Chapter 470: Fellow sufferers!
The internet was enjoying it.
Zhang Ye's fans seemed like they were all on steroids!
The neutrals who were simply observing, were completely amused by what was happening. They knew that Tang Dazhang had hit a brick wall this time by provoking such a hooligan!
"In poetry, there are obscure poems, symbolic poems, etc, etc., but Zhang Ye.....clearly belonged to the scolding type poet. A normal poem can be calm and gentle and expresses the thoughts of life, but when written by Zhang Ye, it becomes one that is full of attack power. He had taken this poem to scold others and that left everyone at a loss of whether to laugh or cry!
He was unique!
And one of a kind!
You couldn't find anyone else like him in the literary or poetry world!
—This was Zhang Ye's literature, this was Zhang Ye irreplicable style!
......
Past midnight.
At 12:15AM.
There was still an ongoing heated discussion online. Zhang Ye's cellphone, which he threw onto his bed, suddenly rang. He wondered who would be calling this late at night, so he reached out to take it and was surprised to see Old Yao's number!
He quickly answered the call, "Hello, Old Yao!"
On the other side was the listless voice of Yao Jiancai, "My brother, where are you right now?"
"I'm at home. What's the matter with you? Did you get released from the station already?" Zhang Ye was holding back on poking around too much, "Are you OK? I've been trying to reach you for the past few days now, but there was no answer!"
Yao Jiancai sighed, "Don't mention it anymore. I just got released a while ago. Are you at home alone?"
Zhang Ye said, "Yea."
Yao Jiancai said, "Then wait for me there."
Zhang Ye blinked and asked, "You've just been released, why aren’t you going home?"
"I've gone back there, but my wife chased me out. Hai, it's difficult to explain. Send me your address. Your bro needs a place to stay for the next few days. I can only depend on you now." Yao Jiancai's voice was very bitter and miserable.
Zhang Ye said, "Alright, come over then."
As soon as he hung up, he sent his address over to Old Yao.
After about 20 minutes, Old Yao called again, "Bro, I'm about to arrive. Can you come down and pick me up? Hurry up."
Hey!
He's already a grown man, but needs to be picked up?
Zhang Ye could only put on a coat before heading downstairs. When he got there, he saw a taxi stopped outside with its hazard lights on.
The car door opened and Yao Jiancai alighted with a bag full of beer. He waved to Zhang Ye and said, "I don't have enough money, so help me settle the bill first. The driver has been waiting for a while now."
Zhang Ye said, "What the heck! Are you that miserable?"
Yao Jiancai said in a melancholic manner, "What do you think? Let's hurry."
Zhang Ye took out a hundred dollars and handed it to the taxi driver before heading upstairs with Yao Jiancai.
Upon entering the apartment, Zhang Ye said, "Make yourself at home. My place is a little small, so make do with it for now."
Yao Jiancai looked around and said, "It's not bad. I don't think it’s small at all. Your bro just needs a place to sleep at. Hai, I'm in such a miserable state!" Then he sat down on a chair and placed his beer on the table, "Is there anything to eat around here? I've not had a proper meal for the past few days and I even skipped dinner today. I'm hungry as hell."
"Are instant noodles okay for you?" Zhang Ye asked.
"Anything is fine." Yao Jiancai said.
Zhang Ye said, "Alright then, I'll have a packet too."
Yao Jiancai took out the beer cans one by one and placed them onto the table, "Alright, let's eat and have a drink together."
Zhang Ye went to prepare the noodles and asked at the same time, "What’s going on with you? You can't even go home now? What happened at the karaoke that night?"
Yao Jiancai slapped his thigh and said, "Their grandmothers! Speaking of that night makes my blood boil! Don't you know me well? Don't you understand what kind of person I am? I am an upright person, so why would I go and hire a prostitute? Since you did not join us that day, we went singing and just had a few drinks. After that, I was going to go home as it was getting late, but those dumbasses wanted to get a massage no matter what. I would have felt bad if I didn't join them, so in the end I picked a female masseuse and went into a room. I had only just taken off my clothes and the masseuse had not even gotten started when the police rushed in. They brought a bunch of us back to the station and accused us of soliciting prostitutes. What the f**k! Don't you think I've been terribly wronged?! They put us there for about 4 days and only released us only after they had finished their investigation and we were cleared of the charges. That is such a ripoff!"
Zhang Ye said, "Then that means you're are going to be alright."
"What do you mean alright?" Yao Jiancai said angrily, "The shit has hit the fan now. The media has reported this, so even if the investigations cleared my name, other people will not believe me anymore. I've contacted the company and also wanted to clarify with my management on this matter, but I've not heard anything from them. Whether I can be removed from the banlist, a friend of mine, who is handling this matter in my company, has already informed me not to hold too much hope. As decree #43 has just been passed and the axing of the affected persons implemented, it is very difficult to remove my name from the list for now. At the quickest, I would probably still have to wait for at least half a year or more."
The water boiled and Zhang Ye threw in the instant noodle condiments, "What does your wife think?"
Yao Jiancai said angrily, "My wife doesn't believe me either. She insists that I went out to womanize and that I had arranged for my own release with the connections that I have. What the heck! If I had connections, then would I still have been detained for four days!? When I got home, my daughter didn’t even look at me. The both of them refused to talk to me and I did not even get dinner. Thereafter, my wife even chased me out of the house. This bro only has 100 dollars on me after being chased out onto the streets. Speaking of this makes me teary, I really wonder who I offended to deserve this? This is a disaster totally uncalled for!"
Zhang Ye said happy, "Then who do you think I offended?"
When Yao Jiancai heard that, he took a can of beer and flipped open the tab. He said, "I've heard about your case too. You were really hit the hardest for nothing. The two of us are really unlucky, we're fellow sufferers!"
The noodles were prepared.
It was piping hot and smelled good.
Zhang Ye took both their shares out, "Here, a bowl for each of us."
"Have some." Yao Jiancai passed him a beer.
Zhang Ye took it over and heartily gulped it down, "Huuu, this feels great!"
Yao Jiancai took a mouthful of noodles and suddenly commented, "It's not too well done. The fire was too strong. If you let it cook slowly, it would have tasted much better."
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes, "You're lucky you get any at all."
Yao Jiancai said with a pun, "Yea, we're lucky if we can even feed ourselves from now on. It won’t be easy." Then he paused for a while and took a few more mouthfuls of noodles. He raise his head as he chewed, "Bro, we can't make a living in the entertainment industry anymore. Since we've lost our jobs now, what plans do you have for the future?"
Zhang Ye said, "I've not thought about it yet, but if there's a chance, I want to stay in this business. I don't really want to go."
Yao Jiancai sighed, "Do you think I want to leave? I've been doing well, so I definitely do not wish to leave, but with this ban, there won't possibly be anyone approaching me to film any dramas or movies anymore, so what choice do I have? It's the same for you. When I was released this evening, I heard that your novels have been taken off the shelves already? You even had to pay a few million in compensation? The copyrights were all returned to you?"
Zhang Ye waved his hands, "I've nothing to my name now. I'm basically bankrupt."
Yao Jiancai said, "Why did you pay them? If they wanted to bring it to court, just go. You wouldn't need to pay them that much at all. That bunch of grandsons at the publishing firm really have no loyalty!"
Zhang Ye laughed it off, "I was too lazy to go at it with them. If I did that, it would have lowered my status, so I just paid them what they wanted. I will take it up with them in the future when there's a chance."
Yao Jiancai said, "Don't bullshit me. You still think that you can take it up to them? The two of us can't even protect ourselves anymore. Don't tell me you still haven't accepted it after so many days? Let me tell you. After I was released from the station, I took a look at decree #43. When I saw the list of banned artists, I knew clearly that our future in the entertainment business were over. Even if I could have a second chance after a year, who would remember me then? Who would still invite me to act in their shows? I'd have to start from scratch again. With the reputation of being a banned artist and without fame or reputation, the audience would definitely not accept me again. It's the same for you. Hai, actually don't even talk about a year later. It's only been a few days and the people on the list have already fallen so much in the rankings. Didn't you take a look there?"
Zhang Ye laughed without a word.
Yao Jiancai took his cell phone and search for his ranking on the internet. He pointed to the screen, "See, see, my ranking has plummeted!"
He was one of the forerunners in the D-list rankings before, but after just a few days, he was now ranked somewhere in the middle of the D-list. He had dropped more than 10 places!
Yao Jiancai then pointed again, "Look at Little Li, Old Hong, and the others. They are all dropping down on the rankings one faster than the other. This ban is a killer to us and we can't do anything about it. Hai, everyone should just find a way out of this at this point." After he said that, Yao Jiancai continued to browse the list. “Let me check how many places you’ve gone down. Oh, here you are!" When he saw Zhang Ye's ranking, Yao Jiancai subconsciously showed Zhang Ye his phone before suddenly reacting with a "what the fuck"! He quickly retracted his phone to have a look again!
Meanwhile, Zhang Ye leisurely ate his noodles and drank his beer.
Yao Jiancai meanwhile was dumbfounded. He said, "That's impossible! Why didn’t your ranking drop!" He looked like he was about to faint, "Not only that! You even f**king rose up in the rankings!?"
Old Yao could not believe his eyes at all!