Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 237, Section 235: "The Bottom-Tier Hot Girl" (Part 2)
This subversive approach to evaluation and encouragement was like a beam of light that suddenly shone into Wang Xiaojia's gloomy world, and it also gave Lin Xiaoyue, who was watching on the screen, a jolt.

Surpassing...yourself from yesterday?

The following montage is filled with both laughter and bitterness.

Cheng Dongqing used various unique methods to stimulate Wang Xiaojia's interest in learning: using popular song lyrics to memorize English words, using game strategy to solve math problems, and using comic book character relationships to understand historical events...

Wang Xiaojia wanted to give up countless times; she cried, made a scene, and even tore up her textbooks.

Under the desk lamp late at night, she was so sleepy that her head kept hitting the table; on the bus in the early morning, she muttered words to herself.

Good-natured laughter occasionally rang out in the theater, especially when Cheng Dongqing explained the questions in an exaggerated way, or when Wang Xiaojia made a fool of herself.

But more than anything, it's a quiet resonance.

When Lin Xiaoyue saw Wang Xiaojia break down in tears late at night, pounding her fists on the exercise books she could never get right, her own eyes welled up with tears.

She was all too familiar with that despair of trying hard but seeing no results.

Family conflicts are also escalating.

The father discovered his wife was secretly taking money to pay for their daughter's expensive tutoring classes. He flew into a rage, smashing a glass: "What a waste of money! She's simply not cut out for studying!"

The mother and daughter hugged each other, silently shedding tears.

At school, Wang Xiaojia's transformation drew incomprehension and ridicule from her classmates.

"A student at the bottom of the class wants to get into a university in Beijing? Dream on!" "It must be a special talent spot bought by your family!" These words were like cold needles, piercing through her fragile confidence that she had just built up.

The climax of the film arrives after a crucial mock exam.

Despite Wang Xiaojia's best efforts, her scores remained dismal, making her dream of attending a university in Beijing seem as distant as an insurmountable chasm.

On a night of torrential rain, she completely broke down, rushed out of her house, and let the cold rain soak her to the bone.

She ran to the "New Hope" tutoring center downstairs, only to find that the lights in Cheng Dongqing's classroom were still on.

She rushed upstairs and saw Cheng Dongqing writing a detailed study plan tailored for her on the whiteboard.

Hearing the noise, Cheng Dongqing turned around and saw Wang Xiaojia, soaking wet and looking like an abandoned puppy. He wasn't surprised; he simply handed her a dry towel and said, "I knew you would come. Giving up is easy, but perseverance is definitely cool. Don't forget, you're the student I bet others could create miracles."

At that moment, as Wang Xiaojia looked at the words on the whiteboard filled with her name and goals, all her grievances, resentment, and exhaustion turned into tears that flowed freely, and also into an even stronger determination.

She wiped her face, whether from rain or tears, and picked up a pen, saying hoarsely, "Teacher Cheng, let's continue."

"Giving up is easy, but persisting is definitely cool."

These words struck Lin Xiaoyue's heart like a heavy hammer.

She felt her breath catch for a moment.

On screen, Wang Xiaojia's eyes, a mixture of despair and rebirth, resonated deeply with her own state of mind at that moment.

Yes, giving up is too easy. Just find a job that barely makes ends meet and drift through life aimlessly... But is that really something to be content with?
The film ends in July 1999, the day the college entrance examination results were released.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense.

Wang Xiaojia and her mother held hands tightly, their hands trembling as they dialed the information hotline.

When the mother and daughter heard on the phone that her score was far above the first-tier university admission line, and although it didn't meet the previous years' admission line for Beijing University, it was enough for her to get into a top-tier key university, they hugged each other and cried.

That cry contained so much—hardship, grievance, relief, and ecstasy…

The final scene shows Wang Xiaojia standing at the university gate with her backpack, looking back at the road she came from.

The sunlight shone on her, and she shed her former rebelliousness and confusion, her eyes clear and firm, full of anticipation for the future.

The voice-over is her inner monologue: "I don't know how many difficulties I will encounter in the future, but I know that I am no longer that bottom student who easily gives up. Thank you, Teacher Cheng."

Just as the end credits were slowly rolling, the intro to the theme song, "Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart," suddenly began. "Where exactly is this world filled with flowers? / If it truly exists, then I will definitely go..."

Han Hong's powerful and vibrant voice instantly captivated the ears of all the audience members and also gripped Lin Xiaoyue's heart.

"I want to stand on the highest peak there / I don't care if it's a cliff or a precipice..."

As the song played, scenes of Wang Xiaojia's hard work in the film flashed by: studying late into the night, running in the rain, breaking down in tears, and finally smiling... Accompanied by a powerful yet poignant melody, an indescribable emotion surged and gushed in Lin Xiaoyue's heart.

"Live life to the fullest, love with all your might, even if it means sacrificing your life / I don't seek anyone's approval, as long as I'm true to myself / I've never chosen to give up on my ideals / Even in the darkest of times..."

The lyrics seem to have been tailor-made for Wang Xiaojia, and also for Lin Xiaoyue.

A life of hardship and disgrace... isn't that what she's experiencing right now?

But is she really going to give up on her ideals like this?
In high school, she secretly vowed to get into a good university, find a good job, and give her parents a good life... Should those dreams be buried forever?
"Perhaps I lack talent / But I possess the innocence of dreams / I will prove myself with my entire life / Perhaps my hands are clumsy / But I am willing to keep exploring / Giving my all to leave no regrets..."

The singing grew louder and louder, and the emotions became more and more intense.

The theater was unusually quiet, with only the singing echoing through the room.

Lin Xiaoyue could hear her own heart pounding, and she could feel scalding tears welling up without warning, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the empty soda bottle she was clutching tightly.

She was too embarrassed to make a sound, so she could only bite her lower lip hard and let her vision blur.

"Run forward, facing cold stares and ridicule / How can one feel the vastness of life without experiencing hardship? / Fate cannot make us kneel and beg for mercy / Even if our arms are stained with blood..."

"Run forward! Face the cold stares and ridicule!"

This lyric was like a lightning bolt, cleaving through the fog in her heart.

Yes, so what if you fail the college entrance exam?
What do other people's opinions matter?
If you give up now, that's true failure!

Wang Xiaojia was able to go from a fifth-grade level to a top university, so why can't Lin Xiaoyue try again?
"Keep running with the pride of a child / How can you see the brilliance of life if you don't persevere to the end? / Rather than lingering on, let's burn brightly / One day we will sprout again..."

As the last line, "For the beauty in my heart / I will not compromise until I grow old," faded away, the end credits finished rolling, and the lights in the theater snapped on.

The blinding light made Lin Xiaoyue instinctively close her eyes, and she hurriedly wiped away the tears on her face with the back of her hand.

Looking around, she noticed that many people, like her, had red eyes. Some were still immersed in their emotions, sitting there blankly; while others began to quietly get up and leave.

No one made a sound; a peculiar atmosphere, a mixture of emotion and exhilaration, permeated the theater.

She sat in her seat for a while, until almost everyone in the theater had left, before slowly standing up.

My legs felt a little weak, but my heart was beating incredibly hard.

Stepping out of the Cathay Cinema, the afternoon sun was still glaring, and the heat was intense. But Lin Xiaoyue felt that the sunlight was no longer so irritating, and the air seemed to have a fresher scent.

She was still clutching the movie ticket stub in her hand, as if she were holding something precious.

"Rather than lingering on in misery, it's better to burn brightly..." The lyrics still echoed in her mind.

She raised her head, took a deep breath of the stuffy yet real air, and her gaze was no longer lost.

She made up her mind; she was going to go back and have a serious talk with her parents, and she was going to repeat a year of high school.

One failure does not mean eternal failure.

She may not be a genius, but she is willing to put in all her efforts, just like Wang Xiaojia, to explore a different future.

The streets of Shanghai are bustling with people in the afternoon.

Lin Xiaoyue merged into the crowd, but her steps were much more firm than when she arrived.

The light on the screen, and the roaring song "Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart," seemed to tear open a hole in her gloomy world, casting a beam of blazing and dazzling light called "hope."

(End of this chapter)