The awards ceremony was scheduled for 7pm. So, the celebrities began walking up the red carpet at 6pm.

As the biggest annual film event, the awards ceremony naturally attracted the interest of the public and attention of the media.

The two sides of the red carpet was covered by a sea of cameras. Although the scale of the FT Awards was the biggest, it ran just like any other awards ceremony.

As they were nominated, the attendees included two actors that had previously worked with Tiffany: Ji Chang-wook and Yuri. And because they were both super talented actors, they were regulars at the FT Awards.

Apart from these two men, Suho was also invited as a guest presenter.

So, apart from the ceremony itself, Tiffany was most excited by the notion of catching up with old friends…

It didn’t take long before Taeyeon’s car pulled up at the head of the red carpet.

Plenty of reporters recognized it, so their excitement immediately increased. In fact, some stood up and started snapping frantically at the car. At this time, Taeyeon first stepped out wearing a dark blue retro suit. Afterwards…

…Tiffany appeared in front of everyone wearing a flowing white gown.

This was her first appearance in the public since the announcement of her pregnancy. The design of the white, deep-v-collared gown beautifully accentuated the curves of her body and the delicate light blue magnolia embroidered on the body of the gown, perfectly highlighted her air of elegance…

To ensure that Tiffany wasn’t cold, Taeyeon covered her in a beige shawl, displaying his responsibilty as a personal manager. 

However, Taeyeon tried his best to avoid the cameras as he did this, making his actions natural and thoughtful. If it was someone else, their caring gesture may have appeared fake.

Tiffany smiled. She had always been appreciative and thankful towards her man’s thoughtfulness. After all, no one’s kindness was ever a given and she was well aware of this.

_“Tiffany, look here…”

_“Tiffany, over here, over here…”

Tiffany approached the signing wall under Taeyeon’s protection as the media requested for photos. Her popularity at this moment was higher than any top actress or actor that was present…

The host stopped the couple in their track. He wasn’t going to let this climactic moment go so easily. Above all, his questions were going to be more tricky than others,

 _“Tiffany, who do you think will win The Best Newcomer Award tonight? Don’t say something too generic. Be honest with me.”

Tiffany had always been good with PR; everyone knew this. Plus she was famous for having a high EQ.

“If I answer you honestly, will I be exempt from answering your next question?” Tiffany negotiated jokingly.

_“Yes, but you must answer this question properly.”

Tiffany let out a gentle laugh as she turned to look at Taeyeon.

Taeyeon never worried about Tiffany’s responses, so he simply looked at her in seriousness without saying a word.

“If I was to say that I don’t care if I win the award, that would be a lie. This is, after all, the best form of acknowledgment for an actor. But, if you were to ask me who I think would win, I don’t think someone that can’t be considered a proper actor would be professional enough to give their opinion. So, I can only trust in the judges.”

“I hope it is me, but if it isn’t, then it simply means that I’m not as good as someone else. It’s as simple as that.”

_“Indeed…” the host smiled. He was completely convinced by Tiffany’s ability to play game around a question.

Her words sounded both honest and false. On the surface, it appeared like she had said a lot, but in reality, it was almost like she hadn’t said anything at all.

Of course, the host did not put the pregnant lady in a difficult position. If something was to happen to her, he wouldn’t be able to handle the repercussions.

So, after taking a few photos, Tiffany was allowed into the venue of the awards ceremony. As she looked up at the big screen and saw the golden phoenix that represented the FT Awards, Tiffany felt a little emotional.

“Don’t be nervous,” Taeyeon felt the sweat on Tiffany’s palms. So, he rubbed her hand between his comfortingly.

“If it’s not me, what should I do?” Tiffany asked. “I don’t like it when things are beyond my control.”

“Your competitors aren’t weak. Would you feel embarrassed if you were to lose to them?” Taeyeon gestured to the empty seats next to her. “Both of us – especially you – have already done our best.”

Tiffany was aware that Taeyeon had already gotten rid of any outside factors that may pose an obstruction, so he had already done more than enough.

If he wanted to influence the internal operations of the awards, it wasn’t impossible, but Taeyeon knew that she wouldn’t want him to do that.

“In that case, let’s wait patiently together for the result.”

It didn’t take long before the other actors piled into the venue. Of course, actors like Yuri and Ji Chang-wook, naturally received the best seats in the house. Tiffany clearly saw the distance between herself and them.

The host of the awards ceremony was a famous variety show MC, Yoo Jae-suk. He was cool and carefree and had a good reputation. This man practically owned every single hosting opportunity for the FT Awards.

“Our attendees today are amazing…”

“Yuri brought along his little assistant, while Tiffany brought along her personal manager; each person is outdoing the other. They are definitely doing well in both love and career; how admirable. More importantly, Tiffany and President Kim are actually attending as a family of three!”

“Jae-suk, be careful what you say. What if it is actually a family of four?” the female host beside him smiled.

“Oh, if that’s the case, then that would be even more amazing! Our Tiffany will need to try her best!”

“For the sake of her child, she decided to retreat from the industry. God will definitely protect her and have the best things planned for her.”

Yoo Jae-suk spoke with complete sincerity. This was why the public did not dislike him. His blessings always came straight from the heart.

“OK, let’s stop wasting time. I’m sure everyone can’t wait for the winners to be announced…”

“Firstly, let’s welcome the Oscar award winning screenwriter and national treasure, Mr. Chen Feng, to the stage to say a few words and present our first award.”

As the crowd erupted into an applause, an old man with a head full of hair and black-framed glasses appeared on the glittery stage. He stood behind the microphone, clasped his hands together and began speaking in a loud and confident voice.

“Too many generic words have been said, so I won’t say too much. I will simply mention one thing that has sparked my interest. The competition for this year’s Best Newcomer Award has been fierce, and the popularity of the award has surpassed all the other awards this year. This is the first time this has happened on the FT Awards stage.”

“So, I decided to watch the films of the women that were nominated: Yu Rong’s ‘Glory’, Dai Ziwen’s ‘Old Tribe’, Wang Siwen’s ‘Green-blooded Bullet’ and, of course, Tiffany’s ‘W.H.’. I also watched the film featuring the eliminated Yang Xi…”

“After watching all of them, I personally have a favorite. Of course, I won’t mention any names just yet. I simply want to say that this particular film made me realize that there are still people out there willing to invest their entire soul into the acting profession.”

“So, I have a deep respect for this particular actress. Because her hard work is no less than those of us that have been in the industry our entire lives.”

“This is all I’m going to say. Following on, I will be announcing the winner of the 37th Annual FT Awards Best Supporting Actress. This will be the first award for the night. Every actor starts off as a supporting character and every director and screenwriter starts off as a rookie. I hope the winner of the Best Supporting Actress will some day become the Best Actress.”

“Could everyone please look to the screen for the final results!”

As soon as Chen Feng finished speaking, the screen behind him began naming the nominees. Of course, a spotlight lit up each of the women one at a time. After a few rotations, the spotlight finally stopped on one of the women as the name of the award recipient appeared on the big screen.

During this time, Tiffany’s gaze happened to fall upon a certain person. A person that she had met once, but left a lasting impression.

Zhang Qingping.

This so-called ‘President of the Film Association’ and top grade actor and director, was currently sitting proudly, not too far from her.

Although the incident between them had happened quite some time ago, Nichkhun’s mother and her husband, Director Zheng, had used this man to slander her in the past. At that time, Taeyeon had also said a few words to refute against him.

At that time, Mother's Nichkhun had mentioned that this man was a judge for the FT Awards.

After such a long period of time, Tiffany had already forgotten about this. But, the industry was small…

“What’s wrong?” Taeyeon noticed something wasn’t right.

Tiffany pointed to the man with her chin and Taeyeon followed the direction of her gaze. As soon as he saw Zhang Qingping, he knew what she was thinking.

“I almost forgot that I had offended this man. If I had known…”

“It’s fine,” Tiffany cut in. “You didn’t do anything wrong. If he insists on involving personal grudges, then I’d rather not receive the award.”

Taeyeon did not say anything. He simply ran his hand through Tiffany’s hair.

“Following on, please welcome our next guest presenter…”

According to the normal order of presentation, after the Best Supporting Actress was announced, the Best Newcomer Award was supposed to follow closely behind.

After all, compared to the highly important awards at the end, The Best Newcomer Award did not hold much weight; it was simply a form of encouragement for rookies. Plus, winning a Best Newcomer Award did not guarantee that they would end up winning a Best Actress/Actor Award in the future. But, this year was a little different…

The organizers delayed the Best Newcomer Award towards the end…

All the guests sighed. It seemed, the FT Awards finally knew how to keep up with the times and play with gimmicks.

Of course, this proved that the competition for this year’s Best Newcomer was fierce and was held in high esteem.

“Following on, we will be presenting the award for The Most Promising Director. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these young people for contributing to the film industry. It’s because of you that the older generation feel deeply comforted and can see hope in the industry.”

“The winner is…please look at the screen…”

“The director of ‘W.H.’, Suho.”

Suho froze at the sound of his own name. He had not received any notification about this award and had simply shown up to be a guest presenter. He never expected to receive such a surprise.

The way that Suho was hurt by CH and the way that he changed from being a manager to a director was all witnessed by Tiffany. On top of that, his persistence during the filming of ‘W.H.’ was what encouraged Tiffany and Yuri to keep persevering.

So, seeing Suho receive an award, naturally made Tiffany happy for her friend.

“Tae, Suho received an award!” Tiffany smiled. Taeyeon was surprised by this smile, because it had been a long time since he had seen such a simple and pure smile on her face.

She was simply happy because her friend had received an award.

“He will receive even more awards in the future,” Taeyeon said as he watched Suho walk up onto the stage.

Tiffany nodded her head before she listened intently to Suho’s speech.

“I am very surprised,” Suho began. “I never thought that I’d receive an award. ‘W.H.’ was my first film and a great start to my career as a director. As I stand up here, the first person I want to thank is Tiffany.”

“Thank you for not complaining and asking questions. For the sake of this film, she was willing to go to any lengths.”

“She has always been a friend that I have truly respected.”

“Secondly, I would like to thank Yuri. Of course, I am referring to the fact that he participated in this film for free!”

“It was because of these two people that I truly understood how it felt to have a film come to life.”

“As for my production team, they are all of the same heart. So, I won’t go into too much detail about who else to thank. However, there is one more thing I would like to address.”

“I hope that everyone can be nice to Tiffany. She is truly a good person and extremely talented. But, I know she is constantly thrown into a storm and being hurt and attacked.”

“Up here, I would like to declare that Tiffany and I will forever be the best of friends! From today onwards, no matter what happens, I will be on her side!”

“So, Tiffany…”

“Keep up the hard work!”

“Lastly, I know that everyone is waiting to see the winner of The Best Newcomer Award, so I won’t take up any more of your precious time. I will now hand the stage back to the hosts.” After speaking, Suho placed a kiss on his trophy.

The Best Newcomer Award!

How many people inside and outside of the venue were waiting for this award?

“Following on, we will be presenting the winners of the Best Newcomer Award. Please welcome our guests: the president of the film association and one of the nation’s best directors, Mr Zhang Qingping; as well as the honorary chairwoman of Times Media, Ms Rong Xiuhua; to the stage.”

As the crowd erupted in an applause and watched the two important personalities appear on the stage, there was a deeper meaning to quite a few people’s smiles. 

No matter how popular this award was, they couldn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. They couldn’t allow the most important Best Actress/Actor awards to be overshadowed by the Best Newcomer Award.

“Mr Zhang is a much respected senior in the industry…” Rong Xiuhua clapped her hands.

“And Ms Rong has produced a lot of miracles in the film industry,” the old man smiled. “But, the film industry now is definitely a lot different to how it was back in our time.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Real actors are becoming scarce, whereas those that only know how to flirt and suck up are increasing. Stotytellers are dying out, whereas those that deceive the audience are growing in numbers. Cheap graphics are everywhere, but ticket sales are still through the roof. I am struggling to understand the way that this generation judges quality. Perhaps I am getting old…” the old man laughed in self-ridicule.

“Let’s take this Best Newcomer Award for example. Although newcomers deserve encouragement, shouldn’t the public’s attention be focused on those that have spent a lifetime dedicated to acting?”

“I am especially disgusted by those that decide to become an actor just because they can’t survive in their own industry. Acting is indeed a money-making profession, but people like this, end up skewing the public’s judgment and is not healthy for the development of the industry.”

“You are indeed a straightforward senior…” Rong Xiuhua said awkwardly.

His words were much too obvious and direct.

All that was missing was for him to mention Tiffany’s name!

He was from the previous generation and had achieved a lot, but he was arrogant and ignored the current market trends, even though Tiffany was practically aloof from the world like a monk.

“I won’t say any more, we should focus on presenting the award. Over the years, the awards that have been handed over from my hands has never been this cheap,” Zhang Qingping spoke without showing any mercy and naturally attracted a lot of hatred…

“The winner of the 37th Annual FT Award for The Best Newcomer is…”

The spotlight suddenly alternated between Tiffany and the other nominees as everyone held their breaths and stared intently at the image on the screen.

Tiffany felt unusually nervous so she began to hold nervously to Taeyeon’s hand.

Taeyeon’s heart ached as he looked at the nervous expression on her face. He subconsciously held onto her hand and rubbed it comfortingly.

“…Tiffany from ‘W.H.’!”

Seeing this result, everyone was overcome with complex emotions. The result seemed both expected, yet also surprising.

Tiffany also felt quite complex. She knew that to outsiders, she didn’t seem to deserve this award. Otherwise, Zhang Qingping would not have said what he did.

And it was because of this that everyone watched in deep thought as Tiffany stood up from her seat. Of course, as her husband, Taeyeon also stood up, held onto her hand and headed to the stage with her.

Zhang Qingping was unwilling to present the award to Tiffany, so the entire process was handled by Rong Xiuhua. Tiffany got what she wished for and finally held the golden phoenix trophy in her hands. But…

“Tiffany, could you please share with us your thoughts?”

Hearing the host’s invite, Tiffany walked up to the microphone, scanned the audience and began speaking in a loud and clear voice,

“Firstly, I have a few words I would like to say to Mr. Zhang Qingping.” Tiffany turned to the side and placed the golden phoenix trophy on the floor.

“If Mr. Zhang’s opinion is representative of the entire older generation, then I can only say that it is a shame.”

“The seniors of the film industry are indeed the founders and creators of the industry, but they should not represent arrogance and prejudice.”

“Each generation leaves it’s own mark. Perhaps in Mr. Zhang’s eyes I am not worthy, but, to the generation before you, were you viewed as perfect?”

“You!!”

“I indeed changed from a model to an actress. But, firstly, I do not lack money, and secondly, I have put in the same amount of effort as everyone else, including the great actors that you speak of. In your eyes, can effort and sacrifice be separated into distinct categories?”

“For example, if a painter suddenly becomes an engineer, are they being disloyal to the arts and architecture industry?”

“I’m sorry, but it is our freedom of choice.”

“You have indeed made a lot of contributions to the film industry, no one can ever replace that, but…Mr. Zhang, you must admit that you are getting old and times are changing. We need to keep up with trends. The current generation loves to look at things objectively. If the film industry has failed to be objective, I’m sure they would have been destroyed by the public already. Did you think it would be as prosperous as it is today?”

“Do you think that the younger generation is all wrong and you are the only one