I'm Really a Superstar

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The next day.

8 AM in the morning.

The sky turned dusky and started to drizzle. This should be the first spring rain of the year. Although it did not rain heavily, the rain still pattered against the glass of the window.

Zhang Ye was still lying in bed under his blanket, not fully asleep but just alternating between consciousness and slumber. Because he had been sleeping a lot since yesterday night, he had recovered his tiptop shape after having had about 20 hours of sleep even though he had stayed up for a day and a night previously.

Ring, ring, ring.

The phone rang.

He opened his eyes and searched for a long time before he found his cell phone in the space between the pillow and the headboard. Looking at the caller ID, it displayed an unfamiliar number.

Zhang Ye picked it up. “Hello, who’s this?”

It was an acquaintance. “Teacher Zhang, I’m Sun Han from Beijing Television Station.”

Zhang Ye said, “Hello.”

“Have you seen the response to our public service announcement?” Sun Han spoke with a very grateful tone, “Thank you very much. There are so many media outlets discussing our quit smoking PSA now. Since yesterday afternoon, the topic on this PSA has been surging all over the internet and newspapers. Many of the station leaders had not expected us to get through this crisis, but thanks to your great help, not only did we get through it, the ad even helped to increase the station’s brand awareness and popularity by a lot.

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “You have thanked me enough yesterday. It was nothing.”

Sun Han said, “Oh right, the reason that I’m calling you is because ten minutes ago, the station was notified about our quit smoking PSA getting acknowledged by the authorities and has been shortlisted for this year’s best public service announcement award. Getting shortlisted on the same day of its premiere is a first in the industry. Needless to say, this shows just how much expectations the authorities have for this PSA. Congratulations to you.”

Best public service award?

It would definitely be a good thing to win the prize!

“This is a shared credit stemming from everyone’s hard work and participation.” Zhang Ye did not claim credit for himself as his initial intention when taking up this project was just to do it as a favor for his ex-leader, Hu Fei. He never had any other concerns or motivations so this came as an unexpected surprise.

The call ended and he stretched his himself languidly. Everything in the past few days seemed to have gone quite smoothly. The only thing left now was finding a proper job. The fallout from the Peking University incident had almost passed, but even if it had not, it did die down by quite a bit. Having contributed to a public service work which had earned him quite a bit of moral praise, there was nothing else he could do if no one came forward to contact and offer him a job. He could only wait for now.

Filming movies?

Acting in television dramas?

Or doing variety shows?

A long-term TV guest on a show?

The situation was quite bad for him now since the entire entertainment industry knew about his bad temper. Any television station or film group that wanted to use him would have to think twice. That was why Zhang Ye would accept any job right now as long as he felt the offer was suitable. The competition within the entertainment industry was considered very fierce. If one did not get enough exposure, their popularity would decline with each passing day and soon be forgotten in the public eye. If this non-exposure was only for a short period of time, it wouldn’t matter much, but if it happened over a long period of time, it would prove fatal to a celebrity. This was also why the harshest punishment meted out by many entertainment companies to disobedient celebrities in their agencies was putting them in cold storage. It followed the same principle and no matter how great one’s fame and popularity, even an A-list celebrity would be banished to oblivion if he or she did not appear for some time.

Zhang Ye naturally understood this, so at the moment he wasn’t too demanding either. All along, he never pursued or had any expectations of turning famous overnight. Zhang Ye was always down-to-earth and worked earnestly, no matter how popular or unpopular he was—this had always been the way Zhang Ye behaved.

As of now, the urgency was in finding a suitable employer first. Certainly, the best outcome he was hoping for was still securing something at a television station as it was the most familiar thing he was comfortable with. It was his original profession and line of work. Zhang Ye believed that if he were given an opportunity to fully display his talents by letting him do a variety show, he would surely be able to overcome the hurdle and move into the B-list celebrity rankings. Right now, he was only two rankings away from becoming a B-list celebrity. If he could get past this barrier, then what awaited him would be a whole new level. His circumstances would be very different as there was a clear distinction between being a B-list or C-list celebrity!

If he could become a B-list celebrity?

There would be endless opportunities all over the place!

As the level was not the same, the opportunities were also different!

“Dad?”

“Mom?”

While lying in bed, he shouted out twice to the living room. No one answered. He looked at his watch and guessed that his parents had already gone to work. Zhang Ye continued to lie in his bed, a hand behind his head and thinking about his future career plans.

B-list…

B-list…

He had to get there quickly!

Suddenly, the phone rang again.

An unexpected call came in.

Zhang Ye had a look at the caller ID. Eh? It’s the Heavenly Queen?

He thought for a while before accepting the call: “Hello?”

A woman’s voice on the other end said casually: “What took you so long to pick up?”

“Hai, I was still sleeping. What’s the matter, Sister Zhang?” Zhang Ye spoke in a rather unfriendly manner. Whenever Old Zhang took the initiative to call him, it was nothing good.

Sure enough, he heard her say: “Come out for a drink.”

Zhang Ye nearly fainted when he heard that. He chuckled and said: “What are you drinking so early in the morning for?”

She calmly said: “Find a place that is not so crowded and where no one will disturb us.”

“Where do you expect me to find a place to drink at this hour? The bars are closed and the hotels are not open for business yet.” Zhang Ye was a bit speechless: “Did you just throw aside your job and skip work?”

There was suddenly no response on the other end.

“Hello? Sister Zhang?” Zhang Ye said again.

Then, he heard some distant voices over the call. It sounded like there were several men and women. One of the voices sounded quite familiar and seemed like it belonged to Zhang Yuanqi’s manager, Fang Weihong.

“Where is Sister Zhang?”

“I don’t know.”

“Liu’er, have you seen Sister Zhang?”

“No, Sister Weihong. Did Sister Zhang go missing again?”

“There will be a crew lunch at noon! This time, the leaders of the film company will be attending as well! Where did Sister Zhang disappear to again this time! She always disappears at such times. How should I explain it to the leaders of the company?! Hurry up and search for her! We must find Sister Zhang! She’s the lead today!”

“Alright then!”

“I will ask get more people to look for her as well.”

“Everyone is envious that I’m the Heavenly Queen’s manager, but tell me, does it look like I am having an easy life!”

“Sister Weihong, please calm down. Sister Zhang has never been interested in such social events. Besides, this is not the first time it’s happened. It’s not…easy for Sister Zhang either.”

“So what? She still has to attend it! The film’s investors are going to be there as well! All of you continue searching here. I will go to her house to find her!”

Slowly, the voices got quieter.

A minute later, Zhang Yuanqi starting speaking again: “What did you say earlier?”

Zhang Ye said embarrassed: “Nothing.”

Zhang Ye already understood what was going on.

She went on: “You are at home?”

Zhang Ye said: “I’m not at Jiaomen. I’m at my parents’ home.”

She said: “Only you?”

Zhang Ye replied: “Ah, yes. My parents have gone to work.”

Without explaining, she said “Send me the address, I will buy some wine and meet you at your place.”

Zhang Ye quickly said: “Eh, never mind that, why don’t…”

She said: “That’s it then!”

Du du. The call was cut short by the other party.

Whatever.

Hai, just come, whatever.

Zhang Ye smacked his lips, thinking that since his parents would only get off work around 5 or 6 PM there was no harm in sending his home address to Zhang Yuanqi. He yawned and got off the bed, then went to the living room to take a look. His parents were indeed not around and there was no breakfast on the table. He would have go hungry for now. He went to the bathroom. He turned on the water heater and took a shower. After his shower, he came out while drying his hair and only realized that it was raining when he looked out of the window.

The rain continued to drizzle.

The mist shrouded the surroundings.

It was a very beautiful scenery.

Since Old Zhang would be coming, Zhang Ye started to tidy up the house. He made sure that the house would be in a clean condition so he folded the blankets, put away the clothes, and also tidied up the living room while he was at it.

Translator’s note: Some news update for everyone, I’ve started my Patreon, so you can check it out here

For every $50 increment in total pledges, there will be 1 chapter accumulated for release in the following month. Thank you for your support!

On top of this, until the end of April, for every increase of 10 patrons, up to 80 patrons, regardless of amount pledged, 1 chapter will be released within the day of hitting the milestones. This will run concurrent to item 1. (The next is the 20 patrons milestone/2 more to go!)

There are plans for advanced chapters sometime next month, so watch out for the announcement!