I am Really a Superstar

Friday.

On the day of the scheduled broadcast.

It was getting lively on Weibo.

“Come, come, place your bets!”

“My bet is on Heavens of the Gods!”

“I’ll place my bet on Age of Kingdoms!”

“Count me in! I’ll put my money on Heavens of the Gods!”

“Damn, Qingqing, aren’t you Zhang Ye’s diehard fan?”

“Yeah, why did you place your money on Heavens of the Gods?”

“I’m a fan of Teacher Zhang’s music, not his shows. He’s never even shot a drama before.”

“So which TV series does everyone intend to catch today?”

“I reckon more people will watch Heavens of the Gods.”

“All their broadcast times clash with one another, so I can only choose one to watch first.”

“Haha, I intend to watch In the Name of the People first. I would like to see just what kind of surprises a shit stirrer like Teacher Zhang can come up with. I’ll catch Heavens of the Gods and Age of Kingdoms later when they get uploaded.”

“I’m also waiting to see how Face-smacking Zhang will die.”

“Hahaha, Face-smacking Zhang is finally going to be face smacked. I get excited just at the thought.”

It was a public holiday today, and everyone had knocked off from work early. Some people had even pushed back their business engagements to get home earlier so that they could wait for this grand feast of dramas to begin. In recent years, there hadn’t been such a boisterous mood in the TV industry for quite a while. Two highly anticipated blockbuster dramas would be starting their premiere episodes at the same time, and oh, there was also going to be the premiere episode of one terrible drama as well. All of the attention from the media, the industry, and the public had virtually been pulled over here. Many people couldn’t wait any longer for the broadcasts to begin!

…

Meanwhile.

At Zhang Ye’s Studio.

Inside, the aroma from the cooked food was attacking the nose. Alcohol had also been brought out to the tables.

Ding dong.

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang.

Zhang Ye personally went to open the door.

Outside, Ning Lan, Yao Jiancai, Dong Shanshan, Zhang Xia, Jiang Hanwei, Shanshan, as well as the rest of the production crew’s staff had arrived. Zhang Ye had called all of them over to the studio today to watch their drama’s premiere episode together.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Come in, quick. Dinner is almost ready.”

Ning Lan rolled her eyes.

Jiang Hanwei put on a stern face.

Shu Han did not show Zhang Ye a welcoming attitude either.

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “Yo, what’s wrong with all of you?”

Dong Shanshan laughed and said, “We’ve already discussed things. If the viewership ratings turn out to be terrible, we’ll chop you up into eight pieces, so you better be prepared for it.”

Yao Jiancai added, “You’re too good at causing trouble.”

But Zhang Ye said, “Really? I haven’t even gone all out yet.”

Shu Han said, “You still haven’t gone all out? I nearly got a heart attack because of your antics.”

Jiang Hanwei said, “Didn’t you read what they’re saying online? Everyone is waiting for us to make a fool of ourselves.”

“Alright, whatever, just get seated. The dishes are ready.” Zhang Ye greeted everyone with a smile and ushered them to take their seats. “We have food and drink, so please help yourselves.”

The stove in the open kitchen was turned off.

Wu Zeqing, who was wearing an apron, carried over the last dish to the table and served it. “Alright, let’s eat.”

When everyone saw her, they stood up in panic.

“Aiyo.”

“Minister Wu.”

“Why is it you who’s cooking?”

Everyone was overwhelmed.

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Have a taste of the food. I hope it suits everyone’s tastes.”

Zhang Ye was bragging, “Let me tell you all this: My wife’s cooking is particularly good. Most people don’t even get the chance to try it. If you’ve tried it once, you’ll ask for seconds.”

Wu Zeqing chuckled. “Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others also got seated.

With Wu Zeqing around, nobody dared complain about Zhang Ye. They hurriedly lowered their heads and got down to eating. The moment they tasted the food, everyone was pleasantly surprised and praised it to no end.

“This shredded pork with garlic sauce is delicious.”

“The braised pork belly is amazing.”

“Director Zhang, you’re such a blessed man.”

“It smells so good.”

For most of the people here, it was not their first time seeing Wu Zeqing. Several years ago at Zhang Ye’s wedding, they met her. But no matter how many times they met her, they were always speechless in her presence. They could not understand why such a beautiful woman who could cook so well and had such a good temperament would throw her lot in with a spitfire like Zhang Ye. She was even such a high-ranking official as well. They just couldn’t wrap their heads around this at all!

Slowly, the time passed.

Zhang Ye suddenly said, “Little Wang, it’s about to start.”

Little Wang responded, “Alright, I’ll turn the television on.”

The television was turned on.

Everyone watched it.

In fact, no one other than Zhang Ye had seen the final cut of the drama. Although all of them had filmed every scene of the show together, no one knew exactly how the shots had turned out and what kind of effects it had. Their hearts were beating fast, and they couldn’t help but feel nervous to watch the finished product.

“It’s starting!”

“It’s starting!”

…

At Zhang Ye’s parents’ house.

His parents were already waiting around the television.

“It’s starting!”

“Turn up the volume!”

…

At his eldest younger sister’s house.

His three sisters had gathered.

“It’s starting!”

“Oh, there’s our brother!”

…

On TV.

Beijing Television.

The opening theme song was playing.

Executive Producer: Zhang Ye

Project Director: Zhang Ye

Supervising Producer: Zhang Ye

Art Director: Zhang Ye.

Screenwriter: Zhang Ye.

Editor: Zhang Ye.

Executive Director: Zhang Ye.

The production credits stunned a lot of people. Zhang Ye, who was self-directing a television series for the first time, had taken multiple roles in the production team as well. His name filled nearly every possible role of the production.

Then the story began.

Whistling came from the television.

This was one of Zhang Yuanqi’s songs that a lot of people had listened to before.

Beijing.

In a neighborhood.

In the car, someone’s hand was fiddling with a cell phone.

“Chief Hou, why don’t we take action right now? We’ve been waiting for almost two hours already.”

“Exactly. What if his wife and child don’t leave the house tonight?”

Then the owner of the phone spoke.

“They will. She normally brings her kid out for tutoring at 5 PM. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“You still want to wait? Hang on, Chief Hou, do you realize the times are strange now? Jumping out has become commonplace. I’ll give you a friendly reminder. This Chief Zhao we’re looking for, he lives on the fourth floor.”

All of a sudden.

The man sat up straight.

Zhang Ye’s face appeared onscreen at this moment.

Captions appeared: Department Chief of the Investigation Department of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate ¹ .

—Hou Liangping.

He smiled and said, “This Chief Zhao we’re looking for has countless reasons to want to live on.”

In just a simple scene.

With just a few short exchanges of words.

A thrilling anti-corruption operation was about to begin.

…

At Zhang Ye’s Studio.

Many of the people gasped.

The premiere broadcast today consisted of two episodes without any commercial breaks in between.

It cut to a scene of Zhao Dehan eating mincemeat noodles with soybean paste.

The scene of the provincial leadership holding a meeting was next.

Then the scene in which the mastermind disposed of the SIM card came.

Yao Jiancai played Secretary ² Li Dakang, Jiang Hanwei played the role of Bureau Director Qi Tongwei, Dong Shanshan was cast as Lu Yi’ke. One by one, the actors were introduced.

The money that was stashed away in a fridge.

That hoard of cash that was revealed when the bedsheets were pulled aside.

The piles of money that were hidden behind a large painting on the wall.

It was too shocking!

The scenes that were unfolding gave Ning Lan, Yao Jiancai, Shu Han, and the others watching goosebumps!

Inside the studio, there was only the sound of Zhang Ye eating and drinking. Meanwhile, the rest of the people had put down their chopsticks at some point in time. They were all staring at the screen in astonishment and gasping with every scene!

Did they shoot this?

This was what they had filmed in those 10 days?!