I'm Really a Superstar

The morning phone call had empowered Zhang Ye with energy. After he washed up, he left home. Today, he was again the first to reach the unit. After he retrieved the keys from the door keeper’s room, he rushed straight to the recording studios.

He wanted to record programs.

And he intended to record a few episodes.

After squeezing in some xiaolongbao, which he bought from the streets, into his stomach, Zhang Ye began to narrate “The Wizard of Oz” as he ate. He wanted to organize the plot. For example, the ending part of each chapter and the crucial plot’s position. He was not changing the text or the plot, nor could Zhang Ye change it. He would not change anything about the story, but he could arrange where he would end the segment every day. He did not follow the exact chapter format of “The Wizard of Oz” to the tee. For example, he was ending the program today at a part that made people anticipate. With people’s anticipation hooked, the listenership rating tomorrow could be slightly higher. These were all strategic methods.

Why did he go through all this trouble?

It was because Zhang Ye was trying to pull up his listenership ratings!

His current “Old and Young Story Club” listenership ratings were approximately 2.4% or so. It was second in the Literature Channel. If it went any higher, then he could break a few records. That would be extremely helpful for him in winning a Silver Microphone Award. Then, it would be quite certain that he could win the prize.

“Chapter 9: The Queen of the Field Mice.”

“‘We cannot be far from the road of yellow brick, now.’ remarked the Scarecrow, as he stood beside the girl, ‘for we have come nearly as far as the river carried us away.’ The Tin Woodsman was about to reply, when he heard a low growl. Turning his head, he saw a strange beast come bounding over the grass towards them.”

…

9:30 A.M.

His colleagues had already begun work for half an hour.

Zhao Guozhou’s image had changed today. He had permed his hair. He held out the ratings table as usual, “Stop the things that you are doing for a moment. Is everyone here?”

Tian Bin looked towards an empty seat, “Zhang Ye isn’t here.”

Zhao Guozhou frowned, “He isn’t here yet? What time is it already?”

Big Sis Zhou spoke out for Zhang Ye, “Little Zhang must have been too tired over the past few days, so he’s a bit late. I’ll give him a call.” She took out her cellphone and gave a call, but Zhang Ye’s cellphone was switched off.

Jia Yan tried to instigate matters, “He’s not picking up?”

Big Sis Zhou stared at him, “His phone is switched off; maybe he’s still sleeping.”

Wu Datao seethed, “Isn’t this not treating work seriously? He decides not to come on a whim? He has become arrogant just with this bit of results? Does he even have the Leader in his eyes?”

With this fault to pick on, a few colleagues who had extremely poor relations with Zhang Ye began to fan the flames. Their tones made it even worse.

Suddenly, Zhang Ye came in from outside. Hearing everyone say his name, he asked strangely, “Director, are you looking for me?” He was still unsure of what had happened.

Zhao Guozhou looked at him, “Why are you so late?”

Zhang Ye was puzzled, “No, I’m not late. I reached here at 7+ in the morning.” He shook the bunch of keys in his hand, “I got the keys from the door keeper’s room, and was in the recording studio, recording my program. I wanted to record a few more episodes today, so I came in earlier, so as to not need to line up to wait for the recording studio.”

What?

You came in at 7?

He had been working and recording all this time?

Tian Bin, Jia Yan and Wu Datao’s faces turned ugly.

Big Sis Zhou laughed and mocked at Tian Bin and company. She again stood up for Zhang Ye, “I was wondering why Teacher Little Zhang’s cellphone was switched off; so he was recording programs.”

Zhao Guozhou glanced at Jia Yan and company from the corner of his eyes before finally patting Zhang Ye on the shoulder in a satisfied manner. He smiled. “Very good. However, you must make sure to rest. Don’t work too hard.”

“Thank you, Director; I will.” Zhang Ye said.

“Go back to your seat. I’ll announce the results.” Zhao Guozhou said warmly.

Noting that Director Zhao’s attitude towards Zhang Ye was changing, Tian Bin’s heart began to quiver. He suddenly felt a sense of danger. “Late-night Ghost Stories” had just been returned to his hands. “Ghost Blows Out the Light” was not done broadcasting, and it would be some time before Tian Bin managed to really take up the job. However, with the way things were going, why did he feel a sense of danger? Could Zhang Ye steal the anchor position of “Late-night Ghost Stories” once again?

Zhao Guozhou began announcing the listenership ratings.

“First place. ‘Talk About the World’, listenership 3.69%

“Second place, ‘Old and Young Story Club’, listenership… 2.98%!”

“Third place, ‘Late-night Ghost Stories’, listenership rating… 1.97%!”

With the top three announced, everyone was already speechless and unsure about what to do. Some people even let out audible heavy breaths!

This was too fierce!

Was this something that no one could stop?

Even “Late-night Ghost Stories” had gone up as well! It had gained third place!

Ever since Zhang Ye had a new segment, the first episode of “The Wizard of Oz” had replaced “Entertainment Daily”‘s second placing. “Late-night Ghost Stories”, which was always third in place then got pushed back to become fourth. However, now, with Wu Datao and his partners frequently having errors in his program, “Entertainment Daily”‘s listenership ratings have begun to drop off. Even “Late-night Ghost Stories” had surpassed this news-related segment, and had even reached a shocking 1.97% listenership rating. Ignoring their Literature Channel, even in the Central Broadcasting Radio Station, or even in all the radio station channels in the country, there were no late-night segments with such a f***ing ridiculous listenership rating! This…This was about to break 2%?

F***!

Was this still a late-night segment?

Even prime-time segments were not so fierce!

Only those colleagues who had been steadfastly listening to “Late-night Ghost Stories” were not surprised. This was because they knew that “Ghost Blows Out the Light” had ended a particular arc a few days ago and had begun to lay a foundation for a new story. During these few days, it was in a thrilling climax and was especially interesting or even very scary. This naturally pulled up the listenership ratings, resulting in another small outbreak. So it was no wonder that it could exceed “Entertainment Daily”.

Actually, what shocked everyone the most was the listenership ratings for “Old and Young Story Club”!

The first episode was 2.49%

The second episode was 2.45%

The third episode was 2.51%

There was supposed to be the fourth episode being broadcast the day before yesterday, but it was cancelled due to the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet, so there was no listenership rating for that day. The real fourth episode had been shifted to yesterday, which was also the listenership rating that was announced today!

2.98%!

This growth was too defiant of the Heavens!

This was almost like making rockets! It was flying up in such a short period of time!

How can that be? Their channel had never had such a jump between listenership ratings before! They acknowledged that Zhang Ye’s new story, “The Wizard of Oz”, was indeed very fascinating; however, even the best segment and story needed a gradual process of improvement. It could not have such a jump without any signs, right? Eh, that’s not right! Who said that there were no signs? Many people realized after giving it some thought! It was the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet! It was winning first place with “Shuidiao Getou” that allowed Zhang Ye’s fame to greatly increase! The live broadcast of the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet happened to be the time slot for Zhang Ye’s program. And from various factors like this were “Old and Young Story Club” and even “Late-night Ghost Stories” brought to such an amazing height!

This was 2.98%!

It was going to break three soon?

In the history of the Literature Channel, only three programs had broken the 3% rating barrier. One of them was “Criticizing Books”, and another was “Daily Jokes”. These two segments had a historical reason for breaking 3%. Back then, television was still not universal, and radio broadcasting was the main avenue. Later on, with television and the internet becoming prevalent, “Criticizing Books” was axed six to seven years ago, due to poor ratings. “Daily Jokes” had now changed into a witty skit segment. It could be said to have ceased to exist. Today, the only program in history that still managed to break 3% in the Literature Channel was Wang Xiaomei’s “Talk About the World”!

But now, another one was about to appear!

What sort of glory was this? It was about to enter the Beijing Radio Station’s annals soon!

And it was highly possible for “Late-night Ghost Stories” to break a record, too! No, actually it should be said that ever since “Late-night Ghost Stories” was in Zhang Ye’s hands, it was making new records every day. It had created a history and miracle for late-night midnight segments! And this miracle was about to usher in a new peak!

Breaking 2%!

If “Ghost Blows Out the Light”‘s rating could break 2%, this was not just creating history in the Beijing Radio Station, but history for the entire country’s late-night segments on radio!

A newcomer!

Two segments!

They had all reached a peak at this moment!

Zhang Ye’s results had made everyone envious; however, Zhang Ye was clearly not satisfied. It could even be said that he was far from satisfied!

He wanted to get the Silver Microphone Award!

He could not stop in his footsteps; he needed to climb even higher. He could still go further!