Chapter 128 - 121: Why Is He Asking Me Out?
While Ni Bingyan was at home poring over a book of poems and mulling over things most people wouldn’t, Yan Zhen, the chief director of the *Chinese Poetry Conference*, was stroking her chin as she contemplated the guest list for the first episode of the first season.
"This Ni Bingyan... is she the one who just won the Huabiao Film Queen award?"
Her assistant quickly pulled up the footage from the open audition. "Director, take a look. It really is her. At the audition downstairs the day before yesterday, she was wearing a hat and a mask, so we didn’t recognize her. We only realized who she was when she registered. She came for the test yesterday without a mask, so we made sure to get a close-up."
"Hmm. Good work."
Yan Zhen was a very serious woman with short hair and black-framed glasses. She wore round pearl earrings.
As the video began to play, she stroked her chin and watched intently. Her assistant had no idea what she was thinking, so he didn’t dare to speak.
’The first day, it looks like she was just passing by? Heh, this girl loves a good spectacle, doesn’t she? So nervous before the exam that she went to the bathroom four times? But she wasn’t nervous during the exam itself? And she got perfect scores in two straight audition rounds?’
Yan Zhen scrubbed back and forth through the video clips, watching them carefully before making a precise judgment.
Her assistant hadn’t noticed all of these details. He stood quietly to the side without a word, knowing the director wasn’t talking to him.
"Go get her exam paper from yesterday."
No director could refuse this kind of publicity, delivered right to their doorstep.
Even though she wasn’t a trending starlet, a brand-new Huabiao Film Queen was still a huge draw.
If handled properly, she could bring the perfect amount of positive buzz to the show.
The production team hadn’t invited any celebrities. For one, celebrities were expensive, and they didn’t want to spend the budget that way. For another, it was a matter of the show’s identity. The contestants had to be genuinely knowledgeable. Honestly, finding someone from the entertainment world who was truly steeped in poetry was a tall order.
She never expected an actress like this to suddenly pop up and give her such a pleasant surprise.
After a grueling ten months, the production team had already screened and selected numerous potential contestants. The main reason she managed to stand out on the final day was because she’d scored perfectly in the first two rounds. Her exam paper from yesterday was also exceptionally well done, allowing her to easily surpass the contestants who were ranked ahead of her.
The assistant quickly brought the exam paper over. Yan Zhen examined it closely. Seeing that Ni Bingyan wasn’t just faking it or getting lucky—she truly possessed a solid foundation of knowledge—a smile finally broke through her serious expression.
"She’ll be one of the challengers."
The first season had ten episodes. For each one, five challengers would be randomly selected to compete in the "Individual Chase Round." The remaining contestants would form a "Hundred-Person Legion," answering questions simultaneously with the challengers.
For the sake of the show’s entertainment value, the five challengers weren’t, in fact, chosen entirely at random.
Their professions were meant to be representative. So far, Yan Zhen had selected a PhD, a taxi driver, a university professor, a real estate agent, and a high school student.
’Who should she replace?’
’Let’s replace the university professor.’
"Okay."
The assistant was about to make a note of it to inform the staff when he heard Yan Zhen speak again. "Wait. On second thought, let’s not make any changes. Just have her join the Hundred-Person Legion."
’If she manages to stand out from the Hundred-Person Legion and compete against the highest-scoring challenger for this episode’s championship title, the show will be an instant hit from the very first episode.’
’Putting her in the challenger’s seat from the start would ruin the surprise.’
’And if she couldn’t beat the others? It didn’t matter.’
’The show’s main draw isn’t celebrities anyway.’
’It’s a gamble. Losing costs nothing, but winning would be a massive jackpot.’
Yan Zhen made her final decision.
Just then, Wei Shuojie arrived at the production team’s office.
Unlike the other contestants, who were amateurs, Ni Bingyan was a well-known actress. It was perfectly normal for her agent to come negotiate her contract.
Since Yan Zhen intended to accept this unexpected contestant, she was particularly courteous to Wei Shuojie. When she heard Wei Shuojie had arrived, she even went out into the hallway to greet her.
The two women shook hands and briefly introduced themselves before entering the office and taking their respective seats as host and guest.
Wei Shuojie had been to CCTV many times before with Granny Sun, but always for the movie channel’s programs; she’d never had dealings with the science and education channel. Thus, the two had never met. However, they were both highly successful career women, and each had her own distinct way of handling business.
After the initial pleasantries, Wei Shuojie was the first to speak. "My client, Ni Bingyan, happened to be passing by and saw the commotion. On a whim, she decided to join the open audition and was lucky enough to be selected. She’s always had a passion for classical poetry, so when she found out she’d passed, she was adamant about participating in the show. Despite my reservations, I agreed. I do apologize for any trouble this has caused."
This was her way of stating that she, the agent, had been unaware of Ni Bingyan’s decision to audition. And while she had consented, she still had reservations.
Yan Zhen’s serious expression softened into a warm smile. "She’s no trouble at all. She’s a delightful surprise."
The words were music to her ears. A smile graced Wei Shuojie’s face, but she remained silent, simply watching Yan Zhen.
Seeing her silence, Yan Zhen knew Wei Shuojie hadn’t made this trip for nothing; she had an agenda. So, Yan Zhen continued:
"Our contestants come from all walks of life, but they all share one thing in common: they earned their spot on this show by passing a rigorous audition. In that sense, Miss Ni’s profession is simply another representative one."
This was a tactful refusal, a way of telling her not to even think about asking the production team to cooperate in any publicity stunts.
Even if Ni Bingyan’s profession was unique, in the eyes of the production team, she was no different from any other contestant.
Wei Shuojie had dealt with CCTV before, so she knew how they operated. Having tested the waters and been rebuffed, she didn’t press the matter and went straight to her reason for being there:
"I made this trip today to get some of the audition footage and to sign the contract on her behalf. We’re prepared to coordinate with your promotional schedule. I was wondering if you’ve established a plan for that yet?"
So, Yan Zhen laid out her plan.
"I’ve seen Miss Ni’s exam. She’s incredibly skilled. Thanks to her profession, she’s used to the camera and won’t get stage fright. I initially considered making her a challenger, but I’ve ultimately decided to place her in the Hundred-Person Legion."
"This way, if she loses, it won’t be too noticeable. But if she takes the top spot, the show will blow up."
"This arrangement is much better than making her a challenger right off the bat."
Wei Shuojie agreed. After discussing the follow-up promotional strategy with Yan Zhen in detail, she signed the contract and left, satisfied with the outcome.
While things went smoothly on her end, she was unaware that Sang Yuan had just received a phone call from an executive he knew.
"Little Sang, President Chen from Huanyue Media asked me to pass on a message. He’d like to invite you to dinner, if you’d do him the honor."
Sang Yuan had never dealt with Huanyue Media before, so he was completely baffled. "Why does he want to meet me? Is he looking for an investor?"
"I’m not trying to criticize you, but you’re going after their cash cow. You can’t expect them not to come knocking and ask what’s going on, can you? Speaking of which, what did that Han Feifan do to get on your bad side?"
"Han Feifan? Who’s that?"
He genuinely had no idea.
After all, he only intended to take down that pimp, Li Yi, to prevent her from harming Ni Bingyan in the future by exploiting their old classmate connection. He had no way of knowing that after he spoke with Wei Shuojie, Ni Bingyan would make a similar request for her cousin’s sake, and that Wei Shuojie would simply merge the two tasks into one.
The company backing Li Yi had abandoned her the moment things went south, but Han Feifan was a different story.
He was a top-tier star in his prime, raking in over a billion a year. President Chen was counting on him to make a fortune! When he heard someone was coming after his golden goose, how could he not panic?