There are still two chapters later
“This little girl is quite a sensation. Once the show airs, the attention she’ll attract will definitely be higher than my deaf-mute contestant!” Huang Ming analyzed very seriously.
“Oh, are you regretting it?” Hu Shuaige retorted.
“No, I don’t regret it. I can guarantee you, this little girl will definitely make it into the top 16, but she absolutely won’t make it into the top 8. This is a contestant used to hype up the show’s popularity, she can’t possibly have any real skill. She can’t even hold a pair of scissors properly, how can someone like that win? They’re treating the entire nation like fools!”
“Moreover, this time they’re selecting a genuine chief designer for Cai Wei, and they wouldn’t pick someone incompetent. So, after this little girl has served her purpose in hyping up the show, the program team will definitely abandon her once she reaches the top 16!” Huang Ming declared confidently.
“Mm!” Hu Shuaige nodded. Although he didn’t particularly like Huang Ming, he had to admit that what he said made sense. A 14-year-old girl being featured was just a gimmick; she couldn’t possibly win.
After all, fashion design isn’t as simple as singing. Besides requiring design ability, it also demands the ability to physically create clothing, involving many advanced techniques that a 14-year-old girl couldn’t possibly master.
Just as Hu Shuaige was pondering this, it was time for the little girl named Xiao Yuan to draw her blind box.
“Number 56.” Xiao Yuan took out a number tag from the blind box. After a few seconds, a handsome and dashing figure slowly stood up and turned his name tag.
“It’s her!” Hu Shuaige stared at Leng Zhiwen in disbelief. Xiao Yuan’s partner was this person!
Hu Shuaige suddenly felt like retracting his previous predictions and thoughts. This Xiao Yuan was at least a top 4 contestant, maybe even a champion or runner-up.
After Xiao Yuan’s appearance, another contestant with immense drawing power emerged: Miss Vivian, the princess from Europe. She made her appearance as a contestant from the overseas region.
The overseas contestants were indeed all foreigners, ranging from fair-skinned Caucasians to dark-skinned individuals. However, in 2004, there were many variety shows that focused on foreigners, such as "Chinese Bridge" and "Foreigner Chinese Skills Competition," so it wasn’t unusual to have eight foreign contestants.
After all, among the four celebrities present, there was a Hollywood superstar named Nicolas Cage. However, his partner had already been decided in the second episode, and it was a rather plump girl who wasn't particularly good-looking.
As for Vivian's partner, it ultimately fell to Gu Le, which was a matter of whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.
It was fortunate because Gu Le was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of male actors in terms of looks, perhaps only surpassed by peak Jiao Jun in many people's eyes.
But the problem was that the peak of his looks was during his "White Gu" period. Gu Le had now transitioned from "White Gu" to "Black Gu." How much handsomeness could be squeezed out or displayed by designers depended entirely on the designer’s own ability.
Finally, all 64 designers had their celebrity partners. By then, it was already past 10 PM. Although the production crew had provided dinner, everyone still felt exhausted.
However, the following days would be a bit more relaxed, as they would be entering the production base in batches. Since each competition zone would use two episodes to broadcast, which spanned exactly two weeks.
Therefore, contestants could enter the base sequentially according to the order of their appearance in their respective zones, with a two-week interval. This was because the base did not have too many rooms and workstations prepared, and accommodating 64 people simultaneously would be unmanageable.
As for the celebrities partnered with the designers, they only needed to enter the base on the first day after the designers moved in, complete measurements, and then spend another day interacting with the designers to familiarize them with the celebrities and finalize design inspirations and communication. The following 13 days would be entirely for the designers to work independently. The celebrities would need to return to the filming set two weeks later to complete two episodes in one go.
This arrangement made it easier for celebrities to schedule their time. After all, if all 64 celebrities had to complete their work within one or two days, there would undoubtedly be constant problems.
However, this approach seemed somewhat unfair. For example, contestants from the Northeast region would have to start making clothes the day after they moved in, while contestants from the overseas region, who appeared last, would have an additional 14 weeks.
Although they wouldn’t be allowed to directly produce the competition attire during this time, no one could stop them from designing at home, looking at celebrity photos, and trying to make some samples.
But in reality, there was no need to worry. The competition format was 8 contestants from each zone selected to enter the top 16. This meant that as long as the contestants within the same zone maintained fairness in terms of time and entered the production base to create their work together, it would be fair.
As for the top 16, everyone would return to the same timeline, so there would be no talk of fairness or unfairness.
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“It’s over, I’ve completely lost all the math in my head!” Zhao Yao cried out in agony, rolling on the bed and holding his head after the television was turned off.
“There’s no need to worry!” Fan Rui rolled his eyes and said, “No matter how much you study, you won’t surpass your usual scores. And your usual math scores have never been higher than 130. Don’t expect to make a comeback; you’re just here to join the fun!”
“Lao Fan, do you have to be so heartless?” Zhao Yao said resentfully. Fan Rui ignored him and lay down to sleep, deciding to rest well for tomorrow. However, he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, all because of his future, prospects, ideals, and dreams. When he got up irritably to go to the restroom, he found that Zhao Yao had already fallen asleep.
The next morning, the official bus arrived as scheduled, and they could board to go to the examination venue. However, Fan Rui and Zhao Yao did not get on the bus. This was because all the hotels were chosen near the examination site, and their hotel was less than a 10-minute walk away. To warm up their bodies and get into an excited state, the two of them chose to walk to the venue.
To prevent cheating, the examination venue would only open 15 minutes before the start of the exam. Therefore, a crowd of students had already gathered at the entrance of the venue. Fortunately, relevant personnel had properly managed traffic control, completely closing off the road near the school entrance, and not even allowing bicycles to pass, only allowing pedestrians.
Therefore, the school entrance was very safe, and the candidates could move around freely at the entrance.
Mingling in the crowd, Fan Rui and Zhao Yao noticed that the candidates at the school entrance were divided into two extremes. Some candidates treated it like facing a formidable enemy, still holding books and memorizing knowledge and exam points.
But some candidates completely ignored the current situation, laughing and joking with friends, even spouting profanity and revealing tattoos, looking nothing like serious candidates.
“As expected, the people who come to take exams are always at the extremes. Either they are top students with a very serious attitude towards studying, or they are underperforming students who are here for a free trip!” Fan Rui muttered to himself. At the same time, they noticed some parents accompanying their children.
In fact, most candidates’ parents were not present. This was because these candidates had gathered at the provincial capital’s examination site from all over the province. They had come via the guild tours organized by Jiangnan Group.
However, the free tours only covered the expenses of one candidate, not the parents. Therefore, most candidates did not have their parents accompanying them.
As for the parents who had come, they were likely either local candidates or very doting parents.
“Xiao Peng, listen to me. Don’t worry about the exam results. Just treat this as a preview of the college entrance examination, to accumulate experience and a good mindset for the college entrance examination!”
“Don’t feel pressured. It’s okay if you perform poorly; this isn’t the college entrance examination.”
Most parents on site were comforting their children in this manner. Therefore, it was normal for parents to help their children release pressure when facing exams. However, this also showed that most of these parents did not take this exam seriously themselves, nor did they believe it was an exam that could change the entire course of their child’s future life.
Of course, there were exceptions. For instance, Fan Rui overheard a parent telling their child, “Ma’er, don’t have any other thoughts. You must perform at 120% of your ability.”
“This is your best opportunity to turn your life around. None of the candidates around you are truly taking this exam seriously; they are all treating it as a preview or a simulation. But only you are treating this as a decisive battle more important than the college entrance examination, so you have already won against everyone here!” the parent said.
“Mom, is this exam really that important?” the child asked, still a bit confused.
“Nonsense. Your mom has been in the business world for over a decade. Although it’s a bit down now, she understands one principle. The richer people are, the stingier they are. Since he’s willing to give a newly enrolled student a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan, he definitely expects to extract profits of 100,000 yuan from you all.”
“It’s difficult for your grades to get you into a 985 university. This is your only chance to achieve a life reversal!” the mother said. At this time, 985 did not refer to the current 39 universities but to the first batch of nine universities, which were definitely among the hardest to get into in China. Only top students could gain admission.
“Yes, I understand,” the child nodded forcefully, and Fan Rui felt a sense of urgency welling up within him.