I'm Really a Superstar

Two days later.

Beijing.

Caishikou. At Zhang Ye's parents' house.

He unlocked the door and opened it. Zhang Ye returned home, pulling his luggage and carrying several bags into the house. The moment he stepped in, he immediately smelled the aroma of pork ribs. His mother was busy cooking in the kitchen and his father was also helping her make lunch for Zhang Ye.

"Dad, Mom!" Zhang Ye greeted them.

His mother smiled. "Son, you're back?"

His father came up to him. "Are you tired? Did you suffer a lot?"

"I'm not tired, but I kept thinking of home-cooked food," Zhang Ye said with a laugh. "For the past two months I've been filming, I've tried many different cuisines from a lot of places, but I just couldn't get used to them and still prefer the taste of home."

His mother was very happy to hear that. "Alright, alright, all you know is flattery."

Zhang Ye said, "But it's true."

At this moment, Chenchen emerged from the bedroom. "Zhang Ye, did you buy me any presents?"

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes at her. "I went on a business trip. Did you really think it was a trip to enjoy myself? No presents."

Chenchen's sharp eyes caught sight of a large bag that Zhang Ye was holding in his hands very carefully. She reached out her hands, trying to take it from him. "What's that?"

"Tea leaves! Hands off!" Zhang Ye exclaimed protectively.

His mother said, "Tea leaves? Good timing. We've just run out of tea leaves at home. Go and brew two pots for drinking later."

Zhang Ye was not having any of that. "Forget it. Two pots? Do you know how much this tea costs by the gram? It's not something you can just drink for leisure. We should save them for later." The first thing that Zhang Ye did when he got home was stash away the several catties of Da Hong Pao. He looked for a suitable spot that was dark, cool, and dry to store them in. After that, he took out the copies of the contract and the Da Hong Pao parent trees purchase agreement from his luggage and put them away safely, afraid that he would lose them.

Chenchen pouted. "Stingy."

His mother also stared at him. "Do you have to go as far as that?"

"Hmph, none of you would understand even if I explained it to you." Zhang Ye then reminded, "Make sure you don't touch my tea. If you guys want to drink it, I'll brew a cup later, but only a cup and not more."

His mother was annoyed. "A cup?"

His father was also speechless for a long time at that.

In the future, if he could hype it up enough and the entire world knew about the value of Da Hong Pao, then rather than just millions, these several catties of tea leaves could even be auctioned off for up to several tens of millions of yuan. Not to mention that there was also an inexhaustible supply from those yearly harvests of the parent trees of his!

Suddenly, a call arrived.

The caller ID showed Wu Zeqing's name on it.

Seeing that, Zhang Ye suddenly smiled and answered: "Hello, Old Wu."

"You're back?"

"Yeah, I just got home a moment ago."

"How's your work going?"

"Everything's going smoothly, how about you? How're you doing?"

"It's going well for me too, hur hur."

"We've not met in two months already. After I finish up my documentary's post-production, I'll visit you and have a taste of your cooking. Oh yes, I'll bring some tea leaves for you as well when I go over. I guarantee you haven't had something like it before. It's an especially good quality tea. You'll know what I mean after you taste it. I'll bring you a hundred grams to try."

"A tea that Big Sis has never had? There aren't too many types that I haven't tried before."

"Ha, you definitely have not tried this one before."

"Alright then, I'll be looking forward to your tea leaves."

"OK."

After hanging up, Zhang Ye saw the expression on his parents' and the kid's face.

His mother: "…"

His father: "…"

Chenchen: "…"

For them, it was a cup each, for someone else, it was a hundred grams. What a huge difference!

His mother couldn't help but ask, "Rascal, am I still your mother?"

Zhang Ye laughed at that.

...

After lunch.

In the afternoon, Zhang Ye did not stay at home to rest but headed straight back to the office. There was still a lot of work waiting for him to handle, so anyone other than Zhang Ye could rest. He was not even home for two hours yet, nor had the time to go look for Wu Zeqing, but had already come back to Central TV Tower for work.

Actually, this fellow also felt tired. He wasn't made of steel. If he drank too much, he would puke; if he ate too much, he would feel bloated. With the three film crews starting their shoots at the same time, even though they had a very packed schedule to follow, they still only had to travel every few days to a different location. However, Zhang Ye was flying almost every other day across the country to different locations and divided his time among the three film crews. On top of that, he was also the overall supervisor and executive director, so his workload was several times that of the others'. In the two months, Zhang Ye had already traveled to more than a dozen different provinces, covering almost the entire country. But even if he was tired, Zhang Ye always believed that only by experiencing the hardest hardships could he rise above the ordinary. He couldn't control how others did their work, but he could guarantee that as long as it was something that he did, it would surely be done to perfection.

After two months away from Beijing, there were also some changes back at the workplace.

From afar, Zhang Ye could already see a long vertical banner near the entrance of Central TV. Written on it was the promotional slogan for Rise to the Dance. There were also ad posters and balloon decorations around it as well. When Zhang Ye did The Voice back then, there was no such treatment from Central TV.

As he drove closer, he saw countless fans camping outside the entrance.

There were more than several hundred people!

"Huo Dongfang! Huo Dongfang!"

"Sect Leader Huo! I love you! I love you!"

"Teacher Shen Lili! You're my goddess!"

"Fan Wenli!"

"Teacher Fan, look at me! Give me a look!"

"Chen Ye! You're so handsome!"

"Ah! Sect Leader Huo turned to look at me!"

"He was looking at me!"

"Get lost, it was me who he was looking at!"

"When can we enter the recording studio?!"

"It's the first recording today. Hurry up, I can't wait any longer!"

Only then did Zhang Ye realize that the team of Rise to the Dance had just arrived ahead of him. A few compact cars covered with promotional stickers of the show had just driven into the compound. From the fans' shouts, he realized that it was the first recording of Rise to the Dance today. It seemed like in the two months that Zhang Ye was away, the preliminary auditions for Rise to the Dance had finished and they were now moving on to the next phase of the show. From the looks of it, they might be officially starting their broadcast very soon!

At that moment, Zhang Ye also felt a sense of urgency and thought that he should really make the most of his time and hurry up and finish his documentary!

He turned his steering wheel and drove in behind them into the compound. At the gate, he lowered the car window for the security guard who let him through immediately.

Some fans noticed it!

"Aiya, that's Zhang Ye!"

"Look at that BMW!"

"Teacher Zhang has come to work too?"

"Didn't the news say that he went to shoot a documentary?"

"Has he finished filming it? Teacher Zhang is back in Beijing?"

Some of the onlookers started discussing. But as they were mainly the fans of Huo Dongfang, Fan Wenli, and Chen Ye, they did not pay much attention to Zhang Ye and just finished with their discussions after a few words. Since Zhang Ye was not a celebrity idol, his popularity among the younger groups of people made him not that sought after. Coupled with his disappearance from the mainstream media as he was away for work, although two months couldn't be considered a long time, but for a celebrity in the entertainment circle, it was not a short time either. Two months was enough for a fan to change their allegiance to other celebrities due to a show or song that they came across during this duration.

But luckily for Zhang Ye, his reputation was too big and his results were too dazzling. As a result, he did not have to worry that he would be forgotten after only two months away. At most, his popularity would maintain as before.

Inside.

At the lobby of the television tower.

When Fan Wenli saw Zhang Ye's car behind her, she purposely stopped in her tracks and waited for Zhang Ye to come out. "Director Zhang, it's been awhile. Have you listened to my new song yet?"

Zhang Ye smiled as he walked up to her. "I've been up in the mountains every day without a cell phone signal. How could I possibly have heard it? But I must definitely have your album in my collection. I'll be buying a copy to listen to afterwards."

Fan Wenli smiled and said, "Give me some suggestions after you listen to it.

Zhang Ye waved it off and remarked, "Oh come on, you're the professional when it comes to music. I'm just an amateur who has coincidentally written two songs. How could I give you my suggestions?"

Chen Ye and the others who were walking ahead also stopped in their tracks.

Huo Dongfang turned around to look. No one knew what he was thinking, but he started walking over as well. "This must be Teacher Zhang?"

Zhang Ye looked at him and also stepped forward to shake his hand. "Teacher Huo, nice to meet you."

Huo Dongfang was an A-list actor with a very good figure. He was indeed worthy of his dance background and also had the looks and demeanor to go along with it. There was talk that his acting skills were quite good, but as Zhang Ye had not really watched any movies of his, he wasn't too familiar with that claim. However, getting into the ranks of the A-list celebrities, he shouldn't be a simple person at all. At least in terms of popularity, Zhang Ye was not his match. It was rumored that as long as Huo Dongfang was involved in a movie, even just as a supporting actor, the box office earnings would break 100 million RMB, or even 200 or 300 million RMB. His followers on Weibo numbered in the many tens of millions, so Zhang Ye had long since heard of his name.

Huo Dongfang had also often heard of Zhang Ye's name before this. He looked at Zhang Ye's face with a slightly strange gaze.

These two people were meeting for the first time, so they didn't speak much and just simply exchanged a few pleasantries.

A bit aways, the dancer, Shen Lili, was on the phone talking. Nobody knew whether she saw Zhang Ye or not, but as she talked on the phone, she entered the elevator with a few program staff members to go upstairs. Rise to the Dance's Executive Director Xu Yipeng turned back and cast a glance over them before following them into the elevator as well.

However, Chen Ye unexpectedly stayed behind. He went up to the group with a smirk on his face. "Director Zhang, have you finished your documentary's filming?"

Zhang Ye acted like he just noticed him and said, "Yo, isn't that Director Chen? Haha, yes, we just finished our filming and are preparing for the post-production work right now."

Chen Ye looked him up and down and remarked, "You look like you've put on weight?"

Zhang Ye replied with a chuckle, "You've not slimmed down at all either."

Chen Ye looked spirited. The new show was being heavily promoted in recent days and that helped his popularity and worth rise back up quietly. Back then, after he was squeezed out of the B-list celebrity rankings by Zhang Ye, Chen Ye had forced his way back into them about half a month ago. He managed to squeeze out a longtime singer who had been famous for a long while, and returned back to the B-list celebrity rankings. Even though they were in the same tier now, his ranking was still far behind Zhang Ye's, but Chen Ye believed that once Rise to the Dance started broadcasting, it wouldn't be hard for him to catch up to Zhang Ye's level of popularity.

One was involved in a variety show, while the other was shooting a documentary. One of them would only have his popularity rise while the other one's would fade. With one going up and one going down, the gap in their popularity would quickly be closed.

So why would Chen Ye be afraid of not being able to catch up to Zhang Ye?

It was just a matter of when he got there!

Actually, it wasn't just Chen Ye who felt this way. By now, everyone else also thought the same way. Didn't Central TV Department 1 flex their muscles heavily to support Rise to the Dance and Chen Ye because they wanted Chen Ye to replace Zhang Ye? Wasn't their intent to let Chen Ye ride the coattails of the glory of The Voice? To Central TV Department 1, Zhang Ye had always been an unavoidable pain. From the time since they started their cooperation until they fell out, and then the court case, Central TV Department 1 had totally lost face. That was also the reason why they gave so much love to Rise to the Dance, because Central TV Department 1 wanted to tell everyone that even without Zhang Ye, they could still rule the variety world. Without Zhang Ye, they would still have an excellent host who could take the place of Zhang Ye!

Chen Ye gave a fake smile and said, "Director Zhang is known for being able to make famous any show that he makes. I'm sure Director Zhang's documentary is definitely going to be different from the others."

Zhang Ye laughed. "I can't compare to you guys. Rise to the Dance is incredibly popular even before its broadcast. Even though I was stationed out in the mountains, I couldn't get away from all those promos and news about it."

Chen Ye narrowed his eyes. "I'm quite looking forward to the broadcast of your documentary."

"Same here, same here," Zhang Ye replied.

It appeared that they were both flattering each other, but were in fact engaged in a battle of sorts.

Fan Wenli could sense it, so she tried to steer the subject away. "Director Zhang, when is your documentary going to be broadcast? Can you notify me when it does? I'm really looking forward to watching it."

Chen Ye also said, "Yeah, when does it broadcast?"

Zhang Ye glanced at Chen Ye and returned, "Let me ask you first: When is Rise to the Dance going to be broadcast?"

Hearing Zhang Ye ask that, everyone present was very surprised. Why did he ask that? Was Zhang Ye trying to find out about Rise to the Dance's broadcast date and time so that he could have his documentary avoid it? Was he trying to avoid clashing with it so that his documentary wouldn't perform too badly and paint him in a bad light? That couldn't be. Zhang Ye was so notorious for being a hooligan in the entertainment circle that Central TV was even sued in court by him. So why would he suddenly choose to avoid a conflict like this?

Fan Wenli gave Zhang Ye a strange look.

Huo Dongfang replied smilingly, "I think we're scheduled for December. Has the exact date been set yet?" He turned to look at Chen Ye.

Chen Ye revealed a joyous smile at that. With Zhang Ye asking that question, it showed that he had totally lost his confidence. It left Chen Ye feeling very satisfied as he said, "We set the date yesterday. It's slated to premiere on Friday, December 10th at 8 PM. There will be a mini-press conference tonight. We'll make an official announcement then too." Having said all that, Chen Ye's gaze fell on Zhang Ye as he questioned him, "What about you guys, Director Zhang?"

But nobody expected that Zhang Ye's answer would dumbfound everyone here!

Zhang Ye laughed loudly. "Aiyo, how coincidental, our documentary is slated to premiere on December 10th at 8 PM on Friday as well!"

Fan Wenli was shocked!

Chen Ye was shocked!

Even Huo Dongfang was shocked at that!

Everyone else's expressions froze!

What did you say? You want to broadcast your documentary on the same date and time as Rise to the Dance? Everyone was quite dumbfounded by this. Fuck, it was only then that they understood that Zhang Ye had asked the question not because he was afraid of Rise to the Dance, but because he had intentionally wanted to match up against them with the same broadcast schedule! Moreover, no one had any doubts that the broadcast schedule for Department 14's new documentary was just finalized right there and then by Zhang Ye! Otherwise, how come something so coincidental possibly happen!

Crazy!

Zhang Ye has really gone crazy!

To say nothing of this being a documentary, many of the upcoming shows on Central TV were already strongly appealing for their shows to not be scheduled for the Friday primetime broadcast as they wanted to avoid the seemingly unstoppable Rise to the Dance. There were also the other shows of other television stations like Beijing Television and Shanghai Satellite TV whose program teams had applied to change their broadcast times because of the head-on clash with Rise to the Dance's broadcast time. They were all afraid that their viewership ratings would turn out badly if they had to go up against Rise to the Dance. But while everyone else was rushing to avoid this, here you are, trying to go head-on with Rise to the Dance??

This is too crazy!

That show of yours is just a documentary!

Around them, many of the Central TV employees who heard that suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. They all looked at Zhang Ye in shock with very wondrous expressions on their faces!

This is the Zhang Ye they knew!

This is that stubborn Zhang Ye who would not yield to anything!

Fan Wenli didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Director Zhang, you are…" There's no need to do this, there's really no need to do this!

Fan Wenli had never doubted Zhang Ye's abilities. If Zhang Ye had been given a variety show instead, would he have needed to avoid other people's shows? That would be bullshit! All the television stations in the entire country would probably be the ones planning to avoid Zhang Ye's show's time slot. Even Chen Ye would have to quietly and obligingly avoid it without making a sound! Because it was Zhang Ye's show, because it was Zhang Ye's variety show! But in the current situation? It's a documentary that you have, so who would bother to avoid your show. It should be you avoiding other people's shows instead!

Zhang Ye's reply left everyone stunned!

Chen Ye was also tickled by his arrogance. You want to compete with us on the same broadcast schedule? Alright then! That would be really great! I couldn't welcome you more than that!

"Director Zhang, so it's confirmed then?" Chen Ye tried to intimidate him. "You won't be making any changes to that I suppose?"

Zhang Ye gave him a smile. "Of course. I'm only afraid that you'll change your time slot instead."

Chen Ye chuckled, "We definitely won't be changing it. We'll see you around on the evening of the 10th then!"

Chen Ye and his team left.

Zhang Ye shrugged and then went about his own way as well.

The remaining people who saw the commotion stared with their mouths agape!

"What the heck!"

"Isn't Director Zhang being too rash?"

"I really have to give it to Director Zhang. He's even trying to use a documentary to compete against a variety show on viewership ratings? Fuck! How brave would you need to be to do that! In the entirety of Central TV, only Zhang Ye would try something like that!"

"It's needless to say, but Zhang Ye will definitely lose!"

"Yeah, who knows what Director Zhang is thinking?"

"The talented are truly bolder!"

"But that wouldn't be fair! How can a documentary possibly be compared to a variety show?"

"If Director Zhang didn't arrange for their documentary to be broadcast alongside Rise to the Dance, other people might not go and compare them. After all, the genre of the two shows are too different, so even if Director Zhang's documentary were to get a viewership rating of 0.0-something percent, no one would say a thing. Since all documentaries perform similarly, no one would make a joke out of it. But now, it looks like Director Zhang is itching for a fight? Does he really intend to tussle with Rise to the Dance? He really wants to fight it out to prove something? He's making it impossible for others not to compare them! The key point here is: Will there even be anything to compete on at all! Even if all the television stations in the entire country were to pick out their best viewership rated documentary, they wouldn't be able to compete with a random variety show with the lowest viewership that's broadcast on a satellite channel!"

"Director Zhang's mind really works differently from others!"

"Even if Zhang Ye wants to broadcast his documentary on the 10th, will Department 14 agree to it?"

"Come on, have you all forgotten who the director of Department 14 is?"

"Oh, it's Yan Tianfei!"

"Fuck, Director Yan isn't someone who would back off from a challenge either!"

"Right, if it's Director Yan, he might really end up making such an arrangement too. There might really be a chance for these two shows to clash! This is surely going to keep the media busy for a while!"

"This is going to be interesting!"

"You mean it's going to be trouble, don't you! After all, Rise to the Dance should have been Zhang Ye's show to handle, or you could say it was already decided until it got handed to Director Xu and Chen Ye instead. Now that Director Zhang has purposely scheduled his documentary to be broadcast on the same date and time as Rise to the Dance, I wonder how the media is going to report about it! The sensationalization is going to be…eh, hang on, do you guys think that Director Zhang might be using Rise to the Dance to publicize his documentary?"

"That sounds very possible! The promos for Rise to the Dance have been overwhelming and everyone in the country knows about it. But how did they intend to promote Zhang Ye's documentary? Even if they spend money on advertising, there's only so much it can do. Who would bother to watch a documentary? Moreover, Department 14 doesn't have that many tens of millions to put into their promotions anyway, so if they used Rise to the Dance to create a case for themselves instead, to use Zhang Ye's and Chen Ye's rivalry to hype it up, then it will definitely help to bring more attention to Department 14's documentary! This is definitely the easiest and most cost-effective way for them to promote Zhang Ye's documentary!"

"You guys are thinking too hard."

"Yeah, even if it's publicizing the documentary, what's the use? It's still a documentary we're talking about! Even if a Heavenly King or Queen were to do the narrations for it and they used that to hype it up to the entire world, there still wouldn't be much of a viewership!"

"Ahem, that's true too."

"Yeah, the key issue is that no one bothers watching a documentary."

"Hai, let's just wait and see how it turns out."

Very quickly, this news started spreading around Central TV!

Zhang Ye was indeed Zhang Ye. When he was not around in Beijing for two months, almost nothing happened at Central TV, with the days going by peacefully and quietly. But on the day that he returned, Central TV was getting boisterous again!