For Review 2

by Little Merger

Third

9. I'm Really a Superstar 1-30

I'm Really a Superstar

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Zhang Ye was originally a mundane college graduate with aspiring dreams to become a star, but unfortunately has below average looks and height. However one day, he woke up and suddenly found himself in a parallel world!

It's like the same world, but wait a minute…many brands, celebrities and even famous works from his world changed and are gone in this new world!

Armed with the profound literary knowledge of his previous world and a heaven-defying Game Ring that gives him magical items, stats and skills, Zhang Ye embarks on a journey to pursue his life-long dream of becoming famous!

Follow Zhang Ye as he takes the new world by storm, one plagiarized piece at a time, to hilarious reactions!

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I'm Really a Superstar #Chapter 0: I Want to Be a Star! - Read I'm Really a Superstar Chapter 0: I Want to Be a Star! Online - All Page - Novel Bin

Chapter 0: I Want to Be a Star!

Chapter 0: I Want to Be a Star!

Zhang Ye felt that his life was wonderful.

Last month, he held his 32nd solo concert.

Just a few days ago, he was invited to dinner by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Yesterday, he was invited to be the male lead for the Hollywood, 3D science fiction blockbuster, "Railway Guerillas".

As an excellent artist, Zhang Ye had mixed feelings. Did he have any regrets in life? No, his life was perfect. If he was to mention a flaw in his life, uh, it would probably be his bad habit of bragging that he had never managed to get rid of.

Whatever mentioned previously was just nonsense.

Zhang Ye was, in fact, just a fresh graduate. He was an extremely ordinary person in this world. His dream was to become a celebrity. Be it a host, a singer, or an author, he just wanted to become famous. His aim was pretty high. Not only did he want to be a star, he also wanted to become the world's top superstar. This was his life goal. He had never given up on that thought. Tomorrow, he had an interview at a radio station. He still lacked confidence, unsure if he would succeed at it or not.

Maybe it was because he slept late last night, but tonight he had a dream where a few lines of words flashed across his mind.

[ Installing Game... ]

[ Authenticating Gamer… ]

[ Game is installed. You are the game's only player. This is a game that will help the gamer realize his dreams. Have checked the gamer's dreams and goals. Game setting completed. Game line ending completed-help gamer to become the greatest superstar in the world. ] n/ô/vel/b/in dot c/om

[ Game Difficulty: Maximum. ]

[ Please wait. Randomly choosing new player incentive package. ]

[ Received reward 'Randomly changing existing world background.' ]

[ Counting down, 5...4...3...2...1... Game Begins! ]

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I am Really a Superstar #Chapter 1: The World After Being Altered! - Read I am Really a Superstar Chapter 1: The World After Being Altered! Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 1: The World After Being Altered!

Beijing.

The morning of the second day.

At home, Zhang Ye, who had just woken up, was still wondering about the dream from last night. As he yawned, he switched on the television, so that he could watch the news. Suddenly, he realized that there was an additional silver ring on his left pinky. It was clearly not something that belonged to him. He tried as hard as he could to take it off, but it was to no avail. Not only that, but when he rubbed the surface of the ring, a touchable virtual screen suddenly appeared. It was written in the same font as the messages in his dream. It said, "Game Ring initialized. New player incentive package, 'Randomly changing existing world background' is in preparation for augmentation."

Counting down…

Three seconds…

Two seconds…

One second…

Incentive package augmentation initialization!

Following that, Zhang Ye saw an alarming scene.

The HTC phone that he had thrown on the bed began twisting and strangely changed shape. Even the brand changed and 'TCC' was engraved on it instead. One of the two pirated Xu Zhimo's poem collection placed by the window sill suddenly disappeared, while the other became Chen Tianmo's poem collection.

He could not notice all the changes, as many things within his house were undergoing changes!

What alarmed Zhang Ye the most were the changes on the television. The Changhong-branded television turned into a Feitian brand, which he had never heard of. And the main thing was the content being broadcast on the television!

"Mango TV's new variety show, 'Glittering Radiance' breaks 1% viewership."

"Wu Bang's latest movie, 'White Maiden' breaks 500 million in the box office."

"Heavenly Queen Zhang Yuanqi's new song failed once again. She will focus on the film industry from now on."

"Yesterday, the work of world-famous artist Dake, "Blue Sky", was auctioned off in America."

"Many people in the entertainment circle dedicated songs to the most influential Heavenly King of film of the 20th century, Chen Weishi's, 10th anniversary memorial concert. Heavenly King Sun Yu teared up on the spot while singing."

Zhang Ye looked at all of this for ten minutes in a state of shock. He still did not understand what had just happened. How did the television and cellphone change brands?

Heavenly Queen Zhang Yuanqi?

When was there a Heavenly Queen named Zhang Yuanqi?

And the 10th anniversary memorial concert?

Where did this Chen Weishi come out from?

How could he not have heard of him? Zhang Yuanqi?

Could it be that Zhang Ziyi had changed her stage name?

Was 'Chen Weishi' Eason Chen's new name?

That can't be right. Eason Chen is still alive!

What sort of movie was "White Maiden"?

Was it a film Bai Yansong f*ing starred in?

When the f* did he start filming movies?

Zhang Ye rushed off the bed, in a panic to open the curtains. He saw everything outside changing. The two old trees by the road had disappeared. Replacing them was a flower bed. A high-rise building far in the distance had turned into a shorter building, with only six floors left. And not only had a few buildings that were originally gray in color subtly changed position, even the color of the stairs had changed to a brownish-white!

Ding!

Incentives augmentation has been completed!

Note: The real world's background has been changed into a theoretical balance.

Zhang Ye's face went pale. He picked up that unknown brand phone and examined it. The date and time were right. Today was the day two months after he had graduated from college. After flipping through a few pages of his contacts, he purposely called a few people. His close friends were still the same, but how could the changes in the surroundings be explained? Also, what was this game ring on his hand? Had the game ring really altered reality?

Zhang Ye could not believe it, as he switched on his computer to check the Internet. The more he browsed, the more frightened he became.

It had changed!

Everything had changed!

There was no one in the show hosting industry named "He Jiong" or "Xie Na".

The music industry no longer had people like Eason Chen or Jacky Cheung.

The film industry no longer had people like Feng Xiaogang, Sun Honglei, etc.

In China and in foreign countries, people like Qi Baishi or Pablo Picasso no longer existed in the world of calligraphy or painting.

The divine song, "Perturbed"?

Mo Yan's novels?

Beethoven's piano pieces?

The movie, "Transformers"?

The variety show, "The Voice of China"?

The famous painting, "Mona Lisa"?

They were all gone!

Seeing all of these things being randomly changed by the unknown game, he wondered if these were the game rewards he had obtained as the sole player. However, how did reality become a game?

And what sort of game was this?

"Contra", or "Super Mario"?

Should he use his head to smash at a wall, causing a small magical mushroom to burst out, which could make him bigger?

Of course, there were things that did not change. Some important historical figures, world patterns and social environments had not changed. The Master Kong instant noodles on the table were still the same. LV was still a world-famous brand. A lot of things had not been modified. Was this the so-called "randomness"?

Something supernatural had happened!

What the heck had happened?

At this moment, thumps were heard. Someone outside was knocking on his door. The knocks were quite loud and were definitely done by hammering the door with a lot of strength!

Zhang Ye guessed who it was and pretended not to hear it.

After the person knocked a few more times, the clinking of keys could be heard and the door was suddenly opened!

Zhang Ye looked at the person who came in. He was thinking that even though the world had changed, the landlady was still the same landlady.

A woman in her thirties walked over. She looked very beautiful. Sometimes, the two words "very beautiful" were very hard to use in describing her. For example, she had clearly just washed her hair. Her head was still wrapped in a white towel, but her beauty, which could overthrow states and cities, could not be concealed. Her figure was exceptionally good. Her skin's elasticity was clearly revealed and it appeared very sharp.

However, one could only understand this beautiful woman's mean side through being in close contact with her for a few days. She could be as venomous with her words as you wanted. If not, how could she still be unmarried at this age? Just that mouth of hers made many unable to tolerate her!

Seeing that Zhang Ye was at home, Rao Aimin cleared her throat and laughed without a smile, "Kid, are you trying to play hide and seek with me? Why did you not respond when I was knocking all day? Are you playing dead?"

Zhang Ye turned slightly awkward, "Landlady, you came?"

Rao Aimin conveniently sat down in the living room. With a smashing sound, she slammed a calculator onto the table. Zhang Ye had seen her calculator numerous times in the past. Previously, it was a Casio brand, but now it had changed into a new brand that he had never heard of before. It started with a "K". It even looked like the calculator businesses had been altered. "Why don't you tell me what I'm here for? I'm here to collect rent!" Her fingers hammered on the calculator in a very well-versed fashion. "You haven't handed over this month's rent. Adding up last month's utilities, I have already calculated them for you. The total becomes 2,582. I have already reminded you several times. Not one cent less is allowed! I tell you, Little Zhang.. I allowed you to pay rent monthly, only because you were from Beijing. Go ask around; which place would not first require you to put up a three-month rental deposit? How much special treatment have I given you?"

Zhang Ye smiled wryly, "Please give me another few more days. I really don't have any money on hand right now. Once I find a job, I'll give it to you."

Rao Aimin elegantly swept her fingers, "If you don't have any money, get lost now!"

Zhang Ye pleaded, "You know my situation.The rent I previously gave you was all money from my elders. I only have that much money. If you were to chase me away, I can only return to stay with my parents. I had already told them I would move out and be independent once I graduated. How can I just go back with my face still intact? Auntie, look at our floor. The entire row's commercial and residential apartments are all yours. Your wealth doesn't lack just this bit of money. About this, I have an interview at the Beijing Broadcasting Television Station this afternoon. If I really become a host, I will make up for the rent once I get my salary."

Rao Aimin glanced at him and, with contempt, said, "You? Become a host? Cut it out. With your looks and height, who would pay attention to you in a crowd of people? You only dream all day of becoming a star. You think it's that easy to become a celebrity? If you can become a host, then this old aunt will dare to appear in the Spring Festival Ceremony tomorrow!"

Zhang Ye said, "Anyways, just give me a few more days. I…"

Rao Aimin ignored it, "No way!"

Zhang Ye said, "Don't you see that I haven't even eaten breakfast at all for the past few days? I really don't have enough money."

"What do I have to do with you not eating? Eh?" Rao Aimin said with an inhumane expression.

After fussing for a long time, he managed to get the landlady to leave. After about ten minutes, Rao Aimin, who was in pajamas, came back. She did not knock on the door and immediately used her key to open the door.

Zhang Ye thought Big Sister Rao was here to reclaim her money, so he carefully said, "Landlady auntie, you…"

Rao Aimin threw a breakfast set onto the table and coldly grunted, "I couldn't eat it alone. Kid, you lucked out. Let me tell you. Even though jobs are not easy to get these days, you are still a graduate from the Media College; how can you not get a job to make ends meet? Stop clinging to a single tree 'til you hang yourself on it!"

Zhang Ye was surprised and quickly said, "Thank you. I got it."

Rao Aimin, with her cold, beautiful face, left by slamming the door.

Zhang Ye felt his heart go warm. Looking at the breakfast on the table, it was still hot. Clearly, it was not leftovers from this older sister Rao. It was definitely something that she had especially went down to buy after she heard Zhang Ye say that he had not eaten breakfast for a few days. Zhang Ye knew older that sister Rao was someone who was warm on the inside, but cold on the outside. She may have a venomous tongue, but she still cared about him. Actually, he also understood what older sister Rao meant. However, Zhang Ye had always had dreams of making it big since he was young. He wanted to stand on a stage, facing the public. As such, he had never considered doing jobs that involved being behind the scenes.

Zhang Ye went out by taking the elevator downstairs.

On the street, Zhang Ye looked all around. He realized that the road was familiar, yet strange. The billboard commercials were all of celebrities that he did not know. Some business shops were playing the hottest popular music that Zhang Ye had never heard before. As he walked through this familiar, yet strange, street, he found it hard to adapt. He felt like he did not match with this altered world. Many things had changed. Or, it could be said that this was no longer the world from Zhang Ye's past.

It was August. The air was still hot and disturbing.

It was not scientific!

Really unscientific!

Zhang Ye was, after all, a graduate from a prestigious university. Of course, he could not easily accept this reality. What day and age was this? It was no longer an ancient society where superstitions, such as demons and ghosts, existed. Being superstitious only brought harm. This was something even elementary school kids knew. Everything boiled down to science. One had to firmly believe in the power of science. As such, Zhang Ye's eyes turned solemn. He pulled out a one-Yuan coin from his pocket respectfully and he threw it up in the air earnestly. "If it's heads, then this explains that this world's background has really been changed by the game. If it's tails, then it says that everything is fake."

Ding Ling Ling.

The coin landed on the ground. Heads!

Zhang Ye's vision went black. It wasn't fake. Everything was real!

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Chapter 2: I Can Save?

Afternoon.

It was August. The air was still hot and disturbing.

That's not right. This description of the environment had already been written.

It was August. The air was still… disturbingly hot. Right, that hasn't been used yet.

This world's Beijing Radio Station had merged with the Beijing Television Station a few years ago. Although they had merged, their offices were separate. Under the radio broadcasting building, Zhang Ye adjusted his western suit. He looked like a dog… a respectful person, before walking in. All the official employees had already started work early in the day. Now, a large portion of the people who entered were interview candidates, like Zhang Ye.

There was still some time; let's examine the ring.

Zhang Ye lowered his head as he fiddled with the mysterious game ring on his left hand. The eye-catching screen could only be seen by him. The people surrounding him did not notice the screen. Zhang Ye felt a chill run down his back. It was too sinister. Could something have gone wrong with his brain? So as to result in such serious illusions? There was a second when he had thought that he would have to eat the brain supplement, Brain White Gold, for life.

The virtual screen had a few options.

[Reputation: 199,983.

[Items: None.

[Merchant Shop: Not unlocked.

[Lottery: Obtain a treasure chest prize.

(Note: The increment of Reputation is related to the player's fame, exposure, achievement, trust, reputation and other related factors. The items in the Merchant Shop and Lottery can be bought using Reputation points. Reputation is total Reputation gained since the player's birth until today.)

190,000 Reputation points?

Zhang Ye wondered for a while. He had obtained a few awards when he was in elementary school for writing composition. He also did alright in his studies during middle and high school. He was frequently praised by his teachers. Right, he even had the experience of going on TV. He and his dormitory mates in college were interviewed by a CCTV reporter on the streets in Xidan. Before the reporter could hand over a microphone to him, Zhang Ye had answered immediately, "I'm very happy." Back then, the CCTV reporter was rendered speechless and said, "We aren't asking that, we are asking if you feel…" And before he finished speaking, Zhang Ye, who seemed to be deep in thought, suddenly said loudly, "Socialism is good." Well, it was unknown if it had been broadcast, in the end.

Were all these Reputation points obtained from that? To earn 190,000 Reputation over 23 years? It seemed pretty good? However, Zhang Ye quickly did not think so anymore. When he opened the virtual screen's options to see what he could buy with his Reputation points, he was rendered speechless for a long time.

The Merchant Shop had not been unlocked, so he could only click on the Lottery choice.

[Lottery: Requires 100,000 Reputation points. Upon purchasing, the game will randomly choose a treasure chest.

Heavens. After all that he had done in his life, he had gathered enough Reputation points just to draw once in the Lottery? Just short of drawing twice? With the mindset of trying his luck with the Lottery, he touched the screen with his hand. It had a solid feeling. After confirming his selection on the prompted display, 100,000 points were spent and his Reputation immediately became 99,983. The Lottery interface flashed and a virtual wheel appeared. There was a needle and a button. On the wheel were the words, "Consumption Category", "Stats Category", "Skills Category" and "Special Category". Each category had a respective color and its own region. The four regions were different in size. The Consumption Category took up a large portion of the wheel – nearly half of it. Next up were the Stats and Skills Categories. Together, they took up nearly the other half of the wheel. The smallest region was the Special Category. It only took up a tiny region and was nearly invisible.

A game screen introduction appeared!

Category Explanation:

[Consumption Category: One-time use disposable consumable item.

[Stats Category: Permanently increasing a stat.

[Skills Category: Skill's experience item.

[Special Category: Adds the purchasing privilege of buying a certain Merchant item.

Note: The treasure chest from the item category where the pointer stably stops will be the item that will be obtained.

Zhang Ye was confused. He could only try by pressing the button to begin the lottery. Ba Da! The Lottery began. The needle on the wheel kept moving as the wheel rotated clockwise extremely fast. After a few seconds, the needle slowed down and finally landed on the biggest area on the wheel, the Consumption Category.

The Lottery was completed!

A tiny golden treasure chest appeared. The prize was automatically stored in his inventory. And within his inventory appeared an icon of a "small golden treasure chest"! How do you use it? Zhang Ye tried stretching his hand into the inventory. His hand actually entered as if there was a space within it. As he touched the floating Treasure Chest (Small), he grabbed it and opened the treasure chest that no one else could see, while still on the street. With a flash of golden light, the treasure chest opened!

It was a tiny crystal!

Displayed Item: [Save].

Item Description: One-time use disposable consumable item. Saves a record. This save file can only be stored for half an hour.

Save? This was extremely familiar to Zhang Ye. Anyone who had played games knew that saves were used just before closing the game, or to redo a certain event later on. It could only be stored for 30 minutes? Did that mean that it could not be used 30 minutes after it had been used? The save would be invalidated? As for the Lottery and the treasure chests, they were not foreign to him. Many games had a Lottery. Treasure chests of different grades resulted in different grades of items. The probability was also different. Zhang Ye took the Save crystal out. The golden treasure chest immediately disappeared into points of light. Zhang Ye tinkered around with it. Pa! Accidentally, he had crushed the crystal.

Saving...

Saving completed!

At that moment, time seemed to stop for a second. Everything stood still!

When everything was restored, the ring's interface had one more option. "Load Save" was displayed.

The record was saved just like this? Zhang Ye touched his nose, still confused. Newbie incentive? Background change? Treasure chest Lottery? Items? Save? Was he really playing a game?

"The interview is at 10 A.M. Let's hurry."

"Brother Sun, what's the hurry? You will definitely be accepted."

"That's not necessarily true. They will only be hiring two people for the radio host position. I heard that there were more than 20 people that applied for the written interview. The competition is fierce."

"Indeed. The position for hosts are the most popular. Old Zhou and I have comparatively less pressure. I applied to be an editor, while Old Zhou applied to be an operator. There is less competition, since fewer people applied for it."

Some people said this as they walked in.

Zhang Ye looked at the time. He ignored researching the game ring and hurried upstairs. The interview today was too important for him. He had thought through his development path properly. With his qualities and image, should he be a television host? A singer? A movie star? He did not even qualify to be a villain in a movie. He wasn't outstanding and would never become popular. Thinking it through, it was best that he start off as a radio host. The requirement of having good looks were lower by a tiny bit. The listeners would only have contact with his voice, so it was the best position for him to begin in. It was also the springboard for his future development. He could not fail at this!

Second floor.

Radio host interview venue.

There were over 20 people in the corridor. Everyone was a competing against each other, so the atmosphere was peppered with silence.

Zhang Ye glanced around and suddenly felt a chill.

All of the 20 people were handsome and beautiful… except him.

All of the 20 people were aged between 25 and 30 and had experience… except him.

Zhang Ye's only advantage was that he was trained specially for the job. He was a graduate from the Media College's broadcasting department. Besides that, he didn't have a single advantage. After graduation, Zhang Ye had also interviewed at a few broadcasting media companies, but he was eliminated at the interview phase. Zhang Ye knew that it was because he lacked the looks and experience.

"Sun Hongwei."

"Here."

"Come on in."

The first person was brought into the room. The interview was over in five minutes. When the next person was called inside, the people beside him quickly asked about the interview. However, after a few times, no one asked anymore. This was because everyone's interview was different. Some were asked to interact on the spot with a difficult audience. Some were asked to debate on a topic. These differences were here to understand the candidate's overall quality.

"Fifth person, Zhang Ye." a female assistant called out with a list in her hand.

Zhang Ye took a deep breath and stood up. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous.

Within the room were eight interviewers. There were both men and women and they looked serious.

Seeing Zhang Ye, at least two of them frowned. It was unknown what they found unsatisfactory.

Zhang Ye gently bowed. He handed over the required recordings of his information and speech to the interviewer before returning to his seat. He began introducing himself, "Dear Teachers, how are you? My name is Zhang Ye. I'm 23 years old this year and I graduated from the Media College's broadcasting major. I…"

A middle-aged man impolitely interrupted, "We have your resume, so you don't have to repeat it." He looked down at the information in his hands, "Oh, your written test results barely made the cut."

The middle-aged woman beside him exchanged looks with him and took out a manuscript. She laid it on the table and said coldly, "There are only two questions for the interview. The first is for you to use your fastest speed to finish reading the manuscript and then read it off script."

Off script?

It was that simple?

Zhang Ye was overjoyed. Although going off script was not his best trait, it was not too difficult for him. He had undergone systematic training on this, back in college. It was considered part of the basics. As such, he walked up and picked up the manuscript and looked at it. There were about a thousand words. It was very long. But just as Zhang Ye was feeling confident that he could memorize all these words, the middle-aged woman stretched out her hands and took the manuscript from Zhang Ye's hands after ten seconds.

"Oh? I haven't finished reading it." Zhang Ye said in surprise.

"That's it. Read it." The middle-aged woman said indifferently.

The other interviewers did not have any reaction. It appeared very normal.

However, Zhang Ye was in a daze, "Teacher, it was just ten seconds and there were a thousand words…"

The middle-aged man said unhappily, "If you need a day's time to memorize it, then I can just grab anyone on the street to do it. Why would we need an interview? Since we asked you to recite it, recite it! Why are you saying so much nonsense!?"

Zhang Ye was a bit angry, "But…"

"Say as much off script as you can." The middle-aged woman said impatiently, "Hurry up! There are still more than ten people after you!"

Zhang Ye swallowed his anger and began reciting, "A notary organization, which ensures judicial activities and the stability of social order in our country, is a special lawful cause. Notarization is a notary organization that depends on natural persons, lawful persons, or…or…" After ten seconds, that was all that he had read.

A few of the interviewers scribbled something on their books.

Following that, the middle-aged man waved his hand, "That's it. There's no need to ask the second question. Next."

Zhang Ye knew that he had failed at his interview once again. He was disgruntled. Weren't these people being too unreasonable? You didn't even tell me how much time I had and asked me to go off script. In the end, you wanted me to begin just after ten seconds? Not to mention reciting it, I want to see you try reading a thousand words in ten seconds! If you can really finish it from beginning to end, then I'll eat the Chang'e 3! Eh, forget it. The country would not let me eat that.

At the last moment before he walked out of the interview room, he heard the faint voice of an interviewer behind him, "In the future, people with such looks do not need to go through the interview. It's a waste of our time!"

Zhang Ye heard this. Only then did he realize that the moment he entered, he had been given a death sentence. They had purposely given him an interview question that no one could answer, even under the threat of death!

Maddening!

I'm wasting your time?

You didn't even give me a chance to answer! I don't believe it!

Zhang Ye, who was in the corridor, felt like his heart had been wrenched out. He recalled the save record. The time that had passed since he had saved was still under 30 minutes and it was still within the save record's effective time range. He decided to use it as a last resort as he opened up the ring's game interface. Looking at the "Load Save" option, he gritted his teeth as he pressed down on it. He did not know if it would work!

Reading Save...

Reading completed!

He's using a formal mode of address here, kind of like "Sir" or "Mr." in English. In Chinese, they use a more ambiguous word of respect that is also used to address teachers and there will be a play on words in the future, so the literal translation is used here.

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Chapter 3: Dumbfounded Interviewers!

His eyes went into a blur!

The surroundings changed!

The sky was blue and the ground was gray!

The first feeling that Zhang Ye had was that of the change in temperature around him. It was August. The air was still hot and disturbing. Eh, why does Zhang Ye like to use this to describe his environment?

It isn't that his vocabulary is lacking, nor is it because he is lacking in literary knowledge, resulting in him knowing only those few descriptive phrases. It really isn't. Seriously, it really isn't. It's because…because…nevermind. You will never understand, no matter how much I explain our artists' world!

"The interview is at 10 A.M. Let's hurry."

"Brother Sun, what's the hurry? You will definitely be accepted."

"That's not necessarily true. They will only be hiring two people for the radio host position. I heard that there were more than 20 people that applied for the written interview. The competition is fierce."

As the changes caught him off-guard, Zhang Ye did not catch his footing and stumbled to the ground. As he helped himself up, he looked around. This was no longer the corridor from before. He was now standing in front of the radio broadcasting station's entrance again. This was where he had previously saved. Even the dialogue of the candidates that had been heard after saving was exactly the same. Looking at the time on his cell phone, he had really returned to a time that was half an hour ago!

God! This…

Let's not think too much. There are important matters to do!

Zhang Ye thought through it once and came around. Now was not the time to research on what had happened. He absolutely needed to get the job of being a host. Saving had given him a chance to redo it again. Even if he didn't understand what had happened, he still had to take advantage of the opportunity. He didn't go up the building. Instead, he searched the internet on his cellphone. As he remembered the first line of the interview, it was very easy to find it. Zhang Ye quickly found the article. It was a research thesis of some unknown student in a university in the South. He guessed that the interviewers had randomly found it on the internet. He only had about 25 minutes or so left. Without saying another word, he immediately started memorizing and reciting it! The 1000-word manuscript was very long. Thankfully, it wasn't some ancient text or classic. As the entire thesis wasn't full of abstruse words, and with every word related to the next and being in accordance with common sense and general knowledge, it wasn't that difficult to memorize it. Besides, Zhang Ye had some knowledge of the law, so he knew some of those words.

He needed to memorize it. Success or failure rested on this!

……

In the broadcasting building, at the interview venue.

A female assistant opened the door and looked at her list, "Zhang Ye." After calling once, with no one responding, she repeated, "Is Zhang Ye here? It's your turn!"

At the end of the corridor, Zhang Ye briskly walked over with his mouth seemingly chanting, "I'm here. I'm here!"

The female assistant looked at him with suspicion. Having seen hundreds of interviewees this year, this was the first time that she had seen someone chanting. Were monks and priests prepared to join the workforce?

In the room.

During the idle time between interviews, the eight people were drinking tea and exchanging their views.

A 40-year-old Li Honglian said disappointedly, "This batch of interviewees is too average."

An older Zhao Guozhou also said, "Yeah. It's much worse than the interviews from half a year ago. What use is having a good written score? They lack in ability!"

A youth behind him said, "Leaders, there are still quite a few people still to be interviewed. There should be someone good."

"Hopefully. But I think it's hopeless." Zhao Guozhou smacked his lips, "Previously, that Little Xu* was alright. If there's no other choice, our channel will want him."

Li Honglian leered, "I think Little Xu isn't bad, too."

Now, the door was opened after a knock. The next interviewee, Zhang Ye, entered.

The people stopped their idle chatter and glanced at him, sizing him up.

"Dear teachers, how are you?" Knowing that they would interrupt his self-introduction, Zhang Ye simply changed his introduction and felt free. To put it bluntly, he was still disgruntled and angry. This fellow's temper was usually bad. If people gave him an inch of respect, he would return a foot of respect. "My real name is Zhang Ye."

Zhao Guozhou burst into laughter, "You still have a stage name?"

Zhang Ye simply replied, "I have two stage names, one is "Zhang Tenglan"* and the other is "Zhang Jingkong"*."

This world no longer had these two "great people". The interviewers did not understand that they had been unknowingly ridiculed by Zhang Ye.

Li Honglian was ignoring Zhang Ye, as she had her head lowered to read his resume.

The result was the same. The same scene and the same expressions. This time, Zhang Ye could sensitively detect two interviewers slightly frowning. This was their dissatisfaction with Zhang Ye's appearance. It was weird. Even in an industry where the audience could not see the face of the broadcaster, the broadcasting host was still expected to have good looks. What did it mean to be good? It meant that one needed to look better than the vast majority of people. It had always been like this for broadcasting hosts.

Zhao Guozhou and Li Honglian, who was sitting beside Zhao Guozhou, sat in the middle and were the main judges. As the two radio hosts that would be hired were to be directly under their supervision respectively, they were very serious with their selection. No one wanted trouble for themselves, so when they saw Zhang Ye with his average looks, they had already crossed him out mentally. Furthermore, Zhang Ye had zero working experience listed on his resume. He still needed some training before he could take over the job, so they did not even consider him for the position. It was not bad being in a specialized major, but there were many that graduated from the broadcasting specialization major. And how many of them had become a host? Only a handful of people who were extremely outstanding had managed to do so.

Zhao Guozhou and Li Honglian exchanged glances and understood the thoughts of each other. This person was definitely not suitable. They would randomly give him a question and shoo him away – to prevent wasting time!

Li Honglian took out a manuscript in the same posture as before and glanced at Zhang Ye, "There are only two questions for the interview. The first is for you to use your fastest speed to finish reading the manuscript and then read it off script."

Zhang Ye, who came back from a save record, knew their attitude and wish to make it difficult for him, so he stood up and took it without any expression.

As expected, in just ten seconds, Li Honglian had meanly taken away the manuscript. "That's it. Read it."

The other interviewers also knew in their hearts. Ten seconds? Even if it was an experienced person who had decades in the industry, that person would not be able to memorize more than a hundred words in ten seconds, let alone a mere graduate. Eh, it should be said that ten seconds was only enough for them to read 200 words. And even so, they would only get about 40-50% of those 200 words right while reciting. And why would that not even pass? That's because this manuscript had more than 900 words. It was only about a fifth! If one could memorize and recite 300 words in ten seconds, only then was that a perfect score. But everyone knew it was impossible.

They were purposely making it difficult for Zhang Ye and it was to the point where they were just disguising their intentions of telling Zhang Ye that he lacked the qualities and abilities. But what made them feel strange was that Zhang Ye did not have any questioning reaction with the ten seconds of memorizing time. He remained extremely calm and returned slowly to his seat.

Li Honglian fell into a daze as she tried to find anger and surprise on Zhang Ye's face, but she could not find anything.

The other interviewers found it bizarre, too. Was this kid really stupid, really stupid, or really stupid? We'd made it difficult for him, yet he did not have a single reaction? It seemed like they had done right. This silly kid would be useless, even if he was recruited. He was so stupid and not sharp-minded. He would not amount to much.

Zhao Guozhou urged, "Begin! Hurry up! There are many people behind you, who are waiting!"

Li Honglian and the other interviewers immediately gave Zhang Ye a score on his interview results. They did not bother listening before scoring. One wrote 20 points, while another wrote 15 points. They were all very low scores. Following that, they flipped to the next interviewee's resume.

Zhang Ye was not in a hurry, even with their urging. He looked at them calmly and recited in a rhythmic fashion, "A notary organization, which ensures judicial activities and the stability of social order in our country, is a special lawful cause. Notarization is done by a notary organization that depends on natural persons, lawful persons or the other applications of other groups. Under the legal procedures set up by the courts, matters that deal with the law or documents that are needed to certify the activity require the procedures of a notary activity to be done in accordance with the law…"

When Zhang Ye went off script for a hundred words, Zhao Guozhou raised his head.

When he went off script for 200 words, Li Honglian gasped and looked at him with surprise.

When he went off script for 300 words, all the interviewers placed the things in their hands down and looked at Zhang Ye in surprise!

Zhang Ye was not affected by anyone and kept going on. "Because if the relevant parties provide false materials or fail to go through notarized procedures to obtain legal certifications, then there is a negative effect on the reputation of the publicly recognized bodies. Hence, faith is the most basic requirement in the notary industry…"

In Zhao Guozhou and Li Honglian's eyes, anyone who could memorize 300 words was a miracle and was something impossible, but Zhang Ye was still reciting!

"This…"

300 words!

500 words!

800 words!

The interviewers' faces turned aghast!

When the last paragraph was recited, Zhang Ye remained at his constant pace, "As an embodiment of integrity, a system that builds on the society's trust, a notary allows people to accept and adopt means to acquire trust." With a pause, he cleared his throat, "Thank you, Teachers. I've finished reciting!"

A female interviewer's pen dropped from her hand. "Lu Lu", it rolled down to the floor!

Zhao Guozhou was in shock and turned his head sideways, "Old Li*? This… Was it memorized correctly?"

Li Honglian looked at the manuscript in her hand and gasped, "…920 words, recited verbatim!"

The leftmost interviewer nearly fell from his chair as he said in surprise, "How did you do it? Ten seconds? You memorized it all?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "I read things a bit faster than others and have a relatively good memory. A glance would be sufficient."

Ten seconds was just enough to sweep through over 900 words. This wasn't just fast, this was f*ing too fast! The person even wanted to ask if Zhang Ye had previously memorized the thesis, but he knew it was impossible. This thesis was unknown and was randomly found on the internet. Besides, there was no way it could have been disclosed beforehand. Li Honglian also randomly grabbed a topic, so how could that person know in advance!?

F*! Are you even human?

Zhang Ye's act had shocked them all!

A few interviewers were greatly surprised, as if they had seen a ghost!

Little surname will be seen very commonly in this translation of the novel. It is usually used when an older person addresses a younger person, it is also shows a bit more endearment.

Old surname is used in a similar fashion, when a younger person addresses an older person with endearment.

Zhang Tenglan is a play on a Japanese pornstar's name, Wu Tenglan/Ran Asakawa.

Zhang Jingkong is a play on a Japanese pornstar's name, Cang Jingkong/Aoi Sora.

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Chapter 4: A "The Song of the Stormy Petrel" to Shock the Masses!

In the room.

Complete silence.

In fact, they had not even prepared the second question. They planned to brush Zhang Ye off with the first, but now under these circumstances, the eight interviewers looked at each other without knowing how to give a score. According to the on-the-spot performance, giving this young man a hundred points was necessary. No, it wasn't too much to give him 200 points!

He had read it in ten seconds? Recited more than 900 words off script?

What sort of godly person could do this?

Previously, the interviewers thought Zhang Ye was an idiot for not having any expression. However, apparently it was because he was extremely confident. He had never found the thousand words a problem. Correspondingly, it was them, the interviewers, who were idiots!

However, if they were to give Zhang Ye a perfect score, then it was equivalent to hiring him. This young man's written test results may have passed, but it was not outstanding amongst the more than 20 people. The differences between the candidates weren't huge, so the interview was the best way to differentiate them. 80 points was a very high score, so giving a perfect score meant that he would definitely be ranked in the top two amongst the more than 20 people. Unfortunately, Zhang Ye's qualifications were not acceptable to them. His looks were too average and even a radio host who usually does not need to show his face would still need to show his face occasionally. For example, there would be activities or public appearances. If his looks did not make the cut, it would affect the listeners after they saw him. Hence, good looks and a tall height were essential.

Li Honglian was in a dilemma, "Old Zhao?"

Zhao Guozhou sighed and said earnestly to Zhang Ye, "Little Zhang, we can tell from this interview that you are a rare talent. Furthermore, you are a specialized course graduate. We should greatly welcome you; that is indeed the case. However, you.. chose the wrong profession. I do not need to talk about your looks. I guess your college's teachers have given you advice on that matter. The radio profession is like that. How about this? I'll give you a backdoor and we don't need to have the second interview question. There are many positions in our radio station. As long as it's a behind-the-scenes position and not a host position, you can choose any of them. I will pass you immediately. Bring your things tomorrow and report for work. If you want to go down the road of being a host, then it is really not easy. Think through my words."

Without a second thought, Zhang Ye said, "Teacher, thank you for your kindness. I know my qualifications make my path arduous. However, I only want to apply to be a broadcasting host." This was his insistence on his dreams. If he were willing to switch to another job, Zhang Ye would have done so long ago. He would not have remained jobless to this day.

Zhao Guozhou waved his hand. This kid sure didn't listen to advice.

Li Honglian also smacked her lips, "Are you sure? Let me give you a warning. The second interview question is not easier than the first. It's almost impossible for you to pass. Young lad, it's not that we are purposely making it difficult for you. Interviews are like that. We give a question of appropriate difficulty according to the candidate's qualifications. Your qualifications really can't pass the threshold needed for a broadcasting host. That's why our questions are correspondingly harder. As such, you need to have far more outstanding talent in order to mask the qualifications you lack. I advise you to think over Director Zhao's words."

Wasn't this making it difficult?

You are intentionally making it difficult!

Zhang Ye was a very stubborn man, and insisted, "There is no need to think about it further. Please give your second question."

Li Honglian was exasperated at his failure to make good. She shook her head and was also angry. "Alright, I am in charge of the foreign language channel. There are many English-speaking talents in the station, but we are lacking a person with talent in Russian. This recruiter was originally hoping to get someone who had a basic foundation in Russian. If you can compose a modern poem in Russian that makes us satisfied, then I'll give you full marks for the interview!"

Russian?

He still needed to compose a poem in Russian?

Zhao Guozhou looked sideways at Li Honglian and did not make a sound. It was a tacit consent.

The other interviewers had different expressions on their faces. Zhang Ye had showcased something that had left them speechless. They knew Zhang Ye was someone with ability, but not having good looks in the broadcasting host profession was a lethal deathblow. Except for a very few people with extremely outstanding talent, very few people could break through this situation. Hence, it could be seen from the second question that Li Honglian was not giving Zhang Ye an inkling of a chance. Russian? Zhang Ye's resume was right in front of them. The foreign language listed there was only English. That was the only foreign language taught in the university. He wasn't in a foreign language major and, even if he was in a specialized class, a teacher would not be so free as to teach Russian! Without knowing this language, there was no reason to even mention composing poems. If you couldn't even speak it, how could you compose it?

Zhang Ye had already expected that the second question would not be easy, but he had never expected it to be of such difficulty. Not a single chance was given to him. And it was in Russian? Zhang Ye wasn't even good at English. He had barely passed the basic eligibility test for graduation, so how could he know some bull* Russian!? Damn it. I have a harder path ahead, just because I'm not good-looking? And I need to suffer such unfair treatment and torture? What are you basing it on? What are you basing your decision on, that makes you think I can't make the cut? Why will no one give me a chance? I want fairness! Is that so hard?

Li Honglian's nails were tinkling on her tea cup. "The poem needs to be an original work of yours. Do not read the famous works of the famous Chen Tianmo or Wells. I'm looking at your language skills and also your literary knowledge. These are all related. Begin."

And it had to be an original poem? An interviewer even thought in his mind, "What's the point of carrying on? Just get the next person. Even a person who professionally does Russian would not be able to use Russian to compose a poem, much less a person who doesn't know Russian!

Chen Tianmo?

Wells?

Who are they? Why does it sound familiar?

Zhang Ye suddenly recalled. Chen Tianmo was someone he caught a glimpse of when he searched the internet. He was now one of the most famous poets in the country. In the altered world, Zhang Ye's Xu Zhimo poem collection by the window sill had changed into Chen Tianmo's! He had nearly forgotten that this world no longer had Xu Zhimo or Pushkin. Replacing them were this world's poets and works he had never seen before. Zhang Ye finally refocused and had a brilliant flash in his mind. If he had never seen the poems in this world, then this world would definitely not have seen the famous poems of his world!

Zhao Guozhou was slightly sympathetic and added on, "Little Zhang, it's not too late to regret now. My offer still stands. You don't have to take the second question's test. I will arrange for a behind-the-scenes position for you."

Don't take the test?

Why should I not take the test?

Zhang Ye was already fed up. They had made it difficult for him so many times. Were they even done? You want an original poem in Russian? Sure! I'll create a poem today just for you! I don't know Russian? So what! Zhang Ye had never learned Russian, but that did not mean he didn't know Russian poems! Were these two sentences in conflict? It was completely not in conflict. Back in his college days, the broadcasting major teachers would create all sorts of difficult problems to train them. For example, Zhang Ye clearly remembered one from the second semester of his third year. Their vocal teacher had brought a Russian pronunciation recording of a famous Russian prose and forced Zhang Ye and company to memorize it. Zhang Ye and his classmates found it torturous and took a month before they memorized it. Those days were like a nightmare. But only after memorizing it did Zhang Ye understand his teacher's intentions. His speaking ability and memory had greatly increased. This way of memorizing something and not through understanding the meaning behind the words was very taxing. It was likely that all those who came from the specialized class had such a training experience.

"If you can't do it, let's get the next person." Li Honglian began to chase him away as she flipped to the next resume.

Zhang Ye recalled his Year 3's basic skills and said, "Is prose okay?"

"Prose?" Li Honglian was dumbfounded. You still want to do prose? This was even harder than normal modern poems. Furthermore, it was a foreign language's prose. To Li Honglian, this was on a completely different level of difficulty. She was the only person present who knew Russian. But when she encountered prose, Li Honglian would find it extremely difficult to read it, let alone compose a poem. This Little Zhang sure was good at raising the stakes. "If you want to choose to do the harder prose, I will not stop you. As long as it's an original Russian poem, any theme would do."

"Alright." After he said that, Zhang Ye closed his eyes and stayed silent. He was adjusting his mood.

"Are you done?"

"Why aren't you beginning?"

"Forget it. You haven't even learned Russian. Come again next time for an interview."

"Can you stop wasting our time? There are still others waiting behind you. Go back. Your qualifications are really lacking for a broadcasting host!"

After not getting a response for a long time, the interviewers became more impatient. They began nagging. None of them believed he could speak Russian. Wasn't this a joke!?

As they spoke with doubt and sarcasm, Zhang Ye sounded out from his diaphragm as his eyes opened. The first sentence he said left all the interviewers present gaping!

"Песня-о-буревестнике，Над-седой-равниной-моря-ветер-тучи-собирает，Между-тучами-и-морем-гордо-реет-Буревестник，черной-молнии-подобный."

"Ah?"

"He really could speak it?"

"What language was that?"

Zhao Guozhou's eyes glazed over as he looked back at Li Honglian, "Old Li? This is?"

The other interviewers stared back at Director Li. They, too, knew that Director Li knew Russian.

But as they looked over, they saw Li Honglian's eyes staring, and her eyes were eve larger than theirs. Without a word, everyone knew instantly!

What the f*!

You can even speak Russian!?

Zhang Ye began speaking faster and faster. In his voice, it was mixed with pride and apathetic emotion. This was because this poem needed to be recited with such emotions!

Gorky's "The Song of the Stormy Petrel"!

This was a Russian poem that everyone in his world knew. It was even in middle school textbooks. This poem was also precisely expressing the emotions Zhang Ye was feeling at the moment. He recited it with glee. The last sentence was especially nearly shouted out by him!

"Пусть-сильнее-грянет-буря!"

The poem was done!

Everyone turned silly!

Chapter 5: Being Hired!

Silence!

Not a single person spoke!

Zhang Ye was not at all surprised to see them speechless.

Li Honglian was already at a loss of words, "You… That poem…"

Zhao Guozhou could not understand Russian, "Old Li, translate it. How's the poem?"

Li Honglian cleared her throat with a cough, "That, I…I, too, did not understand it too well. *cough* I only understood a small portion."

Ah? Even you, as a person who studied Russian, did not understand it? A few of the interviewers nearly fell off their chairs!

"Prose poems are like that. Russian is also a bit harder to understand. Besides, Little Zhang said it pretty fast…" Li Honglian came up with an excuse.

Zhang Ye immediately said, "Then I'll translate it into Chinese and recite it once again."

Even after seeing Director Li being taken aback, a young interviewer was still unwilling to give up. He wanted to gain back some reputation for his Leader. As Chinese phrases were rich and contained all sorts of variations, it was different from Russian. Chinese was the only way to test a person's ability. I can't understand Russian? Then I can definitely make a fuss about the Chinese translation! I won't let it rest if you misuse a single word! I will fail you! This person still remembered the secret intentions behind his Leader's words. So what if you know Russian? The poem needs to be good, too! You think that you can foolishly pass the test by saying some random Russian phrases? How can it be that easy!?

Everyone had different thoughts as they focused fully on the Chinese version of Zhang Ye's recitation!

Zhang Ye could read some of their minds just by looking at their eyes. He knew that they still thought lowly of him. With a sneer, his emotions were perfectly aligned with his recitation. "Up above the sea's grey flatland, wind is gathering the clouds. In between the sea and clouds proudly soars the Petrel, reminiscent of black lightning. Glancing a wave with his wingtip, like an arrow dashing cloudward, he cries out and the clouds hear his joy in the bird's cry of courage. In this cry–thirst for the tempest! Wrathful power, flame of passion, certainty of being victorious the clouds hear in that bird's cry. Seagulls groan before the tempest, – groan, and race above the sea, and on its bottom they are ready to hide their fear of the storm…"

It was still calm in the beginning!

However as the poem reached its climax, Zhang Ye's tone became more pressing. His volume increased, "The wind howls . . . the thunder rolls . . . Like a blue flame, flocks of clouds blaze up above the sea's abyss. The sea catches bolts of lightning, drowning them beneath its waters. Just like serpents made of fire, they weave in the water, fading, the reflections of this lightning–Tempest! Soon will strike the tempest! That is the courageous Petrel proudly soaring in the lightning over the sea's roar of fury; cries of victory the prophet…"

Why do difficulties always befall me?

Why is the world always this unfair?

But! So what if that was the case! So what if my body was shattered! This is the road I chose! I will not retreat! I have no fear!

Zhang Ye took a final breath and said loudly, "–Let the tempest come strike harder!"

The final stanza of the poem was engraved in the hearts of many in Zhang Ye's previous world. It boiled one's blood and, now throwing it into this world, it similarly injected itself into one's blood!

Zhao Guozhou turned dumbfounded hearing this!

Li Honglian also felt goosebumps!

The young interviewer who was thinking of finding fault with Zhang Ye's poem was now speechless. He did not even dare to breathe!

Silence!

Seeing everyone stunned by his poem, Zhang Ye felt discharged of his anger. His emotions escaped from the poem, allowing him to recover his calm. This society judged people by their looks and, over time, he had grown accustomed to it. As such, he did not have any scruples, as long as he was selected, "Teachers, I have finished answering the second interview question!"

"Ah… Okay." Li Honglian's soul finally returned to her body. Previously, her thoughts had flown into the tempest together with that Petrel.

Zhao Guozhou said with a hoarse voice, "What's the name of this poem?"

Zhang Ye answered, "This poem's name is 'The Song of the Stormy Petrel'. In Russian, it also has the meaning of a person predicting the storm."

"What a good Petrel!" Zhao Guozhou may not understand Russian, but he could understand the Chinese perfectly. "A flying Petrel, a proud Petrel, a fearless Petrel. That is describing you, right? The power of poems is sometimes very miraculous. Young lad, you have given all of us a lesson today!"

"I don't dare to take that compliment." Zhang Ye said.

Everyone looked at Zhang Ye in a different light. Previously, reciting a thousand words off script had shocked them greatly. Now, a casual recitation of a Russian prose poem that was at the level of a grandmaster had completely conquered the hearts of all the people present! His performance had also slapped all the interviewers in the face! Li Honglian had given this question to prevent Zhang Ye from passing the interview. It was clear that she was leading him into a trap, but she had never expected him to give a perfect answer. And the answer even included Zhang Ye's anger and his unwillingness to accept the situation. It made them, as interviewers, ashamed!

From which stone did this sort of amazing person jump out from?

Li Honglian said with an expression that was hard to read, "That will be all for today. Go back and wait for the news."

Was he accepted or not? Zhang Ye was not sure either. He only said, "Alright. Thank you, Teachers."

He walked away and closed the door. Zhao Guozhou, who was all picky with Zhang Ye previously, immediately slammed the table, "My Literature Channel's broadcasting department wants this person!"

Li Honglian disapproved, "Old Zhao, didn't you say that you were eyeing that little Xu?"

Zhao Guozhou turned indignant, "Little Xu can be given to anyone, but this person definitely cannot!"

"Are you even being reasonable?" Li Honglian began vying for Zhang Ye, "I'm having first dibs on Zhang Ye!"

"I was the one who had first dibs! Your foreign channel is not well-matched with him. With his literary prowess, he should definitely come to our Literature Channel. Say no more, Old Li. It's settled. Whatever good seedlings we have later will all be given to you. I will not vie with you!" Zhao Guozhou said without relenting.

"I only want him.. and not anyone else!" Li Honglian said with a cold face.

Zhao Guozhou said, "Last year, I had given up a good seedling to your foreign channel. This year, I'm definitely not giving up. Stop fighting me over this. Later, I'll give you a treat and, at most, I'll owe you one!"

……

Afternoon.

Jiaomen East.

After returning from his interview, Zhang Ye did not go to his parents' place. He still returned to his rental apartment. The small apartment was about 30-40 square meters, but he still liked it here. After all, this was his first time leading an independent life after graduation. He could not rely on his parents for every tiny thing. He planned to return home, but only after he had accomplished something.

Lunch was sumptuous. It was fresh prawns and noodles. Of course, it was the Master Kong-branded instant noodles.

Without money, Zhang Ye could only make ends meet by eating instant noodles. He did not find it tough while working hard towards his ideal goals and, instead, he found joy in it.

Suddenly, without any premonition, a person opened the door with the use of a key.

Rao Aimin, who was dressed in an autumn dress, entered the apartment, "How was the interview?"

Zhang Ye, who was topless, was at a loss about whether to laugh or to cry as he put on a vest. "Landlady auntie, can you please knock first? I have my privacy, too."

Rao Aimin sat down with her legs crossed and snapped, "What sort of privacy does a little kid like you have? You did not pass the broadcasting host interview, right? I've already told you umpteenth times. Just make an honest living by working behind the scenes. With your looks, who would hire you to be in the spotlight? That is, unless they were blind!"

It was quite a coincidence when the phone rang.

Zhang Ye picked it up and it was the voice of a youth. "Hello, are you Zhang Ye?"

"I am. Who is this?" Zhang Ye had a hunch, but he still could not believe it.

The youth said, "I'm calling from the Beijing Radio Station. You have been accepted and the higher-ups want to inform you to come to the Literature Channel the day after tomorrow to complete the necessary paperwork. Congratulations."

"Yes. Thank you! Thank you!" Putting down his cellphone, Zhang Ye slapped his thigh. Great! He got it!

The telephone call's volume wasn't soft, so Rao Aimin also heard it. She said, surprised, "Aiyah. Hey? It can't be! You actually managed to get hired? Every dog has his day. Even a rotten egg can be lucky one day!" Her tongue was indeed very venomous as she said, "Even you can be a host? Hehe. People have said that there are endless possibilities in the future for humans, but I never believed in miracles. However, after seeing you today, I finally believe what the miracle of life means!"

Miracle of life, your sister*!

Can you not be so disparaging?

Zhang Ye was in a good mood, so he did not retort. He immediately picked up the phone and phoned his parents. He informed them of the good news that he was no longer a jobless person. He was to become a broadcasting host!

Becoming famous and being a celebrity was what he had always dreamed of. Today, he had finally taken his life's first step. Although it was a tiny position and he did not have the looks or the height, but now, because of the game ring's help, his dreams might actually be fulfilled. He remembered the notice displayed in his dream while the game was being installed. This game was to aid him in fulfilling his dreams, in becoming the greatest superstar in the world. Now, the results were striking. The ability to save that he had obtained from the Lottery had helped him reverse the situation. The newbie incentive reward that had changed the literary background of the world had also played a miraculous role. Today, he could use his imbalanced knowledge of literature to build his fame. By accruing Reputation, he could draw at the Lottery, obtaining treasure items to help him fulfill his dreams of being a celebrity!

I'm thriving!

This bro is going to thrive!

Immediately, Zhang Ye felt that even the Earth could not stop him!

Becoming famous? House?

Girlfriend? That was really a problem!

Bungalow? Have you even seen the world!? Can you live in that kind of broken down place? Does it suit the status of a world-famous person? If one wanted to stay, one had to stay in a large mansion! Several tens of thousands of square feet in size!

As for a girlfriend? It has to be at least a super beauty like Rao Aimin! A girlfriend? Finding a girlfriend with my qualities? Are you cursing me!? How can I not go out with three to five beauties at once? Wouldn't it be a loss of face? I need to find at least five! That is just the beginning number!

Rolls Royce car? Can you not be so humorous!? Can you really not be so humorous!? If I don't sit in a bulletproof car when I go out, what happens if I get assassinated? Ah? What to do?

Anyways, he would move up to the peak of the entertainment world, step by step. People would remember him. The world would also remember his bright and mighty name, Zhang Jingkong!

Eh, that's not right. You got it wrong!

It's Zhang Ye!

In this novel, you will see a lot of 'your sister', 'your granny', 'your grandpa', etc. "Your abc" was originally a euphemism for "your mother" or other variations, which is a pretty vulgar curse word in Chinese that's usually translated as the F word.

'Your sister' is a common phrase used online. It is a derogatory term; but when used against people, it has a humorous take to it. Most people use it without any malice. It is also usually used in conversations as a harmless retort (similar to 'screw you' when used in a joking fashion), and can also magically reduce awkwardness in a conversation. The other variations for different relatives also have similar connotations.44

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Chapter 6: Laundry Day!

Sunday.

Morning, 7A.M.

Zhang Ye could not sleep from the excitement. He kept tossing and turning in bed, imagining a better future. However, he heard a knock at the door. Only he and the landlady had his rental apartment's keys. Even his parents did not have it. Without question, it was definitely the landlady inviting herself in.

The small room did not have a hall. The bed could be seen the moment that the door was opened.

He heard Rao Aimin's mature voice floating over, "Kid, are you sleeping?"

Zhang Ye touched his nose and rolled over, "I'm awake. Are you looking for me?"

Rao Aimin sat by the bedside and smiled. "You have been accepted by the Radio Station and are reporting to work tomorrow. Shouldn't you be returning the rent you owe to this big sister?" Saying that, she seemed to conjure a magic trick by pulling out a calculator and smacked on it a few times, "This month's internet fee is also due. You need to add another 80."

Zhang Ye yawned, "What are you saying?"

Rao Aimin repeated, "You didn't catch that? I'm telling you that your rent is now a total of 2,662."

Zhang Ye, "No, what was the first line you said?"

Rao Aimin blinked her eyes, "First line? Kid, are you sleeping?"

Zhang Ye immediately covered his head with a blanket, "I'm sleeping!"

"Heh, you damn rascal!" Rao Aimin finally got around and smacked on Zhang Ye's thigh according to the contours of the blanket, "Do you want a beating? Get up! Stop playing dead in front of me! Wake up quickly! If you can't pay the rent, then do some housework, like cleaning the place! Return it bit by bit!"

Zhang Ye shamelessly said, "I'm still sleeping."

"I'll give you half an hour! I'll be waiting at home at eight!" Rao Aimin said with her face darkened.

Encountering a landlady who valued money as if it was her life made Zhang Ye suffer in silence. However, he really did not have any money this month. As such, he could only struggle to crawl out of bed to brush his teeth and wash up.

Right, let's see what the game ring is like now. This was the greatest thing he could rely on in his future bid to become a superstar.

When he tapped it open, he realized that his Reputation had increased. Yesterday he had spent 100,000 points for the lottery, leaving behind 99,983 Reputation points. However, it had now increased to 99,999. He did not need to think to know that this was related to his interview. He had been so outstanding and he had even used Gorky's most famous "The Song of the Stormy Petrel". It was no surprise to have his Reputation points increased. Now he was just one Reputation point short of having another attempt at the draw.

Reputation is commonly a very general concept. From a game's perspective, it was a very vague word.

Right, now that he had figured out how Reputation points were obtained, he needed to do some household chores for the landlady. He wanted to see if he could add a Reputation point by doing this!

Suddenly, a loud voice erupted from the corridor, "Little Zhang!"

Zhang Ye realized that it was eight as he quickly wore his slippers and went to the landlady's house.

Commercial and residential apartment buildings had long corridors. This corridor was almost all Rao Aimin's property. It was quite obvious what having 20 apartments in Beijing, with extremely expensive property prices, meant. Rao Aimin could be considered a rich woman. But it was strange that despite staying here for so long, along with the other renters, he had never heard of Sister Rao having any relatives or friends. She was not married and was also childless. They had also never seen Sister Rao work at a job, so everyone found this beautiful landlady mysterious. No one knew how she was so rich.

Rao Aimin's house was on the same level. It was the biggest loft apartment on this floor. It was the kind where the upper and lower floors added up to more than a hundred square meters in area.

The door opened and Zhang Ye walked straight in. "Landlady, I'm here."

Rao Aimin sarcastically quipped, "Was your Chinese Zodiac sign a pig in your previous life?

Why are you so slow getting out of bed!?"

Zhang Ye explained, "I was too happy last night and didn't sleep all night. I'm still tired now."

"You just got hired to be a radio host; do you need to make it such a big deal?" Rao Aimin hit him at where it hurt the most, "Now, the radio profession is no longer like what it was 20 years ago. There is the television and there is the internet. How many people still listen to radio?"

Zhang Ye also knew that the radio profession was a thing of the past as he said sadly, "Hai, if only my mom gave birth to me 50 years earlier, then I might be able to grab an opportune time."

Rao Aimin sarcastically said, "Your mom is just 50 years old; how is she to give birth to you 50 years early? Do you think your mom is a snake spirit!?"

Zhang Ye, "…"

See how venomous her mouth is!?

Rao Aimin ordered, "Cut the crap and get to work!"

Zhang Ye rolled up his sleeves, "Alright, tell me where to clean. I'll do all your house chores today."

"Wipe the glass, sweep the floor, wash the sheets and I'll pass my clothes to you." Rao Aimin poured a cup of tea for herself and sat comfortably on the sofa. Her legs were crossed, making her look like a lord of the land.

She was wearing a shirt and long skirt that was not considered stylish. Her feet wore black flats. Although her dressing sense was old, beautiful people looked beautiful no matter what they wore.

Hai, time to get working.

Zhang Ye began busying himself sweeping and mopping the floor.

Rao Aimin was a person whose mouth could not rest. Whenever she was free, she would trample on Zhang Ye by nagging, "What kind of wiping are you doing? I'm telling you not to do it haphazardly!"

"I'm not doing it haphazardly."

"Fine, fine. Go wash the clothes!"

Entering the bathroom, Zhang Ye sighed as he sat down on a stool. He had thrown everything that could be washed into the washing machine. However, there were some clothes that could bleed their color or were not suitable to be washed with the washing machine, so he had to hand-wash them by soaking them and scrubbing. Piece after piece of clothes, Zhang Ye did not idle one bit for the entire morning.

He had no way out. He had lost his human rights by being in debt.

Afternoon.

Zhang Ye finished his task as he felt extreme pain in his lower back.

"Are you done washing?" Rao Aimin glanced at the clothes hanging out in the balcony to dry. It was rare for her to not wag her venomous tongue as she said with satisfaction, "Alright, not bad. That will do. You can stay behind for lunch." Putting down the ancient book "Classic of Mountains and Seas", she went into the kitchen to cook.

The existence of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" had been modified by the game. There were things that changed and things that did not change in this world. Zhang Ye could only slowly learn and get used to the details.

Zhang Ye was very happy. He had been eating instant noodles for too many days and now he could finally eat a proper hot meal.

He sat on a chair to rest. After taking a few breaths, he opened the game ring's interface. He realized that his Reputation score had increased by one. It was now 100,000 points!

This additional point was given to him by the landlady?

It looks like his assumptions were correct!

The game ring's explanation of Reputation was, "The increment of Reputation is related to the player's fame, exposure, achievement, trust, reputation and other related factors."

That is to say, if a person were to trust him, admire him or agree with what he did, then his Reputation would increase by one. The Reputation obtained from others could be stacked repeatedly. How did he figure this out?

He figured it out from the interview from the previous day. There was a total of eight interviewers, yet Zhang Ye's Reputation had gone from 99,983 to 99,999. He had 16 Reputation points added. This meant that when Zhang Ye recited the thousand words off script, the eight interviewers had given him a total of eight Reputation points. Later, when Zhang Ye recited the "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", they had given him an additional eight Reputation points. The numbers matched up perfectly!

After figuring out how Reputation was computed, what was left was drawing at the lottery. He wanted to see what he could get this time!

Zhang Ye looked forward to an item that could allow him to turn into Superman. He would be so happy if he could be worshiped by the entire world.

However, that was unrealistic upon further thought. Some people could become Spiderman from the toxins injected into their body from a spider's bite, while there were others who had pieces of iron placed within their body to become Iron Man. Some people became Batman by spending many years with bats.

Well, if that had any scientific basis, Zhang Ye felt that… the chance of him becoming an Instant Noodles Hero was more likely!

He drew at the lottery, spending 100,000 Reputation. His remainder was zero!

The lottery interface appeared as Zhang Ye deliberately blew at his palms. With a rub of his hands, he pressed on the button that began spinning the wheel!

It began!

The needle was moving very quickly on the spinning wheel!

"Special Category! Give me a Special Category!" Zhang Ye muttered to himself. However, from the wheel's setup, even a fool would know that the Special Category was extremely rare. Although he did not know what it meant by the introduction text, "Adds the purchasing privilege of buying a certain Merchant item", it was definitely not wrong to hope for a rare item, as that increased its value.

However, that one to two percent chance of good luck did not befall Zhang Ye. The needle stopped and it was still pointing towards the largest Consumption Category.

Treasure Chest (Small) dropped!

As he opened the chest, light blinded him!

Inside was something that looked like a stick of chewing gum!

[Unlucky Sticker: Effective once it's stuck on. Bad luck will surround the person. Lasts for 5 minutes.

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Chapter 7: First Day of Work

Monday.

The weather god was not happy, so the haze was heavy.

This was Zhang Ye's first day of work. He wore a western suit and a tie. He came, once again, to the Beijing Radio Station respectfully and found the Literature Channel department upstairs.

The radio station's coverage was the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. Some small cities in the northeastern regions could also receive the signal. Although it could not be compared to the Central Radio Station, its coverage and listeners were much greater than other local radio stations that were similarly ranked.

The Leader's office.

Zhang Ye knocked on the door gently. After hearing a "come in" from inside the room, he pushed open the door and entered. Sitting behind the office desk was a person Zhang Ye had met during the interview. He was Zhao Guozhou, who was in his 40s. He was the person in charge of the Literature Channel. Be it the radio station or the television station, this position in Beijing and several areas was called Director. Of course, there were exceptions; for example, Southern and Northern Hunan would call this position Master.

"Leader."

"Hello, Little Zhang. Sit down. Have you brought all the documents?"

"I've brought them all."

"Great. Someone from HR will do the hiring procedures for you, but there's no rush with that. Drink some water and, after that, I'll first bring you to the office in order to introduce you to everyone."

"Okay, thank you for the trouble."

Zhang Ye was very mindful of his speech, even during this simple exchange.

After a while, Zhao Guozhou led Zhang Ye with a smile to the Literature Channel department's office on the same floor. It was a large area and there were about 30-40 desks. As today's programs might have already been pre-recorded, everyone did not look too busy. Some were playing games, while others chatting.

Only when they saw their leader come did they stop playing and chatting.

"Leader."

"Good morning, Leader."

Everyone greeted.

Zhao Guozhou nodded and slapped Zhang Ye on the shoulder. "Everyone, stop what you are doing. I'm introducing a new comrade. Zhang Ye is a broadcasting major graduate from the Broadcasting College. He will be one of us, from today onwards. Please welcome him." Although the Media College was its current name, it was previously known as the Beijing Broadcasting College. Its name was changed only in the past few years, so many people still called it by its previous incarnation out of habit. "…There might be some schoolmates of Little Zhang here. You are his senior brothers and senior sisters. Everyone, please take care of this rookie."

The welcoming applause was sparse. Some people gave an obvious questioning look.

Zhang Ye grabbed the opportunity to say hello and gave a brief self-introduction.

Following that, Zhao Guozhou called over a youth. He looked to be about the same age as Zhang Ye and could not be much older than Zhang Ye. However, there was no need to compare their looks. He was much more handsome. "Tian Bin. Ah, you are radio host. Bring Little Zhang around these days to get him familiar with the business."

Tian Bin offered to shake Zhang Ye's hand, "Hello, Little Zhang. You can ask me anything if you have any doubts."

Zhang Ye immediately used two hands to receive the handshake, "Brother Tian, I'll be troubling you in the future."

Zhao Guozhou said to Zhang Ye, "Little Tian is the radio host of our channel's 'Late Night Ghost Stories'. Learning from him would be helpful to you." Previously, the Literature Channel had ghost stories on the late night channel, but the program name was different. It was probably changed by the game ring.

After all the necessary procedures were done, Zhang Ye went to do the paperwork formalities for his hire. After he was done, it was already 10.30 A.M. Only then did he return to his office desk in the corner.

A corner desk is usually popular amongst people, as the leader will not be able to see it, allowing one to skive. However, this corner was different. Firstly, it was not far from the entrance and secondly, there was a water fountain here. People came to and fro, which made it a busy spot.

As a rookie, Zhang Ye could not do anything. Although his position as a radio host gave him wages higher than the office secretary or editors in the office, he was, after all, a rookie. No special seat would be left for him to choose.

Tian Bin was sitting across from him with a board separating them.

Zhang Ye looked around, as he had nothing to do. No one had given him any work, so he stood up and asked, "Brother Tian, what do you think I should do or learn?"

Tian Bin glanced at him, but his expression was clearly no longer the same as the one he had in front of the Leader. He did not care about him and said, "Familiarize yourself first."

"Alright." Zhang Ye was not able to ask anything more.

At noon in the station's cafeteria, Zhang Ye took the opportunity to greet his colleagues in the same office, "Hello, Sister Wang. I'm new, so please take care of me."

Wang Xiaomei's gaze swept across his face and gave an unfeeling "Uh", before turning away.

Zhang Ye had wanted to shake her hand, but now he got himself into an awkward position.

Previously, he had gathered from everyone's conversations that Wang Xiaomei, who was about 30 years old, was one of the starlets of the office. She was the top girl in the Literature Channel. The "Talk About the World" she hosted was the celebrity program that had the highest ratings of their channel. It was a humanities and history program, where the past and present were discussed. Wang Xiaomei was good at hosting and her looks were good.

Although she was not as ridiculously beautiful as Rao Aimin, everyone who saw her would evaluate her as a beauty.

Only Zhang Ye was not smitten by her, because although Wang Xiaomei looked pretty, she had no characteristics to her beauty. She was lacking in temperament, which made her pale in comparison to his landlady.

For an entire day, Zhang Ye tried to build personal ties with people, but it was to no avail. It was as if everyone was not friendly with him. He seemed dispensable.

Tian Bin was as such.

Wang Xiaomei was as such, too.

Only when it was time to knock off did Zhang Ye realize it when he happened to chance upon a conversation between the Literature Channel's phone editor, Tian Bin, and another beautiful woman.

The beautiful woman was most likely Tian Bin's wife, as the two of them were holding hands. She had probably came to meet her husband after their work hours had ended.

"Brother Tian, how did Zhang Ye get hired?" the phone editor asked.

Tian Bin curled his mouth and shook his head, "Who knows? Just his looks makes him fail."

The phone editor sighed, "That's right. How can a person with such looks become a radio host? I seriously have no idea what the channel was thinking. I think I could do a better job than him."

Tian Bin asserted, "Zhang Ye will definitely not be famous."

The phone editor echoed, "Let's not even talk about being famous. He might not even be able to get a program. All of our programs in the Literature Channel have permanent hosts. He can, at most, be a replacement host or a guest host to take over for someone who's sick. Do you think he can have his own program? I don't even think that will happen next year. Let him endure through it. Heh, if not for the previous replacement host being transferred to the News channel, would he have been hired with his looks? It would not even be his turn to enter the Literature Channel as a host."

Tian Bin's wife laughed, "Even such a person was hired? What a joke."

Tian Bin said, "The leader even got me to lead him around. I don't have that time."

His wife said, "Then just ignore him. If he doesn't have a program, the channel will probably transfer him to another department."

The three of them walked as they chatted. They were unaware that Zhang Ye, who was by the company entrance, had heard them. Speaking ill of me behind my back?

Still want to transfer me away?

What sort of people are they!?

Clearly, the editor was jealous of Zhang Ye's good luck. The other radio hosts also did not think Zhang Ye would accomplish much. To them, Zhang Ye a replacement host, who was no different from any ordinary article. As a result, this scene unfolded. No one in the Literature Channel valued him.

Who told you I won't be famous?

Who told you that I can't go on programs?

Wait and see. I'll let you open your eyes!

People chased after fame and fortune in their lives. Zhang Ye was not greedy, as he only wanted fame and not money. He would put all of his effort and energy into becoming famous, heading towards his final goal that was set by the game ring's settings, which was to "become the greatest superstar in the world"!

Hard work would always pay off. By abandoning all desires and to only strive for fame, he did not believe that he could not make it big!

As for other things, like money?

Well, what is money? How can it be compared to being famous?

He had always treated it like dirt. He really did not care about other worldly things, such as money. He really did not care…

Eh, wait!

Zhang Ye suddenly stopped at the Western entrance of the station. He had used his foot to step on to something. Seeing that no one was looking at him, he bent down and picked up a dime that someone had dropped on the floor. He surreptitiously stuffed it into his pockets, before he carried on walking.

Right, where was I?

Oh, right!

Who told you that I can't go on programs?

Eh?

Who told you that?

Chapter 8: Trying the "Unlucky Sticker"!

A week passed.

That afternoon, Zhang Ye was sitting in his office, eating by himself.

His lunch was a bun, a bun and a bun. Finishing three buns was enough to fill his stomach.

After a few days of exploration, he was now familiar with his job, the equipment and the interpersonal relations in his department. Zhang Ye learned quite a lot. But of course, all of that was self-learned. Tian Bin, who had been assigned by the Leader to bring him around, had ignored him completely. After getting used to the work environment, Zhang Ye finished whatever was in hands, as he waited for an opportunity. He had not done a single program over the past week. It would even be good if he could be a stand-in host, but all of the eight radio hosts were each healthier than the last. No one got into a car accident or got struck by lightning. Hai.

"Little Zhang." a person beside him called out.

Zhang Ye glanced over and said in a lukewarm fashion, "What is the matter?" He still remembered the feelings he had, when he had seen this person for the first time. It was of great shock. There was a moment that Zhang Ye's mind unconditionally sprouted out a phrase一aliens have finally invaded Earth!

Right, go ahead and think what he looks like!

This person's name was Li Si. It was a very native name. It was ranked alongside Zhang San and Xiaoming as the three most widespread names in the country. The reason why Zhang Ye gave him such an attitude was because the person who had been speaking behind his back with the Tian Bin couple was this phone editor. He had even criticized Zhang Ye for his ugly looks. Just thinking of it made Zhang Ye want to laugh. Shouldn't you look at yourself in the mirror first? No matter how I look, I am at most average. What about you? No matter what, you can only be described with a poem!

You are like the clouds in the sky.

You are like the thick haze.

You are like the bright moon.

You are like the dust in the wind.

―Uh, well you just aren't like a person.

Li Si put down a bunch of A4 paper. "Brother Tian will be beginning a new novel on the program tonight. The last novel, 'Ghosts at the Zero Point' has finished recording and broadcasting yesterday. Today, we will begin with "Recalling Spirits", and we have gotten the copyright for the story last week. The plan is to prepare for 50 episodes. This is the script for the first two episodes." The phone editor's job was generally to vet the listeners who call in during a live broadcast. However, nowadays, as it was mostly pre-recorded broadcasts, the phone editor's job was to do some text editing for some programs. Tian Bin's "Late-night Ghost Stories" had always been arranged, annotated and audited by Li Si.

Zhang Ye said, "Why are you giving me this?"

Li Si looked at him and said, "Help Brother Tian to edit a few paragraphs. These paragraphs are a little political and the standards for broadcasting and publishing are different, so we need to edit it. Oh, I still need to mark up some words and other jobs. The program tonight will be broadcast live, so there isn't enough time."

Zhang Ye had been assigned by the leader to be led by Tian Bin. Since he could not say no to this task, he took it and edited it.

In the afternoon, just before getting off work.

Zhang Ye had finished the editing and had also read the first few chapters of the novel. He found it average and very cliché. According to his understanding, "Recalling Spirits" was a very popular supernatural novel these days. The simplified Chinese edition had been selling like hotcakes; however, when Zhang Ye compared it to the supernatural Tomb Robbers novel in his mind, the difference was great. This world's supernatural novels were weaker in entertainment value and continuous suspense to the Tomb Robbers novel. When Zhang Ye checked the web to gain some understanding, he realized that this world did not have anything similar to Tomb Robbers. No one had written it and the state of the novel industry was in its beginning stages and was lacking in richness.

Suddenly, Tian Bin arrived for work. It was common for those who had night programs. Usually the host who had caught up to the live broadcasts would only come to work in the afternoon or at night.

Zhang Ye handed him the prepared scripts, "It has been edited." He no longer called him "Brother Tian", as this fellow was a very vengeful person.

"Li Si gave the task to you?" Tian Bin read it once and said, "Oh, that will do. These modifications will do." He did not say any niceties.

Li Si arrived at this moment and discussed the script with Tian Bin.

Just as Zhang Ye stood up to get off work, the work that he had been eagerly looking forward to for a week came.

An assistant from the editor team came looking for Zhang Ye. After seeing him, the middle-aged man quickly stopped him, "Little Zhang, are you getting off work?"

Zhang Ye responded, "Yeah."

The deputy said, "Hold on a while. I have something here."

"No worries. Tell me where you need me." As a rookie, he had to be more hardworking. Zhang Ye knew this deep down.

The assistant looked at the documents in his hand, "At night, besides the broadcast of the first episode of "Late-night Ghost Stories", there will be another broadcast. It's the golden time period's interview program. We have invited a guest, so there is a need for an additional host to help attune the mood. The Literature Channel only has you as a stand-in host. Uh, I'm just not sure if you are up to the task. After all, you have just been here for a week and you might be lacking in experience. It would have been fine if it was a pre-recorded program, which we can fix by re-recording and editing the material. However, we can't do so for a live broadcast. If any problem happens, it's an on-air accident, so I need to make sure."

Zhang Ye immediately promised, "I have no problems with it. I am already familiar with my work. You can rest assured!" He had been waiting for this!

The assistant from the editing team gave a faint "oh" and asked Tian Bin beside him, "Teacher Tian, Little Zhang is led by you? Do you think he is up to the task? If you don't think there will be any problems, then I'll let him try it out. The people for the program have been rushing me and the broadcast will happen soon, so we are in a hurry to prepare it."

Zhang Ye looked at Tian Bin.

Zhang Ye was hired to be a broadcast host, so he had to go on a show one day. Now, he had the opportunity and, typically, people would not hinder his future prospects and would say some niceties.

However, Tian Bin's reaction was far from expected. After staying silent for a few seconds, he frowned, "He has just come and isn't familiar with the business. Forget it."

Forget it?

The assistant from the editing team was stunned and acknowledged it tersely.

When Zhang Ye heard it, he turned annoyed, "I'm a broadcasting major, and have had practical lessons, so I'm already very familiar. I know how to use all the equipment, too…"

Tian Bin interjected in a manner as if he was very experienced, "Little Zhang, I know you are from a specialized major and have good foundations. However, a live broadcast is different. It tests one's spontaneity. You are still far from that and I'm saying this because I'm responsible for you. You should first slowly gain experience in broadcasting." With a simple sentence, he had destroyed the chance for Zhang Ye to go on a program. As for the reason, Tian Bin had obviously noticed that Zhang Ye's attitude towards him had changed. He didn't even call him "Brother Tian". Tian Bin sneered in his heart and naturally took the opportunity to suppress him.

The assistant from the editor team had no other alternative but to keep the program layout and say, "Alright, then our channel's Teacher Chen doesn't have a program today, right? I'll get Teacher Chen to make the appearance."

With the opportunity lost, Zhang Ye immediately turned hostile, "Teacher Tian, I have not offended you, right? You did not give me any help on my job to give me experience. You never answered my doubts. Now, you don't even know what my abilities are and you say I won't do? You even took away the chance for me to a be a last-minute assistant host? And you spoke behind my back to scheme against me? Did I kill your father or your mother? Is there a need to be this ruthless?"

Tian Bin did not expect Zhang Ye to dare to speak to him in such a manner and angrily said, "You repeat that again!"

Li Si also rushed forward and said, "As a rookie, how can you speak to Brother Tian like that? Are you rebelling?"

Everyone in the office turned their gazes towards them to watch the commotion. Everyone's eyes were staring, with no one coming forward to stop them.

Tian Bin pointed at Zhang Ye, "This kid can't even appreciate my kindness! I'm protecting you by not letting you go on air! It's to let you build up your experience! And you actually yelled at me? And still said that I schemed against you behind your back? Are you maligning me?"

Zhang Ye said coldly, "You know what you said back then with Li Si!"

The two began to quarrel and no one wanted to be in the weaker position. Finally, a few colleagues in the office came forward to stop them. Actually, everyone knew that Tian Bin had the bad habit of speaking behind people's backs, so they knew that Zhang Ye would not have said this without reason. Furthermore, Zhang Ye was being asked to be a substitute host. Not only did Tian Bin not care bringing the rookie around, he had even made him do all his dirty work. And when the rookie finished the dirty work, you still didn't let him go on a program? This was indeed quite unreasonable. No matter who it was, they would definitely not be happy about this!

Tian Bin and Li Si walked out angrily.

Zhang Ye stared at their backs as he scoffed. He knew that people had to tuck one's tail between one's legs and behave himself at times; however, when people bullied him, he would not be courteous to them. Tian Bin had pushed it too far! Beat him? Then wait to get fired. Scold him? It was likely that would have the same end result. This was a job Zhang Ye had a hard time getting. He definitely could not lose it. He still needed to use the radio station as the first step to becoming famous!

Wait!

That Unlucky Sticker!

Zhang Ye suddenly thought of the new item he had won at the lottery last week. He did not know how effective the item was and had never planned on using it. Whatever, since we're in this state, let's try using it on you! The game ring was what he would rely upon in the future. He had to understand how the items within were used and how effective they were. With his livelihood at risk, how could he not experiment? He really did not know how bad the bad luck would be!

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Chapter 9: The extremely unlucky Tian Bin!

Chapter title is a spoiler, highlight it to read it now, or see it at the bottom.

After work.

"Hey, did you hear about it?"

"I just went for dinner. What happened?"

"The rookie nearly fought with Tian Bin."

"Ah? Seriously? What happened?"

Many people in the office began speaking in whispers. Everyone loved a commotion.

Zhang Ye did not go home either. He rubbed the game ring to open his inventory and took out the chewing gum-like object he had previously taken out from a treasure chest. He opened the package. And at this moment, Tian Bin had come back in from outside. As the two of them sat across from each other, their seats were in close proximity to one another. If Tian Bin wanted to get to his seat, he had to pass by Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye quietly stuck the Unlucky Sticker onto Tian Bin's trousers with a finger. This thing could not be seen by anyone other than Zhang Ye!

Pa!

Tian Bin had the feeling that Zhang Ye had touched him when he walked past. However, when he looked down, he could see nothing, so he coldly glanced back at Zhang Ye.

The game ring made an announcement!

The Unlucky Sticker has been used. Effective for 5 minutes. Countdown begins. 4:59, 4:58...

Although Zhang Ye's antics got on Tian Bin's nerves, his mood today was still good, overall. "Recalling Spirits" was currently the most upward-trending ghost story and he had spent a lot of effort securing the audio broadcast rights to the novel. A few other provinces' radio stations had launched a bidding war to secure the rights, but in the end, Tian Bin had won the rights. He had actually resorted to under-the-table methods and had went directly to the publisher, instead of the author, who was a rookie. He negotiated with the publisher's management and promised a higher price for the rights. As to how the publisher would negotiate the payout with the author, it was none of Tian Bin's business. He had only promised the publisher that the bid price would not be revealed to the author and that the station and the publisher would be the only ones gaining from this deal.

Tian Bin saved no effort, as he wanted to make use of this novel to help boost the listenership of his "Late-night Ghost Stories" segment, attract more sponsorship and gain a name for himself.

Beep, beep. Another short message came.

Tian Bin looked at his mobile phone. It was a message from the publisher's vice-president, wishing success to Tian Bin's radio segment, as well as a reminder to not divulge the fees agreed upon for the novel's audio broadcasting rights.

Tian Bin smiled and, as he replied while he walked, something happened on the office desk to his left!

A female colleague was thinking of taking her lunchbox and getting off work, but when she stretched out her arm, she did not pay attention, causing the lunchbox's lid to crash to the ground with a "ding dang" sound.

Tian Bin just happened to step on it and slip to the ground. With a slam, he crashed to the ground!

"Aiyah!"

"Ah, Teacher Tian!"

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, are you alright?"

Tian Bin was in pain. But as he stood up, he waved his hand, "Forget it, forget it."

He picked up the phone and saw that the message interface was gone, so he created a new message and typed, "President Li, please rest assured that we would not be asking about how you split the profits with the author. We will not be revealing our end of the deal with Li Gen either. This is not our first time working together, so you can trust me." After writing this, Tian Bin scrolled to President Li's contact to send out the message, but at this moment, the colleague opposite was preparing to knock off from work. When she was passing Tian Bin, she accidentally knocked into him. The silk fan she was holding fell and landed, spread out on the floor.

Tian Bin lost his balance, stepped on the fan at the same time and then came crashing onto the ground once again.

"Brother Tian!"

"I am so sorry!"

"You…… Aiyoo, my back. What's going on!"

This time, people in the office paid more attention. Two falls in the space of a few seconds?

How unlucky could it get?

Tian Bin stumbled onto his feet, so angry that he wanted to give a good scolding. He took a look at his phone and realised that while he was falling just now, he had scrolled to the wrong contact, which just so happened to be the author, Li Gen. President Li and him both had the surname of Li. Therefore, their contacts were just beside each other.

Tian Bin felt really angry and planned on choosing the correct contact again.

But all of a sudden, Li Si walked up from behind at a fast pace, "Brother Tian!"

Tian Bin turned his head around, "Peng!!"

The fluorescent light above his head exploded without a warning!

The light tube's pieces came falling towards them and gave Li Si a scare. His reflexes caused him to place his hand forward to protect himself, but instead hit Tian Bin on his chin.

Tian Bin screamed out, "Putong!"

As he fell backwards onto the ground, his hands tightened and, at the same time, the message was sent!

Li Si rushed to help him up, "Brother Tian! Sorry! This…"

Tian Bin was nearly in tears, "What are you doing!? Do you not have eyes!?"

Li Si scratched his head and said, "I'm sorry, Brother Tian. I wasn't aware. Who would have thought that the light would explode?"

But when he picked up the phone to take a look at the screen, Tian Bin's face changed. Damn it! How did it get sent!?

He wanted to save the situation, but it was already too late!

This scene played out in front of Zhang Ye. He saw clearly with his eyes how Tian Bin fell and was knocked into. Their colleagues were laughing, thinking, "What bad luck Tian Bin has today!"

Three times!

He had fallen down three times!

Didn't you check the almanac before leaving the house?

But this was not the end. Just as the effects of the Unlucky Sticker was ending, the Literature Channel's person in charge rushed in!

"Tian Bin." Zhao Guozhou called loudly.

Tian Bin acknowledged, knowing that something was wrong, "Leader."

Everyone looked over, without knowing what had happened.

Zhao Guozhou screamed, "What the hell are you doing!"

"Eh?"

"The author of "Recalling Spirits", Li Gen, just called and demanded that the contract be voided and for us to stop the broadcast of his novel!"

"And if we infringed upon his copyright, he will send us his lawyer's letter!"

"Wasn't this matter supposed to be handled by you?"

"Why has it become my problem now?"

Tian Bin didn't dare to say a word and just looked down.

The rights for the novel "Recalling Spirits" were all with the author and the same went for the audio rights. It was down to trust that the author allowed the publisher to negotiate on his behalf. Therefore, strictly speaking, without the author's written permission, any agreements were not legal. This was how it was for "Recalling Spirits" and Tian Bin had only signed a contract with the publisher. If the author had taken his part of the payment, then the contract would have been in effect. But even so, if the author wanted to, he could have the contract voided!

Zhao Guozhou chided him for a full ten minutes.

Finally, the Literature Channel's several managers arrived and everyone was discussing the issue at hand. Only then did Zhang Ye and the others understand what had just happened. It was now known that Tian Bin had an agreement with the publishers of "Recalling Spirits" for the novel's audio rights. He would keep the agreed price a secret from the author and let the publisher keep a part of the profits. Actually, this was very common in the industry. Even if Tian Bin did not purposefully hide the details, as long as the publisher did not mention it, the author would not have known. But somehow, Tian Bin's message with all the details of the deal was sent wrongly to the author!

Isn't this a nail in the coffin?

Isn't this disgusting?

Cancelling the rights wasn't too much. If it were any other author who saw that message, the outcome would have been much worse!

Tian Bin explained, "Leader, this time it was my mistake, but I feel that we can continue with the broadcast. The contract has already been signed with the publisher, actually….."

Wang Xiaomei, who had not knocked off yet, replied with displeasure, "Are you going to fight the court case?"

A head of the editorial team also chipped in, "It definitely cannot be broadcasted!" "Who will be responsible when problems arise?"

They were a public institution and profits were not the main problem; responsibility was.

Everyone was discussing back and forth, but finally Zhao Guozhou slammed his hand on the board, "Change the novel. All departments who have suitable ghost story resources, help out. Tonight's broadcast cannot be cancelled. Use the shortest time and settle the new novel's copyrights!" Zhao Guozhou pointed at Tian Bin's nose and said, "It's all on you! Wait for your punishment!"

In contrast, Tian Bin looked like his father had just died!

While Zhang Ye's anger simmered, he realized the Unlucky Sticker had only been in effect for five minutes. Just a short five minutes had passed and Tian Bin's luck became like this? This item is too miraculous! It looks like, in the future, besides the nickname "Zhang Jingkong", another nickname is necessary. Yes, how does "Famous Detective Kogoro Mori" sound!?

Chapter 9: The extremely unlucky Tian Bin!

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Chapter 10: 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is Born!

Outside the office unit, the sky was completely dark.

It was past 11 at night, and they were just less than 30 minutes away from the live broadcast at midnight!

"Has it not been done?"

"Leader, I really can't find one!"

"You have to find one, even if you can't! Look at what time it is!"

"Yes. Then, then I'll try again. I will do my best!"

Many people in the office worked overtime. More than ten people hurried about, trying to save the situation. If an idiom was used to describe the situation, it would be "all hell broke loose"!

"Leader." Tian Bin asked carefully.

Zhao Guozhou waved his hand, "Go to the broadcasting studio and wait there first!"

Li Si ran inside the office and said, "There's still no way. I have inquired about more than ten supernatural novels. Their audio rights have been sold to other websites or radio stations. I have also contacted the Beihe province's radio station regarding some of their novels, hoping to broadcast them in a cooperative manner, but they refused. Also, there are some more common horror novels, but due to the tight time schedule, there is no way of contacting them. Some of them don't even have a way of contacting them."

Zhao Guozhou slammed the table, "There's not a single book?"

Li Si said bitterly, "Supernatural novels are now in short supply. The market is still in its nascent stages and there are only just slightly more than ten books that are mature works. Radio stations from everywhere are snatching them up, too."

An editor said, "The worst situation is for us to delay one to two episodes. We can then buy the copyright for them over these two days. Following that, we can resume broadcasting when we have the contract signed."

Zhao Guozhou said fiercely, "This program has been ongoing for five years without a break. If it goes off the air, who will take up the responsibility? Besides, we have advertised the program over the past few days. Three of our channels have been continuously promoting the new novel for today's "Late-night Ghost Stories". Who doesn't know that the most important day of a novel is its first day? Although people do not know what book is to be broadcast, with such widespread publicity, there would at least be four to five times the usual listenership waiting for the broadcast today. Halt the broadcast? Are you going to say it? Today's program has to be broadcast, regardless of anything. Hurry and try to make contact! I don't believe that we can't sign a single supernatural novel!"

As "Recalling Spirits" was the hottest supernatural story today, the station had struck the iron while it was hot by promoting it. They had never expected that this large-scale promotional campaign had turned into a noose around their own necks!

Tian Bin said softly, "If we really can't make it in time, then…"

Zhao Guozhou shouted, "Even if you can't make it in time, you still have to make it! Since this trouble was caused by you, wipe your own ass!"

Tian Bin did not dare to make a sound as his forehead sweated profusely. He felt oppressed, but he could not release his anger. Who knew that such coincidences would happen? If he had not slipped due to that lunchbox lid, he would not have closed the message window with President Li and he would not have sent the message to the wrong person. If he had not fallen because of a colleague that brushed past him, he would not have chosen the wrong name. If the fluorescent light did not explode and cause Li Si to hit him, he would not have wrongly pressed the send button. Tian Bin had never bungled up so badly in his entire life. However, with all these coincidences happening at the same time, Tian Bin found it very odd! Now with the program on the brink of a major incident, Tian Bin might even be faced with disciplinary action. He did not know how he had offended the Heavens. Why was he being toyed with? Tian Bin looked at Zhang Ye, as if he had seen a ghost. Ever since he had an argument with Zhang Ye, he had been unlucky!

……

Midnight.

Number five live broadcast studio.

This was the Literature Channel's dedicated broadcast studio that was very well-equipped.

Zhang Ye and another staff member entered to test the devices. The staff member checked the headset, while Zhang Ye tested the microphone. There were still ten minutes to go, before the live broadcast entered countdown. Without the novel's copyrights, there was no way to proceed with the live broadcast. What was there to say? This was not some talk show, where one could talk anything under the sun. This was a ghost story program. People switched on their radios late at night just to listen to this. Without any material, there was no way of going through with it.

Across the studio was a transparent glass with a soundproof room on the other side. Typically, that was where the phone editor sat. After finishing his job, Zhang Ye went over. Zhao Guozhou, Tian Bin and company began to enter, one after the other.

A female assistant alerted them, "There are still three minutes remaining."

Zhao Guozhou said to Tian Bin, "Go on up!"

Tian Bin's intestines had turned green, "Leader. How, how can I go on up? I can't say anything without a story!"

Zhao Guozhou, who was also experiencing tremendous amounts of pressure right now, bellowed, "Do you think that I don't know you can't say anything without a story!? But what can we do now? Eh! You tell me what I can do!" Pointing towards the studio, he said, "Quickly go in there! The program will be for an hour! I don't care how you are going to hoodwink it, but just do it!"

"There's no way to hoodwink for an hour." Tian Bin refused to go on up.

His other colleagues looked at each other. Up until now, there was not a single solution!

The female assistant looked at the time, "There's still another minute. 59 seconds…58 seconds…"

Wang Xiaomei, who was the Literature Channel's top star and one of the backbones of the channel, had also stayed behind. Seeing that Tian Bin had not moved from his seat, she reprimanded him, "Quickly! If you don't even go on air for your program, then it will be a broadcasting incident! Think carefully!"

A lesser leader of the Literature Channel also said, "Go on up first, before saying anything!"

Tian Bin still remained motionless. His expression was miserable!

The female assistant reported the time quickly, "There's still ten seconds…nine seconds…"

At this moment, Zhang Ye suddenly clenched his teeth and made a decision. You can't do it? You may not be able to do it, but I can! Wasn't he still gloomy about not being able to have a program? Wasn't this an opportunity for himself!? No novel's copyright had been given to them? Zhang Ye still remembered a few tomb raiding stories from his world! Although he did not know if that world's novels would work in this world, he had to at least try! Taking in a long, deep breath, he primed his expression. His entire aura changed. As the female assistant was counting down the time, Zhang Ye took three steps first and then two steps into the studio. With his ass on the seat, he pushed the button that controlled the audio volume as he wore the headset.

Everyone was stunned, with their mouths agape!

"Little Zhang!"

"What are you doing?"

"Why did you go on up?"

Everybody did not understand what Zhang Ye was doing. Without a single word of a novel's script, how was he to do a program? Are you going to have a live broadcast just like this? Are you trying to pull something from thin air?

Only Tian Bin heaved a sigh of relief and felt lucky.

Three seconds. Two seconds. One second. The live broadcast began!

With it done, no one could pull Zhang Ye out. The hearts of Zhao Guozhou and many others were now in their throats. How was Zhang Ye, who was a rookie that had just started work a few days ago, going to resolve this situation that had such a huge mishap? Who knows if it would turn out even worse!?

Leaving it up to fate, Zhao Guozhou and company gave up!

On the other hand, Zhang Ye appeared calm and, in fact, seemed slightly excited. He calmly said, "Hello, everyone. This is the "Late-night Ghost Stories" program. I will be your DJ today, Zhang Ye. With the last novel that was highly appreciated coming to an end, we will usher in a new work today, 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'!"

Ghost Blows Out the Light?

What was that?

Zhao Guozhou and company were stunned!

Zhang Ye adjusted his tone and said with a low, deep voice. "Introduction. Grave robbing is not like touring, composing poetry, or creating art; we can't be that elegant, leisurely, adoring or respectful. Grave robbing is a technical skill, a skill for breaking…" Zhang Ye said it neither quickly, nor slowly as he narrated, "All of these stories began with an incomplete book my father left me. That book is the 'Mystic Secret of Feng-Shui, Yin and Yang in Sixteen Characters'. However, no one knows what happened to the last part of the book; the only thing left is the first part. What's in the book is mainly about the secrets of how to read geomancy and the structure of tombs." The words and the tone used were very steady.

Zhang Ye had chosen this book firstly because "Ghost Blows Out the Light" did not exist in this world. Secondly, this book had been really popular. Be it in its sales and or its resounding response, it was number one in Zhang Ye's world at the time it was published. Ignoring the comparison with other supernatural novels, it had led far ahead, when compared against the most mainstream romantic novels back then. Thirdly, it was because back when he was practicing how to go off script and recite, he had used this book. Thus, he could still faithfully recite the content at the beginning of the novel. Even if there were mistakes or errors in his memory, it would not matter too much, as it did not affect the plot.

Ghost Blows out the Light is a famous novel in China. NomYummi on Gravity has actually translated the first chapter as a teaser! Check it out here! Portions of the translation was using NomYummi's original translation. Thank you to NomYummi!

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I am Really a Superstar #Chapter 11: Having His Own Program! - Read I am Really a Superstar Chapter 11: Having His Own Program! Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 11: Having His Own Program!

On air.

As Zhang Ye narrated the story, he spoke more quickly. It was at least much faster than Tian Bin's speed. This was like how the personalities of people differed. Narrating a chapter also depended upon one's character. Most of the time, Zhang Ye described the story at a fast to very fast pace. Of course, at important parts of the story, he would slow down when it was required.

"First chapter. The Funeral Doll. My grandfather is called Hu Guohua and his ancestors were large landowners known far and wide. During their most glorious period, they purchased in the city three alleys that linked together forty houses. They were also involved in some politics and trade, donating provisions and assisting in transportation."

Outside.

Everyone did not know what was going on. No one had expected Zhang Ye to take over the job of narrating a ghost story and they were worried. From listening to the first few paragraphs, no one had much anticipation for the story's content. Was this a supernatural novel? It was too plain. Was this an autobiography? After describing for so long, it was all matters regarding the main character's grandfather? And grave robbing was mentioned earlier on? Was robbing graves considered supernatural? There had never been such a novel of this type before. To them, only works that had been accepted by the market and had experienced the trial by fire of readers were considered good. However, Zhang Ye's grave robbing novel was something they had never heard of. As such, they immediately labeled it as something that "was not up to mark".

However, this view only lasted for ten minutes.

When Zhang Ye described how the funeral paper doll made by the craftsman came to life and asked to marry Hu Guohua, Wang Xiaomei felt a shudder. Zhao Guozhou's gaze turned serious as the entire atmosphere of the studio chilled down!

The funeral paper doll had let Hu Guohua dig up her grave for riches. Eventually, when Hu Guohua could not resist the temptation, his liver was eaten by the paper doll. When the plot reached this intense point, everyone's breathing had also tensed up!

Tian Bin was stunned when he heard this. As this was a midnight program, many people working for the channel did not listen to it. Most people would have slept by that time; hence, they would not know much about ghost stories. However, Tian Bin was a DJ who narrated such stories. He dabbled with all these ghostly stories on a daily basis, so he had the ability to distinguish things. Initially, he had deemed it impossible for this grave robbing novel to have any market, as it had never appeared before. But as he listened, Tian Bin felt his pores contract. It was as if Zhang Ye's mouth emitted a chill. The story had captured Tian Bin immediately!

Was this an original work of his?

How could this be possible!? He could write such stories?

Tian Bin did not believe. Neither could Wang Xiaomei and company believe!

Only Zhao Guozhou had a vague idea of the situation. Thinking back to how Zhang Ye composed the poem, "The Song of the Stormy Petrel" during the interview, Zhang Ye had managed to surprise all of the interviewers. This was a very talented person. Else how could he be granted special permission to be hired with his looks? Zhao Guozhou had grabbed Zhang Ye from Li Honglian's hands forcefully into his Literature Channel. Now, it seemed like he was prescient.

One o'clock in the morning.

An hour passed by very quickly.

The number of people outside were the same as before. No one, including Zhao Guozhou, had left early. They were all listening to the story.

The female assistant gestured to Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye nodded to signal that he got the message and he stopped his story at a suitable spot, "Dear listeners. That will be all for today's broadcast. I welcome you to carry on listening in for the story tomorrow. Thank you, everyone. This is your DJ, Zhang Ye." Pushing a button to broadcast music, Zhang Ye took off his headset and heaved a sigh of relief. It would have been a lie if he said he was not nervous. He had made some mistakes during the process and nearly embarrassed himself. Thankfully, he had the basic foundations, hence Zhang Ye was still pretty satisfied with his first broadcast. There was still some room for a few flaws.

A staff member walked in quickly. What followed was a replay of prime-time programs, so he had to adjust the equipment.

Zhang Ye walked towards the room that Zhao Guozhou and company were in. After pushing the door open, he first apologized, "Leader, sorry. I took the initiative to take over the broadcast without discussing with everyone. Mainly it was because there was no time. I did not want the program to have any broadcast incidents and go off-air, too, so I suddenly thought of a plot and idea I previously had. I followed my thoughts and narrated the story. Since it's my original work, then it would not cause any problems with copyright. I also thought pretty simply, uh, anyways, sorry to everyone. If the higher-ups want to pursue the matter, I will take full responsibility for it!"

No one had any response as they were silent.

Zhang Ye blinked his eyes, "Leader, I…"

Suddenly, Zhao Guozhou raised his hands and slowly clapped!

A middle-aged man in the editing team also raised his hand and clapped vigorously!

Following that, a round of applause sounded. It caused quite a commotion in the radio station's building late at night.

Zhao Guozhou grabbed Zhang Ye's shoulders and smiled. "Are you still apologizing? You have saved this situation at such an opportune time! Without you going on up, we don't even know what would have happened to the program. Besides, your 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' was written so well. There's nothing to say about the quality and neither can I pick on your language. I find it much better than the supernatural novels that our station has to pay top dollar for. Great, I knew I did not make a mistake choosing you!"

Zhang Ye immediately said, "Thank you. I'm flattered."

The female assistant also grinned, revealing her canines, as she secretly gave Zhang Ye a thumbs-up.

Li Si's eyebrows were knitted tightly. Tian Bin was also not in a good mood as he stared coldly at Zhang Ye.

Zhao Guozhou clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone has been busy all night. You have all worked hard today, so go home and take a rest." Again, he spoke to Zhang Ye, "Little Zhang, do you still have a follow-up to this story? Tomorrow you can just carry on narrating it. 'Late-night Ghost Stories' will temporarily be hosted by you!"

Me?

This program was temporarily mine?

There was no need to mention Zhang Ye's pleasant surprise. He was, of course, overjoyed. He had just started work for a week and was a rookie amongst rookies. Without any experience, he was given a program that he could call his own? He had seized the opportunity at the most opportune time as he immediately said, "Thank you for the Leader's trust. I will definitely do well!"

Tian Bin could not accept hearing this, "Leader, letting him host? Then, what about me…"

Zhao Guozhou said impatiently, "What about you! You didn't even dare to sit on the seat during the last few seconds! If not for Little Zhang rescuing the situation, we would have a live broadcast incident! You shall be a stand-in host for now! And take some time to reflect!" After covering his mouth to yawn a few times, he walked out tiredly.

"Leader!" Tian Bin shouted.

Zhao Guozhou went home without even looking back.

Wang Xiaomei stared deeply at Zhang Ye, before returning.

Zhang Ye glanced and said to Tian Bin, "Teacher Tian, I'm sorry. I will consult you if there is anything I do not know in the future." He did not kick Tian Bin while he was down and did not turn arrogant upon being successful. He calmly said some pleasantries. Zhang Ye was pretty impressed with his own bearing. Look at me being so refined!

Tian Bin was so angry that his eyebrows were tightly knitted!

Earlier that day, Tian Bin had been all-powerful and had repressed the rookie, Zhang Ye, due to his qualifications. In a few hours, his program had been taken over by Zhang Ye! With winners crowned and losers vilified, it could be said that nothing could be taken for granted in this world! Tian Bin bit his molars as he believed that it was still to be determined as to who had the last laugh. The most important thing was to see the listenership ratings when they were released tomorrow. If the first day's rating was still at the bottom, even after all the promotions, then Zhang Ye might be kicked away even if he did not make a mistake. After facing disciplinary action, the program would still be Tian Bin's!

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Chapter 12: Tidal-like Good Comments from Listeners!

The next day.

Zhang Ye squeezed in the subway to get to work. He heard two men, who had just got on the train, speaking nearby. The topic of conversation made Zhang Ye's ears perk up.

"Old Zhao, did you listen to 'Late-night Ghost Stories' last night?"

"Of course, I did. I listen to that program every night without fail. Eh, I thought you didn't listen to the radio?"

"I don't listen to it, but my wife does. Yesterday, she forcefully made me accompany her and had me listen to the program. You should know my wife, right? She has so much courage. If she sees a gangster late at night on the street, just her voice will scare the gangster away. She listens to ghost stories just so she can sleep. She had never felt so afraid before. And strangely, yesterday, they had broadcast a new 'Ghost Blows Out the Light', which scared her so much that she woke me up. I told her not to listen to it if it's so scary and just switch it off, but she refused and was adamant about tuning in."

"Haha, yesterday's 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' was awesome. Although I was not fear-stricken, I did find it creepy deep down inside and could not sleep well. It was very good."

"I also accompanied my wife and listened till 1 A.M. It was indeed good."

"I will carry on tuning in today. I really want to know what happens in the tomb later."

"That host is a rookie, right? His name is Zhang Ye? I find his narration very good. His speed was very appropriate, as the host from before spoke too slowly.

As the two people continued to chat, they did not know that the Zhang Ye they were discussing was just a few meters away from them.

Zhang Ye felt good hearing that. This feeling was so good. Opening his game screen to look at his Reputation, it was now at 10,677.

Having bought the second 'lottery' ticket yesterday, his Reputation had been depleted all the way down to zero. His Reputation had grown by more than 10,000 in a night. One had to know that ever since Zhang Ye was born, he had only managed to gain 200,000 Reputation in his more than 20 years of living. Now, with just a night's time, he had nearly matched what he had previously gained in a year. This speed was indeed very fast. There was indeed no mistake in choosing a radio station as his first step towards becoming famous. Besides, his Reputation would slowly increase. It would increase by one or two sporadically. It was the standard practice that every episode of "Late-night Ghost Stories" would be edited by specialized staff before they placed the recording on the radio station's website. Clearly, the gradual increase in Reputation was from people who did not listen to the live broadcast the previous night and were instead from people who listened to the sound bite on the website and gave Reputation points to Zhang Ye if they found it good.

Getting off the subway and onto the platform.

Zhang Ye first went to a roadside store to buy cigarettes. His addiction was not too bad, as he would smoke two sticks whenever he encountered a good situation.

"What cigarettes do you want?" the boss asked.

Still Red River? This was the cigarette brand that Zhang Ye usually smoked. However, realizing that he was now at least a celebrity, smoking a 6 CNY cigarette did not match his status as a successful radio host and a would-be famous world celebrity. Smoking a 6 CNY cigarette would be too embarrassing. A celebrity had to appear like a celebrity. They had to display their financial ability and their social image at every moment.

As such, Zhang Ye waved his hand, "Give me a pack of Double Red Joy!"

…Alright, this pack is 6.50 CNY.

……

Reaching the office.

There were many colleagues who had dark circles under their eyes, as they had worked overtime until very late yesterday.

Zhang Ye entered and was already accustomed to being ignored by everyone. He was preparing to take his seat to begin working. Now that he had his own program, it could be considered a promotion, so he naturally had a lot more things to do.

"Little Zhang, you've come?"

"Good morning, Teacher Zhang."

"I heard the program. It was awesome."

"Right, I could not come back yesterday, as I had something going on. I also listened back at home. I heard that it is an original work of yours? And without a script? Speaking whatever you thought on the spot? Amazing!"

"No ordinary person can go on a live broadcast without a script."

"Teacher Zhang is from a specialized major, so this is nothing."

A few colleagues smiled and greeted Zhang Ye. Their attitude was very friendly.

Zhang Ye did not make a timely reaction. Teacher Zhang? What Teacher Zhang? Are they…calling me that? Realizing this, Zhang Ye quickly turned humble, "Teacher Qian, Teacher Wu, Brother Wu, please don't call me teacher. I'm still new and am just a student. I still need to learn a lot from all you seniors. Just calling me Little Zhang would do." As a person working in the media industry and someone facing the public, "Teacher" was a form of "salutation". It was not too much, but Zhang Ye knew his boundaries. With his present qualifications, other people may respect him by calling him teacher, but he could not accept it.

By exchanging pleasantries, this was the first time Zhang Ye actually had a deep exchange with his colleagues.

The reason was clear. Previously, people ignored Zhang Ye because he was just a stand-in DJ. He did not have the looks, so no one thought he could make it big; hence, no one bothered to build a relationship with him. But now, things were different. Tian Bin had made a mistake and Zhang Ye had saved the situation at the last minute, preventing a broadcast incident. His story was also very good and he was temporarily made the host of the program. He had went from being a substitute to a main host, so the attitude of his colleagues naturally had a subtle change.

Was this how the world worked?

The way humans reacted was normal, so Zhang Ye did not make a fuss about it.

Of course, there were still many in the office who pretended Zhang Ye did not exist. This was in the character of some of them, while there were others whose work had nothing to do with Zhang Ye. Although everyone shared an office, they all had different responsibilities. A portion of them even had good relations with Tian Bin.

Behind him, a female clerk walked over with a cardboard box in her hands. Inside, there were stacks of bound letters. After passing some letters to a few program hosts, she came by to the corner and was about to put the letters on Tian Bin's table through habit, but after thinking it over and seeing that Tian Bin was not around, she glanced at Zhang Ye and passed them to him. "Teacher Zhang, these are letters from the listeners of 'Late-night Ghost Stories'. Some of the letters are for Teacher Tian. As the postal service was slow, some of them were received only today. Some of them are yours. They were mailed out by the listeners early this morning."

Zhang Ye said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The female clerk walked away.

Zhang Ye breathed in as he opened the letters. It was like the experience of a newly-wedded bride.

The first letter was written by a child. His words were crooked and very innocent, "Hello, Teacher Zhang. The story you narrated is so good. My mother had wanted me to go to sleep early and even beat me up, but I still did not switch off the radio and listened to it secretly under the blanket. I will listen to 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' from now on, daily!"

Zhang Ye smiled and, with some thought, he picked a pen and wrote, "I am Zhang Ye. Thank you for your letter. You should sleep early and listen to your mother. Don't stay up late at night. 'Late-night Ghost Stories' is uploaded on the Literature Channel's website, so you can listen to the broadcast online." After he finished writing, he found the female clerk and received her help in sending his response to the young listener, according to the sender's address. After returning to his seat, he carried on reading his letters.

Second letter: "Today's story is better than all the trash ghost stories from before by 10,000 times. This is the supernatural novel that resides in my heart!"

Third letter: "I am a taxi driver who works the night shift. 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is an awesome story. I will continue supporting it!"

Fourth letter: "This is the best supernatural novel I have ever heard! I just want to say thank you to the program team! Thank you, Teacher Zhang! I finally do not find the nights boring!"

There were more than ten letters and Zhang Ye read each and every one of them. He picked out three letters to respond to.

He then switched on his computer, so that he could read the letters in his e-mail inbox. Ever since taking over "Late-night Ghost Stories", someone had given him the password to the program's inbox. After logging in, he realized that there were more than 80 unread e-mails. This mail was not written as formally as the hand-written letters he had received. There was more online slang.

Liuliu59: "'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is too cool!"

Edhska115: "Great, Great, Great, Great!"

Qqqry: "Teacher Zhang, say a bit more each day. I strongly request for the program to be extended. I have already recommended 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' to many of my classmates and friends. I will be calling all of them up at night to ask them to tune in. Hehe, I'll give you a 'like' and be your fan in the future!"

So many good comments?

Zhang Ye found it to be extremely beautiful!

Look at this. Look at this. This is the voice of the people!

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Chapter 13: The Listenership Rating for the Program Explodes!

At 9 A.M., it was time to work.

Zhang Ye was busy replying to letters from his listeners.

Tian Bin and Li Si walked in together, late by a few minutes. But in an institution like this, the rules were more lax than in the private sector.

After Tian Bin arrived, the atmosphere became a little awkward.

Everyone's attention was focused on both Tian Bin and Zhang Ye.

As victors were always more gentlemanly, Zhang Ye made his greeting, as if nothing had happened, "Teacher Tian, good morning." It was as though they had not quarreled the day before.

Tian Bin ignored him, thinking begrudgingly, "That Zhang! Don't get too c*cky. That 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' might not get you anywhere. Grave robbing? This was something illegal. These two words are already not positive and you are finished if the listeners do not accept it. When the ratings reach a new low, it will be time to get off your high horse. You won't be jumping around for much longer. The listenership ratings will be announced soon. Wait and see!"

Tian Bin was waiting for the listenership ratings.

Zhang Ye was waiting for them, too. He, too, didn't really know how accepting the listeners were. Although he had received a lot of letters of praise, there were still some critics, some of which were quite harsh. Although this was just a small sample of the audience, what the actual results were still depended upon the whole listener base.

The door outside opened and Zhao Guozhou walked in with his pot belly as he came for his inspection. He passed on some instructions to his old comrades and spoke with an editor, before setting his eyes on Zhang Ye with a little laugh, "Little Zhang. Uh, yesterday's performance wasn't too bad. Whether the rating is good or bad, your story was just too timely." Speaking of this, he spoke to someone, "Oh, right. Are the ratings for yesterday out? Why didn't anyone give it to me?"

Wang Xiaomei raised her head, "I just came from upstairs. They are still at it, but it should be ready soon."

Suddenly, the female assistant, Xiaofang, who helped Zhang Ye the night before, briskly walked in with a form. The moment she stepped in, she took a quick look at Zhang Ye and handed the form to Zhao Guozhou, "Leader, the ratings have been released. These are the overall statistics for yesterday!"

Zhao Guozhou acknowledged it and took a look, but he couldn't help but be taken aback, "Did you take the correct one?"

Xiaofang, with a wry smile, said, "Of course, I did. The statistics department directly handed it to me." While saying that, her eyes drifted over to Zhang Ye's direction again.

The leader's comment could not help but stir up everyone's curiosity. Well? Was there anything wrong with the ratings?

"Everyone, stop your work for a bit. I will be announcing the rankings." This was a daily affair of the Literature Channel. Zhao Guozhou would, almost without fail, announce daily the rankings for the previous day, so as to apply pressure on everyone. The top-ranked star segments with high listenership had high advertising fees and high bonuses. Segments that ranked at the bottom faced the risk of being cut, like Tian Bin's hosted segment "Late-night Ghost Stories"' previous novel, "Ghosts of Midnight". There were many parts in the middle which had been edited out and the ending was directly broadcasted. All in all, a total of over 10 episodes were removed due to the lack of listeners.

There was no choice.

The station always replayed the day's programs after 1 A.M., meaning that "Late-night Ghost Stories" was the last program of the day. Listener numbers were already limited due to this reason. How many people would want to listen to the radio this late at night? Segments that appeared very late at night, like this one, would never have a chance to be compared with the segments that were broadcasted between the golden hours of 7 and 8 P.M. The amount of people listening in could even reach a result that had a difference of ten times. Including the weekend, the Literature Channel had slightly over 20 segments in total. "Late-night Ghost Stories" was always ranked at around 20th place, which meant it was either first or second if you were to count from the back. Even a lightning strike wouldn't be able to move it. It was not that the segment was bad. They had the most loyal listeners amongst all of the Literature Channel's segments. It all boiled down to the extremely limited audience base and late night timing, so how could it ever fight for a place among the top spots? It would definitely be an international joke!

Zhang Ye eagerly looked on with hope, but without any ambition. As long as it was not in last place, he would be fine with the result.

Zhao Guozhou announced, "First place, "Talk About the World."

This was Wang Xiaomei's segment. She and her team were not surprised. Several years had passed with Wang Xiaomei's segment always being ranked at the top, without losing its place even once. Not only at their own station's Literature Channel, the amount of ratings received was one of the highest amongst the Beijing Radio Station's radio channels. It had a prime-time slot and a pretty female host, so other than the traffic and news channels, her segment had always outdone all the other segments.

"Second place." Zhao Guozhou read from the list, "Entertainment Daily."

The Literature Channel, which included the entertainment circle's news, could not be compared with the News channel in terms of its audience base. But they had their own fixed audience base, as well. This segment was also a standard fixture for second place.

It was time to reveal the third place.

But Zhao Guozhou held back for a long while, like he was reading off the ratings graph.

"Old Zhao?" one of the managers who was close to him said suspiciously.

Zhao Guozhou remained in his paused state for a short moment before announcing, "Third place……." Stretching his tone, he finally said, "The third place goes to….. 'Late-night Ghost Stories'!"

What?

"Late-night Ghost Stories" placed third?

Upon hearing this, Tian Bin freaked out from the inside! He was still wondering if Zhang Ye could carry on the tradition of being in the last place, but somehow the results were as such! Were the statistics compiled incorrectly? That must be it: a compilation error! He knew his segment the best of anyone here. Tian Bin was wondering, "How could this unpopular program , which was on its deathbed, achieve such a high listenership?"

Li Si was staring out of his gaping wide eyes!

Zhang Ye did not expect such a result either and was shocked by it!

Not to mention anyone else, the whole office was temporarily in shock. No one could believe their own ears!

"Late-night Ghost Stories" placed third? This is not a joke, right? This segment was always ranked last or the second to last in the Literature Channel! Alright, as this was the first broadcast for a new story and the promotions were more than ever before, logically, the listenership would increase a lot. This was because listeners would always be curious and a new story would always attract them to find out what story would be broadcast. If it was any good, they would continue listening in; otherwise, they wouldn't. Thereafter, the listeners would dwindle in number before settling on a steady number. But even if a new story could increase the ratings, this was too much of an exaggeration!

Straight to third place?

Even doing better than the 5 P.M. and 9 P.M. segments?

Doesn't this mean that all the listeners pulled in by the promotions never turned off or changed channels once they heard the beginning of "Late-night Ghost Stories"? Almost all of them were retained by this story? That reason allowed the ratings' average to be pulled up by so much?

Even Wang Xiaomei, who was the host with the best ratings, reacted to this. Even her segment could not retain all of its listeners. Who doesn't switch channels if they found the program boring? That's why, even when the listenership rating was high at the beginning of the segment, it would slowly decrease towards the last half hour of the segment and, as such, the average rating would go down by at least half!

But what's with "Late-night Ghost Stories"?

The average listenership was too scary!

Instantaneously, everyone looked at Zhang Ye differently. A rookie who had just arrived, a novel 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' that no one had ever heard of – these led to the late night segment securing third place in the ratings? Holy *! You must be on drugs!

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Chapter 14: A late-night Segment has Actually Turned Popular!

"Those are the top three for ratings." Zhao Guozhou was very pleased. He praised, "I would like to now commend the team for 'Late-night Ghost Stories', especially Little Zhang. For a late night segment to achieve a placing in the top three for its first broadcast, it is unprecedented and should be entered into the record books. I've seen the listenership ratings graph and there isn't much of a difference between the upper and lower ratings throughout the program. Starting from midnight, it was always on a high and this shows the affirmation the listeners have about the plot. And because of the explosion of 'Late-night Ghost Stories', this channel's overall rating also rose. Let's have a round of applause for Little Zhang and wish that he would keep working harder!"

Bba Bba Bba.

Everyone reacted with applause.

But Tian Bin did not move; he couldn't accept the truth!

Zhang Ye clasped his hands in appreciation, "It's all thanks to the Leader's help and everyone's support; it wasn't down to me alone."

"Talk About the World" listenership 3.17%.

"Entertainment Daily" listenership 2.29%.

"Late-night Ghost Stories" listenership 0.98%.

"Laughter Daily" listenership 0.92%.

"People's Broadcast Station News Highlights (Affiliate Broadcast)" listenership 0.89%.

Sixth place.…Seventh place……the ratings had very little difference.

This time, the segment in last place was "Old and Young Story Club", taking over the last place position of "Late-night Ghost Stories", with a listenership of 0.27%.

After Zhao Guozhou finished announcing, he summarised the previous day's results before letting everyone return to their work.

Zhang Ye sat back down and got himself busy. On the surface, he was calm. But inside, he was bursting with excitement. If no one was around, he would have smiled until his mouth went crooked. Only after it sunk in did he calm down and analyze the reasons for the program's popularity. The most important reason should have been because of market and environmental factors. The ghost stories and supernatural novels of this world was still in their infancy stages, so not many good works have appeared, yet. The ones that could be considered good numbered around 4 or 5 novels. In Zhang Ye's view, these top novels would only be considered to be so-so; therefore, the market still hungered for more. Now, Zhang Ye had brought to them a story full of novelty about grave robbing, a story that was already tested and well-received in his world. The key was that this story was being first released on radio. It was an original story that was not available anywhere else in the market and so it was not in anyone's imagination that it would achieve such great results.

That afternoon, the recording schedule was confirmed.

The female assistant, Xiaofang, came looking for Zhang Ye while holding a slip, smiling sweetly, "Teacher Zhang, it's time to do the recording for tonight's program. You have Room 7 from 10 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Don't go any later than 11:40 A.M., because there is another recording after that. Well, in the afternoon, Room 8 has a lot of free slots. If you are up for it, I will book the timings for you? We can book three hours at the most."

Zhang Ye considered this, "Okay, then thanks for the trouble. Book it for however long it is available for. I will try to record three broadcasts by today." Of course, it would be good to prepare a few broadcasts in advance while in good health and spirits, rather than to rush at a later time. Besides, in this line of work, having one's voice in a good condition was imperative. If he caught a cold, it would definitely affect the quality of the broadcast, so it was better to be prepared.

"Sure." Xiaofang blinked, "Then, should I help to prepare your manuscripts?"

Zhang Ye waved his hands, saying, "No need for that. I don't have any manuscripts. Let's go straight to recording."

No manuscripts? Xiaofang couldn't help but look at him admiringly. Even the colleagues around who heard that were impressed. Ignoring the composition skills of the newly-arrived Teacher Zhang, just his off script reading skill was one of a kind in the Beijing Radio Station. Even for programs that demanded spontaneity like interviews, the host would still require a script of some sort for a guide, not to mention a program like story-telling!

Tian Bin watched with envious fury. Look how everyone is behaving. It's just a good result for the first broadcast and that's to be expected. I don't believe that the next few broadcasts will bring such high ratings. The station had been promoting it so strongly, so, of course, the first broadcast would be highly-rated. Tian Bin also had a broadcast for a novel last year and on the first day of the broadcast, he had received ninth place. But the next few broadcasts' ratings dropped exponentially by the day. In the end, it became last place as usual. Such is the law of programs in the late night segment and no one has ever managed to escape the claws of this curse!

Wait and see what happens tomorrow and the day after! I will watch you cry when that happens!

Tian Bin was already confident of his judgement!

Other Literature Channel colleagues, even Zhao Guozhou, had similar thoughts. Luck probably played a part for its first broadcast rating. No matter what, this was a late night segment: a midnight segment, in fact. This timing had the lowest audience numbers, so the ability to take third place would be lost for sure. It would even be normal for it to slip to around the tenth place.

However, the way the situation progressed caught everyone by surprise!

There was a slight dip in the listenership for the second episode of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". After all, even the best things would not be well-liked by everyone. If there were people who liked it, there would be people who disliked it. It could not be forced. After listeners who contributed to the first episode's listenership rating left, the results dropped to the segment to sixth place for the entire channel. However, immediately following the third episode of "Ghost Blows Out the Light", it ushered in another explosive breakthrough. It returned, once again, back to the third spot in the entire channel. Very clearly, although a small fraction of listeners had left, a large group of listeners gradually came in to replace them!

Zhang Ye's deep voice flowed from the radio, "Thousands of pieces of timber were used to build up a pyramidal tower that stood above-ground. There were red sparkling stars above the tower and, using the weak light to see, the foundation of the wooden tower was about two hundred meters wide, made of cement. Thousand-year-old cedar wood was used to build the tower's body and it had a total of nine floors. Each floor was filled with dried skeletons, wearing all sorts of strange ancient costumes. There were people of all ages and genders. Each piece of wood was engraved with Tibetan runes. Is this a tomb? Who could have built a tomb of this size underground?"

Many listeners in the city of Beijing felt an eerie chill while listening nearby their radios!

Zhang Ye was listening to his own program at home, too, while checking the internet for messages and comments, enjoying it thoroughly.

"I'm finished! I won't be able to sleep, again, tonight!"

"Me, too. This part is too exciting!"

"Can you not leave us with a cliffhanger? Why did it end here today?"

"Strongly requesting for a bit more! I will not be able to sleep at ease!"

The listeners' feedback was very positive. The posters included the old, the young, both males and females. It covered almost all ages!

About ten minutes after the program ended, Zhang Ye noticed on his Weibo a bigwig account's comment. The verified account belonged to a famous Central TV producer, Hu Fei, who had a following of over 600,000 fans. He posted, "Yesterday, a director from the station recommended to me a late-night radio program called 'Late-night Ghost Stories', telling me that the novel being read was really awesome. At first, I didn't quite believe it and, with a skeptical attitude, I listened to five episode broadcasts. But in the end, I was really impressed. I felt pleased, as I have read many supernatural novels, but none of those had amazed me this much. The country needs more of such great works."

Below the post, many fans rushed to re-publish it.

"'Late-night Ghost Stories'? Never heard of it. Is it that good?"

"If Teacher Hu says he is impressed, then it must be pretty good!"

"Haha, even Teacher Hu is recommending it? Looks like everyone's aesthetic style is the same. I began listening to 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' from the first episode and cannot help myself!"

Seeing this, Zhang Ye felt good. This was the greatest affirmation he could receive!

…

The next day.

"Late-night Ghost Stories"'s ratings for the past few days had been released!

First episode: 0.98%

Second episode: 0.69%

Third episode: 1.01%

Fourth episode: 1.14%

Fifth episode: 1.27%

After nearly a week of broadcasts, even though Zhang Ye's program was still in the top three, it was still a far cry from the second-placed "Entertainment Daily". It was not likely to take second place any time soon, but it had already firmly rooted itself at third place, since it was comfortably above the fourth placing. Moreover, the rating was increasing ever so slightly by the day, meaning that there was still a lot of potential for improvement!

Upon the release of the rating results, many skeptics were shut down, including Tian Bin.

A miracle had been created! The success of "Late-night Ghost Stories" made it unbearable for many to lay their sights on it!

Colleagues expressed wonder and admiration. As an unexpected competitor, the rise of this late-night segment was too sudden!

Even the traffic, music and news channels knew of Zhang Ye! That's how it was in the station; what secret could remain a secret?

"Hey, Ah Li."

"Old Meng? What's up?"

"I heard an awesome person came to your Literature Channel? He pushed the late-night program's listenership rating to third place? It is catching up with the ratings of prime-time programs? Is that true?"

"Yes, it's true."

"Awesome, too awesome."

"You have not heard 'Ghost Blows Out the Light', yet, right? If you listen to it, you will not be surprised. It's a really good piece of work. And it has opened up the tomb robbing genre for supernatural novels. It is the founder! You may not know this, but for the past few days, the amount of letters sent in by listeners everyday is just crazy. There would be at least a hundred letters a day!"

"Really? Then I must really give it a listen!"

Zhang Ye was passing by, when he heard the discussion between the two. With a slight tinge of happiness, he understood now that he has firmed up his standing in the station. "Late-night Ghost Stories" had become a star program of the Literature Channel and by continuing to contribute to the listenership, Zhang Ye's place as a radio host will rise, too!

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Chapter 15: Opening a Treasure Chest Again!

Weekend.

Jiaomen, inside the rented room.

It was Zhang Ye's day off. "Late-night Ghost Stories" was a nonstop weekly program. Since the Saturday and Sunday segments were pre-recorded already and left to the female assistant, Xiaofang, to broadcast, Zhang Ye could afford to stay home and be lazy. He woke up past 10 A.M. and stretched his body, before getting out of bed. The first thing he did was to bring up the virtual game screen to check on his achievements for these past five days. His Reputation points were at 110,000. Other than the first broadcast, which grew his Reputation slightly by just over 10,000, and the second broadcast, which added slightly less points, the remaining broadcasts, in total, added over 20,000 Reputation points a day. Seeing his Reputation grow so rapidly, Zhang Ye couldn't be more pleased.

There were enough points to draw at the lottery once again.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Ye spent 100,000 Reputation points to open up the lottery, "This time, I'm not wishing for a Special Category. Giving me a Skills or Stats Category would do. I've already played it twice, but have still not seen what is in the other categories!"

Tapping on it!

The needle began moving!

Stats Category…Special Category…Skills Category…

The needle slowed down and constantly moved past many other regions. Just as it was about to stop on the Skills Category, a slight jerk made it move forward. It did not hold!

Missed by just a bit!

Fine, it's still a Consumption Category!

Zhang Ye accepted it as he opened the lid of the Treasure Chest (Small). Inside the chest was a clear bottle with a small wood stopper!

"Invisibility Potion": Stealth mode activates after drinking it. Lasts 5 minutes.

Seeing the game ring's introduction to the item, Zhang Ye kept the potion bottle into his ring, as if it was something that did not matter. The inventory was like a spatial storage bag. As for the item he had drawn, he was clearly not very pleased. What's the use for this? To peep in the ladies' room? Don't be ridiculous. Zhang Ye had always been a gentleman. He would not do such nasty things. He had never even thought about it. Besides, the time limit was just a short five minutes. It was not enough to see a thing!

Outside, sounds from a commotion could be heard.

After washing up, Zhang Ye opened the door to take a look. A bunch of tenants were crowding around in the hallway.

"Landlady auntie, the rooms are already expensive, yet you want to raise the rental?" a university student said angrily.

"Yeah, you are killing us. This is exploitation!" a white-collared female shouted.

Standing in the middle, Rao Aimin had a face which didn't care for emotional pleas. She squinted her eyes and confronted all of them, "Houses are so expensive right now. Everyone else is increasing their prices. Do you think I am a charitable organization? If you don't want to stay, there are others who want to. Hmph, to think you dare to argue with me. You, Little Zhao, when you owed people money and they came looking for you, who lent you the money to pay it off? And you, Little Xue, when you didn't have enough for your school fees, who helped you?"

The university student's temper suddenly subsided. Speaking softly, he said, "Didn't I return it all back to you already?"

Rao Aimin staring with her beautiful eyes, "Paid back and that's it? Have you all forgotten the good I've done for you? Eh? You ingrates! If you aren't staying, scram!"

Many of them stopped speaking, slowly moving back to their rooms.

The others, who had not benefitted from Rao Aimin's help, continued to protest the increase, but were scolded back into their rooms. Her mouth was vicious; any ordinary person would never be able to win an argument against her!

After everyone dispersed, Rao Aimin spotted Zhang Ye, "Hey, Little Zhang. Get over here!"

Zhang Ye wanted to hide, but it was too late. Begrudgingly, he followed her to her place.

After the door closed, Rao Aimin dragged her slippers-wearing feet to the coffee table, where a low-distribution cultural newspaper laid. She flipped it open to a page, "I accidentally saw this in the papers I bought this morning. Not bad, kid. You were mentioned in the papers." She shook the papers and spoke in a strange manner, "Recently, Beijing Radio Station's Literature channel's 'Late-night Ghost Stories' broadcasted a story called 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'. It attracted some good attention and even created history in the ratings of a late-night segment, gaining big success. It has even subtly broken the situation of physical and web publications for supernatural novels. According to this reporter, this story is an original work of the segment's DJ, Zhang Ye. Hence, the success of this program cannot be replicated."

It was also the first time Zhang Ye realized he was in the papers as he rushed forward, "Let me see that."

"Although the distribution of this newspaper isn't very wide and is a bit biased, it's still not bad. You had such results just after entering the radio station?" After attacking him once, Rao Aimin sat with her legs crossed and quickly changed the subject, "When are you paying the rent? If you can't pay, then clear the debt by doing house chores. It's about time to clean the house again!"

Her attitude flipped faster than flipping a book!

Zhang Ye smacked his lips, "Landlady auntie, see, I'm already now in the papers and am a person with status and fans. Can I…"

Rao Aimin did not wait for him to finish, "What status do you have? Your only status now is a debtor!"

Zhang Ye bargained, "I can do house chores for you, but you need need to provide me lunch and dinner." He was almost unable to afford instant noodles.

Rao Aimin leered at him, "You even gave a condition?"

Zhang Ye grumbled, "I have not even eaten lunch. I can't work, if I don't eat."

Rao Aimin clearly was reluctant as she curled her mouth before entering the kitchen. Afterwards, she threw a plastic bag with buns inside, "There's only this! I bought it in the morning!"

Zhang Ye did not stand on ceremony. He wolfed them down right there and then without even heating it up.

Rao Aimin said disdainfully, "You only know how to eat. Did you not eat in your previous life? However, let me tell you that eating buns can kill!"

Zhang Ye had finished eating two buns in a blink of an eye as he nearly choked, "Eating buns can kill?"

"Why would I lie to you. There was a resident here who died last year because of eating buns. Who doesn't know that!" Rao Aimin recalled.

There was indeed a person who had died last year. Although Zhang Ye was not here back then, he had heard about it after moving in. He was immediately scared out of his wits. In his previous world, he had heard of Sudan Red G, gutter oil and melamine which were big problems for food hygiene. Zhang Ye was already frightened. And now hearing that someone near him had died eating buns, his face turned white, as he cherished his life greatly. He tried to vomit out the buns that he had just eaten, but failed in doing so. Just as he felt like he could not tolerate it any further, he quickly asked, "How did that person die? Was it terrible?"

Rao Aimin swept the dust off her legs and sighed, "It was terrible, so terrible. That day, after he went out to buy buns, he got hit by a large truck, killing him!"

"He died from a collision?" Zhang Ye nearly fainted. "Then, what has that got to do with eating buns?"

"I did not say there was any connection." Rao Aimin was in stitches, clearly having teased Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye, "…"

Rao Aimin was feeling good as she smacked Zhang Ye in the head, "Alright, kid. Quickly tidy up the place after eating. Also, fill up the bathtub for me. I want to take a bath."

Her smiles were like flowers and her expressions were sultry!

Although Rao Aimin teased Zhang Ye often and she had a bad temper, was older, had frequent mood swings, was cold to others, loved money like it was her life and was very venomous with her words, still.. she was very pretty!

In Zhang Ye's dreams, he also wished to marry and have such a beautiful woman as his wife!

Hai. But upon further thought, it was quite useless. So what if you had a beautiful wife? After seeing her for so long and getting used to her, it would all be the same. It did not matter if she looked pretty or not. What? You don't believe that? Let's give an example. Who wouldn't find his wife beautiful before marriage to the point of dying for love? But after being married for seven years, if you were to look into the eyes of your wife for more than a minute a day, then you can be considered to have been stung by your conscience and have rekindled your feelings!

Oh, of course, if you are outraged and say things like, "Bullsh*t, even after another 50 years, or even 500 years, I will still find my wife to be as pretty as a flower, one that can topple countries and is the world's number one beauty." Well, then I don't even have to ask. Your wife must be beside you reading this book!

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Chapter 16: The Door Opened!

Rao's house.

Second floor, in the bathroom.

"The bath water is done." Zhang Ye shouted from inside.

The landlady seemed to be on the phone and, after a while, she responded, "I can't bathe. I need to go out and will only come back in the afternoon!"

"Ah? What are you doing?" Zhang Ye asked.

"What I do is none of your business!" Big Sis Rao's voice was never friendly. "I'll leave the house for you to tidy up. Clean it well. Especially those windows on the South side. I'm leaving. Remember to close the door after you leave and don't touch my items!"

With a slam, the door on the first floor closed.

There was only Zhang Ye in the house. After he grumbled and complained a few times, he did not sit idle and began working hard. He knew Big Sis Rao was tough on the outside, but soft on the inside. Many of the tenants may complain about her venomous tongue, but many of them had received help from her. Zhang Ye was one of them. Every time he hadn't eaten, wasn't it Big Sis Rao who settled his meals? Hence, he knew to be grateful. Since he had agreed to clean up her house, he naturally did so properly. After working hard all day, Zhang Ye was done and was covered in sweat. It was already noon, so he finished the remaining two vegetable-stuffed buns.

As the ancient saying goes, when the belly is full, the mind is among the maids…Er, that's not right.

As the ancient saying goes, one should have an afternoon nap after having one's meal and get a well-deserved weekend.

Zhang Ye did not plan on going against the ancient sayings. However, he could not rest with his body sweaty. He eyed the bathtub in Rao's house with evil intentions. All Zhang Ye had in his bathroom was a shower tap. It wasn't thrilling enough, while Big Sis Rao's bathtub was a big bathtub. Zhang Ye had never enjoyed the sensation of bathing in a bathtub. Furthermore, he had filled it with hot water before, so it would be a waste not to use it. So although Rao Aimin had warned Zhang Ye not to touch her things, Zhang Ye did not heed the warning. After all, she would only return in the afternoon.

Her house had two bathrooms and the bathroom in question was in Rao Aimin's bedroom, upstairs.

The bathroom was large and the bathtub was very wide. Touching the water, Zhang Ye found that it was still warm.

Zhang Ye closed the door and began taking off his clothes. He threw his underwear and T-shirt into a clothes basket that was beside the washing machine and laid down in the bathtub. After he pulled the white curtain, he comfortably heaved a sigh of relief. Soon, he closed his eyes involuntarily as it was an extreme enjoyment.

Half an hour…

One hour…

Unknowingly, he had fallen asleep.

When Zhang Ye opened his eyes again, he was awoken by the slamming of a door nearby. He realized the water's temperature was no longer hot.

"Phew, this damn sun is really burning me up!" The voice of a woman speaking to herself came from beyond the curtain!

Who was talking?

The landlady was back!

Zhang Ye immediately reacted. His face was green. Sh*t, why is she back so early? Didn't she say…Heh, what do you mean early? He had slept so soundly. Zhang Ye was in a panic. He felt like he had been caught red-handed and felt extremely embarrassed. But no matter what he did now, it was useless. Zhang Ye tilted his head and looked through the gap of the curtain, thinking of admitting his mistake.

However, just this peek made it worse!

Zhang Ye felt his nose turn warm. He nearly couldn't control it!

About two meters away, Rao Aimin had taken off her top and threw it into the washing machine. She did not wear much, it being Summer. Her back was facing Zhang Ye and she was currently bending her arms to unhook her bra. And soon, the nude-colored embroidered bra was taken off and thrown to the side. Her hands moved down as she cursed at the weather, while she began taking off the gray skirt she was wearing. With an unbuckle, the dress fell to the bathroom floor. After taking a step forward, Rao Aimin used her toes to fling the skirt into the washing machine.

The landlady was always a person whose actions and words were swift like lightning!

How swift was it? It reached the point…where just as Zhang Ye was about to shout out to her, the landlady had taken off her bra and skirt at a speed which you can call as swift as lightning! Now she was bending over to take take off the pantyhose that covered those perfectly elastic legs of hers.

Zhang Ye quickly held back the voice that he almost released. He remembered the scene of him coming to this place while looking for a place to stay, back in his previous world. The 30-square-meter room he was currently renting was originally rented by a jobless young hooligan. He had drank too much with a friend one day and, together with his friend, insulted Rao Aimin sexually. With his own eyes, Zhang Ye saw Rao Aimin, a female, beat the two hooligans from upstairs all the way to downstairs, with them not even being able to hit back. They ran away with their faces bruised. With the room empty, it was rented to Zhang Ye. As such, Zhang Ye knew how powerful the landlady was and was always in awe.

She had almost stripped off everything!

He had also almost seen enough!

It was already too late to say, "Sorry, I'm here!"

Zhang Ye did not want to end up being beaten up like those two hooligans. Although the world background was different now, there had not been any fundamental changes in his interpersonal relations. The landlady was still that woman who had the ability to fight against two young males single-handedly. What would be his outcome if she kicked him with all she got? Furthermore, Zhang Ye was just taking his first steps in becoming a well-known radio host. If he was caught peeking, then wouldn't it be embarrassing? He definitely could not let the landlady discover him. With a flash of inspiration in his mind, he quickly made a decision. He did not dare to make any big actions, as he was afraid the sound of the water splashing would reveal his presence. He could only quickly and gently open the game ring's interface and take out the invisibility potion that he had drawn in the afternoon. Quickly, he opened and drank down the transparent liquid!

In a second, Zhang Ye could see his body turn transparent and it seemed to merge with the water. He had magically disappeared!

The game virtual screen began counting down!

4:59, 4:58...

Coincidentally, after taking off the nude-colored stocking, Rao Aimin turned around and pulled open the bathtub's curtain and looked inside.

Zhang Ye did not have the mental facilities to consider the miracle of being invisible as his body tensed up. He did not even dare to breathe. Under these circumstances, it was very difficult to hold his breath. He endured it so much that even his eyebrows stood up. The fragrance of a mature woman impacted his nostrils!

That skin…

That body…

As for Rao Aimin, she really did not see Zhang Ye, who had disappeared because of the invisibility potion. She muttered to herself, "That kid Zhang Ye did not release the water, even after knowing I was going out. Was he waiting for me to use it to water the plants? To think that he became a host with such slow thinking. This is the first time I heard of radio stations being charity organizations. They will take in anybody!"

Zhang Ye was wondering how much she hated him for her to scold him even when he wasn't around.

Some people may have a spiked tongue on the surface, but what was said was usually done in a joking fashion. However, Rao Aimin's spiked tongue came from her bones. She loved to scold, taunt and put down people. Wasn't this so? Even with Zhang Ye not being around, Rao Aimin had no intentions of being light with her biting remarks, even in private.

"Hai, let's see if the water has cooled down!" Suddenly, Rao Aimin reached out her hand towards the water without any warning!

Zhang Ye's soul nearly flew out due to his fright. Seeing the landlady's hand move towards his thigh, sh*t! He was about to be discovered!

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Chapter 17: Little Zhang, Quickly Run!

Note: This chapter has been retconned by the author. This chapter is supposed to be rewritten by the author, but he has not done so. It is provided as is. However, note that the events can be considered as filler. It is likely the author is retconning the perverted personality of Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye couldn't just sit around and do nothing. His invisibility was just an illusion; it was a trick. He could still feel his body physically exist and the landlady could naturally be able to touch him, too. It wasn't as if he had completely disappeared. If he was touched, not only would Zhang Ye have to endure Rao Aimin's fury, but his greatest secret would be exposed, too. The game ring – no one could ever know of its existence. Not everyone could accept something so illogical and out of this world. And so Zhang Ye's reaction was abnormally fast and agile!

A split second!

A second split!

At this moment of danger, he…. He did nothing!

Well, luckily Rao Aimin's hand did not dip herself into the water. It was only deep enough to test the water temperature with half of her palm.

"It's still warm." Rao Aimin said to herself. She bent over and released the bathtub's water. At the same time, she turned on the hot water faucet to fill up the tub.

Invisibility time duration was still valid for four and a half minutes!

Zhang Ye was glad that he had not washed his hair, nor had he applied shower foam and that his body was rather clean. Otherwise, any floating things on the water's surface would have given him away. There's only one plan left – RUN!

Over there, Rao Aimin was already unable to withstand the hot weather and could not wait for the water. She took a step forward with her tight and beautiful legs and, with a tip-toe, she stepped towards Zhang Ye! At this moment, Zhang Ye could not remain motionless. Noticing that the landlady's gaze was not on the bathtub, he took advantage of the hot water splashing down to conceal his moves. He bent his waist and carefully avoided those white legs of hers and stood up from the bathtub immediately following that! At the same time, Rao Aimin's other leg had made the stride as she stood in the bathtub, too!

"Oh?" Maybe it was due to the turbulation Zhang Ye had caused while standing up, but Rao Aimin felt as if something was amiss as her face turned vexed.

Twenty centimeters!

The two people were separated by such a tiny distance!

Zhang Ye held his breath and did not make a sound. He didn't even dare to blink!

After observing the surroundings, Rao Aimin seemed to brush away her suspicions. With a splash, she sat down in the bathtub and let out a comfortable sigh of relief.

There were still three minutes left of invisibility!

Rao Aimin's hip was nearly about to touch Zhang Ye's legs, which were still in the bathtub!

Zhang Ye knew that he could not wait any longer. Seeing the landlady cross her legs in midair as she reached out to take the shower gel from the counter, he took the opportunity to quickly pull a leg out of the bathtub, which was quickly followed by the second leg. Although the sound of him coming out was drowned by the rushing water, it still seemed abnormal. Rao Aimin, who was lathering the shower gel, frowned and focused once again. Her senses were very keen.

She was met with silence again!

Two more minutes left! Another 1:59!

During the periods when he could not move, Zhang Ye could not help but check the landlady's body out. His throat was dry, but he did not dare to swallow. It was extremely uncomfortable!

Slender!

Well-proportioned!

This was the body evaluation Zhang Ye gave to the landlady. Although he had never dated because of his looks and height, with the advanced information age, he was no stranger to females. Even if he had not seen it in person, how could he have not seen it in pictures? However, Rao Aimin's body lines were something Zhang Ye had seen for the first time. It was too well-proportioned and was perfect in all the right places. Even at her age, she did not have the slightest flab anywhere. There was not even a tiny amount of fat on her belly!

Beautiful and a nice figure!

Look at her and then look back at himself?

Hai, sometimes the Heavens were unfair. Some people had things that he would not be able to obtain, even if he worked hard all his life. If he had such excellent looks like Rao Aimin by being handsome and tall… The thought about becoming a celebrity? To ability to develop his career? It could at least reduce the hard work he needed to do by a decade!

It would be great if this world did not judge people by their looks. This was something that Zhang Ye had always felt helpless against. Look at the television programs from his world. What sort of rotten programs were "The Voice of China" and "Super Boy"!?

Why weren't there competitions like "The Leg Hair of China"?

Why weren't there pageants like "Super Leg Hair 2014"?

If the artistic realm did not discriminate and had ranks in the artistic world, then if he could make leg hair become popular, then Zhang Ye would not have such a low starting point. He would not have needed to endure the criticisms and difficulty in becoming an unseen radio host.

Forget it. There was no time to think about this!

Zhang Ye walked sideways as he slowly moved around the bathtub's curtain. After spending thirty seconds, he managed to reach the outermost part of the curtain. The opening to the curtain was also where Rao Aimin's head was. Rao Aimin was enjoying her bath and had already lathered up a lot of foam with her hands. Zhang Ye took a final reluctant look at her fully-foamed body, before squeezing out of the curtain. He had also accidentally touched a strand of the landlady's hair, but thankfully she did not notice it.

The hair tickled him when it brushed past Zhang Ye's thigh.

There was less than 20 seconds left to his invisibility!

Zhang Ye did not have time to reminiscence, as he gently grabbed his clothes from the washing basket beside the washing machine. He silently took a few deep breaths. Thankfully, the landlady threw her clothes onto the washing machine and not into the clothes basket, or else she would have felt that something was amiss after seeing Zhang Ye's clothes.

Next, he needed to leave the bathroom. There was no way to hide the sound of opening the door, but Zhang Ye could not care less. Waiting any further would expose him, hence he carefully held the door handle!

Ka!

The door made a sound!

Before he could rush out, the voice of the landlady came in a killing fashion, "…Who?"

The curtain was sewn, but it was not impossible to look out. Zhang Ye knew this, so he did not even wait before rushing out the bathroom. Only then did he pretend to open a door from the outside and say in a cold sweat, "Uh, Landlady auntie, it's me. Are you back?"

Rao Aimin's voice came from inside, "Oh, it's you. Heh, why are you still in my house? Why didn't I see you when I returned home?"

Zhang Ye immediately answered, "Oh, I was outside helping you wipe the windows."

"Really? You sure are quite dedicated. Alright. I'm still bathing. Since you did well, you can come here for dinner tonight!" Rao Aimin said.

Zhang Ye said, "Alright, then I'll go back first."

Rao Aimin said, "Alright, scram."

Zhang Ye heaved a sigh of relief as the duration of the invisibility potion expired. Seeing his body slowly turning visible, he wore his clothes and dried the wet stains he had left behind with a cloth to remove the evidence of his crime… After cleaning up the scene, he left Rao Aimin's house.

Today, his heart nearly failed!

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Chapter 18: The Channel's Number One Girl Doesn't Acknowledge Him!

Note: This chapter has been retconned by the author. This chapter is supposed to be rewritten by the author, but he has not done so. It is provided as is. However, note that the events can be considered as filler. It is likely the author is retconning the perverted personality of Zhang Ye.

A new week.

Zhang Ye came early, as there was a meeting early in the morning.

The small conference room in the Literature Channel's office area nearly could not fit everyone. The main director, Zhao Guozhou, said with glee, "I have a piece of good news to tell everyone. Our Literature Channel's overall average listenership has exceeded the music channel for two consecutive days for the weekend. We have once again taken over the top three spots in the station. There is no way to separate this result from everyone's hard work. I suggest that everyone give a round of applause for yourself."

Bba Bba Bba!

Everyone clapped and cheered!

As the news channel and the traffic channel were special, there was no way to compete for the top two spots in the Beijing Radio Station. It was the same for television programs. How could a variety show or drama show compete with the Central News broadcast? No one would compete, except for certain heaven-defying programs or events, as there was no point and no meaning. However, third place was something to compete for. The third place was always something the music and literature frequency channels competed for. The competition had always been fierce over the past couple of years. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief after regaining third place from the music channel, having been suppressed by the music channel for months.

"Next, I will announce the listenership for the weekend." Zhao Guozhou picked up the document.

"Talk About the World" listenership 3.19%, 3.27%.

"Entertainment Daily" listenership 2.13%, 2.22%

"Late-night Ghost Stories" listenership 1.39%, 1.42%.

"Laughter Daily" listenership 0.92%, 0.93%

The two numbers were respectively for Saturday and Sunday.

Zhao Guozhou announced from first place, "Talk About the World", to last place, "Old and Young Story Club", and finally summarized his speech while looking at everyone, "There's no need to talk about Xiaomei. 'Talk About the World' has always been number one in our channel and its listenership has always been very stable. Right, I need to specially praise Zhang Ye this time. For us to finally exceed the music channel, we cannot ignore the contributions "Late-night Ghost Stories" has made. It managed to go from last place all the way to a segment with great listenership and that was all thanks to Zhang Ye. And maybe it was because it was the weekend with people sleeping later, which made "Late-night Ghost Stories" have another jump in its ratings. Very good, Little Zhang. Keep it up!"

Zhang Ye humbly said, "Director Zhao: yes, I will."

Tian Bin gritted his teeth as he glanced at him with a complex look.

The number one girl, Wang Xiaomei, the other hosts and the staff looked at Zhang Ye. They all had different thoughts about seeing this rookie host who had such outstanding results.

Zhao Guozhou nodded, "Next, let's discuss about the week's tasks."

Zhang Ye did not like meetings, as they would make him sleepy. It was the same during college. He always could not help but sleep after reaching a certain point. But surprisingly, he did not sleep today. As the talks droned on, Zhao Guozhou suddenly jumped up on the meeting table and danced the Rumba. Zhang Ye was instantly interested as he watched with worry at those old legs dancing and relished the sight. And then…well, Zhang Ye woke up. He noticed the host of "Old and Young Story Club" beside him. Fifty-plus-year-old Teacher Feng was pulling at his arms to wake him up. Zhang Ye immediately gave Teacher Feng a grateful glance. Hai, but he slept again.

Zhao Guozhou was still droning on as he said to Wang Xiaomei, "Xiaomei, for tonight's "Talk About the World" live broadcast at 8 P.M., it would be the rare topic on emotions. You will need to have intensive interactions with the listeners, so are you well-prepared?" "Talk About the World" was a more open segment. It would talk about almost anything under the sun, including about society and emotions,

Wang Xiaomei said in a relaxed fashion, "Leader, be rest assured. Although most of the shows were pre-recorded over the years, I have done several live broadcasts, too. There shouldn't be a problem."

"Then, that's good." Zhao Guozhou smiled. "I'm at ease with you hosting it."

Wang Xiaomei asked, "I'm now lacking a guest. The counselor, Teacher Jiang, we invited the last time can't come, as he's out of town. We were informed only this morning, but if there's really no one, I can do it alone."

Zhao Guozhou gave some thought before saying, "It's better if there's a guest."

A small director suggested, "Why don't we get one of our channel's hosts to make a guest appearance?"

Zhao Guozhou's gaze suddenly landed on Zhang Ye and, with a blink, he seemed to have an idea, "Little Zhang, why don't you go? You are about the same age as Xiaomei and you are both young, so your values and emotional aspects should be similar and work well together. You can also use this opportunity to promote our channel's late-night program. What say you?"

Zhang Ye was stunned, "I'll follow the Leader's instructions."

Zhao Guozhou made his decision, "Alright, then let's have it that way."

This was naturally a good thing for Zhang Ye. Although his ratings had improved by leaps and bounds, breaking records, it was still a great distance away, when compared to the station's top program, "Talk About the World". They were completely not on the same level. If he could take advantage of her show to benefit his, it would be the best outcome. Besides, Zhang Ye never gave up the opportunity for him to have an appearance. His goal was to be famous, so every opportunity to make an appearance was an opportunity for him to raise his Reputation points. Zhang Ye was dying for such an opportunity!

However, it was clear that Wang Xiaomei was reluctant to accept this as she said unhappily, "Director Zhao, shouldn't you find a teacher with more experience?"

Zhao Guozhou said, "Little Zhang goes without a script, be it a live or pre-recorded broadcast, and you are doubting his ability to speak? I don't think there is a problem."

The meeting ended.

People shuffled out from the conference room.

Zhang Ye definitely had to talk to Wang Xiaomei about the live broadcast. As he ran to catch up with Wang Xiaomei, "Teacher Wang."

Wang Xiaomei stopped, "Little Zhang, what's the matter?"

Zhang Ye thought in his mind that wasn't it clear what he was doing, as he said, "About the live broadcast, shouldn't we…"

Wang Xiaomei cut him off, "This episode's live broadcast does not have a script. We will just listen to the connected listener's questions and give solutions. You do not need to speak much during the broadcast. You also should not speak, unless I allow you to do so. I have my rhythm, so you should just follow mine. Do not express too many of your personal opinions and recommendations in matters of the heart. I don't think you have ever dated, so leave all the technical questions to me. If you were to say something wrong or give a wrong suggestion, you will influence my program's listenership and the listeners' trust!"

Zhang Ye, "…"

After Wang Xiaomei dropped those words, she left.

Zhang Ye thought, "Did I provoke you? Why do you need to do that? I didn't do anything to you, yet you had already attacked me repeatedly. Don't you trust your colleagues? And what was that attitude? I'm, after all, our channel's host with listenership rates that place third; can't you give me the most basic amount of respect? And to not let me express my personal opinion. just because I have never dated? You sure are funny. Thinking about the times back in school when so many young girls chased after me, but I never bothered paying any attention to them. This bro's relationship experience is completely…completely…*cough, forget it. Let's not brag anymore."

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Chapter 19: Someone Wants to Commit Suicide During a Live Broadcast!

At night.

"Talk About the World"'s broadcast studio.

Ten minutes before the broadcast began, Zhang Ye, who was the guest, came inside. Wang Xiaomei was already here, head bowed and busy with her preparations. She did not bother to look at Zhang Ye. Her phone call editor was also in the room, a youth whose face had many moles. Compared to Wang Xiaomei, he was much nicer.

"Teacher Zhang, you have come? Please, take a seat here."

"Okay. This is my earpiece?"

"Yes, please put it on and test it. I will adjust it for you."

"Yes, it sounds just nice; the mic is fine, too."

"Then, the live broadcast is nine minutes away. I will go to the other side."

The phone call editor went into the soundproof room. With every minute that passed, he gave a gesture to signal.

In the last thirty seconds, Wang Xiaomei suddenly said, "I'll repeat it; do not speak without thought and follow my views and rhythm."

Zhang Ye replied indifferently, "Alright." She was, after all, more experienced than him. Regardless of results or experience, Zhang Ye could not compete. Moreover, he was here with hopes of promoting his program. Therefore, he did not take her attitude to heart.

Three, two, one. The broadcast began!

Wang Xiaomei fiddled with her equipment. She said, smilingly, "I hope everyone is well. Welcome to 'Talk About the World'. I am your DJ, Wang Xiaomei. Some of you might know that today's live broadcast topic is about the matters of the heart. We are fortunate to have a guest with us today. He's our very own channel's "Late-night Ghost Stories" host, also known as the author of 'Ghost Blows Out the Light', Teacher Zhang Ye. Please say a few words to our listeners."

Zhang Ye immediately spoke into his attached mic, "Hello, listeners and friends. I am Zhang Ye. I'm very honoured to be here today with Teacher Wang to listen and try to solve everyone's matters of the heart."

Wang Xiaomei followed up, "The hotlines are already open. If you have met with any love issues, please feel free to call in."

On the broadcast platform, there was a computer shown, which displayed the listeners' and website's real time comments. Just as expected of the Literature Channel's top program, the discussion atmosphere was very strong.

User3577: Love topic program? Haha, this is great. Let's see Teacher Wang take on love issues!

User1041: Teacher Zhang Ye is here, too? My wife and I are listening to "Ghost Blows Out the Light" every night these days!

User5502: "Ghost Blows Out the Light"? It's a ghost story, right? There aren't any good ghost stories these days. I've been let down by supernatural novels long ago!

User2890: Friend above, that's where you are wrong, I guarantee you that "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is different from any supernatural novels you have listened to before; it's a classic amongst classics!

User5502: Is that so? Then, I will go give it a listen tonight.

User0019: Just the title alone sounds good. I will listen to it tonight, too.

A star program's promotional effect is really good. Zhang Ye knew that tonight's broadcast rating should be able to go up a little more.

On the other side, the phone call editor signalled; the call screening was done. Of course, such calls have to be screened. After all, it was a live broadcast and there would be troublemakers. As such, a professional phone call editor had to judge and pick, filtering for the correct topics and the reliable callers.

Wang Xiaomei nodded, "Okay, our first caller has connected."

"Hello? Is it me?" It was a female listener, excited, "Is it really me?"

Wang Xiaomei said softly, "Haha, yes. How can I help you?"

The female listener quickly answered, "Teacher Wang, Teacher Wang, you are my idol. My boyfriend and I both like you very much…." Upon saying that, her tone became a sigh, "But my boyfriend has been ignoring me recently. In the past, he wouldn't get angry with me and now, he's been throwing his temper at me every day. He even goes to the internet to chat with other girls and flirts with them. I peeked at his messages and they all say "Are you awake?", "Have you slept?", "Good night.", and "Remember to eat on time." He has never been this concerned towards me before! Teacher. please tell me… What should I do?"

Wang Xiaomei frowned, "Lady, towards these kind of men who don't care about you, my suggestion has always been to break up. Such kinds of messages of concern might not seem like a big deal. It could be concern for ordinary friends. But let me tell you, this is actually a big issue. If it goes on, it could get dangerous. It also shows that his heart is not with you. If you mention an intention to break up, you are also sending him a message of where your limits are. If you bear with it, he will only be more encouraged and get further and further away from you. If that is so, why not just break up now? See if he is willing to change; if he does, you can consider being with him. If not, then it goes to show that he really does not care about you. It's better to end it early in that case."

The female listener replied, "Is that really so?"

Wang Xiaomei looked at Zhang Ye, "What do you think, Teacher Zhang?"

Zhang Ye blinked, "I feel it's better to communicate first. A relationship is basically between two people. It might be because you have him too tight on a leash, leading him to feel like running away." Noticing Wang Xiaomei's stern eyes, Zhang Ye added, "If communicating doesn't work, Teacher Wang's suggestion could be a way out, too."

On the computer display, the listeners had big reactions.

"Teacher Zhang Ye is a troublemaker!"

"You should just break up with this kind of guy. Teacher Wang is right!"

"Correct. If it were me, I would have given that guy a good scolding! Whatever does he mean by a problem between the two!?"

"Haha, I like listening to Teacher Wang's talking down about people; it's so forthright. Teacher Zhang Ye, don't make trouble!"

One phone call……

Three phone calls……

Five phone calls……

Wang Xiaomei was talking down to all of them! She advised them all to break up!

Wang Xiaomei obviously thought that Zhang Ye spoke too much and did not follow her directions, so for the next few calls, she did not even ask for Zhang Ye's views. Zhang Ye sat in his seat for a good half hour without saying anything. Zhang Ye wasn't too happy either; he was here as a guest to express his views. Oh, but you are good, forcing me to express views that are yours? Based on what!

"Our program is coming to an end soon. Let's go for a commercial break and we will be back to answer the last call." Wang Xiaomei signalled with a finger to her phone call editor.

Zhang Ye simply switched off his mic since he was prepared to not speak anymore.

During the commercial break, Wang Xiaomei stared coldly at Zhang Ye, "What did I tell you earlier?"

Zhang Ye retorted: "We were just giving our own opinions; what's the problem with it? I feel that matters of the heart should be given advice; as to whether they will break up or not should be left to themselves. We are only giving a point of view and our thoughts to them, not encouraging them to break up. This encouragement is well-liked by the listeners, but they just want to see the world burn. Who doesn't like some excitement? But what about the couple? What about their feelings?"

Wang Xiaomei was on fire, "Do I need you to teach me?"

Zhang Ye threw back his arms, "So I will not say a thing anymore; you talk."

The two of them were very unhappy. Zhang Ye did not care about respecting seniors anymore; anything can be solved amicably, but not something concerning principles.

After the commercial break, the live broadcast continued.

Wang Xiaomei suppressed her anger, "Let us answer the last call."

"Hello?" A voice of a very quiet female, young and likely not over twenty five years of age, spoke.

"How are you? What issues did you encounter? You can tell it to us." Wang Xiaomei said.

But it was this last call that had a big problem. The girl said "My name is Xiao Li and I am twenty-three years old. I am a third year university student and my boyfriend graduated this year. But, his family arranged for him to further his studies overseas and he will only be back after five years."

Wang Xiaomei questioned, "Where will he be going?"

The university student said, "New York. I know that if he leaves, our relationship will end. So I am trying my best to make him stay, but he refuses. He even made me promise to wait for him, saying that he will marry me when he is back after five years. But, I don't believe it."

Wang Xiaomei, seemingly unaffected by Zhang Ye's words earlier, instead became more persistent in her way of handling these matters, "Lady, if your boyfriend really loves you, I think he would choose to stay behind. But it seems that he puts his career and development over your love. Such a guy doesn't deserve to be kept. If you really wait for him for five years, then you are really silly. I don't believe in long-distance relationships; even if the love is strong, it will fade, eventually. End it sooner than later; you should think about it."

The university student replied weakly, "I've already thought it through."

"That's good." Wang Xiaomei pleasingly said, "That is all we can help you with."

The university student laughed lightly, "Thank you, Teacher. I know what to do now. This phone call will serve as the last message from me. I hope my boyfriend can hear this."

Oh no! There was something unusual with the call.

Wang Xiaomei sensing something was wrong, "What are you doing?"

The university student replied lightly "Holding my boyfriend's razorblade. Without him, there is nothing for me to live for anymore. Goodbye!"

Zhang Ye shivered in fear!

Wang Xiaomei suddenly felt anxious!

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Chapter 20: That "The Furthest Distance in the World" Poem

Committing suicide?

The razor blade is already in her hand?

The atmosphere in the broadcast room immediately changed!

Wang Xiaomei was a veteran broadcasting host in the station and had seen all sorts of situations, especially unexpected incidents during a live broadcasting, like a listener calling in to curse or a piece of equipment failing; however, this was the first time she had encountered a person wanting to commit suicide during a live broadcast!

Listeners by the radio immediately exploded in their reactions. Boatloads of messages began flooding in!

"Is that true?"

"Teacher Wang, quickly say something! Don't let her commit suicide!"

"Quickly persuade her! She's just a twenty-two-year-old child!"

"Why is she taking things so hard? Miss, you must not die! How can you do this to your parents?"

However, the messages left by the netizens obviously could not be seen by the young lady!

Wang Xiaomei gasped as she quickly said to the female university student, "Sister! Sister! You must not commit suicide! Listen to what this elder sister has to say!"

The female university student replied, "There's no need to say anything more, Teacher Wang. I've already decided that I can't live on in a world without him. The distance between Beijing and New York is the world's greatest distance. By leaving today, I hope that I can be closer to him. I believe we can be together in Heaven, forever."

Wang Xiaomei shouted, "Why are you so silly!"

The female university student said, "I'm not silly; it's because I love him."

"Put down the razorblade first!" Wang Xiaomei hastily said, "This is you being irresponsible to yourself! It is also being irresponsible to your family! How can you just die like that after your parents painstakingly brought you up? You are too selfish! Have you thought about what others feel? Have you thought about how sad your parents and friends will be after you leave?"

With a life on the line, Zhang Ye could not be bothered to argue with Wang Xiaomei. He signaled to Wang Xiaomei to stabilize the girl as he ran out of the broadcasting room into the telephone editor's room. He closed the door and shouted, "What are you dazing around for! Quickly, call the police!"

The telephone editor panicked, "Call the police? Right! Call the police!"

Zhang Ye directed, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Give her telephone number to the police! Find out her address and quickly go to her rescue! If not, it will be too late!"

The telephone editor immediately followed his instructions, "Hello, is this 110?"

Suddenly, the door leading out was pushed open as seven people rushed in!

The group was led by Zhao Guozhou. He angrily shouted, "What the heck? Ah?"

The telephone editor pretended he was busy on the phone with the police and did not dare to respond to Director Zhao's question.

Zhao Guozhou had a bad temper and immediately slammed the table, "How did you screen the telephone? Eh? How can you let just any telephone call through? What were you doing!?" If the call was not chosen, then the female university student would not have listened to Wang Xiaomei's extremist advice and might not have decided on committing suicide. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if the girl eventually chose to take her life, at least it wouldn't have been during their Literature Channel's live broadcast and would have had nothing to do with their radio station. However, now with the telephone call having been connected, to the listeners, it was clear that the girl had decided to end her life due to Wang Xiaomei's words and their program. With the negative news, it was obvious that their radio station would be pushed to the tip of the plank. "Talk About the World"? The Literature Channel's number one listenership program? Those were all jokes! From the pressure of public opinion, their program would definitely face being taken off the air! There would be no way to recover from this!

The Literature Channel's deputy was also extremely anxious, "How is it, now?"

The telephone editor put down the phone and said, guiltily, "The police have said that they will need at least an hour to find her address and her house. They asked us to delay as long as possible!"

The "Talk About the World" program editing team turned pale, "An hour? There is no way we can do it!"

Zhao Guozhou shouted, "You have to do it, even if you can't! Hold on to her! Definitely do not allow her to commit suicide! Or our Literature Channel is doomed! All the programs will suffer a devastating blow!" They were working in the media, so they definitely knew the power of public opinion and the media!

The back door opened once again!

The radio station's leader also rushed in, "Old Zhao!"

Zhao Guozhou came forward, "Station Head Jia! Why are you here?"

This was an old man, who was also the Beijing Radio Station's Deputy Station Head, "You're asking why I'm here? I'm here to see the trouble your program has caused! Immediately settle it for me!"

Zhao Guozhou said, "We will definitely do our best!" He said to Zhang Ye, "Little Zhang! Go back and persuade her! You must hold her for at least an hour! You can ignore the programs after this! Everything will be delayed!"

Zhang Ye responded and ran back into the broadcasting room.

In here, it was soundproof, so there was no noise, only Wang Xiaomei's continuous persuasion.

"Sister, you are still young. This elder sister is experienced, so you must hear what I say." Wang Xiaomei said earnestly, "Just now, what I said was a bit extremist. Actually, if the both of you still have feelings for each other, it is not impossible. I have handled several such cases where the men are in a distant land for many years, but the relationship between the two when he returns is still as good as ever. In the end, they got married and had kids, leading a blissful life. Why can't you?"

The female university student laughed, "The distant land you say is at most in the south and north of China. Taking a plane or a train will allow them to quickly meet. But it's different between me and my boyfriend. Beijing and New York are on opposite sides of the world and is the world's greatest distance. Also, due to the financial limitations and the issue with passports, we will probably never meet in the entire five years. I know this more than anyone else. Thank you, Teacher Wang. Thank you for your consolation. I have already made my decision. Let me say sorry to my parents and friends here. I'm really sorry."

Ba La!

The sound of the blade sounded again!

At this second, Deputy Station Head Jia, Zhao Guozhou and all the members of the management outside covered their mouths and turned silent!

Wang Xiaomei shouted, "No!"

The female university student felt liberated as she said, "Goodbye."

Zhao Guozhou's lips turned pale. It's over! We can't hold on anymore!

The other female staff members of the Literature Channel all screamed as they covered their ears. They could not bear to see this scene!

Wang Xiaomei still wanted to persuade her, but she was already at a loss for words. The female university student was clearly a youth in the literature and arts department. She was artistic and very sensitive. She was immersed in her world and nothing could penetrate into it. This sort of person was the most terrifying, as there was no way of persuading such a person! Wang Xiaomei had already tried her best, but at this moment, she, as the person who always helped solve the emotional problems others, had claimed to speak for women, but felt powerless and weak for the first time in her life!

She was just 22 years old!

She was still a university student!

She was ending her life, just because of a relationship?

Zhang Ye's face sank as he angrily turned on his microphone and rebuked, "Lady, do you know what sort of person I hate the most in my entire life? It's self-righteous artistic youths, like you!"

Wang Xiaomei was shocked, "What are you saying!?"

Zhao Guozhou and the telephone editor outside were stunned!

At this moment, on the brink of disaster, why are you provoking her? Do you really want her to commit suicide?

"Why?" The female university student remained silent for a moment before saying, "I'm not self-righteous! I understand the gap in our feelings very well!"

Zhang Ye coldly sneered, "This is why you are self-righteous. There is no distance for feelings. You previously said the distance between Beijing and New York is the furthest? That's simply ridiculous!"

"Why? Isn't that the furthest?" The female university student asked.

Zhang Ye pondered before saying a famous poem from his world.

"The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between opposite sides of the world. It is that you don't know that I love you, when I stand in front of you."

"The furthest distance in the world is not that you don't know I love you when I stand in front of you. It is when I cannot say I love you, when I love you so madly."

"The furthest distance in the world is not that I cannot say I love you, when I love you so madly. It is that I have to bury it in my heart, despite the unbearable yearning."

"The furthest distance in the world is not that I have to bury it in my heart despite the unbearable yearning. It is when we cannot be together, even when we love each other."

"The furthest distance in the world is not that we cannot be together, when we love each other. It is when we turn a blind eye to it, despite knowing true love conquers all."

"The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between two distant trees. It is when branches cannot depend on each other in the wind, despite growing from the same root."

"The furthest distance in the world is not when branches cannot depend on each other in the wind. It is when the trajectories of stars cannot cross, even when the blinking stars look at each other."

"The furthest distance in the world is not when the trajectories of stars cannot cross. It is when they are unable to find each other after crossing trajectories."

"The furthest distance in the world is not being unable to find each other. It is when we are doomed not to love, even when we coincidentally meet."

The air turned still and the atmosphere quiet.

The deathly feel in the broadcast room suddenly turned gentle.

No one had heard of the poem Zhang Ye had said. A few women were even mesmerized by the poem.

At the final stanza, which was the critical ending stanza, Zhang Ye used his magnetic tone as a broadcasting host to recite it slowly, "The furthest distance in the world is the love between the bird and fish. One is flying in the sky, the other is looking upon the sea."

The furthest distance?

Flying bird and fish?

This sort of interpretation of distant love was the first time everyone had heard it. Wang Xiaomei's expression turned complex. The telephone editor was entirely convinced, while Zhao Guozhou and company were deep in thought!

This poem had really shocked everyone present!

It was a heartfelt shock that came right from within; it was hard to be described with words!

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I am Really a Superstar #Chapter 21: The Person Who can Cure a Cultured Youth is Another Cultured Youth - Read I am Really a Superstar Chapter 21: The Person Who can Cure a Cultured Youth is Another Cultured Youth Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 21: The Person Who can Cure a Cultured Youth is Another Cultured Youth

The poem was done reciting.

After seeing that the female university student did not answer for a long while, he carried on, "This poem is called, "The Furthest Distance in the World" and is also called, "The Flying Bird and Fish". Today I'm giving it you. Is Beijing and New York very far? I do not think so at all. You can still meet again, you can know each other again, you can fall in love again and can be together once again. Are you going to be defeated by this trivial geographical distance? Then your feelings isn't anything worth mentioning. Lady, don't use distance as an excuse. Do not use distance to avoid reality. In my opinion, the distance between you isn't far. Think of the flying bird and think of the small fish. If you are stubborn and insist on being self-righteous, then I will not say another word if you were to slash down with the blade!"

"…"

There was complete silence on the other side of the line.

Following that, the sound of a girl sobbing could be heard, "Flying bird…and fish…*sob*…Flying bird…and fish…"

Upon hearing the sobbing, everyone in the broadcasting room were excited. Previously, she had appeared too calm, but now she had cried? This meant she was moved!

The female university student said while sobbing, "Teacher, then…what…should I do?"

Zhang Ye gave a thought, "I do not know what you should do either. This is your path, so you will need to find your own path."

"But…*sob*…I don't know how to walk down the path…" The female university student pleaded for help.

Zhao Guozhou, who was behind the glass, gave Zhang Ye an exaggerated gesture! The other Literature Channel staff were also secretly worried. Why can't you tell her what to do and save her? What do you mean, "You should find your own path?" What if she wanted to end her path there and then?

Wang Xiaomei kicked Zhang Ye in the shin.

However, it was as if Zhang Ye did not feel it.

The female university student cried, "Teacher, you tell me…what I should do…I trust you…*sob*…I can't sleep every day…What should I do…Everyday…I'm groggy…at night…I can't see any future…"

With her crying, Zhang Ye became calm, "Lady, I do not have the right or the way to help you decide your own path. Even if we tell you, you might not listen to it. You need to think it through carefully. Let me give you another poem. I hope it can enlighten you somewhat."

Another poem?

The people outside held their breaths again.

Zhang Ye said deeply, "The dark night gave me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light."

Again, this poem did not exist in this world, but it was famous in Zhang Ye's world. It was Gu Cheng's "A Generation". The entire poem only had those two verses. It was very short, but it contained within it a lot of energy. It was difficult to dissect and analyze the meanings within the poem. It could only be said that different people would have different insights. Zhang Ye gave her this poem, hoping she would be enlightened. At least, when Zhang Ye was previously lost, this poem had accompanied him for a long period of time.

"The dark night…gave me black eyes, but I use…them to seek the light." The female university student repeated it again and slowly stopped crying.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

The female university student suddenly spoke, "Teacher Zhang Ye, thank you. I think I know what I should do. I will wait for him. I also want to wait for him. Regardless of the final outcome, I will not try to commit suicide again. Thank you. Your two poems… I will remember them for life!"

Zhang Ye said, "I wish you happiness. I also believe a good lady like you will be happy."

The netizen listeners in front of their computer screens started sending in messages in an explosive manner, breaking all historical records. No number of refreshes were enough to show all of them!

"Heavens!"

"Teacher Zhang is too good!"

"Right, this is the first time I'm seeing a broadcast host who can speak so well!"

"'The Furthest Distance in the World'? This poem has too much feeling!"

"I think the later poem was the best. The dark night gave me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light. It's a superb poem, a superb poem for the ages!"

"No wonder he is able to write a divine work like "Ghost Blows Out the Light". I finally understand Teacher Zhang Ye's artistic standards. It is evidenced by these two poems!"

"Saving a life is better than building a seven-storey pagoda. I've decided to support and listen to "Late-night Ghost Stories" every day!"

With the situation assuaged, Wang Xiaomei let out a long sigh of relief and quickly said to the listeners, "Thank you to everyone listening in to 'Talk About the World'. We will meet you again tomorrow at the same time."

With the transmission cut, the live broadcast ended!

Wang Xiaomei slumped into her chair as if she had lost all strength.

Zhang Ye gave a wry smile as he touched his neck. He was also covered in sweat. D*mn it, to think I met a suicide situation on my first time being a guest! Can it even get any better!? Thankfully, he had the wisdom of the ancients and managed to somehow convince the lady!

The outer door opened as people rushed in.

Deputy Station Head Jia was no longer around. Zhao Guozhou was the first to enter and he said loudly, "Well done, Little Zhang! You did beautifully!"

"It was really thrilling!"

"Indeed, our Teacher Zhang is talented!"

People began to admire and praise him!

Zhang Ye's telephone editor, Xiaofang, also gave him a thumbs up from behind the crowd, "Teacher Zhang, those two poems were too great!"

Words could kill, but words could equally save. Today, everyone who listened in to the live broadcast learned this. By seeing this all at once, there were a lot of mixed emotions.

Wang Xiaomei stood up and daringly said, "Leader, today it was my responsibility. I will accept any punishments the station will mete. I was too provocative in my words."

Zhao Guozhou looked at her and did not criticize her, "Write a self-reflective piece and hand it to me tomorrow. Actually, it is not all your fault. That female university student had already prepared to commit suicide. Even if she did not make the phone call, she would definitely have committed suicide. From another perspective, by us counseling her, it's also us saving a life. Right, but make sure to be careful in the future. We need to greatly consider the listener's emotions and capacity to accept. This live broadcast can be said to be a lesson for all of us. It is also a form of experience."

The matter was done.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Wang Xiaomei looked towards Zhang Ye, "Those two poems were composed by you?"

Zhang Ye could not say no. After all, these poems did not exist in this world, "Yes."

"You can even compose poems?" Wang Xiaomei found it unbelievable.

Zhao Guozhou, who was about to leave, heard this and turned around and laughed, "All of you might not know how Little Zhang was accepted during the interview, right? It was because of a prose, "The Song of the Stormy Petrel". Our entire Literature Channel's combined efforts probably cannot even match Little Zhang's artistic talent in poems." Saying that, he reminiscenced and recited from the beginning. Zhang Ye never expected that Zhao Guozhou would actually be able to recite his poem verbatim. Clearly, he loved the prose so much. "…That is the courageous Petrel proudly soaring in the lightning over the sea's roar of fury; cries of victory the prophet: Let the tempest come strike harder!"

When everyone heard this, they were stunned!

"Good poem!"

"It's written so well!"

"This poem was also composed on the spot?"

Each of these poems was more stunning than the last. Only then did everyone recall what had just happened and an interesting thought arose in their minds. Hipsters were a kind of disease and so were cultured female youths. How could one cure this disease? The answer was simple; use a cultured male youth that was more artistic than the cultured female youth!

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Chapter 22: Appearing on the Newspapers!

Nighttime.

Past ten in the evening.

Many people had gotten off of work. Zhang Ye went to the recording studio alone to work overtime. As he did not manage to get a slot to record in the day and the broadcast was delayed by "Talk About the World" at night, he could only record if it was this late. The first few episodes that he had recorded had been depleted over the weekend. So he needed to record "Ghost Blows Out the Light" episode for tonight in one and a half hours. Time was tight.

"The grave robbing military officers were working hard. Every corner in any tomb that was dug up had to…Ah, it's not right!"

"A candle was lit up inside any tomb that was dug up and placed on the southeastern corner."

"If the southeastern candle goes out, then one had to put back the treasures they had gotten, Kowtow three times respectfully and return by the original route."

This recording session was different from the past. There were stumbles along the way. Zhang Ye was also finding it tough. He never expected that this day would come so soon. Actually, he had previously memorized this book during in his school days to train his off script skills, but he had only done so for the beginning. No matter how good his memory was, he was unable to recite the hundred thousand characters of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". He had only memorized the early portions, so now was the problem. With the material he had memorized back then depleted, he quickly reached spots where he did not remember very well. Although Zhang Ye knew the direction of the plot and knew the details clearly, it was, after all, not the original version. A lot of the time, he had to create his original material. The literature and textual aspects of it were greatly weakened. He still knew where he stood. Clearly, this would definitely seriously affect the listenership rates.

Pause. Deleting the paragraph. Re-recording.

Only after a long while did he manage to finish it before midnight.

He had managed to bamboozle past this for this episode, but he did not know what to do for the next episode. Sigh. If there were problems with quality and the listenership rates dropped, then what would happen!?

After finishing his work, Zhang Ye leaned on a window and smoked. The station prohibited smoking, but since there was no one late at night, it did not matter.

Ring, ring, ring. Suddenly, his cellphone rang.

Zhang Ye was wondering who had called late in the middle of the night. He picked it up, "Hello?"

The other party was male, "Hello, is this Mr Zhang? I'm Beijing's repor…"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Ye thought it was a fraud and said, "I don't care if you are Beijing or Double. Don't you dare tell me I hit the lottery. I have already hit the lottery 47 times this year. Including the three BMWs and two Mercedes cars, the total prize money is 12,213,000. Don't you dare tell me my daughter has been kidnapped. Then you need to help me first find a wife. And don't you dare tell me you are promoting a ham sausage. Truthfully, I only have 1.50 in my pocket. If I were you, I would hang up immediately and not spend five minutes and manage to take the 1.50 in my pocket to buy your ham sausage after using all your effort. That tiny bit of commission isn't even enough to pay the telephone bill." Against frauds and promoters, Zhang Ye was very experienced. "Alright, time for you to speak."

If it was anyone else who had encountered a hooligan like Zhang Ye, they would have hung up.

However, the man on the other side did not. He said in a speechless manner, "I'm not selling Beijing ham. Man, I'm Beijing Time's reporter. Is this Mr Zhang Ye?"

Zhang Ye exclaimed, "Reporter? Hai, it was a mistake, it was a mistake. I thought it was a scam."

The man said, "It's alright. I got your number through a friend, who works at the radio station. The main reason is because of today's 'Talk About the World', which I listened in on. Our editing team is very interested about your two poems. We might publish this matter in the papers tomorrow, so we are informing you first. Also, I want to ask about the name of the second poem, as you did not mention it during the broadcast."

Zhang Ye was enlightened and, after thinking, said, "The second poem is called 'A Generation'."

The reporter was amazed, "'A Generation'? This title doesn't seem to fit?"

The title "A Generation" was actually more fitting for another topic. The original author, Gu Cheng, had intended it for the thoughts and determination of an era and society. When Zhang Ye read it to the female university student, had not adhered to the title's meaning. It had lacked the great meaning that was so significant. But as Zhang Ye respected the original author and had used the wisdom of the forefathers, how could he then change the poem's title, too? Cultured youths, oh, cultured youths, when you break down such kind of a person, what is leftover would be stubbornness. Zhang Ye was not an exception; he abided by his principles.

So what if it did not fit? He knew the title was different from how he had expressed it tonight, but this was a work by a great poet from his world. A classic ought to be respected, Zhang Ye thought to himself. Even if the author cannot see it, regardless of any reasons, can going against this principle be excused? Going against morality can be excused? The answer was obvious……Hehe, of course, it's excusable!

Zhang Ye answered "Publish what you feel is suitable. As long as it can be published, you can do whatever you want. I'm fine with it even if you had to give it a dreamy title to increase the sales!" He was a man of principles, but sometimes he was also a man of no principles! This was Beijing Times! It was not the same as the small publication that published reports of "Ghost Blows Out the Light"!

The reporter nearly vomited blood upon hearing that. He was just freely expressing his thoughts; who would have thought that Zhang Ye had no lower limits? He was a modern poet, an artist who could compose such a classic poem.. yet he would allow his poem's title be changed so easily? Damn, do you even have the conduct of a scholar!? How could there a scholar like you! The reporter who was astounded, replied with a cough, "I didn't mean that; I was not implying that you should change the title. It's better we keep it as "A Generation"; it's your work, so I can't be deciding on it."

"Alright, then." Zhang Ye replied uncaringly.

After speaking for a brief while, they hung up.

Zhang Ye's strong point is that he did not have any fear. After the line was cut off, he could no longer suppress his excitement. He was going to be in the Beijing Times? A little more fame had come again! It was another step towards his goal! Oh, right. I should take a look at my Reputation. He opened up the virtual game screen!

Reputation points: 95,344.

What? Why are there so many points?

Zhang Ye was startled. He had just used up all his Reputation points on Saturday morning. According to the Reputation gained from "Ghost Blows Out the Light", there should be around 20,000 gained Reputation points daily. Over the weekend, he had about 40,000 Reputation points. Including the holiday, which might have given him a little more, he should have slightly below 50,000 Reputation points. In short, today's "Talk About the World"'s live broadcast had brought him over 50,000 Reputation points? This was really worthy of the Literature Channel's top program! Just the number of listeners were a big difference! Of course, Zhang Ye's outstanding performance could have helped contribute; the two poems were just right for the circumstances. It must have conquered a lot of listeners!

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Chapter 23: Becoming Slightly Famous!

The next day on the way to work, while walking past the subway's west newsstand, Zhang Ye asked, "Has the Beijing Times newspaper arrived? How much?"

"A dollar." the owner replied mechanically.

Zhang Ye took out some money, "Give me a copy."

The owner took the money and handed a copy over, "Okay, take it."

Zhang Ye, broke as hell, felt bad giving the dollar. But it was unavoidable; money ought to be spent that had to be spent. He held up the paper and flipped through it page by page. When he arrived at the subway and pushed through the crowd at line 10, a sparkle appeared in his eyes. He flipped to the center page, saw his name printed across the page with the headlines especially attention-capturing – "Two Poems Saved a Life"!

Yesterday night, on Beijing Radio Station's Literature Channel program "Talk About the World" special, during the call-in session for the "Matters of the Heart" topic, a female university student attempted suicide on the air over her boyfriend's plans to further his studies in New York. The program host, Wang Xiaomei, attempted to talk her out of it, but failed. In the end, the guest of the show, the Literature Channel's "Late-night Ghost Stories" host, Teacher Zhang Ye, saved her life with two poems!

The dark night gave me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light – A Generation.

The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between opposite sides of the world. It is that you don't know that I love you, when I stand in front of you…The furthest distance in the world is the love between the bird and fish. One is flying in the sky, the other is looking upon the sea. – "The Furthest Distance in the World", also named "Flying Bird and Fish".

The above are the poems in their original form.

According to sources, the two poems were composed on the spot by Teacher Zhang Ye. Our reporter also contacted Teacher Zhang for an interview late last night. Although it was just a phone call, he was awed by Teacher Zhang Ye's literary talent.

Ah?

Awed by my literary talent?

Zhang Ye blushed a little. He had taken the reporter to be a ham salesman. Literary talent, my ass!

The report continued: We have to mention here a side story. At midnight, the editorial department was rushing the report. After seeing the two works, they were moved. An explanation and review of the two poems were done, but when handed over to the head editor for checks, we were held back from publishing it. After reading the poems, his own words were, "Delete all the reviews and analysis. Do not use the old way of writing the report. 'Flying Bird and Fish', a modern poem like this would immediately hit it off with the reader. And the other, 'A Generation', the strength in this cannot be explained by words. This is a great modern poem. Whether or not the author is a rookie, the only word to describe this poem is 'Great'. Maybe the author's fame and current era's background are not enough to make this poem well-known throughout the world, but I believe time will prove much. A few years or maybe a few decades, or even a few hundreds years down the road, the future generations will remember this poem and remember a person – Zhang Ye and his 'A Generation'. Our generation, their next generation and the future generation of the next generation."

The review was highly positive. Zhang Ye's heart fluttered.

…

Department.

"Morning." Zhang Ye walked into the office.

Assistant Xiaofang was the first to welcome him, smiling and revealing her small canine teeth, "Teacher Zhang, you came at the right time. We were just talking about the report in the Beijing Times. Have you seen it?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "I've also seen it."

Xiaofang giggled, "People were chatting before about it. You are the first person in our Literature Channel to go in the Beijing Times in the recent years." She was happy for Zhang Ye. "This is, after all, the Beijing Times. Even though it's limited to the capital area, the circulation numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. Most people don't have such a treatment!"

The old host, Teacher Feng, of "Old and Young Story Club" looked over and gave high praises, "Teacher Little Zhang, I heard the rebroadcast last night. I listened to the two poems again and again. Hai, indeed the younger generations will surpass us in time. I'm about to retire soon, so this station will be in the hands of you young people."

Zhang Ye quickly said, "It's not as serious as you make it out to be. My literary standard is still far from accomplished. I came to the station with a learning attitude. Today, it will still be the same. I'm hoping to receive lots of advice from every Teacher."

Tian Bin and Li Si had already came to work.

Zhang Ye also noticed him and saw the rage in Tian Bin's eyes. He was jealous and ignored Zhang Ye, before sitting at his desk. After having Zhang Ye rob the position of main host of "Late-night Ghost Stories" from him, Tian Bin was now a stand-in DJ. He usually did not have any work to do and only stood in when there was a shortage. He had not gone on a program for days, so it wasn't strange that he was mad.

However, Li Si's attitude today was completely different. It was clear he did not want to speak, but for some unknown reason, he suddenly stopped just as he was about to turn around, "…Teacher Zhang, morning."

Zhang Ye looked at him, "Oh, morning."

Li Si nodded with his head and then returned to his seat. It seemed like he had given in and had sized up the situation.

Seeing this, Tian Bin's expression turned worse. His popularity was always average amongst his colleagues. Previously, he would often speak about people behind their backs, so it was not strange that he was abandoned by the masses today.

Later on, the top celebrity of the station, Wang Xiaomei, came in. She did not look towards Zhang Ye and greeted a few old comrades and friends she had good relations with, before surprisingly saying to Zhang Ye, "Teacher Zhang, quite a number of letters from my program's listeners were written to you. I will get an assistant to give it to you in a while." Although her attitude did not seem to change, one had to know that Wang Xiaomei had never privately addressed Zhang Ye as "Teacher Zhang". A change in salutation clearly showed a subtle form of recognition.

Twenty minutes later, Zhang Ye received the letters from the listeners of "Talk About the World". In the generation where the internet was pervasive, this world was similar to Zhang Ye's world. Few people wrote letters, but Zhang Ye remained serious about it. Words written on a piece of paper felt more real and sincere.

"Hello, Teacher Zhang Ye. I heard the program yesterday. I'm also a parent, so I won't say much. I'll just thank you for that child's parents."

There was a total of 37 letters and all the feedback from the listeners was very positive.

Zhang Ye then went through the official e-mail inbox of "Late-night Ghost Stories". He read every mail sent by the listeners and then read the comments left on Beijing Radio Station's website. Suddenly, he saw a link and upon clicking it, he realized his "The Furthest Distance in the World" had been posted on a large discussion forum!

There had been 750,000 views!

There were more than 3,000 replies!

"This poem is too touching!"

"Why are there so many views? Isn't this the early stages of going viral!?"

"It has gone viral online, too? When I saw this poem in the Beijing Times in the morning, I was impressed. However, I prefer 'A Generation' more."

"I'm a moderator for the literature section on a website and an outright literature lover. I have always liked modern poems and I especially like writing them. I have always thought that I write very well and have left many modern poems in the literature section. However, after seeing Teacher Zhang Ye's two poems, I now know what it means to be the frog in the well. This is a real modern poem and what I wrote wasn't!"

There were praises and there were, of course, doubts.

"What rotten poem is this? It's just so-so."

"Right, it's too lame. One moment the furthest distance is this, then the next moment the furthest distance is that. There is no precision!"

No matter how well anything was done, it could not satisfy everyone. Zhang Ye knew this, so when he logged on, he wore an anti-troll fire vest before leaving a message. He did not have any strengths; only his attitude was good and tended to be more peaceful and calm. Seeing all the cursing, he only smiled and had the bearing of a literature writer and great poet.

He answered in style, "…I f*k your second granny's lungs! Just so-so? Do you even f*king know literature? Eh? You dare think lightly of this divine work that can last the ages!? You all are a piece of s*t! A stinking piece of *!"

People immediately felt the rush, "Eh, why are you cursing?"

Another netizen chimed in, "#3256 is right. All of you don't understand art!"

Another netizen said, "How can there be criticisms for a poem this classic? I really don't understand the aesthetic values of others!"

"Right, this is a poem that has saved a life. Still so-so? Then write a poem to save a life for me to see!"

Under Zhang Ye's lead, those people who had left their negative opinions were drowned by their spit and no longer posted. Seeing the warm enthusiasm, Zhang Ye logged off without his face red or heart throbbing excitedly. He did not feel that he was wretched. This was the attitude a literature writer had!

Lao Tze said this before: take actions when the right time comes!

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Chapter 24: Giving You Another Poem!

Zhang Ye sat in front of the computer, watching the praises given to him online. Past 10 A.M., a commotion sounded out outside the Literature Channel's office area. It was quite loud!

"Let us in! I want to find Teacher Zhang Ye!"

"This is an office. This place is restricted for non-staff!"

"We just want to say a few words and leave. We definitely won't give you trouble!"

"That still will not work. Go to the registration desk and wait for a while. Make an appointment first!"

After some pushing and shoving, a man and woman squeezed their way in. A security guard was half-heartedly blocking them, which many people could tell. Maybe it was due to a small meeting having just ended, but there were several Music and Traffic Channel staff who were walking past. They were curious over what was happening. Finally, even Zhao Guozhou was startled by this commotion as he came out of his office to probe the issue.

"What's going on?" Zhao Guozhou frowned.

"They are adamant about coming in! They refuse to listen to what I have to say!" the security guard explained.

"We want to find Teacher Zhang Ye! Just letting us meet with him once would do! Just once!" the male-female duo shouted.

Upon seeing the situation, Zhang Ye had no choice but to stop the work on his hands and squeeze through the crowd, "I'm Zhang Ye. Who are you?"

They rushed up and tightly held Zhang Ye's hands, "Teacher Zhang! Thank you! Thank you! You are Xiaoli's benefactor! You are also my benefactor! I want to thank you! Thank you!" As he said this, tears welled up in his eyes. It was not easy for men to cry, so this scene looked odd.

Zhang Ye was flabbergasted, "What benefactor?"

The quiet girl beside also started crying after seeing her boyfriend cry, "Teacher Zhang, I'm Xiaoli. If it weren't for the two poems of yours yesterday, I might have…"

Everyone immediately had a moment of realization!

Zhang Ye also understood, "It's you. Is this the boyfriend you mentioned? Don't cry. All of you, don't cry!"

The man had tears of remorse, "I only knew about it yesterday night. If you have not persuaded Xiaoli, we would have been separated, forever in different worlds! You are our family's benefactor!"

Xiaoli suddenly opened her bag and took out a long red banner, "This was rushed by my parents to be made overnight." Her boyfriend stepped forward quickly and pulled it open!

Shua!

The banner spread out in front of everyone!

"Gratitude of one speech, in mind for life"!

With that, the two of them stood properly and bowed deeply to Zhang Ye!

Such a situation moved Zhang Ye greatly as he helped them up, "To think you went through the trouble. There is really no need to. There is really no need. I didn't do much. All that matters is if you healthily and safely live on. Hehe, you are not fighting anymore? Have you discussed it well?"

The man bit his lip, "I've thought it through; I'm not going overseas!"

Xiaoli exclaimed, "No way! Your parents have already arranged it for you!"

"Who says one can only be successful in one's career by studying abroad? I can develop myself domestically, too. I will explain it to my parents. It's alright, even if they do not agree. I will convince them. I will stay behind and accompany you. Once I graduate, we will get married!" the man said with determination.

However, Xiaoli remained resolute, "Definitely not! You have to go! Even if you don't want to! I have already thought it through; I will wait for you. I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes!"

"Xiaoli!" The man's eyes turned red again!

Xiaoli gently hugged him, "As long as you are well, I'll be fine with anything!"

Upon seeing this scene, many people in the office clapped in their hearts. The power of love was always infectious.

"Isn't this good." Zhang Ye laughed.

Zhao Guozhou also said, "Next time, be well. Don't do something stupid."

Xiaoli said embarrassingly, "I won't. I'm fine as long as he lives well. I will not make him worried ever again."

Suddenly, someone made a suggestion, "Teacher Little Zhang, give them another poem."

"Right, right." Assistant Xiaofang said, "Let Teacher Zhang give you another poem."

Zhao Guozhou also found it interesting, "This suggestion is good. When you get married, remember to invite Teacher Little Zhang as your marriage witness."

Xiaoli was flattered, "How can I accept it. Teacher Zhang's words are like gold. I don't dare to ask for one after he gave me two poems."

Zhang Ye touched his nose. With the leader saying that, he had to give a poem, so he said, "Alright. Let me think."

The Beijing Times had highly appraised and published Zhang Ye's modern poem, which was proof of his literary prowess. Now that Zhang Ye was about to compose another poem, many people perked up their ears. The staff from other departments who were outside also tried to get in on the action!

"Don't block."

"Move to the side; I can't see."

"Sister Chen, come quickly. There's another poem."

"What poem? Whose poem?"

"It's the one from the Literature Channel that went on Beijing Times. That poem is very popular online now."

"The author of 'Flying Bird and Fish'? Wow, then I must listen to it. Wait for me to go in."

Many people squeezed into the large office as nearly a hundred pair of eyes stared at Zhang Ye!

Xiaoli and her boyfriend was looking forward to it the most. They did not even bat an eyelid!

Zhang Ye never expected the situation to be so grand with so many audience gazing at him. He turned more cautious for he could not embarrass himself with a lousy poem. Well, what poem should I use? Which poem was most appropriate? Zhang Ye recalled a moment, as long as you are well, I'll be fine with anything? Got it! He slowly spat out his words, "Xiaoli, the words you said previously are quite nice. I will use your words as the foundation for the poem I'm giving you."

The room turned silent.

Zhang Ye slowed his breath and recited.

"The passage of time is like water, ever so silent."

"If you are living well, then the skies are clear"

Zhao Guozhou immediately applauded, "Good poem!"

When her boyfriend heard it, he immediately took it down on paper, afraid he would forget it!

Xiaoli did not move and closed her eyes, as if revelling in the poem. After a while, she bowed at Zhang Ye once again, "Thank you! You are forever my teacher!"

"If you are living well…then the skies are clear?" A female staff member seemed to feel her eyes fog up upon hearing this. It was unknown if she had recalled something or was moved.

Wang Xiaomei and Xiaofang also mumbled to themselves and the way they gazed at Zhang Ye was no longer the same. Such a poem affected the feelings of women more. The poem was light and the words were simple, but the overflow of feelings it gave surpassed a thousand words. It was difficult to believe that this poem was the same male composer of "Flying Bird and Fish". Furthermore, it was composed on the spot!

What sort of literary talent was this!

Zhang Ye's single poem completely astonished everyone!

Even Tian Bin who was not far away did not say anything. Some people felt that the two poems given to Xiaoli during the broadcast were not composed on the spot by Zhang Ye, and were actually written prior, as they did not believe he was so talented. But now, this poem composed at this moment in time shattered the doubts of many!

Actually, this poem was very famous in Zhang Ye's previous world. It was spread on the internet, especially the last line. There were all sorts of claims about who the original author was. Some said it was Lin Huiyin. Some said it was Lin Huiyin's dad. Some said it first appeared on the internet and another line was added in the show, "Empresses in the Palace". It was not much different from "Flying Bird and Fish". Zhang Ye treated it as a collective work of predecessors. Anyway, no one in this world had heard of these people. There was no dispute to those poems being his alone!

He said it was his?

She said it was her dad's?

Then he said it was her third aunt's?

Hai, isn't that so troublesome and tiring? Putting the controversy to an end, Zhang Ye decided to unify it; this poem is mine. There's no need to thank me, just call me Lei Feng*!

Lei Feng was a soldier of the Chinese army in Communist legend. He was reported to be altruistic in his actions, but there is controversy that his image was part of Communist propaganda.

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Chapter 25: There are Advertising Sponsors!

Lunch time.

The poem that Zhang Ye gave to the young couple was once again relished by the radio station's colleagues. One could easily hear people discussing about it at any time of the day.

"Little Zhang, you are eating instant noodles again?" The director came in.

Zhang Ye hurriedly swallowed the last mouthful and smiled. "Yeah, I just need to fill my stomach."

Zhao Guozhou asked with concern, "Eating like this isn't healthy. Is it because you are tight on your living expenses, as you haven't been paid? Hehe, if that is the case, don't worry about it. I have something to announce in while." Looking at the office, he said, "Is everyone back from lunch? Then put down what you are working on for a while. As the scene in the morning had wasted some time, well, I'll be announcing the listenership rates for yesterday."

Everyone looked over.

Zhao Guozhou found a seat to sit down, "First place, "Talk About the World". The listenership is…" He purposely dragged out his tone, "4.09%!"

"Ah?"

"Is that true?"

"Above four percent?"

"Our rating broke four percent?"

It was clear that Wang Xiaomei was surprised by this.

Zhao Guozhou said in a satisfactory manner, "All these years, Xiaomei's segment has been our channel's number one in ratings, but it always averaged around three percent. Everyone, you didn't hear wrongly. We have really broken four this time. And I can happily tell you that the broadcast 'Talk About the World' yesterday was fourth in the entire station, on average. We are only just behind the News Channel's two news segment and the Traffic Channel's 'Safe All the Way'. This is an unprecedented result for our channel. Everyone, please congratulate Xiaomei."

There was applause and cheers!

The colleagues were also beaming. If the performance was good, the year-end bonuses would also be multiplied, so it was a joyous occasion for everyone in the Literature Channel.

Wang Xiaomei explained, "Thank you everyone. However, yesterday was a special case. There is no way that we can maintain it." She knew why they had jumped from the entire Beijing Radio Station's 8-9th place to 4th place. After a brief feeling of excitement, she did not say anything else.

She wasn't alone. Zhao Guozhou and the rest were the same. Zhao Guozhou carried on, "I recommend everyone to give Teacher Little Zhang a round of applause. Hehe. Yesterday's program was all thanks to Teacher Little Zhang; not only did he save us during a crisis, he had also pulled up the rating for 'Talk About the World'. Let me announce the rating for "Late-night Ghost Stories". Last night's Little Zhang's segment had an average rating of 1.57%. It ranked third place in our channel and is higher compared to its weekend's 1.4%. Clearly, last night's event had led to this. I believe, and I have reason to believe, that under Teacher Little Zhang's hard work, "Late-night Ghost Stories" will make a new high again. Hence, I have already spoken to the Deputy Directors and Heads and plan to give the 5,000 Yuan bonus award to Teacher Little Zhang. Does anyone have any objections about this?"

"No objections."

"It is necessary!"

"Teacher Little Zhang, congratulations!"

Zhang Ye pretended to be polite, "Leader, how can I? I'm just a newcomer. And really…"

Zhao Guozhou beamed with a smile, "In a while, I'll let finance enter it into your wages. Do not be like that. It's what you deserve. Besides, this bonus is also because of another reason. From today onwards, "Late-night Ghost Stories" will have advertising sponsors. As your "Ghost Blows Out the Light" has information regarding antiques and its listenership rates have been always high, a large pawn shop business' public relations staff have contacted the station. The sponsoring negotiations have basically been done. As for the exact numbers, it is still kept under wraps and I cannot divulge it. However, I can roughly tell you that, hehe, about this "Late-night Ghost Stories" sponsorship… It is about the same as our channel's prime-time programs' and is extremely high!"

What?

Almost the same as prime-time programs?

When this was revealed, many were dumbfounded. After all, "Late-night Ghost Stories" was a late-night segment. It was worse than late-night programs in the 11 P.M. – 12 A.M. slot. However, the sponsorship it had obtained was nearly the at the level of fees commanded by prime-time segments? Was the advertiser mad? However, it was reasonable once one thought about it. "Late-night Ghost Stories" was no longer a late-night program hosted by Tian Bin. After Zhang Ye took it over, its ratings had an explosive increase. Also, the cohesion rate of the listeners was high. It could be seen from the figures of the listenership breakdown. The pawn shop business was using this relatively specialized and relevant program, which had greatly attracted its listeners, to gain recognition. Hence, this high advertising fee was not unreasonable!

"Teacher Little Zhang, you will need to give a treat."

"Right, you must treat. It's so enviable."

"My afternoon segment's sponsorship isn't even as high as yours. This is such a blow to me. Haha, when our salary is paid, don't be stingy and treat us all!"

The more advertising sponsorship there was, the greater the cut they would get for their salary. Zhang Ye may be still a rookie whose base salary was inferior to others, but with the addition of the cut of a sponsorship that was nearing the amount for prime-time segments, Zhang Ye's monthly income would be higher than the older comrades who had had worked in the station for decades!

Zhang Ye was also delighted, "Sure, sure."

Seeing Zhang Ye's delighted mood, Tian Bin was so envious that his intestines turned green. He had ran "Late-night Ghost Stories" for years and, on average, it had 300 days a year without sponsorships. Occasionally, there would be a short-term sponsorship, but the fees received were negligible. It was extremely low. This Zhang had only started work for a few days; how was he so lucky? Tian Bin still refused to acknowledge Zhang Ye's abilities. He was adamant that it was due to luck.

After announcing all the programs' ratings, Zhao Guozhou called Zhang Ye over. He reminded him, "The advertisers are coming soon. Today is the day we are signing the contract. They, too, want to see your recording situation in person. I have already gotten someone to reserve the recording studio for you. Once they arrive, you can begin. As for the advertisement lines, I haven't received them. They might bring it and I'll get someone to pass it to you."

Zhang Ye responded, "Recording in the afternoon?"

"Yes. Anyway, you do not need a script. Why? Is there a problem?" Zhao Guozhou asked.

Zhang Ye bit his tongue, "There's no problem, Leader. I'll begin preparing."

Zhao Guozhou nodded, "Do well later. Don't let the advertisers pick fault with it, or there will be questions for the nearly-settled contract."

"I understand. Don't worry about it." Zhang Ye guaranteed.

When the Leader left, Zhang Ye's face turned bitter. No problem, your sister! He had no way of reciting the remaining text of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". He only knew the rough direction to the plot. As he was excited about being in the papers, he had not worked out a draft. He had been planning to work out the draft in the morning, but who could have known that something would happen in the morning? Now, with the advertisers coming in the afternoon, there was definitely no time left. Even if he wanted to go off script, he couldn't. Ugh, was he going to destroy all the accumulated Reputation in one go? "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was difficult to carry on. Was he going to mess up his own program?

Bad things were about to happen!

The end is near!

Thankfully, he had still gotten 5,000 Yuan in rewards. With money, even if he messed up the program, Zhang Ye would be fine. In this world, money is…No, that's not right!

I think I previously said that I treated money like dirt?

Let me think for a while, did I say that? Forget it, I don't think I said that!

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Chapter 26: Encountering a tough problem!

1 o'clock, afternoon.

Zhang Ye hurriedly rushed his draft. Behind him, his assistant, Xiaofang, called out to him.

"Teacher Little Zhang."

"What's the matter, Xiaofang?"

"Leader said to tell you that the sponsor for your program is here."

"Eh? So early? Didn't they say noon?"

"Er, it's noon now. This is for you; it's the advertisement copy. The recording studio is also ready. The director wants you to get ready before he brings over the guests."

Damn, this time I'm done for!

Zhang Ye had only just typed out the words for "Ghost Blows Out the Light", without any structure or thought. He could only switch off his computer and go do the undoable at the recording studio.

Sometimes, the one who knows you best is your enemy. That is a very true saying. Tian Bin keenly noticed Zhang Ye's abnormal actions and linked it to the quality drop in the recent two broadcasts of "Late-night Ghost Stories", where stuttering and the wrong usage of words occurred frequently. Even the recording took longer; where it used to take an hour, it took about 1.5 hours to 2 hours to finish a recording now. Tian Bin guessed that Zhang Ye has reached a creative bottleneck or it was even possible that the novel had a problem. Looking at him now, it was obvious that he had no script for it. Haha, this kid is getting what he deserves. The story won't be able to continue on from here? I'll see how you get past this! Tian Bin was over the moon. He stood up and proceeded to the recording studio, ready to see Zhang Ye make a mockery of himself and get what he deserved!

…

Recording Studio 1.

This was the most prestigious studio in the station. It was bigger than the other studios by at least three times. This did not even include the outside of the studio. There was a small space outside of the studio where the telephone editor worked and on the other side there was a viewing hall. It had a transparent soundproof glass which did not block the view, space for 30 leather chairs on the inside and even a small conference table. The station obviously prepared this place for the advertisers who had a sizeable sponsorship. Otherwise, this sort of a studio was usually only reserved for off-site interactive activities or management inspection use.

It was a situation of great importance!

And the pressure was greater, too!

Zhang Ye went in with the equipment settings readied by a staff member who informed him about the differences between this studio and the others before leaving. Zhang Ye was now alone in the room and felt like he was sitting on a cushion of needles. He mumbled to himself, "What should I do?" Bullsh*t my way through this? That won't work. The clients were willing to sponsor him because they have heard his program before. Just opening his mouth would let the cat out of the bag. Besides, the listeners would definitely not agree to it. Narrating while coming up with and organizing his thoughts? But he didn't have that capability; even if he hurriedly composed, the quality would be bad! All his ideas had been exhausted, Zhang Ye could do nothing more. He only hoped that the client would not tear up the contract.

Outside.

Viewing hall.

"It's over here. Please, come in." The door creaked and then Zhao Guozhou and a deputy led five to six men and women in. "Let's have a seat. Someone will get you tea."

A woman said, "Director Zhao, you are too welcoming of us."

Another person looked through the glass at Zhang Ye, "Is that Teacher Little Zhang?"

"That's right." Zhao Guozhou smiled. "Let Little Zhang start; we will listen and discuss at the same time."

"Sure. I am a loyal fan of 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'. I even listened to the program late last night. I'm honoured to be listening live on-site today." a middle-aged man mentioned politely.

They sat at the first row next to the location. They were from the Hua Tian Group, operators of pawn shops, jewelry shops and some auction house businesses. Zhang Ye did not know them from his world; the closest to it that he knew of was the Hua Xia Group's pawn shop businesses. Seemingly, even pawn shop businesses were altered in this world. Maybe the sponsored amount this time was too high. The contract duration was also longer than usual, not like those of a week or half a month. Because of this, this leading corporation gave the deal more attention. Five to six people from the marketing department, leaders and staff included, came over to discuss the contractual details. Likewise, Zhao Guozhou also had his own entourage. Wang Xiaomei and several other radio host Teachers also came along. The last to join was Tian Bin and he was probably uninvited. But as there were no restrictions on the attendees, the Leaders did not mention it.

After settling down, Zhao Guozhou signaled to Xiaofang with his index finger.

Understanding his intention, Xiaofang also signalled towards Zhang Ye in the studio and did a countdown from ten. After so many broadcast sessions, the two of them could communicate with just gestures. Li Si was the previous assistant for "Late-night Ghost Stories". Xiaofang was an assistant to everyone, also known as a helper to all. After Zhang Ye arrived, with the popularity of his program, Xiaofang became his personal assistant. Her previous tasks were all handed over to other assistants, while she concentrated on her job for "Late-night Ghost Stories". She was part of Zhang Ye's program team.

By now, Zhang Ye had to step up. With a deep breath, he pushed a button. 3, 2, 1. The broadcast started with the opening, "Hello, everyone. I am your DJ, Zhang Ye. Welcome to today's "Late-night Ghost Stories". Casually stating the chapter's title, Zhang Ye started reading the story.

As he spoke, the others were discussing outside.

"The contract has been prepared. Please take a look?" Zhao Guozhou went straight for the subject.

The woman who looked like she was the leader of the group said, "Director Zhao, it's okay if you are busy and need to attend to your work. Let's not rush this. We would like to listen in, first."

"Alright. Of course." Zhao Guozhou said.

The women enquired curiously, "Oh, yes. I see… That Teacher, Little Zhang, does not have a script?"

Zhao Guozhou smiled a little, "That's right. This is also a specialty of our program. Little Zhang has never needed a script. He's always working off-script for the program."

"That can't be true?" the women said skeptically.

Several of the people in the pawn shop business group also felt that they were exaggerating.

In the studio, Zhang Ye read, "The fatty had a piece….a jade heirloom that he always had with him. This piece of jade belonged to a…a northwestern army's…" Before he could finish a line, Zhang Ye already could not carry on. With his brain trying to organize his words and also trying to recall the plot's direction, it was beyond his abilities.

Eh? What's the matter with Little Zhang today? Zhao Guozhou finally realized something was wrong with Zhang Ye!

Tian Bin had realized this beforehand and was laughing at him on the inside. He was gleefully awaiting to see the joke that was Zhang Ye. This was the purpose of his attendance.

"What's the matter?"

"Eh? Why did he stop?"

The clients looked at each other blankly, not understanding the situation.

Zhang Ye disguised his situation with a cough, switched off his recording, "Let's re-record this portion. I apologize. My throat is a little unwell, let me get some water."

Zhao Guozhou looked at him, then spoke to him through the intercom, "Didn't sleep well last night? Don't worry, please rest for a few minutes." To help Zhang Ye smooth out the situation, Zhao Guozhou branched out the conversation and spoke to the clients about other topics.

Xiaofang had a face full of worry!

Zhang Ye's colleagues also had looks of suspicion!

A lot of the others had the same feeling from two days ago. Zhang Ye's story did not sound smooth. The novel's quality had dropped and there were stumbles in the story plot. Everyone wondered, "Was Zhang Ye a prodigy that has wilted? Is it that the story cannot continue on? Why did it have to happen at this moment?" The sponsors were here today to sign the contract, so if any mistakes happened, then all that sponsorship money would go up in smoke. Zhang Ye would then have to bear the responsibility and this would also be a smudge on their Literature Channel's reputation!

A lot of people held their breaths for Zhang Ye.

Only Tian Bin had a different expression from the rest. He only wished that Zhang Ye would make a mistake. If "Ghost Blows Out the Light" really could not go on, then there would be no need for Zhang Ye's existence. Ignoring the fact that he would be cursed at by the listeners, the Leaders would not agree to it. Even though over the years, "Late-night Ghost Stories" had stories that were cut short, as they had poor ratings, none of them had been dropped midway. There would always be a simple finale to the stories. If Zhang Ye could not produce a story today, then it would be a broadcast incident and nobody could save him!

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Chapter 27: Getting a Big Prize in the Lottery!

He only had a few minutes to rest.

Inside the recording studio, Zhang Ye was sweating profusely. He was really worried. No matter how he racked his brains, it was to no avail. Right, there was still one last lifeline!

The Lottery!

He could only place his only hope on the game ring. He should still have the ability to have a chance at the Lottery. Whether he could ride out this storm depended on the outcome of the Lottery. Maybe he could draw an item that gave people mass hallucinations? Maybe an item that could rapidly increase his creative composition of words? Success or failure depended on this! Zhang Ye could only go for broke as he opened the game ring's virtual interface and checked his Reputation score.

Reputation points: 305,931.

Upon seeing this number, Zhang Ye was dumbfounded. It took a while before he understood how his Reputation points had increased so much. The first reason was the addition of Reputation points from Xiaoli's suicide matter from the previous night. The program "Talk About the World" was also uploaded onto the internet. The second reason was the 30,000 Reputation points obtained from the previous day's "Late-night Ghost Stories". With the rating improving by the day, there were more and more Reputation points gained every day. The third reason was, of course, due to the Beijing Times report today. This was a major newspaper that had a circulation rate of a few hundred thousand in the capital. Even if half of those who had bought the papers had read Zhang Ye's news and only a half of those half had marveled at the two poems or were impressed by how Zhang Ye used the modern poems to save a life, that was sufficient to add more than a hundred thousand Reputation points. Exposure, achievements and fame added to his Reputation points.

Great!

The Reputation points were enough for him to draw three times at the Lottery!

Zhang Ye tapped the "Lottery" purchase button and began his first attempt at the Lottery. The needle began moving as he chanted, "Please not something from the Consumption Category! Not a Consumption Category item!" No one could see the virtual game interface in reality, so he was not worried about it.

But he was born unlucky!

The needle firmly stopped itself in a Consumption Category region!

Bada, a Treasure Chest (Small) appeared in his inventory. Zhang Ye helplessly took out the treasure chest and placed it on the floor. Avoiding the gaze of others, he opened the chest. There was a little circular band. It looked like the halo band seen above angels in movie productions. The only difference was that the color was black.

[ Unlucky Halo ] : Effective once it is worn. Lasts for 5 minutes. Triggering specific conditions will cause those around the player to enter a state of bad luck.

What does this mean? It has the same effect as the Unlucky Sticker? Only that it's an "area of effect" type this time? What were the conditions? It won't be attacking indiscriminately, right?

Zhang Ye did not study it much and first stuffed the Lottery item into his game ring. Following that, he puffed on his palm a few times. It was too depressing. What sort of sh*t hands were these? He had drawn from the Lottery four times, since he magically obtained the game ring. However, every time it was a Consumption Category treasure chests. Even though the Consumption Category region took up the largest proportion on the wheel, it shouldn't happen all the time, right? At least let me see what Stats Category and Skills Category are. The probability of hitting the Special Category was too low, so he did not have any hopes for it, but the Stats and Skills Categories still had a non-trivial probability of hitting them!

Again!

I don't believe it!

Zhang Ye frowned as he breathed in like he was practicing qigong. After messing around for a while, he spent another 100,000 Reputation points to buy a chance at the Lottery, despite his painful heart!

He clicked on the Lottery!

The needle began moving again!

It was all random. At least, Zhang Ye still could not see any pattern up until now. He could only stare and chant, waiting for the needle to slow down before he could see what it was! Skills Category! Stop! Stop! Aiyah, it did not stop! Another Consumption Category! Quickly get past it! Just a bit more! The needle was obedient this time as it grinded forward by a bit! Move some more! Move some more! It's not enough! Almost got it! As Zhang Ye eagerly watched as the needle seemed to use all its strength before stopping, it suddenly moved that tiny bit as its final rally!

Click!

Special Category!

It had actually stopped at the Special Category region, which had a 1-2% chance of being picked!

The Heaven's have shined their light on me; I managed to get a grand prize! Zhang Ye was finally delighted. The time for the Lottery to give out its prize had come. There was no item to receive, nor was there a treasure chest to be opened. There was just a system message.

Special Category awarded: Opening the Merchant Shop, adding the right to purchase item, "Memory Search Capsule".

After that, the virtual game's interface for the Merchant Shop opened. When he clicked it open, there was an item inside.

Memory Search Capsule: Effective upon consuming it. Helps the player search a memory or subconscious memory and permanently reinforces it. Lasts for five minutes. Costs 100,000 Reputation points.

Zhang Ye still remembered the Special Category's introduction. It was written that it would allow the purchase of a certain item. It seemed like the method to obtain magical items was not just limited to the luck of the draw. He could also use the random chance from landing on the Special Category to give him the right to buy an item. He could buy an unlimited number of the items in the Merchant Shop, as long as he had the Reputation points. He would no longer be restricted to the limitations of the random chance in the Lottery. This discovery made Zhang Ye excited!

Memory search?

Could this solve the problem he was facing?

Time was running out, so Zhang Ye didn't spend too much time thinking about it. He looked at the remaining 100,000 Reputation points he had left and decided against the Lottery. He could not afford it. As such, he opened the Merchant Shop and spent 100,000 Reputation points to buy one "Memory Search Capsule". He only had a few thousand Reputation points left as a result.

Ding!

With the successful purchase, the item automatically entered his inventory!

Zhang Ye quickly opened up his inventory and, with a grab, pulled out a black and white capsule. It looked like something one ate when one had the cold. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed it. As he crunched on it, he felt his eyes go blank before he could even decide on its taste. His brain's activity suddenly increased, as several scenes flashed before his eyes. Zhang Ye was filled with worry about the "Ghost Blows Out the Light" script, so all his thoughts were focused on it. So with a thought, the scenes in his brain suddenly jumped to the scene of him back in school in his previous world. It was the weekend when Zhang Ye had just bought the entire "Ghost Blows Out the Light" set after school. It had books written in simplified script. The moment he reached home, he excitedly flipped through them to read it!

One page…

Ten pages…

Twenty pages…

It was all scenes of him flipping through the books. It was as fast as a movie playing!

At this moment, the effective duration of the "Memory Search Capsule" ended. Zhang Ye returned to reality from his weird memories. Only five minutes had passed in reality, precisely the effective duration of the item. However, the speed at which he thought was clearly much faster. The concept of time was completely different. In his memories, Zhang Ye seemed to have spent several hours reading. With a blink, Zhang Ye was delighted to discover that after reliving those memories of reading "Ghost Blows Out the Light", every word in the novel was remembered by him clearly. He could recite them from memory easily! The Memory Search had helped him dig out buried memories and had reinforced those memories! Although the Memory Search did not completely let him recall the hundreds of thousands of words in "Ghost Blows Out the Light", it had reinforced about a quarter of the content in his memories. Previously, Zhang Ye had only narrated about tens of thousands of content during the earlier segments. Hence, with his current memories, he could easily narrate another 200,000 words with his eyes closed!

It's done!

There's no need to worry about the script anymore!

This item had come at an opportune moment! Besides, as long as he had enough Reputation points, he could buy an unlimited number of Memory Search Capsules. There would no longer be any worry about trying to recall artistic works from his previous life!

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Chapter 28: An Amazing Unscripted Performance!

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Zhao Guozhou looked towards the exterior door.

There was a woman who had came from outside. On the other side of the glass, Zhang Ye saw her, too. He cleared his throat. He had seen this woman before and she had cursed him behind his back. She was Tian Bin's wife. He met on the first day of work. The woman was holding a contract in her hand. Clearly, she was one of the staff in the station. Either she was in charge of advertisement matters, or she was in charge of contractual laws. He had previously thought that Tian Bin's wife had come to meet Tian Bin to get off work together. So his wife was also a member of the radio station.

"Director Zhao, the contract." The woman took out a bunch of A4 paper.

Zhao Guozhou took it over and acknowledged, "Just leave it here. We'll speak later."

"Alright." The woman leaned her head to the side to look around. Seeing Tian Bin waving towards her, she walked to the last row and sat with her husband.

"Sister-in-law."

"Sis, you came?"

People in the Literature Channel knew of the duo's relation, as everyone knew each other.

After sitting down, Tian Bin's wife did not hide her disdain for Zhang Ye as she whispered, "Why hasn't it started? What are we waiting for?" How could her tone be good, when her husband was replaced by Zhang Ye?

A Literature Channel staff member said, "It began a while ago, but it seems like Teacher Zhang's throat isn't good, so it was stopped."

Tian Bin laughed quietly, "It's not his throat isn't good. He can't produce anything. If you don't believe me, just watch. His advertising sponsorship will definitely be blown off today!"

"That can't be?" another colleague said.

Tian Bin seethed, "Haven't you already noticed? Zhang Ye is already a spent force. He has nothing left sustaining him. How do you explain it?"

Tian Bin's wife laughed, "I think so, too. A rookie can't have good luck all his life. He has to pay the price of being young. How can being a host be so easy? Only after a few years of grinding and being beat down would one gain acceptance. A moment of impressiveness is just short-lived. In the end, what matters is experience and background!"

When Xiaofang heard this, she was very unhappy, but she did not dare to show it. After all, she was a rookie, so she could only say, "Teacher Zhang will be fine!"

Tian Bin lost his smile, "Does his performance look like he is fine? Then let's have a bet? Let's see if he can pass this ordeal!"

Xiaofang remained silent. She was afraid, too. Teacher Zhang, you must not make any mistakes!

…

What they said could not be heard in front, as there was a distance of seven meters separating them.

"Little Zhang! Have you rested your throat?" Zhao Guozhou could no longer drag it out any longer. Seeing so much time pass, he could only ask with a frown.

Zhang Ye adjusted his bearings as he drank some water. He immediately said, "Leader, I can do it."

"Alright, then let's carry on." Zhao Guozhou waved at him to begin, while his eyes seemed unsure.

Tian Bin was thinking in his mind, "What do you mean, 'you can do it'. Today, I'm just waiting for you to make a fool of yourself. When you fail, the segment 'Late-night Ghost Stories' will be mine again!"

Tian Bin's wife also laughed in silence. She, too, was waiting for Zhang Ye to make a fool of himself!

Zhang Ye paused for two seconds before he began recording, "Hello, everybody. Welcome to today's "Late-night Ghost Stories" segment… This piece of jade was given to his father by a chief in the northwestern army. Years ago, this chief had led his troops to destroy a gang of bandits. This piece of jade was worn closely by the bandit leader. Although it was a piece of jade, its shape did not look anything like it. Its shape was strange…" Zhang Ye was no longer like the stammering Zhang Ye from before. His words were buttery smooth!

Tian Bin was surprised a little. What the heck? How could he now narrate again? Oh, he must have used the break time to organize his thoughts. However, what could that little bit of time amount to? He will end up full of mistakes later!

Ten minutes!

Half an hour!

Time passed.

Tian Bin was looking forward to seeing Zhang Ye make a mistake. The married couple were waiting to see a show.

However, Zhang Ye's performance made their faces turn green. Not only did Zhang Ye not make a single mistake, the plot and words used were excellent. It had returned to the high quality standard of the first few episodes. It was even better than the first few episodes. There was not a single re-recording of a passage. It was as if he had God's help, as he chattered on!

"According to Eiko, the Savages Ditch by Hei Feng Kou was actually previously called Corpses Ditch. Further into the past, it was actually called Moon Holding Ditch…"

One episode was done!

Two episodes were done!

From 2 P.M. in the afternoon to 5 P.M. in the afternoon, Zhang Ye recorded three full episodes. There was no break in between. He did not even take a mouthful of water. He had recorded it all in one go!

The Tian Bin couple were terrified!

Zhao Guozhou and Xiaofang were stunned with their mouths agape!

The five-member advertising sponsorship team was also dumbfounded!

When the third episode was done recording, Zhang Ye still seemed addicted to it and was just about to carry on recording another episode. Zhao Guozhou quickly interrupted upon seeing this. He switched on the microphone to contact him, "Little Zhang, that will do. Come over here, first!" You still want to narrate some more? You still can narrate? Any more, and the sky will turn dark!

Zhang Ye said, "Yes." before taking off his headset, with lingering feelings.

The pawn shop business' woman stared while saying, "The three hours of content was said without script? That's impossible!" She would not believe it even if she was killed. She immediately stood up, "I'm going in to take a look!" She hated being deceived by others. It would be a great disrespect towards them and also an insult to their intelligence!

"Ah…" Zhao Guozhou did not stop them, allowing to do so.

The Tian Bin couple also did not believe it and they accompanied the sponsors and the Leader in.

Three hours of on-the-spot creation, without any mistakes or script?

How did he do it!? This must be an international joke!

Immediately, a group of people poured into the recording studio as they looked all around. They really could not find a script. A sponsor guessed that Zhang Ye had copied the script into the computer; as such, he looked at the monitor. Good rascal. The recording studio's second computer was not even switched on. And the main computer was controlled with buttons. There wasn't even a display!

Zhang Ye was wondering why so many people rushed in, "Eh? What's the matter?"

The sponsors were amazed, "You…you really did not use a script?"

"Nope. I just said what I have on the spot." Zhang Ye answered matter-of-factly.

The woman did not utter a word for a long while, before turning her head towards Zhao Guozhou, "Let's sign the contract, Director Zhao. We are convinced!"

Only Tian Bin remained in disbelief. Your sister! How did you memorize three hours worth of content? Are you f*king mad? Ignoring it being off script, even when Tian Bin recorded with a script, he would also make mistakes. How the f*k do you not have any mistakes without a script? How could it be!? Aren't you on the brink of death? Weren't you unable to narrate the story, just now? How did you seem to transform suddenly!?

Tian Bin's wife's expression looked ugly, too.

Assistant Xiaofang glanced at them. You still want to bet that Teacher Zhang can't do it? Why aren't you speaking now? Are you dumb now?

It was natural that Zhang Ye would not make a mistake. His memories had been strongly reinforced. It could be blurted out without thinking. This was the effect of the memory capsule!

Zhao Guozhou and the sponsors left to discuss the details of the contract.

Zhang Ye looked at his watch. He still was not done with his narration itch. He felt that his mental state was still very good. So he decided to forgo his meal. After drinking a mouthful of water, he returned to the recording studio and began rattling off the fourth episode for the day!

Tian Bin refused to have his beliefs shaken. He insisted on staying behind to see how Zhang Ye managed it!

Wang Xiaomei and a few other hosts did not go for dinner. They, too, wanted to see what tricks Zhang Ye had; rather, it should be said that they wanted to know what Zhang Ye's limit was. They were extremely surprised!

Four episodes!

Six episodes!

Eight episodes!

Zhang Ye actually recorded from two in the afternoon to ten in the evening!

Wang Xiaomei had already left silently at 6pm!

Tian Bin endured past 7 PM before going home with an ashen face!

There were people who went for their dinner midway. Some people got off work, while some people came to catch a glimpse of this spectacle after hearing about it!

"He's amazing!"

"Quick, go take a look. Zhang Ye is still recording!"

"Ah? What time is it? And it was done without a script?"

"Of course it is done without a script. Damn! He has gone off script for eight hours!"

"Holy shit! Is that guy still human? Did he eat some power pills?"

The news quickly spread. Many hosts and staff from other channels came in waves. Everyone came to listen with a look of disbelief. However, when all of them left, their looks of disbelief were replaced by looks of amazement, without exception!

After that day.

Everyone knew that a man of God had arrived in the Literature Channel!

He was a person who had produced a work on the spot, recording without any script for more than ten hours without a mistake! If the entire station was added up… Who dared to compare with him!?

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Chapter 29: What is Your Most Expensive Dish Here?

A week later.

Zhang Ye had been forcefully given leave by a Deputy Director for the Literature Channel. The Leader nearly pleaded with him to take a break for two days with a confused expression of being at a loss over whether to laugh or cry. Why? This was because Zhang Ye was playing with his life for the entire week. Every day, he would reserve the recording studio during the day. If he could not get a long time slot, he would reserve a time slot at night. He would obtain the key from the relevant personnel to work overtime throughout the night. He had completely recorded the fifty episodes of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". Together with the episodes recorded before, he had finished recording more than 60 episodes. The book was almost done.

In between, the episodes that were periodically broadcast gave Zhang Ye a total of 200,000 Reputation points. The few poems that spread online also kept contributing to his Reputation score. All of them added up to about 300,000 points. Zhang Ye used those points to buy three "Memory Search Capsules". They allowed Zhang Ye to reinforce the text in "Ghost Blows Out the Light". Without a missing word, he could naturally record without a hitch. As usual, he went off-script during the entire process. In seven days, everyone in the station was used to this "warped" existence.

From shock to amazement, from amazement to surprise, and from surprise to numbness!

In the end, everyone took Zhang Ye's stunning performance for granted!

There were only a few episodes left before Zhang Ye finished recording. In Zhang Ye's original world, a radio station had recorded the audio version of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" after its crazy sales. It was done in 400-500 episodes, so how did he finish recording in less than 100 episodes? This was because, in his previous world, the ghost story segment was called "Midnight Strange Files". It was half an hour long. Only about 20 minutes, or even less, of the novel was narrated during the segment. However, in this world, "Late-night Ghost Stories" was a segment that was an hour long. Furthermore, Zhang Ye's narrative speed was much faster than the average person's. As a result, the number of episodes were naturally reduced.

…

In the morning.

Zhang Ye was washing up. The seven days of continuous work and disruptive working schedule had affected his mental state. Even while smoking to refresh himself, he would keep yawning.

There was actually no need for him to work so hard.

But why did Zhang Ye work so hard? There were four reasons.

Firstly, he needed to be worthy of the Leader's appreciation!

Secondly, he needed to be worthy of the audience's love!

Thirdly, if he finished recording the program early, he could get a bonus!

As for the fourth reason…Well, the fourth reason is that the first and second reasons were not important at all!

After checking his salary and bonus online, Zhang Ye immediately cheered up. After realizing that he had not been home for a long while, he went down to take the subway as he headed to his parents' home.

His parents lived in Caishikou, a small neighborhood in Beijing that was neither young or old.

Just as he arrived, Zhang Ye met a few of his old neighbors.

"Eh, isn't this Little Ye? You are back? I haven't seen you in a long while." an auntie said.

Zhang Ye greeted, "Good morning, Auntie Zhou. I moved out to stay alone a month ago. I've been busy working recently, so I didn't come back."

"I heard from your parents that you are working at a radio station?" Another old uncle flapped a paper fan as he said, "That is a good place. It's paid by the public, so do well."

"Okay. Sure." Zhang Ye went up after making some idle chat.

After pressing the doorbell, it was his mother who opened the door. She did not look happy, "It's been a month. Now you know to return home?"

Zhang Ye gave a glance and gave an obsequious smile, "I was waiting to return only after having some success. Where's dad? He isn't working today, right?"

"Him? He's reading the papers." Mom kicked a pair of slippers to her son.

Zhang Ye bent over and wore them. Upon entering the living room, he saw his dad sitting on the sofa, reading Beijing Times. "Dad, I'm back. How's your and Mom's health?"

Dad never said much, "It's good. How's work?"

Zhang Ye seemed happy, "It's good. This month's salary has been paid. Together with the bonus, it's a total of 18,000."

"What?" Mom's ears immediately perked up. She turned from sorrow to joy, "Why is there so much? Aren't you in your probation period? You shouldn't have established yourself, right?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "The wage isn't a lot, but the bonus is quite a lot. There is a 5,000 contribution reward and another 8,000 performance award. With my wage and benefits added together, that's why I was paid so much."

"My son sure is good." Mom beamed, "I already said my son will amount to something!"

Dad said squarely, "Don't be arrogant. This little bit of results isn't anything."

Mom squinted at Zhang Ye and pursed her lips, "Hear what your Dad is saying. Every night, he will listen to your program in front of the radio. Sometimes he would not even agree to lowering the volume when I find it noisy. That episode where you used a modern poem to save a girl? He also listened to it. He even praised your modern poem's standard. He even recorded those few poems down. Heh. Anyway, I didn't understand that poem of yours."

Dad's expression changed, "Must you say so much?"

Mom snorted, "I'm just speaking the truth. What are you staring for? Do you think only your staring eyes are the biggest?"

Zhang Ye chuckled. The approval of his family was his greatest encouragement. He said, "It's almost noon. Mom, Dad. There's no need to cook today. Let's go out and eat. Since this is my first hard-earned wage, I must treat you to a good meal. Let's go!"

Mom said happily, "Alright. I want to enjoy my son's treat."

Dad was about to say something, such as don't be a spendthrift, as their living conditions were not that great. However, with Zhang Ye and Mom pulling him, Dad eventually went to change.

Downstairs.

Mom pulled out her cellphone like an avant-garde. "Let me check what good restaurants there are nearby."

Zhang Ye asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking the reviews online. I just learned about it from my colleagues." Mom began to clumsily maneuver through her cellphone's functionality.

Zhang Ye scoffed and looked down on Mom, "Online reviews? You are too passe. What year is it now? What you are doing isn't scientific nor precise. Look at me!" Zhang Ye took out a signing pen that he always brought along and threw it into the air. After the pen dropped to the ground, he pointed along the direction of the pen tip to a street diagonally across. "That restaurant has delicious food!"

Mom, "…"

Dad said, "As a college graduate, can you not be so superstitious?"

Zhang Ye stubbornly said, "Believe me. That restaurant definitely is good. I've never been wrong with throwing stuff – or else, how do you think I scored such a high score during my English college entrance exams?"

The restaurant was not small and there were quite a number of people.

The trio were led to a table in the back by a waiter.

A waitress politely said, "What do the three of you want to eat?"

Mom said casually, "Son, you do the ordering, but don't order things that are too expensive. It is unnecessary."

Zhang Ye acknowledged. With almost 20,000, he was now a little tycoon. What was the use in having so much money? Isn't it meant to be used? Furthermore, he was now a public figure. He needed to maintain his reputation, so he said with confidence, "What is your most expensive dish here?"

The waitress said with a surprise, "The most expensive?"

Zhang Ye nodded, "Right. Feel free and say it boldly!"

The waitress answered, "Deep-Fried Mandarin Fish is quite expensive. And depending on the portion, a fish can cost about 300 after preparation. Right, we also have abalone. One portion is 120. How many portions do you want?"

Zhang Ye snapped his fingers, "Good, very good. Give me…a plate of Kung Pao chicken, a plate of Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce and three bowls of rice. That would be all!"

The waitress nearly vomited out blood. After all that she said, he did not want any of that?

After the waitress left, Mom embarrassingly said, "Why did you ask about all of that!?"

Zhang Ye coughed, "I never expected it to be so expensive. Also, didn't you say not to order stuff that's too expensive? We still need to live. So we shouldn't be too extravagant."

Mom said angrily, "You are too cheap!"

Dad interjected, "Isn't that something he learned from you? You mother-son duo were born money-faced!"

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Chapter 30: The War of Words on Weibo!

Afternoon.

As his parents were taking an afternoon nap, Zhang Ye was surfing the net in his room. After logging in to his newly registered Weibo* account, there was a verified label on his avatar. This was a verified account that the radio station had applied for him, for work purposes. The verification details were, "Beijing Radio Station's Literature Channel's 'Late-night Ghost Stories' Broadcast Host Zhang Ye". Every radio anchor host had a platform to communicate with their audience. By promoting their programs and maintaining their image, that was also a part of their work.

This world's social media platform did not distinguish between Tencent's Weibo or Sina's Weibo. There was only one, called Weibo. It was pretty much the same; however, there were some tiny differences in the details. For example, there was no way to display one's location. The reason was probably to protect one's privacy.

"Hello, Teacher Zhang."

"Teacher Zhang, I really like your program."

"'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is too good. Your poems are also too classic!"

"If you need any sort of work done, please contact mobile number 1348763733!"

"Haha, Teacher Zhang is also on Weibo? I'm Xiaofang. Please add me as a fan."

There were private messages, @ messages and comments, totaling about 30 of them. There were advertisements, colleagues from the radio station and listeners.

Upon seeing his fan count, he only had about 200 people. After all, he had just registered, so he could not have many fans. It needed a long period of operation. Zhang Ye picked a few comments to reply to. He also followed a few colleagues. As he browsed through this world's Weibo, there were not many major differences, so he did not find it unfamiliar. This was a very important promotional platform, so Zhang Ye treated it seriously. After giving it some thought, he decided to post his poems, "Flying Bird and Fish", "A Generation", the title-less "If you are living well, then the skies are clear" and the "The Song of the Stormy Petrel" that he had never publicly released.

His fan count immediately rose!

There were countless numbers of people rebroadcasting it!

"Let the tempest come strike harder? Wow!"

"'The Song of the Stormy Petrel' is so well written! I like it!"

"I already thought "Flying Bird and Fish" and "A Generation" were classic enough, but after seeing "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", I feel full and delighted. This passer-by shall become a fan!"

"If you are living well, then the skies are clear? This is written so beautifully!"

"Teacher Zhang has released another new poem? Awesome! I'll prostrate in front of you in full admiration!"

He even saw some bigwigs leaving comments. For example, there was the famous producer Hu Fei from Central TV. He had rebroadcasted for Zhang Ye, "I first liked Zhang Ye's novel, as 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' was too original. It is totally different from the usual supernatural novels. Later on, I saw Teacher Little Zhang's two poems. I greatly fell in love with "A Generation". It felt like it was written for our generation. Today, after seeing "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", this should be a prose. Having lived for so long, I have seen at least a few hundred, if not a few thousand prose. But this is the first time that I have realized that prose can be written in such a graceful and powerful manner! I also know the Vice Editor, Old Ya, from the Beijing Times. I agree strongly with what Old Ya said that in a few hundred years, people might no longer have computers or cell phones and may even forget the dazzling celebrities of the past, to the point of forgetting things our generation think is unforgettable. But the two poems, "A Generation" and "The Song of the Stormy Petrel" will never be forgotten. I believe they will be passed down over as a heritage, one generation after another!"

Naturally, Zhang Ye had to reply as he modestly answered, "Thank you for Teacher Hu's affirmation. I'm not that noble or great as you described. I just randomly created those."

Hu Fei gave an astounding approval, "Talent is probably innate. Some people might work their entire lives to no avail. Some people have it the moment they were born. Teacher Little Zhang is just 23 years old? My son is 22 this year, almost the same age as you. However, Teacher Zhang is already so cultured, while my son is playing on the phone all day. Sigh."

People began to comment.

"My daughter is the same. She's playing with her cell phone all day."

"Right, young people nowadays cannot be separated from their cellphones. Even while they are eating and talking, they would still hold onto their phones."

Upon seeing this, Zhang Ye left a comment. He used a popular online phrase in his previous world. "The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between the flying bird and fish. It is that you are playing with your phone, even when I stand in front of you."

"Pu!"

"Haha! I'm dying of stitches!"

"Teacher Zhang is too cheeky!"

"I never expected Teacher Zhang to be so humorous! He's a ghost story host and also a poet, so I thought he would be a particularly serious person!"

"That was a godly reversal!"

Central TV's producer Hu Fei was also overjoyed as he posted a smiley emoticon, "In a while, I'll show this to my son!"

With Zhang Ye's lead, many netizens began to spontaneously post modified versions of Zhang Ye's "Flying Bird and Fish". For example, there were statements like, "The furthest distance in the world is not bringing toilet paper to the toilet." In the end, "A Generation" was also not spared. There were all kinds of versions, such as, "The dark night gave me black eyes, but I use them to watch movies." If other poets saw their poems being defiled beyond recognition by others, they would be furious. However, Zhang Ye did not. Not only was he not angry, he even modified his works along with the netizens. His level of self-mockery was high, which won the favor of many netizens.

"Teacher Zhang is really approachable!"

"This is what a cultured person should have!"

"1! Supporting Teacher Zhang's creation of more masterpieces!"

…

At the same time.

Today, Tian Bin was also not working. After his program was robbed from him, he would basically be resting for three days a week. He had nothing to do at work. In an upset mood, Tian Bin would drink alone at home. As he drank, he surfed Weibo. He, too, saw Zhang Ye's interaction with the netizens and saw his fan count increasingly rapidly due to him being so well-liked. In just a day, he had several thousand fans. It was nearly about to exceed Tian Bin's 20,000 fan count. Seeing this, how could Tian Bin feel happy? He nearly flew into a rage!

Producing works without a script?

Every word he says is classic?

Tian Bin never believed Zhang Ye had this ability. He also bore a grudge, so without switching his Weibo account, he used his official, verified Weibo account to post a message, "Some people may be able to jump for a moment, but they cannot jump for life. Do not be a villainous person intoxicated by success. Do not use underhand techniques, or you will end up suffering!" He did not indicate who he was speaking about, but anyone who had eyes knew that he was scolding Zhang Ye. This was because after Zhang Ye was officially verified, the VIP introduction for Tian Bin's Weibo had changed into "Previous 'Late-night Ghost Stories' Broadcast Host".

Tian Bin had his fans, too. Some people liked Zhang Ye's style of broadcasting, but there were also people who liked Tian Bin's program. Upon seeing Teacher Tian post that comment, many of his fans immediately understood who Tian Bin was referring to. Immediately, they answered the summoning call and went on Zhang Ye's Weibo to begin cursing!

"Using underhand techniques?"

"So this was how Zhang Ye got his position!"

"Teacher Tian is right. I do not like Zhang Ye's program. It's practically rubbish!"

On the other side, Zhang Ye was still unsure of the situation. He had just went to grab a cup of water, but when he returned, he saw lots of criticism on his Weibo!

"Zhang Ye, you dumb pig!"

"Calling for a boycott of Zhang Ye!"

"What a rubbish program! Quickly stop broadcasting it!"

"Right! Let Teacher Tian Bin resume his hosting of 'Late-night Ghost Stories'!"

After Zhang Ye traced it to Tian Bin's official Weibo account and seeing the comment left by him, he immediately sneered with anger. You are looking for trouble, aren't you? You dare to say I'm a villainous person?

Before Zhang Ye responded, his fans and some bystanders had rushed to Tian Bin's Weibo to return their tirade!

"How can there be such a cheap person under the Heavens?"

"Publicly scolding his colleague on Weibo? Who is the villain here?"

"Isn't it because of Teacher Zhang's literacy skills being better than yours that caused the result of him replacing you? If you aren't happy about it, win the program back yourself. Can you only curse at someone behind their back?"

"What a joke. And there's so many people chiming in? Are you all a bunch of people who like to curse?"

At this moment, the producer Hu Fei, who had exchanged some words with Zhang Ye on Weibo, helped speak out for Zhang Ye, "People should have some bearing in their conduct. One shouldn't pull someone down just because someone is better than you. What a joke. Anyone with any smarts knows what is going with a glance!"

The two sides began to set off a war of words!

Weibo immediately bustled with activity!

"Son, come eat some fruit!" Mom shouted from outside his room, after waking up from her afternoon nap.

Zhang Ye had no mood to eat, "I'm not eating. I'm busy."

Mom pushed the door open and entered, "What's the matter? Eat first, before you busy yourself."

Zhang Ye stared at the computer, "I can't eat. A colleague is using his verified account to scold me on Weibo. His actions are too horrible. I need to deal with it."

Mom was also enraged, "Who dares to scold my son? This little son of a bitch! But don't you scold back at him. He may not be right, but we need to make sure of the repercussive effects. After all, your status is no longer the same."

"I got it. Go back." Zhang Ye saw Tian Bin post another comment.

Tian Bin, "A person with questionable character is useless, no matter how talented he is!"

Zhang Ye sneered and replied, "How is my character questionable? Can you please talk about it Teacher Tian!?"

Tian Bin took on an enigmatic tone in his words, "You really do not know?" Alright then. Hehe.

Zhang Ye, "Do not use these mysterious words to mislead everyone. Tell me what I did wrong; I want to know, too!"

Tian Bin scoffed, "You know very well what sort of character you have!"

Zhang Ye angrily said, "I really do not know. You can say it straight out. I have always done things with a clear conscience. By using this vague tone, aren't you showing the lack of confidence in your words?"

Tian Bin, "Hehe. A villainous person is a villainous person."

…

Beijing Radio Station.

There were many people working in the Literature Channel's office today.

A midday program's DJ suddenly shouted, "Hey, quickly look at Weibo. Something has happened! Tian Bin and Zhang Ye are fighting!"

"Ah? What happened?"

"They are fighting? Let me see!"

"Aiyah! Teacher Tian is…"

"What is Tian Bin doing? How can he say such things!"

"And he is even using his verified Weibo account. This will give off a bad vibe. The listeners will even wonder what's going on if they see this!"

A few old comrades in the station were very displeased. Wang Xiaomei frowned, while Xiaofang was enraged!

"I'll let the Leader know!"

"Who is going to call Tian Bin and Zhang Ye? Tell them not to fight! Quickly delete their Weibo comments!"

…

Ring, ring, ring. A phone call came in.

Zhang Ye saw the number and it was Teacher Feng from the "Old and Young Story Club" segment. Upon picking it up, he heard Teacher Feng say, "Little Zhang, quickly delete those messages on Weibo. Director Zhao has got wind of the matter. He's already going crazy and wants you to stop immediately. Anymore of this will be detrimental to the station. Someone has already approached Tian Bin, too. Quickly cool down. We can talk about this in the office tomorrow!"

Zhang Ye said angrily, "I've been scolded by Tian Bin and his fans all day. I have not said a single swear word or slanderous comment, right? You want me to cool down? Did I say too much? I was just getting Tian Bin to explain how my character was lacking. Why am I a villainous person? Do I have any other problem?"

Teacher Feng said, "Look at your temper. Are you being nasty with me? Kid, cool down. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm just asking you to endure it."

"Teacher Feng, it isn't my intention. Alright, I got it." Zhang Ye said without any qualms. Amongst all the broadcasting hosts in the Literature Channel, his impression of Teacher Feng was the best. He was a veteran, but he had no airs. He was kindly to everyone, so Zhang Ye naturally would not get angry with Teacher Feng.

"That's good. Calming down is the best." With that, Teacher Feng hung up the phone.

However, just after he threw down his phone, Zhang Ye sneered at the computer. Although he had promised Teacher Feng to cool down, he did not have any plans to doing so. Delete my Weibo comments? Remain silent? That Tian has already said so much; how could I remain silent!?

Tian Bin's fans were still attacking him.

"Look, Zhang Ye is no longer speaking?"

"Hehehe. This is because he's trembling from the scolding!"

"An idiot is an idiot! How dare a rookie rob an elder's position!"

"I really feel helpless for Teacher Tian! Why did he have to encounter a person who did not know where he stands!"

"Everyone, carry on scolding! Keep refreshing! Do not have any scruples! Let's get justice for Teacher Tian!"

Tian Bin also fanned the flames from time to time to incite the people's emotions. He could not swear, but he could stir up his fans to curse!

Some of those who cursed at Zhang Ye did not know the truth. They thought that Teacher Tian had some grievance due to Zhang Ye. A large number of them were just following the crowd. The internet was a more open platform. Some people just liked to curse, so they would ignore everything else and curse first, without knowing the truth. After all, Zhang Ye would definitely not curse back at them, as he was a public figure. He had to take note of the effects of his words. This made those people, who were joining in the fun to curse, become more unbridled in their attacks. They felt good about being able to curse at someone who had better achievements than themselves!

Don't dare to curse back?

Indeed, if it was any average radio host, they would definitely not do so. However, Zhang Ye was not any average person. They did not understand Zhang Ye's temperament at all!

Cursing at him for no reason?

Stepping over his head time and again?

He knew deeply what the internet was like. There was no reason behind today's matter. They were just cursing for the sake of cursing. The matter was not settled by who was being more reasonable, as it was meaningless in trying to be reasonable. Everything was determined by strength! Everything was determined by who was more fierce in their combat prowess! Alright! I'll do a good job cursing with you today! Isn't it just swearing? You really think I don't know how!? That I'm afraid of all of you?

Weibo is a social platform in China, known as micro-blogging. Weibo uses a format similar to its American counterpart Twitter.

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