Chapter 585: Chapter 585

"Ah, little girl, it must have been a couple of years since you last set up a stall here, huh?"

Unexpectedly running into an acquaintance, Zhou Yiyi was delighted, "Grandma, happy New Year! I’m so happy to see you; I’ve been studying in L City, you know?"

"Ah yes, yes, of course, how could I forget? You’re a senior this year, right?"

"Grandma, you have a great memory, indeed! Just half a year left until graduation, and who knows when we’ll meet again once I start university!"

"You really work hard, having to set up a stall even during the New Year. Is it cold?"

Zhou Yiyi shook her head with a smile, "It’s fine. Seeing so many familiar faces support me makes it not feel hard at all."

From the fourth day of the Chinese New Year in junior high to senior high, four years had passed. Some passersby still remembered her so clearly—how could it not move her?

Especially since they really supported her, Zhou Yiyi would often give an extra box of pastries to acquaintances, repeatedly thanking everyone for their tolerance and support.

From Chinese New Year’s Day to the sixth day, Zhou Yiyi traveled around the major markets, parks, and stadiums of Y City and successfully sold all one hundred boxes of roast duck, earning twenty thousand yuan (including pastries). Calculating eighty yuan per 200 sets, she made about 8,000 yuan—a truly high-profit business that was worth the hardship!

When school started on the seventh day, the results of the last semester’s final exams came out, and Zhou Yiyi didn’t manage to hold her second position, dropping to fourth.

This was the last semester of their senior year, and a look of exhaustion and lethargy was evident on the students’ faces.

The most exciting event of the semester was probably the school-organized examination for recommended university admissions. However, for someone like Zhou Mo, who had won numerous competitions, he was unquestionably the top candidate. What was more daunting was that the students in the humanities class who had secured a recommendation didn’t even attend classes anymore. However, Zhou Mo, just like them, followed the routine studiously and even helped teachers grade papers—this student not only earned the admiration and affection of the teachers but also a mixture of love and envy from his classmates. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ n0velfire.net

Zhou Mo’s recommendation wasn’t the kind that didn’t allow choice of major but rather he could choose any from the physics or chemistry departments at Qing University or Beijing University. He eventually opted for the physics department at Qing University, which everyone had kind of expected.

Zhou Yiyi always felt that university recommendations had nothing to do with her, but she was surprised when the new semester started in senior high; the class teacher brought her some good news.

Considering that she, along with Zhou Mo, had been honored as courageous and righteous youths in freshman year, and that she had won big awards in the calligraphy circuit in her freshman and sophomore years and was even shortlisted for membership in the Hua Country Calligrapher Association, the Central Academy of Fine Arts had extended an olive branch to her. This was an initiative from them, as Zhou Yiyi hadn’t taken any art exams nor filled out any preference forms, but them offering her a guaranteed spot was indeed a sign of sincerity.

However, Zhou Yiyi had no intention of pursuing this career, so she ultimately declined the offer. While her classmates envied her, they also felt it was a pity.

"I once had an opportunity presented before me, but unfortunately, I did not cherish it..."

Even such lines were brought up for teasing, which clearly showed the extent of their envy, jealousy, and hatred.

At the beginning of March, Lin Mu’s professional qualification certificate from the Shanghai Theatre Academy was mailed over.

At the beginning of April, the professional qualification certificates for Zhou Yiyi, Lin Mu, and Zhou Mo from the Beijing Film Academy were also mailed over.

A few days later, the professional qualification certificates from the Central Academy of Drama for Lin Mu and Zhou Yiyi arrived at the same time. Zhou Mo failed to make it.

Zhou Yiyi stared in disbelief at the two certificates, "I just casually gave it a shot, and I passed?"

On the other side, Zhou Mo was visibly depressed, and anyone could tell—he was upset about why the two of them had passed the Central Academy of Drama’s exam, and he hadn’t?

This damnable competitive spirit invited merciless ridicule from Lin Mu.

"Hahaha, with that poker face of yours, only the Beijing Film Academy can tolerate you. Clearly, the folks at Central Drama looked down on you, the Vase, hahaha, it’s totally reasonable for them to ditch you,"

Just hearing Lin Mu describe how Zhou Mo looked during the exam made Zhou Yiyi feel like she was right there.

She pursed her lips in amusement and gently tugged at Lin Mu’s arm. Lin Mu gave his typical poker-faced look. "Let go, who said you could touch me?"

After acting out this scene, Lin Mu immediately switched back to his playful, grinning self, unable to stop laughing while looking at Zhou Mo.

"Actually, right after the exam, I wanted to tell Yiyi, haha, it didn’t kill me with laughter then. How could you say such a thing during the group skit? Oh man, that girl’s face back then, it feels painful just thinking about it. I guess the teacher from the film academy wanted to craft you into something unique since you excel in other areas—too talented for them to let go. But over at the Central Academy of Drama, hahaha, ruthless!"

They say that Beijing Film produces stars and Central Drama produces actors. It seems there’s truth to this saying. With Zhou Mo’s looks, he’s more than suitable to be a star, but as an actor, well, it depends on whether he’s willing or not. The only surprise for Lin Mu was probably Zhou Yiyi’s performance; honestly, he was quite excited.

"Hey, Zhou Mo, are you considering it? With your scores and the professional certificate, getting into Beijing Film Academy is a piece of cake. Look, all three of us got in. Why don’t we just all go to Beijing Film together? It would save me the trouble of deciding among these three schools."

Zhou Mo, engrossed in playing Sudoku, responded without even lifting his head, "Not interested."

Lin Mu smirked, an ’I knew it’ expression on his face, and turned his hopeful smile towards Zhou Yiyi, "What about you?"

Zhou Yiyi replied with a sheepish smile, "Isn’t it still before the college exam? Can I first see how I do in my general subjects?"

Lin Mu seemed a bit disappointed; he knew it was probably a futile question. After all, given the choice between this profession and another, Zhou Yiyi seemed more inclined towards the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

"What do you think I should choose?"

Zhou Yiyi liked Beijing Film Academy more, as it had produced her idol, but she didn’t want to influence Lin Mu’s choice, so she simply said,

"Being able to pass all three shows your excellence. If you want to go to Shanghai, then pick Shanghai Drama. If you want to be in Beijing, I think both Beijing Film and Central Drama are fine. They’re pretty much on an even keel. You could choose either one or base it on which subject you scored higher in. Why not go to that school?"

Lin Mu scored higher at the Beijing Film Academy than at Central Drama.

In fact, having reached this point, Lin Mu could say he was seventy percent into the circle already. With normal performance in the college entrance exam, admission was only a matter of time.

It was worth the years of effort.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yiyi’s score for Beijing Film was below Lin Mu’s but above Zhou Mo’s, just making the passing mark, and Zhou Mo, haha, just barely passing.

If what Lin Mu said was true, she had reason to suspect that his results might have been influenced by his looks, and perhaps his general subject scores had given him a boost.

Even if he couldn’t act, being a vase was still quite fine—who could blame him for being so handsome?