Chapter 45: The Meeting

"I don't know how late we'll be meeting tonight."

"I bet 10 o'clock. One meal."

"I bet 10:30, two meals."

"I also bet 10:30, anyone want to match that?"

"I bet 12 o'clock! Whatever you guys wager, I'll take it all!"

"Ah!?" The group of Film Academy teachers were all shocked, wailing, "Teacher Wang, no way, 12 o'clock? On what grounds?"

That teacher in his thirties, Teacher Wang, nodded toward the area behind the crowd, "See for yourselves."

The teachers turned their heads one after another, only to see Zheng Zhongjian, surrounded by a group of people, walking into the conference room.

"Dean Zheng is here; the final list will definitely be set today. Over 300 students, you do the math yourselves. Those who need to call their husbands, call them; those who need to ask their wives for leave, ask them. Don't blame us for not warning you," Teacher Wang said leisurely, pacing with his hands behind his back as he entered the conference room.

Just as the young teachers were pulling long faces and starting to call home to report in, Zheng Zhongjian sat down in the middle of the oval conference table with a smile on his face, tilted his head, and said to Zhang Tianyou, "It is said that this time, a few high-scoring candidates appeared?"

Zhang Tianyou said, "I just heard from Teacher Tian and the others that there are indeed a few girls with particularly good qualifications."

Zheng Zhongjian nodded and said, "And the boys?"

"There weren't any a few days ago. I had things to attend to during the day today and didn't come, nor did I watch the recordings, so I don't know yet."

Zheng Zhongjian sighed and said, "I'm not worried about the girls; our school has always been quite outstanding in that regard, and recent classes have had good seeds that are sure to make it, like Liu Yifei from the '02 class, whose appearance is quite good. But the boys, I feel, are our school's weak point. Aside from those few in the '96 class, in these last 10 years, I haven't seen anyone with that 'feeling' Chen Kun had back then. A lack of new talent—this is a source of anxiety for me. We can't have people mentioning the Film Academy in the future and saying we only know how to pick female stars and not male actors; how inappropriate would that be."

Zhang Tianyou said with a troubled expression, "But I really didn't see anyone particularly impressive a few days ago. Of course, when we finalize the list, we will definitely consider the issue of gender ratio."

Zheng Zhongjian waved his hand and said, "No need to overthink it; we must still let the candidates' abilities speak for themselves. We must select the best of the best in both professional and cultural subjects. Whoever should be admitted, admit them. Whether they exist or not is up to fate; we just need to do our own jobs well."

Zhang Tianyou nodded and said, "That's true, that's for sure. Then, Dean Zheng, it seems everyone has arrived, so shall we begin? Ah, Old Liu, you're here. Sit here. You've worked hard these past few days; I thought you had gone back to rest."

Liu Zhaohong shook his head with a cryptic smile and said, "I did intend to go back to rest, but I remembered something and decided to come over to stand my final watch."

February 19, 2005, 7:30 PM Beijing time, in the conference room on the third floor of the Film Academy office building, the twelfth admissions meeting of the Acting Department officially began.

Several teachers began distributing the list one by one.

This was the list of over three hundred candidates, arranged in order according to the total scores the teachers had given over the past few days. This time, it not only included the exam numbers but also the candidates' names, ages, gender, and native places, among other basic information.

Zheng Zhongjian began to look through it.

First place, Yang Mi. Vocal music, physique, performance, appearance, and other aspects were all close to full marks.

Second place, Yuan Shanshan, slightly inferior to Yang Mi in professional skills, but the total score was still very high.

Third place, Wang Meng.

Zheng Zhongjian looked all the way through, and sure enough, it was another year of yin prevailing over yang. He saw that from first place Yang Mi down to ninth place, they were all girls without exception.

It wasn't until tenth place that a boy named Chen Nuo appeared.

Chen Nuo, male, native of Xichuan, height 179.5, birthday February 28, 1986, vocal music 66, physique 70, appearance 95, lines 75, performance 75... The evaluation Zheng Zhongjian saw for his score was "average and conventional." Sigh, when will the Film Academy be able to encounter another Chen Kun?

Zheng Zhongjian felt slightly disappointed.

Afterward, the discussion regarding the list began. In fact, the moment the names were revealed, this list was already a final list.

So why was a discussion needed? It was because after the names were revealed, many things could be brought to the table. For example, some celebrity candidates might need to be admitted with high scores, or some controversial students might need to be brought up for discussion, at least to let the school know about the potential risks they might pose.

The Film Academy publicly claims to use an anonymous system, but that is only during the on-site scoring; by this final juncture, names can already be matched to people.

Sometimes there is very little discussion, such as in years when there are no celebrity candidates or anyone with corrupt officials for parents.

Sometimes there is a lot of discussion.

This time, it seemed to be a time with very little discussion.

At first, no one spoke.

Then Liu Zhaohong coughed: "Since you won't speak, then I will. But before I speak, please watch a video." Afterward, he took a videotape out of his bag and handed it to a young teacher nearby, "Please go and play this on the TV."

Static flashed across the TV screen, and then it began to play.

It was an edited interview.

It was very short and finished playing quickly. Afterward, the teachers in the conference room began whispering to each other with amused expressions.

Li Er's face darkened instantly.

Liu Zhaohong said, "This is what I saw earlier. Before the meeting, I specifically sent someone to the Jingcheng TV station to get it. Can our Film Academy admit a student like this? When I first saw this interview, I couldn't even eat. We often say, 'respect the teacher and value the Dao,' but what about this Wang Xiang?"

Zhang Tianyou coughed and said, "Deputy Director Liu, don't get excited."

Liu Zhaohong said, "How can I not be excited? This kind of person doesn't even have basic respect for our school and teachers."

Zhang Tianyou said with a cryptic smile, "My point is, Teacher Liu, there is no one named Wang Xiang on our current list; did you make a mistake?"

Liu Zhaohong was stunned for a moment and said, "Impossible."

Zhang Tianyou laughed, "Director Liu, why don't you look at the list in your hand yourself."

How could it not be there!

He took out the list and carefully checked the exam numbers, and then he understood: "Dean Zhang, this Wang Xiang is Chen Nuo; I remember his exam number, number 4! Fellow teachers, look, this student even uses a fake name when accepting an interview, it's simply... this is simply unreasonable! It seems he had this premeditated!"

The teachers attending the meeting below all had expressions of wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Liu Zhaohong was furious and wanted to say something more, but Li Er interrupted him, "Let me say a few words."

Everyone's gaze turned toward him; no one expected Li Er to actually interject.

Zhang Tianyou said, "Professor Li, please go ahead."

Li Er said nonchalantly, "Let me mention one thing: in Zhang Yi's film, Chen Nuo is the male lead."

The room was instantly in an uproar.

Everyone knew that the Directing Department had launched a "satellite" this time. Zhang Yi, a second-year graduate student in the Directing Department, had directed a film that was shortlisted for the main competition section of the Berlin Film Festival. This was absolutely a huge joyous event for the Film Academy.

Who would have thought that the film's male lead was this boy?

(End of this chapter)