I'm Really a Superstar

The days passed.

The costumes were finished.

The props were made.

The stage was completed.

The set design was finished.

The hosts’ rehearsals concluded.

The acts were gradually perfected.

Everything was progressing smoothly and in an orderly manner. The first and second dress rehearsals were nearing, which meant that the Spring Festival Gala had entered the final countdown!

Zhang Ye was in a rather good mood. Seeing that everyone had been busy for so many days, he held a meeting with the organizing committee and had a discussion with them. In the end, they decided that the Spring Festival Gala’s production team and related staff would get two days off from work. They had to strike a balance between work and rest, and would prepare for the final sprint after they came back from the break!

Everyone went off for the two-day holiday.

Naturally, this included Zhang Ye as well.

…

Saturday.

Later that morning.

Today, his relatives were all gathered at Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.

The moment Zhang Ye arrived, he collapsed onto a bed and lay down. “None of you even dare think about snatching this bed from me. Aiyo, I’m so exhausted from these past two months, and I can finally get two days of rest.”

His grandma said with her heart aching for him, “They’re tiring out my grandson so badly.”

His grandpa said, “It must have been particularly difficult on you, right?”

“How is it just particularly difficult?” Zhang Ye corrected. “These are the darkest days ever!”

His third aunt said, “Mengmeng, get a glass of water for your brother.”

“Alright.” His third sister quickly went to get it for him.

His eldest younger sister went over and sat down to massage Zhang Ye’s shoulders. “You’ve worked so hard, Brother.”

Zhang Ye said in a pampered manner, “Look at this, it’s still my eldest and third sisters who are the most sensible.”

His second sister rolled her eyes. “Brother, aren’t you hurting me with your words?”

Zhang Ye laughed. “By the way, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, Mom, I probably won’t have much time after my break. I’ll be busy all the way until the first day of the Lunar New Year, so I won’t be spending the eve at home this year.”

His mother pursed her lips. “What do you mean by this year? Which year have you spent the eve at home with us?”

Zhang Ye broke out into a sweat.

Last year, he was busy with the Spring Festival Gala at Beijing Television.

The year before that, he had been taken to the police station where he got detained.

He really hadn’t spent Chinese New Year’s Eve at home over the past few years.

His grandma harrumphed. “Little Ye is busy doing great things out there, so where would he find the time to spend the New Year at home? Do you think that my grandson is as free as you every day?”

His mother was speechless.

“Little Ye, what good acts do you have lined up for this year’s Spring Festival Gala?”

“First Uncle, I have to keep that a secret.”

“Brother, just reveal a little bit, won’t you?”

“No, I can’t.”

“Do you have to keep it a secret from us?”

“I can’t tell anyone at all, so don’t ask me anymore. You’ll all know when you watch it on TV.”

Everyone continued chasing after him for answers anyway, as they were very concerned about the Spring Festival Gala. But Zhang Ye did not wish to speak about it. This fellow had been working so much on the Spring Festival Gala for the past two months. It was always about the gala from dawn til dusk, and even in his dreams. At the moment, just the mention of the words “Spring Festival Gala” was enough to make him shiver in fright. It wasn’t easy getting these two days of break from it, so he really wasn’t interested in talking about the subject.

Soon after, the elders went out into the living room to chat.

Only his three sisters were left in the room as they chattered on while browsing through their social media.

“It’s increased again!”

“There are already 2,000 votes.”

“Sis, you’re doing awesome.”

Zhang Ye clasped his hands behind his head while lying down. “What are you talking about?”

His eldest younger sister said somewhat embarrassed, “They’re voting for me.”

His second sister looked over. “Oh yes, Brother, have you voted for Sis yet?”

“What vote?” Zhang Ye did not understand.

The second sister said, “Didn’t you see the status that Sis posted in her Moments 1 ? The selection for this year’s ‘Most Beautiful School Belle’ has begun. Over a few hundred universities in the country are participating, and the competition is really intense. Our family members have all voted for Sis already. Even Sister-in-law has voted for her, so how can you not know about it?”

Zhang Ye exclaimed, “Do you think I have the time to check my social media? Even Old Wu has voted?”

His third sister rolled her eyes. “Only you have not voted yet.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll vote as well, hur hur.” Zhang Ye launched his social media app and scrolled up for a very long time until he saw his eldest younger sister’s post. It seemed like there really was a “Most Beautiful School Belle” selection going on. It was a competition to find the prettiest student from universities all over the country. The promotions for it were even quite intense, and many of the media outlets were following it as well.

He had a quick glance at the rankings.

First: Jin Ni

Votes: 280,000

Second: Wang Xiaohe

Votes: 260,000

Third: Chen Di

Votes: 250,000

Then, from fourth place onward, the votes were no longer that high. They only had several tens of thousands of votes, and it was obviously of a different magnitude as compared to the top three spots. The disparity between them was very obvious.

Zhang Ye blinked. “What rank is Dandan?”

His eldest younger sister coughed and said, “I’m at around 700th place.”

“Pfft, you’re that low?”

His third sister said, “Our sis has been utterly demolished.”

Cao Dan, his eldest younger sister, did not exactly look exceptionally beautiful. In fact, she was far from it. However, she was still quite beautiful. It could be summed up as a quiet-looking kind of beauty, and one would find her particularly pleasing to look at. Zhang Ye compared her with the photos of the current top three school belles. No matter how he looked at it, he thought that his sister was much more pleasing to the eye.

They managed to get over 200,000 votes?

While his own sister had only a little more than 2,000 votes?

Zhang Ye was still stuck in a traditional kind of mindset. He asked, “Do the candidates in the top spots have a lot of friends and relatives?”

His third sister was floored. “Who could possibly have over 200,000 relatives!”

“Oops, true that.”

His second sister harrumphed angrily. “Do you think that everyone is as honest as us? They bought all those votes with money! Someone exposed that the person in first place, that Jin Ni who’s from a film academy, has already signed a contract with an entertainment company. It was her company who helped her to get most of her votes so that she can become the most beautiful school belle. By spending a bit of money to raise her profile, this bit of investment can easily be recouped once she becomes famous. For the second and third place candidates, they’re from rich families and probably also bought their votes. Look at some of the comments on their profiles. They’re all scolding them for taking over accounts to vote for themselves. Basically, the people that they paid off to mass vote for them did not handle the matter properly and used stolen accounts to vote for them without the actual owner’s knowledge. Such behavior is so awful! What they’re doing is illegal!”

Zhang Ye exclaimed, “Whoa, it’s that shady? Has anyone complained yet?”

His second sister said, “Many of the stolen account owners have already complained, but to no avail.”

At this moment.

Someone knocked on the front door.

His eldest younger sister smiled and said, “That must be Sister-in-law.”

When they opened the door, it was indeed Wu Zeqing who had come.

“Zeqing, you’ve knocked off?”

“I had something to attend to this morning, so I went back to the office for a while. Otherwise, I would’ve come along with Little Ye.”

“Come in, quick.”

After greeting the elders, Wu Zeqing walked inside.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “You’re here?”

His second sister greeted, “Sister-in-law.”

His eldest younger sister greeted, “Hello, Sister-in-law.”

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, “Are the results for the ‘Most Beautiful School Belle’ out yet?”

His eldest younger sister smiled and blushed. “The poll is ending tonight, so the results aren’t out yet.”

“What’s your place right now?” Wu Zeqing asked.

His third sister came up and complained, “Sister-in-law, my elder sis is getting demolished. She’s ranked several hundred places from the front. Those people are awful. They’re all resorting to buying votes to win.”

Wu Zeqing smiled gently. “Why don’t you approach your brother for help?”

Zhang Ye shrugged. “I have so few friends. As though it’d help with her votes.”

His third sister pointed at him. “Look at him, sister-in-law. This brother of ours is so terrible.”

Wu Zeqing laughed.

His eldest young sister had a very good character. She tugged at her younger sister. “Aiya, there’s no need. I won’t be able to get a spot that would matter anyway. It’s already pretty good to place within the top several hundred candidates. I was just messing around when I decided to join the competition.”

His third sister said, “If you get a better placing, we would look good too!”

His second sister agreed, “That’s right, that’s right!”

Zhang Ye helplessly took out his cell phone and said, “Alright, I’ll help share the post. I don’t really have that many people in my friends list, and most of them are still busy with the Spring Festival Gala. They won’t have time to vote for sure.”

“#029121 is my younger sister; please vote for her.”

He finished editing the post.

Then shared it.

Zhang Ye said with a laugh, “All done.”

His eldest younger sister said, “Thanks, Brother. I’m not actually thinking of competing and was just doing this for fun. I shared my status randomly, but who could have guessed that these two girls would pick up on it.”

His second and third sisters giggled, “Heehee.”

Someone replied to the post that Zhang Ye had just shared.

Chen Guang: “That’s your sister?”

Zhang Ye read it and typed his reply: “Yes.”

Chen Guang: “I got it.”

Ci Xiufang also left him a message. “Which younger sister?”

Zhang Ye: “The eldest one.”

Ci Xiufang: “Dandan, right?”

Zhang Ye: “Yes.”

Ci Xiufang: “I’ve voted.”

Fan Wenli: “I’ve voted.”

Zhang Xia: “I’ve voted.”

Quite a few of his friends replied to his post.

Many of the celebrities who attended Zhang Ye’s wedding had seen Cao Dan too.

His third sister was refreshing the rankings. “Wow, Sis! Your votes have already gone up by more than forty.”

His second sister said, “It’s all to the credit of our brother’s influence.”

Zhang Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “It’s so few votes and you’re saying that I have a great influence? Whatever. It’s almost time to eat. I’ll let you all have a taste of your sister-in-law’s culinary skills today.”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Oh, you! Don’t praise me like that.”

Everyone was joking and laughing as they started preparing for lunch. No one gave another thought to the “Most Beautiful School Belle” selection.

Zhang Ye had only shared the post in his Moments, and no one other than his friends could see it. But unexpectedly, this post was about to kick off something huge!