025
Behind the door of dorm room 405.
The popularity of discussion posts in the school forums increased explosively and there were new posts appearing constantly. These new posts were not created by the students from the 405 dormitory, but by other students.
Title: The representative of outstanding graduates for this year has been confirmed as Huo Yuke, what opinions do you have on this?
Main subject: as the title
(T/N: L stands for 楼 = floor indicating the sequence of the replies in the comments section)
1L: Hehe
2L: Hehe
3L: Hehe
4L: Hehe, keeping the chain going while commenting. I had asked our teacher about this, but he hesitated and refused to answer me directly. Why are they being so secretive?
5L: Huo Yuke’s academic transcripts over the years have been revealed. The photos are attached here as proof [picture] [picture] [picture]...
6L: Her sentence is almost public! How did Huo Yuke, who had just made it to the top ten in the class, manage to be nominated? I am bewildered.
7L: Even though Huo Yuke’s name is here, I can only be reminded about Tang Ruoyao with her outstanding achievements. She is the legendary top student...
8L: Sorry that I can only see Tang Ruoyao as the outstanding graduate too. Since when did Huo Yuke qualify for this place? Besides that, all four of them from the same dormitory are so awesome, they are maintaining firmly in the top five [stunned.jpg]
9L: She has been filming since her second year, right? How does she have the time to study? She even won the best actress award for her movie! She is insane.
10L: Top students’ world is different from us ordinary people [vicissitudes of life.jpg]
11L: Wen Shuxian has also been filming, but she is always the top three in her class. I think she is much better than Huo Yuke who is just the best rookie winner and ranked number ten in class.
12L: Fu Yujun’s "The Tang Dynasty" that was released this year, I really like her role of the Concubine Xi in it. How can an actor be cute and generous at the same time? What kind of treasure girl is Fu Yujun? What are the representative works of Huo Yuke? Does anyone have any impressions? [emotionless.jpg]
13L: None
14L: Does anyone think that Huo Yuke's award for best rookie at the Golden Guild Award is suspiciously rigged? Does anyone know the truth behind it?
15L: Don't you know that the best rookie award is purchasable?
16L: Wow, I seem to have heard of something interesting here. I will be enjoying the
show in the front row.
17L: 15th floor please stay! Tell us more in detail since you are the insider. You have a better understanding of the hidden story of this.
18L: No wonder I always feel that Huo Yuke’s acting is so awkward. I completely get how she was selected on the same stage with the other seniors.
19L: I’m the one from the 15th floor. Everyone knows that in recent years, whether it is the Golden X Award or other awards, the gold content is dwindling and has been called into question. The reason behind it is too long, so I won't explain it, but only give a brief summary. Except for the Three Gold’s "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" awards, the remaining female and male supporting roles are all subject to capital intervention. A contracted artist of a leading company in the industry (Hope you can
guess it yourself. This post will only mention Huo Yuke) has a higher probability of winning the award than the artists of other companies. If you belong to those companies, you probably won't even have the chance to be nominated. I don’t even have to mention the best rookie award, they are completely rigged. The price of the award is extremely expensive, but due to the low gold content, a few people are actually willing to buy it. However, this does not deter some investors who are willing to spend large sums of money to make their artists happy.
20L: If we think carefully, isn’t the entertainment industry such a mess?
21L: The earlier years were good, but it has gotten worse recently. I hope Guo Jia will pay attention to this matter soon to eliminate the rigging and conserve the art while putting up a fair and square award ceremony. Don’t let the students who are serious about pursuing a career in the arts be disappointed in the industry.
22L: It’s so sad to witness this. I am also an acting major professional. Our teacher had mentioned this issue in class.
23L: The Golden Rose Award is in Taiwan. Relatively speaking, X Company's capital intervention is small. Tang Ruoyao won best rookie in Golden Rose Award while Huo Yuke only won best rookie in the Golden Laurel Award. [Doge emoticon]
24L: That’s hilarious, it seems that Huo Yuke's only achievement is just the bare minimum.
25L: Don’t call that the best rookie, I think she’s the best cheater.
26L: Well done cheater.
……
99L: Do not spread rumors, Huo Yuke’s acting skills are recognized by the public and the judges are not stupid.
100L: The water army bought by Huo Yuke finally came [funny emoticon] (T/N: The water army is a group of Internet ghostwriters paid to post online comments of particular content)
……
The discussion in the post was full of enthusiasm and Huo Yuke's acting skills were given very bad critiques. In fact, when things developed to this point, the doubts that followed were all within Tang Ruoyao's expectations. This is how public opinion works. It keeps challenging the dark side of human nature. Huo Yuke will be full of hatred by the public even without any accusation. Whatever she does and does not do will be imprinted on her. Later, there will be fewer people who were truly just and the number of people who were pretending to be just with malicious intent will be increasing.
Tang Ruoyao would not have chosen this strategy if it were not for these specific reasons.
Tang Ruoyao suppressed the resistance and self-hatred in her heart. She crossed her fingers against her chin, pressed her thin lips slightly, and turned her head to ask Fu Yujun, "Have the students from other departments approached the teacher?"
Fu Yujun looked down at the excel form on the computer desktop. "The music and dance departments are the only ones left. Neither of them were eligible this year." She raised her lips and said with a smile, "It is predicted that all the teachers in the school know that Huo Yuke will be chosen as the representative graduate this year."
Cui Jiaren stayed up all night, dark circles underneath her eyes. She yawned and said, "When will the candidate be announced? I can't stay awake anymore."
"Within these two days." Tang Ruoyao apologized, "Thanks for your hard work, I will treat you all to a big meal when this is over."
"Forget about the big meal." Wen Shuxian was lying on the table, her face buried in her arms to take a nap. Her ears moved as she heard their discussion. She spoke in a tired voice, "If we can make Huo Yuke forfeit, I will be happier than being treated to ten meals."
Fu Yujun persuaded her, "Go to bed if you are sleepy."
Wen Shuxian shook her head and yawned. "The whole day will be gone if I go to bed now."
Tang Ruoyao stared at the screen and suddenly said, "Go to sleep, we are basically not needed here now."
All of a sudden, Wen Shuxian had a thought and turned her face back to Tang Ruoyao. "Is it done?"
Tang Ruoyao smiled faintly and said, "Come on and see."
The three of them hurried over.
There was such a reply that stuck out in the post: [They are all students from the same school, so please don't attack each other so fiercely. When I went to ask the teacher, she told me that the principal was already aware of the situation and that I should wait for the news. It should not be Huo Yuke, unless the principal covers her.]
Cui Jiaren stagnated, she pulled back her tongue and her words became sharp. "Sch- school principal?!"
Wen Shuxian could not believe it, she was blanking out. "This matter has really been brought in front of the principal? Why is it suddenly becoming a huge matter?!”
Fu Yujun breathed with a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Everything is going according to plan. Okay, let's go to sleep, there will be good news when we wake up tomorrow."
Even if Tang Ruoyao looked confident, she still did not feel relieved.
Fu Yujun massaged her shoulder, half-ordered and half-forced. "You should get some rest too, you have been sitting on the chair too much these past few days. Don't get sick or else no one will be carrying you to the stage during the graduation ceremony."
Tang Ruoyao did not move and she shook her head: "I’m fine, I'll wait for two more days." She could only sleep at ease when the list was officially announced.
Fu Yu didn't persuade her further, she went to her bed for a nap. Her bed was opposite of Tang Ruoyao. When she turned sideways, she could see Tang Ruoyao's stiff back from her bed. Basically the matter on the internet has been settled and nothing could be changed, but she still stared at the screen without blinking.
What made her suddenly look like a different person?
Fu Yujun thought quietly and fell asleep.
***
"Let's talk about it."
Principal Sun folded his arms and sat expressionless on his office chair, his eyes were sharp and compelling.
On the left side of his desk stood the senior teacher of the opera department, and on the right stood the director of the teacher's office. Both of them were shocked. The director wiped his sweat and said, "Principal, I..."
Principal Sun did not expect this issue to happen right in front of his eyes.
Principal Sun had to manage everything every day. He was in charge of the entire school. Usually there was no need for him to deal with such trivial matters like the selection of graduate representatives. During this period of time, he was busy helping with the cultural work with his boss. He had meetings every day and he was so busy that he had to seek the free time to write the speech for the graduation ceremony. He never thought Teacher Zhao from the Opera Department would make this report in front of him when he just entered the school, leaving him in a state of confusion.
What graduate representative? What is the inside story? What is this nonsense?
Teachers had more news media than the students. In the past few days, top students from various departments had come to ask about the internal decisions. This had spreaded among the teachers and they had obtained the exact same news. Huo Yuke as the graduate representative was their internal final decision!
One stone stirred up a thousand waves.
Some teachers chose to be wise and protect themselves, but some teachers were upright and chose to stand up to these "black-box" operations. Since becoming the principal, Principal Sun had always been known for his fairness, strictness, freedom, and democracy. He even had a much more honest attitude among the teachers.
Teacher Zhao could not stand a tiny flaw in his eyes, not to mention that Sun Xiaoxiao of the Opera Department was her favourite student. When he heard that Huo Yuke was appointed, she got so mad that her blood boiled. She thought that Sun Xiaoxiao was not weaker compared to Tang Ruoyao, but she and Sun Xiaoxiao both agreed that it was okay if Tang Ruoyao was chosen. But why Huo Yuke? She knew what Huo Yuke was doing in secret. Students were supposed to study hard and not plot anything in a crooked matter. Huo Yuke already had a messy life outside of school. She did not need to care about Huo Yuke's life so she chose to ignore that. She believed that Huo Yuke was not worthy of the place when compared to Sun Xiaoxiao.
Principal Sun understood the issue. After looking through Tang Ruoyao and Huo Yuke's academic records and ratings of their films, his expression changed. He first comforted Mr. Zhao, who was so emotional that he had to take antihypertensive drugs. Then, he called the director of the teacher’s office who was in charge of the matter.
The director hated Teacher Zhao very much. The name list will be announced soon, but he was forced to meet the principal at this specific time. Was this an intentional punishment to him? He knew that the principal was a fair and selfless person. He could never escape from punishment if the principal knew about his selfish act that he did behind his back.
The director responded very quickly when facing the headmaster’s questioning gaze, he pretended to be calm and said sternly, "Principal, this is just a rumor! It has always been Tang Ruoyao. Her achievements and awards are readily apparent. It could never be Huo Yuke."
He was stupid but when compared to being the director of the Capital Academy of Drama, the little benefit that others gave him was nothing. The most urgent task for him at the moment was to calm the headmaster's anger.
Principal Sun smiled. "Really? It's just a rumor?"
The director chuckled lightly in his heart, his palms covered with fine sweat. He dared not to wipe it. He smiled. "Yes, rumors, rumors." He was trying to draw attention away from himself. "This issue has no real evidence, so the principal shouldn't take it seriously."
Teacher Zhao mocked, "Do you mean that I am the one who spread rumors?"
Director glanced at the principal. The principal had a thoughtful expression. He straightened his waist and said with a fake smile, "I didn't mention Teacher Zhao. What makes you think that?"
Teacher Zhao: "You—"
Principal Sun knocked on the table with the pen cap. "Okay, don’t fight. I have my own solution on this matter." He called the name of the director.
Director: "Yes."
Principal Sun squeezed his eyebrows and said, "Since it is a rumor, you can announce the list in advance to dispel the rumors to stop the riot." Just as the director was about to smile, Principal Sun warned him and said in a deep voice, "The graduation ceremony is happening soon. I don’t want to see anything go wrong again. Remember, our school spirit is ethics, inspiration, and fairness."
He paused at every word.
The director opened his mouth, trying to say something to defend himself, but in the end he just nodded and walked out slowly.
He stood at the door and touched his back, his T-shirt was soaked in cold sweat.
Principal Sun said to Teacher Zhao in a pleasant manner, "You should go back too, have a good rest."
Teacher Zhao glanced at him and left.
Principal Sun sat in the office alone and sighed. He was not satisfied with Teacher Zhao letting go of the issue, but he could not spare himself to deal with it now. Everything had to be done one by one.
Principal Sun moved his mouse, and the computer screen in front of him lit up. It was a school forum, and the homepage was still floating with a post about Huo Yuke.
He only knew that the forum was a mess after he checked it. The issue began from the forum. The rumors were boosted further offline. Finally, the teacher brought up the matter to him to prove his own innocence.
This series of operations—even the timing was just right—made him shudder and his scalp numb. He did not believe that everything was spontaneous. Principal Sun had a playful look, he was curious to know who was the clever person that led behind the scenes.
***
Dorm room 405.
The screens of the four people’s mobile phones lit up at the same time: there was a message from the class group.
[@All members have been notified by the school that the official list of outstanding graduates was announced in advance today. The representative of this year’s outstanding graduates is Tang Ruoyao!]
The four of them burst into cheers.
Wen Shuxian was fully awake and now full of energy. She raised her hand happily and suggested, "To celebrate this victory, let's go out and have a meal together!"
Cui Jiaren agreed and asked, "What should we have? I want to eat hot pot."
They had an intense discussion about it. They talked about barbecue and skewers. Fu Yujun suddenly felt that something was not right, it seemed that there were only three people's voices in the discussion.
She tilted her head to look at Tang Ruoyao and immediately stopped the conversation between the two roommates. She pressed her index finger on her lips and made a "hush" gesture.
Tang Ruoyao was lying her head on the table with one hand holding her mobile phone with the screen on. Her cheeks were resting between her folded arms. There was a slight smile on the corners of her mouth. Her breathing was even and long, no one knew when she fell asleep.
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The author has something to say:
Qin jiejie will finally make her appearance next ah ah ah ah
Tang Tang: I can drink my sister's water (*/ω＼*)
(T/N: To absorb new Qin jie content)
Thanks to the little angel who voted for me.
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!