Yanbei Retirement Facility.
Great-Grandfather Fang hadn't been going out much these days. He often stayed at home and browsed the Internet, keeping tabs on the Corale Film Festival.
When Fang Zhao had left for the Corale Archipelago, Great-Grandfather Fang had sent him a message.
"Take more photos of the scenery there. I heard the Corale Archipelago has nice scenery."
Fang Zhao had really only taken photos of the scenery. There hadn't even been a single person there.
Great-Grandfather Fang fumed and blew at his beard. "Don't youngsters like to take selfies? Didn't those celebrities post photos on the Internet all have a set of different angles? Why is this kid so different from others? Who does he take after? "
As he spoke, he glanced at Great-Grandmother Fang and continued to sigh.
There wasn't anyone in the photo. Who was he going to show a photo of the scenery? If he really wanted to see the scenery, couldn't he just search it online?
After sulking, Great-grandfather Fang sent Fang Zhao another message: "Little Zhao, when you take photos, include yourself in the picture. Take more pictures of the scenery with other people."
Great-Grandfather Fang finally received a photo he was satisfied with.
"Hey, my Little Zhao looks good in photos. He's so energetic. If only he could smile more … Oh, he even went fishing. The fish looks delicious …"
Great-Grandmother Fang put on her glasses and leaned over to take a look. "I thought the film festival was all about walking the red carpet. I didn't expect you could go fishing. Look at this place. Is it a fishing ground built on the sea?"
A few of the photos Fang Zhao had sent were panoramic shots that captured the surroundings clearly.
"And this one. I took it while diving. No wonder it's a coral island. It's so beautiful!" Great-grandfather Fang raised his hand and made a mark on the photo. He had to choose a few carefully and share them with everyone in the group later.
After sharing the photos, Great-Grandfather Fang started counting the days on his fingers. "The award ceremony isn't here yet. Why do I feel like time is passing so slowly?"
Great-Grandfather Fang was nervous.
How could he not be nervous?
"I wonder if Little Zhao will win this time."
Although many people online said Fang Zhao had a high chance of winning, there was no guarantee. They had no way of knowing the final outcome.
"These kinds of film and television art awards like to play this kind of trick. Everything will only be revealed at the end. How good would it be if they were all like the Galaxy Awards, where everything would be decided in advance. In the end, all they had to do was go on stage and present the award." Great-grandfather Fang's heart was on tenterhooks every day he didn't see the results.
"Our Little Zhao has been nominated for both the Best Newcomer Award and Best Supporting Actor Award. From what the netizens are saying, he should be able to win one, right?"
"Which one is more important, the newcomer award or the supporting actor award?" Great-grandfather Fang posted a question online and received all sorts of replies. Some said that the Newcomer Award was just an encouragement award and that it was dispensable. It was not as important as the Supporting Actor Award. Some said that the Supporting Actor Award was just a foil, a model award, and that it did not have much presence. He didn't even know which one was right. At the end of the day, it was nothing compared to the Best Actor Award.
At this thought, Great-grandfather Fang felt even more depressed. This was his mentality. Seeing that his child thought everything was good, he hoped to get the best affirmation. But things didn't develop according to one's wishes.
Great-grandmother Fang didn't understand this. She hadn't paid attention to this aspect in the past. If not for Fang Zhao, she wouldn't have paid any attention to the entertainment industry, let alone any awards.
"Actually, compared to the Galaxy Supernova Award, these don't have much weight," Great-grandmother Fang said.
"That's true!" Great-grandfather Fang felt much better. "We have already won the Galaxy Supernova Award. If we win the Newcomer Award or the Supporting Actor Award, it will be great. If we don't, there's no need to fuss."
As they were speaking, a delivery arrived.
In an instant, Great-grandfather Fang tossed the Newcomer Award and Supporting Actor Award to the back of his mind. He stood up from his chair, tossed his walking stick aside, and ran for the door in his slippers.
"It's Little Zhao's mail!"
Great-grandfather Fang didn't rush to open the boxes. He first took a photo, then opened the boxes, then took a photo and sent it to the retirement home group.
"My Little Zhao sent me something again [photo] [photo]. Sigh, young people are like this. How many times have I told him not to waste money! If he sends so much, how long will it take for the two of us to eat? And the fish he fished on Corale Island. Really, other people walk the red carpet at the film festival, but he's hiding in the corner fishing. Look at him as a star … "
— —
Corale Island. Fang Zhao had already returned to the hotel from the small island. The items he had bought had already been mailed out. He had also brought back some snacks from the small island for Nanfeng and the others.
After putting away the new feed, Fang Zhao took a look at the "rabbit" in the water tank. The little fella perked up as soon as it returned and finished all the feed he had thrown in 10 minutes ago.
Fang Zhao knocked on the side of the water tank and watched as the little fella's two ears floated up and waved in the water. He left a message for Ren Hong to purchase another batch of feed.
In the next few days, Fang Zhao occasionally went out to watch a few movies. The rest of the time, he stayed in his hotel room to write his thesis and compose.
Nanfeng, Zuo Yu, and Yan Biao each grabbed a bag of snacks and sat on the balcony.
"Boss doesn't plan on going out today."
"What are we going to do next?" Yan Biao felt like he hadn't been able to put the skills he had learned to good use in the training course to good use. He was paid a high salary, yet he had to sit around and eat barbecued fish.
"I'll go out in a bit to gather information. You guys do as you please. Boss said you can do whatever you want. "Nanfeng tossed a piece of barbecued fish into his mouth. There was nothing else he could do but compromise with a boss like Fang Zhao. The original plan had been for Fang Zhao to go to various events and red carpets to brush his face, but now it seemed like that wouldn't be necessary.
Was the red carpet more important than the thesis?
If Nanfeng dared ask Fang Zhao that question, he could forget about being Fang Zhao's assistant.
"Zuo Yu, what are we going to do today?" Yan Biao asked.
"Kill the paparazzi." Zuo Yu pointed outside. "Those two entertainment reporters who have been following us for the past few days. When we go out for a smoke, we'll drag them to the bathroom for a chat."
Yan Biao nodded. "Sure!" He was itching to do something.
Inside his room, Fang Zhao sent the thesis he had just finished to Prof. Carter, the instructor in charge of the advanced course.
Droux Carter, the composition and arrangement instructor of the Twelve Tones advanced course and Mo Lang's eldest disciple, held a lot of prestige at Huangzhou Institute of Art.
Before receiving Fang Zhao's thesis, Prof. Carter was chatting with an old friend about the Corale Film Festival.
"You're not coming here this year?" the person on the other end of the video call asked.
"Nope. It's none of our business anyway. I haven't worked with any films other than 'Founding Era' over the past year." Prof. Carter was sitting in his office at Huangzhou Institute of Art, flipping through the list of nominees. Although he had also worked on the soundtrack for "Founding Era," he hadn't been nominated. He knew that with Mo Lang around, people like him would have to step aside. Judging from the nominees this year, the others were just there to accompany them.
"So is Venerable Mo going to the awards ceremony this year? The song he composed for the finale of 'Founding Era' has a 99% chance of winning! "the person on the other end asked.
"Venerable Mo hasn't participated in this sort of film festival awards ceremony in years. Other than the Galaxy Awards, he doesn't go to any other events. His body can't keep up, and he doesn't like to join in on the fun." As Mo Lang's eldest disciple, Carter understood Mo Lang very well.
"I thought he valued 'Founding Era.' He followed the cast and crew to planet Wai for so long. Maybe he would take it seriously?"
Carter thought about it. "That makes sense. But I haven't received any news. If Venerable Mo wants to attend the awards ceremony, he will surely confirm his schedule in advance. "
"It's normal that he doesn't go. He's won so many awards that his hands are sore. He doesn't care anymore."
As they were talking, Carter received Fang Zhao's thesis.
This surprised Carter. He didn't bother replying to his old friend on the other end of the call and quickly scanned the first two pages of the thesis.
"What's up?" the person on the other end asked when he saw Carter's eyebrows rising.
"I've read the first two pages of the thesis Fang Zhao just sent. Although I haven't finished reading it, I can tell that it's a high-quality thesis. According to our advanced course's standards, I think it should get an A + grade."
"That high?! Didn't that kid go to the film festival? He has the time to study his thesis? "
"It's not just that. He just sent a message saying that he has another thesis he's working on." At this point, Carter's smile deepened. As a teacher, he naturally hoped that his students could focus more on music. "When he applied for leave, I was worried that he would get carried away by the glitz of the entertainment industry. I never expected that he would be able to calm down and study his thesis."
"There aren't many youngsters who can do this. No wonder he got into HuangArt's Twelve Tones at such a young age."
"Fang Zhao is indeed a pretty good student. I'll be waiting to see his other thesis after the film festival," Carter said in satisfaction.
Five days later, before the film festival awards ceremony, Carter received a document from Fang Zhao: a thesis and a scanned copy of a musical score.
Carter spent most of the day going through the thesis and manuscript. Then, he took a deep breath and sent Mo Lang a message. "Teacher, you really don't plan on accepting another disciple?"
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