How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 479 The Cards Are Out in the Open

The day after the second round of auditions for the Beijing Film Academy concluded, the second round of auditions for the Huaxia Conservatory of Music immediately began.

As the morning sun shone on the ancient gate of the music academy, Zhang Wen appeared in the waiting area for examinees.

Sharp-eyed reporters immediately swarmed around him. After yesterday's "collective certification incident" at the entrance of Beijing Film Academy, Zhang Wen has now become the focus of attention in the art exam circle, and major media outlets are all trying to capture his latest developments and those of Xingxiang students.

"Principal Zhang, did you come to Huayin Conservatory of Music today to cheer on the students?"

"Principal Zhang, the preliminary audition results for Xingxiang Performance Class were so good, the preliminary audition results for Music Class must have been good too, right?"

"Principal Zhang, do you have any secrets to performance training that you could share with everyone?"

"..."

Zhang Wen looked at the reporters in front of him and waited until they had all asked their questions before saying, "I think art exam training should be judged by results, not by the fame gained through advertising. Although Xingxiang Training is new, we have good results. I advise those established training institutions not to live in advertising, just like internet celebrities don't live in beauty filters."

After saying that, he walked out of the crowd.

"!!!"

After hearing this, the reporters all showed surprise, but even more so, excitement.

Although Principal Zhang did not answer their questions, his words were extremely aggressive, clearly a rebuttal to other large art exam training institutions, and directly targeting Jia Hua Art Exam and Mindful Art Exam, which had posted on Weibo a few days ago implying that Xingxiang's results were fake.

If this were reported, it would definitely attract a lot of viewers.

As expected of Principal Zhang, he knows exactly what topics are most attractive.

Just as these reporters were preparing to write their reports, a chorus of greetings suddenly rang out.

"Hello, Principal Zhang!"

The reporters looked in the direction of the sound and saw hundreds of students lining up, carrying instrument bags on their backs. Before entering the Hua Conservatory of Music, they deliberately stopped in front of Principal Zhang, greeted him in the loudest voices, and then walked briskly into the examination room.

This scene immediately attracted the attention of countless people, not only reporters, but also other candidates and parents participating in the re-examination, as well as teachers from other art exam training centers.

Several reporters who had visited the Beijing Film Studio felt a sense of déjà vu at this scene, as the same thing had happened outside the studio yesterday.
"Are these all students from Xingxiang?"

"I didn't expect Xingxiang's music class to be so strong. Principal Zhang truly deserves to be one of the best musicians around the world."

"There must be over a hundred people here, right? Damn, a few more have come and are queuing up at the back."

The reporters whispered amongst themselves while taking photos.

Falsified grades?

Isn't this the best way to respond?
Teachers from other art exam training institutions gritted their teeth upon witnessing this scene.

Thinking to myself: Damn it, I've been tricked by this guy surnamed Zhang again.

Soon, what happened here appeared online. Netizens who had just finished reading about the gossip yesterday saw that there was still gossip today, so they immediately started reading about it again.

"My God! Xingxiang Art Exam Training is amazing! So many students from Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Academy of Drama have passed the preliminary exam, and now so many more from Huayin Academy of Music have passed the preliminary exam. Their teaching quality is simply unmatched in the art exam training industry."

"Now everyone knows how terrifying Xingxiang's preliminary test scores are. This is probably just the beginning. There are still some art school retests to come. Let's wait and see."

"Jiahua, Xinling, and those training institutions that say Xingxiang's results are fake, you all need to come over here right now and see if the results are real or fake."

"..."

Although Zhang Wen has not yet announced the students' results, Xingxiang's fame has already spread throughout the internet.

The official Weibo accounts of Jiahua Art Exam and Mindful Art Exam, which were posting frequently just a few days ago, have not been updated for two days. The comments section of that Weibo post that subtly mocked Xingxiang has now become a place for netizens to summon back their spirits.

"Where is he? Come out! Didn't they say Xingxiang falsified his grades?"

"Wasn't it great when you were in yin and yang? Why are you mute now?"

"Was the person who posted this a temporary worker? Were they fired?"

Faced with the facts, all the ridicule and slander turned into knives stabbing themselves.

the next day.

The same scene played out again at the second round of auditions for the Beijing Dance Academy.

As Zhang Wengang walked to the flower bed near the examination site, students in training uniforms surrounded him and greeted him with "Hello, Principal Zhang".

This scene was captured by a reporter and posted on Weibo, sparking another round of heated discussion among netizens.

As the re-examinations of major art colleges are underway, "Xingxiang students greeting the principal" has become a regular sight in the art exam circle.

Whenever Zhang Wen appears, the students of Xingxiang Art Examination School will take the initiative to greet him, expressing their support for the school and Principal Zhang in the simplest and most direct way.

As for the previous voices questioning Xingxiang's performance, they have long been drowned out by the praise across the internet.

The small organizations that had previously joined in the smear campaign not only quietly deleted their previous statements, but also secretly inquired about Xingxiang's teaching methods.

In parent groups for art training classes, discussions such as "I want my child to go to Xingxiang" and "I must enroll my child in Xingxiang this year" have become the mainstream.

Although the final results have not yet been announced, the sheer number of students who passed the preliminary exams for various art colleges is enough to convince parents to make a decision.

Normally, the period around the art exams is the quietest time for art exam training institutions, but Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center is packed with parents and students coming to inquire every day.

Many parents from other places even deliberately bring their children to Beijing on weekends just to find a better training institution for their children.

The heavy workload forced Zhang Wen to hire another receptionist to share some of Xu Zining's workload.

Time seemed to be fast-forwarded, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Theatre Academy to announce the results of the second round of auditions.

In the conference room of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center, 15 students from the special training class gathered again, clutching their phones tightly and staring intently at the time on the screen.

The parents sitting next to the students were also extremely nervous, their faces tense, their fists clenched, and they didn't even dare to breathe.

Zhang Wen sat on the podium, holding a thermos cup and slowly sipping his tea. He wasn't worried about the re-examination results of the 15 members of the special training class. In contrast, he was more concerned about the re-examination results of the other performance class students.

Finally, the minute hand points to 12, and the hour hand points to 10.

The students immediately refreshed the results page and entered their names and exam numbers.

A dozen seconds later, Cao Jiaying suddenly stood up from her seat and said excitedly, "I passed! I passed the second round of interviews!"

"I passed too!" Su Xiaoxiao said excitedly.

Then, the words "passed" echoed repeatedly in the conference room.

The students celebrated happily, and smiles finally appeared on the parents' faces. "Great! Our entire training class passed!" Li Jinyu excitedly pumped his fist, looking at Principal Zhang sitting on the podium with eyes full of admiration.

At this moment, Principal Zhang was like a god in his eyes.

Meanwhile, teachers He Yang, Han Wanling, and Zhou Min were still waiting for the students' replies in the class group.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, the headcount was finally completed.

"Principal!" He Yang stood up, his smile barely concealed. "The results for the regular classes are almost complete. A total of 302 students passed the second round of auditions. Among them, 191 students passed the audition for Beijing Film Academy, and 111 students passed the audition for Central Academy of Drama."

"!"

A series of gasps erupted in the conference room.

The students and parents of the special training class never expected that so many people from the regular performance class would pass the second round of auditions. If Principal Zhang hadn't promised that the special training class would guarantee a pass in all three rounds, they would have even doubted whether the special training class was just a gimmick.

It seems that Xingxiang is truly strong.

"302?" Zhang Wen frowned slightly after hearing this.

302 people passed the regular class, plus 15 people from the special training class, making a total of 317 people. That means 85 people did not pass the second round of testing.

This number exceeded his expectations, after all, he had eliminated all the negative personality derivatives in all the students.

However, to be fair, some trainees do have very low skill levels, so it's normal for them to be eliminated; otherwise, he would have to question the examiners' judgment.

"Teacher He, please send me the results page for the students who didn't pass the second round of testing," Zhang Wen said to He Yang.

"Yes." He Yang immediately sat down and, together with Han Wanling and Zhou Min, sent the screenshot to the principal.

After receiving the screenshots, Zhang Wen processed the student information one by one, keeping only some of the information and cutting out all the key information such as names and photos.

noon.

Zhang Wen posted a Weibo post.

"The results of the second round of auditions for the performance majors at Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Opera have been released. Xingxiang has a total of 317 students who have entered the third round of auditions, including 200 from Beijing Film Academy and 117 from Huaxi Opera. Information on 85 students who did not pass the second round of auditions is now being released. Please feel free to verify."

The image is below.

Many people know that today is the day the results of the second round of auditions for Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Academy will be released, so as soon as the Weibo post was published, it was immediately trending on the hot search list.

"My God, only 85 people were eliminated in the second round of interviews. I thought there would be 200. This result is simply terrifying."

"Didn't some people not believe Principal Zhang would release the report cards? Didn't some people think Principal Zhang would just let it go once the hype died down? Shouldn't they shut up now?"

"Teacher Zhang keeps his word. The heads of Jiahua and Mind should come out and apologize immediately!"

"Compared to other organizations that don't even dare to say how many people passed the cutoff, Xingxiang directly puts out the elimination list. That's true confidence."

"..."

Netizens not only left comments under Zhang Wen's Weibo post, but also went to the official Weibo accounts of Jia Hua Art Examination and Mindful Art Examination to leave comments.

“The person in charge of Jiahua, please come out. You previously said that Xingxiang’s performance was poor, but now that 317 people from Xingxiang have entered the third round, and the elimination list has been made public, shouldn’t you come out and apologize?”

"Hey, the teaching director of Mindful Arts Exam, weren't you so eloquent when you were mocking Xingxiang on your live stream? Why are you silent now?"

"You don't have to apologize, but I'll ask you: do you dare to publish all the students' re-examination results like Xingxiang did?"

"I suggest Jia Hua and Xin Ling learn from Xing Xiang. Stop playing dirty tricks all day long and focus on improving the quality of teaching."

"..."

Jia Hua Art Exam's official Weibo account quickly closed its comments section, while Xinling Art Exam's official Weibo account continued to remain silent.

Faced with Xingxiang's open offer, the two training institutions completely lost their confidence.

Inside the performance class office at Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. All the teachers remained silent, their faces grim.

Acting teacher Huang Yu stared blankly at her phone, as if her soul had been taken away.

317 people! 317 people passed the second round of auditions for Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Academy of Drama. This is simply outrageous. You won't find another like it in the entire art exam industry.

Previously, when faced with inquiries from students and parents, she confidently assured them that the 400 people who passed the preliminary test at Xingxiang were just lucky, and that after the second round of screening, it would be good if only a few dozen remained.

As a result, only about eighty people were eliminated. This is a huge slap in the face. Out of the eight hundred students in the entire Jiahua Performance Class, only about forty passed the second round of auditions for Beijing Film Academy and Huaxi Academy of Drama. It's like comparing heaven and earth.

It's really irritating to see people compare to each other.

She doesn't know how to face her students and parents now.

"boom!"

Zhu Zhengyan, the director of teaching, slammed his thermos on the desk, splashing scalding water and leaving a dark mark on the surface.

He stared at the results sheet in his hand, his face ashen. It was Jia Hua's performance class report card for this year, and the names on it didn't even fill a single page.

In previous years, this result would have been average, neither high nor low. But compared to Xingxiang, this report card can only be described as "terrible".

It's terrible!
"43, only 43! What are you eating for?" Zhu Zhengyan said angrily, his eyes bloodshot.

"..."

The office was silent. More than a dozen teachers all had their heads down, not daring to meet the director's gaze, but their hearts were full of resentment.

So what if there are 43? That's only two fewer than last year. What's there to be angry about?
Seeing that Xingxiang had many students pass the second round of testing, you think 43 is too few? Isn't that typical envy?
Besides, is Principal Zhang an ordinary person? She's someone who has repeatedly suffered defeats even the big boss Li Lehua, and now has to step down. How can we junior teachers compare to her?
It's all the fault of those three idiots from the Mindful Arts Exam. Why did they have to provoke Principal Zhang for no reason? Didn't they just ask for trouble?

Now look what's happened; it's dragged down the entire art exam industry.

Seeing that no one spoke, Zhu Zhengyan became even angrier. He pointed at the people around him and said, "The shortest time you've been in this industry is seven or eight years, and the longest is more than twenty years. How could you lose to a new and small training institution?"

"..."

The crowd remained silent, but they were thinking to themselves: When they were recruiting students, others were handing out flyers at the door, and the principal still couldn't compete with them, right?

"I see now. You all think it's good to have a powerful backer, so none of you are ambitious anymore, are you?"

Zhu Zhengyan paced around the office in anger for a few moments before finally stopping and looking up at the teachers, saying, "Don't blame me for not reminding you. The principal said that a standard will be set for you from now on. If enough students pass the art exam, you will still receive your bonuses. If the number of students who pass the art exam does not reach this standard, not only will your bonuses be deducted, but those with a large gap will also be expelled. You'd better watch yourselves."

After saying that, he walked out of the office with his hands behind his back, leaving the teachers looking pale.

……

(End of this chapter)