I'm Really a Superstar

Outside.

Firsthand account of the verdict had spread outside from the courtroom in an instant!

...

Zhang Ye's parents' house.

His parents were anxiously awaiting the results with many of his relatives gathered at his house. His first uncle, third aunt, the eldest and third young sisters had all come!

"How long has it been since the hearing started?!"

"It's been almost three hours."

"Why isn't there a verdict yet?"

"Aiya, why is it so slow!"

"My brother will definitely win!"

Suddenly, the house phone rang.

After putting down the phone, his mother couldn't help but cry out loudly, "He won! Little Ye won!"

His third sister immediately jumped up and shouted, "I knew my brother would win! I knew it!"

...

At Yao Jiancai's house.

Old Yao and his wife were both eating dinner.

His daughter, Yao Mi, suddenly pushed open the door from outside and rushed in. She excitedly waved the cell phone in her hand, which still displayed the latest news update. "Dad! Teacher Zhang won the lawsuit! He won!"

"What?" Yao Jiancai immediately said, "Let me have a look!"

"This is the latest news!" Yao Mi passed her cell phone to Old Yao. "Teacher Zhang is too awesome! He is definitely my idol for life! No! Make that two lifetimes!"

...

At Beijing Television Station.

In the program team office of Do You Remember.

Hu Fei brought back the news with him. "The verdict is out!"

Immediately, everyone—including Dong Shanshan, Hou Ge, and Hou Di—on the program team looked over together.

Hu Fei paused for a moment, then said, "Central TV Department 1…lost in the lawsuit!"

Everyone roared!

Xiao Lu said in a stunned manner, "Teacher Little Zhang did not hire a lawyer, so…so how did he win?"

Hu Fei gave a wry smile. "He acted as his own prosecutor!"

...

Central TV Department 1.

Many of the executives were waiting for news of the verdict from the court.

At this moment, Director Jiang Naixiong received a call from Jiang Yuan. "Director."

Jiang Naixiong asked anxiously: "How is it?"

Jiang Yuan stayed silent for a moment, before saying: "—We lost."

Jiang Naixiong gasped and angrily replied: "How can that be? Didn't you say that we had an above 80% chance of winning? And why did the court hand down the verdict immediately? They came to a decision that quickly? Did Old Huo not speak in defense of us?"

Jiang Yuan was present at the court all the while and he understood very well the proceedings and the overall situation. He said glumly: "Mr. Huo has already done his best."

Then, Mr. Huo took the phone and apologized: "I must take the primary responsibility for this case. My team and I underestimated Zhang Ye's legal expertise!"

Jiang Naixiong said in annoyance: "He's only a layman, what legal expertise could he have!"

Mr. Huo muttered to himself, then responded: "If Zhang Ye can be considered as a layman, then more than 90% of the lawyers in China would have their licenses suspended!"

Jiang Naixiong was so angry that he laughed. "Old Huo, are you trying to tell me that Zhang Ye's legal expertise is better than 90% of the lawyers we have in the entire country? Are you trying to be funny?"

"Frankly, it might even be a higher figure than 90%." Mr. Huo said: "A math professor? In my opinion, he seems more like a law professor!"

If someone said that Mr. Huo lost because he couldn't compare to Zhang Ye with his speaking ability, he wouldn't raise an objection to that. After all, everyone knew about that mouth of Zhang Ye's. He was very good at wrangling and scolding others, with hardly anyone able to come up against him. Who in the country did not know about this person? But what Mr. Huo found most unacceptable was that he had lost in terms of his professional knowledge! Zhang Ye easily brought up different legal provisions and confused Mr. Huo with them. As he did not prepare well enough, he had to quickly flip through his notes to prepare his counterargument, yet before he could even bring up the relevant laws, Zhang Ye was already mentioning the next one. Lawyer Huo could only go back to checking through his information for the next counterargument but even that was met with yet another attack by Zhang Ye!

Constantly bogged down!

Unable to take charge!

That was what Mr. Huo felt about this court trial!

He had lost, but after calming down, Mr. Huo was still convinced by the results. He knew that even if he did not take his opponent lightly, even if he had done all necessary preparations, he would still be unable to win this lawsuit! A lawyer who was even more professional than him, taking on a case he already had an advantage and initiative in, Zhang Ye had no reason to lose this!

...

Online.

The court's decision was already spreading all around!

Some of the netizens screamed in celebration while some people were feeling incredulous at the outcome. They raised an important question at this moment—how on earth did Zhang Ye win?

The media answered them!

The news answered them!

The details of the court hearing were revealed by someone!

"What?"

"F**k, Teacher Zhang acted as his own prosecutor!?"

"I only heard about how Zhang Ye did not hire a lawyer, but I never knew that he was representing himself!"

"Did you guys get it wrong? How could Zhang Ye turn into a lawyer?"

"He was even better than Central TV's lawyer? He did not even need to refer to any notes when he talked about the legal provisions? He left the opposition lawyer at a loss for words and unable to argue back? You guys must be telling us a story, right?"

"Heavens!"

"My titanium dog eyes have been blinded!"

"Does it need to be so dramatic?"

"This must be totally unexpected to everyone!"

"Pfft, Central TV Department 1 has been defeated this time!"

"Not only were they beaten, I'm guessing Central TV Department 1 must feel extremely shocked right now! I bet they were expecting to win for sure when they saw that Zhang Ye did not appoint a lawyer! But it somehow turned out that Zhang Ye even has 'lawyer skills'! This is too damn face smacking! Face-smacking Zhang has done it again!"

"Having provoked him, this must be really troubling for Central TV Department 1!"

"I am still in disbelief!"

"Since the trial's details have already been leaked, then this must be true!"

"What the hell! Zhang Ye is going to gain yet another title—an amateur lawyer who is even more professional than a professional lawyer!"

"Is this the first day you guys learned about him? This is just who Zhang Ye is. Just his existence alone is a miracle. You can't measure him using common sense!"

"But, but how the hell could he be even more familiar with the law than a professional lawyer?"

"Previous poster, why don't you explain to us first why Zhang Ye can fly a plane? Especially commercial airliner?"

"…OK."

"For Zhang Ye, nothing is impossible!"

"From under which rock did this guy burst out!"

"Zhang Ye has even become a barrister? I nearly pissed myself laughing!"

The netizens expressed their shock one after another and said all kinds of things!

It was chaos online!

The news blew up!

Whether it was Zhang Ye winning the lawsuit, or his shocking talent as a lawyer, it felt unacceptable to the people at this moment. Everyone needed some time to digest this bizarre news!

Compared to the buzz in the outside world, the entertainment circle that was most closely implicated with this matter remained silent. Almost no one from the industry issued any statements of any kind, as though they had already discussed prior to stay silent on this extremely sensitive lawsuit. Compared to the excitement online and in the news, this was somewhat odd, and at the same time, somewhat dreary.

The celebrities all had a tacit understanding!

While Central TV Department 1 was scary quiet!

The netizens who noticed this mood started talking.

"Hai, even though Zhang Ye won the lawsuit…"

"This is the beginning of the end!"

"Teacher Zhang will definitely not be appearing on screen at Central TV Department 1 for close to a year! He is absolutely going to get put into the freezer! There is no doubt of that!"

"Zhang Ye can still write novels or teach!"

"Yeah, he also knows how to compose songs!"

"But what's the use of that? His main job is still hosting! Zhang Ye shines the most when he hosts or makes TV shows. If he can no longer appear in or make any TV shows, then even if he continues in the industry by writing novels or other works, he couldn't really make a mark. There would be no way for him to get into the mainstream consciousness of the audience. Everyone knows if that happens, Zhang Ye's popularity will drop drastically by the day. That is the doomed outcome!"

"We'll see in a year's time. I'm sure Zhang Ye can still make a comeback!"

"The celebrities of the entertainment industry are always being replaced, so who knows what next year might bring?"

"Hai, Zhang Ye is done for!"

"Yeah, with the end of this lawsuit, it's also drawing the curtains on Zhang Ye's era!"

"That won't happen! Zhang Ye will definitely be able to make a comeback!"

"I wonder if Teacher Zhang regrets his actions!"

"So what if he won the lawsuit? This move by Teacher Zhang had been, from the start, a move to perish together with Central TV Department 1! He did not plan to win from the very beginning! Because if he loses, then he loses. But even if he wins, he still ends up losing!"

Many of the people were grieving for Zhang Ye.

Many of the entertainment circle's celebrities also felt sorry for Zhang Ye's impulsiveness. Originally, with the abilities Zhang Ye possessed, he could have safely ascended towards the top. Yet he had chosen the path that led to a dead end, a path no other artist in the entertainment industry would have chosen!

...

Outside the court.

A long time after Central TV Department 1's people had left, there was some movement again.

"Zhang Ye!"

"Zhang Ye is coming out!"

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

"Make way!"

Zhang Ye walked with the stride of a victor, coming out of the courthouse with an impressive demeanor. There were no signs of him being affected by the inevitable freezing of his job by Central TV Department 1 as he walked with confidence.

In an instant, the media all rushed up to him and pushed their cameras and camcorders at him!

A female reporter shouted as she got pushed around within the crowd, "Teacher Zhang! Congratulations on winning the lawsuit!"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Thank you."

A male reporter from Beijing Television Station yelled, "What are your thoughts right now?"

Another person who was holding a microphone and had almost squeezed his way through toward Zhang Ye asked, "You won the case against your employer. Can you tell us if you have thought about the situation you will be in from here on out? Are you prepared to spend the next year being frozen by them?"

A female reporter who looked to be over forty and was standing at the outer perimeter of the crowd raised her audio recorder up and shouted toward the interior, "Teacher Zhang, why did you come to a decision like that, which seemed so inconceivable to everyone? Everyone knew how this incident would turn out, and I'm sure you did too, so why were you still so determined to do it? To contest Central TV Department 1 in court? Do you regret this decision?"

Zhang Ye chuckled. "I have never regretted the things that I've done!"

A young reporter quickly followed that question with, "If you were given another chance, would you still take that decision?"

A pretty female reporter added loudly, "Are you willing to give up your job for just several thousand RMB worth of salary? Willing to fall out with such a big channel like Central TV Department 1? Why is that so?"

Of Zhang Ye's decision, no one could understand it!

The people could not understand!

The entertainment circle could not understand!

Central TV Department 1 could not understand!

The media also could not understand!

Perhaps it was more accurate to use the phrase "could not figure out." They could not figure out why there was still a person like him who could be so stubborn, unreasonable, and inflexible in the muddied waters that was the entertainment circle! He would rather sacrifice himself for a consequence he could not afford to bear, by fighting to the bitter end with Central TV Department 1 and hoping they would perish together!

Zhang Ye chuckled and looked at the hundreds of media reporters in front of him. He calmly opened his mouth and recited a poem!

The poem was very short.

Yet it felt grand!

"Lived a hero.

"Died—still the heroic spirit.

"Even today Xiang Yu is remembered.

"He who refused to return to Jiangdong!"

When he finished reciting, Zhang Ye took a few vigorous strides and pushed past the surrounding crowd. He entered his car and drove straight out of the main entrance of the court grounds!

The media were left silent!

The surrounding onlookers also hushed up suddenly!

Even today Xiang Yu is remembered. / He who refused to return to Jiangdong!?

There was also a Xiang Yu in this world. This world also shared some of the history with Zhang Ye's previous world, therefore, after they heard Zhang Ye reciting the poem, many of them fell silent. What a good hero! What a good heroic spirit! Perhaps only a hero like Zhang Ye could follow in Xiang Yu's footsteps. Even in death, he refused to return to Jiangdong!

They suddenly understood something!

They finally figured out why Zhang Ye had made such a decision!

There was no why! It was simply because that was who he was, even in death!