Chapter 17: Campus Culture Festival Public Casting

The two continued chatting. Wen Xiaochu said, "By the way, I saw you're very popular in the university culture festival voting. It looks like you're headed for victory. Seems Mr. Gu has boosted your popularity."

Xia Yangyang was surprised. "What culture festival?"

Wen Xiaochu explained, "The annual campus culture festival. Each university submits a program, and the winner receives awards from the Ministry of Culture. It's a significant event for the school's reputation, especially this year, which coincides with A University's centennial. A University is hosting, so the school is taking it very seriously."

Xia Yangyang knew about the annual campus culture festival—a kind of "Cultural Exchange Olympics" between universities. Universities fiercely compete for hosting rights. The festival takes place annually at the end of October. Thirty-two universities nationwide compete, with Ministers of Culture, senior Ministry of Education officials, and even a specially appointed education minister attending. In recent years, substantial cash prizes and awards have been offered. While billed as promoting cultural exchange, it's essentially a competition between universities, and schools take it very seriously.

Xia Yangyang asked, puzzled, "But isn't the program always handled by the performing arts department?"

Xia Yangyang hadn't paid attention because the performing arts department traditionally handled the competition. The department is full of talented, stunning individuals, some already in the entertainment industry. Naturally, they lead in cultural and entertainment competitions bringing glory to the school. The festival is also a great opportunity for acting majors—entertainment scouts attend, and those chosen can become stars overnight. The current entertainment star, Wang Zixuan ("Dolphin Voice Little Princess"), won the last festival. Her performance of Vitas's "Opera 2" led to a record deal and roles in two idol dramas the same year.

The performing arts department students view the festival as a springboard to the entertainment industry, and controversy often surrounds program selection.

Wen Xiaochu continued, "That was true in the past. But this year, the school introduced a new rule: the program is a drama, and they're holding a school-wide vote to select the leads. The announcement went out a month ago; the voting is on the official website, and nearly every student is listed. The deadline is tomorrow. I checked this morning—you're the most popular female student, closely followed by Kim Fei'er."

Xia Yangyang had been busy with the drama group and hadn't noticed. Checking her phone and the campus forum (which she usually ignores), she found she was the clear winner, with over thirty thousand votes—significantly more than the runner-up's ten thousand. She also checked the male student voting. Unsurprisingly, A University's heartthrob, Gu Zhaohan, led.