I’m Really a Superstar

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

On his cell phone.

The chat group notifications were going off like crazy.

Chen Guang: "Director Zhang is so popular that he no longer has any friends."

Little Dong (Dongzi): "In the past when they said that Zhang Ye wasn\'t very sociable, I still gave him the benefit of doubt. So it seems the rumors are true after all, and it\'s even worse than I expected? Teacher Zhang, I\'d really like to know how you\'ve managed to survive for the past two years!"

Fan Wenli: "*laughs*"

Zhang Ye typed out unashamed: "I don\'t really know, but there are always people who find me unlikeable and keep opposing me. They even try to bully me and that makes me so infuriated!"

Ning Lan was quite speechless at that. "But why does it look like you\'re the one who is bullying them instead?"

Zhang Ye: "..."

Chen Guang: "Hahahaha!"

Fan Wenli also sent an eye-rolling emoji. "Who can bully you, Director Zhang? Once the people in the industry hear your name, they all avoid you immediately!"

Zhang Ye just replied: "Oh, give me a break."

Liao Henan: "What Wenli says is true. Teacher Little Han from Zhejiang Television is also considered one of the top hosts in the industry, but when I had a chat with her on the phone yesterday, she told me that her new show has been rescheduled. It shifted from the Friday primetime slot to a later time after 9 PM on the same day, all that just to avoid clashing with A Bite of China\'s broadcast. Even a big satellite station like Zhejiang Television is avoiding your documentary, and it should be the same for the other television stations as well."

Huo Dongfang: "The future is ominous for Old Fan\'s and my show."

Zhang Ye was also quite embarrassed by this. Although he didn\'t like Rise to the Dance, and he was also biased against Central TV Department 1 as well as Xu Yipeng and Chen Ye, towards an A-list celebrity like Huo Dongfang, he actually did not have anything against him. Even if they had only met once before, there were no grudges between them.

Fan Wenli: "Old Huo, let\'s \'get\' him next time."

Huo Dongfang laughed: "We must definitely do so."

Naturally, Zhang Ye did not raise any objections to that.

At this moment, Ning Lan said: "Zhang Ye, the next time you have a good show like this, if it\'s a variety show, remember to save me a spot on your show. I\'ve got a little brother in my management agency, one of the juniors who I get along better with, but he hasn\'t been able to get a breakthrough all this while."

Zhang Ye thought about it before replying: "Sure, but I don\'t think I\'ll be doing any variety shows for a while."

Ning Lan: "There\'s no rush. It\'s all in the future. We can always talk about it again later."

Zhang Ye: "Sure."

Suddenly, Dongzi said: "Teacher Zhang, I would like to ask you for a favor too."

Zhang Ye: "What is it?"

Dongzi sent a blushing emoji and asked: "My cousin\'s son who is around my age is in his third year of high school. He\'ll be taking the college entrance exam next year and wants to apply for a university in Beijing, specifically Tsinghua or Peking University. I\'ve asked around to see if something could be arranged, but have not heard anything favorable so far. Since you\'re an associate professor at Peking University, do you think you could help?"

Zhang Ye returned with all seriousness: "What are his results like?"

Dongzi replied: "He has particularly good results, it\'s just that his household is registered under a city in the northwest. The admissions quota for Tsinghua and Peking University over there is limited and can even be very low, so even if his results are one of the top, he still might not qualify."

Zhang Ye asked again: "Which department does he want to apply to then?"

Dongzi: "Any science departments will do, as long as he can qualify for either of the universities."

Understanding the situation, Zhang Ye replied: "Alright then, as long as he\'s not picky about the department and he can hit the cutoff score for Peking University next year, I\'ll put in a word for him. I\'ll get whichever department has more places to reserve a spot for him. There won\'t be a need to depend on the provincial quota for admissions that way then."

Dongzi sent a grinning face. "Thank you so much!"

Zhang Ye: "It\'s nothing."

Dongzi: "It\'s not nothing. I\'ve asked so many people but none of them could do anything for me."

Zhang Ye: "It will still have to depend on him getting the results to qualify for the cutoff score. Otherwise, I wouldn\'t be able to help either." If the results didn\'t hit the cutoff score and there was no subject that the applicant particularly excelled in, then even if Zhang Ye were to make a recommendation, the Peking University admissions board would definitely not want to make a concession.

Zhang Ye did not know Dongzi\'s real name, but most people called her Dongzi or Dongdong, which was her stage name. She was a female celebrity who was more popular than Zhang Ye and ranked at the top of the B-list celebrity rankings, quite a few places higher than him. She was around the same age as Zhang Ye, or could be a little older than him, but his impression of her was that she was baby-faced and looked a little young, like she was still in her teens. The group she led was comprised of a trio of girls and was considered one of the more famous idol groups in Chinese entertainment. Their main activities included singing, dancing, making movies, acting in television dramas, taking part in charity events, and many other things. Although their singing, dancing, and acting skills were average, this idol group had the looks, which was enough for them to succeed. Together with their management\'s relentless marketing, Dongzi\'s group had become very popular throughout China and also made quite a name for themselves around Asia. Their fan demographics covered almost all of the men. There were also a lot of female fans!

It was always good if you looked pretty!

Zhang Ye was very envious of that. Just look at them, did they have to suffer and slowly climb up the popularity charts like him?

He was envious of these celebrity idols, but little did he realize that many of these celebrity idols were also especially envious of him. For example, those from Dongzi\'s group knew that even if they continued to work hard and promote themselves, no matter how popular they got, their fans\' attitude to them would just stay at the level of idolizing and fan mania. They would never ever be able to earn the deep respect and admiration that Zhang Ye\'s fans gave to him—and these could never be earned with just their looks and figures!

This was also the reason why Zhang Ye was added to the "Celebrity Goof Group" even though they didn\'t usually add new members. In certain areas, Zhang Ye had really reached the peak of perfection. Even though most of the chat group participants were more popular than Zhang Ye, none of them dared to underestimate him. Even those celebrities who were the most proud and arrogant had to admit that they couldn\'t do the things that Zhang Ye had done!

Like forfeiting an award!

Like beating up a leader!

Like suing Central TV!

Like scolding the SARFT!

And in doing so, no one could do anything about his actions, so wouldn\'t this be considered a skill as well? Moreover, to all the celebrities in the entertainment industry, this ability was extremely heaven defying!

After chatting for about half an hour, Zhang Ye had already blended in with their group and it became easier to freely express himself. From time to time, some chat group lurkers or those who had just come online would join the chat.

An A-list celebrity said: "We have a new member?"

A certain top B-list celebrity: "Isn\'t that Zhang Ye?"

"Welcome!" It was from a director who was in the B-list rankings.

In this group, there were no ordinary people at all. Not even Chen Ye who was a host of the Spring Festival Gala could join this group, so it would be silly to say that any one of these participants were simple people. For example, this popular director was someone who Zhang Ye had long since heard about. He did not expect that he would actually pop up to welcome him. Usually, a director\'s job scope was kept to the behind the scenes things. Zhang Ye was also in this occupation, so he understood very well that if a director could climb up into the B-list celebrity rankings, it would mean that he had a very big reputation. Although this director made movies, he would also sometimes take part in the acting by taking on the lead role himself. But without a doubt, his main source of popularity had come from the movies that he directed. In the domestic entertainment industry, he was one of the biggest name directors around, with very strong qualifications. One-fifth of the people in this group had worked with him before and one-tenth of the group were made popular by him.

They were all big shots!

Dongzi: "Teacher Zhang doesn\'t have a management agency yet, right?"

Zhang Ye: "Not yet."

Dongzi: "Our agency is quite good. Someone got me to ask you if you would like to consider joining us?"

Zhang Ye: "Sorry, but I have no plans at the moment. It\'s easier to manage on my own. Besides, I doubt any agencies would dare sign me."

Liao Henan: "You don\'t even have a manager?"

Zhang Ye: "Not for now."

Liao Henan was exasperated by that. "You\'re really…" He did not complete his thought.

Chen Guang helped him speak up. "He\'s never done things the usual way anyways. Wenli and I have already gotten used to it."

Dongzi: "Teacher Zhang is really carefree, unlike the group of us. We have the burden of feeding our team and take into account every decision that we make because of them. But Teacher Zhang has no such worries at all. I\'m so envious of you."

Zhang Ye: "I might have freedom, but everything is handled by me. I have to look for my own work and sign my own endorsements. When things happen, I still have to handle the emergency PR by myself, unlike you guys who have a company to back you up. There are so many things that I have to do on my own, so I don\'t really have that much freedom either as compared to you."

Fan Wenli: "The grass is always greener, I guess. But I still suggest that you get yourself a manager to handle matters for you. This wouldn\'t restrict your freedom anyway. Just get a family member or a friend, as long as it\'s someone you trust. When I just debuted, I had my younger sister take care of matters for me."

Zhang Ye: "But the main issue is that I have no one in mind. I\'ll think about it again later."

Manager?

This could be seriously considered since there wouldn\'t be a management agency involved. As long as the manager was directly employed by Zhang Ye himself, he wouldn\'t be restricted by anything. However, the question of who to appoint was still a problem. He would first have to get someone he trusted; he couldn\'t just hire anyone he didn\'t know. The candidate would have to be capable, have good insight, and also needed to have time on their hands. In his circle of friends, he could only think of Rao Aimin who would fit the bill as only she was free enough to do it. But that Old Rao was such a scammer. Back then, she said that she would entrust Chenchen to him for at most a month, but it had already been fucking half a year now and she was still not back yet. God knew what urgent matter she was dealing with. This made Zhang Ye writhe in anger.

After chatting for a while more, Zhang Ye finally said: "I\'ll be going off now. There\'s still an awards ceremony to attend tonight, so I have to go prepare."

"It\'s that prestigious National Television Awards, right?"

"A Bite of China will definitely win."

"Good luck."