Chapter 019: Unable to Understand, Yet Deeply Moved

Several days flew by in the blink of an eye—November 22nd.

When Li Wenyu woke up and saw the system had accumulated attribute points up to 23, he decided to add 3 points to Sleeping Pang Bing’s acting skill. With an acting score of 85 out of 100, Pang Bing was definitely qualified to star as the female lead in “Unforgettable,” aiming for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress.

A nomination was almost guaranteed.

He then added 10 points to himself, saving the remaining 10 for Zhang Guorong as a backup—very prudent.

Host: Li Wenyu, age 20.

Screenwriter (83/100).

Director (84/100).

Fitness (95/100).

Driving (67/100).

Vehicle operation (75/100).

...

As Li Wenyu was still absorbing these changes, his phone rang. Seeing it was a call from Teacher Zhang, he answered. On the other end came a rather exasperated voice: “Xiao Li, what are you up to? The leadership from Beijing Normal University and Agricultural University have come straight to our department.”

“Right now, the supposed campus beauties from Beijing Normal and Agricultural Universities are stunning the world. The buzz about the unbeatable new generation in East and Southeast Asia is exploding all over foreign forums.”

“The topic has ignited one forum after another, even university BBS boards. You need to come to the school.”

Within a week, with the purposeful and organized push from internet commentators, it was nearly impossible for anyone online to avoid the two campus beauties’ topics spreading like wildfire.

But if you don’t directly compare them to celebrities, don’t pit them against fierce stars like the wild “My Sassy Girl” Jeon Ji-hyun, Cecilia Cheung, or Gillian Chung, and only select from outside-campus students?

Few could contend with the upgraded-plus versions of Yang Qian and the mute Huang Shengyi.

Even though beauty is highly subjective, when the commentators set the pace, the momentum was unstoppable.

Li Wenyu smiled. “I’m on my way. But Teacher Zhang, as you said, they’re only ‘supposedly’ campus beauties. We’re all working for the film and the box office; you have to understand.”

“This is not bad for Beijing Normal and Agricultural Universities. At this point, these two schools’ reputations have surpassed even Tsinghua, Peking University, and Fudan.”

“If this were admission season, with two national campus beauties, who knows how many top students would abandon Tsinghua or Peking University for Normal or Agricultural University.”

Old Zhang grumbled in slight confusion, “You’re truly talented. I’ll wait for you at school!”

...

On Thursday, the 22nd, when Li Wenyu arrived at the campus gates, even the security guards were eyeing him as if he were some kind of oddity—or perhaps a rare flower.

Since November 11th, when Yang Qian debuted as a campus beauty, 11 days had passed.

Now, almost everyone at Beijing Film Academy knew that Yang Qian and Huang Shengyi represented mainland China’s beauties, competing with the top girls from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, and Japan in an East and Southeast Asian online beauty contest.

Countless netizens from various countries were selecting their national beauties, arguing and debating with internet commentators, crowding forums and BBS boards to the point of crashing servers.

That meant, even though the TV series hadn’t aired yet and Huang Shengyi was only a freshman, they were already well-known among netizens in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, and Japan—achieving fame throughout East and Southeast Asia.

Wei Zhentian had such fame only after starring in the “My Fair Princess” series and “Romance in the Rain”! They had only taken a few photo sets.

Yet the hype of being the number one beauty in East and Southeast Asia was truly intimidating.

Li Wenyu laughed and offered the guard a cigarette. “Bro, do you know how much they’re offering Yang Qian for commercials?”

The guard’s expression was complex as he nodded. “I vaguely heard a wealthy patron offered Yang Qian fifty thousand yuan, and Huang Shengyi came from behind with an advertiser offering eighty thousand yuan for a commercial.”

“That’s just what I’ve heard!”

Thanks to Yang Qian and Huang Shengyi’s overseas exposure, Li Wenyu, who had previously been a relatively inconspicuous screenwriting student at Beijing Film Academy, was now recognized even by the guards.

Li Wenyu nodded. “Damn, they’re really loaded. No wonder they’re willing to spend tens of millions to snatch the top advertising contracts from the Central Committee in such a short time.”

After some casual banter with the guard, Li Wenyu headed straight for the teaching building. After introductions from Teacher Zhang, the department head, and the vice dean, he met with teachers and leaders from Beijing Normal University and Agricultural University.

As Li Wenyu was about to formally apologize to the visiting leaders, a leader from Beijing Normal University chuckled, “Xiao Li, when you finish your undergraduate degree in screenwriting, would you be interested in pursuing graduate studies at our School of Media? In the internet age, many things have changed.”

“We’re a bit confused ourselves, but it doesn’t stop us from guessing how much money you spent and what a significant event you organized—the East and Southeast Asian online beauty contest? It’s even bigger than the Miss Hong Kong or Miss Asia pageants.”

“For film promotion like this, before you arrived, Dean Liu was explaining to us about the Blair Witch Project in North America—a low-budget, small production that made over a hundred million dollars at the box office through clever marketing. Truly ingenious.”

Now that things had escalated to this level, the leadership at Beijing Film Academy was surely backing Li Wenyu. He had already communicated with them—he was the screenwriter and director of “Shark Beach”!

On the morning of December 22nd at 8 AM, the film would launch simultaneously in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the mainland. The mainland’s theatrical distribution was slowly being negotiated by Zhang Guorong through connections.

This series of operations was unfamiliar to most, but with the Blair Witch Project as a precedent across the Pacific, the potential was clear.

Li Wenyu’s directing skills were still unknown, but his ability to stir up hype? Outstanding!

Who would believe that a group of students, dragging along internet addicts from cybercafés, could create a buzz bigger than the Miss Hong Kong pageant in such a short time? Of course, the real force was the commentators Zhang Guorong hired in Hong Kong.

...

Next, the mainland commentators would adopt a new strategy.

Advertising flooded the entire internet, and countless new netizens joined in. “Our mainland campus beauties are going overseas competing for the title of East and Southeast Asia’s number one beauty. Everyone, please help out…”

With this remark, Agricultural University quickly responded. Before Li Wenyu could refuse, the Beijing Film Academy leadership grew anxious. Such a talented troublemaker was someone they wanted to keep at their own school.

Amidst the group’s light-hearted bickering, Li Wenyu’s phone rang again.

He saw it was Zhang Guorong calling. After a brief explanation, the teachers kindly let him step outside to take the call.

Over ten minutes later, Li Wenyu returned to the office. Under curious gazes, he didn’t hide the news:

“The fire is spreading. Emperor Entertainment in Hong Kong is pushing a newly debuted artist, Gillian Chung, representing a certain Hong Kong secondary school. They’re hyping her as the former campus beauty of that school.”

“South Korea also has Jeon Ji-hyun, the former campus beauty of Dongguk University, participating. The Koreans are claiming Jeon Ji-hyun is the number one beauty in East and Southeast Asia.”

Gillian Chung debuted officially six months ago but hasn’t starred in any released films.

Regardless of how others were lagging, as a successful businessman, Emperor Entertainment’s old boss Yang was pushing Gillian hard.

At their peak, Gillian Chung, Yang Qian, and Huang Shengyi were a matter of personal taste.

Li Wenyu added, “Film companies in East and Southeast Asia are willing to pay 25 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire theatrical distribution rights. In Europe and America, some offer five million U.S. dollars for distribution. Several countries here are already competing for the title of top beauty.”

“Even overseas students in Europe and America are jumping on the bandwagon, making the pageant trend popular in Western networks.”

Teacher Zhang from the screenwriting department inhaled sharply. “So ‘Shark Beach’ is selling for 64 million Hong Kong dollars? Has the total investment exceeded ten million?”

Everyone was puzzled but couldn’t hide their amazement.

Selling a film like this was quite surreal!

With Gillian Chung and Jeon Ji-hyun both involved, it was still a matter of personal preference, but for the veteran players, it felt like being taken advantage of.

Gillian Chung’s case was understandable, but what about Yang Qian? Huang Shengyi? At least Jeon Ji-hyun was at a disadvantage! It was like wasting the immense popularity generated by “My Sassy Girl.”

Yet with the Koreans’ hypersensitive pride, Li Wenyu had long anticipated this kind of provocation. Even before taking action, someone over there had already started the hype.