[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu":3,"chapter-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-33":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from Stealing the Role in 1995 Huayu",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2321022,4540,"Chapter 33: A Beautiful Woman Descends from Heaven","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-33",33,"\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen wanted to submit “Car 44” for evaluation, not just for the award’s prestige, but primarily for the money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, Jia Zhangke raised over twenty thousand yuan through crowdfunding from the film group and eventually distributed fifty thousand yuan in prize money among everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a reincarnated man, if Wu Yuchen raised thirty thousand yuan yet walked away with nothing, wouldn’t he be even worse off than old Jia? That would truly shame a reincarnator!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Berlin Short Film Award offered no prize money, but it carried prestige and gathered many film merchants; winning it meant you could sell screening rights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Short films weren’t sold for theater screening rights, but for television rights—at minimum, ten to twenty thousand U.S. dollars, and far more if they won a major prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Wu Yuchen hoped even more to sell the film adaptation rights, which were worth more than television rights. But now he dared not harbor high hopes—he’d have to wait and see if any company took interest; for now, he’d leave it to fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of returning to Jingying, he headed toward the Central Academy of Drama.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, Sun Honglei had dragged Duan Long to find him, asking if the crew could screen “Car 44” at the Central Academy of Drama.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen understood perfectly well what these two were after: having made a good film, they naturally wanted to return and show off, to win face at school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the old saying: return home in glory!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen had no objections—he let the excited old Jia lead the team, and they’d already taken the copy over early that morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Central Academy of Drama was Duan Long and Sun Honglei’s home turf; they should be the stars, so Wu Yuchen had no intention of going over to steal the spotlight. Now that he’d finished discussing official business with his professor, he planned to go see how things were going.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After getting off the bus, Wu Yuchen strolled leisurely forward; nearing the Central Academy of Drama, he noticed a bookstore beside him and turned in to buy a bottle of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1995 Beijing, the most common soda on the market was Beibingyang—cheap and tasty, even Coca-Cola and Pepsi couldn’t beat it; Kexi  it was shelved next year after Pepsi acquired it through commercial joint venture, and this decades-old national brand ceased production until it was reclaimed from Pepsi in 2011.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, Wu Yuchen bought a Coca-Cola, because all these domestic sodas and drinks came in cans or glass bottles—truly inconvenient to carry!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Wu Yuchen took the Coke from the shopkeeper, about to leave, a crisp female voice rang out beside him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boss, how much for these three books?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen glanced over instinctively and met the woman’s gaze as she approached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wore a white autumn coat, her long legs accentuated by light blue jeans that were sleek and straight; her newly grown, thick hair fell loosely over her shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing her face, Wu Yuchen’s mind conjured one impression: her cheeks were like hibiscus blooms—radiant and captivating!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the delicate, gentle beauty that invites quiet appreciation, but a bright, bold beauty that struck you straight in the face—so dazzling Wu Yuchen couldn’t look away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen murmured inwardly: no wonder in his past life Bao Jianfeng called her “a beauty appearing once every two hundred years at the Central Academy of Drama,” and Liu Ye called her the campus beauty, while Qin Hailu and Zhang Tong declared her the school’s most beautiful girl—Zeng Li really was stunning!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, Wu Yuchen had never collaborated with Zeng Li, only seen her photos online.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, Zeng Li’s beauty was highly controversial—many people simply didn’t think she was attractive, mostly because they thought her face was too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, seeing her in person, Wu Yuchen could immediately identify the source of the controversy: she didn’t photograph well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a child he’d studied fine arts, later majored in photography, and in both arts, teachers had taught a fundamental principle for drawing or photographing faces:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If the ‘three sections and five eyes’ are correct, the face is beautiful; if proportions are off, no matter how you draw it, it looks ugly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “three sections” divide the face vertically into three equal parts: upper, middle, and lower; the “five eyes” divide the face horizontally into five equal widths, each equal to the length of one eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This stunning woman, Zeng Li, had an elongated middle and lower section, which directly caused her to look long-faced on camera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because whether in fine arts or photography, the essence is flat art—even motion pictures are composed of individual flat frames, demanding strict aesthetic proportions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reality isn’t flat: the human eye receives three-dimensional, Liti  information, so these aesthetic flaws simply don’t apply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This 170-centimeter-tall woman, with her radiant features and long legs—Zeng Li—by Beijing standards, was utterly stunning! Clearly, a breathtaking beauty to the naked eye!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng Li walked up to the cashier, exchanged a glance with the boy standing there, then looked away, thinking to herself: the Central Academy of Drama really did train actors—even a random bookstore clerk here was this handsome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she handed her books to the shopkeeper to pay, the boy beside her spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excuse me, classmate, are you preparing for the Central Academy of Drama entrance exam?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng Li paused, then smiled: “Yes, how did you know?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen pointed to the books in her hand and said gently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can tell from these books. But I think your selections aren’t quite right—wait a moment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen turned and walked to the bookshelf inside, picked out two books, and returned:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These two, plus the red-covered one you’re holding—that’s enough for your exam.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the bookstore owner smiled and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss, this young man’s right—he’s clearly from the school.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng Li took the two books Wu Yuchen offered, then smiled warmly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you~ I’m Zeng Li.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen extended his hand to Zeng Li, confidently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m Wu Yuchen, a freshman at Jingying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng Li shook his hand, surprised: “You’re not from the Central Academy of Drama?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, I just came here to visit a friend. But Jingying and the Central Academy of Drama have similar exam procedures—if you have any questions, I can share some experience.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s a huge help! I was completely lost!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng Li carried her packed books beside Wu Yuchen as they walked out of the bookstore, chatting as they went.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No written exam?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, the first round at the Central Academy of Drama is recitation and group performance—likely a spontaneous skit performed by a small group.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But you still can’t skip these acting theory books; in the third round, there’s an oral exam where teachers will ask you random questions about literature and film basics—if you can’t answer, it might shake your confidence.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen explained to Zeng Li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was 1995; art schools had great autonomy in admissions and there was no unified art exam, so whether or not there was a written test was entirely up to each school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, different schools held written exams at different times, forcing candidates to spend months traveling between institutions from December onward, unable to do anything else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, in 1998, the Education Bureau issued a reform document, giving birth to the unified art exam: candidates now only needed to take one unified written test; if they passed, they could simply choose schools and apply directly for their interviews.\u003C\u002Fp>",1261,"2026-06-20T16:09:29.273Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","86b4ffd0a6c49316fe89900723865ca1f8cb0127142c519b6667c2f6248cdb50","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-34","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-32",335,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-cover.jpg"]