In the blink of an eye, the Lunar New Year had passed.
A new year was beginning.
On this day, Zhang Ye took on his first job since the turn of the year. He was scheduled to fly to South Korea to take part in an annual charity banquet. This was one of the most watched charity auction events organized by the Red Cross Society and featured many celebrities who came from all over Asia. The exposure gained from taking part in this event was pretty good and one could do charity while increasing their visibility in the Asian region as well. It was a win-win situation for all those involved. The organizers would also be rotated each year, with China being the host two years ago, while Japan took last year’s event. This year, it was Korea’s turn to organize the charity auction and it was slated to be held in Seoul.
At the airport.
In the lounge for first-class passengers.
Zhang Ye was here by himself today. When he arrived, quite a few people in the lounge turned to look at him and were pointing their fingers and whispering, clearly having recognized who he was.
“That’s Zhang Ye.”
“Eh, it’s really him.”
“What is he doing here?”
“Is he taking part in the Asian Charity Banquet?”
“He’s going too?”
“Yes, you all can read the papers.”
There were several newspapers on the table:
“The grand Asian Charity Banquet will be held soon!”
“Heavenly Queen, Xu Meilan, confirms her attendance!”
“The Chinese celebrity team will have a grand lineup!”
“Will the Chinese celebrity team take the top honors?”
In the lounge, Zhang Ye found a spot with no one and sat down.
At this moment, several familiar faces also came in.
They looked around the place.
“Hey.”
“It’s Teacher Zhang.”
“Come, come, come, let’s go over there.”
It was the three beauties of the Spring Garden girl group.
Zhang Ye smiled and waved to them. “You’ve arrived?”
Xiaodong said in surprise, “And where are you headed to?”
Zhang Ye blinked and said, “Seoul.”
“You’re going too?” Amy was happy to hear that. “I didn’t know that you were going.”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “I only agreed to it two days ago.”
Li Xiaoxian smiled. “Teacher Zhang is an Asian A-lister, and he’s even more popular than the three of us in Asia, so how can they not invite him?”
Zhang Ye waved it off and said, “That’s only because of my domestic popularity score pushing me up in the rankings. I’m not really well-known in Asia.”
Soon after, Chen Guang also arrived.
Xiaodong waved. “Brother Chen, over here.”
Chen Guang was taken aback. “Lord Zhang is here too?”
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “Yeah.”
Chen Guang asked, “You’re going too?”
Zhang Ye said in amusement, “Hey, why is everyone asking the same thing the moment they arrive. Why can’t I be going? But true, it’s this bro’s first time going abroad.”
Chen Guang asked interestedly, “I had thought that you would never consider going overseas to develop your career, but how about this? It looks like you’re thinking of aiming for the Asian region in the future too?”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I’ll just try and see how it turns out.”
Some more people arrived.
A-list film star Ning Lan.
A-list film star Jiang Hanwei.
A-list film star Big Qi.
And there was also the singer who had just made his comeback in the entertainment industry, Zhao Wuliu.
Nothing needed to be said for Ning Lan. The relationship between Zhao Wuliu and Zhang Ye was also quite good since they already knew each other from I Am a Singer. Jiang Hanwei and Zhang Ye were also old acquaintances, having fought before and gotten into a car crash as well. They were the type to not be on speaking terms even when they met. Meanwhile, Zhang Ye was not familiar with Big Qi. He would always see him at every year’s awards ceremonies but had never spoken to him before. Now that they had met here, the two of them shook hands and made small talk. With this, they could be considered as having officially met.
The people here were all rather popular celebrities in the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index, with the highest ranking ones being Ning Lan, Jiang Hanwei, and Zhang Ye. Spring Garden was slightly below them, while Old Chen and Big Qi were ranked further down in the middle to bottom of the Asian B-list rankings. Oh right, there was also an exception here. Zhao Wuliu had retired from the music industry for too many years and was no longer considered a popular figure. But even if they were to consider his former popularity in the Asian Celebrity Rankings, it was quite obvious that it wasn’t that high either.
Perhaps sensing everyone’s doubts, Zhao Wuliu laughed and said, “I’m definitely not popular enough to attend the Asian Charity Banquet, but there’s another event at Seoul tonight. It’s the International Heavy Metal Music Festival, and Old Chen will be going to it as well.”
Chen Guang smiled and said, “Yes, that’s right.”
Amy exclaimed, “Hey, why didn’t they invite me?”
Chen Guang said, “It’s not like you do rock ‘n’ roll.”
Amy giggled, “But I have a rock ‘n’ roll heart.”
Zhao Wuliu said, “If you guys have nothing to do tonight, everyone can attend the music festival and have a look.”
Ning Lan said, “Sure, we’ll go have a look.”
Big Qi said, “Alright, let’s go together.”
Zhang Ye said, “It’s fine if they didn’t invite Spring Garden to take part in the festival, but why didn’t they invite me? This bro has also played and sung rock ‘n’ roll!”
Zhao Wuliu was taken aback. “Oh yeah, why didn’t they invite you?”
Ning Lan laughed and said, “Because he has terrible social relations.”
All of a sudden, a woman’s voice sounded from behind them. “Teacher Zhang, much less the Heavy Metal Music Festival, you were nearly rejected by the Korean organizers of the charity banquet.”
It was Heavenly Queen Xu Meilan!
She was an alluring woman with graceful beauty!
Like Zhang Ye, she was one of China’s seven S-list stars!
Xiaodong was amused. “Sister Lan, what do you mean?”
Xu Meilan laughed lightly as she explained, “When the higher-ups appointed me to lead the Chinese celebrity team this time, I followed up on many issues with them. I heard that Teacher Zhang’s visa application was rejected twice as they said that he had anti-Korean sentiments, so it wasn’t approved. In the end, after some back and forth, it was finally passed.”
Ning Lan laughed, “Pfft!”
Xiaodong laughed, “Hahaha!”
Li Xiaoxian asked, “Anti-Korean sentiments?”
Chen Guang said, “Well, Zhang’er did beat up a Korean star two years ago and argued with him as well. During the Internet livestream a few months ago, he also went on the Go server and humiliated quite a few Korean GMs.”
Amy said, “I’m convinced by no one in the entertainment circle except for Teacher Zhang!”
Everyone was tickled.
Teacher Zhang was someone who brought chaos along with him wherever he went.
In these few years, just how many people had he offended?!
Jiang Hanwei rolled his eyes. He was also one of those who had been offended by him.
Big Qi did not interject since he wasn’t really that familiar with Zhang Ye, so he naturally wouldn’t crack a joke at Zhang Ye’s expense.
Zhang Ye sneered. “The more they don’t want me to go, the more this bro wants to go over to have a look.”
Xu Meilan finally put her hand out. “Teacher Zhang, I’ve been hoping to meet you.”
Zhang Ye shook her hand. “Teacher Xu, I’ve been hoping to meet you too.”
Xu Meilan said, “It should have been you leading the team this time since such work is better suited for a male comrade.”
Chen Guang said in an undermining tone, “Who would dare let Zhang’er lead the team?”
Amy said, “If Teacher Zhang were to lead the team, he would surely lead everyone down the drain.”
Xiaodong nodded in seriousness. “Right, I’ll be less worried if it were Sister Lan leading the team.”
Zhang Ye was speechless.
Everyone laughed.
Zhang Ye was familiar with the well-known Xu Meilan. This was only their first meeting, but Zhang Ye’s first impression of her was quite good. At the very least, there weren’t any communication problems between them and that was good enough for him.
There was still some time until the flight.
All of them sat down together and started chatting.
Xu Meilan didn’t come by herself. She had a male companion dressed in normal clothes following her like a shadow. At a glance, anyone could tell that he was her bodyguard.
Zhang Ye did not know whether he got the wrong impression, but he felt that this person was always subconsciously looking over at him. From the time when he arrived with Xu Meilan, this feeling was already there.
Zhang Ye suddenly turned to look at him.
The bodyguard was startled, then tore away his gaze and even had to wipe away cold sweat.
Zhang Ye got curious. He wondered what on earth was he up to. Why are you suddenly getting all nervous about for no apparent reason?
Ning Lan said, “Sister Zhang and the others will be arriving tomorrow, right?”
Xu Meilan said, “Yes, we’re the first group flying over. The other group will arrive tomorrow. I’ll contact Sister Zhang tomorrow and we’ll meet up at the hotel.”
All of a sudden, two passengers in the lounge with them headed over.
“Teacher Zhang, may I have an autograph?”
“Sister Lan, can we get a picture together?”
The bodyguard, Sun Aixi, immediately blocked them off with his body. “Apologies, please turn around and leave.”
But when Zhang Ye saw this, he said, “They’re just here for autographs. Why stop them?”
Sun Aixi was taken aback and quickly put his hands down to let the two passengers pass.
Everyone was at a loss for words. Aren’t you Sister Lan’s bodyguard? Why are you so easily ordered around by Zhang Ye as well? But even if they found this rather strange, they didn’t take it to heart.
After signing the autographs.
Jiang Hanwei said, “Old Xu, did you only bring one bodyguard with you? Where are your assistants?”
Xu Meilan replied, “Yes, I’m going over to attend a charity event. Tongues will wag if I bring too many people with me. Look at you guys. Aren’t you also bringing hardly anyone with you?”
Chen Guang laughed and said, “I came here by myself.”
Xiaodong said, “My assistant flew over on an earlier flight.”
Ning Lan also brought only her agent with her.
Li Xiaoxian asked in wonder, “Teacher Zhang, you didn’t bring anyone with you?”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “I’m used to being on my own.”
Chen Guang said, “It’s different abroad, especially in Korea. You’re not that well liked there, so even if you don’t have your agent or assistant with you, surely you should have brought along your bodyguard with you.”
Zhang Ye casually said, “There’s no need for that.”
Jiang Hanwei glanced at him and understood what he meant by not having a need for that.
Xu Meilan added, “There’s nothing wrong with being a bit more careful. It’s not really that safe over there, and if something bad really happened, the organizers might not even be of much help to us.”
It was almost time to board the plane.
Everyone gradually got up and headed over to the boarding area.
Xu Meilan turned to her head to her bodyguard and said, “Nobody brought their bodyguards along, and there aren’t too many people in the entourage either. I’ll have to trouble you a little for this trip to Korea. Other than me, could you also please take care of everyone else’s safety? I’m the team leader, so I must ensure that everyone gets there and comes back safely.” With a pause, she smiled and said, “Especially Teacher Zhang Ye. He’s not popular in Korea, so I’m afraid that something might happen to him. Please keep an extra eye on him.”
Amy heard that and added, “Yes, you must prioritize Teacher Zhang’s safety.”
The bodyguard’s name was Sun Aixi and he was a seventh generation disciple of the Sun Family Style. Even though it wasn’t a large sect, he was still trained in formal martial arts from a legitimate school. He began his training at a young age and was employed after Xu Meilan had offered a large sum of money for his services. He was also the person in charge of her security detail and has always been very trusted by the Heavenly Queen.
But when he heard what they said, Sun Aixi couldn’t help but wipe away sweat. “Surely there’s no need, right?”
Xu Meilan was taken aback. “What’s the matter?”
Protect him?
It would be more appropriate for this master to protect me!
He can beat ten of me with just one of his hands!
With my level of kung fu, it wouldn’t even make him bat an eyelid if I were to show my skills to him!
Sun Aixi smiled wryly and said, “Sister Lan, there’s no need to worry. With Master Zhang around, as long as it’s not a firearm threat, our team’s safety definitely won’t be compromised.”
Xu Meilan looked at him. “Master Zhang?”
Sun Aixi shut his mouth.
Xu Meilan said, “Old Sun, can you explain?”
Sun Aixi dabbed at his sweat. “Sister Lan, I can’t talk about it.”
Xu Meilan said puzzled, “Why are you addressing him as Master Zhang?”
Sun Aixi turned silent and pretended not to have heard her.
When Xu Meilan saw this, she did not inquire any further. She looked off into the distance at Zhang Ye’s receding figure with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. This man seemed like he contained quite a few secrets. So much so that even the captain of her security detail had great respect for him? It looked like this man was not simple at all. How interesting.