows raised. “You said you wanted to thank me. How do you want to thank me?”

“Ah?” Pei Ying finally made a response.

Song Nanchuan said, “You’ve gone to a film festival. You’ve won Best Actress. Don’t you think it’s time to give me a baby?”

Pei Ying, “….”

How were those things related??