I'm Really a Superstar

After work.

But Central TV was bustling!

Generally, during non-holiday periods, when it reached this time of day, other than those who had overtime to clock, most of the Central TV's staff would not stay around at the officer longer than necessary. They couldn't wait for the workday to be over so that they could go home to dinner. However, many of them did not leave the office today. Some were having discussions in their offices, while some were chatting in the hallways.

"Something's happened!"

"What's the matter? Why are you still around?"

"Something happened over at the Finance Department just now!"

"Director Zhang was too awesome! I was just looking at the commotion from outside as it happened! The hallway outside of the Finance department was packed with people just now!"

"What went on over there? Spit it out! What did Zhang Ye do again?"

"Central TV Department 1 did not pay his salary, so Director Zhang took it up to Finance and even made Little Liu, who's in charge of their payment, cry! F**k, it was too awesome! Director Zhang's mouth is simply too godly! He could even wake up the dead with his scolding! He argued with her without even using a single swear word and brought her to tears!"

"Which Little Liu?"

"That woman with a mole on her forehead, who looks especially snobbish. That one!"

"Oh, oh I know her. That girl who curries favor with the leaders and always knows how to speak with reason. How could she have been driven to tears by Zhang Ye? Hai, look at what I'm saying. I should know better since we're talking about Zhang Ye here. Arguing with him? I don't think that anyone in the entirety of Central TV can outargue him!"

"Little Liu from Finance has always looked down on others, arrogant just because she has good relations with the leaders. Looks like she has encountered a tough opponent this time! Does she think that Zhang Ye is like the other employees? That he would just take whatever she says? That she could get Zhang Ye to do whatever nonsense she asked for? How funny! She should use her brain to think for a bit. If Zhang Ye were so easy to talk to, he wouldn't have offended his peers in all the industries he's stepped into, neither would he have garnered such deep hatred from countless people!"

"This time, the commotion is a big one!"

"Do the leaders know yet?"

"They must know. Let's see how this plays out!"

"If it goes on like this, I really wonder how it will end!"

"Eh, a chief from Finance is coming over. It's Little Liu's boss!"

"Did Little Liu make a complaint?"

"Oh, it seems like Chief Lian is heading to The Voice's program team office!"

Are they going to clash head-on? Quick, let's go and take a look!"

"Wait for me, I want to go as well!"

"If there's something to watch, then I will go home at a later time!"

……

Over there.

In the program team office of The Voice.

When Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others heard the news, they were all startled.

The office assistant, Little Wang, clapped and laughed, "What a good vent! That's how she should have been scolded!"

A different girl said, "He might have vented his frustrations, but this will be troublesome now. The station has already treated Director Zhang in this way, but with another case now, what will happen to him?"

Wu Yi said, "No matter what, she deserved the scolding. She's just a normal employee in the Finance Department, so how dare she try to challenge Director Zhang? Withholding Director Zhang's salary? Based on what? Even if we disregard Director Zhang's status in Central TV, he is also a well-known mathematician as well as an associate professor at Peking University. Anyone who sees him should be showing their respect, but consider her attitude toward him. She's already gotten off lightly if she did cry. If it were me, I would've hit her!"

Ha Qiqi said, "Oh, c'mon, Old Wu, don't cause any more unnecessary trouble."

Zhang Zuo suddenly looked past the door. "Someone's here?"

Ha Qiqi was also stunned when she looked over. "It's Chief Lian from Finance? What's he here for? Did he come to reprimand someone?"

Just at that moment, around four people gradually came inside through the door. One of them was Chief Lian from Finance, who was also Little Liu's immediate supervisor. Another was Little Liu, accompanied by her colleagues from their department. As for the large group of people who followed behind them, those people did not dare step into the office and just stood outside and watched through the glass. They were obviously staff from Central TV who had come to see the commotion.

Tearstains could still be seen on Little Liu's face.

Chief Lian shouted as he stepped in, "Where's Zhang Ye? Where is Zhang Ye?!"

Zhang Zuo was a little annoyed. "What are you shouting for?"

"Ask your Director Zhang to come out now. Why did he make my subordinate cry? Ah?" Chief Lian was very angry.

Ha Qiqi knew him, so she stood up and said, "Old Lian, what's the meaning of this? We didn't look for you, but now you dare come to look for us? Why don't you tell us why Director Zhang did not receive his salary? Other than my boss, everyone else received theirs. Why is that so!"

Chief Lian said, "Old Ha, this is none of your business!"

Ha Qiqi said, "My boss's business is my business!"

At the other side of the room, Zhang Ye's office door opened and he walked out. "Who's looking for me? What's all this shouting for? Are they treating this as their home?!"

When Chief Lian saw him, he stared and said, "Zhang Ye, it's good that you're here. You're also someone with status, a leader of a program team. How could you make a young girl cry? Don't you feel embarrassed by your actions?!"

Zhang Ye was amused. "She insisted that I prove my bank account is my bank account, so let me ask you this, how can I prove that to her? Where in the hell would I go and produce such proof for her? You could have just used the department's system to do a check, yet you denied me that and pushed all the responsibility onto me. She's already gotten off lightly because I only criticized her a little. Besides, I did not scold her. There were also others there at that time. You can ask them if I scolded her."

Chief Lian shouted, "Our Finance Department has our own procedures to follow. If Little Liu asked for your verification, it means that it's necessary. If you don't produce the proof, then how can we check for you? If everyone came over with all sorts of requests like you did and our department processed and checked them one by one, would we still have time to do other things? Do you think we don't have our own basic jobs to handle? Since you couldn't produce the proof, then our judgment is that the salary has already been paid out to you." He said many things, but it was still the same old story!

You still want me to give you proof?

Zhang Ye smiled. "I can't deny it just because I can't produce proof?"

"Of course!" Chief Lian said furiously.

Zhang Ye nodded and asked back, "Alright then, let me ask you something, Chief Lian. Can you prove that you have proof that I am not your grandpa?"

"What?" Chief Lian's face turned green from anger. "Say that again!"

So Zhang Ye really did say it again. "Can you prove that you have proof that I am not your grandpa?" Then he paused to look at the other party. "So? Can you? You can't prove that either right? So by your logic, I am indeed your grandpa."

"Pfft!"

Some of those people who had gathered outside to observe could not hold in their laughter!

Chief Lian suddenly blew up at this moment, "Zhang Ye, I'll curse your grandpa!"

Zhang Ye said, "Can you prove that you have proof that I am not your grandpa?"

Chief Lian nearly vomited blood from anger. "You! Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough!"

After an exchange of just a few lines, Chief Lian nearly suffered a heart attack. When the staff from the Finance Department saw this, they quickly said, "Chief, don't bother with him anymore!"

"Right, let's go. Don't get angry over this guy!"

"We will report this to the leaders. I still think there's room for reason!"

"Chief Lian, don't get so angry! Don't get so angry!"

"Chief! Brace yourself! Please brace yourself!"

Chief Lian was trying to catch his breath and said, "Brace my ass! I am still well and alive!"

The few Finance Department staff held and supported their Chief out, while Chief Lian himself was adamant in staying. As he was being dragged out, he pointed at Zhang Ye while cursing and swearing.

"Zhang! You're good! You're good!"

The Central TV staff who were here to observe all felt rather speechless. They could only wonder why the chief had even bothered to come when all it took was a moment for him to get abused and defeated by Zhang Ye. Can that fight of yours be any lower? Besides, if you already knew you couldn't outargue Zhang Ye, then why waste time coming here? Weren't you just asking to be ridiculed? Who doesn't know of that mouth on Zhang Ye? Moreover, if we were really going to talk about it, it was the Finance Department that was unreasonable!

"Let's leave."

"Hai, time to go."

"How uninteresting. I thought there would be a hard-fought battle."

"The people from Finance are all full of hot air!"

"But I have to admit that Zhang Ye's mouth is really vicious!"

"Director Zhang will taunt whoever comes at him, whether it is one person or a group!"

"How awesome!"

"Yeah, I was so tickled upon hearing what he said!"

"I've come across quite a number of hosts in my years with Central TV. Honestly speaking, Zhang Ye is the one I feel can speak the best!"

"I'm convinced. If I had a mouth like Director Zhang, I wouldn't be afraid of anything in this entire world! He can scold people without resorting to a single swear word, yet it sounds even more vicious than scolding with swear words! I'm really speechless at that! The jinx of the entertainment industry, the hooligan of the educational world, all of these labels are not for nothing!"

"The people from Finance have really suffered a big loss of face this time!"

……

Upstairs.

Central TV Department 1 Director's Office.

Jiang Yuan was seated inside, opposite the Director of Department 1, the current leader of their station, Jiang Naixiong. He was a middle-aged man in his forties. Even though there was the Xióng (literal: Bear) character in his name, his facial features were considerably smart. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and had a head full of hair.

Jiang Yuan said, "That Zhang Ye is starting to behave lawlessly! The Finance Department was made a mess of because of him!"

"How do you think we ought to handle this?" Jiang Naixiong looked at him.

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment then answered, "I still think we have to criticize and punish him, so that we can show our stand and attitude to everyone. Concerning this matter, the interest of our channel is top priority, and we must not concede to him. We also need to convey this signal to him, to let Zhang Ye know that Department 1 certainly will not give in to him. I'll find another day to speak to him about the contract and make him sign it for sure."

Jiang Naixiong nodded and said, "It's best that the program with the 80 million yuan production budget still go to Zhang Ye. He is capable enough to handle it. If we hand it to others, they might not be able to do as well."

"I understand that." Jiang Yuan replied, "We will just drag him along for now. In any case, this is the first overseas copyright sale that Central TV has, so we cannot let this go through him personally. It definitely has to be through our channel!"

Jiang Naixiong acknowledged, "If he understands this, that is what he should be doing. Actually, he does not lack money at all, so the copyright shouldn't matter to him much. But for a program with an 80 million yuan production budget, a stage for him to show what he can do, that is a chance that can't be exchanged with anything. No other television stations can give him the resources that Central TV Department 1 can provide. I'm sure he understands that quite well. Besides, he still has a one-year contract with us."

Jiang Yuan said, "Understood."

……

Half an hour later.

An internal email was sent out in Central TV. It was a memo criticizing Zhang Ye's handling of the issue at the Finance Department where he insulted a colleague. All the staff in Central TV received this email, but in it, there was no mention of why Zhang Ye's salary was withheld. It was as if this issue simply had not happened!