My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 146 I Want You to Be Her Rival in Love

"Director He, what do you mean?"

A staff member standing nearby quietly asked the assistant director, He Youwu.

"Let's start with normal filming, let them get to know each other, and explain their tasks."

He Youwu rubbed his forehead and looked at the students who were chatting.

Now their attention is focused on Zhou Heming and Lu Bai, which has indeed eased the tense atmosphere considerably.

Picking up his phone, He Youwu sent a message to producer Chen Danshen, asking him to coordinate and revise the relevant publicity strategy.

The variety show "If I Had Never Seen the Sun" is a teaching support program spearheaded by Ningjiang University, hosted by Ningjiang Entertainment, and co-organized by several entertainment companies and local Altay authorities. It also receives support from Project Hope. On the one hand, it showcases the spirit of contemporary college students, especially those from Ningjiang University, and on the other hand, it aims to support impoverished areas in the region and develop local tourism.

Of course, it wouldn't be very interesting if only a few students went to teach, so the production team specially arranged for both men and women to participate. Who knows, maybe some romantic sparks will fly between them during the teaching process, creating some buzz about them as a couple.

The show's producers were originally most interested in Ji Yanshi. She had acted in movies and was considered a well-known actress among second- and third-tier actresses. At her age, she was far ahead of the competition and was the show's biggest source of viewership.

Then there's Lu Bai and Zhou Heming. Lu Bai is a relatively unknown actress, but she and Zhou Heming are a couple, and they have a web series coming out soon, so it's perfect for them to create a romantic pairing.

Liu Xunzhu's parents are both professors at Ningjiang University. She has been an excellent student since childhood, received an elite education, and as a second-generation scholar, she is bursting with self-confidence.

Xiang Yunlang's hometown is a poor county. He was admitted to Ningjiang University after a very tough competition, which allows him to connect with the children in the areas where he teaches.

As for Cheng Shuangjiang, she was the last guest confirmed by the program team. In addition to her outstanding looks, her status as the top scorer in the province and her college entrance examination score of 740+ were also a selling point.

In short, the production team felt that these people together should create some chemistry.

But He Youwu didn't expect that the chemical reaction would be a bit too big.

"Now that Zhou Heming and Lu Bai's relationship has been exposed, their interactions will definitely change. We'll edit more relevant clips and release them online to generate buzz."

He Youwu acted decisively and gave instructions to the editing team.

In addition to regular variety show editing, the editing team is also responsible for placing clips of the show into various videos, especially those clips featuring romantic pairings.

Many people think these edits are made by casual fans, but in fact, many of them are made by professional editing teams, which rely on creating pairings to attract people to the fandom.

A well-crafted, couple-oriented video is far more effective than those ubiquitous, hidden ads.

Thanks to official collaborations, the resources for the variety show "If I Were Here" are currently at the third tier. It can't compare to those singing or celebrity travel variety shows, but it has already received a pretty good amount of exposure by getting a rotating recommendation spot on the first screen from Wednesday to Friday during the daytime.

"Let me think, during individual interviews, I can focus on Liu Xunzhu and Xiang Yunlang's views on teaching in rural areas. This could be a selling point, but I need to be careful with the degree of exposure."

He Youwu then gave further instructions, before looking at the students in the camera's view, who were engaged in a lively discussion.

"So you two only got together after the college entrance exam? I'm so envious of this kind of relationship that lasted from high school to university."

Ji Yanshi seems to have a misunderstanding, believing that Zhou Heming and Lu Bai had a crush on each other since the first year of high school and only officially confessed their feelings after the college entrance examination.

Zhou Heming thought for a moment, but didn't explain in detail, only glancing at Cheng Shuangjiang.

She responded with a gentle smile, which, in Zhou Heming's view, even seemed to have a hint of watching the show.

Are you both each other's first love?

Liu Xunzhu asked curiously.

Zhou Heming was speechless.

His biggest flaw in life is that he can't lie.

But Lu Bai immediately smiled and took his hand.

"of course."

Won't dating in high school affect my grades?

Xiang Yunlang is quite law-abiding. He came to this variety show for two reasons: first, for the money, and second, to help children in impoverished areas. Romance and such were not within his considerations.

"Dear students, we will now proceed to the next segment."

At this moment, staff members came in and began the program.

"As we all know, our program will be going to Northwest China to teach, so we need to determine the subjects to be taught in advance. We will do this through discussion. If two people choose the same subject, they can talk about their strengths and let everyone judge."

He used magnetic stickers to label several subjects on the blackboard.

In addition to the usual Chinese, math, and English subjects, there are also science, art, and sports.

The talent showcase segment is part of the program.

"I want to choose English."

Xiang Yunlang was the first to raise his hand. He stood up, looked around at everyone, and his gaze lingered on Liu Xunzhu for a moment.

"I scored 141 points in the English section of the college entrance exam, which is considered quite good."

"Wow, 141 points, that's amazing!"

Lu Bai offered a sincere compliment.

Zhou Heming glanced at Cheng Shuangjiang, thinking that she would probably choose mathematics and wouldn't get involved in English.

Although her English should have been perfect.

"Classmate Xiang."

However, Liu Xunzhu seemed to think otherwise. He stood up and immediately began to speak a long passage of fluent English, as if he were one of those old-timers with the Union Jack in a British drama, with perfect pronunciation.

Zhou Heming could roughly understand that Liu Xunzhu was saying that she had lived in England for five years when she was a child and had a better grasp of English. At the same time, she was asking Xiang Yunlang about the difference between two words whose meanings Zhou Heming did not know.

It is very aggressive.

Zhou Heming had no idea where this unfounded competitive mentality came from.

Xiang Yunlang was taken aback at first, and then answered in English.

In comparison, his English is very standard Chinese-style English, with a slow speaking speed, slightly non-standard pronunciation, and simple, straightforward words and sentences without long or difficult sentences.

But as Zhou Heming listened, he realized that he had actually answered Liu Xunzhu's question, but from the perspective of appearance, Liu Xunzhu clearly seemed more capable.

It seems that the debate about the significance of teaching in rural areas just now has not reached a conclusion, and the two are secretly competing with each other.

Seeing the two of them vying for attention, the production team got excited and gave them plenty of screen time.

The showdown between the children of high-achieving students and the test-takers from small towns is quite a spectacle.

Liu Xunzhu smiled confidently and continued to ramble on. This time, he used a very complicated long and difficult sentence structure, and his vocabulary was also very profound and obscure, far beyond the high school level. Zhou Heming could only understand half of what he was saying.

Xiang Yunlang was stumped and tried to answer somewhat haltingly.

It's not his fault. Compared to children like Liu Xunzhu who were exposed to the corresponding language environment abroad when they were young, Xiang Yunlang's English was probably terrible when he was in junior high school. Even his teachers' pronunciation wasn't very standard. He was able to get 141 points in the college entrance examination, which was entirely due to his hard work and sweat.

Despite his many years of hard work, Xiang Yunlang has only reached the starting point of Liu Xunzhu.

I have to say, this is a bit of bullying.

Wow, your English is amazing!

Lu Bai spoke up at this moment to help Xiang Yunlang out of the predicament.

Just as Xiang Yunlang was scratching his head, feeling a little embarrassed and about to give up, Cheng Shuangjiang suddenly spoke up.

She also used English, and her pronunciation and grammar were impeccable. She was very elegant and at ease, using complex and long sentences while keeping her vocabulary concise, so that even Zhou Heming could easily understand her.

If Liu Xunzhu was showing off his skills in a way that no one could understand, giving people a sense of awe and wonder, then Cheng Shuangjiang was telling everyone in a way that everyone could understand: sit down, that's the basic operation.

Liu Xunzhu was taken aback, then started talking to Cheng Shuangjiang, throwing out a long string of complex sentences that normal people would never use in conversation, as if he had never spoken properly before.

Cheng Shuangjiang remained calm. This time, in addition to English, her answer contained a few words that Zhou Heming immediately recognized as off, seemingly French.

She seemed to be asking about the influence of two French words on English in the course of language evolution.

This time, it was Liu Xunzhu's turn to be dumbfounded.

No, sister, what's with you switching to French when we were talking about an English teacher competition?

After a moment's thought, Liu Xunzhu spoke, also switching to French, though his fluency was clearly not as high as his English, just like when he spoke English to Yunlang earlier.

Cheng Shuangjiang nodded slightly, and then spoke in German at a native-level fluent level.

Are there any experts?

"???"

Liu Xunzhu was completely speechless.

I don't understand at all.

I didn't even hear a sentence like "I came to HEB province," and I was completely bewildered.

No, you're a high school student, right? You just started college, right? How did you manage to speak three foreign languages ​​at a native level?
Ji Yanshi spoke at this point.

"Cheng Shuangjiang, you're amazing! It seems like the English teacher position is definitely going to be yours!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shuangjiang shook her head.

"No, I don't want to be an English teacher."

"what?"

Liu Xunzhu was dumbfounded again.

If you don't want to be an English teacher, what are you talking about? Are you just simply showing off your language talent?
"I just want to tell everyone that having a high level of spoken English does not mean being good at teaching. Liu Xunzhu grew up in a language-rich environment, so naturally he has a better grasp of English."

Cheng Shuangjiang said calmly, glancing casually at Zhou Heming and Lu Bai who were watching them, before turning to speak.

“But Xiang Yunlang, who learned from scratch, understands better what pitfalls he might encounter when starting out. He might be more suitable for the children in the areas where he teaches.”

Justified and convincing.

Although it was probably Zhou Heming's misperception, he always felt that Cheng Shuangjiang was implying something.

"You're right."

Liu Xunzhu sat down somewhat awkwardly.

"Then, the English teacher position will be filled by Xiang Yunlang."

The staff were also somewhat intimidated by Cheng Shuangjiang.

As for the assistant director, He Youwu.

"Hiss, don't you guys feel that Cheng Shuangjiang seems a bit different from the initial impression she gave off?"

"Have it?"

The staff members nearby didn't understand.

"When she greeted and spoke with Zhou Heming, she seemed very gentle and cheerful, but when she spoke to other people, her attitude was noticeably colder and harder. Even if they knew each other before, it didn't seem that bad."

He Youwu, with his extensive experience and knowledge of many people, quickly sensed the subtle incongruity in the situation.

"Get me their information, and have the cameraman focus on Zhou Heming and Cheng Shuangjiang from multiple angles. Lu Bai should also be filmed. I feel there's something going on between these three."

This side of the classroom.

Seeing that the English teacher had been taken by Xiang Yunlang, Liu Xunzhu looked towards the Chinese teacher's seat.

"Then I'd like to run for Chinese language teacher. I won an award in a poetry recitation competition for middle school students in China when I was in high school, and my essays are also excellent."

He was confident.

At the same time, I secretly observed Cheng Shuangjiang, worried that she would come over and give me a hard time again.

But Cheng Shuangjiang only looked at Zhou Heming. Zhou Heming glanced at Lu Bai's expectant expression beside him, cleared his throat, and stood up.

"I'm also running for a Chinese language teacher position. I'm from the School of Literature, majoring in Dramatic Literature. I scored 147 on the Chinese language section of the college entrance exam this year."

"Holy crap, I only got 147 in Chinese."

Xiang Yunlang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but swear, then immediately covered his mouth and glanced at the camera guiltily.

"Drama major."

Liu Xunzhu murmured something, then continued speaking, unwilling to give up.

"But scores and abilities are not necessarily linked. When teaching Chinese, one should be able to readily draw upon various classics, standing tall and graceful, as if about to take flight but not yet soaring."

"?"

Why did you suddenly start reciting poetry while we were talking?
Besides, isn't "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River" not part of the textbook?

Zhou Heming frowned and immediately continued.

"Treading on the pepper-scented ground, one feels the fragrance of the fragrant herbs."

Liu Xunzhu raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Zhou Heming could respond so quickly, and then spoke again.

"The spring water is used to brew wine, and the wine is fragrant and pure."

"Mountain delicacies and wild vegetables, laid out in a riotous array, are the prefect's banquet."

"A single glance back and a smile can captivate a hundred beauties, making all the ladies of the six palaces pale in comparison."

"In the spring chill, the emperor bestowed a bath at Huaqing Pool, where the smooth hot spring waters cleansed her delicate skin."

Zhou Heming didn't know why the two of them suddenly started a word game. It seemed that Liu Xunzhu's competitive spirit had been aroused by her previous defeat, so she didn't care about her image and he was just an innocent bystander.

But he had no intention of getting entangled with Liu Xunzhu. Before the other party could come up with more ancient poems to quiz him, he simply raised his hand.

"Well then, Liu, although I don't think rote memorization is very meaningful, if you feel that this can determine who is more suitable to be a teacher..."

Clearing his throat, Zhou Heming spoke in a deep voice under the watchful eyes of Cheng Shuangjiang and Lu Bai.

"The Yangtze River flows emptily beyond the balustrade. Where is the prince who once resided in the pavilion?"

He immediately began reciting a classical Chinese text.

But as Liu Xunzhu listened, he felt something was off.

These sentences all seem familiar, but why do they feel so strange when put together?

"Damn, he's reciting it backwards."

He swore again, and Xiang Yunlang quickly covered his mouth.

It was only then that Liu Xunzhu realized that Zhou Heming had broken down each line of the "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" and that poem into individual parts, reversed the order, and recited it from back to front.

Although reciting in this way is not very useful from the perspective of phonology, it is enough to show his familiarity with the text.

Being able to recite it backwards is an example of this.

"Alright, alright, Zhou Heming, you can be my Chinese teacher, I won't argue."

Liu Xunzhu stopped Zhou Heming, admitting defeat.

No, who recites a book backwards?
The main point is that since Zhou Heming has already acted this way, if Liu Xunzhu continues to argue, it would seem like she's in a fit of rage and is being impolite.

Beside him, assistant director He Youwu beamed with joy.

"Now there's a lot of material to generate, like a freshman girl who's fluent in three foreign languages, a young prodigy who can recite them backwards, and a small-town test-taker versus an overseas study elite. The buzz is off the charts."

When it comes to making variety shows, I'm not afraid of awkward situations, I'm just afraid of not having anything to do.

This is why the production team invited a student like Liu Xunzhu, whose life seemed to have been smooth sailing, to participate in the variety show.

These clips, edited together and uploaded to various video platforms, are just gimmicks, and mostly positive ones, showcasing students' abilities, which aligns with the tone of their programs.

He Youwu was a little surprised. He thought the focus of attention would be Ji Yanshi, but unexpectedly, Zhou Heming and Cheng Shuangjiang have become the biggest hot topic so far.

After the staff confirmed that Zhou Heming would be the Chinese teacher, Liu Xunzhu then looked towards the math teacher's position.

"I want to be a math teacher."

Cheng Shuangjiang raised her hand first.

It exudes a sense of authority, indicating who approves and who disapproves.

Liu Xunzhu dared not move.

He had roughly sketched out Cheng Shuangjiang's image as a powerful figure. This girl was at least a top student, and the kind he couldn't possibly mess with.

"We can't let girls teach the remaining three subjects, can we? Liu Xunzhu, how about you be the PE teacher?"

Lu Bai looked at the remaining three gates and said matter-of-factly.

"what?"

Liu Xunzhu made the sound of the year's most popular bullet screen comment.

He turned his head and looked around: nature, art, sports.

Lu Bai and Ji Yanshi, who were left, did not seem to be good at sports. Moreover, if a grown man like himself were to push the PE teacher onto a girl, his reputation would be ruined!
"Okay, then I'll teach physical education."

Liu Xunzhu never expected that she, a top student who had always maintained excellent grades since childhood, would actually be teaching physical education.

Having grown up with everything going smoothly, this was the first time he had encountered a setback, and he unexpectedly suffered several defeats.

Suddenly, I had a self-doubt: this program is supposed to be about teaching in rural areas, but could it actually be a reality show about transformation?

"Ji Yanshi, what about you? My grades are a bit poor. I want to teach art. If I teach nature, I'll be misleading students."

Lu Bai looked at the girl next door and frankly admitted that he was a poor student and couldn't teach anything too advanced.

"No problem, I'd also like to teach nature."

Although Ji Yanshi is an actress, her academic performance is actually quite good. Her agency has been cultivating an image of her as a top student, and getting into Ningjiang University is a great achievement. Therefore, she also needs to demonstrate her abilities in serious subjects.

There are many young and beautiful actors, but there are very few young and beautiful actors who are academic high-achievers. As long as this kind of persona can be maintained, it will definitely attract a lot of attention.

After assigning the subjects and exchanging WeChat contacts, the program group was created, and the morning's group activities came to an end.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Next, we will film some videos to introduce each person."

"Assistant director He Youwu said with a smile."

"This is done separately for each person. I will have staff lead everyone to their respective camera crews, who will follow you during the filming process."

"Thank you for your hard work, Director!"

Ji Yanshi responded immediately.

The others followed suit with their thanks.

Soon everyone followed their assigned camera teams to film their own VCRs on campus.

But He Youwu called out to Zhou Heming.

"Zhou Heming, and Lu Bai, and Cheng Shuangjiang, the three of you, stay behind for a bit. The production team has something they want to confirm."

Zhou Heming stopped in his tracks.

Sure enough, the production team is going to hold Lu Bai accountable for what he revealed in advance?

But what's the reason for letting Cheng Shuangjiang stay?
It can't be that the capital behind the show wants to promote Liu Xunzhu, but Cheng Shuangjiang and Zhou Heming just gave him a hard time, so they came to warn them, right?

Zhou Heming imagined the classic plots that appeared in the novels he had read before.

"First up are Lu Bai and Zhou Heming, you two. Your original couple pairing was supposed to start generating buzz around the time the web series premiered, but we've announced it ahead of schedule. So, we'll be arranging more interactions between you two later. You two should try to be as sweet as possible so the audience can ship you as a couple, understand?"

He Youwu confessed.

"Also, we'd like to create some edited videos based on your interactions and release them. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"No problem at all!"

Lu Bai immediately grabbed Zhou Heming's arm and pressed his body against him.

"Good, good."

Zhou Heming thought he was going to get scolded, but the production team told them to step up their efforts.

Are all variety shows this open these days?
What is the purpose of summoning Cheng Shuangjiang?
He subconsciously glanced at the girl beside him.

Upon hearing the assistant director's earlier words, Cheng Shuangjiang showed no reaction, as if He Youwu had just been giving instructions.

"As for you, Cheng Shuangjiang, you should have known those two before, right?"

He Youwu had just looked at the information and found that all three of them were graduates of Jiangcheng Middle School, so theoretically they should know each other.

"Yes, we know each other."

Cheng Shuangjiang nodded.

"I have an idea, of course, it's just an idea, you can refuse, it's not mandatory."

He Youwu looked at the three of them.

"Director, please speak."

Cheng Shuangjiang said earnestly.

"I want you to be her rival in love."

He Youwu's words sent a chill down Zhou Heming's spine.

"What I mean is, I want Cheng Shuangjiang to play Lu Bai's rival in love, the kind of person who secretly likes Zhou Heming and has a competitive spirit, but ultimately fails. This kind of character is very popular right now."

He Youwu then explained.

"Of course, we need to control the level of this program, so the competition should be more youthful and positive, so that the audience can feel a little bit of bittersweetness, but not too much negative emotion. It's like the feeling of innocent first love, is that okay?"

simply put.

Loser.

"what?"

Zhou Heming strongly suspected that the assistant director knew something.

"Okay, this is all about creating disagreement among the audience and increasing discussion, I have no problem with it."

Lu Bai readily agreed, seemingly unconcerned about such matters.

"Yes, yes, if it's just pure sweetness, the audience will get tired of it. That's when we need rivals to create a sense of crisis and highlight the emotions. Of course, these are all scripted, so I'm communicating with you in advance."

He Youwu looked at Zhou Heming.

"I'm fine with anything, it mainly depends on her, on Cheng Shuangjiang."

Even Lu Bai agreed, so Zhou Heming had even less reason to refuse. Moreover, the final decision rested with Cheng Shuangjiang, so he looked over.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shuangjiang remained silent for a moment, just in time to meet Zhou Heming's gaze. After a short while, she looked away and turned to He Youwu.

"I can."

she answered.

*
Thank you everyone for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes!
(End of this chapter)