I am Really a Superstar

At around 8 PM.

Central TV Department 1.

There were evening shows on this channel, so other than the program team of Rise to the Dance, there were several other program teams of Central TV Department 1 working overtime as well. Some time ago, Zhang Ye had blasted some people of Central TV Department 1 on Weibo. Those were the ones who kicked him while he was down during the court case with Central TV Department 1. This had caused the relationship between many of the program teams and Zhang Ye to become even worse. In turn, they became even more attentive to what Zhang Ye did.

At a certain interview program\'s recording studio.

"We\'re finally done recording!"

"Everyone has worked hard. It\'s time to clock out now."

"Oh, has that Zhang Ye\'s show started broadcasting yet?"

"It should be broadcasting already."

"Let\'s watch. I want to see what kind of a lousy show he can come up with on his first try at a documentary!"

At a certain variety show\'s office at Central TV Department 1.

"Rise to the Dance is quite exciting!"

"Yeah, it\'s guaranteed to get number 1 in the viewership ratings."

"How\'s Zhang Ye\'s documentary doing?"

"It should already be broadcasting, but I\'m not sure."

"Old Xu is still as capable and Zhang Ye will have to admit that this time. OK, switch to Channel 14, I want to see what that \'Bite of Something\' documentary is about, and see what Zhang Ye can come up with.

...

During Rise to the Dance\'s commercial break, many of the viewers, whether they liked Zhang Ye or not, changed their channels to Central TV Department 14 with their remote controls. Compared to the passionate dance and music on Rise to the Dance, the moment they tuned into Channel 14, soothing background music greeted them. It was calm like the trickling of a river stream, like the feeling of floating on fluffy clouds. This was accompanied by the deep and magnetic voice of Zhang Ye narrating.

"After Sangyé picks a mushroom, she carefully covers the hole with pine needles so that the mushroom can continue to grow. All villagers observe this rule."

In the office.

A Central TV Department 1 host mockingly laughed and shook his head. "After watching the intense scenes of Rise to the Dance, who would want to watch such a slow-paced and uninteresting documentary?"

Beside him, a female staff member laughed and said, "Yeah, it\'s really too boring."

"Let\'s just knock off and go back home to sleep," said another person.

There was also someone who went along with the crowd and added, "If there\'s anything interesting, it\'s only that the visual impact is better due to the usage of HD video cameras, but other than that? It\'s still the usual documentary style we\'ve always known."

"Aren\'t they just filming food? Who doesn\'t know how to film something like that?!" A lot of them laughed.

But very quickly, all of them couldn\'t laugh anymore!

The documentary continued broadcasting on television.

Zhang Ye\'s voice wonderfully matched the scenes.

"Although the taste of pine mushrooms is very unique, they only became popular three decades ago.

"The main ingredient for another popular traditional Chinese dish is also found in mountain forests.

"Winter bamboo shoots are harvested and then sliced, before deep-frying them in oil and adding in seasoning. When completed, it becomes the most common household dish that is prepared within the Zhejiang region. In China, many people live near bamboo growths and understand bamboo shoots very well…"

As the scenes of the forests flashed across the screen, the HD footage of the ingredients in their most raw and original forms in nature left everyone salivating.

Those bamboo shoots could really whet one’s appetite!

Even if it were just the freshly harvested bamboo shoots, it was enough to make people unconsciously swallow their saliva. Even if they had already eaten and filled their stomachs, they could feel the freshness of the bamboo shoots rushing against their faces. Even through the television, it seemed like they could smell the wet fragrance of the grass seeds. The HD footage was undoubtedly amplifying this experience for them, leaving them fully immersed in the experience as though they were there in the forest!

It was too beautiful!

It felt…too real!

Several of those program team staff who had been mocking the documentary earlier looked at each other, while everyone else who was watching A Bite of China in the office were shocked!

A Bite of China continued.

Many of those people had fallen silent, their eyes glued to the television screen.

"Every September, brothers Qi Hu and Qi Chen go to Jiayu County in Hubei to dig out lotus roots from the lake pit. This plant grows deep underneath the mud in the lake. The thing that Qi Hu has just dug out is called a lotus root. It is a kind of vegetable that is commonly found in lakes.

"As professional lotus root diggers, the brothers work away from home for seven months every year. During the lotus root harvesting season, they come from their home in Anhui to participate in the harvest. The work is hard, but the pay is good, so Qi Hu and Qi Chen are willing to engage in this hard work. Lotus root diggers love the cold weather. This is because lotus roots sell well when the weather is cold."

Mud.

Fresh lotus roots.

Lotus root diggers.

What were just some ordinary images gave these city-dwellers a pleasant feeling. It was a feeling of happiness and joy that was difficult to describe in words!

This was Zhang Ye\'s documentary?

This was A Bite of China?

That Central TV host suddenly broke the silence and lightly shook his head while laughing. "We might have underestimated Zhang Ye. He has shot the documentary quite well there, but no matter how well he filmed it, it\'s still just a documentary. It will definitely not do well in the viewership ratings."

A person nodded and said. "Yeah, luckily it\'s just a documentary, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" a colleague beside that person asked.

That person gave a wry smile. "Otherwise the other shows broadcasting at the same time slot might have something to worry about."

An assistant director who had argued with Zhang Ye on the Internet before observed, "That Zhang fellow. It\'s obviously his first attempt at doing a documentary. Why does he even know how to handle such an unpopular genre?"

No one answered him.

Because no one had an answer.

...

At Yan Tianfei\'s house.

Old Yan and his wife\'s family were watching television together.

Only Old Yan constantly said, "It\'s too well shot, it\'s really too well shot. This type of documentary wouldn\'t have any problem winning a documentary award for sure!"

His wife beside him agreed, "This documentary is great to watch. So a documentary can even be made this way? I\'ve never bothered watching any shows on your channel in the past, but this A Bite of China seems completely different from other documentaries, yet not completely different at the same time. Hai, Old Yan, turn up the volume, I can\'t hear it!"

Yan Tianfei gave a slight sigh. "How pitiful, it\'s really such a pity!"

His wife asked, "What\'s the matter?"

Yan Tianfei replied, "It\'s such a pity with Zhang Ye\'s capabilities. If he did not get handed a documentary project to handle this time, he would probably have had a chance to compete with Rise to the Dance. Our department has really held him back here."

Even though his wife felt that A Bite of China was good, she also understood that no matter how good a niche show like a documentary was, it would not be able to compete with a variety show. As a result, she just continued watching the show without saying another word.

...

Zhang Ye\'s parents\' house.

His mother continued watching the documentary in astonishment. "Son, this is the documentary you shot?"

"Yes." Zhang Ye chuckled. "It\'s quite good, isn\'t it?"

His mother said, "It\'s great. This is right up my alley and just my type of show to watch." Pausing, she continued, "But it might not be so for other people. I believe a majority of the viewers won\'t be able to accept it."

Zhang Ye asked, "Why not?"

"Because documentaries are only for a minority of the viewers," his mother answered matter-of-factly.

Zhang Ye asked again, "Why is it only for a minority of the viewers?"

His mother said, "Because it\'s a documentary."

Zhang Ye gave up. "—Fine then."

Zhang Ye understood the concept of "nobody would watch a documentary." In this world, the hearts of people were too deeply ingrained with this mindset. Even if a lot of people liked this documentary when they watched it, no one thought that others would feel the same way as them and like the documentary as well.

Chenchen suddenly said, "Zhang Ye, I\'m hungry."

Zhang Ye dismissively told her, "Go and cook yourself some instant noodles."

Chenchen pointed to the television. "I want some stir-fried bamboo shoots."

His mother laughed and ruffled Chenchen\'s head. "The restaurant is still open. Let grandma order takeout for you. Just as well, I\'m getting hungry from watching the documentary too!"

His father added, "Order honeyed lotus roots as well."

…..

At Central TV Department 14, everyone still stayed put at the office.

But with the same thoughts as Zhang Ye, the group of Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were tuned in to watch the broadcast of Rise to the Dance.

Little Wang said angrily, "What is the audience so hyped about?"

Ha Qiqi sighed as she browsed through Weibo on her cell phone. "The audience\'s reception seems to be quite good."

"With so many promotions and those guest coaches, could they be unpopular?" Zhang Zuo also said with a heavy heart. "Did you guys really expect that our documentary had a chance against them?"

Wu Yi insisted, "How many people can understand an art like dancing?"

Zhang Zuo shook his head. "But at least they will understand it more than a documentary, right?"

The explosive debut of the popular Rise to the Dance had dealt this program team a great blow. It extinguished any last hopes they had for Rise to the Dance earning a bad reputation by doing terribly in the viewership and getting a lowly 0.3% viewership rating. If their documentary did not do badly, they would not be too far off from Rise to the Dance or even outdo them in the viewership ratings. But as of now, they knew that there was no hope!

Rise to the Dance did not experience an unexpected failure!

As for them?

Their A Bite of China?

As they were talking, Tong Fu suddenly exclaimed!

"Quick, have a look at this!" he announced rather loudly.

Ha Qiqi was startled by that and remarked, "Whoa, did someone step on your foot?"

Zhang Zuo looked over to him. "What\'s the matter? Look at what?"

Tong Fu quickly explained, "Look at the comments! Go onto Weibo and read the comments!"

Everyone was wondering why Tong Fu had such an astonished reaction, so one by one, all of them went to check their Weibo. When they saw it, they were also quite dumbfounded by it and couldn\'t react for a moment!

There were too many comments by the netizens!

Before they could really read the contents of the comments, their attention was already taken by the words "A Bite of China"!

"It\'s such a great show!"

"Goddammit, a documentary can even be filmed this way?"

"Is this what a HD video camera can do? How awesome!"

"The imagery is so exquisite that it looks like an expensively produced movie! Zhang Ye has really brought documentaries to a godly level!"

"I\'m getting hungry! I\'m getting hungry!"

"This is the first time I\'ve seen such a documentary style! If Rise to the Dance did not go to commercial break, I wouldn\'t have switched to Channel 14. Once I tuned into this channel, I couldn\'t stop watching!"

"This is really good! Zhang Ye\'s reputation is indeed great!"

"I only watched this for Zhang Ye. I didn\'t expect much at first, but who could have known that A Bite of China could give me such a great surprise! This documentary is ridiculously innovative!"

"10,000 Likes! I couldn\'t stop watching once I started!"

Yao Jiancai suddenly posted on Weibo: "Recommending my Old Bro Zhang\'s new show, A Bite of China, which is currently showing on television. Everyone, go and watch. It\'s so good that I\'m getting gastric pain just from watching!"

Beijing Television\'s Hu Fei: "I\'m wholly convinced!!"

Dong Shanshan: "Strongly recommending A Bite of China! This century\'s most popular documentary!"

Zhang Yuanqi\'s manager, Fang Weihong: "What a surprise! Teacher Zhang Ye\'s shows are always so sincere and so astonishing!

Grandma Zhang Xia forwarded a Weibo post: "This is what you call a real documentary. How interesting!"

A famous documentary director of the industry: "I never expected that in the downturn of the market environment, someone could still create new heights with a documentary. Here\'s to recommending A Bite of China. Even though you can\'t expect a documentary to make much of an impact in the viewership ratings, nor can it compete against a variety show, but I feel that every documentary director could actually learn from A Bite of China\'s filming techniques and logic of story delivery. This will inspire many people, including me as well!"

A sea of praise!

Almost everyone who watched A Bite of China was calling it good!

Ha Qiqi was stunned on the spot!

Zhang Zuo was dumbfounded!

Everyone in A Bite of China\'s program team had a look of surprise on their faces, because none of them had much of an expectation regarding their documentary. They did not expect that this would happen!

...

Central TV Department 1.

In the program team office of Rise to the Dance.

Xu Yipeng was looking at the LCD TV that hung on the wall of the program team office. He was watching the fifth contestant who had just come onstage, and was all smiles. Occasionally, he would nod his head in approval. He was also extremely satisfied as he listened to the staff member beside him reporting about the Weibo comments and how the show\'s popularity was rising.

The show was definitely going to be popular!

That was without a doubt!

The only question left was how much viewership their premiere episode would garner!

At this time, a staff member suddenly stammered, "D-Director Xu, Director Ch-Chen."

"What\'s the matter?" Chen Ye said, also with a big grin on his face, as he turned to the staff.

"Uh, I don\'t know if I should say this, but…" That staffer still said anyway, "Department 14\'s A Bite of China is also beginning to trend."

Chen Ye did not pay much attention to this. "Oh?"

Xu Yipeng laughed and asked, "What\'s everyone\'s comments about it?"

"Everyone is saying that it\'s not bad." That staff phrased his words very carefully. "There is much praise about it."

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "That\'s very normal. Zhang Ye is a B-list celebrity and his fans still number quite a lot. There are surely some loyal, diehard fans who support him, so that\'s no surprise. Besides, they\'re just a niche documentary genre, so it\'ll definitely get more praise unlike variety shows which are always going to get more criticism than praise."

Xu Yipeng also had a look at the comments made by some people regarding A Bite of China. Then he said, "Looks like Zhang Ye did not mess up his documentary, but no matter what, it\'s still just a documentary, so they shouldn\'t even think about what their viewership ratings will be. No matter how well it does, they will at most get a documentary award later on. Um, but that might not be definite either, since Zhang Ye\'s reputation is so bad. He has offended people from at least seven or eight industries, so he might not get considered even if he were to qualify for a good award."

Even now, they still thought nothing of A Bite of China. Since the beginning, they had not considered A Bite of China to be a competitor at all, because they knew that an applauded program might not necessarily be a hit with everyone. A documentary had always been made with getting an award in mind. There was never a need to consider whether it would be a hit or not, because even if they did, there was no meaning to that. This was because 90% of the audience would not even want to watch a documentary. A documentary should only be concerned about its reputation and would go the artistic route, while their variety shows did not rely on needing a good reputation or getting praised. They were more concerned about whether it would be a hit with the masses, and how it would do in the viewership ratings. Thus, these two genres of shows were essentially not competing on the same playing field. There was nothing for them to compete on!

They wouldn\'t compete with a documentary for public praise!

Similarly, a documentary should never need to concern itself on competing with variety shows for viewership ratings!

...

A call arrived.

Hu Fei also had the same opinion of things.

"Hello, Brother Hu." Zhang Ye went back into his room to answer the call.

Hu Fei laughed loudly: "You\'re really great! Quietly going away for two months and disappearing from the scene. SO you were in fact preparing for something big. This documentary is so well filmed! I\'m watching your show in the office with Xiao Lu, Dafei, Dong Shanshan, and the rest. Everyone is praising how good you were and are so happy for you!"

Zhang Ye laughed and said: "Thank you to all of you."

Hu Fei asked: "You really know how to shoot a documentary? And even managed to shoot it so well like this?"

Zhang Ye humbly replied: "I was just blindly doing it."

"Have you seen Weibo? The top three documentary directors have all given their Likes to A Bite of China and their comments of you are also very good. I think that you will definitely win this year\'s top documentary awards. There\'s no doubt about that!" Hu Fei was really very happy for him and he said: "But you shouldn\'t think too much about the viewership ratings. There\'s definitely no chance there. You should just work hard while you\'re at Department 14 and aim for the most prestigious award for documentaries. That will be good enough!"

Zhang Ye only gave a light smile to that and did not wish to argue about this anymore.

After hanging up, Zhang Ye browsed through Weibo to look at the comments from the netizens. After some consideration, he felt that the situation now was rather different from what he had predicted. It had surpassed his expectations!

Was it too unpopular?

It was exactly the opposite of that. It was too popular!

According to Zhang Ye\'s previous predictions, A Bite of China was supposed to bear disgrace and a heavy burden. After all, for the original A Bite of China in his previous world, what was the premiere episode\'s viewership rating? It was a mere 0.012%! It couldn\'t even garner a fraction of the worst performing variety show\'s viewership rating! That was why Zhang Ye had hoped that the documentary would gain an early reputation before erupting on its accumulated momentum of popularity. However, the love for the show that came from the audience rather surprised Zhang Ye. He knew that some of the measures he had taken were seeing a result now!

Like the controversy behind his scheduling of the broadcast time to clash with Rise to the Dance!

Like using his vast popularity which rubbed off on A Bite of China!

All of these were the differences! These were the reasons for the popularity gained in advance by A Bite of China!

The A Bite of China of this world was already traveling on a different path with a different setup and a different broadcast momentum from the original A Bite of China in his previous world!

Perhaps, there was no need for good preparation to ensure its success?

Perhaps, it was already time for the shows to compete and fight it out?

Zhang Ye pondered it, before finally taking out his cell phone and calling Yan Tianfei. "Hello, Director Yan. It\'s something urgent. I would like to make some last-minute changes to the broadcast time of A Bite of China."

Yan Tianfei muttered: "What changes?"

"I would like for A Bite of China to broadcast two episodes in a row starting tonight. We will broadcast all the way until around 10 PM!" Zhang Ye added: "So that we can end at the same time as Rise to the Dance!"

According to the broadcast schedule back then, A Bite of China would end before 9 PM while Rise to the Dance would run for two hours including advertisements. That would mean that after A Bite of China has finished the first episode, there would still be another hour\'s broadcast of Rise to the Dance.

Yan Tianfei said: "The schedule is already set. Although it\'s not like we can\'t change it, it\'s quite troublesome to do that. We would have to contact a lot of departments to get it through, so is there a need to do something like that?"

Zhang Ye said determinedly: "I feel that there is a need."

Yan Tianfei asked: Why?"

Zhang Ye kept quiet for a few seconds, then replied: "I\'ll tell you the reason tomorrow."

Tomorrow?

Why would you only give the reason tomorrow?

Yan Tianfei was taken aback, but did not ask any further. "Alright, I will make the arrangements for you. There are still 20 minutes until the end of the first episode, so we can still make it. I will get someone to put up a scrolling notice onscreen to let the audience know. As long as there are people watching A Bite of China, they will definitely see it."

"I\'m sorry about that, Director Yan. I know I\'m being willful," Zhang Ye apologized.

But Yan Tianfei said: "You\'re the overall supervisor of the program team for A Bite of China, as well as the executive director. You have your considerations and can judge for yourself, so I\'ll just have to take your word for it."

Zhang Ye declared: "Thank you so much. I\'ll contact the others. I\'m going back to the office immediately!"

They were from the documentary channel, so this decision would not affect any hosts or other program teams. The documentary that they had originally scheduled for 9 PM was a licensed documentary that they had bought. By pushing it to the back of the schedule to broadcast so late at night, they might as well not broadcast it at all. No one would say a thing anyway, and neither would the audience mind, since no one would be watching it. Therefore, even though it was a last minute change, it wouldn\'t affect anything much.

After hanging up, Zhang Ye quickly put on his coat. "Dad, Mom, I\'m heading back to the office. It\'s something urgent!" Then he called up Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others by the by, who were still in the office working!

"Old Ha, tell everyone not to leave yet! I\'ll be right back!" Zhang Ye said.

Ha Qiqi asked in surprise: "Ah? Didn\'t you already clock out?"

Zhang Ye laughed: "I guess you guys knew better by not leaving first. I\'ll explain when I get back to the office!"

...

Online.

Very soon, people found out about the news of this change!

On the broadcast of A Bite of China, the notice scrolled across the screen. Zhang Ye and the official Weibo of Department 14 also sent out an update to let everyone know!

The netizens got an unexpected surprise!

"Wow, it\'s a back-to-back broadcast?"

"That\'s so awesome! How ethical of the industry!"

"Hahaha, I was still worried about not having enough to watch!"

"The food I just ordered hasn\'t arrived yet. Seems like it will come just in time for the second episode\'s broadcast!"

"Back-to-back episodes? Then wouldn\'t the broadcast be as long as Rise to the Dance? Uh, what is Teacher Zhang trying to do? Why do I get the feeling that this is not a simple adjustment?"

"Could this change be directed at Rise to the Dance?"

"Fuck, you guys are looking too deep into this. Even if they were to broadcast ten episodes back to back, do you guys think that a documentary can beat a variety show, much less with just two episodes? Or would it be the large-scale talent show funded by a huge investment and having big names in it? If such a situation really happens, then the people of Central TV Department 1 should just vomit blood and jump off a building! Do you want to deal such a heavy blow to all the television stations\' variety shows? Everyone knows how unrealistic that is."

"Uh, you\'re right too."

"Who cares about all that. It\'s fine as long as they broadcast it!"

"The talk about A Bite of China might be good and even though there is a lot more discussion about it now, there isn\'t anyone who would actually watch it. My guess is that it\'s just us who like it."

"Well, there\'s nothing we can do about that. This show is too niche."

"Wow, why didn\'t they show any advertisements before going to the next second episode?"

"A Bite of China did not sell any ad spots?"

"Who do you think would want to buy a documentary\'s advertisements?"

"That\'s true. Let\'s not speculate anymore. Who cares if the others like this show as long as I like it myself. I\'ll go watch the second episode now, haha!"

"I\'ll go as well!"

"I\'m so looking forward to it!"

...

The second episode.

Title: "Staple Food Stories."

"Staple foods usually provide most of the calories needed by people."

"The cooking styles of the Chinese vary in many different ways, from the most ordinary pot of rice or a steamed bun, to the myriad of delicately prepared staple foods that are the accumulated experience of the hard work by the Chinese. No matter how many dishes have been had, the staple food will always remain the main dish to be served on the dining tables of the Chinese."

The music was soothing.

The heat vapor from the dishes looked as though it was rising out from the screen.

...

With the positive talk of the show building up, more and more people were tuning to Channel 14. Even those who did not watch the first episode but heard about A Bite of China from the Internet or their friends and neighbors tuned in out of curiosity to see what this documentary was about!

As a result, it went out of control!

A lot of them ending up not changing the channel after they started watching for a few seconds!