“You don’t have the same drive that I have,” President Mu said in a proud tone. “Time has proven again that I was right. That money was well spent.”
President Shi thought to himself, you think that I don’t regret it?
I do regret it. I wish I’d offered more scholarships and benefits.
He should have offered more so that Tan Mo would have come to Tsinghua instead.
At the time, he’d thought that it was rare for someone as young as Tan Mo to have such good academic records…
He’d thought he’d offered the best terms possible.
He’d thought it was not worthwhile giving so much to a single student.
Tsinghua was a top school anyway. They would attract the top talent.
“No matter what, your university only has Tan Mo. Whether in the Ancient Text Competition or in the exchange this time, Tan Mo was the only one who did well, and the only one that we lost against. You can’t possibly hope that she will be the only one who continues to help you win all competitions.” President Shi shook his head and said, “You should consider getting some more talented students. Right now you only have Tan Mo.”
President Mu knew that too.
But who else could compare with a genius like Tan Mo?
Tsinghua obviously didn’t have anyone who could compare with her.
No matter how good they were in their own spheres, when put next to Tan Mo, they were not so good anymore.
“Tsinghua doesn’t have any either,” President Mu retorted.
No matter what you say, Beijing University has Tan Mo, and Tsinghua doesn’t.
President Shi was quiet.
…
The exchange program was finished.
The professors from the History Department had intended to invite their students and Director Liu for a mini exchange session.
Since this year the exchange program had been unprecedentedly short.
It had just started, and then it had ended already.
They still had a lot of spare time left over from the time slot that they had scheduled originally.
Director Liu laughed and waved his hands around, “I’m not being humble. I actually don’t know all this history stuff. I relied on Tan Mo for all that. Earlier, I was even wondering if I should take some classes at Beijing University. I don’t have anything to say to you all. I know less than all of you about history, so…don’t make the layman embarrass himself in front of all of you professionals.”
“I came here this time to see Professor Zhao, and I also wanted to discuss something with Tan Mo,” Director Liu said.
After hearing what he said, the history professors allowed him to excuse himself.
“Tan Mo, why don’t you walk me out?” Director Liu asked. “I have something to tell you, so can we walk and talk. Afterward I still have some work to do, otherwise I would invite you for dinner. Remember the dinner, and I will treat you next time.”
Tan Mo nodded without any hesitation.
Then she walked him off the campus.
“The year is coming to an end soon.” As they walked, Director Liu said, “Next year, January 18 is the Tulip Awards Ceremony. I was nominated for ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ in all the award categories, including director, male and female lead, supporting roles, new actor, great leap forward, music, and costumes. Most important, your script was also nominated.”
The Tulip Awards was the highest ceremony for tv series in China, and the Phoenix Awards was the highest ceremony for movies.
Director Liu saw that Tan Mo was considering what he’d said.
‘What? Do you even need to consider this?” As Director Liu continued walking, he lowered his head and asked her, “What are you hesitating about?”
“Only those who were nominated have to go to the ceremony?” Tan Mo asked.
Director Liu thought that she was worried that she wouldn’t be chosen for the next round of nominations, so he laughed and said, “You’ve definitely gotten in; otherwise I wouldn’t have come to tell you this. If I had come without knowing that, you would have been disappointed if you didn’t get in.
“The Tulips Awards staff haven’t announced it yet, but they already showed me the list of successful nominations. You got in.” Director Liu laughed and said, ‘Not only you, all the other categories for ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ got in. I am confident, we may not get all the awards, but we will get at least half of the awards.”
He wasn’t being arrogant. It was just that “Legend of Wei and Jin” was the most popular series this year, and without much competition either.
At this time, “Legend of Wei and Jin” was still being streamed on cable in the mornings.
On the weekdays, it was streamed once, then again on the weekends.
That way, both housewives and retired individuals and those who needed to go to school or go to work—those who only have free time on the weekends—could see the series.
In both those streaming periods, “Legend of Wei and Jin” topped the charts.
This was quite an accomplishment, and it would be unreasonable if they didn’t get awards.
“I came to tell you about this, and I want you to accompany the film crew. Come with the entire crew, as its creator, and walk the red carpet with us,” Director Liu said.
Tan Mo asked, “Will my brother be there as well?”
Director Liu laughed and said, “Of course!”
“At the awards ceremony, when they name the winner, the center screen will have all of the award winners’ names. At that time, will the camera also capture my face?” Tan Mo asked.
Director Liu thought Tan Mo wanted to show herself in front of the public, but he didn’t think it was anything bad. It was normal that a young woman wanted to have some publicity.
“Of course, the screenwriter and all the other film crew will be filmed,” Director Liu explained with patience.
“Will that impact the television series?”
Director Liu was not expecting that question from Tan Mo. He definitely hadn’t expected her to consider that.
“Before, when the series was just being filmed, there was a lot of negative commentary online because of my young age. And this even impacted the film’s investments. This time, if I show my face, then that will be proving what they suspected beforehand. Then the viewership may be impacted negatively.”
Director Liu noticed that Tan Mo’s first consideration was for the tv series rather than herself.
It was the first time he had met a young girl like Tan Mo. She was young, but she was able to see the big picture.
“It’ll be fine.” Director Liu smiled. “I came to tell you this, which means that there is no longer a problem.
“The series has already finished airing, and now it is being streamed a second time, then a third time. Your appearance will no longer impact the viewership of the series,” Director Liu explained. “Your script was already approved and praised by the public, even if some people questioned the quality of the film. You can just prove yourself to them. Who can question you then?
“Those people think you can’t do what you did at such a young age, because they are useless themselves. That doesn’t mean you can’t do what you have already achieved.” Director Liu was used to seeing this type of thing, so he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“Also, you standing on stage and earning an award will be of help to your brother. Your brother may invest in more series in the future. By then, if he says that the film was written by you, then many good actors will run to him for the opportunity to be cast in the film. Who doesn’t want to be cast in a good film? A single good film can make an obscure actor a famous actor, and then their compensation will increase.
“My own opinion is that, as long as there isn’t any funny business, then you are likely going to be the winner this time.” Director Liu and Tan Mo had unknowingly walked to the entrance of the university already, so he stopped and said, “I will keep an eye out for you.
“You are a smart girl, so you should know the benefits of earning this award. If you are willing to take it more seriously, you can ask your father to keep an eye out for you. We won’t do anything shady ourselves, but we don’t want anything shady to happen against us, isn’t that right?”
