Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore-Chapter 460: Cannes Closing Ceremony—Awards Ceremony!

Ding Wanyu's departure did not affect the fervor surrounding *No Bait* at Cannes.

The premiere screening of *No Bait* had an excellent reception, with a steady stream of potential collaborators coming to their door. Director Ning had to receive different people every day to discuss the overseas distribution rights for *No Bait*.

During this period, people from Shield Screen Studios also came looking for Xiao He.

It seemed that because of his performance in *No Bait*, they saw even more value in Xiao He. The terms they offered this time were even more generous than last time, clearly showing they genuinely wanted to collaborate with Xiao He.

But Xiao He was no fool. He investigated along this line and, unsurprisingly, uncovered Shield Screen's practice of using dual scripts.

On the surface, it was a male lead role, but in reality, he would just be a decorative mascot for the female lead.

Nowadays, box office earnings were tough both domestically and internationally. They deigned to seek him out to expand their domestic market, yet in the end, they still weren't willing to give him more screen time?

Hehe.

Xiao He was so annoyed he laughed.

Anyway, the Cannes Film Festival was almost over. Xiao He hesitated almost not at all before rejecting Shield Screen's invitation once again.

Moreover, he didn't spare them any face at all, directly bringing the matter of the dual scripts out into the open.

The expression of Temosh, the person in charge of the communication, finally turned ugly. "How do you know about this?"

Xiao He looked meaningfully at the foreigner before him, his tone laced with mockery. "Mr. Temosh, we in China have an old saying: 'If you don't want people to know, you shouldn't have done it in the first place.' Now I'm giving this saying to you."

Then, Xiao He put down the contract and stood up to leave directly.

He left behind only Temosh, whose expression was shifting unpredictably.

Who leaked the news?

Temosh's first reaction was naturally anger at Xiao He's attitude, but his second was to recall and suspect possible informants within his mind.

The matter of the dual scripts was basically only known to their own insiders. A Chinese actor who had just arrived here naturally couldn't have known—that meant there was a mole!

The larger the company, the more factions there were, the more internal strife, and disagreements were already the norm.

It was perfectly natural for Temosh to instinctively suspect the opposing faction within the company.

Although Shield Screen Studios was a large and established enterprise, its halo had faded along with Hollywood's, and they had to admit they needed to make some changes.

Hence the collaboration with other countries on *Twelve Sins*.

Evan, who was in charge of *Twelve Sins*, had always been Temosh's rival within the company. Upon discovering that Evan was preparing to form a crew across borders to transfer risk, Temosh naturally set his sights on the Chinese market. He even went so far as to break his own principles to invite this Chinese actor to participate in the crew's collaboration—because he happened to know that this Chinese actor had previously clashed with Han Jae-woo, who was set to star in *Twelve Sins*.

He and Evan were sworn enemies, and Xiao He and Han Jae-woo were also sworn enemies. This collaboration seemed perfectly fitting!

Unfortunately, Xiao He refused.

—Damn it! Their company's IP was so major, yet that ungrateful Chinese actually dared to refuse!

However, there was no time to dwell on Xiao He's refusal to collaborate. Temosh immediately returned to investigate the people around him, determined to root out the one who had betrayed him and leaked the information.

And he actually managed to catch two people!

So, Temosh didn't care about the Cannes Film Festival anymore. He directly took the traitors and flew back to his home country, ready to deal with these betrayers properly.

As for Xiao He's matter, it was long forgotten by him.

Having finally dealt with Temosh, Xiao He continued attending the festival's various events and banquets.

By this time, Xiao He was no longer a nobody. Many who had seen *No Bait* greeted him with smiles and even proactively invited him to collaborate.

Amidst the busyness, the Cannes closing ceremony arrived—which was also the most important segment of Cannes, the awards ceremony!

...

The red carpet on the final day was equally spectacular, with even more celebrities and superstars arriving. However, Xiao He, who had already stolen the show on the first day, was much more low-key this time. Wearing a new-style Chinese white suit, he followed the production team into the main hall.

The atmosphere on-site was far more lively and also more restless than on the first day.

After all, for many people present today, it was undoubtedly the most important day.

Everyone was eagerly awaiting to see which production would take home the final awards of the Cannes Film Festival.

Even the online live broadcast viewership tonight was double the usual.

Since the scandal about Ding Wanyu's secret marriage and child broke out, many people discussing the gossip also learned about *No Bait* and began following its performance overseas.

The nationwide boycott that some people wanted to see did not materialize.

Instead, Sun Gong and the male lead of his new film were recently mired in scandals, and the company behind them was suffering under Zhuang Hongyi's retaliation.

As for Black Dog, the spark that ignited everything, he was now like a stray dog, caught and under investigation by the police, unable to cause any more trouble.

Director Ning was not a petty person either. He had people stuff wigs under Sun Gong's door crack every day. When in a good mood, he would even deliberately pull Sun Gong aside to chat about *No Bait* and invite him to watch it together, playing the part of the well-meaning enthusiast.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Sun Gong could only resent Black Dog for not being thorough enough, allowing Director Ning to find evidence and clues. Otherwise, when the incident first happened, they could have beautifully stayed hidden and would never have been dragged out by Ning Jiaqi...

At the venue, Xiao He and the others naturally also saw Sun Gong and his team.

Sun Gong's entry this time was called *The Inescapable Place*, a romance-themed art film.

However, the reception of its premiere was rather mediocre, though it did seem to align with the taste of the judging panel.

"Ah, Little Sun, you're here too."

Ning Jiaqi greeted with a smile, though for some reason, his pronunciation of "Sun" sounded less like a surname and more like he was calling him "grandson."

"I hope your production team achieves something this time."

"Hehe, same to you."

Sun Gong forced out a smile.

Soon, the awards ceremony officially began.

Tonight was mainly the awards ceremony for the Cannes Main Competition section. Prior to this, awards for parallel sections like Un Certain Regard and Critics' Week had been announced successively in the preceding days. The grand prize tonight was undoubtedly the final Palme d'Or.

It was also the ultimate result many were eagerly anticipating tonight. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

However, before that, Xiao He and his team no longer held much hope.

Although *No Bait*'s premiere reception was indeed good, Director Ning's unlucky streak seemed to have kicked in again. They not only went up against two Oscar-winning actors but also ran into the jury president, who favored artistic films with a taste for subtle, understated works.

This president always loved "celebrating emotion" and "exploring the greatness of humanity." Yet, undoubtedly, in *No Bait*, the male lead deceived precisely through emotions, and the plot satirized human nature.

Wasn't that just dancing all over the president's pet peeves?

Sure enough, when the host on stage opened the envelope for Best Actor and unhurriedly read out the name, it was not Xiao He.

—It was one of the Oscar-winning actors participating this time.

Xiao He wasn't surprised. Seeing that senior, he had to admit it was well-deserved.

Just as everyone was feeling rather indifferent, preparing to sit there and wait for the event to end and disperse, the host's gaze slowly swept the surroundings. Finally, he lowered his head and read out the name in his hand—

"The winner of the Best Director award in the Main Competition section of this year's Cannes International Film Festival is—"

"*No Bait*, Ning Jiaqi!"

Instantly, the gazes of everyone in the production team turned towards Director Ning.

Ning Jiaqi was also momentarily stunned.

What he had sought but failed to obtain in his youth, after all the twists and turns, had actually come to him.