Chapter 835: A staggering acceptance speech from a different world!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
On Weibo.
Someone had posted: Countdown to the Golden Microphone Awards.
"Is it beginning soon?"
"Is there a broadcast for it?"
"There's an online live broadcast and it's going to start soon."
"Give me a link! I'll take a look!"
"I heard that Zhang Ye was nominated for the award, so we must definitely watch this."
"This time last year, Zhang Ye received the Silver Microphone Award for newcomers, didn't he? Thinking about that poem 'Dead Water' from back then and the mass boycott of Zhang Ye by his peers, a year has already passed in the blink of an eye."
"Time truly passes by very quickly."
"Does Zhang Ye stand a chance of winning the Golden Microphone Award?"
"It's going to be suspenseful since the guy has offended far too many people!"
"Far too many? You should be asking if there is anyone he hasn't offended yet instead!"
"We'll find out when we watch it. I'm more interested in hearing his acceptance speech!"
"Yeah, it's always his acceptance speech that stirs up trouble. Zhang Ye's speeches have become a highlight to watch in the entertainment circle. It's always earth-shattering!"
Countless netizens turned their attention to this matter and went to the website to wait for the live broadcast to commence.
...
Caishikou.
Zhang Ye's parents' house.
His mother said, "Lower the TV's volume."
"What for?" His father responded unhappily, "I'm watching the news."
His mother humphed. "Our son is in the running for an award today and the live broadcast is starting soon. Why are you still watching the news?"
His father turned off the television. "Is that so? Hurry up then, let's watch the broadcast."
"Chenchen." His mother called out into the room. "Help Grandma find the website that is broadcasting the Golden Microphone Awards. Grandma doesn't know how to do it."
After Chenchen set everything up, the three of them waited for the live broadcast to start.
...
Elsewhere.
At the awards ceremony venue.
Zhang Ye was chatting with his juniors from his alma mater.
"Senior, how can I become a good host?"
"This question is too general. We'd have to talk about it in detail some day when we have more time."
"Senior, please impart your experience to us."
"Me? I've only got experience in offending people."
Su Hongyan looked at her watch. "Let's find a day then; the ceremony is about to begin."
At this moment, a staff member from the organizers found Zhang Ye. "Teacher Zhang, it's about to begin. Let me bring you to your seat. It's over there."
"Sure." Zhang Ye tentatively bid goodbye to Teacher Su and his juniors for now.
Dong Shanshan did not move away but found an empty seat beside Su Hongyan and continued their conversation.
After walking for about ten meters, the organizers' staff member suddenly said in a hushed tone to Zhang Ye, "Teacher Zhang, the bosses told me to inform you that when you go onstage to receive your award, could you please not recite a poem for your acceptance speech?" They were all wary of Zhang Ye by now.
Zhang Ye was stunned. "You mean I'll be receiving an award?"
The organizers' staff member coughed. "I meant that hypothetically."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Sure, I won't do that then."
When that staff member heard him agree to it, he obviously heaved a sigh of relief. "Of course it's not confirmed yet, because we do not have the final winners' list since it's with the judge panel."
When he got to his allocated seat, Zhang Ye was looking forward to the ceremony quite a bit. Regarding the Golden Microphone Award, he was anticipating it much more than the academic award and the coveted television show awards he had received earlier. This was because his main profession was still in the broadcasting field. It was also where his dreams started. A year ago at this place, on this stage, the moment he received the Silver Microphone Award was the same time he officially stepped into the public eye. So for Zhang Ye, the Golden Microphone Award had a very different significance and it mattered a lot to him.
To the right of his seat were two people who looked rather familiar to him. They were a good-looking man and woman who were also the nominated hosts for this year's Golden Microphone Awards. From the looks of it, they were nominated by Central TV just like him.
Zhang Ye looked at the two of them. "Hello, both of you."
The two were chatting when they heard Zhang Ye call out to them and looked at him.
"Mhm," one of them acknowledged.
The woman nodded at him, but did not say anything.
Then the two of them continued chatting with each other again. They did not talk to Zhang Ye and even seemed to be ignoring him on purpose.
Zhang Ye was only thinking that since they all had nothing to do anyway, he might as well try to get to know them. No matter what, they were still in the same organization, but he didn't think that he'd receive the cold shoulder from them. He could only smile and shake his head. Then, he looked at the male host on his left and found him a little familiar looking. If Zhang Ye did not get it wrong, he had seen this male host during his time at Beijing Television. They didn't have any interaction before, but he roughly remembered his name to be Gao or something like that?
"You're Teacher Gao from Beijing Television, right?" Zhang Ye asked.
Teacher Gao turned out to be much friendlier but also had not expected Zhang Ye to approach him directly. After all, in terms of fame, he was still quite far from Zhang Ye's level. So he was a little surprised before he responded with a slight smile, "Teacher Zhang, you know who I am?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I think we've met before."
"Yes, we met once during a meeting," Teacher Gao replied.
After they exchanged a few words about their time at Beijing Television, Zhang Ye asked, "Who are those two?" He nudged his chin to the right to imply those two sitting there.
Teacher Gao probably overheard their interaction earlier. So he gave a wry smile and said, "They're your colleagues from work, don't you know them?"
Zhang Ye answered honestly, "I've seen them before but I don't know their names."
Teacher Gao didn't know what to say regarding this and just introduced to Zhang Ye about his own colleagues from work. It felt a little odd, but as Teacher Gao knew that Zhang Ye's social ties had never been good, he didn't really find it too weird either. He whispered, "The man is Fang Gang and the woman is Xu Siyu. Both of them are famous hosts at Central TV Department 1, though they can't be compared to you. But if they're compared to a small-time host like me, they're still considerably more popular, especially Fang Gang. I've heard that both he and Chen Ye were considered for the host position of the previous Spring Festival Gala, but in the end, Chen Ye was chosen instead. However, Fang Gang doesn't have low popularity and if there is an additional spot at the upcoming Spring Festival Gala, then he'll be the most likely candidate to take over."
"Oh, is that so?" Zhang Ye had a fuller picture now.
They were also from Central TV Department 1?
No wonder they ignored this bro!
On the stage, the staff were testing the microphones. "Hello, testing. Testing one, two, three." After some adjustments, the staff announced to the entire venue, "Alright, the preparations are complete. We'll be starting the ceremony in one minute. Would everyone cooperate and quiet down please?" Pause. "50 seconds to go."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The ceremony began and loud applause rang out!
The host who went on stage was one of the winners of the Golden Microphone Award in the television hosting category from last year.
...
After getting back to Peking University to put away the trophy, Dean Pan did not go home. Instead, he and a few colleagues ordered takeout and stayed behind in the office to watch the live broadcast of the Golden Microphone Awards.
"It's starting?"
"It just started."
"Yes, let's see how Little Zhang does."
"If he wins this again, Professor Zhang will have won four top prizes this year, two for his shows, one in the academic field, and one for his hosting?"
"The Golden Microphone Award would not be that easy to win!"
Zhang Ye's parents and Chenchen were already waiting by the computer.
At home, Ha Qiqi was watching the live broadcast on her phone as she ate.
Yan Tianfei, Zhang Zuo, Little Wang, and a lot of the others from Central TV Department 14 were also similarly watching the live broadcast.
Hu Fei, Xiao Lu, and the others from Beijing Television were also watching the live broadcast online. When Dong Shanshan won the Silver Microphone Award, they were the first ones to learn about the news. But the only thing they wanted to see now was whether Zhang Ye would be able to win the Golden Microphone Award.
...
At the venue.
There were over a thousand people here and the atmosphere was very passionate.
The Golden Microphone Awards of this world were very different from Zhang Ye's previous world. Over here, the Silver Microphone Awards had ten spots each for the television hosting category and radio hosting category. However, the Golden Microphone Awards only had three spots for each category. That meant that only three out of all the television hosts in the entire country stood a chance to win the television hosting category's Golden Microphone Award. This made the value of the award extremely high and it was thus labeled the most coveted award of the television hosting world. There were some famed hosts who still hadn't had a chance to get it as the competition for it was very tough. There just wasn't enough to go around for everyone. As compared to Zhang Ye's previous world, this world's Golden Microphone Awards were much, much tougher to win.
For most of the movie stars in the movie industry, there were all sorts of award ceremonies held in China and Greater China. Even though there were many award ceremonies, most of them were very recognized and of value. Each year, there would be at least seven or eight different best actors and actresses, and this wasn't even including the actors and actresses in the supporting role categories. Moreover, there would also be a slim chance for many of these movie stars to have a shot at some of the international awards like at the Berlin International Film Festival and others similar to it.
But for hosts?
The highest honor for a host would be this—the Golden Microphone Awards!
Each year, there were only three places up for grabs and nothing more!
As a result, for each year's Golden Microphone Award winners, essentially everyone deserved it. The winners were all truly the most outstanding hosts in the industry and only they could ultimately outdo their competition and stand onstage to receive the Golden Microphone Award trophy. To every host, it was the ultimate honor to win it!
Onstage.
One of the winners of the previous year's Golden Microphone Awards gave the opening speech and then proclaimed with a smile, "Well then, without further ado, let's get back to this evening's focal point. Let us now take a look at the Golden Microphone Awards nominees."
The screen flashed, and the names and photos of the nominees were displayed along with their organization.
Central TV Department 1: Fang Gang.
Central TV Department 1: Xu Siyu.
Central TV Department 9: He Jianguo.
Central TV Department 14: Zhang Ye.
Beijing Television: Gao Xiang.
Shanghai Satellite Television: Sun Haili.
And so on.
Central TV was the big brother of all the television stations, so it had a few more nominees than the other television stations.
The screen was huge and was filled with a lot of text, introducing the work history and experience of the nominees.
In the audience, quite a number of people started discussing.
"Look at Zhang Ye's introduction."
"Hur hur, there are so many words."
"Fuck, why is his introduction text so much longer than the other nominees?"
"That's because he has a thick résumé."
"That's still too wordy."
The cameras panned over to him as well.
A lot of people had noticed that Zhang Ye had the longest introduction among the nominees. The others like Xu Siyu and Gao Xiang only had about two lines for their introduction, but Zhang Ye's resume list was 11 lines long. In the list of nominees, his introduction was the most prominent one. Zhang Ye's Talk Show had created a new field within the entertainment programs industry, The Voice had broken seven records, while A Bite of China had broken nine. And with Zhang Ye having worked at four or five different places in the past two years, all of these key accomplishments and experiences had no way of being summarized and displayed, so that was why Zhang Ye's name stood out so prominently on the list.
However, the two Central TV Department 1 hosts beside Zhang Ye did not seem to be bothered by this.
Fang Gang said, "Siyu, you have a pretty good chance of winning."
Xu Siyu waved it off and replied, It's not possible for me. I'm not qualified enough.
Fang Gang shook his head. "But you've already worked in the industry for five years. Isn't there someone who got nominated all the same even though he has only entered the industry for two years?" Of course when he said this, he did so in a very low voice.
But Zhang Ye still heard him since he was sitting just beside them after all. He glanced over at the two of them.
Seeing that Zhang Ye overheard them, Xu Siyu did not dare carry on the conversation. She knew that Zhang Ye and Fang Gang's program team had an argument online before, so his attitude towards Zhang Ye was naturally more hostile. But she also knew that Zhang Ye was not someone to be trifled with, so she just remarked, "You'll definitely win it this time."
Fang Gang said, "That might not necessarily be true."
Xu Siyu maintained, "You should've gotten it last year, but unexpectedly missed out. So they'll definitely give it to you this year. There's no one else deserving of it."
Fang Gang laughed. "You think I'll get it, and I think you'll get it, hur hur. Let's just wait and see then."
Xu Siyu said humbly, "There'll definitely be one for you."
On the stage, the host was reading out the names from the list of nominees. The members of the judge panel also started going up on stage. The final results were already decided and were sealed in the envelopes in their hands.
After reading out the names, the host smiled and proclaimed, "Who do you think the Golden Microphone Award winners will be? Alright, we'll be announcing this year's Golden Microphone Awards for the radio hosting category. Please welcome our guest presenter from the National Broadcasting Association, Vice President Sun Xi, who will announce the results."
In the audience, a woman stood up and walked up onto the stage with a smile.
Zhang Ye blinked several times and then asked Beijing Television's Gao Xiang who was beside him, "Is there such an association?"
Teacher Gao: "..."
Zhang Ye asked, "I've never heard of it before. Was it just set up recently?"
"—They've already been established for over 30 years," Teacher Gao replied.
Zhang Ye could only respond with an "oh" to that.
Teacher Gao added, "Almost all the radio and television hosts present here today are members of the Broadcasting Association. I also joined it the moment I debuted several years ago."
Zhang Ye was a little embarrassed by now. "I've made a fool of myself, heh. Why didn't I get invited to join?"
This association was actually classified as a non-governmental organization and had no barriers for entry other than requiring you to be working in the industry as a radio or television host. It didn't matter if you had just debuted or if you were already a famous personality. You could still join the association at any point in time and was similar to an overseas entity like the National Association of Broadcasters. However, as one of the most well-known hosts in the country, Zhang Ye had actually never even heard of the name of this association before, so it was a rather curious thing to happen. [1.]
But Teacher Gao was not really surprised by this. He said with extreme resignation, "When you just debuted, didn't you use a poem to scold everyone in the industry by describing it as a bleak pool of dead water? Since you offended everyone back then, do you think that the Association would still want to invite you to join them?"
Hearing this, Zhang Ye laughed. "That's rather true."
Teacher Gao didn't know what to say.
Madam Sun Xi had already received the first envelope. It could be seen very clearly that, in the nominee area, a majority of the radio hosts felt very nervous. Many of the others working in the radio broadcast industry and in the audience also perked up their ears. Sun Xi could be seen slowly opening the envelope and taking out the results. She intentionally exclaimed, "Aiya!"
The host quickly asked, "Who is the first Golden Microphone Award winner?"
Sun Xi laughed, "I didn't have a good look at it yet."
The host said, "Then why did you exclaim out loud just now?"
"That was just a reflexive response," Sun Xi explained. Turning serious, she held the card in front of her and announced, "This year's first Golden Microphone Award winner for the radio hosting category: Li Shuyun!"
A few rows behind where Zhang Ye was seated, a woman pointed at herself in disbelief. "Me?"
Sun Xi smiled and said, "Teacher Little Yun, it's you. Please come onstage to receive your award."
Congratulatory applause immediately resounded throughout the entire venue.
Li Shuyun was so excited that the rims of her eyes became wet. "Heavens!"
A colleague next to her congratulated her. "Teacher Little Yun, go on up to the stage!"
When she went up on the stage, Li Shuyun took the trophy from the guest presenter and grabbed a microphone too. The first thing she said was, "Is it really me? You guys are sure that you didn't get it wrong, right?"
The audience all laughed at this.
Only then did Li Shuyun finally give her acceptance speech. "Thank you to the judges, thank you to my bosses, thank you Chief Li, and thank you to all the fans who have always been supporting me. I'm the radio host for Shanghai News Radio and I was very surprised to be nominated this time. I didn't expect to win at all, so I didn't prepare an acceptance speech. I feel too excited now and a little incoherent, so please forgive me for that. In any case, thank you, thank you to my organization and the higher-ups who have always supported and groomed me."
There was another round of applause.
Li Shuyun kissed her Golden Microphone Award trophy and left the stage excitedly.
Teacher Gao said to Zhang Ye, "Teacher Little Yun is really quite good."
Zhang Ye nodded. "I know her, I've heard her reporting the news before."
Teacher Gao said, "A host of Central TV's News Simulcast will be retiring in a few years' time. I've heard that Central TV might be interested in inviting Teacher Little Yun over to groom her for the role. If it really works out, Teacher Little Yun might really have the chance to take over at News Simulcast."
Following that, the second winner of the Golden Microphone Award for the radio hosting category was announced. It was another female radio host, a weather segment host from Central Radio Station. Prior to the awards, she was already one of the favorites to win, and it turned out to be true.
The third winner of the Golden Microphone Award for the radio hosting category was given to a host from another radio station. He was 45 years old and could be considered a veteran in the field of broadcasting. He had waited ten years to win this award and finally got his wish. Onstage, he choked up with happiness several times as he gave a traditional acceptance speech thanking his leaders and organization.
By now, three radio hosting Golden Microphone Awards had been given out!
Up next were the anticipated Golden Microphone Awards for the television hosting category!
The host introduced a different guest presenter for this category. It was also a big shot who had groomed many of the famous hosts in the industry.
Teacher Gao's palms were sweating. "It's time." Although he knew that he didn't have much of a chance of winning an award, who wouldn't anticipate that an upset could happen when the time came for the announcement?
Fang Gang's expression was fixed.
Xu Siyu's arms tensed up.
After the guest presenter got onstage, he gave a speech for two minutes without mentioning anything about the awards. A lot of the nominees were so nervous that they unable to hold it in anymore. Then, the guest presenter suddenly opened the envelope without warning and directly announced the first winner. "I hereby announce the first winner of this year's Golden Microphone Award for the television hosting category—Han Shaokai!"
The applause was enthusiastic!
The winner came up onto the stage very quickly and looked very excited!
Central TV Department 1's Fang Gang looked a little disappointed at this.
Xu Siyu and the other nominees also let out a sigh and then quickly offered their congratulatory applause.
Regarding Han Shaokai's win, no one was really surprised by it. He was already a regular nominee of the Golden Microphone Awards, appearing on the list almost every year but always missing out every time. But now, he had finally won. It showed just how hard he had been working and how much effort he had put in. How many hosts in the industry could work for 365 days a year without taking a rest? Han Shaokai was the only one. His improvisation skills on TV shows was also one of the best in the industry.
Han Shaokai collected his trophy. "Thank you. I'm so excited to be standing here that I don't know what to say. Is this real?" Then he laughed and continued, "It looks like it's real."
Everyone graciously laughed along with that.
Han Shaokai gave his acceptance speech in a very detailed manner. He read out all the names of the people he wanted to thank one by one, but as it was a live broadcast, there was also a time limit for the speech. At the end of his speech, Han Shaokai did not know what else to say anymore and just bowed before leaving the stage.
Everyone applauded again and then stared back at the guest presenter nervously.
The guest presenter went back to the podium and flipped open the next envelope. "Oh, this person is really great. He's been an old friend of mine for more than a decade now, so I'm really happy to be able to read out his name here." He intentionally paused for a while before announcing, "The second winner is—Xiao Hang!"
It was another veteran!
In fact, it was a veteran host with 20 years of experience!
Xiao Hang who was almost 50 years old still appeared to be in great shape. He did not look to be old and walked very healthily onto the stage. He looked like he couldn't really control his emotions and gave a very emotional acceptance speech. "When I first debuted 20 years ago, the TV shows back then were not as fanciful as what we have now…"
Fang Gang couldn't sit still any longer.
Xu Siyu looked at him and whispered, "The next one is definitely going to be you."
Teacher Gao threw up his hands in resignation and said with a laugh, "There's only one spot left, but I know it's not going to be me. Teacher Zhang, I think that it will either be you or Fang Gang." Knowing that he no longer stood a chance, Teacher Gao started to feel much more relaxed.
Zhang Ye did not say anything. The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. So he decided to just wait for the result to be announced.
When Xiao Hang left the stage, the entire venue fell silent.
It was finally ending!
There was only one winner left to be announced!
Who could it be?
No one could predict it as they watched eagerly.
Some people had their cell phones out as they browsed the Internet to check on Weibo and some forums. Those places were also very lively with discussions at the moment.
"There's only one more to go!"
"Why hasn't Zhang Ye's name been called out yet?"
"It has to be Teacher Fang Gang for sure!"
"Of all these nominated hosts here, other than Zhang Ye, Fang Gang has the most fame and popularity. Zhang Ye has offended too many people on this stage before, and since it's still the same judge panel as the last time, would they let him win the award?"
"If Zhang Ye does not win it, the people will surely curse them to death. They will know that it's a clear act of revenge!"
"Yeah, Teacher Zhang's achievements are dazzling, so even if the judges don't like him, they would have to consider that for a moment!"
"Who knows how the judge panel will think. Anyone could still win it!"
"Why didn't anyone mention our Teacher Xu Siyu? She'll definitely be the one who gets it!"
The heated discussion online and offline was reaching a peak.
The guest presenter had already opened the envelope and taken out the result card in it. Then he blinked at the result. Even the host who caught a glimpse of it wore a complicated expression as he also blinked several times.
The entire venue was quiet.
The guest presenter raised his microphone and announced, "The third and final winner of the Golden Microphone Award for the television hosting category is—Zhang Ye!"
When his name was revealed, a lot of the nominees looked at each other!
Zhang Ye?
They really gave it to Zhang Ye?
The Golden Microphone Award was really given to the most unpopular person in the entertainment industry?
Fang Gang's mood immediately hit rock bottom!
Xu Siyu's expression was also rather complicated as she glanced to her side.
When the entire venue could finally react, applause sparsely sounded. A lot of people who were in view of the cameras were seemingly clapping their hands, but the strange thing was that the applause was not loud at all. Compared to the earlier award winners, it was a complete 180. They did not give this winner the same response as they did for the others. It could be heard from the sparse applause. In the field of hosting, Zhang Ye had offended too many people before. There were also a lot of others who did not like him.
However, some clapped very loudly, for instance Dong Shanshan, Su Hongyan, and Zhang Ye's juniors from Media College.
Dong Shanshan muttered to herself with a laugh, "Well done, old classmate!"
Su Hongyan was clapping her hardest. "He's really won it!"
"Senior, you're terrific!"
"Yes!"
"I'm impressed that he can even win after offending so many people!"
"Our senior is indeed the best!"
"Eh, where's the applause? Why aren't the others clapping?"
"They're not respecting him at all!"
Beijing Television's Teacher Gao looked very happy too. It looked like he was even happier than Zhang Ye himself, as he clapped hard and said, "Teacher Zhang, it's you!" Then, when he realized that everyone else did not seem too enthusiastic about the result and noticed that the applause around him was quite scattered with most of the volume originating from him, Teacher Gao suddenly felt embarrassed by his own reaction. He turned to look around and didn't know how to react to Zhang Ye's poor popularity.
Zhang Ye just smiled and stood up.
The applause gradually came to a stop as a lot of them were only clapping perfunctorily; they looked like they were clapping but there was simply no sound.
Zhang Ye took everything in. Under the watchful gaze of everyone, he slowly strolled up onto the stage.
That guest presenter handed the trophy to him and said, "Congratulations."
"Thank you." Zhang Ye took it and then peered deeply into the shape of the glimmering golden trophy in the shape of a microphone. It felt rather heavy as he held it in his hand.
The host also noticed the tepid atmosphere and quickly tried to warm it up by saying, "Teacher Zhang, you're really doing well lately with A Bite of China sweeping across the country. I believe that a lot of people, like me, are especially looking forward to hearing your acceptance speech."
Unlike the others, Zhang Ye hadn't at all prepared an acceptance speech in advance. He has always been this way, rarely doing anything for matters that were not certain. Since he was not confirmed for the award yet, why would he make the effort to write a speech? Even though he was a little difficult to deal with, but wasn't that just how Zhang Ye was? He always did such things without due preparation and spoke whatever came to his mind.
The host and guest presenter stepped back a little and handed the stage over to Zhang Ye.
Holding the microphone, he looked out into the audience and into the cameras. Zhang Ye was instantaneously filled with a myriad of thoughts. He knew that at this moment, other than the guests at the venue, there were also a lot of people watching the live broadcast. His parents, the program team of A Bite of China, Peking University's staff, his group of a few friends, and even his former classmates and teachers were watching him.
What should he say then?
Suddenly, he remembered Graham Moore, the screenwriter for the winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game at the 87th Academy Awards. His acceptance speech was still fresh in Zhang Ye's mind. It was an extremely touching speech!
With a smile, Zhang Ye looked over to the nominees' area and opened his mouth. With that action alone, the staff from the organizers and judge panel broke out in cold sweat. "Fang Gang did not get to come on stage, Xu Siyu also did not get to come on stage, yet I could. This feels a little unfair!"
At that instant, countless people looked over at them. Even the cameras panned over to them!
Xu Siyu was dumbfounded!
Fang Gang also nearly vomited blood!
Damn! Why did you mention us? Why did you mention us?
Teacher Gao nearly revealed his amusement at this. This Zhang Ye was really too wicked. Those two only ignored you just now, but you're taking it up with them in this way? No wonder you could offend so many people! How could you possibly not!?
Su Hongyan: "..."
His juniors of Media College: "..."
A lot of people were speechless right then and there.
"Indeed!"
"This is totally the style of Zhang Ye's speeches!"
"Fuck, this is the part I like to watch the most!"
"When did Fang Gang and Xu Siyu offend Teacher Zhang? My sympathies to them!"
"Shut up and listen!"
Zhang Ye smiled again and said into the camera to everyone, "A lot of people feel that I do not deserve this award. They feel that I do not belong and that I do not fit in, that I am uncompromising and am not qualified to earn this highest award for a host. Just by listening to this tepid response, we all know how everyone feels about this!"
Some people in the audience started mumbling to themselves.
You only realized it now?
A person like you should never win the Golden Microphone Award!
A person with a temper like yours, it was already a miracle that you could survive for so long in the entertainment industry and in society. But you even won the award now? And it's even the most prestigious award for a host? Has the judging panel gone mad?
Zhang Ye composed himself and held the microphone even more tightly. "In this brief time here, I would like to say this. When I was in university, I went through a very confusing period of time. Because I felt weird and I felt different and I was stubborn. And I felt like I did not belong! I could feel that everyone was ostracizing me!" Saying that, he pointed to the podium at his feet and said in a voice that was getting louder, "And now I'm standing here, so I would like for this moment to be for that person out there who feels like they're weird, or they're different, or that they should be a little more flexible, that they should compromise, that they don't fit in anywhere."
Everyone in the audience became even more quiet!
A lot of them were staring at him in astonishment!
Su Hongyan looked at that student of hers who was not like the others. Some tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably in heartache.
Zhang Ye pointed outward as his smile became even stronger. "Yes, you do. I promise you do. You do. Don't be afraid, don't be confused. Stay weird. Stay different. Stay stubborn and never give up!" He waved the trophy in his hand and proclaimed, "And then when it's your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along!"
He turned around.
And left the stage.
He was still that different!
He was still that unique!
But on the faces of all the guests present, deeply shocked expressions were already hanging from their faces. A lot of them felt as though that sharp but stubborn voice of Zhang Ye had nailed them right in their core!
With that speech, he had shocked the entire audience!
This was Zhang Ye!
The ever uncompromising Zhang Ye!
One second…
Two seconds…
The applause suddenly rang out!
One person!
Ten people!
A hundred people!
A thousand people!
The thunderous applause had drowned out the entire venue!
TL Note:
[1. National Association of Broadcasters - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Broadcasters]
What a long chapter, phew!