Chapter Ten (5)

  Qian Rong took advantage of his unpreparedness, snatched the original and read: "...Jiang Ya's article is a kind of garbage, a kind of misleading, I really don't understand, so many repetitive 'two pairs of eyes four lines of tears' and insipid dragging meaningless dialogue... What kind of book is written for what kind of person to read, people who read this kind of book must not be very high-level..."

  These words offended everyone, and the girls scolded her so much that she couldn't keep up with it. One by one, they piled on: "What makes you say Qiong Yao? You're the only one who's superior!" "What are you proud of? Qiong Yao's books are so good, can you write them?" "If you can't write well, then don't criticize others!"...

  Yu Xiang was like trying to rescue a patient who was bleeding profusely all over his body, blocking one hole only to have another burst open, exhausting himself in vain, unable to explain, and finally declaring the patient dead: "Fine, fine, I was wrong." But these words still carried a hint of defiance, which the girl saw right through: "What 'fine'? You're just not willing to admit it!"

  "Alright, I give up, I was just rambling on, can we drop it now?"

  Qian Rong added one more shot and said, "It's about time you admitted it."

  Lin Yuxiang was speechless, reminiscing about the days when he was favored by Ma Debao. He thought that in junior high school, he was indeed carefree and participated in countless competitions, big and small. Although he ultimately only served as a foil to others, he also honed his competitive experience. When he arrived at Municipal South Third Middle School, Mei Xuan did not appreciate him, which was tolerable. However, Qian Rong, that kid, still had the leftover courage of Yongzheng, daring to cross him and refusing to back down. He wanted to reestablish his prestige. Prestige is not like a flagpole; once it falls, it can be propped up again with a few pushes. The best way to establish prestige is to humble oneself and participate in the student union's organization, obtaining a position and gaining some fame. As it happened, Municipal South Third Middle School was organizing a Quality Education Week, advocating for returning extracurricular time to students. In previous years, this was done by establishing interest groups, but these groups were not for cultivating students' interests, but rather teachers'. Students could not choose which group to join; they were assigned by teachers, and it was like the pain of arranged marriages in ancient times - clearly disliking each other, yet having to be together. This year, Municipal South Third Middle School took a step further, allowing free registration. Lin Yuxiang targeted three organizations: the Literature Club, the Journalism Team, and the Broadcasting Station, and immediately put his plan into action. On Saturday morning, each organization held recruitment sessions. Lin Yuxiang washed his face, determined to use the "Handsome Man Strategy" from the Thirty-Six Stratagems. When he arrived at the Hu Shi Building entrance, he saw that all the students were signing up, and with renewed confidence, he walked towards the Literature Club's registration point. However, when he saw the person in charge, he was greatly disappointed - a half-bald old teacher was responsible for screening applicants, and that teacher had an expressionless face. Lin Yuxiang was frustrated that there was no one to use his strategy on, so he could only rely on his own abilities. Chinese literature seemed to have the power to age people prematurely, like Wu Zixu's heartache. The two proctors' combined ages could have gone to watch the Tiger Gate smoke sale. The selection process was quite novel - ten people sat around a table discussing their impressions of famous Chinese authors' works. Lin Yuxiang was assigned to the second table, so he quietly observed the first table's fierce competition. The examiner narrowed his eyes, as if selecting crickets, looking for who fought the most fiercely and choosing that person. In the end, the last person to speak, who went off-topic by a thousand miles, won. A female student cried foul, but the examiner pointed to the table and said, "Opportunities are right in front of you! You must strive for them." He then waved his hand a few times, as if his hand was the embodiment of "opportunity," saying, "In the future, it will be a market economy; from a young age, you must have a competitive consciousness." The victorious cricket smiled complacently in the back.

  The second topic of discussion was the understanding and thoughts on reading "Dream of Red Mansions". Yuxiang had not read the original book, only a condensed version, which was thoroughly condensed to only 700-800 words, leaving him completely blank with no impression. A girl next to him stood up repeatedly saying: "This is China's first novel that treats women as human beings! Just for this point, it should occupy a place in Chinese literary history!" The implication being that "Dream of Red Mansions" does not have a position in Chinese literary history. A boy opposite her stood up and said: "You're wrong, classmate! We're gathered here to discuss the artistic value of this book, not its artistic status." Yuxiang felt that all around him were voices, he couldn't help but stand up and force out his limited knowledge: "'Dream of Red Mansions' was written by Cao Xueqin in the beginning, and Gao E wrote the latter part..." Nine people listened intently, wanting to see what this quiet boy had to say. Lin Yuxiang didn't have any profound insights, like a person about to jump off a cliff, with no way out, he just jumped: "I think this book was all written by Cao Xueqin, there's no such thing as Gao E." The result of this jump was extremely successful, not only did it look good, but he also became a deity. The boy opposite him stood up and said: "I think this classmate is absolutely right!" The girl disagreed, stood up again, and like Khrushchev, slammed her fist on the table, accompanying her words: "But facts prove that the writing style of the first 80 chapters and the latter 40 chapters are different, how could one Cao Xueqin write two different styles?" After destroying public property, she sat down and smiled at Yuxiang. Yuxiang analyzed that smile and found it was half sly and half mocking, his heart turned cold. The examiner said: "Alright, classmates have discussed very passionately!" Then he kept the boy and girl behind, while Yuxiang, as their enlightener, didn't get selected, cursed silently, and went to take the journalist exam. Luckily, in the journalist team, they only needed to write an article describing the scenery of Shiniang Third Middle School, those who took the exam had a tendency to make a big deal out of small things, writing for half an hour without finishing. Yuxiang wrote a brief overview of Shiniang Third Middle School, handed in his paper first and left, thinking he must have passed this time, because news reports need to be concise and to the point.

  The most people reported to the TV station, and the person in front of the queue laughed and said: "In this kind of place, the TV station is like a beauty pageant, whoever is beautiful goes up; The radio station is like a ghost selection, no matter how ugly the person is, they are all there." The people who reported to the TV station in the queue burst out laughing; Those who reported to the radio were self-deprecating, and really regarded themselves as ghosts. They scolded the TV station for infringing on their rights as ghosts and hurting their self-esteem. A few good-looking ghosts, as image spokespersons, said: "You guys who rely on your looks to make a living are like some kind of profession..." The metaphor was not spoken, implying that if there is any insult, it's what you think yourselves. Those who reported to the TV station didn't dare speak up, not because they didn't want to, but because there were too many people reporting to the radio station, and it wasn't worth offending them.

  Yu Xiang is doing both human and ghost, no matter which side wins, he won't be at a loss, so he can watch with ease. The registration point in front obviously discovered someone of Yu Xiang's nature and said: "Everyone listen up, one person cannot sign up for two projects, if you want to sign up for the TV station's editor, everyone must first go sign up for the reporter team, we will select from within." Yu Xiang was momentarily unable to decide which to sign up for, logically speaking, being a ghost has more power, but the competition is too fierce, afraid of not being selected; wanted to go to the TV station to be a student news anchor, suddenly saw Qian Rong also signing up for the TV station, to show that their paths are different, he resolutely stayed at the radio station.

  The examination room was in a secret chamber, first asking for the name, and waiting for the other party to answer. Those who did not have a sweet voice were rejected on the spot. Lin Yuxiang was lucky and passed the first test. The second question was: "Is your eloquence good?"

  Lin Yuxiang humbly said: "Generally." This humility is like a discount in a shopping mall, no matter how low the discount is, he still makes a profit.

  "Could you be more specific?"

  Lin Yuxiang told a lie: "After the lights are turned off at night, everyone in the dormitory listens to me tell historical stories." This lie has three layers of profound meaning. Firstly, Lin Yuxiang is extremely eloquent, and everyone in the dormitory listens to him speak; secondly, he is rich in historical knowledge; thirdly, and most cleverly - if he doesn't perform well in the oral test later on, he can use the excuse that it's not nighttime yet. From this perspective, Lin Yuxiang's eloquence seems like a foot wrapped up warmly in winter, unable to be revealed easily during the day, only to emerge at night.

  The questioner nodded a few times: "So what's your motivation for signing up for the radio station?"

  "Prove yourself."

  "Alright, then let's talk about your insights on life."

  The rain pours down for a moment and blocks everything, unable to gain insight.

  "Why aren't you talking anymore?"

  Yu Xiang suddenly became clever and said, "Silence is golden." This accidentally obtained insight made Yu Xiang respect himself, and he couldn't help but want to shout out loud, "Well said!"

  The questioner also showed respect to Yuxiang, asking him to recite a passage from Liangping's "A Bowl of Yang Chun Noodles" (an article in the high school Chinese textbook). He started off smoothly but stumbled over the exclamations. The Japanese are lavish with their exclamations in the text, one after another, as frequent as battles in the Middle East: "Hmmm...Yang Chun noodles", "Goodness!", "Really delicious!", "Mom, you try some too!", "Ah, really?", "Oh, I see!".

  Lin Yuxiang didn't have the kind of glib tongue that Japanese people are good at, and when he read out the phrases, he couldn't achieve the desired effect of being able to turn them around a thousand times. He himself felt that it was unbearable to listen to, and by the end, he was shaking his head at himself. The interviewer said: "That's enough, thank you. If you're accepted, we'll notify you."

  Lin Yuxiang went out and saw Qian Rong also coming out, smiling and reluctant to wipe it away. Seeing Lin Yuxiang, he asked: "How are you?" Lin Yuxiang's top priority was to kill the smile on Qian Rong's face, saying: "Oh, you mean that? Will I not take it?" A voice in his heart said "Maybe". Qian Rong couldn't hear Lin Yuxiang's inner voice and thought this kid was full of confidence, definitely a sure win.