Chapter 0040: Unfortunately, It's Not You

When you see someone who is a bit sentimental, don't call them pretentious; when you see a goofball, don't call them brainless; when you see a literary youth, don't call them a poser; when you see a poet, don't say they are whining without cause.

Because everyone has their own way of expressing emotions. It's your freedom not to like it, but if disdain and criticism turn from inner thoughts into words or text, that's a different matter.

Rousseau said: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Many people don't quite understand this principle. They are accustomed to standing on what they consider a moral high ground to look down on and mock others, always adopting an attitude of 'you should say this' or 'you should do that.'

Yet they forget that other people's lives are not for you to meddle with.

You can dislike it and leave, but if you recklessly criticize others, it only proves your ignorance and arbitrariness.

The best way to respect others is to respect what they do, as long as they haven't infringed upon your interests.

Right now, Zheng Yao felt that her interests had been infringed upon.

Originally, following Zhao Fusheng's request, she came to Ninghai Film Academy to select models. After she stated her identity, the head of the Performance Department was very pleased. After all, for a branch campus like theirs, being able to shoot an advertisement that could air on CCTV was undoubtedly a great honor.

So the department head immediately contacted the counselor for the Performance Department and had her lead herself and Zheng Yao to the female dormitory to pick people.

The reason they didn't call everyone to a large classroom for an audition was that Zheng Yao said she was just there to look at people, because they only needed one model and didn't need that many people.

This was what Zhao Fusheng had instructed, and Zheng Yao had also read Zhao Fusheng's plan, knowing that the entire ad shoot indeed only required one model; what really stood out was the lines the model would say.

But after arriving at the dormitory that was said to have the best quality students in the entire major, the counselor's attitude made Zheng Yao's brows furrow slightly.

Because what she said was, 'Yuan Lu, Tang Tingting, you few, come over here and let General Manager Zheng have a look.'

In Zheng Yao's view, it was she who had the right to choose, not a counselor.

You see, even if she already had someone in mind, this feeling of being arranged still made her very uncomfortable.

In fact, after hearing the counselor call out those names, Fan Baobao's heart felt as cold as the winter sky.

The reason was simple: the counselor had called out the names of girls who usually had good relationships with her, like Yuan Lu and Tang Tingting, who had all given gifts to the counselor. Students like her, though pretty, didn't know how to curry favor with the teacher, were usually not well-liked, and scholarships would never come to her. When there was good news at school, it naturally had nothing to do with her.

It seemed that this time, it had nothing to do with her again.

Yuan Lu, Tang Tingting, and the others were all very excited. When they heard the counselor call out their names, they felt that this time their chance had come.

Being the female lead in an ad that could air on CCTV—setting aside the remuneration, just the opportunity itself was enough.

Glancing at Fan Baobao, a cold smile appeared on Yuan Lu's lips: 'Let's see how you compete with me!'

…

…

No one noticed that the expression on Zheng Yao's face did not change at all because of the appearance of those girls whom the counselor considered young and beautiful.

Especially after seeing Yuan Lu, she frowned, waved her hand, and said directly, 'This classmate is out.'

'Ah?'

The counselor and Yuan Lu, who were about to leave, were all stunned, never expecting that Yuan Lu would be rejected outright.

'General Manager Zheng...'

'What's going on?'

'Yuan Lu doesn't work?'

Not only the teachers, but even the other girls in the dormitory were all stunned.

Zheng Yao pointed at Yuan Lu's face: 'She's wearing makeup. Our ad focuses on purity, so sorry.'

Pfft!

Fan Baobao couldn't help but burst out laughing.

In fact, not only her, but also the girls who had earlier heard Yuan Lu talk about how important cosmetics were, all had flushed faces. Some simply turned around, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

There was no helping it; this General Manager Zheng really hit hard where it hurt.

But Zheng Yao didn't care at all about Yuan Lu's face, which was almost as black as the bottom of a pot. Her gaze swept over the faces of a few girls, frowned, turned to the department head, and said, 'Director He, doesn't your Performance Department have any better students?'

The implication was naturally that she was not satisfied with the students before her.

The department head, named He Jingyi, frowned upon hearing this. She hadn't expected Zheng Yao to be so picky. The girls in front of her, though a bit immature, were indeed the outstanding students of the Performance Department.

Perhaps because the counselor was young and impulsive, and because Yuan Lu and the others had often given her gifts, she couldn't help but say, 'General Manager Zheng, it's just an ad. Do you need to be so picky?'

Zheng Yao turned around, gave the counselor a deep look, said nothing, but took out her phone from her bag and dialed a number.

'Hello, Uncle Chen? It's me...'

'Mm-hmm, there's something I need your help with. I want to pick a student from your college to shoot an ad for me. Oh, yes, Aunt Liu's thing, you've heard about it? Hehe, okay, don't worry, definitely. Alright, I'll treat you to a meal later.'

As she spoke, Zheng Yao handed the phone to He Jingyi, signaling for her to answer it.

He Jingyi took the phone, puzzled, but the moment the voice on the other end sounded, she froze.

'Principal, how is it you...' He Jingyi blurted out.

'Zheng Yao is my niece. Old He, do me a favor and fully cooperate with her, understand?' On the other end of the phone, Chen Dongping, the top leader of Ninghai Film Academy, said calmly and then hung up directly.

But He Jingyi was not at all displeased. You see, Principal Chen was a man of his word at school. Even the establishment of Ninghai Film Academy as a branch of Beijing Film Academy was accomplished by him. It was said that he had connections reaching the heavens in the capital.

'General Manager Zheng, you see, if you had said earlier that you were a relative of Principal Chen, this matter would have been easy to handle,' He Jingyi said hurriedly to Zheng Yao after putting down the phone.

Zheng Yao was not at all surprised by her fawning attitude. If it weren't for Zhao Fusheng's insistence that Fan Baobao be the lead and that it shouldn't be too obvious, she wouldn't have gone through all this trouble.

But since Zhao Fusheng had said so, Zheng Yao certainly had to give him that face.

Just as Liu Shaomei had privately told her, a top advertising genius was worth wooing by any means. Because this was an industry where creativity reigned supreme. In the advertising circle, the most important thing was not capital or connections, but unrestrained creativity.

Creativity reigns supreme. Actually, Zheng Yao didn't have much feeling for these four words. Perhaps it was because she was a newcomer just starting out and didn't know that the big names in advertising were all said to have the Midas touch, or perhaps it was because Zhao Fusheng always had startling things to say when he talked with her.

So, although Zheng Yao felt that creativity was important, she didn't realize just how important it was.

She simply thought that Zhao Fusheng was a good person and that cooperating with him was not a bad thing for her.

'Then I'll trouble Director He. Let's go through each dormitory one by one,' Zheng Yao said calmly.

'Alright, alright, alright.' Director He quickly said to the girls in the dormitory, 'Everyone, please state your name and height, um, and your major.'

It was too late to gather the students now, so they might as well let Zheng Yao choose dormitory by dormitory.

'Yuan Lu, Performance Department, sophomore, height 1.70 meters.'

'Tang Tingting, Performance Department, sophomore, height...'

'Zhou Juan, Performance Department, sophomore...'

The first few all stated their names. When it was Fan Baobao's turn, she stood there in a shirt, her voice full of energy: 'Fan Baobao, Performance Department, sophomore, height 1.65 meters...'

Before she could finish, Zheng Yao's eyes lit up, and she blurted out, 'It's you!'

In that instant, the entire dormitory fell silent.

Both Yuan Lu and Fan Baobao suddenly had the same thought.

Could it be that this was a dream?