Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
The next day.
In the morning.
The outside world was in an uproar.
This year’s International Hosting Qualifications Examination had attracted worldwide attention.
To watch the commotion.
To see a joke.
There were all kinds of people paying attention to it.
Many of Zhang Ye’s family, friends, and colleagues also heard about the difficulty of the exam and were feeling nervous for him. They knew that if he did not pass the exam this time, it would spell the end of his new show. He had received three calls from his mother alone. But at present, on the high-speed rail from Beijing to Shanghai, Zhang Ye was sitting crossed-legged with a relaxed expression. He was listening to music and flipping through books related to the International Hosting Qualifications Examination. The matter did not bother him at all. From his expression, there was no trace of Zhang Ye being nervous or worried. This fellow would even hum a few lines of the song that he was listening to every so often. Occasionally, he would also take out his cell phone to browse Weibo.
On Weibo.
“Good luck, Face-smacking Zhang!”
“Don’t come back if you don’t pass the exam!”
“Teacher Zhang! Fuck them all!”
“Hurry up and get your license. Don’t be afraid!”
“We’re all waiting to watch your new show!”
“Teacher Zhang, can you do it or not?”
Zhang Ye replied to one of the Weibo posts: “Who knows?”
That Weibo reply immediately blew up!
“Damn!”
“Teacher Zhang has suddenly appeared!”
“Haha, what a surprise to see Face-smacking Zhang!”
The atmosphere was a jubilant one.
The train arrived.
A car came to pick him up and he headed straight to the examination venue.
When Zhang appeared, he immediately became the center of attention. All of the announcers and hosts who had come to take the exam were looking at him in surprise.
A young woman came walking over in a hurry and said respectfully, “Pro-Professor Zhang.”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Did you graduate recently?”
The young woman said shyly, “I just graduated this year.”
Another youth came over. “Professor Zhang, it’s really you!”
Zhang Ye smiled and nodded at him. “Hello.”
The youth said worriedly, “Are you prepared for the exam?”
The young woman stared at him. “You’re worried that Professor Zhang won’t pass?”
The youth said in embarrassment, “I’m not. But I’m worried because I’ve studied this exam all year. The questions are especially odd, and the paper is all in English too. It’s too difficult.”
The young woman clearly knew him. “That’s because you’re dumb.”
The youth said in shame, “Alright.”
As the two of them addressed Zhang Ye as professor the moment they met him, Zhang Ye immediately deduced that they must be students or recent graduates of Media College. Zhang Ye was a professor at Media College, so he would also be considered their teacher. This was even though this teacher was a little raffish and didn’t even hold any classes over the years.
Everyone was chatting as they headed in.
There was only one examination venue, and the number of people taking part in the exam this time was 27. There weren’t many people here, as many people had already given up on taking it after failing the exam several times. There were both Chinese proctors and foreign ones. The exam was the same throughout the world in every country and was in English.
It was time.
The exam began.
When Zhang received his exam, he smiled and started answering the questions.
An hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
The written exam.
Handing in the exam.
Lunch
Lining up.
Going through the interview segment.
When Zhang Ye came out of the venue, it was almost dark.
There were still a lot of things to handle back in Beijing, so he had no time to check the answers, nor pay further attention to any exam-related matters. He just took the high-speed rail straight back to Beijing.
…
The next day.
In the afternoon.
Because of the small number of candidates who took the exam, the results came out very soon.
The International Association for Broadcasters and Announcers had already published the results and passing candidates on its website. Every person who had obtained the international hosting license would have their names appear on a dedicated page of the website. Currently, there were only 239 people in the world who had obtained a certificate of qualification as an international host. Some of the countries had eight to nine of such hosts in total while a few countries didn’t even have anyone with the qualifications to be an international host. From this, it could be seen how valuable the license was.
On this day, the website nearly crashed.
Countless people from all over the world had come to check the results of the examination.
…
At home.
Zhang Ye’s parents had Chenchen take control of the computer.
“Did he pass?”
“How many points did your Uncle Zhang score?”
“It’s out, have a look at it yourselves.”
“Ah!”
“What?”
…
At Central TV.
“Is it out?”
“Why haven’t they announced it yet?”
“The scores are out!”
“Where? Where is it?!”
“Did he pass?”
“Holy shit! This score—”
…
Media College.
“Oh my God!”
“Something big has happened!”
“Quickly come and have a look at Professor Zhang’s score!”
“What the hell!”
“Awesome! This is too fucking awesome!”
…
Dong Shanshan’s house.
Yu Yingyi and she were having a chat.
“I wonder how it went.”
“I think the scores have been announced.”
“Damn, they’re really out!”
“This madman!”
“I should have known! Why did I bother worrying about him? Just how on earth did this guy take his exam!”
…
The scores were announced.
The results of every country’s candidates were published.
Emerson: Written test, 167 points; Interview, 75 points (Passed)
Zhang Fanghua: Written test, 148 points; Interview, 69 points (Failed)
Arthur: Written test, 154 points; Interview, 62 points (Failed)
This was a list containing the results of several hundred candidates who took the exam. The majority of everyone’s scores were spread between 160 to 250 points, although there were also some who didn’t do well and only had a combined score of 120 points for the written test and the interview. This exam had 250 points as the maximum score for the written test. The interview segment had a maximum score of 100 points. For most of the candidates, reaching a combined 240 points would mean that they had passed the exam. But of course, there were also special circumstances. If one did outstandingly excellent on the interview portion, the requirements for their written test could be adjusted lower.
The scores densely populated the list.
But currently, the entire world’s attention was only focused on one person’s results!
When they saw this person’s result, nobody could believe their eyes!
Zhang Ye’s result:
Written test, 250 points (Full marks)
Interview, 100 points (Full marks)
Total score, 350 points (Full marks)
He had scored perfectly for the written test and interview segment!
…
On Weibo.
Everyone was exclaiming.
“Hahahaha!”
“It’s a perfect score!”
“Oh my awesome Zhang!”
“Face-smacking Zhang is smacking faces again!”
“666!”
“There’s no problem at all, buddy!”
“I’m doubling over with laughter! This is who Zhang Ye is!”
“I’m laughing as well. There were actually some foreigners who thought that he wouldn’t pass the exam? They must not be in the know about how Zhang Ye had scored perfectly in the judicial exam back as a host!”
…
On the Web.
The people of the world were stunned.
An American netizen: “What the fuck!”
An Indian netizen: “How on earth did he take the exam!”
A UK netizen: “Full marks?”
A Canadian netizen: “He really managed to pass it?!”
A Japanese netizen: “I knew it!”
An American netizen: “This is the International Hosting Qualifications Examination. It’s known as one of the most difficult exams in the world, but he can still get a perfect score on it?”
A German netizen: “He didn’t even have a full day to prepare for it and went to take the exam directly, yet he still managed a perfect score? This Zhang Ye is too smart. It looks like there’s no fault in labeling him as the smartest person to exist in a few hundred years. Those who were waiting to see him make a fool of himself had wishful thinking!”
…
On this day.
On the website of the International Association of Broadcasters and Announcers, Zhang Ye’s name was right at the top.
The list was ranked according to the results of the exam candidates. Ever since the International Hosting Qualifications Examination was implemented, Zhang Ye was the only person in several decades to have scored full marks on it!
