CSGM - Chapter 60
Chapter 60: Chu Xi Takes Charge
It was understandable that the first assessment of the training camp weighed heavily on all the trainees' minds.
This wasn't just about determining who would stay and who would go. Everyone had just arrived in this unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar classmates, and they didn't yet know their own standing in the training camp. Among so many competitors, where did their own skills rank?
Everyone was waiting to see the results of the first assessment to get an idea of their chances of joining the film crew in six months.
Having some sort of baseline in mind would, at the very least, make things less confusing.
So, when the assessment rankings were posted at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, a crowd instantly swarmed the results board.
"The assessment results are out!!"
"Ahhhhh!! I'm so nervous!! I don't dare to look!!!"
Even though some said they didn't dare to look, their bodies were quite honest, pushing forward and craning their necks as needed.
When Chu Xi came out after brushing her teeth, everyone in the dorm had already vanished in a flash.
They were way too excited...
Couldn't just one person take a picture and bring it back for everyone to see?
Everyone just had to be there in person, to witness it with their own eyes, for it to count as seeing the results, huh.
It had the air of an imperial examination results announcement in ancient times.
Chu Xi slowly tidied up her bed and left the dorm unhurriedly, heading outside.
The trainees crowded around the results board. The easiest part to see, the part that was always seen first and drew the most curious attention, was undoubtedly who had taken first place.
When everyone's eyes fell on the top row of the results board, they saw printed in bold-
1, Chu Xi.
Chu Xi...!?
And her scores for the four assessments were: Acting, 94; Archery, 100; Musical Instrument, 92; and Cultural Written Exam, 100.
Two of those were perfect scores, and her total score crushed the second-place trainee by a whopping 50 points!
Gasps of surprise erupted one after another from the crowd.
"Holy crap, is this fake? Am I seeing things?!"
"Chu Xi... Chu Xi is first place?"
"She got perfect scores in archery and the written exam?!"
"The archery score seems real. She was in the same exam room as me, and I glanced over and saw she hit the bullseye every time."
"Wasn't she the first one to turn in her written exam?"
Right, right! At the time, everyone thought Chu Xi had given up. No one ever considered that she was just fast. Who would have thought that when the results came out, she'd have a perfect score?!
It's like she was using cheat codes!
The conversation revolved around the first-place winner, and even the person in second place was forgotten.
However, the trainees in second and third place felt no excitement at all when they saw Chu Xi's towering score and then looked at their own...
They had given it their all, while Chu Xi had been sick and slacking off, yet her assessment score still left them far behind!
This...
Wasn't this just demoralizing?
A few voices started to wonder if Chu Xi had cheated, or if the assessment was unfair.
The casting director, standing behind the results board, frowned and shouted, "What are you all talking about? You took every assessment together, there are cameras in the exam rooms, and all scoring is open, just, fair, and transparent! Our training camp treats every trainee equally, and there is absolutely no favoritism or cheating! There are still more than five months left. Trainees who are dissatisfied with their scores need to work harder themselves!"
The implication was: don't blame others for being too strong just because you're weak, and certainly don't slander the environment.
Don't blame the road for being uneven if you can't walk straight!
The few voices of doubt quickly died down. Indeed, if the production team was being unfair, they could have just cast Chu Xi directly instead of having her attend the training camp and go through assessments.
Therefore, this assessment reflected everyone's true abilities.
The trainees who, just yesterday afternoon, had been thinking Chu Xi would be eliminated, fell silent.
Some of them had unexpectedly become the ones who were eliminated.
So... was Chu Xi just too incredible? They were long past middle and high school-did training camps have academic gods too?!
Chu Xi, who looked unwell and seemed drowsy in class, had still crushed them all while running on fumes.
"Sigh..." someone lamented. "No wonder she was in the mood to play on her phone during meals."
"Could it be that she looks relaxed on the surface but is actually studying secretly in the dorm?"
Back in school, everyone hated that kind of person the most!
But Chu Xi's roommate appeared to set the record straight: "No, she never does extra practice. She just rests after class and lies in bed playing on her phone at night."
Chu "Consistently-Plays-on-Her-Phone" Xi.
The Pale, Young, Skinny university student recalled the notes Chu Xi had corrected in Little Curly Hair's book and sincerely advised those around her, "We should just accept that there are differences between people. She's just too amazing."
Everyone who had once thought Chu Xi would fail the first assessment now realized, looking back, that they were the real clowns!
She's number one! Number one, hello!
"Ah-! You guys have it easy, at least she won't be competing for your roles. We female trainees are the miserable ones! She's going for a female role!" a female trainee despaired.
For the female trainees in the same lane as Chu Xi, the pressure was now on.
Meanwhile, Chu Xi arrived late to see the results. She walked up to the board, glanced at it, and seeing that there was, as expected, no suspense, she calmly walked away again.
But from then on, Little Curly Hair became her little tail, following her everywhere.
"Chu Xi, Chu Xi, can you share some of your study tips with me?"
"Chu Xi, Chu Xi, if I were as amazing as you, I wouldn't have to worry about being eliminated."
"Chu Xi, Chu Xi, can you explain this to me again? Sorry to bother you..."
It was quite a bother.
After arriving here, Chu Xi hadn't planned on tutoring anyone individually. The morning runs plus the seven-a.m.-to-nine-p.m. schedule were already insane. She had been looking for a different kind of opportunity.
But in the first month of the training camp, she still helped Little Curly Hair raise her IQ to 104.
She was just too kind-hearted.
With her help, Little Curly Hair also successfully passed several assessments and hadn't been eliminated yet.
The first month of the training camp passed. After a total of four assessments, the original 150 trainees had been whittled down to 100. The director had said that from this point on, no more of the remaining trainees would be eliminated.
The ones who remained were all promising talents who could be taught. For the next five months, the training camp would focus all its efforts on training this fixed group of trainees.
In the time that had passed, Chu Xi's dorm had gone from six people to four.
Besides her, there was Little Curly Hair, the Dark-skinned Girl, and the Pale, Young, Skinny university student.
Everyone was extremely grateful to have made it this far. Now they no longer had to worry about being asked to leave midway through and could train with peace of mind until the role auditions.
The course content gradually entered a more advanced stage.
The action class now included group training for the "Righteous Army Formation."
This scene would appear in the movie.
But when a hundred people trained together, the only thing in sync was their "Hoo! Ha! Hoo! Ha!" Everything else was a mess.
Their positioning was like startled birds scattering in every direction, and their turns were like ants on a hot pan, completely lost.
Fortunately, the instructor was very patient, encouraging them, "It's always like this at the beginning. Don't be discouraged. Everyone just needs to slowly build up your coordination. Practice makes perfect."
Chu Xi watched as everyone dispersed throughout the performance studio to rest.
She knew her opportunity was now.
This large-scale group action sequence, the "Righteous Army Formation," was not easy to train for. She'd heard it was highly likely they'd be practicing it until the very last day of the training camp...
During the break after class, Chu Xi went to find the director and got straight to the point.
"Let me be the instructor for the Righteous Army Formation action sequence. I can get them trained up for you in three months."
Her words left the director stunned.
The director slowly came to his senses. "...You?"
He was not only confused but also deeply skeptical.
Chu Xi pulled up a chair and sat down, speaking to the director from across the desk. "Yes. Today's training was a total mess, you saw it yourself. There's no way that standard is good enough for your movie, right?"
The director sighed. "It's the first rehearsal. It's to be expected."
Chu Xi tilted her head and asked him, "There are five months left. How good do you think we can get?"
The director thought for a moment. A description would be too abstract, so he found a military parade scene from one of his previous films for her, pointed to one of the square formations, and said, "This is the standard for being on camera."
Chu Xi chuckled. "Give the class to me. Three months is more than enough to get them to that level for you."
The director was silent for a few seconds.
"Although your individual scores are excellent, Chu Xi..."
But the action director on his crew was a true professional with a great deal of teaching experience.
Chu Xi finished his thought for him, "The action instructor can rest and watch from the side. Actually, I just want to help lighten his burden and increase the class's efficiency. I don't need a salary; the instructor can still get paid as usual."
The director stared at her, even more baffled.
What... was she after?
"Oh, I just hope our training can be more efficient," Chu Xi said with a straight face. "The Righteous Army Formation requires movement and synchronization, and everyone needs to find their correct position. But unlike your camera's bird's-eye view, the hundred of them can only see the small space in front of them and the heads of the people ahead. That's the main reason the formation constantly falls apart. If this training only focuses on building coordination... it's too slow."
Chu Xi's analysis was very precise, which made the director focus more on what she was saying. He grew a bit more serious and asked, "Then what do you suggest?"
Who knew that he wouldn't be able to understand the torrent of words that came out of Chu Xi's mouth next.
"Suppose we divide the space occupied by the hundred people proportionally, cutting it into a 64 by 64 grid. Within each unit grid, we create a three-dimensional plane where the left and right feet are the y-axis, the arms are the x-axis, and turns are the z-axis..."
And then there was all the stuff Chu Xi said about perspective, line direction, overall unity, and unit three-dimensionality... After listening for a while, the director almost thought she was reciting an academic paper!
"Wait a minute!" the director couldn't help but interrupt.
"I know you don't understand," Chu Xi said.
The director: "..." If you knew I wouldn't understand, why did you talk for so long?
Chu Xi smiled and said, "But in three months, I can make the other trainees understand it, and make their bodies as well-behaved and orderly as their minds. The shot of the Righteous Army Formation will be perfectly realized."
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