I'm Really a Superstar

At Beijing Television.

Behind the closed doors of the rehearsal room.

Guitar strums…

Bass strumming…

A song's melody repeated over and over.

Except there was no singing!

That was because Zhang Ye was no longer able to sing. The condition of his voice had gotten so serious that he had almost lost his voice, though he could still speak. But when he sang, half of his vocalization could not be heard at all! Even so, he still hummed along and tried his best to coordinate with the band.

They finished rehearsing the first song.

Then followed up with rehearsing the second song.

After two hours, the band members and program team staff felt sorry for the sight of the man wearing a clown mask standing onstage who looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.

Bai Yuanfei couldn't bear it anymore. "Alright, that'll do!"

However, Zhang Ye said, "Ba-and, let's do it one more time…."

Bai Yuanfei was fretting over him. "You're already in this state, so don't push yourself! Go to the hospital!"

Zhang Ye waved it off. "I'm fine. Let's try…again." He even got down from the stage to discuss things with the band's guitarist. He pointed out some issues. "I…want…cough…cough…guitar here….I don't want other…instruments." Then he pointed to another part and said with much difficulty, "I will sing…a capella here."

The guitarist hurriedly said, "I got it, I got it. Please…please don't speak anymore!"

Zhang Ye nodded. "Let's do it one…more time. Sorry for the trouble."

Once.

Twice.

And yet again.

This had always been Zhang Ye's way. He set very high standards for himself and would never allow any shortcomings in his pursuit of the arts. Even in his current poor health, he still had to carry on to the best of his ability.

Bluff his way through?

Make do?

Not pushing himself to the limit?

That was not his style!

Han Qi, who was seated in the audience, unwittingly started to tear up.

The rehearsal ended.

Han Qi quickly rushed onstage to help The Clown down and quickly returned to the waiting room. "The station called for a doctor, who's arrived!"

Zhang Ye nodded. "Thank…you."

Her heart aching, Han Qi said, "Please…please don't speak anymore."

Right after they left, Hu Fei arrived with a group of people!

Hu Fei said in worry, "How was it?"

Bai Yuanfei forced a smile and said, "We're done rehearsing."

The guitarist looked very touched. "I've never come across person as hardworking as him! The healthy competitors only rehearsed two songs seven or eight times yesterday, but he rehearsed two songs 23 times despite being sick! I've really never seen a person like him before! He's really risking his life that way!"

Hou Ge asked, "Can he sing? Will he be able to go onstage?"

Dafei said anxiously, "We're going to start recording very soon!"

Bai Yuanfei pondered for a moment. "Don't worry. He can definitely take the stage. Even if the sky falls, with the type of person he is, he'll remain standing onstage to finish singing before collapsing!"

...

Besides The Clown, the other five singers scheduled for the first round were ready to go.

In the waiting room of Sunset Glow.

Sunset Glow asked, "How's The Clown doing?"

Her liaison sighed and replied, "I heard that he just finished rehearsing, but that he just couldn't make a sound."

"That's such a shame."

Her liaison said, "Yeah, he'll definitely get eliminated."

...

In the waiting room of Petal Shower.

Her liaison asked, "Teacher, how do you feel?"

"I'm feeling great," Petal Shower smiled. "I can't wait to start."

Her liaison said, "That's great then. We'll crush the other singers for sure this time!"

Petal Shower suddenly asked, "I heard that one of the masked singers has fallen sick?"

Her liaison acknowledged, "That's right. It's so serious that he's having difficulty vocalizing. The rules state that two people will get eliminated in each round, so he'll definitely be one of the two today. He might not even be able to finish performing his first song, much less the second."

The other competitors had also heard about The Clown's health and felt that it was unfortunate. Even though they found the songs the man had sung a bit weird, his singing was still very strong. There was no one else who could sing better than him in bel canto. Ordinarily, he would be a very formidable competitor. But now that he had lost his voice after coming down with a serious cold, it was obvious that it would be a fatal blow to him. Whether or not The Clown would be going onstage to perform, his chance at moving on to the next round was as good as gone!

...

In the infirmary.

Zhang Ye was waiting here.

Han Qi said anxiously, "Doctor, please take a look at him, please!"

Zhang Ye was sweating profusely and beads of sweat were trickling down his forehead. No one could see his face underneath the mask, but it was obvious that he did not look good!

The doctor frowned as he made his way over. "Open your mouth."

Zhang Ye did as he was told.

"Say ah."

"Ah."

"Push your tongue down."

The doctor took out a thermometer and placed it into Zhang Ye's mouth. Then he wore his stethoscope and moved the chestpiece around Zhang Ye's chest. At this moment, the thermometer beeped to signify it was done taking his temperature. The doctor retrieved it from his mouth to check.

A fever of 40 degrees!

The doctor looked alarmed!

Han Qi paled a bit as well!

Hu Fei and some others on the program team pushed the infirmary door open and came over. Even Dong Shanshan, who had just finished doing her makeup, rushed over in a hurry when she heard about the emergency over here.

Dong Shanshan asked, "How is he?"

"Doctor," Hu Fei asked, "is he going to be alright?"

WIthout a second thought, the doctor suggested, "Get a substitute. It's impossible for him to go onstage in this state!"

Hu Fei gasped. "How serious is it?"

The doctor showed the thermometer at them. "He has a fever of 40 degrees, a severe viral cold, inflammation of the tonsils, and even has pneumonia symptoms. What say you?"

"What?"

"It's this serious?"

"This…"

"Then he really isn't going to be OK!"

The doctor looked at Zhang Ye and commanded, "The ambulance is just outside. You must immediately follow me to the hospital to get treatment. Don't even think of taking the stage. That is impossible!"

Zhang Ye shook his head and said, "There's nothing wrong…with me!"

The doctor said furiously, "You're in that state and you still say that there's nothing wrong with you? Anyone else who has a fever as bad as yours wouldn't even be able to get out the bed, yet you can still get here for the rehearsal? You even managed to rehearse for over two hours? You don't want to live anymore, do you?"

Only now did everyone realize the shape The Clown was in when rehearsing just now!

They heard a determined voice come from behind the clown mask. "I'm fine."

The doctor said angrily, "Follow me to the hospital right away!"

Hu Fei also knew that this couldn't continue, so he promptly said, "Teacher Clown, you—"

"I can go on. You don't have to say…more," interrupted Zhang Ye.

The doctor lost his temper and shouted, "You can't even stand straight right now! And you have nearly lost your voice! Go onstage? What stage!"

Zhang Ye looked at him. "Give me…a cortisone shot!"

The doctor said, "An injection probably won't improve your health!"

Zhang Ye said weakly, "Give me…shot!"

He was frequently losing his voice when speaking now. As a result, there were some words that didn't even come out. It made his speech sound a bit broken, Although, everyone still understood what he was trying to say!

"Teacher Clown!"

"You…"

Zhang Ye waved his hands to stop them from talking!

The doctor gazed into Zhang Ye's eyes. "Are you sure?"

Zhang Ye nodded. "Do it!"

The doctor had no other choice. "Let me tell you this first. As you're in grave condition, if you are injected with corticosteroids, the damage and side effects will be much greater than on others!"

Zhang Ye said a single word, "Understood!"

The doctor grit his teeth. "Alright!" He then turned around. "Don't crowd around in here. Everyone, please go outside."

Hu Fei and the others hesitated, wanting to speak, but eventually left the room.

However, Han Qi did not depart. She stayed behind with Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye loosened his collar some and exposed his neck.

The doctor prepped the medicine and adjusted the dosage.

Han Qi stood right next to him, biting her lip, not saying a word.

Five minutes later.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to inject you now."

"OK."

The doctor pinched Zhang Ye's neck and soon started injecting the shot with care.

Zhang Ye's eyelids twitched as he felt a sudden gush of intense pain. He was the type who was most afraid of going to the hospital. Ever since childhood, he would look scared whenever someone brought up "the hospital." As such, he would self-medicate at home whenever he was sick. But this time, he couldn't do that. He needed to have a voice to sing!

After the injection was administered.

The doctor helped massage his muscles.

Awhile later, the doctor asked, "Try to make a sound, please."

Zhang Ye attempted to sing a line. "Land…as pretty as…a picture…"

His voice was still not back!

The doctor shook his head. "It didn't work."

Han Qi hurriedly said, "Forget it, Teacher, just forget it!"

But Zhang Ye put forth, "It's slightly…better! Give me another shot!"

The doctor said angrily, "You think this is an IV drip? We're talking about injecting you with steroids here! Do you know what side effects this could cause? Just one shot is enough to make you suffer!"

"Shoot me up again!" Zhang Ye yelled.

The doctor clenched his teeth. "It's none of my business if something happens to you!"

Zhang Ye said, "Do it!"

A second injection was administered to him!

This injection was even more painful than the previous one. Zhang Ye's hands were even trembling. The pain did not come from being pinched, but rather spread from his throat to his chest!

The injection was done.

Zhang Ye was sweating even more profusely. After he rested for a while to let the steroids take effect, he tried to sing again, "Land as pretty as a…picture!"

It was much better!

But still not enough!

He couldn't hit the higher registers!

Zhang Ye closed his eyes. "Another!"

Han Qi immediately deterred, "No! You absolutely must not!"

Zhang Ye looked tranquil. "Again!"

Han Qi shouted, "Teacher!"

Zhang Ye yelled without any explanation, "Do it!"

The doctor did not argue this time. In silence, he looked at the man in the clown mask, turned around, and picked up the syringe.

Han Qi could not watch any longer. She turned around and ran out after opening the door. Hu Fei had already gone back to the stage to oversee things, but quite a few of the others had remained outside the infirmary.

Hou Ge, Xiao Lu, Dafei, and the others were all waiting there.

"How are things?"

"Can he sing?"

"What're things like, Little Han?"

Han Qi didn't utter a word. She just squatted down and started crying!

"Little Han!"

"You…"

Everyone looked each other in the eye and suddenly felt their hearts grow heavy!

A short while later, the doctor pushed open the infirmary door and came out.

Everyone gathered around him in haste!

"Doctor!"

"Is he better?"

"How is Teacher Clown?"

The doctor scanned the group and proclaimed, "If something happens to him in the future, don't call me! I've treated a lot of celebrities before, as well as given them cortisone shots, but this is the first time in my entire life that I've encountered a madman who's not afraid to die! Just what kind of person has your program team invited this time?"