I'm Really a Superstar

The audience in the stadium was going crazy!

"This is Zhang Ye!"

"This is who he is!"

"Zhang Ye! I love you!"

"The Clown, you're the best!"

"You still have me!"

"Right, you still have us!"

"We'll walk together with you down this road!"

"Count me in!"

"There's me too! Count all of us in!"

"Why would I be afraid if it's just you and me!"

I am still who I am!

Forever singing as I please!

These couple of lines in the lyrics had made everyone's blood surge with passion!

This was a song by Beyond. This was a song from Zhang Ye's previous world that could be considered one of the most classic and greatest songs of all.

It was called " Vast Horizons 1 ."

...

Outside the stadium.

In a nearby neighborhood.

"Hear that? What's that sound?"

"It's going to rain soon. Let's hurry and get back home."

"Uh, what's this shouting that's coming from that direction?"

"The stadium? Is there a match going on today?"

"That noisy? Why is it so loud? Who's shouting over there?"

"Did you guys forget? That's the recording 'studio' for the King of Masked Singers concert!"

"Damn, what happened over there?"

"I don't know, but it does sound like a lot of screaming."

"Does it have to be so electrifying?"

...

The sky was getting heavier.

The dark clouds were growing and rain was drizzling.

There was no forecast of rain during yesterday's weather report, so the program team did not full preparations for such an event. They immediately deployed some employees to set up several temporary parasols to cover the equipment.

The stadium was not specialized to handle concerts, but as time had been too tight for them to get a proper place, they had to make do with this venue. In the entire stadium, only part of the grandstands facing the stage were sheltered. Meanwhile, the rest of the grandstands and the stage were all in the open air. As many of the equipment was not waterproof, they were forced take emergency measures to protect them. However, that would only be effective under light rain conditions.

But they were really unlucky to meet with such trouble today.

The wind started picking up!

The rain became heavier too!

The audience hurriedly took out their umbrellas and put on their raincoats.

"It's getting heavier!"

"Quick, go and take shelter!"

"What's with this weather!"

Some people in raincoats insisted on staying where they were.

A lot of the audience members seated in the front ran back a few rows. There was a large zone there where they could take shelter from the rain for a bit.

His parents had not brought umbrellas with them today.

His mother complained, "How could it rain just like that!"

His father said, "The weather reports are getting more and more inaccurate these days!"

Beside them, Wu Zeqing took out an umbrella from her bag. "Auntie, Uncle, take this umbrella and share it." Then she opened it up and handed it to them.

His father said, "No, no!"

His mother did not accept the offer either. "Shelter yourself!"

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, "I don't need it. If it gets too heavy, I'll head back for shelter."

"How can that be fine!" His mother did not expect Chief Wu to be so polite.

Fortunately, Xiao Lu came running over right at this moment. "Auntie, I have a raincoat over here. I'll give it to you and go look for another. If there are extras, I'll get more for you!" She didn't bother with other people, nor could she care too much about them. But since these were Teacher Zhang's parents, she must definitely look after them properly. There was a relationship here, after all.

His mother said, "Aiya! Thank you then, Xiao Lu."

Wu Zeqing smiled. "That came at just the right time. Let Uncle have the raincoat. Auntie and I can share the umbrella." She leaned closer to Zhang Ye's mother and held up the umbrella.

His mother reached out to take the umbrella. "Let me hold it."

Wu Zeqing said, "There's no need. You don't have to be so polite with me."

Backstage.

Recording had temporarily been suspended.

The singers and program team staff were all looking for a place to take shelter from the rain.

Hu Fei asked loudly, "How's it looking? Can we still record?"

Hou Ge ran over and said, "It's possible since the cameras are all waterproof, but the instruments and performers are not. With all that rain and wind out there, it's impossible to sing!"

Fan Wenli looked at the sky.

Zhao Qiquan shook his head. "I'm afraid this rain won't be stopping anytime soon."

Over there, Zhang Xia, Amy, Li Xiaoxian and a few others were all standing under a temporary sunshade tent to hide from the rain.

Zhang Ye came up. "How many songs are left?"

Hu Fei was holding an umbrella and said, "There's still three or four songs left for the set. We were only slightly more than half-done with the concert schedule. There's still a choir that we invited to perform, as well as the group closing song that all of you were scheduled to sing."

Xiao Lu returned. "Brother Hu, the rain is getting heavier."

Hu Fei clenched his teeth and said, "Let's wait a little longer!"

After five more minutes.

The weather did not look like it would get any better.

King of Oddity shook his head and said, "We can't sing anymore. The weather won't allow us to do so."

Zhao Qiquan (Flowing Time) added, "I think we should cut the recording short. They can't play music out there anymore. Furthermore, the rain has already gotten so heavy. How can we still sing? Let's quickly disperse the crowd and get everyone home."

Amy sighed, "It's true. We can't carry on recording."

Zhang Ye looked over at the audience and saw that no one had left yet.

Hu Fei said, "Then—"

"Let's wait a while," interrupted Zhang Ye.

Hu Fei looked at Zhang Ye and nodded. "Alright, let's give it another five minutes."

Zhao Qiquan frowned and wondered why they still bothered to wait. The weather was clearly not going to clear up!

King of Oddity also gave a slight shake his head. Who could sing in this bloody weather? There might be a bit of a shelter in the grandstands, but no place on the stage could shield them from the rain!

However, the program team staff did not have any objections to waiting. With Zhang Ye's words already spoken, it was as good as Hu Fei saying them himself. Whenever even Hu Fei could not make a decision on something, he would usually seek Zhang Ye's advice.

Soon after.

The rain did let up a little but still did not stop.

Chen Guang also spoke up, "We really won't be able to sing if it goes on like this."

Xiao Lu anxiously said, "Brother Hu, Director Zhang."

Dong Shanshan was holding an umbrella and talking to the audience from the stage at this moment. "Would everyone please wait for a bit. I have to seek advice from the program team on how to proceed."

At this time, Xiao Lu hurriedly walked up to the stage and whispered some instructions to Dong Shanshan.

Dong Shanshan nodded. "Alright, I understand." Then she looked at the audience and said, "I'm terribly sorry, but this sudden downpour was not something that we had anticipated. We were not prepared to handle such weather, so we sincerely apologize on our part. We can't continue recording, so the concert will end here. Please get ready to leave the stadium and remember to give way to each other."

When they heard this, many of the audience members started shouting!

"But why?"

"The rain's not that heavy; it's only a moderate shower!"

"We still wanna listen!"

"So few songs have been performed!"

"Can't we have a few more songs?"

"We're fine!"

"Right, we don't want to go!"

"It was so good! Let us have another song!"

Several dozen audience members were already starting to stream out of the stadium.

However, a majority of the audience did not move. They stared at the stage without blinking, some of them sitting in their seats in their raincoats or carrying umbrellas!

Dong Shanshan urged, "Please start exiting the stadium. We're truly sorry about today. Recording will stop here because the musical instruments cannot be played in the rain, so it isn't possible to perform anymore. You all can see for yourselves that the stage is open air. We also did not wish for this to happen."

"Sing a few more songs!"

"We really haven't had enough yet!"

"I came up from Shanghai just to attend this concert!"

"Just one song would do. Must we end it like this?"

"We don't need any musical accompaniment. Just sing a cappella!"

All of a sudden, someone led a chant.

"Petal Shower!"

"Petal Shower!"

"The Clown!"

"The Clown!"

"Flowing Time!"

"Flowing Time!"

They all chanted the stage names of the contestants!

The audience was eagerly waiting for them to appear back on stage. This concert had excited them so much that hardly any of them were willing to leave!

Dong Shanshan was out of ideas. "We're really—"

From out of nowhere, Zhang Ye came up onto the stage. "Hand me the microphone."

Dong Shanshan looked at him and then handed him the microphone. Seeing that he was without an umbrella, Dong Shanshan wanted to shield him from the rain.

However, Zhang Ye fluttered his hand in refusal. He did so because he saw many people in the audience who were still out in the rain. Since they didn't have umbrellas, he didn't want to be shielded by one.

The rain was soaking Zhang Ye's shirt.

Dong Shanshan had no choice but to hand the stage over to him and went back down by herself.

Facing the audience, Zhang Ye stood in the rain and said, "We can't carry on recording. The cameras have already stopped. No one can predict the weather, but we were in the wrong too. Please give me some face and quickly go home. It's too cold out here, and the rain is getting heavier as well. It's a shame about the concert, but—"

"But we really want to continue listening!" a middle-aged man shouted.

A girl yelled, "We're not afraid of the rain! Really!"

A mother said, "My kid loves to watch your show. Can we have a few more songs to listen to?"

Zhang Ye said loudly, "But today's weather…"

Suddenly, a little girl of around nine years old somehow made her way up onto the stage. She probably came up via the side stairs, which the staff forgot to watch due to the rain becoming heavier.

The little girl was holding a kids' umbrella with floral patterns on it and walked straight up to Zhang Ye's side.

Zhang Ye was startled by her, not knowing what she doing up here. He was just about to tell her that his place was restricted to non-authorized personnel when the little girl pushed the umbrella toward him.

The little girl was very short and trying very hard to stand on her tippy toes to get the umbrella over Zhang Ye's head.

Zhang Ye was taken aback by this action and quickly knelt down.

When a few staff members saw this, they ran over in panic to lead her away.

But Zhang Ye put his hand up at them to stop them from coming over.

The little girl finally managed to shield Zhang Ye with the umbrella. "Brother, please. Can you please sing a few more songs? I will shield you and not let the rain get on you."

The umbrella was very small and could only shield one person at most.

In the blink of an eye, the girl's clothes were wet.

Zhang Ye asked, "Then what will we do about you getting wet?"

The little girl said determinedly, "I'm not afraid of that!"

Zhang Ye took the little girl by her hand and pushed the umbrella back over her head. "Do you really…wish to keep listening?"

The little girl nodded vigorously. "Me, my parents, and my brother, we all like you! And we also like Sister Petal Shower and Sister Spinach too!"

Zhang Ye smiled then. He turned to the audience and looked at the stubborn audience members who were still sitting there. He suddenly asked, "Do you guys really want to keep listening?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, the shouting thundered!

It even drowned out the rumbling of the thunder!

Zhang Ye smiled again. "Everyone's not afraid of getting wet?"

"No!"

"No!"

"Afraid, my balls!"

Everyone shouted in unison!

Zhang Ye smiled for the third time. He carried the little girl down the stage and returned her to her mother. Then he went back onstage and looked around it for something.

Xiao Lu was stunned. "Director Zhang, what are you doing?"

Han Qi also asked, "What are you planning on doing?"

The Miracle Wheels band also said, "The rain is so heavy. You…"

Hou Ge added anxiously, "The cameras have already stopped. We're not recording any more today! You don't have to…"

Stopped recording?

Won't be broadcasting this?

What did all that have to do with him?

The audience was still here!

The audience had not left yet!

If they are not afraid, why should I be afraid?

If they are not leaving, how can I leave?

Translator's Thoughts

Legge Legge

1. https://youtu.be/vxTICrwS89g

Happy Songkran to our Thai readers!