novellhall Chapter 6: Getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam is amazing!
Chapter 6: Getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam is amazing!
Yanjing in September.
The sweltering heat still lingered over the city.
The entrance to Beijing Film Academy.
During the annual back-to-school season, new students from all over the country, dragging their suitcases and following their parents, crowd into the campus in droves.
The Beijing Film Academy doesn't actually admit many students.
Unfortunately, the Beijing Film Academy campus is quite small.
It's smaller than many people's high school.
Even though there weren't many new students, the campus was still packed with them.
The registration area for new students was bustling with activity.
There were queues of moderate length in front of the windows of each department.
At the window of the Performing Arts Department, Yang Mi had just finished completing the registration procedures, handed the form back to the teacher, and thanked her with a smile.
She arrived exceptionally early today, having left home with her parents just as dawn broke. She was among the first few freshmen in the performing arts undergraduate program to complete the registration process.
Her parents took her student ID and urged her with smiles, "The formalities are all done, shall we go to the dorm and pack our things?"
Yang Mi shook her head, didn't move, and kept glancing at the registration window of the directing department diagonally opposite.
"No rush, Dad, Mom, let's wait a little longer."
She pulled her parents and took two steps back to the open space next to them, standing in a corner where they wouldn't block the way, but her gaze never left the window of the directing department.
She wasn't the only one.
At the registration area, many new students who had completed their procedures were not in a hurry to leave.
Groups of students and parents, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were gathering in the direction of the directing department.
They would occasionally whisper to each other, their eyes full of curiosity.
Yang Mi glanced around and understood.
It seems she's not the only one waiting to see what happens.
She was born a social butterfly and had an outgoing personality.
Turning my head, I saw a girl standing next to me who had just finished her registration. She was quiet and reserved, holding her registration form for the acting department, and she was also looking towards the directing department.
Yang Mi immediately walked over with a smile and took the initiative to strike up a conversation: "Excuse me, are you also in the undergraduate program of performing arts?"
The girl paused for a moment, nodded, and smiled shyly: "Yes, my name is Zhang Xiaofei."
"My name is Yang Mi, and we're in the same class!"
Yang Mi's eyes lit up. When she was filling out the form, she glanced at the class list and remembered this name. "I just checked the dorm assignments, and we're actually in the same dorm!"
Zhang Xiaofei was also pleasantly surprised, not expecting to run into her roommate as soon as she arrived at school.
She looked at Yang Mi and asked curiously, "You've finished all the formalities, why aren't you going to the dormitory? I thought you'd already gone there."
Yang Mi raised an eyebrow, gestured towards the directing department with her lip, and lowered her voice: "Didn't you see the news from a while ago? It was all over the internet."
"Wei Yi, the only perfect scorer in this year's national college entrance examination, haven't you heard of him?"
Zhang Xiaofei reacted instantly, her eyes widening slightly:
"Ah! I know! It's that guy who turned down Tsinghua and Peking University and insisted on studying directing at our Beijing Film Academy?"
"Yes! That's him!"
Yang Mi nodded, her tone full of curiosity, "The only top scorer in the history of the National College Entrance Examination since the founding of the People's Republic of China to get a perfect score in both the science and total subjects, he could easily choose between Tsinghua and Peking University, but he chose to study at an art school. Aren't you curious about what he looks like? What kind of person is he?"
"My parents and I came early today, and after completing the formalities, we didn't leave. We just wanted to wait here and see this great man in person."
As soon as she finished speaking, another girl leaned over. She was slender and seemed to have a cheerful personality. She smiled and chimed in, "So you guys are waiting for Wei Yi too?"
"My name is Zhang Xuan, and I'm also in the undergraduate program of the performing arts department. I just finished the formalities."
The three of them were shocked when they compared the information.
Zhang Xuan was not only in the same class as them, but also in the same dormitory.
It's a four-person dormitory, and it's quite a coincidence that I ended up with three roommates here.
"I thought I was the only one who was curious."
Zhang Xuan laughed and glanced at the window of the directing department. "Before my parents and I came here, we specifically looked up the news for a long time. This guy is really outrageous."
"He was a top scorer in the college entrance exam. Admissions officers from Tsinghua and Peking Universities practically wore out his doorstep. I heard that the vice presidents of the Central Academy of Drama and the Shanghai Theatre Academy personally went to recruit him, but in the end, he chose our Beijing Film Academy's directing department."
Yang Mi nodded in agreement:
"Absolutely. When have we ever seen college entrance exam results of this caliber in our field? People used to say that art students weren't good at academics, but this guy has shattered the ceiling. A perfect scorer is now our classmate. Who wouldn't be curious?"
The three girls chatted away, finding themselves getting along very well.
The parents nearby also gathered together and talked about the legendary Wei Yi, their tone full of amazement and speechlessness.
And from the parents' perspective—
It's good that this is someone else's child.
If their child gets this score, they'll go to Beijing Film Academy instead of Tsinghua or Peking University.
That would be the least of my worries – breaking their legs would be too lenient!
Actually, it wasn't just Yang Mi and the other two.
At least a third of the freshmen at the registration area were focused on the directing department's window.
Many freshmen from the performing arts, photography, literature, and sound recording departments don't leave after completing their registration procedures.
We're just waiting to see such an amazing person.
There were even quite a few senior students who rushed over after hearing the news, including second- and third-year students.
I also squeezed into the crowd, wanting to see this legendary figure who instantly boosted the popularity of the Beijing Film Academy.
After all, they managed to snatch a perfect scorer from Tsinghua and Peking Universities.
This is the first time in the history of Beijing Film Academy.
It's absolutely groundbreaking.
But time passed second by second.
I waited from around 7 a.m. until around 11 a.m.
The sun was high in the sky, making people's scalps feel tight.
Most of the people at the freshman registration area had left, and the windows of each department were almost empty.
Even the registration process for the directing department is almost finished.
No new student named Wei Yi ever appeared.
Discussions gradually began to emerge from the crowd.
Yang Mi was also starting to lose her composure.
She frowned and muttered to her parents beside her, "Are they not coming? It's already noon, and if we're any later, registration will be almost over."
Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "I think so too. Could they have changed their minds? After all, one side is Tsinghua/Peking University, the other is Beijing Film Academy; anyone would choose Tsinghua/Peking University!"
"Didn't they switch jobs halfway through their studies to go to Tsinghua or Peking University? Then we've been waiting all morning for nothing!"
"Is the news online fake? There's no such thing as a top scorer getting a perfect score and then going to an art school. It sounds absurd."
The discussion grew louder and louder, and more and more people gathered around the registration area.
They've almost completely blocked the passageway, disrupting the normal registration process.
The teachers in the academic affairs office responsible for coordinating the registration of new students finally couldn't stand it anymore.
He squeezed through the crowd, looking at the students and parents who were still gathered there, feeling both annoyed and amused.
After finding out that the group was all waiting for Wei Yi, the teacher immediately laughed.
"Stop crowding around here and let's all disperse."
The teacher waved her hand and said with a smile, "Wei Yi, whom you've been waiting for, came to school to register yesterday."
One sentence silenced the noisy crowd instantly.
Everyone was stunned and stared at the teacher.
The teacher continued, "Yesterday afternoon, the dean personally accompanied Director Tian and Professor Xie from the Directing Department to receive us. All the registration procedures were completed, and our dormitories were arranged long ago."
"They don't even need to come to the registration area today. You'll be waiting here all day and still not see anyone. They're probably resting in their dorm right now."
These words immediately caused a stir among the crowd.
Yang Mi, Zhang Xiaofei, and Zhang Xuan looked at each other, completely dumbfounded, their faces filled with speechlessness.
So the three of them spent the whole morning here excitedly, only to find out that the other party had already completed the formalities yesterday?
They didn't even show up on the first day of school?
The dean and department head were the ones who received us. Damn it, they're giving us special privileges!
The surrounding students were also in an uproar.
Some sighed in disappointment, some couldn't help but laugh, and some even exclaimed, "So what if you got a perfect score on the college entrance exam?!"
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Yang Mi and her two companions had no choice but to drag their suitcases and follow their parents toward the girls' dormitory.