Later that morning.
Jiaomen East.
In the neighborhood the studio was located, Zhang Ye’s car got surrounded by reporters the moment it drove in.
A large number of fans were also crowding around and shouting Zhang Ye’s name.
“Zhang Ye!”
“Please give me an autograph!”
“Congratulations to you!”
“Heavenly King!”
“Heavenly King!”
“Zhang Ye, I love you!”
It was bustling and alive in the neighborhood.
In the car, Yan Mei was wordlessly marveling at this. It was the first time she was witnessing Zhang Ye’s popularity up-close. “What do we do now?”
Zhang Ye was clearly very familiar with such situations. “Just stay in the car and wait.”
He opened the car door and got down to walk towards the fans. He signed autographs for them one by one while answering questions from the reporters who were standing close by their audio recorders and microphones out. Soon after, Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others rushed forward to take over the task of handling the reporters. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye finished signing autographs for the fans and also satisfied all requests of taking photos with them. In the end, he excused himself from his fans, and they were also very understanding about it, parting to let him through.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you, Teacher Zhang!”
“Love you to death!”
“Lord Zhang, I’ll always support you!”
“Teacher Zhang, I just enjoy watching you scolding people!”
“Haha, I finally have a picture together with Teacher Zhang!”
“I even got to touch his hand! Heehee, I’ve decided not to wash my hands for the next three days!”
Zhang Ye got back onto the car and drove in.
Yan Mei did not quite understand the situation. “Are you like this every day?”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “What do you mean?”
Yan Mei asked, “Don’t you avoid the reporters?”
Zhang Ye said, “If I have urgent matters to attend to, there’s no choice but to avoid them. But if I’m free, I’ll answer as many questions as I can. The larger news agencies and TV stations can easily schedule an appointment for an interview, just like in your case. But the smaller media outlets don’t even have a chance to do so, so it isn’t easy for them too. Some of them start staking out at 5 AM during the winter while it’s snowing heavily just for a chance to ask some questions but might not even get any work accomplished for their efforts. I just have to answer some simple questions that they pose or do an impromptu interview with them, none of which takes up too much time. But because of that, they might be able to keep their jobs and bring home the bacon for their families, so what does it matter to me to just say a few extra words to them?”
Hearing that, Yan Mei was taken aback!
She was really taken aback!
Yan Mei said, “Director Zhang, this is the first time I’ve heard such words from a celebrity. You’re such a kind person.”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Kind? There aren’t too many people who would describe me as that.”
They got out of the car.
Yan Mei shook her head. “Nobody would give autographs and take pictures with their fans one by one either, especially for a celebrity of your status. I’ve heard before that you never reject your fans’ requests for autographs and pictures, but I thought that was just a rumor. Now that I’ve seen it for myself, I finally believe it. You’re really kind.”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “It’s not easy for someone to like another person. So just based on that, if they request an autograph, would it really be right to reject them? It’s not a matter of whether I am kind or not, haha. I also do not think that I’m a kind person anyway. All I keep doing is taking advantage of other people every day. You just haven’t seen how I get scolded by them.”
Ha Qiqi and the others returned after they finished handling the reporters.
Everyone went upstairs together.
Zhang Ye said as he walked, “I’ve always been someone who would not let others be happy if they made me unhappy. If they make me happy, I’ll surely make them happy as well. We only have status as celebrities because of the fans and the ordinary folks supporting us. It’s all due to them that we are who we are. Otherwise, we couldn’t have the good food and clothes that we have. If someone saw you on the streets and called out to you: ‘Hey, Zhang Ye, can I take a picture with you?’, would you just turn your head and leave? If that happened, that person would probably be very disappointed in you for their entire life. It’s just a few seconds of your time; surely it wouldn’t hurt to make someone happy if you could spare it, right?”
Yan Mei sincerely said, “I’ve learned something.”
She now realized that Zhang Ye was different from all the other celebrities that she had interviewed before!
No fronts.
No hypocrisy.
No deceit.
This was just someone who was very sincere, even if he had some shortcomings here and there.
When they got upstairs, Zhang Ye began working.
Yan Mei stayed close by to observe. No one was bothered by her presence.
His work today required his urgent attention. The executive director of theSpring Lantern Festival Gala 1 , which would be taking place in a few days, had come to seek advice from Zhang Ye. Even if Director Shen was much older than him, and was also a veteran gala director of Central TV, he still came over with the sincere hope that he could learn something from Zhang Ye.
“Little Zhang, you’ve gotta help me out!”
“Old Shen, take a seat.”
“Help me look at this skit.”
“Alright, let me go through it.”
“I think it’s not too bad, but it still feels like something is lacking.”
“Oh, I’ve gone through this skit by Old He before.”
“Yes, it’s one of the skits that was submitted for the Spring Festival Gala’s first approval session.”
“Then I’ll share with you my personal views on it. I think that the problem with this skit lies here—”
He kept working until noon.
After Director Shen left.
Zhang Ye said to Yan Mei, “Let’s go, back to my place for lunch.”
But Ha Qiqi said, “Director Zhang, the advertisers will be arriving very soon.”
Zhang Ye asked, “There’s still more work?”
Ha Qiqi nodded and said, “You’ve just broken into the S-list, so two of our endorsement advertisers would like to make some changes to their ad campaigns. They want to make use of your ascension into the S-list as part of their ad campaign, but since their advertisements were planned out by you, they’re requesting that you go through it first. They only dare to submit it if it’s to your agreement.”
Zhang Ye checked his watch. “When are they arriving?”
Ha Qiqi said, “In 15 minutes.”
Zhang Ye looked at Yan Mei helplessly, “Are you fine with eating box lunch?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Yan Mei said with a smile.
Zhang Ye called Little Wang over. “Bring us meals quickly. We still have lots of work to attend to after lunch.”
Then he called Old Wu.
“Old Wu, we won’t be able to go back for lunch.”
“It’s fine.”
“Eat by yourself, don’t wait for me.”
“Alright, what about dinner?”
“I’m not sure, we’ll see how that goes.”
At 2:30 PM.
The advertisement matters were finalized and tied up.
Zhang Ye was just about to take a break when something else popped up.
His Weibo account and official website were attacked by hackers. Initial investigations judged that the attack was carried out spontaneously by the fans of the previous Heavenly King who had been replaced by Zhang Ye.
“What are the losses like?”
“There isn’t really much of a loss, but the effect from the attack is pretty big.”
“Your Weibo account has really been hacked this time.”
“Pfft! Director Zhang has said that his account was hacked so many times in the past. It looks like it has happened for real this time!”
“You guys still have time to crack jokes? Damn, hurry up and handle the issue!”
Past 3 in the afternoon.
The issue was finally resolved.
Zhang Ye said to Yan Mei, “So how is it? Wasn’t it really boring to follow me around for today’s interview? I don’t really have much to do here except to deal with crap.”
Yan Mei smiled and said, “It’s indeed quite different from what I was expecting.”
Zhang Ye looked at his watch. “Is the interview ending soon?”
Yan Mei nodded. “Thank you for your time today, Director Zhang. Congratulations again for getting into the domestic S-list. I also wish that you can continue going higher and further from here.”
Zhang Ye said happily, “Thank you.”
Yan Mei looked at him and said, “So at the end of it all, there’s one last question I have for you. I’ve been thinking about something all this while during the interview, but I just can’t figure it out, nor could I come to a proper conclusion. Therefore, I would like to ask you: What do you think being a celebrity means?”
What did it mean to be a celebrity?
What was a celebrity?
This was quite a difficult question to answer.
Ha Qiqi looked at Zhang Ye.
Little Wang glanced over.
Zhang Zuo, Wu Yi, and the others sat down to listen.
After some thought, Zhang Ye suddenly raised his head and looked at a wall with a mask was hanging from it. It was the mask of The Clown from his time on King of Masked Singers. He had kept it with him all this time and hung it on the wall. He asked, “Old Yan, do you know about this mask?”
Yan Mei smiled and said, “It’s The Clown’s mask.
Zhang Ye said without warning, “Would you like to listen to a song?”
Yan Mei did not catch his drift. “Listen to a song?”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Would you?”
Little Wang raised her hand. “I wanna, I wanna!”
Wu Yi laughed and said, “Of course!”
Tong Fu applauded. “Director Zhang, hit us with it!”
Yan Mei looked at him. “Of course I’d like to listen to it.”
Zhang Ye walked over and picked up a guitar. However, he did not sit down, leaning against the wall as he strummed the strings.
Everyone was applauding and cheering as they waited for Zhang Ye to showcase his singing!
…
On the same night.
A Date with Yan Mei was broadcast.
Zhang Ye’s interview had been edited into an hour-long show. Countless people were sitting and watching TV as they waited to see Zhang Ye’s first appearance on television since reaching the summit. They were all looking forward to seeing what Zhang Ye would say to the world.
His mother was watching.
His father was watching.
His sisters were watching.
Wu Zeqing was watching.
Zhang Yuanqi was watching.
Zhang Xia was watching.
Ning Lan was watching.
Yao Jiancai was watching.
The other Heavenly Kings and Queens were watching.
Everyone in the entertainment circle was watching.
The country’s citizens were all watching.
They thought that Zhang Ye would be extremely happy!
They thought that Zhang Ye would be in high spirits!
They even thought that Zhang Ye might speak conceitedly during the show. Reaching the summit of the entertainment circle was something that many celebrities would never achieve in their lives!
But that didn’t happen!
There wasn’t any of that at all!
When that song played, when that sorrowful melody sounded from the television, everyone was stunned agape as they watched Zhang Ye play the guitar and sing onscreen. Sorrowful? Why was it a sorrowful melody? Celebrity? What did it mean to be a celebrity?
Zhang Ye’s was singing in a deep voice 2 .
“Applause rings out amid the shouts and cheers.
“Smiles welling up along with tears.
“The rising curtain delivers you happiness.
“The falling curtain reserves solitude for him.
“How much practice and how many tears,
“Does it take to stand right here?
“The pain of failure, the encouragement from success.
“Does anyone know how much time and effort it took to progress?
“The clown.
“The clown.
“He who turns sadness into delight.
“And presents it to you.”
On TV.
The camera cut to Yan Mei. Everyone could see that tears were flooding down her face!
Watching TV.
Fan Wenli looked shocked!
Zhang Xia’s eyes reddened!
Chen Guang sighed as he stared out the window!
Zhang Yuanqi closed her eyes and thought of many things!
Yao Jiancai sighed and sniffed!
His mother looked at her son and felt very heartbroken!
Dong Shanshan was stunned and her tears started falling for some reason!
“The clown.
“The clown.
“He who turns sadness into delight.
“And presents…it…to…you.”
A Date with Yan Mei concluded.
But a lot of people watching TV could not calm down for the longest time!
Many of them had been deeply moved by this song called “The Clown”!
What was a celebrity?
Perhaps this was what it meant to be a celebrity!