I am Really a Superstar

Three days later.

The table on the first-floor living room was piling up with newspapers that reported about Zhang Ye over the past few days. Old Wu had placed them together after Zhang Ye’s parents kept bringing over stacks of newspapers on a daily basis. This did not include the news reports on the various television stations and foreign media outlets, as well as those from the online media. Counting everything, they likely couldn’t finish reading all of the news even if they spent two days and two nights reading them word by word.

In the morning.

After Old Wu went to work, Zhang Ye got up early and stayed at home to take care of their daughter.

“Daddy, are you going out today too?”

“Nope. I’ve finished all the business and entertainment for the past few days.”

“Daddy, I want to watch a cartoon.”

“Not today.”

“But why?”

“It’s Army Day ¹ today. We’re going to watch the parade.”

“Daddy, what is Army Day?”

“It’s a very, very important holiday.”

“Oh, then Sisi doesn’t want to watch cartoons anymore.”

“Good girl.”

The military parade began.

Zhang Ye was cuddling his daughter on the sofa as they watched television together. He wanted to expose her to some patriotic education.

Zhang Ye was very happy today, as well as very honored. Bringing home a Nobel Prize was considered a great gift for his country.

Half an hour.

An hour.

The doorbell rang. It was the studio staff.

When Ha Qiqi saw what was on TV, she smiled and said, “You’re watching it too?”

“Of course.” Zhang Ye said, “Take a seat and make yourselves comfortable. Pour yourselves a drink if you want.”

Zhang Zuo chuckled and said, “You’re even making your daughter watch?”

Zhang Ye nodded. “I need her to learn to love her country at a young age.”

Little Wang said nervously, “Would a child understand?”

Zhang Ye said, “She’ll have to watch it even if she doesn’t understand. My only fear is that she’ll start worshipping foreigners when she grows up.”

Tong Fu cramped up with laughter. “Director Zhang, you’re overthinking it. I can’t say if other people’s children will worship foreigners, but I’m definitely sure that your daughter won’t. On this point, the entire country’s citizens will guarantee it, so rest assured that Sisi will definitely follow in both your and Minister Wu’s footsteps.”

What sort of a person was Zhang Ye?

He was a well-known nationalist!

The spiritual leader of the nationalistic youths of China!

Would his child worship foreigners? The entire country’s citizens wouldn’t have any of that!

Sisi pointed at the television and said, “Daddy, they’re really good at walking!”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “That’s called parade march ² . These are our country’s soldiers are.”

Sisi said excitedly, “Is Daddy also as amazing as them?”

“Daddy doesn’t know how to do the parade march,” Zhang Ye said with a laugh.

However, Ha Qiqi said to Sisi, “Sisi, although your father is not a soldier and doesn’t know how to parade march, our soldiers walking with such confidence today and with their heads held high is all thanks to your father. Look, this aircraft formation is made up of the latest fighter jets that your father designed. Then, there’s also China’s first ever Nobel Prize that your father won for us too. That’s also why our country’s soldiers are becoming stronger, and why our country’s soldiers are becoming more confident. Only when they can hold their heads up high will they be able to march in such an upright manner in front of the whole world. You are still young and might not understand, but you will know what your father’s name means to China when you grow up.”

Sisi said happily, “I understand, Daddy is the greatest!”

Zhang Ye patted his daughter on her head. “Let’s watch the military parade.”

Sisi said, “Mhm!”

Zhang Zuo asked, “Director Zhang, what type of missile is this?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “It’s a C-5 ICBM.”

Ha Qiqi blinked and said, “Is it good?”

Zhang Ye said, “It’s the latest model of ICBMs and can hit the mainland of America, so do you think it’s good?”

Little Wang said excitedly, “How about this one? And this one?”

All of them knew that Zhang Ye had been working with the military after starting his prison sentence and had participated in many research projects and weapons research. Since he knew the subject inside and out, they asked him everything they wanted to know. Zhang Ye fielded their questions and detailed the military equipment that he was very familiar with.

Soon after.

The military parade ended.

Zhang Ye put Sisi upstairs to play by herself while he and the studio staff discussed some matters. They had to sort out the details of their future direction. To Zhang Ye and his studio, they had reached a new height that no other Chinese celebrity had reached before. From here on out, there weren’t any prior references for them to follow, and they would have to figure out how to continue on this path they were taking.

Everyone sat down for a meeting.

Ha Qiqi said, “Why don’t you set a direction?”

Zhang Zuo asked, “How are we going to carry on?”

“Actually…” Zhang Ye smiled. “I don’t know either.”

Little Wang exclaimed, “Then what should we do?”

Zhang Ye spread his hands. “I’m quite surprised we reach this height, so how could I have any plans? We can only take it one step at a time.”

Ha Qiqi said, “In the past few days since we returned, we’ve been researching the International Celebrity Rankings Index. It’s really too competitive and dissimilar to our domestic celebrity rankings that hardly see any change each month. The rankings change basically every day, with people getting onto the rankings and others falling off of it. This is why we’re all quite jittery about it. Although the Nobel Prize win helped us make a shock entry into the rankings, our foundation is still pretty shallow. The popularity can come fast, but it can disappear quickly as well. These days, there are already hardly any additional reports and coverage in the foreign media. The attention we got from winning the Nobel Prize has almost faded, so how are we going to continue making inroads on the international scene?”

Zhang Ye asked, “Do we have any jobs invitations?”

Ha Qiqi gave a wry smile. “There are quite a few offers domestically but nothing from the international scene as of yet.”

Zhang Zuo said, “Our domestic popularity has become saturated. Almost every person in the country has become your fan, so there isn’t really a point in taking on variety shows or TV series anymore. We won’t be making any progress that way, so our goal is definitely to fight our way overseas. That’s where our citizens and domestic industry want to see you heading as well. They want to know how far you can go and how much you can spread the name of China internationally.”

Zhang Ye said, “But no one is extending invitations to me?”

Ha Qiqi suddenly asked, “Are you very knowledgeable on military affairs and weapons systems?”

Zhang Ye laughed, “What do you think?”

“Then we still have a pretty good offer in China,” Ha Qiqi said.

Zhang Ye asked with interest, “What is it?”

Ha Qiqi smiled and said, “Central TV has contacted us regarding an interview touching on military affairs since we’re in the midst of celebrating Army Day.”

Little Wang said, “Isn’t that still a domestic broadcast?”

“It’s not.” Ha Qiqi said, “It will be broadcast on Central TV International ³ .”

Zhang Ye said, “CTV International?

Ha Qiqi nodded. “That’s right. Almost every country in the world can watch it, and it’s also the only international channel that China has. Although not everyone in those countries might catch it, they can still receive the broadcast signal. As for how the interview will turn out and how many people will watch it, that will all depend on you. I think with the popularity you’ve earned from winning the Nobel Peace Prize and your international celebrity ranking, you should still be quite popular internationally. It’s likely that many foreigners will still be interested in you, so this should be a pretty good opportunity.”

Tong Fu scratched his head. “I know about Central TV International. Some programs are dubbed in English while others have English subtitles, but the viewership ratings aren’t that high, right? There are not too many people who watch it in China, right?”

Zhang Zuo said, “But at least it’s an international channel. Its viewership range is incomparable and covers the entire world, so it won’t hurt to try. In the past, CTV International didn’t do well because the programs were all similar, and we didn’t have any international celebrities to speak of. But now that Director Zhang has stepped onto the international scene, his appeal and influence are certainly not the same as before. Perhaps that might have a positive effect.”

They discussed it for a long time.

Finally, Zhang Ye made the decision. “Alright, we’ll give it a try.”

Ha Qiqi smiled. “OK, I’ll go and contact Central TV and have them to set a time.”

Very quickly, Zhang Ye’s first job invitation after breaking into the international entertainment industry was confirmed!