I'm Really a Superstar

Chapter 841: An old classmate in trouble!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

From the morning until now, they had interviewed scores of examinees.

“It’s already 12 PM?”

“We should stop here for the morning.”

“Let’s grab lunch. There’ll be another session in the afternoon.”

“The batch of examinees from this morning was middling. I only found Examinee 026 to be quite acceptable. I feel that she can be groomed further, but we still have to ascertain that during the second round of exams.”

“Examinee 051 was quite good too.”

“Yeah, there’s a special characteristic to his voice.”

Zhang Ye, Su Hongyan, and the rest of the examiners were chatting as they exited the examination venue. Elsewhere, the interviewers from the School of Directing, School of Acting, as well as the other schools, were also done with their morning sessions. They bumped into each other downstairs or in the hallways and gathered together to chat as they walked to the cafeteria.

At this moment, eight or nine reporters ran toward them.

“Director Zhang!”

“You’re finally out!”

“Please do an interview with us!”

“We informed Media College earlier and the school agreed to let us interview you!”

From the looks of it, the reporters had been waiting downstairs for him all this time so that they could catch Zhang Ye the moment he stepped out.

Zhang Ye stopped dead in his tracks.

Su Hongyan turned around and looked at him. “What’s going on?”

“You guys grab lunch first.” Zhang Ye smiled and said, “I’ll head over there in a bit.”

Su Hongyan nodded and said, “Alrighty then.”

Teacher Xue reminded him, “We’re going to the smaller cafeteria. The large dining hall isn’t open today.”

“Alright,” Zhang Ye said.

After the other interviewers left, the reporters stuck their cameras and microphones into Zhang Ye’s face and began to question him.

A female reporter immediately asked, “Teacher Zhang, what was the reason for Media College inviting you back to your alma mater as an examiner? What are your thoughts of being appointed as an examiner here for the first time?”

Zhang Ye smiled and replied, “I’ll definitely do a proper job and not overthink on other matters since my alma mater has put their trust in me by inviting me back for the entrance exam.”

A male reporter immediately spoke, “We’ve just received news that Media College has offered you a position as associate professor. Teacher Zhang, is this true?”

Zhang Ye cleared his throat and said, “All of you are really very well-informed. I’ve only just heard about it myself, so I don’t know whether it’s a rumor or the truth. As such, I can’t answer that.”

A reporter next to the other mentioned, “If the news is real, then you’ll become the youngest associate professor in the history of Media College.”

Zhang Ye phrased his words very carefully. “I don’t know about that.”

A female reporter blinked several times and said, “Teacher Zhang, you’re being quite cautious with your words today.”

Zhang Ye was amused. “Is that so?”

The female reporter exclaimed, “This isn’t your usual style at all!”

A male reporter also said with his eyes lit up, “You can just say it freely. It’ll be fine!”

“It’ll be fine for you guys.” Zhang Ye laughed. “But if I say what I want freely, then I’ll be in trouble. Do you really think that I’m not being cursed at enough?”

The female reporter also laughed and said, “Of course! It wouldn’t affect us since we’re just going to watch!”

Zhang Ye gave a pleasant smile and said, “Come now, it’s almost the new year, so I better keep a low profile.”

After responding to a few more questions, Zhang Ye finally got away and went to the cafeteria for lunch.

Sometimes, news traveled fast. He had just taken a few steps when the first of the reports were published!

Online Entertainment Weekly Magazine: “Zhang Ye appointed as examiner for Media College’s entrance exam!”

Daily News: “Shocking appearance by Zhang Ye on the first day of the Media College Entrance Examination!”

Everyday Entertainment: “Zhang Ye rumored to be taking up the post of associate professor at Media College’s School of Broadcasting! ”

Online Entertainment News: “Media College throws Zhang Ye an olive branch, offering him a high salary to teach! ”

The netizens expressed their concerns.

“An associate professor of Media College?”

“Teacher Zhang is super capable!”

“He’s great!”

“Is the news true?”

“Has it been confirmed? If it’s confirmed, then it would be really awesome!”

“The youngest associate professor of two institutions of higher learning, Peking University and Media College?”

“If Zhang Ye really becomes an associate professor at Media College, then his status and hierarchy in the industry will be even higher!”

“I have to say that Media College still has the foresight to approach Zhang Ye and get him to teach at their institution. He’ll definitely be able to attract a lot of fresh recruits since he can teach in the School of Broadcasting, School of Directing, and even in School of Music and Recording Arts! With his abilities and talent, I’m quite optimistic for the future of Media College. I really hope that Zhang Ye can produce some entertainment celebrities just like himself! It’s really rare to have someone like Zhang Ye in the entertainment industry!”

“Supporting Teacher Zhang!”

Of course, there would definitely be a lot of controversy too.

There were also many netizens and people in the industry who were in doubt.

“Let’s have a confirmation first of whether this news is true or not.”

“I’m not optimistic about Zhang Ye’s appointment. Has Media College gone crazy?”

“They even dare to hire a person like him? Does Media College feel that they don’t have enough trouble?”

“Don’t let Zhang Ye ruin the glorious reputation of Media College!”

“What qualifications does Zhang Ye have to assume the position of associate professor in an arts institute like Media College?”

…

In the afternoon.

Some of the administrators of the School of Broadcasting came to find Zhang Ye. With the help of Su Hongyan, the matter of Zhang Ye assuming his new position was finalized very quickly. This was because the university had already held a meeting to discuss this and even drew up a detailed plan of the lesson schedule. As a result, the discussion was completed very quickly with the contract having already been prepared beforehand. After the salary was agreed upon, the matter was finally settled.

“Professor Zhang, welcome on board to Media College.” After that, a few of the university’s administrators shook hands with Zhang Ye one by one.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “It’s my honor.”

After he walked outside, his cell phone started ringing.

Zhang Ye went off to the side to answer the call. “Mom, what’s the matter?”

His mother said delightedly: “I saw on the news that Media College has invited you to teach there?”

“It’s just a temporary post.” Zhang Ye laughed.

His mother asked: “As an associate professor?”

Zhang Ye acknowledged: “Yes, as an associate professor. It’s already been confirmed and I just finished with the negotiations.”

“Good! Very good!” Then he heard his mother’s voice from the other end: “Old Zhang, the news is real! Our son has gained another associate professor title! And it’s even one from his alma mater!”

He heard his father saying: “Invite our relatives over tonight to have dinner together.”

His mother immediately said: “Little Ye, come back earlier tonight. We’ll invite all our family members over!”

“Hai, that’s not necessary,” Zhang Ye said.

His mother’s eyes widened. “Why is it not necessary? Being appointed as an associate professor is a big deal! We can’t treat it like it’s nothing!”

Zhang Ye laughed: “Alright then, I’ll listen to the two of you.”

Perhaps to his parents, gaining the title of an associate professor was even more impressive than getting the highest honor of some prestigious TV show awards. In the mindset of their generation, becoming an associate professor was a big deal, so they were naturally very happy about it.

A short while later, his friends also called him.

Dong Shanshan laughed and said: “Congratulations, Professor Zhang?”

Zhang Ye: “Thanks.”

“When can I attend your lecture?” Dong Shanshan asked.

Zhang Ye said amused: “Oh c’mon, it’s just a temporary post. I should be the one attending your lecture instead.”

Dong Shanshan giggled. “Oh right, Wang He is back.”

Zhang Ye was stunned. “He’s already arrived?”

Dong Shanshan acknowledged: “He arrived in Beijing this morning and gave me a call. Why? Did he not call you? I already sent him your number.”

Zhang Ye laughed and said: “It’s not like you don’t know how the two of us were always bickering back in our college days. It’d be a wonder if he gave me a call now that he’s back in Beijing.”

Dong Shanshan laughed lightly: “That’s true. However, very few of our classmates are left in the industry and even most of them are struggling since our graduation. We should really keep in touch with one another as it’s quite hard for everyone. I guess you’ve also heard that Wang He offended someone in the industry last year. He had no choice but to give up on hosting and return to his hometown. Now that he’s back, he’ll definitely need to start from scratch again. However, I’m afraid that his situation isn’t that simple. It’s still uncertain if he’ll manage to resolve it or not. Hai, what a troublesome thing to have happened to him.”

“Is it very troublesome?” Zhang Ye had heard about it before, but he did not know the details.

Who did Wang He offend back then?

At that time, Zhang Ye had just started out at Beijing Radio Station and did not have many updates on everyone. Moreover, he also offended too many people back then and could hardly even look after himself. He only got in touch with Dong Shanshan again because he had to go to Shanghai for work and had coincidentally bumped into her on the plane. As for Wang He’s situation, he really did not know much about it.

Dong Shanshan acknowledged: “It should be quite troublesome. Back then, Teacher Su also tried to help him out, but it wasn’t settled in the end, so you can imagine just how troublesome it is.”

Zhang Ye nodded and said: “Just let me know where I can help out.”

“Hur hur, great. I was only waiting for you to say that.” Dong Shanshan said: “You should know how Wang He is, right? He definitely won’t ask you for help even if he is in trouble. Back then, even though I kept asking him, he still did not tell me about the matter in detail. However, I’m thinking that since we’ve all been classmates for many years, even if he does not say it, we should not just leave him alone. If we can help him, then we must definitely help him, which is why I’m discussing this with you first.”

Zhang Ye replied: “I understand. Actually it’s just about having offended someone, right? Haven’t I offended a lot of people in these recent years? But I’m still doing fine, no?”

Dong Shanshan smiled and said, “That’s why you’re the odd one out!”

Exasperated, Zhang Ye said: “Can you be a little more particular with the terms you use?”

Dong Shanshan said flatly: “No, because you’re really an odd one.”

Zhang Ye said, “—Whatever.”