“What’s more, she’s a newbie. If the host organization doesn’t give her the award, no one would think that the decision was unfair. As a new face, she can work harder in the future. If she was gunning for an award after just one show, it would be unfair to the other screenwriters.
“This award is not going to go to our cousin,” Yuan Keqing had said this with great uncertainty.
After all, Tan Mo had already been nominated.
As she was thinking about this, she heard Xu Mingjing say, “It’s already quite amazing that Tan Mo has received this nomination. There are so many screenwriters and only five could receive nominations. Only five were selected from among all the screenwriters nationwide.”
This was excluding all the aspiring screenwriters who didn’t make it to the stage.
These were the cream of the crop.
Yuan Keqing pursed her lips nervously.
She didn’t like the way Xu Mingjing always emphasized how good Tan Mo was.
“They’re opening the envelope.” Xu Mingjing hastily reminded her. She pointed to the television screen. “The presenter is opening the envelope.”
Yuan Keqing kept her eyes fixed on the television screen. She kept silent the whole time.
…
At the site of the awards ceremony…
The Tan family, Xiao Menghan, Wei Zhiqian, and the production team behind “Legend of Wei and Jin” were all present.
Everyone was sitting together. Their eyes were fixed on the stage nervously.
The presenter in charge of conferring the best screenwriter award removed the card with the winner’s name from the envelope. Then she showed it to her co-host who was standing beside her.
They glanced at each other for a moment.
In the end, the host announced, “The winner of the best screenwriter for a drama award is…”
In order to make it more dramatic, the host even paused for a short period.
Before continuing… “‘Legend of Wei and Jin”s Tan Mo!”
At that moment, the cameras panned to Tan Mo’s face and started to film her.
Tan Mo stood up calmly. She had a composed and confident expression plastered on her face, as though she had already guessed that she would win the award.
A calm, sweet smile was on her face.
Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen were so moved that they stood up.
Their eyes were brimming with tears of excitement.
Tan Mo leaned over to give them a hug. Then she turned excitedly to Xiao Menghan and gave her a hug.
Behind her, Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi were waiting for their turns for a hug with wide eyes. They kept extending their arms toward Tan Mo in anticipation.
Don’t forget us!
Tan Jinqi and Wei Zhiqian were standing next to Tan Mo. They were calmer.
They smiled serenely, though their eyes seemed to be darting back and forth to one another.
At that moment, those two men were competing to see who Tan Mo would hug first.
After hugging Xiao Menghan, she glanced at Wei Zhiqian who was standing at her left. Then she glanced at Tan Jinqi to her right.
Both of them were staring at her with great anticipation.
Tan Mo: “…”
Tan Mo was rather quick-witted. She extended her arms toward them both simultaneously.
Tan Jinqi: “…”
Wei Zhiqian: “…”
It was a draw.
She initiated a group hug with the two of them. Then she did the same thing with Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi before walking to the stage to collect her award.
Yu Yixian remained seated in her seat below the stage.
She had wanted to teach Tan Mo a lesson.
However, Tan Mo had TanYue and Wei Zhiqian backing her.
If investigations revealed that she was the perpetrator of anything that happened to Tan Mo, it would bring her loads of trouble.
She had no choice but to endure this.
Tan Mo walked onto the stage and received the trophy. She spoke three words into the microphone: “Thank you all”.
Then she walked off the stage.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Anyone who watched it could tell that she hadn’t prepared a thank-you speech.
It went so fast that the live audience and the people streaming the ceremony online were caught off guard.
It happened so quickly!
They had never heard such a short thank-you speech before.
Immediately, some people started to sigh to themselves.
If only every single award recipient could express their sentiments so quickly. It would be great if they didn’t talk so much.
That way, the award ceremony could end earlier and they would be able to leave earlier.
Most recipients would go on the stage and babble on while reciting a long list of people they wanted to thank.
Doing so made their speeches so dry and boring.
Everyone couldn’t help but wonder if she was an angel.
The way she did things strayed from the norms.
Tan Mo walked off the stage with the trophy.
Once she took her seat, Wei Zhiqian patted her gently on the head.
Tan Mo flashed a hearty grin at him.
…
Back at the Yuan residence…
Xu Mingjing mumbled, “Tan Mo really won the award.”
Yuan Keqing was so jealous that she almost smashed her cup onto the ground.
She clenched her fists tightly and tried to hold back. Fortunately, she managed to control her anger without throwing a tantrum.
“Mother,” Yuan Keqin called out pitifully.
“What is it?” Xu Mingjing asked.
“Your brother-in-law worked hard behind the scenes in order for Tan Mo to win this prize.” Yuan Keqing couldn’t accept this. She sounded very wronged when she said this. “Otherwise, why would they give her the award instead of the other four veteran screenwriters? I followed this topic closely on the web. The other four screenwriters are all renowned.
“Their scripts are usually directed by big shots. All the famous celebrities would fight to act in their dramas,” Yuan Keqing said. “Mother, I’m currently in high school and it’s a bit early to think so far ahead. However, I’m about to graduate soon and I will probably be matriculating into university this summer.
“When the time comes, Father will help me with similar arrangements, right?” Yuan Keqing asked Xu Mingjing with wide eyes. “I’m not any worse than my cousin. I don’t want to lose to her.”
“My brother-in-law was the one who helped Tan Mo win the award?” Xu Mingjing asked doubtfully.
Xu Mingjing also didn’t really like it when her daughter was considered inferior.
She didn’t want her own child to lose out to someone else.
However, Tan Mo was too outstanding. She improved at such jaw-dropping speeds that the gap between them had become too great.
The gap was so big that it made people give up any ideas of catching up with her.
However, Yuan Keqing was saying that Tan Mo wasn’t as outstanding as she was made out to be.
Tan Wenci was most likely the person who had carved out a path for her.
After thinking about this for a moment, Xu Mingjing decided that it was quite a valid assumption.
How would a 15-year-old be able to accomplish such devilish things?
She realized that Tan Mo had yet to turn 17. Yet, she had won the Tulip Award for screenwriting.
She didn’t believe that it was possible for her to have accomplished all this based on her own capabilities, without any external help.
Xu Mingjing found Tan Mo’s accomplishments quite unrealistic.
According to Yuan Keqing, Tan Wenci was the one who had set this up for her.
Xu Mingjing suddenly realized that all this made sense.
“Also, don’t forgot that she has Wei Zhiqian as well!” Yuan Keqing reminded her.
“When the camera panned to cousin, I saw Wei Zhiqian in the same frame. With Wei Zhiqian’s company also behind her, is there anything she can’t accomplish?” Yuan Keqing was sounding more and more jealous. “It would be so easy for her to rig the results.”
Xu Mingjing contemplated all these facts for a moment. She truly believed that this was the case.
Xu Mingjing held Yuan Keqing’s hand. “Don’t worry, we will make the same arrangements for you. I know that you’ve suffered a lot growing up. But your father said that he won’t let you suffer any more injustice.”
Xu Mingjing caressed Yuan Keqing’s hair. She spoke endearingly, “Our little Keqing is also very outstanding. She is as good as everybody else.”
In the past, Yuan Zhengwen had been quite incapable.
However, in the past few years, Yuan Zhengwen had been doing quite well.
In the past, she had underestimated Yuan Zhengwen.
Although he still couldn’t compare to Tan Wenci at the moment.
