Chapter 59: Interview with CCTV's Sixth Channel

March 18, 2010. The day of the third-round performance exams for the Beijing Film Academy.

"Oh, I forgot! I completely forgot!"

Watching the many female parents of art examinees walking along the path toward the academy, wearing elegant, swaying cheongsams, Su Wanyu couldn't help but slap her thigh.

How could she have forgotten something so important?

A cheongsam—symbolizing winning upon the unfurling of the banner!

In truth, she hadn't given it a thought beforehand. It was only after seeing other parents wearing them that she felt like an oddity for not wearing one herself.

Many female parents taking the college entrance examinations felt the same way; it was all about the auspicious symbolism.

Chen Jin, however, felt it was entirely unnecessary.

"Mom, there's no need for that. Whether you wear it or not, your son is basically guaranteed to pass the third round!"

"It's just a matter of what rank I'll get!"

Chen Jin wasn't boasting; if anything, he was being modest. If he were truly bragging, he would have claimed first place outright.

Yet, to Su Wanyu's ears, it sounded just a tiny bit boastful.

Still, since today was the day of his major exam, Su Wanyu refrained from her usual sarcastic remarks. She allowed him this small indulgence of acting cool, provided he didn't overdo it.

"To me, wearing a cheongsam gives off the vibe of a poor student with too many stationery supplies!"

"True masters have never needed such external props to highlight their brilliance!"

"Alright, that's enough!"

The boy was getting carried away with himself. Su Wanyu quickly stopped him with a glare. With so many parents wearing cheongsams around them, did he want to provoke public outrage?

"I'm just joking with you!"

Chen Jin chuckled, and the two of them quickly arrived at Building B of the Performance Department examination site.

Good lord, an array of long lenses, heavy cannons, microphones, and filming equipment bristled at the base of the building. Sina, NetEase, Tencent... numerous internet media reporters were gathered there. This was clearly the first time Chen Jin had ever seen such a battle array.

"Is this the third round?"

"It's even startled the media?"

Chen Jin watched as some reporters swarmed around a group of parents and students, only for his sleeve to be suddenly pulled by Su Wanyu.

His forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

"What is it, Mom?"

Chen Jin turned back to see Su Wanyu visibly nervous.

"W... will they come to interview us?"

There was no helping it; she was harboring a super-duper big secret in her heart, one she dared not tell a soul.

She hadn't even uttered a single word about it to her husband during his phone calls over the past few days.

She was genuinely terrified that if a reporter interviewed them shortly, she would accidentally give the game away.

If these reporters standing before her were to learn that Chen Jin had been cast in Zhang Yimou's new production, *The Hawthorn Tree*, Su Wanyu couldn't even begin to imagine how much of a sensation it would cause?!

The Beijing Film Academy's art examinations would probably be disrupted.

"Haha, don't worry, Mom!"

"I was just kidding. They won't know anything about my acting work!"

Chen Jin had already prepared himself for an interview, while Su Wanyu mustered up her courage, determined to keep her lips sealed no matter what.

"Yang Zi!"

Suddenly, someone shouted from somewhere.

Swish!

The crowd of reporters not far in front of Chen Jin instantly bolted toward the source of the voice.

The space right in front of the two of them was suddenly cleared entirely.

Chen Jin: "..."

Su Wanyu: "..."

"Haha!"

Su Wanyu gave Chen Jin a light punch, laughing rather awkwardly. "That scared me to death!"

"Damn it, I had already prepared myself for an interview!"

Chen Jin gave a middle finger to the dogmatic reporters who judged people by their status. "Treat me with indifference today, and tomorrow I'll make you regret it—oh wait, no, I'll make you unable to reach me at all!"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Let's go!"

Relieved and feeling light as a feather, Su Wanyu grabbed Chen Jin and pulled him toward the examination hall.

Little did she expect that while there were reporters outside, there were also... insiders inside.

Moreover, these were reporters from the Sixth Channel. They were truly different from the flashy, superficial internet media vamooses outside; those others chased after celebrities with questions, whereas the Sixth Channel crew clearly came with a promotional assignment from the Beijing Film Academy, conducting random interviews.

There was simply no escaping them.

"Hello, classmate! Are you also a student taking the Beijing Film Academy's performance arts exam this year?"

Guo Wei asked with a faint smile, extending her microphone toward Chen Jin.

"Yes, I am!"

Chen Jin flashed his signature "Old Three" smile while the cameraman behind her recorded the scene.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Uh, my name is Chen Jin, and I'm applying for the Performance Department!"

"How is it? Are you confident about the art exams?"

"Confidence is definitely there!"

"..."

The bright red and white microphone of CCTV-6 swayed back and forth. After asking questions for nearly a minute, the reporter turned her attention elsewhere. "Is this your mother? May I ask you two a question?"

Guo Wei thrust the microphone toward Su Wanyu. Su Wanyu's smile grew a bit stiff, but she nodded anyway. "Go ahead!"

"Do you support your son taking the path of performance arts?"

"I... I support it!"

She couldn't very well answer that she didn't support it. In truth, Su Wanyu definitely supported it now; half a month ago, however, that might have been hard to say.

"Where did you travel from?"

"Suzhou."

"What date did you arrive?"

"On the 24th of last month!"

"Oh, so you've been here for quite a few days!"

"Has your child been receiving training in this area since childhood?"

"N... no, we've never trained him!"

Su Wanyu replied. That was actually the truth, but when the reporter heard it, her impression shifted entirely, and her eyes suddenly brightened. "So it was a last-minute decision to take the art exams?"

"Yes, mainly because the child has always wanted to come. He's loved performing ever since he was little..."

Once this topic was opened, Su Wanyu felt somewhat unable to put on the brakes.

The eager desire of a parent to flex and show off could simply never be concealed.

Especially during an interview with Mama CCTV.

"He practiced bitterly at home by himself every day!"

"He looked at content online and in books; we didn't really understand any of it!"

"We just listened to him practicing his vocalizations every day!"

"And running and shadowboxing..."

"Oh, so it's a passion he's had since childhood!"

"Yes, yes, it's true passion!"

A reporter comrade certainly knew how to say all the right things.

The two of them chatted back and forth. It didn't feel like an interview at all; it felt more like neighbors gossiping over everyday matters.

"So, classmate Chen Jin, can you give us a little performance demonstration?"

After chatting for quite a while, Guo Wei suddenly launched a surprise counter-attack.

This caught Chen Jin right beside her completely off guard.

"Ah?"

This was clearly something Chen Jin hadn't anticipated.

Five minutes later, Chen Jin pulled Su Wanyu upstairs with lingering palpitations.

Su Wanyu was still beaming with a smile. Her son's poetry recitation just now had been executed wonderfully; as a middle school Chinese teacher herself, she had even felt tears prick the corners of her eyes listening to it.

In reality, Chen Jin had simply thrown together a perfunctory response, reciting *I Love This Land*.

His delivery hadn't been as impassioned as it was during the official art exams, but it had already deeply startled the reporter.

The cameraman had recorded it with utmost dedication.

The two of them had no idea that CCTV reporters didn't just conduct random interviews arbitrarily; they held a list of "key targets" provided by the Beijing Film Academy.

The art exam footage of many future stars that would later be dug up by archaeological fans all originated from these very materials.

Chen Jin was clearly still completely oblivious.

Standing now in the corridor of the examination hall, he was waiting for the third round to commence.

His mind had completely emptied out.

Whether due to ranking first in the second round or not, he was in the first batch for the third round today, preparing to enter alongside 29 other examinees. Among them... were several familiar figures.

Zhang Yishan, Yang Zi, Jian Renzi, Luo Yukun who ranked second in the second round... Li Xian shouldn't be here, as he was nowhere to be seen.

These people would be sharing an examination room with Chen Jin shortly.

Yang Zi and Zhang Yishan had rushed up the stairs right at the deadline. Judging by their gloomy expressions, they had clearly taken a thorough beating from the interviews downstairs.

Meanwhile, Yang Zi's mother, Ma Haiyan, was also wearing a cheongsam. She smiled and waved at Chen Jin, whispering to Zhang Xiaowu, the father of Zhang Yishan standing beside her.

"..."

Chen Jin could only respond with a polite and awkward smile.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

At that exact moment, several measured footsteps echoed down the hallway.

The examinees, who had previously been lowering their heads, instantly snapped their heads up in unison; the parents also stopped their conversations.

To Chen Jin, it gave off the distinct visual vibe of mafia bosses making their entrance.

If those dozen-plus examiners and teachers had been wearing black suits or trench coats, the resemblance would have been even stronger... The aura they projected while walking was enough to cause a sense of suffocation not just for Chen Jin, who was accustomed to life-or-death situations, but even for parents like Su Wanyu.

Expressionless, the examiners filed into the examination hall one after another.

The very next second, a teacher's voice rang out: "Come on in, first group!"