I am Really a Superstar

With “Beijing, Beijing,” the crowd was pumped!

This was the result of two months of planning and preparation by Zhang Ye’s Studio. All the audio and lighting equipment at the venue were either rented, borrowed, or bought for use in the concert. Professional teams were then brought in to design and set up the venue with the best equipment available in China, or even in the whole of Asia. For the past two months, this was the only thing they did to turn Asia’s largest concert venue into a stunning musical stage!

Lighting!

Sound effects!

It was like a fantasy!

This was Zhang Ye’s final performance stage.

He was very satisfied with it.

“Zhang Ye!”

“Zhang Ye!”

“Zhang Ye!”

“Zhang Ye!”

The crowd started shouting his name again!

Zhang Ye raised his microphone and looked at the people in the audience. He scanned around him in all directions. Surrounding him was a sea of people. “Thank you, thank you. Thank you for coming to my ‘Final Concert’!”

When the audience heard that, they laughed!

“Hahaha.”

“Final?”

“This is the first concert you’re holding.”

“You’re speaking like you won’t be coming back in the future!”

“If you really don’t come back, the entire Asian entertainment circle will celebrate wildly for three whole days and nights by setting off firecrackers!”

“Hahahahaha!”

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Ye also laughed. “By convention, I should be giving an opening speech for the concert. All of you know that I can speak quite well. I’ve hosted so many shows that I don’t even know how many there were. I have given so many speeches on countless occasions that I’ve lost count of them. But before coming up onstage, my mind was a total blank. I didn’t know what to say, because I’m beginning to feel more and more unqualified to speak.”

The audience quieted as they listened silently.

Zhang Ye said, “I’m not a qualified artist; you guys know that. You can mention any artist out there, and they should be more qualified than I am. The things that I represent are generally not positive, which is why a lot of people dislike me and criticize me for my actions. I can accept all of that, because I’ve never done what was expected of me as a public figure. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel quite guilty too.”

Ha Qiqi looked at the stage.

Zhang Zuo kept his eyes on Zhang Ye.

The studio’s staff were all silent.

Zhang Ye said, “I’ve also thought about it these past few years. Tolerance, acceptance, civility, grace, and some of the better values and morals. It would have been better if I had conveyed such an image to the people. Then, perhaps, my popularity would be better as a result, and I would also have more friends surrounding me. I wouldn’t have fallen short of my family’s expectations either. When my family mentioned my name, they would have done so with more pride. When you all talk about me, it would be with more appreciation. When the media reports about me, it would be with more praise—I would really like to experience how that feels.” He smiled and closed his eyes, thinking for about three seconds, then opened his eyes again with a smile. “That would definitely be a very good feeling. Yes, it is definitely a good one.”

Then, Zhang Ye continued, “But—”

But?

But what?

But what?

The audience looked at him.

Everyone watching the livestream was watching him. They also realized that something a little different with Zhang Ye today!

At this moment, the music played.

Zhang Ye smiled for a brief second. Yes, that would be a really great life to live. In the image that came to his mind, Zhang Ye would not be holding this final concert of his, nor would he have made that decision to give up everything. He would definitely have had a good life with Old Wu, witnessed the birth of his child, accompanied it as it grew up, celebrated its first birthday, second birthday, and third birthday. Whenever the child’s teachers mentioned Zhang Ye, they would say that he was a great celebrity, and the child’s classmates would all be envious of it for having such a cultured and refined father. The child would also proudly introduce Zhang Ye as its father during the parent-teacher conferences to its classmates. The greatest father in the world—it was a very beautiful scene, so beautiful that it kept lingering in Zhang Ye’s mind.

But.

He did not regret it.

He owed his family.

He owed his child.

If he could apologize, he would say sorry to Old Wu a 1,000 times. He would say sorry to his child 10,000 times!

But—he did not regret it!

The Korean hackers?

The Japanese hotel?

He would take them on each time they came!

He would beat them up twice if they came twice!

He would send them packing ten times if they came ten times!

He would never regret his actions!

There would forever be no room for negotiation on such matters!

Zhang Ye gently brought the microphone up ¹ .

“I proudly destroy

“the mediocrity I hate.

“Before remembering those were my favorites.

“Let summer have its fun,

“take the brutal future,

“And toss it light-years away.

“But for now—

“Let go of the rules, indulge in love.

“Throw caution to the wind and forget about the future.”

Zhang Ye looked at everyone. He had no hesitations or any regrets.

“I won’t veer off.

“I won’t veer off.

“I won’t veer off.

“I won’t veer off.”

The audience was stunned!

All of the viewers watching the livestream were also stunned!

In the blink of an eye, countless people were extremely pumped up!

…

At Zhang Ye’s parents’ house.

His mother said, “Little Ye, he’s—”

His father said, “What happened to him?”

…

At Old Wu’s parents’ house.

Wu Changhe asked, “What’s with Little Ye?”

Li Qinqin asked, “What does he mean by all that?”

Wu Changhe said, “Is something the matter? Has the kid gone insane again?”

But Wu Zeqing just smiled without answering her parents. She said to herself, “That’s my husband!”

…

The venue was pumping with excitement!

Screams and cheers were mixed into the singing!

Zhang Ye’s live singing was also getting louder and louder as though he was going to turn the entire venue upside down!

“I want to go crazy, I want to love!

“Means I want to go crazy, I want to love!

“Thousands of MP3s!”

“Thousands of crazy loves!

“Cannot extinguish this tiny loneliness!

“I want to go crazy, I want to love!

“Means I want to go crazy, I want to love!

“A wild party in the summer brings us here to light-years away!

“Is growing up the decay that must happen to us all?

“Let go of the rules, indulge in love!

“Throw caution to the wind and forget about the future!”

Standing at center stage.

Standing in a venue that held a 100,000 people!

Zhang Ye raised his microphone up and clutched his shirt at his chest. He let out a loud howl:

“I won’t veer off!

“I won’t veer off!

“I won’t veer off!

“I won’t veer offffffffffff!”

What a good “won’t veer off”!

What a good “I won’t veer off”!

In this moment, all of the audience members went crazy!

In this moment, all of them stood up!

Some of them started crying!

Some of them frantically waved their arms about!

Some of them followed Zhang Ye’s lead and howled along to the singing!

That “but” statement that Zhang Ye did not finish saying had been answered by this song. Zhang Ye was still that Zhang Ye they knew. He would always be!

Zhang Ye was right; he wasn’t a qualified artist. Whether it was in speech, in action, his character, or his résumé, he wasn’t a good artist no matter how you looked at it!

They knew that!

Everyone knew that!

But—

They still liked him all the same!

They did not know why either; they just liked him!