Chapter 851: A class reunion
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
On the morning of January 2nd.
Media College's class reunion.
Location: Suburbs of Beijing, Yizhuang.
This was Dong Shanshan's new place, a small two-story terraced villa. Located near a park, the surroundings here was very quiet and secluded. There were few people seen around here in the neighborhood.
Zhang Ye pressed the doorbell.
The door opened, revealing Dong Shanshan's incredibly beautiful face.
When Zhang Ye saw the way she dressed, he remarked, "You're still wearing a skirt in the middle of winter?"
Dong Shanshan who was dressed rather sexily just smiled and said, "It's been a long time since we've had a class reunion, so I must make an effort to dress well. Come on in, it's warmer inside."
Zhang Ye asked, "How many of them have arrived?"
"We're just short of you." Dong Shanshan said, "The others are already here."
Upon passing through the doorway, he came into the living room. Although the area could not be compared with those luxurious villas, it wasn't bad either. The floor space of this villa was not big, but at least it had all the basic facilities that a villa should have. At the front was a small garden that was very eye-catching and would definitely look more attractive when the flowers and plants bloomed in spring.
After walking in through the front door, a few figures appeared in front of him. They were watching television at the moment.
Wang He smiled and stood up. "Yo, look who's here?"
Zhang Ye smiled and returned, "Who do you think is here?!"
Beside Wang He, Ma Xufei laughed and slapped the sofa's arm, then came forward in welcome. "Zhang Ye!"
Zhang Ye saw him and said happily, "Old Ma, you're here too?"
"I've always been in Beijing since our graduation, so why wouldn't I be here?!" Ma Xufei went over and gave Zhang Ye a bear hug and then said, "We haven't seen each other in two years already!"
Zhang Ye asked, "So you've been in Beijing all this while? I thought you'd returned to your hometown! Why didn't you keep in touch?"
Ma Xufei laughed and said, "You are getting so popular now, so who'd try to contact you!"
"Don't wander off topic. Are you blaming me indirectly?" Zhang Ye rolled his eyes.
Dong Shanshan pointed at Ma Xufei and said, "I only managed to contact Old Ma a few days ago. He's really difficult to find as his number has changed several times already."
Ma Xufei laughed heartily at that. "I was busy with work, really busy with work."
At this moment, another person walked over and lightly punched Zhang Ye's chest. Then he said, "Zhang'er, you're really popular now. I see your face on the news so much that I've gotten sick of it!"
Zhang Ye chuckled, "Old He!"
He Kui said, "Great, you still know me?"
Zhang Ye quipped, "If you still didn't show your face, I'd really have forgotten about you!"
"You're the one who hasn't shown his face in forever!" He Kui laughed and added, "During the year we graduated, Shanshan, the others, and I organized a party. We were unable to contact you. And you were the only person who did not join us."
Zhang Ye also lightly punched He Kui's chest and commented, "You still look so fit!"
He Kui replied, "Well, I've been training every day."
From across the room, Yu Yingyi came up to him. She gently tucked her hair behind her ears and asked in a sweet voice, "Zhang Ye, do you know who am I? Can you still remember my name?"
Zhang Ye glanced at her with a smile and said, "I can even write your name out backwards, Classmate Yu Yingyi."
Yu Yingyi blinked. "Not bad, you really still remember my name."
Zhang Ye said, "Our class only had so many people. Do you think I have Alzheimer's? Also, how can I possibly forget a beautiful girl's name? Even if it's after 20 years, I will still remember your name, much less just two years."
Yu Yingyi said in satisfaction, "You really know how to spin things!"
"Have to." Zhang Ye smiled.
Everyone sat together on the couch in the living room.
Dong Shanshan announced, "Everyone is here today, but it's just the six of us, so we can just consider it a mini class reunion. I've tried to contact all the others, but some of them were uncontactable, while most of the others are not in Beijing anymore and therefore could not make it. We will organize another large reunion some other day. As for today's reunion, it's nothing much except for us to catch up on our friendship together, while also having a housewarming for my new home."
Ma Xufei clapped and complimented, "Congratulations, school belle. Best wishes for your new home."
"We must celebrate this for sure." He Kui smiled and said, "Besides, I think we should organize such activities more often since we have a place to hold our reunions now."
Dong Shanshan agreed without hesitation. "Sure, just come to my house whenever we have a reunion."
Zhang Ye looked around and said, "The house looks quite nice. When did you buy it?"
"I bought it a few days ago and moved in immediately. It's a resale," Dong Shanshan answered.
Zhang Ye smirked. "Weren't you asking me to help you look for a house? I've been waiting for your call about it, but I didn't know you already bought it. What a friend you are, Classmate Shanshan."
Dong Shanshan's mouth twitched and she laughed. Then she looked at him and said, "Oh come on, have you even had a moment's free time in these past few days? You've been arguing with people on the Internet every day for how many days now? When I saw the way things were going, I thought I should just forget it and look for a house by myself."
Zhang Ye: "..."
Yu Yingyi laughed loudly. "Zhang Ye is still that temperamental guy from before!"
Dong Shanshan shook her head and said, "His temper is etched into his bones. I don't think he can ever change that in his entire lifetime."
"Stop ridiculing me. I still haven't asked you how much this house costs." Zhang Ye quickly changed the subject.
He Kui guessed, "It looks like it's at least 10 million?"
"Less than that." Dong Shanshan replied, "It's cheaper out here in the suburbs and it only cost several million."
He Kui tutted, "That's still very expensive."
Dong Shanshan smiled and explained, "I got a loan since I could only afford the down payment."
Zhang Ye said enviously, "You sure are rich."
Yu Yingyi glanced at Zhang Ye and said, "As a B-list superstar, you can still say that Shanshan is rich? Aren't you embarrassed?"
"I really don't earn as much money as her," Zhang Ye denied, waving his hands as he admitted honestly.
Ma Xufei said in disbelief, "Who are you trying to bluff? Among all of us, you are supposed to be the richest."
Dong Shanshan said, "I think Zhang Ye is not lying, but it's not that he's poor, it's just that that he doesn't have any intentions to make money. From the time since he debuted until now, he has never accepted any commercial events and he's the only such person in the entertainment industry. His income mainly comes from his endorsement fees, and the fixed salary and bonuses as a host. It would be a wonder if he were rich, but me? My contract with Beijing Television is more flexible since I can accept a commercial event every other day. With each event, I can earn about 100 to 200,000 RMB. That's how I managed to pay off the down payment."
He Kui said, "Wasn't Zhang Ye like this in university too? The way he thinks and does things are always very different from others."
Wang He said, "Anyway, both of you are really popular now. How much viewership did A Bite of China get?"
"The viewership rating for the latest episode is not out yet," Zhang Ye responded.
Yu Yingyi said, "We were watching it just now. It's a really good show."
A Bite of China was currently playing on the television in the living room. It was the rerun of the latest episode. Zhang Ye's deep and magnetic voice was emitting from the TV.
He Kui said, "I feel hungry just from watching this. What are we having for lunch?"
Dong Shanshan pointed to the kitchen and said, "I've already bought the ingredients, so why don't we all whip something up ourselves?"
Yu Yingyi suggested, "Sure, I'll be the main chef then."
"OK, we'll help you out."
"As long as you guys don't cause trouble."
"Damn, are you looking down on us?"
"Among us, I think only Old Ma and I know how to cook. As for the rest, it's still a question mark right now."
Everyone was very excited and could not stop talking since the long-awaited class reunion had begun. Actually, while they were still at university, even though they met and attended classes together every day, they did not talk as much as they were talking now. Instead, it was after graduation that their relationship became much closer.
...
It was bustling in the kitchen.
Yu Yingyi seemingly took it all on and chased the others out of the kitchen.
With some free time, Dong Shanshan called Zhang Ye over to the side and said, "Where's the contract?"
"It's here." Zhang Ye took out the contract from his bag and handed it to her.
Dong Shanshan sat down and started flipping through the pages one by one. This was the contract signed by Zhang Ye with Central TV back then. As the contractual terms were quite complicated, she had to carefully look through it bit by bit.
About 20 minutes later.
Dong Shanshan flicked her finger on the contract in satisfaction and said, "Alright, I've understood it quite clearly. The contractual terms are more or less the same as what our station thinks. Your contract is more flexible and it definitely won't be a problem for you to appear on Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala."
Zhang Ye grinned. "Great."
Dong Shanshan stated, "It looks like we finally have a chance to perform together on the same stage for once."
"Huh?" Zhang Ye asked, "You're the host?"
Dong Shanshan nodded and said, "The station informed me about it two months ago. They reserved a host spot for me in this year's Spring Festival Gala, so it's considered a very good opportunity."
Zhang Ye exclaimed, "The station seems to be rather supportive of you! You're doing really well then."
Dong Shanshan gave him a haughty, teasing look and replied, "If your temper were better and you didn't offend so many people, you could also do whatever you wanted in any television station. Who wouldn't support you then?"
Zhang Ye threw up hands in resignation and said, "That's the problem. This has always been my character."
Suddenly, Dong Shanshan recalled something and was tickled by it. "Actually, that temperament of yours is also quite a good thing. A few days ago, I attended a commercial event for a big company's anniversary celebrations. After that, there were some issues with the agreed payment and they insisted on paying me 50,000 yuan less. Everyone ended up being unhappy after arguing over the matter for a long time. Later on, I don't know where they got the news that you were my classmate from university, but by the next day, they immediately paid up the rest of the money. From this, you should know just how bad your reputation is in the industry. There aren't many who could stay calm upon mention of your name."
At this moment, the rest of their classmates who came over heard this as well and started teasing Zhang Ye.
"Zhang Ye's name is this useful?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Alrighty then, I'll make good use your name someday."
"Right, the next time I go to a restaurant, I will mention your name and maybe I'll get a discount."
Zhang Ye said, "If you don't mention my name, you would be charged 500 yuan, but if you do mention my name, you would be charged 1000 yuan."
Dong Shanshan was amused by that. "Why do you have so little confidence in yourself?"
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. "How can I still have any confidence when you're all talking about me this way?"
"Alright, alright, hurry up and deal with the proper matters first." Dong Shanshan said, "Go and confirm with Teacher Yao the proposal. After both of your schedules are confirmed, I will inform the station."
"OK."
Zhang Ye walked away from the others and gave Yao Jiancai a call.
The call connected.
"Old Yao, where are you?"
"I'm at home, what's the matter? Are we going to have a drink together?"
"Maybe some other day, let's discuss the serious matters first. Are you free this Spring Festival?"
"We've already wrapped up filming for the previous movie, so I'm free during Spring Festival."
"That's good then. Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala has sent us an invitation, do you want to go?"
"What act will we perform?"
"It's definitely going to be a crosstalk performance."
"I'll go if you're going. It's been some time since we have worked together!"
"Alright, so it's settled then?"
"It's no problem for me. It's a good thing to appear on a Spring Festival Gala. And besides, Beijing Television's Spring Festival Gala has one of the better viewership ratings among the provincial channels, so why wouldn't I go, right? As long as you have a good piece to perform, I'll definitely do it!"
"You don't have to worry about the performance, I'll handle that."
"It's settled then!"
To a celebrity like Yao Jiancai, there was no chance at all for him to appear on Central TV's Spring Festival Gala because he was not popular enough. Old Yao's current popularity was more or less at the level of Dong Shanshan's, but he would surely be overtaken by Dong Shanshan soon. As for the other provincial channels' Spring Festival Galas, they also celebrated it in very grand ways every year. Those celebrities who did well on those Spring Festival Galas could sometimes even attract a similar level of attention to those cast on Central TV's Spring Festival Gala. But Yao Jiancai's key problem was that his main profession was actor, not idol. In addition, he was also quite old and there were hardly any acts he could perform for the gala, so how would he get cast on a Spring Festival Gala? By displaying his acting skills on stage? No one would watch that. Then how about singing? He couldn't sing either. Therefore, there wasn't an invitation for Yao Jiancai to appear in any of the Spring Festival Galas.
It was the same for Zhang Ye. Singing? His singing was not good, but what about his main profession as host? He was still mainly a variety show host and not the type of host who could do hosting for a Spring Festival Gala. Even if he hadn't fell out with Central TV, they were also unlikely to get him to be the host of the Spring Festival Gala, much less get him to do a personal performance. What could he perform? A poem recitation?
However, with Yao Jiancai and Zhang Ye grouped together, the situation has become entirely different!
The crosstalk of this young and old pairing was just too famous!