Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

"Little brother! Over here!" Zhao Xiaoyu waved and called out.

Zhao Huaiyuan smiled when he saw his sister.

In his previous life, he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, but after all his struggles, he never amounted to anything and was never able to provide his family with much substantial help.

My older sister, Zhao Xiaoyu, didn't have a high level of education either. She only graduated from high school and worked in a factory in Yanjing for almost 10 years before returning to her hometown and hastily getting married.

They were not happy after marriage.

At this moment, I saw the young woman.

He suddenly felt a soreness in his nose.

"Are you early?"

"No, we just arrived too. They're my friends," Zhao Xiaoyu said, stuffing the snakeskin bag she was holding into Zhao Huaiyuan's arms.

"These are beef balls that Mom asked me to bring. There's also your favorite chili sauce inside. And there's an envelope here too. Dad just sold the pig last month and is giving you 500 yuan. Be careful with your money."

As she spoke, she glanced at the surrounding cars again, and said with concern:

"Little brother, our family isn't well-off, so don't try to compete with others here. Mom and Dad said that as long as you graduate smoothly, that's enough. Don't dream of becoming a big director all the time. Art is unrealistic and not something we can do. Go back to your hometown, find a stable job, and live a good life. That's better than anything else."

Zhao Huaiyuan smiled slightly, feeling a warm feeling in his heart: "I understand, I know what I'm doing."

He had no intention of checking his sister's favorability rating; their close blood ties prevented him from having any inquiries about such matters.

The two sisters, left standing to the side, couldn't take it anymore.

"Hello, we are Xiaoyu's good friends."

"Hello." Zhao Huaiyuan turned around and greeted the two of them.

[Target: Guo Lili]

Current favorability rating: 38

[Comment: I think you're handsome, but poor.]

[Inner thoughts: ?]

..

[Target: Peng Xiaohua]

Current favorability rating: 55

[Review: I find you incredibly charming and have an outstanding presence. Oh no, I'm smitten!]

[Inner thoughts: ?]

Zhao Huaiyuan was stunned!

This was the first time he had ever met someone who had such a high level of liking for him on their very first meeting.

He looked the other person up and down carefully again.

She wore a high ponytail, a cropped vest that revealed a large expanse of her fair skin, and short denim shorts that covered her long legs in black stockings. Her pert buttocks almost popped out of the fabric.

"Um...we're Xiaoyu's colleagues, we're really good friends! We heard your school's film festival opens tomorrow, and we'd love to go in. Could you please get us a few tickets? We'll pay for them!"

Guo Lili was a little disappointed because, judging from the other person's attire, he didn't seem like a prominent figure who could get tickets. But she still asked, just to give it a try.

"Yeah, yeah, we don't need a great spot, just the biggest hall. I heard that's where you can see celebrities," Peng Xiaohua chimed in.

Upon seeing these words,

Zhao Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat.

It's over, what are you afraid of?

She quickly turned her back and desperately tried to signal Zhao Huaiyuan with her eyes, her eyes almost cramping from blinking so much.

"You want to go to the bidding hall?" Zhao Huaiyuan asked casually, completely unaware of what was going on.

"Yes, yes!" Seeing that there was hope, Guo Lili's eyes lit up, and she nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

"It's all over the internet, they say it's called a standard screening room. We really want to go! We heard they show the best movies there, and there are lots of big leaders and celebrities there. Apparently, there are also quite a few foreigners!" Peng Xiaohua said excitedly.

"Oh, it's alright, but I happen to have a few here, take them." Zhao Huaiyuan thought for a moment and took out three tickets with gold lettering from his pocket.

One card was given to his sister, no doubt about it. As for the other two, it was because Zhao Huaiyuan saw Peng Xiaohua's extremely high favorability rating, which made him want to increase his favorability rating to unlock his mind-reading ability.

Besides, these two are his sister's close friends, and he doesn't mind lending a hand. It would also help his sister get along better with them in the future, since he owed his sister too much in his previous life.

The organizing committee gave him three tickets for his family and friends, while his own tickets were passes. This reflects the organizing committee's humanistic care.

After all, many students do not live in Yanjing. Some of the shortlisted main creators will receive some friends and family vouchers to invite important people in their lives to share this moment together.

The three girls were stunned.

The ISFVF logo is prominently displayed in gold foil, with "Standard Screening Hall" written in the most conspicuous position.

"Wow! It really is!" Guo Lili snatched the ticket, looked at it several times, and screamed excitedly, attracting the attention of passersby.

"My God, Xiaoyu, your little brother is amazing!" Peng Xiaohua exclaimed excitedly.

[Favorability 55→62]

hum!

As Peng Xiaohua's favorability rating increased, it broke through the 60 mark.

Zhao Huaiyuan suddenly felt an invisible line extending from the other person's head and connecting directly to his own.

This feeling is very mysterious.

He composed himself and looked at Peng Xiaohua again.

"[He's too handsome... I should marry him...]" A series of disjointed words popped into Zhao Huaiyuan's mind.

In an instant, he felt dizzy and very uncomfortable, and quickly looked away.

Is this what I truly feel?

Why is it so intermittent? Is it because the favorability rating isn't high enough, so I can only hear snippets of conversation?

Moreover, he discovered that after activating mind-reading, his mental workload increased significantly.

He looked at Peng Xiaohua again.

[The method... to catch... the hand], the dizziness strikes again.

He experimented several times and discovered that this mind-reading ability could be turned on and off according to his will.

This discovery put him at ease a little; otherwise, keeping it on all the time would be terrible!

"Little brother, where did you get the tickets?" Zhao Xiaoyu looked at him in surprise.

"I was lucky. I shot a short film and it got shortlisted. This is a perk the organizing committee gives to directors," Zhao Huaiyuan said with a faint smile.

Zhao Xiaoyu was taken aback. She grabbed Zhao Huaiyuan's arm and forcibly pulled him to the poplar tree on one side of the school gate.

"Brother, are you crazy!"

Zhao Xiaoyu's voice was trembling!

"When did you learn to lie?!"

"You've only been enrolled for a few days? How many classes have you even attended? And you dare to say you've made a movie? And it was even shortlisted for that biggest theater? What makes you think you can do that?"

"I really am..."

"Shut up!" Zhao Xiaoyu interrupted him, tears welling up in her eyes with anger.

"What did our mother teach us when we were little? Our family may be poor, but that's not shameful! A person can be incompetent, can be mediocre, but they must never lie! They must never be vain! Did you use your allowance to buy scalped tickets to impress the girls in your class? Or did you get fake tickets printed with fake documents?"

"What kind of place is that?! What if someone has a ticket but can't get in tomorrow, and the security guard kicks them out thinking they're a fraud? Where will you put your face then? How will you even be able to stay at school? What happened to you? Can't you just give me a break?"

She was scolded by her older sister.

Zhao Huaiyuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something in his defense, but in the end he could only sigh helplessly.

He knew his sister's temperament; she was stubborn and once she made up her mind, it was hard to change it.

If you insist that you are telling the truth at this point, she will only think you are making excuses and will only make her angrier.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, I'll tell the truth, alright?"

"That's right, you can't lie anymore!" Zhao Xiaoyu stared at him with an "I knew it" expression.

"These tickets really didn't cost any money, and they're genuine. Actually... I got them by doing manual labor for a senior in college. Their film crew got nominated and needed people to carry tripods and move tracks, so I ran errands for a week and I was exhausted. They saw I was honest and didn't pay me, but gave me a few complimentary tickets instead. Is that alright?"

Reasonable!

Zhao Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, the anger in her eyes dissipated, replaced by heartache:

"I knew it! You're so naive. Your senior is such a bully. He does such heavy work without paying you, just gives you a few scraps of paper to get rid of you. Don't work so hard in the future. If you need money, just tell me. I have money. Just focus on your studies at school."

"It's alright, learning something is nothing if you suffer a little," Zhao Huaiyuan said, going along with her words.

"I'll show you around the campus first, then we'll have some food nearby. We'll find a guesthouse for you to stay tonight, and tomorrow you can bring your two colleagues to take a look around."

"I don't want to watch it. Why don't you go ask that senior if you can get the ticket back as wages?" Zhao Xiaoyu knew that the ticket was earned by her younger brother from doing heavy work, so she was reluctant to use it to watch a movie.

"Oh dear, we've already changed it. If I go back to my senior to get a refund, what kind of situation would that be? Please, just this once, sis."

Seeing the sincerity in his words, Zhao Xiaoyu finally gave in.

..

Meanwhile, at Nortel, in the conference room on the top floor of the administration building.

The room was filled with heavyweight figures in the film education industry.

At the head of the long table sat Zhang Huijun, the dean of the Beijing Film Academy.

On his left and right are Professor Xie Fei, the founder of ISFVF, and Professor Zheng Dongtian, known as the godfather of the fourth generation of directors.

Following the two rows below were Ni Zhen, an authoritative professor of theory and planning; Tian Zhuangzhuang, head of the directing department; Wang Hongwei, deputy director in charge of specific film selection; and other department heads and scholars.

"Is everyone here? Let's have a meeting."

Zhang Huijun tapped the table. "The opening ceremony is tomorrow, comrades. The situation is serious. This year is the first year that our Beijing Film Academy has been elected as the Asia-Pacific Executive Chairman of CILECT (International Association of Film and Television Schools).

Therefore, the success of this film festival directly affects our international influence and our ability to secure funding in the future.

If we get completely wiped out like last year, then the reputation of Beijing Film Academy will be tarnished.