I am Really a Superstar

Zhang Ye went to work.

There was a recording that he had to get done in the morning. The audience had been informed and the tickets had already been distributed. However, just as many of the audience and staff members arrived on scene, they were informed that “Zhang Ye’s Talk Show” had been changed to a daily broadcast. The amount of work gave the staff a large fright!

“Teacher Zhang!”

“This, isn’t this schedule too tight?”

“That’s right, can we even manage it?”

“A broadcast a day means we have to produce more episodes prior to prevent any mishaps. In that case, wouldn’t there be a drop in quality? We aren’t the issue, but we are afraid that it will put too much of a strain on you.”

A person from the program team said.

Zhang Ye laughed, “Let’s give it a go. We already recorded an additional two episodes yesterday. Let’s try recording three episodes today, maybe even four if possible. Let’s get them out first.” Then he said to the audience, “Hello everyone, I have a matter to trouble you with. We will probably record multiple episodes today. We will probably be recording until noon, so if anyone has something to attend to midway, it’s alright, you can quietly leave prematurely.”

“Go ahead and record!”

“It’s best if we record ten episodes!”

“Right, I’ll not leave even if we record into the night!”

“Haha, we are dying to watch a few more episodes, so who would be willing to leave!?”

The audience’s reaction was intense, relieving Zhang Ye and his program team.

Then, after checking that the audience members did not have any recording devices, they began recording.

After the introduction clip, Zhang Ye appeared in his usual fashion, “Hello, everyone and welcome to today’s ‘Zhang Ye’s Talk Show’. I am your host, Zhang Ye. Today, I have an exciting piece of news to tell everyone. Due to the feverish response and support we have received for the past few episode, from today onwards, my program will have a change in broadcasting time. It will be changed from airing at 8 on Saturdays and Sundays to an airing time at 8 every day from Monday to Sunday. Our program also has a sponsor now. This episode is sponsored by the ‘Korean Aerospace Industries’—We want to go further, to see what else belongs to us!”

Initially, the audience was listening attentively. Things such as the change in airing schedule and introducing a sponsor’s advertisement, but who knew that Zhang Ye had already thrown in a joke without any warning! Even many of the staff present were fooled by Zhang Ye. As he had been speaking very seriously at the beginning, they were still curious. What sponsor? They had never heard that their program had sponsors yet! No one expected Zhang Ye to come up with such a sudden reversal!

“Pfft!”

“Hahahaha!”

“The Koreans are too ambitious!”

Everyone, including the staff present, burst out with laughter!

Teacher Zhang Ye was too professional! Wasn’t Korea’s special episode done for the entire second episode? It returned again? This was f**king professionally ridiculing Korea for a hundred years! Just as Zhang Ye had said last time, who was the one propping up China as well as the Talk Show industry? It was not the SARFT, nor was it the television station media, nor was it the professional industry experts, nor was it the citizens of China, but rather it was the silent hard work of the mighty South Korean citizens!

Haha!

There was something to look forward to with this episode again!

Just from the opening statement, it meant that this episode would not be bad!

……

All the way to noon.

People dispersed from the recording studio.

The final result was Zhang Ye recording five episodes in one shot. Including the additional two episodes he did yesterday, he now had a large enough “stockpile” for them to broadcast for a full week. This was also because Zhang Ye was getting more and more used to the performance style required for Talk Shows. Hence, his condition was getting better and better. It was not as mentally sapping anymore. If it were anything like the first and second episode, he would definitely faint on-stage after recording five episodes. Today, he was not as exhausted. When the members of the program team saw Teacher Zhang in great condition, they were completely reassured.

In the dressing room.

Zhang Ye changed back into his work clothes and removed his makeup. He then switched on his cellphone and within a few minutes, a phone call came in.

The number indicated—Director Jiang.

The Executive Director of “The Great Pugilistic World”?

Zhang Ye picked it up, “Hello, Director Jiang, how are you?”

Director Jiang smiled. “Little Zhang, why did you switch off your phone?”

“Hai, I was recording programs all morning and have just concluded for the day,” Zhang Ye said, “Is there something you need?”

Director Jiang said, “Tonight is the premiere of ‘The Great Pugilistic World’. It will be held in Shanghai. If you have time, join us. After it, there will even be a celebratory feast. This time it will be the official celebratory feast.”

Zhang Ye did not hesitate, “Sure, I’ll definitely be there.”

Previously, if the filming crew needed to inform him of such matters or to aid in their promotions, it would be the Assistant Director contacting him. However, this time, Director Jiang personally made the call. Zhang Ye also understood that his popularity had increased, and that his status in the industry had naturally increased. The current him was no longer a minor side character who needed to use connections to be pulled into a film crew as a background character. The current Zhang Ye…eh…no longer needed to use connections to be pulled into a film crew as a side character! His societal status had clearly improved!

……

Cafeteria.

Zhang Ye happened to bump into Dong Shanshan who was also there to eat.

He whispered, “I’ll need to go out at night. The movie, which I previously made a guest appearance in, is having its premiere today, so I’ll probably be home late. So don’t delay your dinner for me.

Dong Shanshan whispered, “Got it.”

After a few whispers, the two returned to their normal voice and began chatting amidst laughter.

……

Evening.

Zhang Ye reached the cinema theater and walked towards a specialized zone for staff only.

A youth stopped him, “Who are you? Outsiders are forbidden!”

A woman behind him turned around and immediately stared at the youth, “How can you not know Teacher Zhang Ye?!” With that, she smiled at Zhang Ye, “Teacher Zhang, please enter.”

The youth was stunned. He was Zhang Ye? The one that had recently become very popular on the internet?

Zhang Ye entered a waiting zone and saw many familiar faces.

“Aiyah, Little Zhang is here. Hahaha.” Yao Jiancai spotted Zhang Ye at a glance and immediately came up to greet him, putting his arm around his shoulder, “You have really been making the scenes recently. I saw your ‘Zhang Ye’s Talk Show’. Although the other episodes weren’t to my taste as my expectations for humor are a bit higher, that episode about Korea was so well done. I saw that episode a total of three times! So addicting!”

“Teacher Zhang, you came?”

“Little Zhang, sit over here.”

A few actors, who had previously filmed with him, greeted him.

Sitting at the most important spots were the male and female leads, but Zhang Ye did not know them, nor was he familiar with them. As on the day he went to the Qingshan monastery for filming, there were no scenes for the male and female lead, so he had not seen them. Hence, after exchanging pleasantries with his old friends, he went to a corner with Yao Jiancai. The old and young duo began chatting. Their relationship was the best, and their personalities matched, allowing them to become good friends despite the great difference in age.

After Yao Jiancai joked a few times, he finally became serious, “Your Talk Show sure is new. I always felt crosstalk had its limitations. It had a limitation in broadcasting as well as regional and language barriers. However, this Talk Show of yours has perfectly surpassed the limitations that crosstalk always had. Furthermore, it is different from solo crosstalk. The style and content is packaged in a different way. Your talent in this sure isn’t trivial.”

Zhang Ye said in surprise, “Old Yao, you really know?”

Yao Jiancai said with a chuckle, “Of course, do you know what I did before movie filming? I did three years of crosstalk.”

Zhang Ye exclaimed, “Professionally?”

“Keke, self-learned, not professionally.” Yao Jiancai then said with a bit of a sigh, “Back then, there was no food to eat, so I had to do anything to survive. So I was an understudy for three years. Back then, I was a utility man, so I had to do everything. So I can’t say which was my main job and which was my side job.”

Zhang Ye asked inquisitively, “Were you a main or side character?”

Yao Jiancai laughed, “I can speak well enough while chatting with you, but I can’t do well in crosstalk. I don’t have a mouth that can reach the acme of perfection like yours, nor am I a graduated specialized major, so naturally I was a side character. Don’t look down on me though, for back in the day, I was quite a good side character!”

“Alright, I’ll believe it.”

“But why do I feel like you are giving me a distrusting expression?”

……

It was not even 7.

The premiere ceremony began.

The ceremony was a bit more complicated. However, it was quite simple for Zhang Ye. He did not need to say a word, and just followed everyone down the aisle. He and Yao Jiancai were the same, they were both side characters. He was even inferior to Yao Jiancai’s character in terms of scenetime, so there was no need for him to say anything. That was the job of Director Jiang and the male and female leads. Even though Zhang Ye’s popularity was increasing by the day, he could not compare with the male and female leads at all. The lowest ones were, after all, B-list celebrities, so whatever they did was of greater importance than Zhang Ye. A celebrity appeared after accumulating all of one’s strengths. Zhang Ye may have quite a bit of pull on the internet and was quite a topical person, but be it his notability or experience and qualifications, he was far too inferior.

After going through the motions.

The movie finally rolled.

Zhang Ye sat at the third row with Old Yao. They watched the movie silently. Zhang Ye found this movie not bad, but…it was just not bad. It would not be terrible at the box office sales, but neither would it be too good. As there were too many common tropes with nothing new. Well, that was Zhang Ye’s own personal opinion. He did not know if audiences would accept the show or not. After all, there were many movies in his world that were heavily criticized but ended up having pretty good box office sales.

“Hey, it’s your scene soon!” Old Yao, who was beside him, kicked his shoe.

Zhang Ye stared at the screen, and indeed, the character he played appeared. He did not have much of an image as a character, and was just a guest appearance, so he fought the moment he appeared!

Many people in the theater did not have any reactions.

However, there were clearly a few people who recognized this person to be the host of “Zhang Ye’s Talk Show”!

Immediately, what was originally a very serious scene with someone about to die suddenly had a few stifled laughters. For some unknown reason, many people had a reflex action after watching “Zhang Ye’s Talk Show”. The moment they saw Zhang Ye, they felt like laughing!

“Hur Hur Hur.”

There were stifled laughters, but it sounded out very clearly.

Director Jiang, “…”

The main leads, “…”

The production team as well as the other cast members were at a loss of whether to laugh or cry.

Your sister, we are having a serious ancient costume play wuxia film, not some comedy!

However, one could feel from this matter that Zhang Ye’s popularity and notability was rising by the day. Eventually, there would be a day where he could ride a rainbow and step onto the peak of this world, as he watched the vast and endless lands, shouting to the whole world, “Which is the best in excavating technology? In China’s Shandong, find Lanxiang!*”

*Lanxiang colloquially refers to Shandong Lanxiang Vocational School that offers courses in cooking, construction equipment operations (specialized in excavators), as well as computer skills (albeit possibly only basic ones). In 2009, the school was suspected to be a site where cyber attacks were launched (Operation Aurora). As a result of this, the school received numerous calls a day to inquire about their computer courses, and their website was a result of constant hacking on a daily basis. When the news that Lanxiang was involved in the attack of Google reached China, most netizens found it ridiculous and began mocking it. They named Lanxiang Vocational School as “Blueshit Institute of Technology”, as Lan (蓝) literally means blue in Chinese, while Xiang (翔) is commonly known as shit in internet speak. The phrase “Which is the best in excavating technology? In China’s Shandong, find Lanxiang” was used as a commercial by Lanxiang (it’s hilarious from the ostentatious display of its capabilities), but is often edited to ridicule the situation such as if Lanxiang students are reported on the news for fighting, they would post, “Which is the best in fighting techniques? In China’s Shandong, find Lanxiang”.