I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

In the morning.

At a restaurant serving stews.

It was relatively quiet at this time as everyone was at work. The restaurant had just opened for the day, and no customers had entered yet. Then a young man wearing sunglasses walked in from outside.

The restaurant owner had sharp eyes and recognized him. "Ah, Zhang Ye!"

Several of his employees' eyes lit up. "Zhang Ye?"

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Are you open yet, boss?"

"Yes, yes, we're open!" The boss was ecstatic. "We warmly welcome you, Teacher Zhang. Why do you have so much free time today? Talk of you making a new show is all over the news!"

Zhang Ye chuckled and said, "Yeah, I came here to meet someone for business."

The boss said, "Why is a person of your status coming to our small restaurant? You've really graced us with your presence. Please, come in and have a seat."

Zhang Ye found a place to sit down. "I've eaten here before and found your stews quite authentic. But I wasn't famous at that time, so you didn't recognize back then."

The boss started trembling in excitement as though he was shot with adrenaline!

Zhang Ye's eaten here before?

He even likes the taste of our food?

If this got out, wouldn't their restaurant become super popular?

Soon after, the CEO of Brain Gold, Wu Mo, also arrived. "Yo, Brother Zhang, you're already here? Have you ordered yet?"

"Not yet. I was waiting for you, wasn't I?"

"I want a large bowl with extra tripe please."

"Sure, I'll have the small one without any vinegar, but please add extra garlic sauce."

The boss personally went into the kitchen as he said, "Alright, please look forward to it!"

He was pretty attentive to the situation too. After he whispered something to his employees, they went over and shut the doors. He closed the entire restaurant for Zhang Ye.

The stews were served.

The two of them talked as they ate.

Zhang Ye chewed on a pork lung. "Do you want to take the title sponsorship of I Am a Singer?"

"Your new show?"

"Yes."

"Is it good?"

"Of course it's good. Why else would I offer it to you?"

"To be honest, I'm really quite interested."

"Then let's talk."

"How much is the title sponsorship fee?"

"200 million RMB."

"Whoa, are you asking for my life?"

"That's already very low; it's a fair price."

"You call that low? Which variety show have you ever seen asking for 200 million RMB for the title sponsorship? 150 million was the highest, and that's even the record created by King of Masked Singers!"

"If you're not interested, I'll go to someone else?"

"Make it a little cheaper."

"You won't make a loss on 200 million yuan. Your company is the leader of the health supplements industry, so what's 200 million to you? You'd earn all that back within half a year. Become the title sponsor for I Am a Singer and I guarantee your sales figures will double. I only asked for a 100 million from you for the first season of The Voice, but look at how much you earned from that."

"Aiya, we can't compare things like this."

"Do you want it or not?"

"Alright, I give in!"

"I'll get someone to send you the contract later."

He finished eating his bowl of stew.

Zhang Ye got up and asked, "Boss, how much?"

"That'll be a total of 45 yuan," the boss shouted.

Zhang Ye took out his wallet and placed the money onto the table before turning to leave.

Wu Mo was speechless. "You're leaving just like that?"

Zhang Ye waved with his back facing him. "I'm really busy. There's still a pile of things waiting for me to do."

Wu Mo rolled his eyes and said annoyed, "Great, a deal worth 200 million RMB and all I get in return is a 25 yuan bowl of stew. And you're even leaving first? Real great." He lowered his head and continued eating by himself.

Zhang Ye no longer needed to be as polite with him. Brain Gold had become the leading health product in the market by leaps and bounds and was the top brand in the industry. It was earning more and more money now, and Zhang Ye could partly be credited with that. Whether it was him endorsing Wu Mo's company product in the commercial at the beginning, or Brain Gold becoming the title sponsor of The Voice later on, all of it brought great benefits to the Brain Gold Company. It turned a small company on the brink of bankruptcy around and launched it into the leading health product brand in the entire country. This was also the reason for the good relationship between Wu Mo and Zhang Ye. Of course, the key reason was that Wu Mo was Wu Zeqing's nephew. When Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing got married, Wu Mo would have to address him as his uncle-in-law based on their statuses. As such, Zhang Ye was not as polite with him as before.

It was just that Wu Mo did not know about all of this as of yet.

…

Elsewhere.

Central TV Department 1.

The Sing! program team staff had all been on guard since yesterday. Everyone was kept extremely busy in their panic, not because they were easily flustered, but because their opponent was too formidable. When faced with this person called Zhang Ye, none of the program team members dared to neglect their duties!

"We've tied up the advertisement sponsorship deal with Donghe!"

"Good! Well done!"

"Lele Mineral Water's advertisement sponsorship has been confirmed too!"

"Has the title sponsorship been settled yet?"

"We're waiting for their decision. The other party is still haggling over the fees!"

"If they don't want it, find someone else!"

"There's no one else. Those who can offer more than a 100 million in title sponsorship fees number no more than twenty corporations!"

"I heard that I Am a Singer is also fighting for advertisers!"

"How can a new program team like theirs possibly compete with us?"

"But many of the advertisers have already been snatched away by them. Like the one we locked up earlier. They've also been pried away by I Am a Singer!"

"How shameless!"

"How can they behave like this?"

"Isn't that against the industry's rules?"

Suddenly, an assistant director from the program team walked in and announced in excitement, "We've got it! The title sponsorship has been finalized! 160 million RMB!"

"Ah!"

"This is great!"

"160 million? What an astronomical figure!"

"That has broken the record!"

"We'll crush I Am a Singer this time!"

"Hahahaha, this title sponsorship fee is even higher than what King of Masked Singers got!"

"It's a totally unprecedented amount in the industry!"

"Release the news straight away!"

"Yes, Boss!"

The news got out!

The industry was shocked!

The public was amazed!

Sing!'s title sponsorship was sold for 160 million RMB?

The title sponsorship fee might look like it had nothing to do with the quality of a show or had no relation to the viewership ratings it would get. But in actual fact, it was a very important symbol and an indicator of things, as those with the ability to sponsor such an amount were very smart people. The title sponsorship fee would also reflect how optimistic the sponsors were about a show. Since they were willing to pay over a 100 million for it, that meant they expected it to reap a figure that would far exceed what they put in.

Sing! was highlighted in the news once again!

The program team of Sing! also became famous as a result!

Quite a few industry insiders and netizens were heatedly discussing this record-breaking astronomical title sponsorship fee!

But just as Central TV Department 1 was preparing to celebrate their first victory, Beijing Television's official Weibo released even more shocking news!

I Am a Singer's title sponsorship had been sold to Brain Gold!

The title sponsorship fee: 200 million RMB!

The industry insiders were flabbergasted!

The citizens were also stunned!

"Holy fuck!"

"Has the Brain Gold Company gone mad?"

"200 million yuan? Does their fucking money grow on trees?"

"Yeah, it's like this sum doesn't mean a thing to them!"

"Wasn't Brain Gold the title sponsor for the first season of The Voice? What's the meaning of this? They won't be continuing their relationship with Sing!? They're giving their support to Beijing TV?"

"Can they really recoup an investment of 200 million yuan?"

"Who the hell knows? That sum is insane!"

"The record's been broken again?"

"Central TV Department 1's 160 million RMB title sponsorship fee had already given me such a shock. Then, in the blink of an eye, this news about the 200 million RMB title sponsorship fee was released? Oh my god! Do they not need to leave some money for rainy days?"

"Central TV Department 1 has been slapped in the face hard!"

"Pfft, looks like Zhang Ye has outdone them again!"

"Sing! still couldn't beat I Am a Singer in the end!"

"Did they really spend 200 million RMB on that, the fuck?"

"Unbelievable!"

The media was shocked!

Central TV Department 1 was also dumbfounded!

Many on the Sing! program team were left cursing and swearing!

"Based on what!"

"200 million?"

"Is Brain Gold crazy!"

"They're gonna go bankrupt!"

"For a new show with no indicators of past performance, they actually paid that much for the title sponsorship?"

Nobody could understand and all felt a sense of frustration. They felt like they had been played by Zhang Ye. They had rushed to announce their title sponsorship fee had broken the record. But just 30 minutes later, they were slapped by I Am a Singer's program team. This was clearly a huge blow, and many of them could not accept it!

Why?

Based on what?

They were all asking this in their heads.

A deputy director from Central TV Department 2 happened to pass by and bump into several program directors of the Sing! program team.

The executive director of Sing! sighed, "Director He."

Deputy Director He asked, "What the matter?"

The executive director said, "Nothing."

Deputy Director He was on rather good terms with him as he had brought this director up within the station. "If you say it's nothing, that means there's something."

The executive director hesitated for a moment before saying, "I just don't get how we're losing."

Deputy Director He could see that they were feeling really bad. He shook his head and couldn't help but say, "Don't forget who your opponent is: the best director of the television variety world who's also the record holder of the top viewership ratings and title sponsorship fee. He's the gold standard in the country's television variety circle. If I have to be blunt, just the name of 'Zhang Ye' alone is valued at 200 million. There's nothing to be ashamed of even if you all lose to him."

The executive director gave a bitter smile.

Zhang Ye?

What a legend indeed!

This sort of person was truly too difficult to deal with!