Chapter 21: The Spotlight!

Dilraba stared in shock at Chen Jin, who had just sat down after finishing his poetry recital. The gazes of the dozen or so other candidates in the examination room were now also fixed upon him. Chen Jin had just recited "I Love This Land," a piece from the Beijing Film Academy’s preliminary exam, and his performance was arguably even better than the one he gave yesterday. After all, his daily practice of acting, dialogue, and vocal training had elevated his skills to a new dimension.

The chief examiner, Jiang Wenli, glanced slightly in Chen Jin’s direction. His recital had indeed made her feel that he was on a level far above the other students. Many young actors would struggle to read this poem with such emotion and infectious power. More importantly, Chen Jin’s tone, rhythm, and pacing were excellent. Furthermore, he was relaxed and natural, showing no signs of nervousness.

"Must have been trained through early stage experiences and poetry recitals, right?" Jiang Wenli mused to herself as she watched the next candidate take the stage.

Meanwhile, Chen Jin, now seated, noticed Dilraba beside him giving him a thumbs-up. Her slender fingers looked quite graceful as she held them up. Since talking was forbidden in the exam room, and Chen Jin’s performance had truly exceeded her expectations, a silent gesture of approval was all she could offer. She was a nice person.

Before long, all twenty candidates had completed their poetry recitals—the first requirement of the Central Academy of Drama’s acting department preliminary exam. Next came the second task, which was exactly why the Central Academy of Drama was harder to get into than other art schools: the group improv sketch. In many other art schools, this would be reserved for the secondary or even tertiary rounds. The Central Academy’s later rounds were even more difficult, often involving solo performances.

"You all know the second part of the preliminary exam, the group improv sketch, right?" Jiang Wenli looked at the twenty candidates and continued without waiting for an answer: "Due to time constraints, you have five minutes. Everyone, move to the center!"

There was a rustle of movement as Chen Jin and the others stood up and headed to the center of the stage, spacing themselves out to prepare for their performances.

"Are you ready?" Jiang Wenli looked at the twenty expectant candidates and said, enunciating each word: "Listen carefully to the prompt!"

"Please use your performance to demonstrate: what kind of place is this?"

Before Jiang Wenli had even finished speaking, the tension in Chen Jin’s heart instantly evaporated. As expected!

It was the exact same prompt from his future autobiographical film, during his first attempt at the entrance exams. The same chief examiner, the same prompt. This old system was truly miraculous.

The moment Jiang Wenli finished, Chen Jin moved instantly, and the other students began their performances as well. A few who were slower to react were clearly still grappling with the meaning of the prompt. What kind of performance could prove a location? Some didn’t grasp it; it was a test of comprehension, clearly a part of the entrance exam. If an actor lacked the ability to comprehend, they would never be able to understand a script, let alone analyze a character. How could one play a role well? You might have poor academic grades or lack in many areas, but you had to shine in your own professional field. Understanding a script was the most basic skill an actor needed.

The slow responders were already being noted by the examiners. Dilraba, however, reacted quickly. As a future top-tier star, although her acting skills were average, she was definitely gifted compared to other applicants. Without a second thought, she sat down and began playing the air with her slender, white, onion-like fingers. A look of helplessness appeared on her face—not a smile, nor enjoyment. This was life experience. A girl who practiced piano in a studio often wasn’t enjoying it; she might even be in pain. Suddenly, Dilraba stopped her fingers, pursed her lips, and leaned in as if looking at a score, her brows slightly furrowed. She had missed a note. The imagery was vivid.

Jiang Wenli took it all in. She saw every movement of all twenty candidates at a glance. Who was good and who was bad was clear instantly. Dilraba’s performance was quite good. Another candidate sat very upright, raising a hand and standing up—clearly in a classroom. One student was dribbling and jumping for a layup—that was a basketball court. Except for the few who were slow at the start, the quick-reacting candidates had all portrayed their environments: piano studio, classroom, basketball court, playground... all except one.

Jiang Wenli watched Chen Jin, who seemed to be wearing a mask and washing his hands. His hand-washing technique was extremely professional. He interlaced his fingers, scrubbed between them, and even hummed a little tune, which made Jiang Wenli smile. This candidate was truly relaxed; he didn’t look like he was taking an exam at all. There wasn't a hint of tension in his body; rather, he was fully immersed in character.

"He’s been on a film set before!" an examiner whispered in Jiang Wenli’s ear.

Jiang Wenli nodded. "Yes, he must be playing a doctor!"

This single act of washing his hands revealed so many details. Among all the candidates, Chen Jin had the most meticulous attention to detail. He spent a full minute just washing his hands. But in the minds of every examiner, a vivid picture had formed: a doctor in a white coat, scrubbing away at the sink.

The next scene seemed to verify Jiang Wenli’s guess. The doctor Chen Jin was portraying was about to head to the operating table. He seemed to be observing the patient, but there was something slightly off—shouldn’t an operating table be a race against time? Was he wondering how to perform the surgery?

"This part isn't quite right; he probably hasn't been in an operating room before..." the physical movement instructor remarked. Jiang Wenli, however, frowned slightly. The other candidates’ performances had become repetitive; they showed their environment in the first minute and then just repeated the same actions. For example, Dilraba kept playing the piano, and one candidate kept practicing layups. The students in the classroom were whispering, but their performances had become static and failed to capture the teachers' interest.

Therefore, Jiang Wenli’s eyes remained fixed on Chen Jin. His performance wasn't just detailed; it seemed to be a surgery, but as the movement teacher said, he appeared to have... failed? Yet, Chen Jin seemed to have finished observing the patient, and suddenly pulled out something to start wiping them down?!

"???"

This was even stranger. Did a patient about to undergo surgery need their body wiped down? But Chen Jin was extremely careful as he wiped the "patient" from head to toe. The process was filled with a sense of respect and sacredness, which made Jiang Wenli shiver involuntarily. What was going on? Watching Chen Jin like this, she actually started to feel a sense of dread. And this feeling of fear wasn't just hers; the expressions of the other teachers had also become unusually strange. They were all unsettled by Chen Jin’s wiping motions and his expression. Some of the other candidates even looked over at Chen Jin with curiosity.