I'm Really a Superstar

This was an unprecedented press conference!

This was history's first live premiere of a documentary!

Zhang Ye calmly stood onstage and faced all the reporters who wore different expressions, his expression unchanging. "So how does the PM2.5 enter our bodies? How does it destroy our bodies from within? With the assistance from the experts at the Environmental Sciences Department of Peking University, we created a short video to explain."

The big screen lit up.

One after another, cartoon characters appeared onscreen.

"Hello, I am a PM2.5. I have many siblings, such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and various heavy metals, all of which carry a sharp weapon. In the game of attacking humanity, we very rarely lose. At the first stage, the nostrils, nasal hair, and nasal discharge stop foreign objects from entering. 90% of the particles that are larger than 10 microns in diameter will get stopped here, but that won't stop me. At the second stage, the throat in the upper respiratory tract has tiny hairs called cilia which beat in coordinated waves 20 times per second. But because of my lightness, the trachealis muscle—which contracts when irritated—will try to stop me, although that is not enough to defeat me. At the third stage, the lower respiratory tract has passages called bronchi, which branch out like a big tree and conduct air into the lungs. This is our favorite ski slope of all, as we fight our way in against the cells, lymphocytes, and others. As a side effect, humans suffer from various inflammations caused by us."

This was an animation that they had prepared earlier to be used in the documentary.

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were once again shocked!

The Central TV News Channel's reporter was also rather startled!

Weren't all these resources already deleted?

Didn't Central TV send a team of people to take them away?

Why do you still have it? H-How did you get them back?

Only then did the staff of Department 14 realize just how much Director Zhang had done behind their backs! Director Zhang had begun planning for this press conference since the day the documentary was barred!

"Our large force finally reaches the end of the branches of the bronchi, which is where the alveoli are. Humans have over 300 million alveoli in each lung. Once we block off these alveoli, they cannot breathe. But in here exists our most fearsome enemy—the macrophages. They are specialized to engulf and digest foreign substances, and are also known as internal scavengers. This is going be a tough battle. But we outnumber them, and our core is difficult to break down as well. Together with the heavy metal toxins, the macrophages find us hard to digest, so easily die. This is how the human immune system breaks down. We also have a group of warriors, the ultrafine particles measuring no more than 0.5 microns in diameter. They are able to penetrate right through the membrane of the alveoli into the bloodstream, damaging and constricting the blood vessels, which in turn causes increased blood pressure and leads to internal clotting. We can even make use of the pulmonary circulation to enter the core of the human body and carry out attacks against your heart, causing myocardial ischemic damage, arrhythmia, and heart attacks."

"Shiver in fear, human!"

"We're in every breath you take!"

The animation ended with the ringing of wild and savage laughter!

A lot of the reporters were holding their breath, too afraid to even breathe!

How could it be like this?

How can this be possible!

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "While we were drawing up this animated short, a colleague of mine was present. She was extremely scared. She told me that she has a two-year-old at home, and asked how this would affect her child in the future. I wondered the same, so I went to ask Peking University's Professor Wang about it. I said, 'Old Wang, shouldn't we expose our children to the smog so that they start adapting to it? Isn't there a saying going around these days? Don't make your kids lose at the starting line.'"

This made many of them want to laugh out loud.

But a lot of the people in the audience could not bring themselves to laugh.

Zhang Ye spread his hands. "Professor Wang told me that there was simply no basis for a statement like this. For every day that you're exposed to smog, it will be a day of damage done to your body. There's no such thing as adapting to it! So I asked him, 'What should we do, what can we do? And what about children?' Professor Wang hesitated for a while before giving me a suggestion. He said that we could only reduce the number of times that we went out on smoggy days." Looking at the reporters in the audience, Zhang Ye laughed and said, "I thought about that and felt that it wasn't such a bad idea after all. At worst, we could just stay home during smoggy days. That would surely do, right?"

That's right.

Just reduce the number of times you go out.

The reporters listened carefully and thought about it as well.

However, Zhang Ye spoke again. "Later, I realized that I had overthought things. I contacted our country's Ministry of Environmental Protection and obtained some internal statistics."

What statistics?

The reporters were taken aback.

Without warning, another short video started playing on the big screen!

The music played. It was a background track that sounded very heavy as a time lapse of images flashed on screen. It was the PM2.5 readings of various medium to large cities!

Shijiazhuang:

Days with air pollution in the past year: 267 days

Tianjin:

Days with air pollution in the past year: 189 days

Shenyang:

Days with air pollution in the past year: 192 days

Taiyuan:

Days with air pollution in the past year: 184 days

Chengdu:

Days with air pollution in the past year: 107 days

One by one, astonishing numbers appeared before the crowd's eyes!

The reporters were all stunned. How was this possible? Had the smog already reached such a state? But why didn't they know about it? Why couldn't they feel it in their daily life?

In this world, the people had a very limited understanding of what smog was. They really did not know what it was!

Zhang Ye pointed at the screen and gave a wry smile, saying, "In many of the cities, the number of days per year that the air was polluted on a large scale was close to 50%, and in some places, more than 50%. Don't go outside? Unless we don't work, don't go to school, don't go to the market, and don't go shopping, how else can we avoid going outside? When I got ahold of this data, I found it quite perplexing and was also extremely surprised by it. Why? Because I did not understand why it was like this. Wasn't smog only a thing that came up in the past two years? So why did it seem like the entire country was suddenly shrouded in it overnight? Why didn't we have it in the past? Why didn't I know about it in the past?"

That's right!

There was no such thing as smog in the past!

Zhang Ye's words hit the bullseye. Everyone was thinking the same thing and could not understand it either. This smog seemed like it had suddenly dawned on them in the winter of two years past. There was no forewarning at all!

But Zhang Ye's next reveal made all the reporters at the venue gasp!

Zhang Ye said, "Professor Wang told me that the smog had always been around. But I said that was impossible. Was I blind or something? Why didn't I know about it before? Then, Professor Wang had me to go through some news articles from some years back."

On the big screen, an image from a newspaper was shown.

It was the front page news from ten years ago that appeared on the Beijing Times.

There was an airplane.

And heavy fog.

Zhang Ye said, "Professor Wang asked me, 'What do you see?' I said, 'Fog, right?' Professor Wang said, 'Have a look at the headlines of that day's news.'"

The image changed.

Some more words appeared over the top of that image. The news headlines was revealed!

"Massive delays at capital's airport due to fog!"

Fog?

It was fog?

The reporters were stunned. A chill originating from the bottom of their hearts spontaneously arose!

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "In fact, since ten years ago, or even earlier, smog had already existed. But it was not referred to as smog at that time, but called…fog!"

The reporters were horrified!

Even the staff of Department 14 could feel a chill in their hearts after hearing this. Actually, they were involved in the production of this documentary from the beginning and had conducted interviews at many places. They had created a lot of clips for the documentary and knew about all the things Zhang Ye was talking about. They already knew and understood the subject as they were the ones who'd handled it in the first place. But for some reason, when they saw Director Zhang standing onstage and relating the story, they still felt the same shock as the reporters. It was in truth even more shocking than when they first learned of all this knowledge!

This was Zhang Ye!

One of the top hosts in the domestic industry!

Organized, logical, controlled, appealing—he was just so good at all of it!

The Department 14 staff had full reason to believe that even if their original documentary were to be broadcast, the effects after the broadcast would definitely not be as good how Zhang Ye was currently giving his speech! This was on a completely different plane! This was an oration expected of one of the top hosts in the country!

It was extraordinarily charismatic!

"Lung cancer," Zhang Ye suddenly said. "These words can terrify anyone. I never expected something like this to happen to someone close to me." He smiled and said, "I've always thought that only us smokers got lung cancer. But one day, I realized that I had it all wrong. I have a female colleague who's a year younger than me. She's the joy of our office and treats everyone very well. She's also very motivated, and does not smoke, drink, or have any family history of the disease. However, she was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. I got very angry at that time and questioned the doctor, 'Why! What'd she do to deserve that! Do you know how old she is?' The doctor said to me, 'I can only tell you that the lung cancer was the result of an unknown cause. But I formed an opinion that it was due to the air pollution'!"

Huang Dandan's tears fell.

Ha Qiqi held one of Huang Dandan's hand in hers.

Little Wang held Huang Dandan's other hand and cried together with her.

Air pollution?

Lung cancer?

The reporters were once again shocked!

This information that Zhang Ye had thrown out wrecked their perception of smog knowledge!

Zhang Ye looked at them. "Therefore, I wanted to investigate this. I needed to understand where the smog came from! I wanted to find out who the responsible parties were!"

Coal!

Steel!

Pollution!

For the entire afternoon, without a script nor any assistance, Zhang Ye kept on talking about the subject.

...

Outside.

At a meeting room in Central TV.

The regular meeting had just ended and the heads gradually vacated the premises.

Oh right, is Department 14's press conference over yet?"

"Uh, I don't think so."

"It's still not over?"

"Uh-huh."

"It's already been over an hour!"

"I don't know."

"Why is it taking so long?"

...

At the venue.

A spinning Earth appeared on the screen.

Zhang Ye looked into the audience. "Thousands and thousands of babies are currently in their mothers' wombs or being birthed. These rivers, skies, and lands should belong to them. We have no right to consume without restraint. We have no right to grumble without restructuring. We have the responsibility to prove to them that a world illuminated by energy can be both clean and beautiful."

He faced the big screen.

Focused on that rotating Earth.

A smile hung on Zhang Ye's face. "Every time I see this planet spinning in the dark of space, I feel a nameless attachment and warmth. Someday in the future, I'll leave this world, but my family and children will still be living on it, so I'll still be involved. That's why I watch over it, just like I watch over you. That's why I protect it, just like I protect you."

The music faded out slowly.

Further and further out.

The press conference was over.

Everyone sat in their seats, unable to move!

Suddenly, Ha Qiqi started to clap with all her might!

Little Wang clapped!

Zhang Zuo clapped!

Tong Fu clapped as hard as he could!

In an instant, a round of applause broke out!

Every one of the reporters present at the venue stood up, feeling a sense of shock, confusion, and fear…and gave their most respectful applause to this never-before-seen press conference!

This was Zhang Ye!

This was Department 14's new documentary!