I'm Really a Superstar

Under the focus of the entire country, Friday quietly arrived.

Early in the morning, a lot of the morning newspapers in the country started selling. With the constant coverage of Rise to the Dance and A Bite of China in the media for the entire week, when the day to decide the winner finally arrived, the discussions surrounding it reached its peak. Although this wasn't the only news happening in the entertainment industry, there was no doubt that this viewership ratings face-off was the main focus of the media and people. Whether it was the scandal of a certain female celebrity or a new movie by a certain movie star, they were all pushed to the back pages. This was because many people knew that they were on the verge of witnessing a historical moment.

On the streets.

There were pushcart newspaper vendors and pedestrians walking by.

"Morning Post! Morning Post!"

"Give me a copy!"

"OK."

"Rise to the Dance and A Bite of China are finally going to battle it out!"

"I've been waiting for an entire week now!"

"Who do you guys think will get the higher viewership rating?"

"Logically, it must be Rise to the Dance, right?"

"But anything that Zhang Ye does has always been very unpredictable."

"Right, that's why it's difficult to say anything about this."

"The newspapers and media have analyzed it so many times in the past few days, saying that the documentary's sustainability of interest won't be enough and definitely can't compete with a variety show. Reading all of that makes it all sound very reasonable, but I still have very high expectations of Teacher Zhang Ye. Previously, when A Bite of China had not yet started its broadcast, didn't everyone also think that it would not do well? Didn't everyone also look down on documentaries at that time? But look at what happened! Zhang Ye has already given everyone a face-smacking by tying for number 1 in the viewership ratings. So what if it's a documentary? Who says that a documentary cannot be number 1? The executive director is Zhang Ye!"

"I don't think so. I still think that Rise to the Dance will do better. It has all the elements of entertainment needed for a high sustainability of interest and lots of celebrities as well, so there's no reason that it will lose."

"It is critical that Central TV Department 1 is no longer underestimating them. A Bite of China caught Rise to the Dance off guard in the beginning, but still its viewership rating could just tie Rise to the Dance. If their first attack that came as a surprise could not help them surpass Rise to the Dance, then it will only be more difficult for them during later episodes."

"Yes, Rise to the Dance has a higher chance of winning."

"Get lost! I'm supporting Zhang Ye!"

"Me too! I prefer Zhang Ye too!"

This scene on the streets was just one of many similar situations playing out around the country. People were debating over two totally different genres of television shows that seemingly had nothing in common. This was what Zhang Ye represented—he and his works, together with the things he did, had always been extremely controversial in the Chinese entertainment industry!

...

Central TV Department 1 was bracing for the challenge.

Xu Yipeng was already in the office very early in the morning. Actually, he and many of the Rise to the Dance program team staff did not go home last night as they were working overtime in the office. Right now, Xu Yipeng was extremely tired, but his eyes were shimmering. Beside him, Chen Ye was also looking very excited and satisfied.

"Director Xu, we're finished with the editing!"

"Thank you everyone for your hard work!"

"This is our job."

"That's great!"

"The editing for this episode is definitely much better than the first episode!"

"Director Xu is mighty and Director Chen is brilliant!"

"Hu, we can finally rest. There won't be any hiccups this time around!"

"Right, we'll definitely beat them by ten blocks at least!"

"Haha, we won't give them any chance this time!"

The program team staff were all very confident. They were anticipating tonight's broadcast more and more!

...

At a television station.

In a variety show team's office.

"Make Little Li's scandal go viral!"

"Got it, Director."

"This episode's viewership rating will be very crucial, so everyone better buck up! We are also broadcasting at Friday's primetime slot and have achieved 1.1% of the viewership ratings before, so we have a part in this battle as well. It is unavoidable! If it were a large scale talent show like Rise to the Dance or a variety show helmed by Zhang Ye, we would not be competing with them! But as it stands, this is Zhang Ye's directorial debut in the documentary industry. If we let him crush our variety show with his documentary, how can we still face anyone after that?"

"Everything is ready!"

"Leader, we will definitely beat A Bite of China this time!"

...

At another television station.

In an entertainment program team's office.

"Director Sun, are we really going to compete with those two crazy programs?"

"Our program broadcasts at Friday's 8 PM time slot. Even if we don't want to compete, we have no choice!"

"But Rise to the Dance…"

"We're not going to compete with Central TV Department 1's show. Our opponent this time is A Bite of China. Their first episode has achieved success with an original idea and had caught everyone off guard. Now that everyone has recalled how capable Zhang Ye is and know how good A Bite of China is, they won't be able to surprise us again. A documentary can't sustain its momentum, so the viewership share will definitely be taken by Rise to the Dance this time. As long as we can ensure that we can surpass A Bite of China, it's good enough. After all, we have always been one of the top 3 highest viewership rated shows for the Friday primetime slot!"

"Let's just see how much of A Bite of China's viewership rating can be taken away from them!"

"As long as A Bite of China's viewership rating falls below 0.9%, then we have hope!"

...

The entire industry and peers had directed all their attention to A Bite of China. This was because, as a documentary, A Bite of China had dealt a blow to many variety shows' pride and dignity. It left those shows with a slight chance of competing, with no choice but to accept the challenge. Even those shows with low viewership ratings that didn't have the ability to compete, some of their program teams turned to cheering for Rise to the Dance or other variety shows instead. They hoped that Rise to the Dance could hoist the flag and raise the pride of variety shows. No matter what, they must never lose to a documentary!

However, in such a tense and highly anticipated atmosphere, Zhang Ye, who was at the center of the controversy and should logically be battling at the frontlines, did not appear at all in Central TV Department 14 today.

In the program team office of A Bite of China.

It was already past 10 AM in the morning.

Ha Qiqi said stunned,"Where is Director Zhang?"

Zhang Zuo wiped his sweat away and said,"I don't know. I didn't see him around."

Little Wang exclaimed,"Could he be in the editing studio? I heard that the Rise to the Dance program team are re-editing and have made several rounds of changes while trying to polish up their second episode. Did Director Zhang come back to the office in the wee hours to do the same too?"

Tong Fu went over to the editing studio but did not find anyone there.

Then, at around 10.30 AM, they received a text message from Zhang Ye. The content of the message left everyone in the program team, including Yan Tianfei's secretary who happened to be at the Section 3 workspace, at a loss. Zhang Ye's message said:"I woke up late, so I won't be going to the office today. I will apply for time off today since there's nothing much going on anyway."

Time off?

Nothing much going on?

Huang Dandan said,"Director Zhang is way too calm!"

"It's such a crucial day today. I heard that half of the Rise to the Dance program team are putting in overtime last night and did not go home at all. Meanwhile, Director Zhang…" Wu Yi was at a loss for words.

Zhang Zuo gave a wry smile as he shook his head."When has our Director Zhang ever done things predictably?"

Ha Qiqi remained silent for a moment, then said,"Actually, what Director Zhang said is true. There is…indeed nothing much to do."

The documentary's filming was finished long ago.

The editing of the broadcast footage had long since been completed as well.

The promotions were all in place.

So what else was there left to do?

They were simply vexed by the tinge of anxiety and worry in their minds, making them feel that they'd be more at ease if they were back at the office keeping tabs of things on this important day.

...

Zhang Ye was not behaving differently today from his usual self. When everyone else thought that he ought to be back at Department 14 to take charge of the important things, Zhang Ye was actually sleeping in at home. After he woke up, he behaved just like any other employee would. Being too embarrassed to call back to inform the office, he sent a text message to apply for time off instead before going back to sleep again. Afterwards, when he finally got up, he looked at his watch and got changed before leaving to attend a gathering.

He had a lunch date at noon with his old colleagues from Beijing Television.

"Little Zhang!" At a restaurant not far from Beijing Television, Hu Fei noticed Zhang Ye's car pulling in from a distance away. He walked together with Hou Ge, Hou Di, and the others following behind him toward Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye got out of his car."Brother Hu."

Hou Ge gave him a bear hug."Teacher Zhang, long time no see!"

"Hou Ge, you've put on weight." Zhang Ye also hugged him back.

Dafei came up to give Zhang Ye a bear hug as well."Teacher Zhang, you're getting more handsome and looking more spirited than ever before!"

Zhang Ye chuckled,"Why are you praising me so much? Are you hinting that I treat you to a meal?"

Dong Shanshan, probably held up by some work, arrived a little later. When she made her way here, she overheard Zhang Ye's words, then laughed and said,"It was supposed to be your treat anyway."

Seeing Dong Shanshan's sexy look, Zhang Ye waved at her."Hi, old classmate. I haven't seen you in just a few months, but you've become even more beautiful now."

Dong Shanshan nodded solemnly."Yes, I know that."

Zhang Ye was tickled."You really aren't humble."

Hu Fei laughed loudly."Let's go. I've already booked a private room. Let's go in quickly so that you can share with us how confident you are for A Bite of China's broadcast tonight."

Zhang Ye waved it off and replied,"How confident can I be? All the filming is already complete and we have already done all that we could. The only thing left now is just to show the documentary to the audience, but I don't have any target or expectations for that anyway."

Xiao Lu giggled."Teacher Zhang, come on. We've worked with you for such a long time, how could we not know how you are?"

Zhang Ye threw up his hands and said with a smile,"I won't hide it from you guys, but I'm really just leaving it all up to fate now."

...

At night.

Along with the heated discussions and anticipation, Rise to the Dance and A Bite of China were once again going to be broadcast at the same time slot!