I’m Really a Superstar

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

The next day.

At home.

Zhang Ye slept until noon.

He couldn\'t help it. His recent days had been a nightmare. It was always all about work the moment he opened his eyes. Even when he was asleep, he would be dreaming that he was instructing the staff at work. Going home for a warm meal felt like he had been given a long vacation from work. The show\'s planning, directing, tasking, vote counting, hosting, and managing of singers were all overseen by Zhang Ye. No details that happened within the program team did not involve Zhang Ye\'s decision. As a result, you could imagine how tiring it was for him. He really couldn\'t get any rest throughout an entire day. The show had finally come to a successful end yesterday, and Zhang Ye\'s mission was complete. He dozed off the moment he laid down and slept until now. If it weren\'t for his mother coming to wake him up, he could probably have laid in bed for three whole days and nights.

The door opened.

His mother said, "Son, get up."

Zhang Ye yawned. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Breakfast?" His mother said amused, "The sun is shining on your butt. Get up and brush your teeth, it\'s time for lunch. Hurry, I\'ve cooked all the dishes that you like."

Zhang Ye got up from bed. "OK."

His father was working in the living room. "Little Ye, did you silence your cell phone? Ha Qiqi from your studio called our house just now, but your mother wouldn\'t let me wake you up."

His mother harrumphed and said, "Wake him up for what? Do you want my son to get worked to death!"

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "It might be business. I\'ll drop by the studio later this afternoon."

His mother said, "Your business now is to rest up for a few days. Don\'t keep running around."

Zhang Ye scoffed. "It\'s not like you don\'t know me. I\'ve never been one to idle. Besides, I\'m preparing for a big job!"

"Which bank are you robbing?" his mother asked.

Zhang Ye said floored, "Why would I be robbing a bank!"

His mother chuckled and said, "If you have the time, you should be taking those fans of yours in hand first. They caused a ruckus that lasted past midnight. I kept seeing the ruckus they were making all over Weibo."

Zhang Ye waved his hand and said, "Heh, don\'t even bring those jerks up. I get angry at the mention of them. Look, all of them are even better at showing off than me. They\'ve totally stolen this bro\'s thunder by shouting those slogans and whatnot. Won\'t lose again? In the end, doesn\'t it all still depend on me? Those people are too unreliable!"

His mother said, "Well, they learned from you."

Zhang Ye: "When did I ever teach them that?"

His mother said, "In any case, you\'ve never taught them anything good."

Zhang Ye had no reply.

His mother said, "Hurry up and eat. When you finish, your dad and I will be going out too."

Zhang Ye asked, "To do what?"

His mother said, "To plan your wedding, of course. The hotel has already been decided on, and it was even the Wus who found the place. We cannot continue to let them worry about the wedding. For the other matters, I\'ll be going with your dad to discuss with the relevant parties. There are still quite a few things that we need to order, like the flower baskets, the letterings, the decorations, and the wedding dress. I think you and Little Wu should go and choose that yourselves. Oh, the wedding photos have to be taken in advance too. Don\'t leave it til the last minute and end up trying to catch up. And there are the wedding invitations as well. I\'ll need a list from you so that I know who\'ll be invited, then you can leave the rest to me."

Zhang Ye broke into a smile. "Dad, mom, it\'s been hard on you both."

His mother cut him off. "Save it."

Later that afternoon.

At the studio.

"Director Zhang is here!"

"Director Zhang!"

"You\'re finally here. Have you seen it yet?"

"It\'s amazing!"

The moment he arrived, everyone started chattering.

Zhang Ye said, "Seen what? I just woke up."

"The popularity rankings, of course." Ha Qiqi said with a laugh, "The latest rankings have been published again. We\'ve already sorted it out for you, so please have a look at your current popularity score."

It was only then that Zhang Ye remembered that the Celebrity Rankings Index should have been refreshed at midnight last night. Ever since making the show I Am a Singer, Zhang Ye had been focused on Beijing Television. He hadn\'t really been checking on the rankings index much, so it was now time to analyze the results thus far. The fifth step of the "Reach the Summit" plan had been successfully completed, but as for how much of an impact it had, that would still have to depend on how he did in the Celebrity Rankings Index.

After getting hold of the statistics charts.

The first thing Zhang Ye saw surprised him very much. "Whoa! This much?"

Zhang Zuo belly laughed. "During yesterday\'s update, your popularity score increased by a huge amount!"

"There are numbers from earlier too." Little Wang pointed to the form and said, "Look here, this is during the time I Am a Singer\'s first episode was broadcast. This was for the second episode. This one was the episode where you took on the role as the singer-host and participated in the competition. It was also at the start of this episode that your popularity score jumped up in steps. It kept increasing by the day, until yesterday, when it went up by the most. It\'s too scary!"

Tong Fu smiled and corrected, "You must mean it\'s terrifying!"

Zhang Ye snapped his fingers. "That\'s pretty good."

He was still in first place in the A-list rankings, but his popularity score was no longer the same as before!

This fifth step of the "Reach the Summit" plan had brought him an unimaginable amount of popularity!

Whether it was the show\'s heaven-defying and record-breaking viewership ratings, or Zhang Ye being the executive director who announced the singers\' rankings in each episode, or Zhang Ye joining as a competitor and hosting the show, then debuting those songs like "I Feel So Drained," "The Hottest Ethnic Trend," "Small Apple," "Nonsense Has Its Nonsense Logic," and "The King of Karaoke," all of it had brought Zhang Ye a great deal of attention. Especially for "The King of Karaoke." It was now sweeping the various music charts to the point that the two songs performed by Zhang Xia in the grand finals combined were not one-third as popular as "The King of Karaoke"!

This show had really helped a lot of people become very popular.

Like Zhang Xia.

Like Chen Guang.

Like Xiaodong.

Like Dong Shanshan.

Even a has-been celebrity like Zhao Wuliu was getting more attention and becoming popular again because of the show. Two months ago, Zhao Wuliu\'s commercial appearances would only command a fee of several hundred thousand RMB. But now the rumors were that a single song performed by him would fetch close to a million RMB in fees, as highlighted by his recent concert at a rich businessman\'s wedding. But of course, nobody really knew whether that was true.

Let alone the others!

Their popularity was exploding with growth!

But if there was really a need to pinpoint who experienced the greatest growth in popularity, that person would definitely not be Zhang Xia, nor Chen Guang, much less Dong Shanshan!

It would be Zhang Ye!

He didn\'t take the role of the executive director for nothing!

The plaza dance wave was not for nothing too!

Even more, "The King of Karaoke" amazed the nation!

Zhang Ye undoubtedly reaped the most benefit!

Ha Qiqi laughed and said, "The fifth step of Reach the Summit was completed just perfectly. It was definitely completed with the most outstanding result and was much better than we had expected. At that time, we were still thinking that it would be best to do a reality TV show and believed that a show like I Am a Singer would not be the best choice. Unexpectedly, Director Zhang had to compete. Although it was pretty tiring and he didn\'t win grand champion, the effects were still much better than what a reality TV show could achieve. That was really the most unexpected gain of all. We\'re now getting closer and closer to those seven spots above us. No, I shouldn\'t put it that way. I mean to say we\'re finally able to see those seven spots before us!"

Little Wang snickered. "More importantly, no one else seems to have realized it yet."

Zhang Zuo gave a wry smile. "Don\'t count on that. We can\'t keep this a secret for much longer. I think they\'ll find out soon."

Ha Qiqi nodded and said, "Director Zhang\'s popularity score isn\'t that far apart from theirs. I believe we can\'t hide this fact for long either. As of now, those seven people have yet to come to their senses and are not thinking about this. After all, the Heavenly King and Queens\' spots haven\'t changed in many, many years. They\'re used to the fact that no one can catch up to them. By the time they realize what\'s going on and start preparing, that\'s when the real fight will begin. It will definitely be a bloody battle, so we should be trying to catch up as much as possible while they haven\'t yet realized."

Wu Yi said, "But we should at least give Director Zhang some time to rest. He\'s been overworked in recent days."

Hearing that, Zhang Ye laughed and said, "I\'m fine. There\'s no need to be so considerate of me. I\'ve said that if I don\'t get into the S-list, I\'ll never rest. If there are any good projects, let\'s hurry up and take them. We\'ll push for higher popularity while they haven\'t noticed. I slept all day yesterday, so I\'ve recovered pretty well. When it comes to stamina? Energy? No one in the entire entertainment industry would dare to claim they are number one if I say I am number two!"

This was not an exaggeration!

A guy who was infinitesimally close to becoming a martial arts grandmaster was in no way comparable to a normal person.

Zhang Zuo said, "Actually, there\'s no need to rush."

Zhang Ye waved his hand and said, "We have to, hur hur. Because in another few days, I\'ll probably have to take five to ten days off from work. I won\'t be able to work on those days, so we have to make the most of it right now."

"Apply for leave?"

"Why?"

"What are you going to do?"

Everyone was surprised.

Then they saw Zhang Ye smile and say, "I\'m taking time off to get married!"

Ha Qiqi was stunned. "In just a few days?"

Little Wang said in surprise, "Right away?"

Zhang Ye nodded and said, "It\'s currently getting arranged, so it should be very soon!"

The wedding was slated for this year anyway, so the day was about to arrive!

Instantly, congratulatory voices filled the studio!

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations, Director Zhang!"

"Hope you have a lifetime of love and happiness!"

"May you be blessed with a child soon!"

"Just who is our sister-in-law going to be?"

"When are we getting a raise, Director Zhang? I don\'t have any money left to contribute to your wedding gift!"

"When are you and Sister-in-law going to have a child?"

This last sentence was a shot to Zhang Ye\'s heart!

I haven\'t even touched her yet, so why are we talking about a child!