Monday.
In the morning.
It was a pretty good day, and the skies were clear.
After breakfast, Zhang Ye made his way to the studio for work. When he pushed open the door, the sound of party poppers being popped made him jump. The studio’s staff had been waiting here since early in the morning to celebrate him. They had bought everything and hid in wait behind the door to welcome him.
“Director Zhang!”
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations to you on becoming the Asian philanthropic ambassador!”
“We’re truly going to soar now!”
“We’re getting closer and closer to the summit of the Asian region!”
“A lot of people in the Asian region have learned about you.”
“You did a great job during the Korea trip.”
“Teacher Zhang is almighty!”
“As long as we stick to Director Zhang, we’ll always have meat to eat!”
“From now on in Asia, we’re also going to become someone with status!”
Zhang Ye was also very happy. He flapped his hands in a calming gesture and said to everyone, “Calm down, calm down, we aren’t even there yet. In the future, our goal is to reach the summit of the international scene and become an S-lister! We’re only halfway there and there’s still a long road ahead.” His gaze fell onto the table where he saw a leftover bun on it. He said, “Hey, who didn’t finish the bun? How can you be so wasteful? That’s a bad habit.”
Little Wang exclaimed, “I’ll finish it immediately!”
Zhang Ye looked at the trash can. “Aiyo, who drank that bottle of water? Why was it thrown away after only drinking half of it? Wasteful, how wasteful!”
Tong Fu’s face turned red. “I was the one who threw it away. I-I’ll be more aware in the future.”
Zhang Ye took two steps to the front of the trash can. “Aiyoyo, who did this? Why were the melon seeds thrown away after only eating half of them? Lavish, how lavish. Don’t you guys know how many people in disaster areas are still living in dire straits?”
Little Wang said, “Uh, I think you threw that away.”
Zhang Ye was taken aback. “Was it me?”
Tong Fu confirmed, “It was you.”
Zhang Ye asked, “Why don’t I remember this?”
Little Zhou said, “A few days ago, you said that the melons seeds had turned rancid and didn’t taste good anymore. You got me to throw it away for you.”
Zhang Ye pointed at her. “Look at you, look at you, I knew I wasn’t the one who threw it away. Little Zhou, I have got to criticize you for that. I only asked you to throw it away to test you. Didn’t you realize that? That is half a packet of melon seeds there. If you bring it to a poorer region, a family of three could munch on it for several days if they ration it well.”
Little Zhou: “…”
Zhang Zuo: “…”
Ha Qiqi: “…”
Zhang Ye said earnestly, “Don’t do it again.”
Little Zhou got scapegoated. “I got it, Director Zhang.”
Ha Qiqi laughed and said, “Let’s all pay more attention in the future. We cannot drag Director Zhang back and must do our part for charity as well. Let’s start with not being wasteful.”
Zhang Ye pointed at her. “Look at how enlightened our Sister Ha is, just look at her.” Then he looked to Zhang Zuo and said, “Brother Zuo, do hold a meeting with everyone to get a grasp of their thoughts and awareness. We must change the way we think, especially now that our status has changed. Regarding the basic necessities, we all have to be more attentive to such things.”
Zhang Zuo laughed and said, “Sure thing, I got it.”
Zhang Ye pretentiously went on for a long while, clearly having slipped into his role as the Asian philanthropic ambassador. He just couldn’t tolerate many of the things that he was seeing!
Later that morning.
In his office.
Ha Qiqi knocked on the door and came in. “Director Zhang, the Asian Red Cross Society’s officials have contacted us. They’ve completed the coordination on their side and will call for a press conference in Beijing three days later to officially announce this news. Furthermore, it will entirely be broadcast live, so they reminded us to make the necessary preparations for it.”
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Heh, they’re making such a big fuss out of it?”
Ha Qiqi smiled. “It’s the philanthropic ambassador for the whole of Asia, so of course it has to be a grander affair. They’re also hoping to ride on your popularity coattails to do a wave of promotions so that everyone will start participating in charity.”
Zhang Ye nodded. “Alright, then we most definitely have to support them.”
Ha Qiqi said, “Alright, I’ll get someone to arrange for it then.”
On this day, the fax machine at the studio did not stop printing. They kept receiving congratulatory messages from various organizations.
The Chinese Red Cross Society.
The Japanese Red Cross Society.
The Chinese Charity Association.
The Korean Civil Charity Association.
The Korean Red Cross Society.
And other civil, non-profit organizations.
Many of the charities from many different countries had sent their congratulations, and there were even some who invited Zhang Ye to take part in their activities. For example, one of the organizations hoped to invite him to organize a charity auction at an art exhibition, or an association wanted to invite him to front their event, or an invitation to make a support trip to the countryside to bring warmth to the children of a poor rural area.
There was even a Chinese government agency that sent over a congratulatory letter too. When Little Wang brought it over in great surprise, Zhang Ye saw the stamp at the end of the letter mentioning that it was from the Office of the State Council. What did these words represent? Zhang Ye knew what it meant, of course, and was extremely flattered. Of the officials that he had met, the highest rankings ones were from the SARFT and the Ministry of Culture. Oh, there were also those from the Sports Administration he had scolded…which was also considered a form of meeting. But he had not come across any other officials above that level, so this was the first time he had any contact with them.
In the letter, they offered their congratulations and also expressed their expectations regarding Zhang Ye’s future work in the charity sector. Although a lot of it was just your usual fluff, Zhang Ye was still very honored by it. He immediately called a meeting with everyone.
They discussed and learned at the same time.
Everyone was receiving a baptism to their ideologies!
Sublimation!
Sublimation!
And further sublimation!
…
At Beijing Television.
“Ah!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Teacher Zhang just posted on Weibo!”
“What? Did he get into a fight again?”
“Who is he going up against this time?”
“Uh, it’s not a fight—”
…
At Zhang Xia’s house.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Zhang Ye just made a lot of posts on Weibo.”
“What? Who is he scolding this time?”
“Uh, he’s not scolding anyone.”
“That can’t be right. Let me have a look.”
…
On Weibo.
Many people discovered to their astonishment that Zhang Ye’s Weibo account and his studio’s account had both started posting a lot of news related to charity work in a short period of time.
“Who will help them?”
“Please extend a helping hand!”
“One blanket a bed, a lifetime of warmth!”
“Are you still wasting food?”
“Children in rural areas have no education opportunities!”
10 posts!
50 posts!
100 posts!
He was flooding his Weibo with so many of such posts!
There were all kinds of messages that he was reposting!
Zhang Ye’s Studio very quickly turned from the most notorious team in the industry into a main driving force of the Asian charity scene!
Its entire attitude had changed!
The people in the industry rolled their eyes!
The netizens rolled their eyes!
“Pfft!”
“This joker!”
“Teacher Zhang, can you stop faking jt already?”
“Who in China doesn’t know what kind of a person you are?”
“It’s already too late to try to change your image! If you have the time, why don’t you write another calligraphy piece and donate it!”
“I totally can’t fucking accept this change in attitude!”
“Me too! In the past, whenever I saw updates from Zhang Ye’s Weibo, it would always mean that a storm was brewing in China and that there was some kind of shocking battle about to happen!”
“Yeah, which Weibo post of Zhang Ye’s isn’t about scolding people!”
“@ZhangYe stop messing around. Wash up and go to bed!”
“Has this fellow repented his evil ways? Pfft! Why do I not believe it!”
“Him? Repenting his evil ways? A pig could fly if that were the case!”
“Carry on pretending! I wanna see just how long this fellow can last!”
“If he can persist in not scolding someone for a month, I’ll spell my name backwards forever!”
“Yeah right, it will last at most half a month!”
“Hur hur, I think that even half a month would stifle him!”
Weibo was a social media app that celebrities used very often. However, Zhang Ye’s usage of it was different from theirs, with his Weibo having an extremely special status within the entertainment industry. In the recent years of countless fierce battles and scolding wars, of which a few had gone into the annals of the entertainment circle’s history, they were mainly a result of Zhang Ye’s Weibo posts. So everyone was used to him using his Weibo to scold others, and it was something that they were very amused by, as well as something that was deeply etched into their minds. As a result, when they saw that there weren’t any scoldings on Zhang Ye’s Weibo and that it had started promoting various charity events instead, everyone felt a little shocked. They found it really difficult to adjust to this change!
The netizens started ranting!
Zhang Ye’s fans also came forward to start a commotion!
…
When those at the studio saw these comments, they nearly burst out laughing.
And when Zhang Ye saw the comments, he nearly fainted.
They were undermining him! No one had ever undermined him like this before!
Why can’t this bro start engaging in charity?
Fighting?
Scolding?
Hmph, I’m no longer the person that I was!
From now on, this bro won’t scold anyone anymore. Because I am the great philanthropist!