What she saw next made her doubt her own eyes.

[h.e.l.lo Senior, you're b*tching around again!]

[What has become of the s...o...b..z industry? There are so many shameless people trying to act coquettishly.]

[Who else can you blame but yourself for having a rough start! It was your own fault for wearing such a long dress, why don't you just fall to your death!]

[Wow, you have truly opened my eyes today. Senior, you're invincible! Shameless people are invincible!]

[…]

The comment section was filled with negative comments in a flash.

Looking at the flood of negative comments, Ren Jiayin was infuriated. She looked around for the person who caused her to fall, but she couldn't find her.

“Who are you looking for?” an actor who had worked with her before asked out of curiosity.

“Xu Jiaojiao!” Ren Jiayin said while gritting her teeth in anger.

“Look for her in front of the hall. Her seat should be around that area. ”

When Ren Jiayin entered the hall, she was busy looking for her own seat and uploading her social media to get comfort from her fans. Hence, she never paid attention to how the seats were arranged. When the thought of looking for Xu Jiaojiao came up in her mind, she recalled that Xu Jiaojiao had just debuted a year ago and that based on her limited experience, she should be seated at the back of the hall. In fact, Xu Jiaojiao should consider herself lucky that she was even able to attend the ceremony.

Ren Jiayin looked towards the seats in the front of the hall, and soon, she spotted Xu Jiaojiao. She was having a pleasant conversation with Gu Zhou.

How infuriating!

How did the broadcast station arrange their seats?! How could they have arranged someone with much less experience than her in a front seat, right beside someone of such high caliber like Gu Zhou?

“How did she get a seat there?” Ren Jiayin blurted out.

“She did very well this year. She partnered with Gu Zhou a couple of times, so it's natural for her to be seated beside him,” the actor seated beside Ren Jiayin said.

Ren Jiayin wanted to say something, but the lights were dimmed, and music started to play.

The ceremony had started.

After the opening speech, the main event began. As usual, they started by presenting the smaller category awards first.

There were too many awards to be handed out. Naturally, this was one of the strategies to encourage celebrities to attend the ceremony, by making sure that as few people as possible return home empty-handed.

After the award ceremony, there would be many performances of song and dance.

Huddling together off stage, the celebrities were engaged in their own conversations. As they were usually busy and hardly had the time to meet up, it was normal for them to exchange a few words even though they were gathered under such an occasion.

Gu Zhou often appeared on the broadcast screen. With his high influence and popularity, it was normal for him to receive such treatment, as the fans loved to see him.

At this moment, Gu Zhou was whispering to Sheng Jiaoyang, “No matter what, you would be able to bring an award back tonight.”

Sheng Jiaoyang said indifferently, “We shall see.”

Sheng Jiaoyang never bothered to understand the various awards. Her mind was occupied on the fan meeting that will happen in a few days, and she was not particularly concerned about receiving an award. Compared to those who always wanted to receive an award, she was nonchalant towards it.

“You sure aren't nervous at all.” Gu Zhou looked at her.

“Well, you're not very worried too, although you definitely would not return empty-handed.”

Gu Zhou smiled. With his popularity and influence, the organizer would definitely make sure that he didn't leave empty-handed. Otherwise, his fans would tear them apart.

While they were still having their conversation, it became time to present the rookie award.

Sheng Jiaoyang was nominated in this category for her role as Imperial Consort Wu in the drama 'Empress'. Her fellow nominees include Ren Jiayin and another actress.

When Ren Jiayin heard her name, she was smiling in delight, and she looked towards the stage with confidence. She started wondering about how she should go up the stage in the most elegant way while being barefooted. However, her gaze accidentally swept past a certain someone who was talking to Gu Zhou, and she was immediately filled with disdain.

Humph! What use is there in holding onto Gu Zhou? The key was to hold tightly onto the sponsor. To think that she would get all delighted just because she was nominated. How ignorant!

Ren Jiayin was relatively confident that this award would definitely go to her. Otherwise, her manager would never tell her with such certainty that she would bag an award. Thus, in her eyes, she had already defeated Xu Jiaojiao.

The reason why Jiaojiao was laughing was because Gu Zhou told her, “If this award doesn't go to you, somebody must have played some dirty tricks.”

Sheng Jiaoyang couldn't help but laugh when Gu Zhou spoke so confidently.

The two award presenters went on stage. When she saw the female presenter, Sheng Jiaoyang could not help but glance at Gu Zhou. After all, she was Gu Zhou's ex-girlfriend, Mo Lan.

Sheng Jiaoyang knew the male presenter as well. They had gone on the same show before.

The two presenters awkwardly exchanged a few words and the male presenter then announced the winner.

“…And the winner is…Xu Jiaojiao!”

The smile on Ren Jiayin's face turned cold immediately. What kind of joke is this? Did he read out the wrong name? Shouldn't I be the winner?

At the same time, Sheng Jiaoyang was receiving Gu Zhou's congratulations.

Sheng Jiaoyang smiled at Gu Zhou before she stood up and headed on stage. A lady subsequently brought out the trophy on a tray, and Mo Lan picked the trophy up.

Mo Lan was feeling upset. From her position on the stage, she could clearly see everything that happened in the hall. This included the interaction between Gu Zhou and Jiaojiao. She suddenly recalled the time when she saw Jiaojiao stay behind alone in the hotel room, as well as the previous incident at the pub.

When the 'illegitimate daughter' incident blew up, Mo Lan had been waiting and expecting a funny spectacle, but she was greatly disappointed by Sheng s.h.i.+yun's weak performance.

“Sister Mo Lan?” Sheng Jiaoyang raised her brows as she looked at Mo Lan, who firmly gripped onto the award without letting go.

Mo Lan recovered her composure and immediately released her grip. With a bright smile to cover the earlier abnormality, she opened her arms for a hug while saying, “Congratulations, I'm very happy for you.”

Those who were unaware would think that they shared a great relations.h.i.+p.

Sheng Jiaoyang hugged Mo Lan out of courtesy. The male presenter then handed her the microphone and prompted her to give her acceptance speech. She faced the audience and the camera, and gave a polite bow before giving her simple speech, “Thank you for all the support from everyone who likes and loves me. I've mentioned this to my fans before, I will continue to put in good work and produce good performances to repay everyone. Thank you!”

Her unabashed and generous manner won the applause of many people.

When she returned to her seat, Sheng Jiaoyang heard Gu Zhou say, “Your performance up there makes it seem like this isn't your first time receiving an award.”

“It's definitely not my first time going on stage to receive an award. I've gone on stage before to receive a scholars.h.i.+p in front of the whole school.” Sheng Jiaoyang lifted her chin, and she sounded a little prideful.

“…” Gu Zhou broke out in laughter.

Qu Wen, who was seated on the other side of Gu Zhou, watched as the two engaged happily in conversation. She could not hear their words, but she was unhappy that Gu Zhou had totally forgotten about her. If she did not know that Xu Jiaojiao had a boyfriend, she might have mistaken them as a couple.

“Next, we will be presenting the Best Actor Award! The nominees are: Gu Zhou, acting as the Emperor from 'Empress', and…” The emcee on stage started announcing the nominees.

After the emcee had announced all three nominees for the award category, he invited two veteran celebrities on stage to present the award.

Since it was rare for them to go on stage, the two veterans had to exchange some greetings before they announced the award winner.

As expected, it was Gu Zhou.

“Congratulations, Gu Zhou!” Qu Wen congratulated him first.

“Thank you!” Gu Zhou responded with a light nod and smile.

As Sheng Jiaoyang was seated by the aisle, Gu Zhou naturally chose to exit from her side.

Sheng Jiaoyang stood up to let him cross, and at the same time, she told him, “Look, it's not unexpected at all.”

Gu Zhou laughed and walked up the stage.

Gu Zhou received the trophy from the veterans and started on his acceptance speech. He had, of course, prepared his speech in advance. First, he expressed his grat.i.tude to everyone on the production crew, then the organizer, and lastly his fans.

He read his speech without a single hiccup, and the whole process was done smoothly and leisurely. Once again, the audience could not help but be in awe at his t.i.tle of Movie Emperor. His presence could not be compared to an ordinary person. However, his performance was also very normal, since he had won the nation's Best Actor Award for the films category before it was probably not a big deal to him when he bagged the Best Actor Award for the television series category too.

After returning to his seat, Gu Zhou saw that Jiaojiao was observing his trophy with curiosity, so he handed her his trophy.

Sheng Jiaoyang took the trophy from him and only returned it to him after taking a few looks and identifying the differences between his trophy and hers.

“With your capability, you'll win this award sooner or later,” Gu Zhou chuckled.

Although he spoke softly, the venue was quieter as the performances on stage had just ended. Hence, Qu Wen overheard his words. She wanted to roll her eyes, but when she considered the cameras that were panning across the venue, she had to maintain her smile. However, that hypocritical smile still looked quite stiff.

When her face was broadcasted on television, the netizens expressed their sympathy for her.

The organizer had specially placed Gu Zhou between Qu Wen and Xu Jiaojiao, after considering that both of them had worked with Gu Zhou before. They a.s.sumed that, since the trio worked on the same series before, they would have a lot of common topics to talk about. Gu Zhou, as the man seated in the middle of these two ladies, could serve as the mediator.

Who knew that from the start till the end, Gu Zhou and Qu Wen's interactions were so negligible that they could be discounted. Instead, the camera often captured scenes of Gu Zhou and Xu Jiaojiao's interactions.

Although in the series, Qu Wen, as the female lead, managed to have the last laugh, in reality, it was Xu Jiaojiao who had the last laugh. Look how awkward Qu Wen's smile was! Tsk tsk!

Of course, these were what the comments said after the ceremony was broadcasted, as it was not a live broadcast. Thus, everyone present in the hall had not seen this scene.

Soon, it was time to present the Best Actress Award. The nominees were Qu Wen, one of the rising actresses from this year, as well as a veteran actress.

As expected, Qu Wen won the award. It was not her first time winning that award since she had debuted for many years, but she was still thrilled to have won this year.

Qu Wen returned with the trophy in hand. Whilst she walked past Jiaojiao, she suddenly stopped and said, “Jiaojiao, do you want to take a look at the trophy?” That's right, she was being c.o.c.ky.

With me around, don't even think of winning this award!