I’m Really a Superstar

Afternoon.

A little past 2.

This was probably the warmest point of the day. While under the winter sun, Zhang Ye\'s BMW X5 slowly drove into an upscale residential district with Yao Jiancai.

"There, I\'ve brought you here." Zhang Ye stopped the car.

Yao Jiancai tugged at him. "Cut the crap. Go up with me."

Zhang Ye exclaimed, "You are insisting on pulling me to be your shield?"

Yao Jiancai laughed and said, "If you don\'t come, my wife probably won’t even open the door for me. Hurry, how can you not help your brother out?"

Zhang Ye said helplessly, "I\'m mainly afraid of her beating me to death."

After a long period of heckling, Zhang Ye finally went up together with Yao Jiancai.

Upstairs.

Yao Jiancai rubbed his hands together before pressing the doorbell nervously and gently.

A moment later, footstep could be heard approaching the door. It was the pitter-patter of slippers. Then, the door\'s peephole went dark. Clearly, someone was leaning over to look out at them.

Yao Jiancai hurriedly said, "Dear, it\'s me."

There was no movement inside. The peephole brightened once more. It was as if the person had walked away.

Yao Jiancai anxiously knocked on the door. "Dear, open the door. Let me in first. We can talk. Daughter? Where\'s my daughter? Open the door for Dad!"

With the door in between them, they could hear a vague conversation between women, but they could not make out what was being said.

Yao Jiancai could not do a thing. He could only move back and stretch out his hand to gesture towards Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye had no choice but to walk forward and knock on the door. "Sister, it\'s me, Zhang Ye. I happened to drop by with Old Yao to say hello to you. I brought you some fruits too."

With that, Zhang Ye received a treatment completely different from Yao Jiancai. In less than two seconds, the door was unlocked, revealing a middle-aged woman\'s face. She was slightly plump, and had a couple look with Yao Jiancai. She hurriedly opened the gate and said with a warm smile. "It\'s Teacher Zhang! Come on in."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Sister. I was in such a rush that I didn\'t buy anything much except this bit of fruit, as well as some of the Brain Gold that I\'m endorsing." Wu Mo had given Zhang Ye many boxes of Brain Gold. He kept it in his car, and could use it at any time. Since Brain Gold was meant to be given as a gift, it was very apt.

Fan Yi exclaimed, "You are too kind. You don\'t have to bring anything when you come here. You are our Mi Mi\'s teacher. I was wondering when to pay you a visit, but it ended up with you coming first."

Yao Mi also jumped out of the room with bright eyes. "Teacher Zhang!"

Zhang Ye greeted her.

Fan Yi sat Zhang Ye down. "Teacher Zhang, how\'s our Mi Mi\'s studies? Is she especially naughty in school?"

"Not at all. Yao Mi is serious and hardworking. She is also very motivated and often asks if she\'s unsure of something. It\'s a good thing that she likes to get to the bottom of things." Zhang Ye said politely.

Fan Yi poured a cup of water for him, and then made some tea. She said with a chuckle, "This child isn\'t very obedient, so please give more attention to her at school. If she\'s naughty, feel free to punish her. You don\'t have to give us face."

Yao Mi couldn\'t stand for this as she said, "Mom, I\'m already a college student! How can you talk like I\'m still a young child. Furthermore, I\'m so obedient at school. I\'ve never played truant when it comes to Teacher Zhang\'s class."

Fan Yi said, "So that means you play truant for other classes?"

The three of them began chatting.

Yao Jiancai was left hanging in the corner. He coughed again and again, but other than Zhang Ye glancing at him, the mother-daughter duo ignored him.

Zhang Ye could tell that they needed a way to ease into the situation. Fan Yi probably already knew that Old Yao had been a victim in all of this, so he said, "Sister, for the matter previously, I can vouch for Old Yao that there was truly nothing going on. Give me some face and don\'t fault him."

Yao Jiancai said at the appropriate time, "Yes, yes. There truly was nothing. I can swear to the heavens!"

Fan Yi looked at Old Yao and tsked. She then turned her head back at Zhang Ye and changed into a kindly expression, saying, "Teacher Zhang, it is because you came and I gave you face. If not, I would not have let him enter. I don\'t believe a single word of his, while your words...I believe them."

Yao Jiancai said, "Yes, yes. A teacher of the people doesn\'t tell lies!"

Fan Yi ignored him and said, "Has he been staying at your place for the past two days? Sorry for causing you trouble."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "You are welcome. It\'s fine."

At this point, Fan Yi leered at Old Yao. "Sit. What are you standing there for?"

Yao Jiancai exclaimed and immediately leaned towards the sofa in high spirits. He then poured a cup of tea for himself while smiling. He knew he was going to be fine.

Yao Mi was never angry, but had been going along with her mother\'s song and dance. Seeing her mother turn soft, she went out to cross her arm around one of Yao Jiancai\'s arm with a grin. "Dad, I watched the internet live broadcast. Your crosstalk performance with Teacher Zhang today was wonderful! It was so humorous!"

Yao Jiancai began bragging, "Of course. Who do you think your Dad is? A professional crosstalk actor, and having debuted for so many years. Although I haven\'t performed for some time, all my basic foundations are still there!"

Fan Yi deflated him by saying, "What are you bragging about? It was all Teacher Zhang carrying you."

Yao Jiancai smiled and said, "That\'s true. My old brother\'s creative genius was absolutely wonderful. There was not a single fault to pick for the dozen or so burden jokes in the crosstalk performance from start to finish!"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Sis, I came here to offer my humble apology. That joke was a joke and nothing more, so I hope you won\'t mind it."

Fan Yi said with a laugh, "Do you think I\'m so petty? Don\'t forget Old Yao was previously in the crosstalk line. As a family member of a crosstalk artist, if I couldn\'t take such a small joke, then what else can I do? Besides, that \'the madam\'s beauty never wanes\' sentence really amused me greatly."

Yao Mi yelped, "I was laughing in stitches when I heard it! Hahaha!"

Yao Jiancai raised his chin. "Little Zhang, isn\'t my wife magnanimous?"

Zhang Ye gave a big thumbs up, "Magnanimous!"

Fan Yi stared at Old Yao and said, "Stop trying to flatter me. When Teacher Zhang is gone, I\'ll have it out with you."

"Old bro, then you are prohibited from leaving today," Yao Jiancai said with a laugh, "Stay for dinner. Taste my wife\'s cooking. She previously nagged me to invite you over for a meal, but you were busy, and I was busy, so we never had the time. Now that the both of us are free, and have no work to do, you must eat this meal. Let\'s have a good drink together. Giving you a treat sure isn\'t easy."

Fan Yi invited him. "Yes, I\'ll go buy groceries in a while."

Zhang Ye did not stand on ceremony. "Alright, then I\'ll be in for a treat today."

Following that, the four of them began to talk and laugh together.

It was obvious that Fan Yi thought highly of Zhang Ye. Firstly, he was a Peking University lecturer, and could take care of Yao Mi in school in certain ways. Secondly, Zhang Ye and Old Yao\'s crosstalk performance had awed her greatly. Their working relationship would tighten as a result. Thirdly, Yao Jiancai had many disreputable friends, but none of them were his true friends. Zhang Ye was a true friend, so Fan Yi naturally treated Zhang Ye as a VIP. A short while later, she had finished grocery shopping and preparing dinner. There were about nine dishes and was quite a sumptuous meal.

On the other side.

Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai also became busy as they began receiving quite a few phone calls.

......

Mom\'s phone call.

"Son."

"Mom, did you see my crosstalk?"

"Of course! You Dad even smacked his thighs and cheered! Your sisters were at our place this afternoon too. They praised you to the moon. Nice going! You weren’t an embarrassment to me!"

"Of course, how could I be an embarrassment?"

"What are you going to do for the next preliminary round?"

"I haven\'t thought of anything yet. I\'ll think about it in a while."

......

Former leader, Hu Fei\'s phone call.

"Haha, Little Zhang."

"Boss."

"I just learned that you can do crosstalk!"

"Hey, it was all nonsense."

"If that was nonsense, then few people in this world can do it well. Back then, I thought you were a layman. Who knew that you are really more professional than those professional crosstalk actors!"

......

Big Saber Bro, Fan Yingyun\'s phone call.

"Teacher Zhang, nice luck. Central TV actually gave you a live broadcast?"

"That\'s right. I was just lucky."

"This seems like the precursor of you causing a stir in the crosstalk world! I support you! Fight it out with them! My large saber can no longer endure the thirst!"

"Man."

......

Many friends came calling.

There were well-wishes, congratulations, and some were that of shock. Some of them craved to see the world burn. Everyone said something different, but all of them basically supported Zhang Ye. They also gave a very high evaluation of Zhang Ye\'s performance. They were once again convinced by Zhang Ye\'s capabilities!

A few days ago, when the ban was issued, everyone believed that there would be no way for Zhang Ye to rise up again, that he would no longer be able to continue staying in the entertainment industry. They believed that he would only be able to switch careers to do something else, but who knew, that in just a few days, Zhang Ye managed to open up a path in the crosstalk world that no one expected despite an all-out ban placed on him. It was too shocking!

His popularity was increasing by the day!

Was this even a ban? Why was he gaining momentum!?

Many people could not help but laugh. What was a man of God? Maybe this was what it meant to be a man of God! The type of person that could never be understood or sized up using common sense!

***Translator notes

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