I'm Really a Superstar

That night.

Zhang Ye was laying down on the balcony outside the studio and stargazing. He poured himself a glass of red wine. There was a cool light breeze blowing. Eh, but there were just too many mosquitoes.

With a team of his own now, Zhang Ye no longer had to worry about how a lot of things were run. He felt relaxed and at ease now, but had one small regret—he had spent too much! The rental, the renovations, the equipment, the utilities, and the payroll, Zhang Ye had to pay for all that out of his own pocket. With such a large family to support now, he would surely have to improve further from here. He could only bring everyone together and slowly move forward now!

What should he do next?

After resting for so many days, it was time to start work again!

The window opened and Chenchen's head popped out. "Zhang Ye, I'm going to bed."

"Go on then," Zhang Ye said.

"Tell me a bedtime story," Chenchen said.

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. "Go, go, go get Yang Shu to tell one to you."

Chenchen pouted. "Zhang Ye, you're so lazy." Then she turned around and went off.

Ha Qiqi also poked her head out and said with a bitter smile, "Director Zhang, why are you still lying around? We're almost dying from being so busy."

Zhang Ye sat up. "Hey, I thought that you all had already knocked off. What are you guys still doing here?"

Ha Qiqi said, "Our studio has just opened for business, so there are a lot of people trying to contact us. They're looking for you to collab on movies, TV series, or are trying to ask you for a song, or accept some commercial appearances. We received so many calls that we lost count. But so far, there has been nothing that caught our eye. There was an offer to play the second male lead with a pay of 10 million RMB, but we're totally uninterested in that."

Zhang Zuo also stuck his head out the window. "Director Zhang, at least give us some direction. Just what kind of projects are you looking to work on?"

Zhang Ye said, "A big project."

"What would you call a big project?" Zhang Zuo questioned.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "The bigger the better, of course!"

At his level, he could already be considered one of the top few celebrities in the country. Although he still couldn't compare to those Heavenly Kings and Queens, he was at the level where he could choose which projects he wanted to take. In the industry, there were those who picked their jobs based on the amount of money offered and would work for whomever paid them more. Then, there were those who picked their jobs based on relationships. If they had a good relationship with the crew, they'd help out over there. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye mainly based his decisions on whatever would bring him more popularity. Whichever project was bigger, whichever one that would allow him to gain more popularity, he would definitely prefer those over the others.

Suddenly, he heard Little Wang shouting, "Director Zhang! Director Zhang!"

Ha Qiqi was startled. "What's the matter? What is it?"

Little Wang came running over. "There's a big project! It's a huge project!"

Zhang Ye said, feeling rather interested, "Do tell."

Little Wang panted, "Someone has asked you for a song!"

Zhang Ye immediately lost interest. He shrugged and said, "Didn't I say that I don't casually write songs for others unless I have a really good relationship with them?"

Little Wang said anxiously, "This one's different!"

Ha Qiqi looked at her. "How much are they offering?"

Little Wang said, "I don't think they're paying anything."

Zhang Zuo didn't know how to react. "They're not paying and want Director Zhang to write them a free song? Do you know how much one song of Director Zhang's can fetch? Even if it were Sister Zhang, she wouldn't ask Director Zhang to write her a song for free!"

However, Little Wang's next words shocked everyone!

Little Wang said loudly, "It's the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games 1 that is asking for the song! It's for the Olympic theme song! They said that it would be used during the opening ceremony of the Olympics!"

"What?"

"What did you just say?"

"The Olympic theme song?"

"Holy shit!"

"That's really a big project, fucking hell!"

"Aiyo, did they really approach us?"

Little Wang said, "Yes, really!"

Everyone became very excited!

It was for the Olympics!

It was for the Olympics that was held once every four years!

The Olympics that would be broadcast live all over the world!

Wu Yi said loudly, "Director Zhang, you must take this job! Even if they aren't paying, you must take the job! This will greatly affect your popularity!"

Ha Qiqi said excitedly, "It's going to add very good credentials to your résumé! If you take this project, you won't have to worry for the rest of your life! I could never have expected that we would be approached with such a huge project so soon after our opening! How many people are competing to get on the Olympic opening ceremony, and still, they wouldn't get a chance at something like that!"

Zhang Ye narrowed his eyes. He hadn't expected that the Organizing Committee would come looking for him. He raised some doubts about the offer. "We're slightly less than two weeks away from the opening ceremony of the Olympics, aren't we? Hadn't everything already been planned long ago for the opening ceremony? They can't possibly be starting to prepare for it at the last minute. How many years ago was it since they won the Olympic bid? How can they possibly be thrown off balance in their planning at a time like this?"

Zhang Zuo was startled. "Yeah, the rehearsals are already about to begin."

Little Wang said, "I don't know about that. I, I didn't ask."

Zhang Ye asked again, "Did they only mention that they wanted me to write a song?"

"Yes," Little Wang replied.

Zhang Ye said, "They didn't mention anything about me singing it?"

Little Wang said, "I…don't think they did."

Zhang Ye nodded. "Are you sure that the call was from the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games?"

"I've already verified it with them. The caller was the head of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games," Little Wang said.

Zhang Ye said, "Alright, then let them know that since this is not a small matter, I will need some time to consider it."

Little Wang was dumbfounded. "Consider?"

Wu Yi nearly fainted. "You still need to consider for an offer like that?"

"Director Zhang, this is too good an opportunity to be missed!" Zhang Zuo was also nearly driven mad. "This is the Olympics we're talking about! The opening theme song for the Olympics! What is there still left to consider? If you miss this chance, it would really be a big loss. Our country is probably only able to host one Olympic Games in the near future. This is the only chance where we can showcase ourselves to the entire world! Aiyo, just…just what are you thinking?"

But Zhang Ye said, "Little Wang, just tell them that."

"OK." Little Wang could only helplessly obey the orders. She left to make the call.

Then, Zhang Ye said to everyone, "It's not that I don't wish to take on the project. For a huge project like this, even if I have to suffer a big loss, I would still take it on. But think about it for a moment. It doesn't mean that I would get to sing the song even if I wrote it. If I were to promise them so quickly, then when I finish writing the song for them and don't get to sing it during the opening ceremony, who will I go to for answers?"

Zhang Zuo analyzed, "Surely not, right? Since they came looking for you, that would mean that they want you to sing it too, isn't that so?"

Zhang Ye waved his hands and said, "There's nothing impossible about that. After being in the industry for so long and coming across all kinds of people, you can see from the news that I have always been getting into fights over such incidents. How many people have I scolded? For things like this, I am more experienced than any of you. We can't make any promises in a hurry, so just drag it out a little for now. I believe that something has cropped up over on their side, so they needed to change the song at the last minute. Otherwise, based on my relationship with those from the sports world, do you think they would lower their heads and come to me for help? There's definitely something going on here."

Ha Qiqi was convinced. "Director Zhang has a valid point there."

Wu Yi said anxiously, "But what if…"

Zhang Zuo said, "Yeah, don't let the opportunity slip away!"

Zhang Ye said calmly, "Just wait a little and see how it goes. If it's really ours, this chance will never get away. But coming back to the point, if there's really no song to be sung at the Olympics, even if they don't want me to sing it, I would still write one for them. This is a matter of national affairs, and this bro is not such a narrow-minded person. It wasn't easy for China to organize an Olympic Games. The next time it happens again would probably be decades to a century later. We can't allow it to fail in the hands of our generation."

He would still fight for what was needed!

He still had to do what was necessary!

This had always been how Zhang Ye handled things!

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright, it's time to knock off. Everyone has worked hard today."

After everyone left, Zhang Ye stayed around. He laid down outside on the balcony and flipped on a colored lamp. Then he picked up a score and twisted the felt-tip pen in his hand before writing down a few words.

" You and Me 2 ".

Eid Mubarak, everyone!

& all the best to your World Cup teams!

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Organizing_Committee_for_the_Olympic_Games

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_and_Me_(Olympic_theme_song)