I’m Really a Superstar

At the recording hall.

With the program done, the Leaders left.

Zhang Ye then said to the Directors and staff present, “All of you have busied yourself these past two days. Thank you for the hard work. I’ll be treating you lunch. Let’s have a meal together!”

“Alright!”

“We are going to have a big meal!”

“Hur hur. Thank you, Teacher Zhang.”

“We must have a good meal!”

The staff began echoing this. After recording this episode of “Zhang Ye’s Talk Show”, they were also extremely happy. Firstly, Zhang Ye had said it so humorously that they bent their backs from laughter. There were even a few camera men who nearly burst out into laughter while filming. They nearly affected the recording. Secondly, they felt that the program was too awesome. As part of the program team, their names would be added to the credits scene at the end. This was also a form of adding to their job experience. They could improve their reputation through such a good program, so it was extremely beneficial for them.

The program team began to clean up the site.

Zhang Ye got off the stage and went to a few colleagues who had not left. He smiled. “Thanks for coming. How was the program? Does anyone have suggestions? I’ll maintain the good parts. As for the bad parts, I’ll slowly improve.” Although the response from the audience was very good, he still wanted to consult his colleagues. After all, no matter how good a program was, it could not satisfy everyone, so there was always room for improvement.

Wang Bei laughed, “What do you mean ‘how was it’? Don’t you know already?” She pointed at the corner of her eyes. There were marks of tears. “Look, I teared up from all the laughter!”

Ah Qian also said excitedly, “Teacher Zhang, you are too awesome! Really too awesome!”

Little Yu nodded enthusiastically and agreed with Ah Qian’s words, “Truthfully, the comedic programs that I understood in the past are just a few hosts inviting a few guests as they goof off and add some funny games into it to tickle the audience. If not, it will be two people having a crosstalk or a few people acting a skit. Usually comedic television programs are limited to these. There was no other mode of humor. But, but, your Talk Show has completely overturned the traditional comedic formats of the television industry!”

A web host who Zhang Ye had previously met, but was unfamiliar or never spoken with, nodded. “Linking it to current affairs, mocking it and creating social satire was too wonderful!”

But Dong Shanshan suddenly interrupted, “I think it’s terrible!”

Zhang Ye blinked, “Which part wasn’t good? The program wasn’t nice?”

Dong Shanshan used her charming eyes and glanced at him, “You could have done the talk show yourself! Why did you bring me up? My image has been destroyed by you.”

Hearing Dong Shanshan’s words, everyone roared with laughter!

“Hahaha, when homesick, she goes to the stock exchange and looks at that endless expanse of green. That line was classic! Divine reversal!” Sister Four came over after instructing everyone, in order to pack the filming equipment.

After a few exchanges of words, everyone left. They busied themselves, for they still had their own work to do.

However, Dong Shanshan slowed down and did not leave with the rest. She waited for Zhang Ye and left the recording hall together.

In the elevator.

Dong Shanshan said with a wide smile, “Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?” Zhang Ye was surprised.

Dong Shanshan laughed, “A few jokes mentioned me, and their effects were really good. The jokes will definitely have left a lasting impression on the audience. This is effectively advertising me. In a few days, when my program airs, it will certainly give me an advantage. The audience might want to see this person, ‘Dong Shanshan’, who goes to the stock exchange when she is homesick. This time, I’ve surely rubbed off some of the glory from my old classmate.”

Zhang Ye curled his lips, “You’re welcome. In the future, your name will frequently appear in my program.”

“Don’t ruin my image!” Dong Shanshan rolled her eyes at him.

“Haha. I can’t be sure about that,” Zhang Ye laughed.

Actually, Zhang Ye had this goal in mind. If he needed people in his jokes, he could just use any name, but he chose Dong Shanshan, so as to create some momentum for his old classmate and give her some fame. Since it was just a name, why not give it to her? For example, in Wang Zijian’s “Tonight 80’s Talkshow”, there were many characters. Lai Bao, Jian Guo, Dan Dan. These people were not fictional characters, but the names of the people who wrote the jokes for the program. They no longer existed in this world, so Zhang Ye reserving one of those names for Dong Shanshan had no effect on him. Since he could help an old classmate of his, why not?

……

Office area.

A few people had already returned.

“Ah Qian.”

“You guys went to watch Zhang Ye’s program?”

“What exactly is up with that talk show? How was the series of jokes stitched up together?”

Although everyone was pessimistic about the talk show, they had never heard of such a program format, so they were still curious.

Ah Qian gave a mysterious smile, “Everyone will know tonight. I can only say that the audience gave him a standing ovation and applause for nearly ten minutes after the program ended!”

Everyone was stunned.

“Ah?”

“Ten minutes?”

“Can you not be so ridiculous?”

“It can’t be? A joke program like this can have such a good reception?”

“That’s right, I thought that if the audience didn’t curse, they would already be very cultured!”

“Ah Qian, don’t joke around. How can such a program be met with such good reception? The people in the audience aren’t fools. How can you use a few jokes on the internet to deceive people? If television programs can be done in this way, there wouldn’t be so many hosts being eliminated annually! Can’t they just copy jokes from the internet?”

None of them believed him, but they were even more curious!

Seeing Zhang Ye return, none of them spoke further. It was not good to say those words in front of Zhang Ye.

……

At noon, Zhang Ye treated people to lunch. He brought the program team to a pretty good restaurant. He gave them a good feast to reward them. Only after the program was recorded did Zhang Ye really gain the prestige and authority as the person with overall say in the program. People began to be increasingly convinced of him. There was no way about it; for Zhang Ye, who was a newcomer that had joined the company for a few days, even if people said that they listened to him, they would not really respect him that much. But Zhang Ye used his program and ability to speak for himself. Now, the situation was different. The program team members all indicated that they wanted to do a good job together with Zhang Ye. They wanted to grow the talk show program and make it even better. Everyone was also very confident!

After the meal.

Returning to the unit.

Zhang Ye’s state of mind wasn’t very good. The main reason was exhaustion. This was the first time he was doing a talk show. This was completely different from “Lecture Room”. “Lecture Room” was ready-made. Zhang Ye just needed to act according to his memories. However, “Zhang Ye’s Talk Show” was different. He needed to arrange and analyze what to say and when to say it and how to say it. Besides, it was not as fixed as a historical program. A talk show was a more flexible form of art. It was a test of a host’s ability. Even when replicating a joke, the technique was also very important. The rhythm, the tone and speed used when speaking the joke had to be grasped perfectly. It could not just be spoken without technique. It just like how when people chat, the same joke would have different effects depending on the person. It was the same principle. You had to build it up and time the punch line. This was all the basics.

Hence, Zhang Ye was very tired. Of course, this was also due to him not being accustomed to it, as this was his first time doing it. A lot of his speaking habits and experiences were from “Ghost Blows Out the Light” and “Zhang Ye’s Analysis of the Three Kingdoms”, which were slower in pace. He needed an adaptive learning process. Even though he was a broadcasting major, he did not really learn anything about talk shows in school. He had to blindly try to find his groove. After recording a few episodes, this situation was likely to ease up, as all he needed was to get accustomed to it.

When Wang Xiong came back in the afternoon and saw Zhang Ye’s state, he said, “Little Zhang. Hur hur. Why don’t you go home and take a rest? Anyway, there’s nothing for you in the afternoon.”

“Leader, I’m fine.” Zhang Ye insisted.

Wang Xiong said in disagreement, “Go; I’ll give you half a day off. Grinding an axe will not hold up the work of cutting firewood. I’m still looking forward to you doing a good job for the second episode. Hurry up. Pack up and go home.”

Zhang Ye gave a wry smile, “I still need to inspect the post-editing.”

Wang Xiong chuckled, “I just came back from the filming crew. The video is pretty much done. A professional editor said that the things you recorded did not need a single cut from beginning to end. There was not a single extra scene!” The editor actually did not say something, but he sighed that working with a person like Teacher Zhang Ye will cause editors to lose their jobs. Zhang Ye’s every sentence and joke segment seemed like they were scenes that had post-editing!

Previously, when Zhang Ye said that he did not need a teleprompter or a script, no one believed him.They thought he was bragging, but no one said a thing after the program finished recording; no one said a word. For more than 20 minutes, Zhang Ye did not make a single mistake with his words, let alone forgetting his lines! Previously, Zhang Ye said that his programs did not need cuts and assigned three cameras to film him, saying that it was enough. Hence, he had taken on the responsibility of the program team’s editor. No one believed it in the first place. But now, no one could say a word!

Whatever Zhang Ye said, he managed to do it!

The only thing left for everyone was to wonder at his professional abilities!

Upon hearing the Leader’s words, Zhang Ye could no longer refuse, “Then… Alright. Thank you, Leader.”

In the end, he was still not assured. He exhorted a Director for his program, telling him to give him a call if anything cropped up. Then he went to the film crew to take one last look. After some communication with the staff, he left for home with his bag.

……

At home.

Zhang Ye took a shower before crashing into bed.

In a moment, snores could be heard in his room. This showed how tired this fellow was. Zhang Ye was a person who only snored when he was extremely tired or drunk.

……

Three hours.

Five hours.

When he woke up, Zhang Ye yawned and stretched. He’d had enough rest. He was full of energy. Then he realized that the sky outside was already dark. When he grabbed his phone, good grief! It was already 7:55. It was nearly 8. Zhang Ye was thankful that he did not miss it. He immediately got up and brought his notebook computer over. After connecting to the Wi-Fi, he planned on first watching his program. After all, the live recording would appear different from the aired version, as the angles were different. Zhang Ye needed to see if his expressions were in any way out of place. For example, how was he to express the jokes to their maximal effect. These were things that he needed to improve on in the future.

It was 8!

The program was starting soon!