I am Really a Superstar

The singing stopped.

The music stopped.

When the live audience was finally able to react, Zhang Ye was already quietly retreating from the stage. All they could see was his receding figure.

In the audience.

A child asked, “Mommy, why are you crying?”

His mother wiped away her tears and said, “Mommy doesn’t know either.”

The child asked, “Who is that uncle?”

His mother looked in the direction of Zhang Ye’s departure. “He was Mommy and Daddy’s favorite celebrity in the past.”

A wife was wiping her tears away. “Teacher Zhang’s got wrinkles on his face.”

Her husband made a noise in acknowledgement.

The wife said, “Hubby, have the times changed, or is it us who have changed?”

The husband replied, “Maybe it is everything that has changed.”

“B-But I realized that I still like him. Hubby, what about you? Do you still like him?”

The husband did not answer.

The wife turned to look at him and was stunned by what she saw.

She discovered that her husband was crying too.

After so many years, a person from the past had returned. “The Ordinary Road” brought tears to countless people.

Many memories flooded through in an instant!

Zhang Ye, who fought a Korean celebrity to stand up for the average person.

Zhang Ye, who went bankrupt in order to save his fan by lending her money to treat her disease.

Zhang Ye, who typed out the words “whoever offends the mighty nation of China, however distant, shall be destroyed” for his country.

He was back. That fellow who had caused them to fall madly in love with him, that fellow who had left them gnashing their teeth in anger, that fellow who had made them howl with laughter—he was back. He had changed. His hair had become shorter, and he had several more wrinkles on his face. However, he could still sing like before.

That was an indescribable sense of nostalgia.

A lot of people at the venue and watching television were lost in their thoughts at this moment.

…

At Old Yao’s house.

Yao Mi broke down crying.

Yao Jiancai sighed “It has really not been easy on Zhang’er these past few years.”

Yao Mi sobbed, “Uncle Zhang!”

…

Dong Shanshan’s house.

“Why isn’t anyone clapping?”

“What’s with everybody?”

“Have they really forgotten all about Zhang’er? There were so many events, so many memories, how can they just forget him like that!”

…

At Zhang Xia’s house.

“Mom, Teacher Zhang can still sing!”

“Yes.”

“But will everyone acknowledge him?”

“Little Zhang is back, and he’s still the same Little Zhang that we knew. But I wonder if the people are still the same?”

…

Zhang Yuanqi’s house.

“‘The Ordinary Road’?”

“This fella has made me cry again with his singing.”

“He has changed quite a bit.”

…

In the holding area.

When Zhang Ye got back here, he bumped into Xiao Lu.

Xiao Lu was crying. “Teacher Zhang!”

Zhang Ye smiled and went up to give her a hug. “What are you crying for? Did I not sing well? I thought it was quite satisfactory as I’ve managed to sing out what I wished to tell everyone. It was pretty good.”

“But the audience, they—”

Zhang Ye said, “It’s fine.”

…

Backstage.

The contestants who had finished performing had returned here.

Zhang Ye was the last person to arrive.

Guan Xue stood up. “Teacher Zhang.”

Qi Liang also stood up. “That was a good performance.”

Qu Dong also complimented him.

How many years had Zhang Ye been in the entertainment industry? He could easily tell who was being sincere and who was not. He simply returned a smile and said thank you to them.

Actually, Qu Dong, Hai Yifei, and Qi Liang were all very surprised that so many people had cried after hearing Zhang Ye sing. In their opinion, “The Ordinary Road” had a very flat melody, without any high notes and didn’t require any techniques to sing it well. Although they had never heard this song before, possibly because it was a newly composed song by Zhang Ye, the song still had the “vibes” of an old song and had a completely different melody and rhythm from the contemporary pop music they were used to. Furthermore, be it the singing or technique, there was nothing special about Zhang Ye’s performance, so why did the audience react in such a way? Instead, the only normal thing was the lack of cheers and applause from the audience at the beginning and the end of his performance. From this point alone, they knew that Zhang Ye would definitely be out of luck for this first round of competition. If there were no surprises, he would surely be the first one to be eliminated.

They had never seen such a peaceful performance before.

A performance that didn’t even get applauded. So how many votes could he possibly get?

It looked like it was just as everyone had expected. Zhang Ye would be the first person to lose his qualifications to become the greatest champion of I Am a Singer, and in that, they would have one less opponent.

…

Zhang Ye’s fan group #7.

“Teacher Zhang!”

“Damn, I’m crying!”

“I cried too. I feel so terrible!”

“Is there no one supporting Teacher Zhang anymore? There wasn’t even any applause for him?”

“Motherfucker, vote!”

“Right, let’s quickly vote!”

“Where is everyone? Where did everyone go!”

“Teacher Zhang has returned! Where have all of you gone? Where?!”

“Are there only the few of us left?”

“After listening to this song, how can you guys sit still or do nothing?”

“Stop shouting. They won’t hear you.”

“Hai, the people from back then have gone their separate ways.”

“Eh, wait.”

“Admin, what’s the matter?”

“What the hell!”

All of a sudden, several of the administrators were stunned.

Di di di!

Di di di!

Notifications of people applying to join the group exploded!

Group #7.

Group #8.

Group #15.

Group #37.

All the formerly dead fan groups of Zhang Ye’s blew up with alerts!

“LittleGrass55 reporting in!”

“To our dear admins of Zhang Ye’s fan group #9, I’m back!”

“ChiChi is back!”

“OldChu520 is back!”

“Open up, I’m back!”

“ZhangYeFanNumber55 is back!”

“I’m sorry, I left the group due to some family issues. But I’m back now!”

“Motherfucker! Now that Teacher Zhang is taking on the industry again, how can I not be a part of it!”

“I’ve been busy with work, and my wife is really strict with me. I wasn’t supposed to come in here, but when I heard Teacher Zhang’s song today, motherfucking hell, I decided to check in again even if it means my death!”

“DriftingSnow is back!”

“HeJiale is back!”

Familiar faces!

Familiar nicknames!

10 people!

A 100 people!

A 1,000 people!

The eyes of the group administrators welled up!

Big Saber Bro scolded everyone the moment they entered the groups. “You bunch of idiots, why did you just respond? Hurry up and vote!”

“Spare us, Big Saber Bro!”

“We’ll immediately vote!”

“My cell phone has been confiscated by my wife. I can’t vote!”

“Old Knife, why are you still so afraid of your wife?”

“Damn, I won’t let you say that about me. Watch how I take my cell phone back!”

“Old Knife, you can do it! He’s risking his life just to vote, haha!”

“Hahahahaha!”

…

At the venue.

Watching TV.

Everyone was getting very anxious as they waited for the final result.

The host, Cui Na, had come back out onto the stage. “The first round of voting has ended. I believe that everyone has used the most practical of actions to show their support for the contestants they like the most. But unfortunately, of the five contestants in the first round, one of them will have to leave our stage. The voting results are in my hands. I won’t be announcing the rankings of the first round. However, I will be announcing the name of the contestant that has been eliminated. So then, the contestant who will be leaving us in the first round of the culmination battle of I Am a Singer is—”

The crowd fell silent.

It was all quiet in front of the televisions.

In the contestants’ zone backstage, no one made a sound.

Cui Na looked at the camera and recited, “—Guan Xue.”

At this moment, a lot of people were dumbfounded!

…

At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.

“Ahhh!”

“Our brother has advanced into the top four!”

“Hahahaha!”

…

Old Chen’s house.

“The kid has made it, huh!”

“He actually advanced?”

…

Dong Shanshan’s house.

“Aiyo, that scared the hell out of me!”

“I was so scared too. I thought that Zhang’er would become the first contestant to leave the show!”

“Yeah, there wasn’t any applause earlier!”

…

Backstage.

Qi Liang was surprised at this result. How?

Qu Dong was shocked. Shouldn’t it be Zhang Ye?

Hai Yifei was also astonished. Zhang Ye managed to remain in the competition? How was this possible? There wasn’t any applause. How did he manage to stay on? Just how on earth did he manage to stay on? Were people still supporting him? What spot did he take?

Zhang Ye was also startled.

But Guan Xue wasn’t surprised at this result, nor did she reveal a disappointed look. Instead, she just smiled, stood up, and gave a hug to every contestant to bid farewell.

Hai Yifei said, “Sister Guan, I can’t bear to see you go.”

Guan Xue smiled and said, “I’m leaving now. Do your best, everyone.”

With the camera around, everyone was exchanging pleasantries.

It was only when Guan Xue hugged Zhang Ye that she whispered, “All the best. Do be careful in the second round. I hope you can go all the way and give us something to cheer about.”

Zhang Ye only said one word in reply: “Alright.”