In the blink of an eye.
The day of the press conference to appoint the Asian philanthropic ambassador arrived.
The press conference was scheduled for the evening. During the morning, Zhang Ye sat down together with the staff of the Asian Charity Association and Red Cross Society to discuss the flow of the live broadcast at night.
“Teacher Zhang, the entire event will be broadcast live tonight.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“We’ve already arranged with all the TV stations in Asia.”
“Alright, what do you need me to do?”
“About that, would it be OK if you wrote another calligraphy piece?”
“Ah? You still want me to write another one? What would you like me to write?”
“Ahem, something simple would do.”
“So you mean something like a poem?”
“Yes, yes, that’s fine. Can you see if this lyrical poem will do?”
Zhang Ye took it over and had a look.
Eh? ” Rivers Run Red 1 “?
He was very familiar with this template 2 , but he had never seen this particular poem before.
“Rivers Run Red” was a poem template that existed historically in both Zhang Ye’s previous world and this world. The format was the same, and the poem handed to Zhang Ye by the Asian Charity Association should be one of the more famous ones in this world. He glanced at the content and memorized it. The setting of this poem was very befitting to the occasion and spoke of benevolence. Writing this poem during the Asia-wide live broadcast was also a statement expressing their stand towards charity work. Of course, the most important thing was that this calligraphy piece would fetch some money when sold. Have tasted prior success, the Asian Charity Association definitely had to organize another charity auction here. And this time, the highlight of the auction would surely be this calligraphy piece Zhang Ye was going to write tonight.
Zhang Ye knew exactly what they were planning. However, he did not have any resistance to it.
It was for charity, after all.
A philanthropist should not be so fussy about such things.
“Will this do?”
“Sure, it’s fine.”
“Alright then, we’ll be depending on you.”
“It’s all for charity, there’s no need to be polite.”
“Teacher Zhang’s kindness is truly a role model for our generation to learn from!”
“Aiya, it’s all for the people, all for the people.”
The preparations continued in whatever time there was left.
Many of the media outlets were also intently watching this press conference that would be held in the evening.
When the promotions were released, Zhang Ye also started posting on Weibo.
Online.
“What?”
“Zhang Ye is going to write another calligraphy piece?”
“Haha, then I must really watch this.”
“His semi-cursive is really beautiful!”
“Pfft, look at his Weibo. He’s starting to post all those charity-related news again!”
“This fellow is at it again!”
“I’ve gotten used to it in recent days.”
“Me too. Just let him post whatever he wants.”
“Zhang Ye has really become a philanthropist!”
“Face-smacking Zhang is dead; let us offer joss sticks to him.”
“Hai, we might not get to see Face-smacking Zhang’s mighty killing prowess anymore!”
“Yeah, this fellow is now single-mindedly focused on doing charity!”
However, it was at this moment that something happened in Asia!
No one expected it to happen so suddenly, yet it was still somewhat within expectations. Everyone just didn’t think that it would come this early!
…
Japan.
The video of Zhang Ye leading those Peking University students to scold people surfaced.
“What the heck!”
“He’s scolded our people before?”
“I said it before. Didn’t you guys know?”
“I didn’t know!”
“I only found out about it recently!”
“That bastard!”
“Goddammit, how can a person like this be appointed as a philanthropic ambassador?”
“What on earth is the Asian Charity Association thinking!”
“Get out of Japan!”
“Right, boycott Zhang Ye!”
“Boycott Zhang Ye!”
“Boycott Zhang Ye!”
Numerous media outlets began exposing even more news!
Some of them were true, while some of them were fabricated!
Misdeeds linked to Zhang Ye suddenly swept through Japan!
…
Korea.
The dirt on Zhang Ye was suddenly exposed without stop. Likewise, real and fake news were mired within and the means of propagation was very smart. Many things that didn’t happen before were now firmly placed onto Zhang Ye’s head!
In Lee Anson’s interview: “There was one year in China when Zhang Ye did not get invited to the Spring Festival Gala. Because of that, I believe he must have a lot of pent-up anger when he decided to lay his hands on me! As I prefer to settle things peacefully, I managed to restrain myself in the end. But who could’ve known that Zhang Ye’s behavior would get even more aggravated after that. This made me really disappointed in China!”
Park Jaesang’s interview: “A person like Zhang Ye is very lacking as a person. What happened with Lee Anson wasn’t a one-off incident. When I was in China, Zhang Ye also roughed me up before.”
Kim Jichan’s interview: “This kind of person is unfit to be an artist!”
“What?”
“He was the one who beat Lee Anson up?”
“How dare he hit my Anson-oppa!”
“Park Jaesang was beaten up by him too?”
“Kim Jichan got scolded by him as well?”
“This bastard!”
“Why is there still someone as shameless as him!”
“Chase him out of here!”
“We must not allow him into Korea again!”
“Right! Boycott!”
“Boycott Zhang Ye!”
Korea was also in an uproar!
The people were all heatedly discussing it!
…
As for the other countries, there wasn’t much of a reaction from them.
It was only in Japan and Korea that Zhang Ye was suddenly pushed into the news!
The Japanese and Korean citizens were in an uproar as everyone shouted in rage. The calls to boycott Zhang Ye were coming wave after wave. In just a short span, momentum had built up!
Actually, for some of these events, Zhang Ye had never bothered hiding them. He had also never avoided the subject before. Be it the Peking University scolding incident or when he sent Lee Anson flying with a kick after the Spring Festival Gala, he was willing to straight-up talk about it if anyone asked. That was because he did all of it without a hint of guilt. There were reasons behind his actions. When the Japanese guests and dignitaries came to visit Peking University, they behaved arrogantly and spoke disrespectfully to our students. So why couldn’t I lead the students to scold you all? Oh, and when Lee Anson behaved like a diva by laying hands on a citizen of our country, why couldn’t I do the same and hit him back? Based on what?!
Zhang Ye was not in the wrong!
He had always been upright wherever he went!
But who was Park Jaesang?
Who was Kim Jichan?
And all of those other mentioned incidents and people? I’ve never even fucking heard of them before!
Why are they pinning it all on me now? How did it become that I was the one who hit all of them?
When the staff of Zhang Ye’s Studio found out about this news, they nearly exploded in rage!
Ha Qiqi said angrily, “What is with all this!”
Little Wang said anxiously, “Why did it suddenly become so serious? Why are there so many news reports discrediting Director Zhang all of a sudden?”
Wu Yi pointed at the web reports from the mainstream media in Japan and Korea. “Look at these, they’re absolutely fake news. No such incidents happened at all! This is utter nonsense! And who the fuck is this person? This Korean celebrity is accusing Director Zhang of acting like a diva and scolding people? He even said that he witnessed it with his own eyes? Director Zhang has never even met him before, alright!”
Zhang Zuo said with a dark look, “This is what public opinion is over in Japan and Korea!”
Ha Qiqi said, “I won’t believe it if someone says there wasn’t a mastermind behind all this!”
Little Wang said, “So does this mean that someone’s trying to use underhanded methods to suppress Director Zhang because his popularity ranking in Asia is getting higher and higher and he is becoming more and more popular?”
It was spreading really quickly!
Moreover, this was a suppression from the majority of the Japanese and Korean media!
And it was even coupled with the fanning of flames by many of the big names in the Japanese and Korean entertainment circle!
With the shelling coming from both the official media and celebrities, the affair turned more intense as it reached a point of no return!
Only the Chinese media was still speaking up for Zhang Ye.
“Japan and Korean set off wave of boycott!”
“Zhang Ye becomes target of public criticism!”
“Who has Zhang Ye offended?”
“Through investigations, Park Jaesang has never had any dealings with Zhang Ye before. The two have never met, so why did Park Jaesang claim that Zhang Ye had roughed him up during his interview with the Korean media?”
“Fake news has become the norm!”
“Whose interest has Zhang Ye intruded on?”
“Zhang Ye’s fight with Lee Anson was a result of an incident!”
“Why did the Japanese and Korean media and celebrities suddenly turn menacing?”
“Zhang Ye’s past as a nationalistic youth has returned to haunt him!”
…
In the afternoon.
Zhang Ye was taking call after call on his cell phone.
Ning Lan called.
“Did you hit Park Jaesang?”
“I don’t even know who he is!”
“These people are trying to pull you down on the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index.”
“I can see that.”
Wu Zeqing called.
“Little Ye, the Japanese and Koreans have made their move.”
“Yeah, they come bearing ill will.”
“Are you prepared for it?”
“You just reminded me two days ago, so of course I am. Or perhaps I’ve already been prepared for this since a long time ago when I joked about them on my talk show.”
“We’ll observe as the situation develops.”
“I still stand by what I said. I’ll deal with them as they come.”
“OK.”
Zhang Ye was not surprised by this outcome. He had always known that this day would come. The only thing he did not expect was that those people would all gang up and sully him! This made Zhang Ye sneer on end!