Chen Shufen was incredibly glad that she had consciously turned down some endorsement renewal deals after receiving the script for Silence. She knew that once the movie premiered, his market value would skyrocket, and she wanted to pave a brighter path for him.
The Golden Globe win proved just how wise she had been, and now Laila's phone call made her even prouder of herself. But even though she was so excited she could barely keep from saying yes on the spot, reason held her back.
"Thank you so much for bringing me this news, Director Moran. I'd like to hear what Guorong thinks about it. Could you give me a little time?"
"Of course," Laila replied, thinking the request was perfectly reasonable. If it were her, she'd do the same thing. This was her male god, after all—no amount of care and attention could ever be too much, especially when it came to something as major as an endorsement.
"I'll be waiting for your good news. Just don't keep me waiting too long."
"Absolutely!"
After hanging up, Chen Shufen drove straight to Leslie's place.
This was indeed a great opportunity—a chance to step onto the world stage. Over the past few days, she'd received quite a few inquiries from Hollywood asking about Leslie's schedule. She'd also received a good number of scripts sent from the U.S. Even though the roles weren't all leads, they were still significant.
In the past, just receiving one of these scripts would've made her giddy for days. But now, there was already a whole stack she had declined—God knows how much it pained her to say no to those roles.
When she arrived at Leslie's home, he was doing what he did most often—sitting by the window with a book in his hands, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the fragrance of his tea.
Without missing a word, Chen Shufen repeated everything Laila had told her.
Leslie didn't seem particularly concerned. "You can decide. We've worked together for so many years—I trust your judgment."
Her nose tingled with emotion at his words. Looking at him felt like watching her own child grow up. Their relationship had long since surpassed that of a typical artist and manager. She didn't bring up the endorsement again, instead walking over to the display cabinet behind him, her gaze falling on the neatly arranged trophies. The most prominent one, placed right in the center, was the Golden Globe trophy she had personally put there.
"You must be tired these past few days, right?" she said, her eyes glued to the trophy and the name engraved on it. "I've canceled a few interviews and events for you. Just focus on the Oscars now!"
She had already cleared a spot beside the Golden Globe—imagining the day she could personally place the Oscar there. If that moment came, her life would feel complete.
"Mm." Leslie glanced at her and gave a light nod. He had noticed her little gesture but didn't comment. Even he hoped that space would be filled with an Oscar statue—how could his manager, who had always stood by him, not hope for the same?
"Guorong, what do you think your chances are at the Oscars?" Chen Shufen knew she shouldn't put too much pressure on him, but she couldn't stop the question from slipping out.
Leslie gave a percentage that made her doubt her ears. "Less than ten percent."
"No way! You're a Golden Globe Best Actor!"
"The Golden Globes and the Oscars are not judged the same way." It wasn't that he thought he didn't deserve the Oscar—he simply acknowledged how strong the other nominees were. Roy's performance, in particular, could very well outshine his. Just being nominated was already a tremendous honor. He didn't want to hope too much, only to fall even harder.
But Chen Shufen wasn't buying this defeatist talk. "The media's been raving about your performance! I think this was your best acting to date. Plus, you've got Director Moran's film boosting you—your chances should be really high!"
Leslie just smiled and shook his head. "You really think I won the Golden Globe purely on merit?"
"Of course! Why else would they give it to you?"
"Then have you considered why Laila didn't win Best Director? Why didn't Silence get Best Picture? You really think they weren't good enough?"
Chen Shufen was momentarily speechless. "It's because the competition was too strong," she said, though even she couldn't quite believe her own words. She had watched the film, of course, and knew how it had stirred global discussion. It was a masterpiece by any standard. And yet it hadn't won either of the biggest awards—that was hard to swallow.
Leslie sipped his tea lightly. "No. It's because they're slicing the cake. I don't know if the rumor about the Golden Globes disliking Laila is true, but from what I've seen, there's definitely some truth to it. As long as they gave me the Best Actor award, they could justify not giving her the other two—without stirring much backlash. Most importantly, it wouldn't provoke Laila too much either."
After all, she had a major media conglomerate behind her. The Golden Globes likely didn't want to strain that relationship.
In terms of acting alone, he felt he and Roy were evenly matched. But because he was Asian, the Golden Globes gave the award to him, so they could take the other two from Laila.
These behind-the-scenes games in America might seem subtle to them, but to an outsider, it was easy to see through.
If the same thing had happened in Asia, Chen Shufen would've figured it out too—maybe she already had and just didn't want to admit it. For Asians to stand fairly on Western ground, there was still a long way to go. They were willing to compete fairly, but no one was offering a fair stage.
It wasn't just Asians facing unfair treatment—it applied to all actors from Asia, all Asian Americans, Black actors, female actors, and anyone not from the U.S. The hierarchy of discrimination doesn't just disappear overnight.
If Silence hadn't been such an exceptional film—if it hadn't been directed by Laila—then no matter how good his acting was, Leslie wouldn't have received that trophy.
That's reality.
The only comforting thing was that things were slowly improving. When Laila first entered the industry, the discrimination was so severe that it had become invisible—taken for granted. She herself had been held back by it for years before finally breaking into the Oscars.
In the end, Leslie signed the endorsement deal with Janet Menswear. And for the Oscars, Janet even rushed out a custom suit for him to wear on the red carpet.
Usually, for events like this, formalwear and accessories were prepared months in advance. Don't think it's easy—it might be no problem for someone like Laila, who had Janet's top designer at her beck and call, but for most actresses, it was incredibly difficult.
The last two Oscars had basically been dominated by white actors. It's not yet possible to eliminate discrimination.
Hadn't there just been a protest in the UK by Chinese actors complaining about racial bias? It's clear Asians are still heavily looked down upon. At the root of it, it's all about money. Asia used to be too poor, so we were looked down on. But now, with the rise of our country, you can see many foreign nations and people starting to push back harder. They're scared.
Maybe, when our country becomes number one in the world, that discrimination will finally disappear.