I'm Really a Superstar

The applause lasted for more than ten seconds!

Everyone was still clapping like there was no way to stop!

This scene, where the audience gave such a passionate response, surprised Yao Jiancai. He found it unexpected. Were they f**king giving this applause to us?

Previously, when he matched lines with Zhang Ye, they had only picked a few lines to practice. The both of them did not have the time to do any systematic practice. Actually, Yao Jiancai did not have a good idea of "I am a Scholar". Some of the joke segments were added on by Zhang Ye in an impromptu fashion. The work was produced by Zhang Ye from beginning to end. Yao Jiancai was just going along with it. He felt that the crosstalk wouldn't be bad, and that the jokes were fresh, but he never expected the response from the audience to be this passionate!

"Alright!"

"The both of you are the absolute best!"

"Teacher Zhang!"

"Teacher Yao!"

What a great feeling!

So exhilarating!

Yao Jiancai felt excited too. In the past, he never had this sort of excitement when he did crosstalk. As he was in an artistic group in the past, he would follow the group to do shows for elderly folks. If not, it would be a performances in the rural villages or at some random school. They were all small stages and the performance fees were not a lot. There were no tickets either and he just received a fixed salary. His performance at crosstalk with his previous partner was average too, so naturally he did not enjoy much popularity. The audience's reaction wasn't good either, which made him lose his confidence. Hence, he had abandoned crosstalk, and embarked down the path of acting. This had always been a regret in his heart.

But today, Yao Jiancai had once again found the excitement and confidence he once felt when he stood on stage for the first time, doing his first crosstalk performance more than a decade ago!

F**k, so I can actually do so well!

So there were so many people who liked listening to my crosstalk!

Yao Jiancai found it difficult to find himself as he clasped his hands and said, "Thank you, thank you everyone."

Zhang Ye also smiled and thanked the audience. He was pleased with the audience's reaction. It also indicated that he had made the correct bet. It showed that the crosstalk works that led years ahead of this world would still work even in this world! This was one of the most mature works of Guo Degang in a small theater, "Scholar". The main subject was this, but Zhang Ye had added a few things in, and changed bits of it. For example, the joke about "Biting Materials" came from Zhang Ye's own wisdom.

"I can't wait to ask this question." The female judge did not sit down and instead, stayed standing as she picked up her microphone.

The moment she spoke, the applause from the audience began to slowly die down.

The female judge said, "I want to know who produced this work?"

Yao Jiancai chuckled. "Do you think I have that sort of literary talent?"

The female judge looked at Zhang Ye, "It was all created by Teacher Little Zhang?"

Yao Jiancai patted Zhang Ye on the shoulder. "Idea, theme, packaging, and pacing were all done by my old brother here in a single night."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "It's mainly thanks to Teacher Yao being able to carry me well."

Yao Jiancai said, "Haha, it is also partly that."

Zhang Ye said, "We have an agreement that it's 30% of the main character, and 70% the fall-guy."

Yao Jiancai said, "Indeed, there is."

Zhang Ye said, "To do good crosstalk, the main character and fall-guy have to have conflict, so lacking anything would not work."

Yao Jiancai said, "That's right."

Zhang Ye said, "There are four things to do in crosstalk, lie, cheat, steal, and fool."

Yao Jiancai said, "Hey, why did you change it? It's speak, learn, amuse and sing."

Zhang Ye said, "Right, firstly, the thing about 'speak' isn't simple."

Yao Jiancai said, "Tell me about it?"

The audience were stunned for a moment before they laughed again. The competition was over! The judge just asked you a question, but why did the both of you begin another round of crosstalk!?

The female judge was extremely delighted. "Well done, I can't even cut in. Teachers, let me interject. This year's crosstalk competition has twice the number of recording venues as last year's, so the second preliminary will begin tomorrow at its earliest. Will we be able to hear from you tomorrow?"

Zhang Ye said yes with a smile.

He and Old Yao were just playing a joke.

The female judge looked at them and said, "It should be an evaluation period after this, but I really have no idea how to comment on your work. Teacher Qu, do you have any comments?"

The third judge sitting beside her shook his hand. "You do it."

The female judge looked at Teacher Qu and said, "I'm not a professional crosstalk actress, but as a gala's director, I frequently come into contact with crosstalk works. I've heard at least a hundred, if not two hundred crosstalk performances. I can't say much about the technical angle of your works, but from a personal point of view, this is the best crosstalk performance that I have ever heard since I was born! There is no match!"

This evaluation was too high!

The audience gave their applause once again!

Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai said, "Thank you Teacher."

For some reason, the head judge did not give any comments. The other two professional crosstalk actors also remained silent and did not comment. They did not comment on the work from any professional point of view, allowing the female judge to do so for them. This was unprecedented.

It was the same offstage too.

Tang Dazhang remained silent.

Tang Dazhang's fellow seniors and juniors all turned silent!

One could tell that these crosstalk actors all had ugly expressions. Who knew that not only Zhang Ye could do crosstalk, he could even do it so superbly and in such a wonderful manner? Although they never laughed from beginning to end, they knew in their hearts that the burdens Zhang Ye threw out were stunning. Many of them had been in crosstalk for decades, but only today did they learn that crosstalk could be done in such a f**king manner!?

In fact, many people from crosstalk knew, and had communicated this in private that the crosstalk world had reached a bottleneck. They were walking in place for many years, and although the symptoms weren't obvious, it was already a declining trend. However, Zhang Ye's "I am a Scholar" had given all these crosstalk actors a taste of a new "post-modern" flavor!

Post-modern did not mean that it had transcended reality, but instead meant that it had exceeded the standards of this era. It was leading this era's standards!

Everything was linked!

One burden after another!

It was different from their traditional methods of delivery. It had attained maximum entertainment for commercial viability. It had pushed the highlight of crosstalk, humor, to the forefront. From the reactions of the audience, regardless if Tang Dazhang and company liked it or disliked it, the audience liked it. This was the greatest award that a crosstalk performance could receive. This could be also said that it had broken through the bottleneck for the future crosstalk industry, known as commercial crosstalk!

What was a bit ironic was that this commercial "post-modern" crosstalk work was thrown out by a television host who had never learned crosstalk? A layman had taught so many crosstalk seniors a lesson? This was something they could not accept. Furthermore, the usage of a few terms and packaging in the work felt tawdry, and felt disdain for it!

However, Zhang Ye didn't care what they thought or how they evaluated it. In fact, Zhang Ye had never thought highly of a person like Tang Dazhang.

The performance was over.

The next group of contestants went onstage.

Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai bade farewell to the audience. As they disembarked the stage with arms over each other's shoulders, they walked out of the recording studio.

"Old Yao, your reaction was pretty quick." Zhang Ye said with a smile.

Yao Jiancai chuckled. "Although a few lines were improvised on the spot by you, I am a professional after all, so I could match you well." Saying that, he laughed again. "Hey, but when comparing the two of us, it is as if you are the professional crosstalk actor. I'm even wondering how you got all the basics down so well? How is that mouth of yours made?!"

Zhang Ye laughed. "Don't forget I earn a living using this mouth! I never practiced crosstalk in the past, but this mouth of mine is my forte after all. I don't dare to speak about other things, but when it comes to scolding and trampling on others, I have never lost!"

"I can tell." Yao Jiancai said, "Your wickedness is all over your mouth. Well done, after you trampled on me, you even trampled my wife! Don't you run. We agreed previously that you have to go home with me this afternoon. You need to talk to her!"

Zhang Ye said in exasperation, "Don't. I'm not going."

Yao Jiancai grabbed onto him without letting him go. "Haha, that won't do."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I'm afraid she will beat me up."

As the two of them chatted, there were a few anxious shouts in front of them.

"Has it been halted?"

"It's already halted!"

"Aiyah, but it's already too late!"

"Do you know what happened? Something big has happened!"

"What's the matter?"

"The two banned celebrities were broadcasted live on the internet by the station! I heard our head of this segment misheard the instructions of the higher-ups and made a mistake!"

"Ah? Wouldn't that be big trouble?"

"That's right. The station leaders are infuriated!"

"I believe he will be held accountable eventually. After all, Decree #43 has just been announced, yet our Department 11 immediately went against it? Man, this is going to be a huge mess!"

"That Teacher Zhang fellow is still a god of plague! He leaves destruction in his wake everywhere he goes!"

"But you don't say. Zhang Ye's character might be a bit wicked, and his temper is a bit like a hooligan, but did you hear his 'I am a Scholar'? It was truly awesome!"

"Really?"

"Go watch it. He's completely on a different level than those other contestants. I was listening outside and was laughing in stitches!"

Everyone in the program team were discussing it!

When Yao Jiancai heard this, he was stunned. "What? It was broadcasted live? Holy sh*t! Is this reality or fantasy? A mistake? Could there be such a coincidence? Hahahaha! Old bro, God is helping us!"

God?

That esteemed person isn't so free!

Zhang Ye was amused upon hearing this. Maybe amongst everyone who knew of this matter, he was the only one who knew the true reason. This was f**king all due to the five times difficulty reduction from the dice! He was initially worried how to let everyone see this work of his, but now, Zhang Ye was completely relieved!