It wasn't until he saw that message sent by He Hongtao that he could understand everything.
Then, he decisively gave it a score of 99.
So, when Zhou Xun was calculating the scores, he suddenly discovered that it was, ironically, the very conflicted Director Li who had given an absurd score of 99.
The teachers next to him had all given very fair scores of 95 and 94.
What had changed in his mentality?
This Principal He must have given instructions!
Director Li had only now come back to his senses.
From initially greeting Chen Yuan to listening to Chen Yuan's performance and leaving the stage, and then sending that seemingly insignificant message, everything He Hongtao did was to ensure Chen Yuan got through the preliminary round.
So this score of 99 that he gave was very smart and sensible.