Chapter 52 Release Party

The venue for the opening press conference of Cinderella's Glass Phone was chosen in the small auditorium of Moss Middle School, without any decorative embellishments or giant plot posters, a few chairs were placed alone on the front stage. None of the names plastered on the backs of the chairs were familiar to the reporters on stage, except for Felix Lin. As Eckles said, in fact, the biggest interest of the journalists this time still stems from Lin Ming Yang's street parkour "performance", as for Lin Ming Yang's new movie, many journalists did not pay attention to it. Movies have become a mass-produced culture in Hollywood, no one would expect a 16-year-old boy to be able to produce something amazing, even though the boy is very famous now.

Principal Matthew was invited by Lin Mingyang as a special guest, and apart from the two lead actors, all the other casting choices for the roles in the movie came from Moss Middle School's Drama and Performance Club. This arrangement made many journalists position the movie as a "high school farce". Many of the actors had never been in front of so many reporters and cameras before, so they were a bit nervous when they went on stage.

Kate Beckinsale wore a tight black Lena Lizi gown today, with her wavy blonde color rolled up seemingly casually on her right shoulder, making her look elegant and fresh. Although it was not yet the kind of upside down flavorful elegance that Lin Ming Yang remembered, the aura of a big star had already taken shape. Because it was her first time on stage, in order to ease the other party's nervousness, when she walked up to the front stage Lin Mingyang pulled her small hand affectionately.

Kate Beckinsale originally wanted to break away, but the boy in front of her, who was clearly two years younger than herself, carried a brute force that made it impossible to refuse. She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she obediently let Lin Mingyang hold her. And Lin Ming Yang didn't give an inch at this time, he held the first half of the other party's fingers in a very measured manner, so that it didn't appear overly ambiguous, but also maintained a close relationship.

Reporters who had just recovered from Kate Beckinsale's stunning appearance keenly captured this detail, and they pressed down on their strong inner urge to be informed of the identity of this beautiful leading lady, focusing the camera on the hands that the two of them were holding tightly. It wasn't hard to imagine that there was gossip about Lin Ming Yang and Kate Beckinsale that would appear prominently in some newspapers tomorrow.

Like an elegant prince holding the princess that belonged to him, Lin Ming Yang waited until Kate Beckinsale had gracefully taken her seat before he was the last to sit in his own position. To the left of Lin Ming Yang's position was Principal Matthew, who was attending the event as a special guest, and to the right was the leading lady, Kate Beckinsale, and before his butt could sit still, a reporter on the stage impatiently stood up.

"Felix, I'm curious, what is the relationship between this beautiful lady beside you and you? Is she that 'mystery girlfriend' of yours?"

"I think so!" Lin Mingyang's surprising answer immediately caused a brief commotion on stage, but his subsequent addition disappointed everyone, "But that was in the movie!"

In fact, when she heard Lin Ming Yang's initial answer, Kate Beckinsale's heart still thumped, and even though Lin Ming Yang clarified their relationship afterward, a faint blush surfaced on her face, which was fortunately concealed by her delicate makeup.

Not getting the imagined explosive headlines, the reporters on the stage were not discouraged, they changed the direction of their questioning attack and started to talk about the video that was circulating on the internet.

"Felix, what do you have to say about that parkour video about you that has been circulating on the internet recently?"

"Do I still need to explain anything?" Lin Ming Yang looked at the reporter who asked the question with an innocent face, "Besides my nude-photos, what else can't be found on the internet?"

"If I take your answer just now as an acquiescence, then what is your purpose in doing so?"

"If I say that it was in a hurry, do you believe me?" Lin Ming Yang's tone carried a few hints of self-deprecation, "But whether you guys believe it or not, I was indeed in a hurry, an important appointment was delayed because I overslept, and then the road was jammed with traffic, and in that situation at the time, it was impossible for me to call in a helicopter, so I had no choice but to do that!"

"And that includes that move across the flying car?"

"That was definitely an accident, the only difference was that that car could have braked sharply, but I didn't have any brakes to apply!"

"Is there anyone who can testify to your explanation?"

"I think you'd rather ask, who exactly was I busy going on a date with?" The reporters' pestering on this issue made Lin Mingyang look a little impatient, so he nonchalantly nailed his opponent's intentions. "Then I'll tell you quite frankly, she's sitting right next to me."

There was another roar from the stage as the crowd's eyes once again converged on Kate Beckinsale.

"Ms. Kate Beckinsale, I'm told you're from England. If you haven't been exposed to acting before, according to your age on the profile, you should just be in college at this time?" Finally a reporter directed his question to the movie's leading lady, "I'm curious why you chose Hollywood? It's very presumptuous to ask if it's because you didn't get into college?"

"I just dropped out of Oxford." Kate Beckinsale's answer was cold because she hated the smug tone of the questioning reporter.

Her answer clearly calmed the group of journalists on stage, and many of them brushed it off with notes before someone finally asked a question related to the theme of this conference.

"Ms. Kate, how do you feel about your own role in the film?"

"I loved it, Felix was very successful with his characterization, he tried to use the character to show me how to face the world with my true self and make others accept the real you." Kate Beckinsale was very deep in the role, which of course has something to do with her own experiences.

"When I was a kid I was an annoying, not very attractive looking kid, but that's the real me. Then I grew up slowly and learned to express my insecurities and anger in an introspective and silent way. I was losing myself. I was being smoothed out by real society and I was frustrated by reality. This was reality and I had to be careful about my disguise."

"I also understand that many people are in disguise, no matter what side of themselves they are hiding. Hopefully, one day, you will all meet someone. He/she can care about the real you and can feel the presence of your true self in front of you. Or one day, you can be brave enough to face this masked world with your real self. I think that's what Felix wants to tell us through this character and this story."

When Kate Beckinsale finished saying all of this in one breath, the stage was silent, and she realized that Lin Mingyang beside her was looking at her with a very strange look.

When all the people gathered their gazes on himself and waited for him to comment, Lin Ming Yang had to cover his mouth and pretend to cough, "What I'm trying to say is that even for myself, there's no way to give you all a better explanation than this!"

A round of applause rang out from the stage, Kate Beckinsale's speech had finally aroused everyone's interest in the movie. In the ensuing questions, the reporters began to ask some topics related to the movie.

"Felix, as far as I know, this movie didn't receive any investment, could this indicate an orientation that people don't think highly of this movie of yours?"

"This is because no one in Hollywood is willing to invest in a director who is only 16 years old and has no filming experience, and what I want to say here is that age and seniority do not mean everything. There is no growth without opportunity, and no one is willing to give me this opportunity, so I can only give myself a chance!"

"Have you ever thought about failure?"

"There's no reason for me to only accept success and reject failure, but in my heart, I will always yearn for success." Lin Ming Yang's slightly raised corners of his mouth exuded a calm confidence, "I'm sure I'll encounter failure, but definitely not this time!"

"My agent, Mr. Eckles, judged me as stubborn, while the film's producer, Mr. Brooksheimer, thought I was being ridiculous. The leading lady, whom I once thought very highly of, refused to work with me because of this, but I still insisted in my heart that I could succeed. It has nothing to do with whether the script is good or bad, or how much is invested, what matters is me and this group of partners around me!"

"Because you don't have any fame, you don't care about them; because you haven't received professional training, you sneer at them; because you weren't born with a camera on your shoulder, you pay far more attention to me personally than you do to this movie, and you even seize on some very boring things to chastise me. But the only thing you have failed to see is a girl who is willing to give up the world's top schools and bravely follow her dream across the ocean, and a group of ordinary high school students who are unheard of but love acting."

Lin Mingyang stated his thoughts in a very calm tone, and this time no one on stage interrupted him again.

"Even though I have no fame to speak of as a director, I could still spend money to hire some more professional actors. But I didn't do that because I wanted to leave more truth to the audience. This is a movie story about high school students, and the only thing I ask of these actors around me is to do well in the movie."

"How to capture your true self is something I tried to explore with all the actors and the audience in this movie. Such a decision may have wasted a lot of the cinematographer's film, but I believe that the movie made this way is the most authentic. Even though our story inevitably has a romantic fairy tale flavor, I still hope that by respecting the truth of the process, the audience will get some real inspiration."

The students sitting at the back of the auditorium and the other actors on stage applauded vigorously for Lin Mingyang's speech. The journalists in the front row, on the other hand, seemed much quieter, most of them still recalling some of the things Lin Mingyang had just said.

In this enthusiastic atmosphere, Principal Matthew emotionally took the microphone and stood up. The applause from the students gradually subsided, and the reporters who had their heads buried in thought also raised their heads.

"Felix is a student I've taught, and what he wants to do now was once something I didn't support, and for that reason there were some funny things that happened between us!" Most of the students on stage had been involved in that rally and demonstration downstairs in the principal's office, so when Matthew vaguely brought up the incident, many people on stage let out a roar of laughter.

"Well, you guys won at that time, but I don't recognize defeat!" Matthew held up his glasses, "Today, here, Felix and you guys, give me a vivid lesson."

At this time, not only the students, but even the reporters seated in the front rows, did not mince words and gave their applause to the humble principal.

"I've been thinking about what is the essence of education, and today I suddenly realized that true education is guiding all of you to complete the knowledge of yourselves. Only when you know yourselves can you talk about understanding the world. We always tell you what the world looks like in our eyes, ignoring your true feelings. Because there is a different world in everyone's eyes, everyone should have their own splendor!"