I’m Really a Superstar

The next day.

It was a weekend.

Zhang Ye drove his BMW to a nearby car wash.

“Yo, Teacher Zhang, you came here?”

“Yes.”

“Washing your car again?”

“Wash it a few extra times.”

“Sure, I’ll definitely get rid of the pungent smell for you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Hai, dog owners these days are too inconsiderate.”

While the car was being washed, Zhang Ye strolled over to the newspaper stand and bought a few copies of newspapers. Traditional paper media was on the decline these days, but Zhang Ye still had the habit of reading a physical copy of a newspaper. Compared to online media, paper media was more official, and the news was more factual. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing too much fake news and rumors.

Today’s front page was taken up by news of him again.

“Zhang Ye’s popularity skyrockets!”

“An unexpected outbreak of popularity!”

“Zhang Ye’s path to the Asian summit!”

“Will Zhang Ye become the next Chinese artist to step up to the summit of Asia?”

“Zhang Ye is promoted to a top Asian A-list celebrity!”

“Zhang Ye may be only a step away from becoming an Asian Heavenly King!”

“Will Zhang Ye be able to reach the summit of Asia within a year?”

Zhang Ye smiled as he flipped through the papers. He was in a very good mood. His foray into the comics industry went even more successfully than expected. Not only did it meet Zhang Ye’s expectations, it went way beyond that. He had initially just hoped to get a place within the top ten of the Asian A-list rankings, but who could have thought that he would end up heading straight to the top in fourth place. This was indeed an unexpected gain. The sleepless nights and hard work these several months had not been for nothing. Thinking about those days when he had to release three or four chapters a day, it felt so unbearable and tiring!

The car was washed.

Zhang Ye drove back to the studio.

When he got upstairs, he discovered that quite a few of his friends had come to visit.

Yao Jiancai.

Amy and Li Xiaoxian.

Grandma Zhang Xia was here as well.

Li Xiaoxian waved and greeted, “Teacher Zhang.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “You’re all here? Where’s Sister Dong?”

“Sister Dong went on a date. Since the two of us had nothing better to do, we dropped by to visit.” Amy harrumphed, probably because Slam Dunk was still on her mind.

Zhang Xia was looking around. “Your place looks pretty good.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “It’s Grandma Zhang’s first time here, right? Please, take a seat.” He turned his head and said, “Little Wang, quickly make some tea.”

“Coming!” Little Wang went to brew the tea with a giggle.

Yao Jiancai laughed and said, “Kid, you’re on fire again! So how about it? Your treat this afternoon?”

Zhang Ye said, “So you guys are here only because you want to scrounge a meal off me?”

Amy said, “Of course, we’re only here for the free meal from you.”

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “Sure, sure, I’ll treat.”

Zhang Xia said with a grin, “Your Asian popularity score has increased by a lot this time. This wasn’t expected by many people, but even those who did couldn’t have imagined that it would increase by this much.”

“What’s crucial is still how you fought your way up there.” Amy said dispiritedly, “Gaining an increase in popularity through fighting and scolding, our Lord Zhang has really had easy when it comes to being a celebrity.”

Yao Jiancai laughed. “Yeah, it looks like I have to head in this direction as well. I won’t have to act anymore in the future, nor perform crosstalks. All I need to do is stay at home and practice scolding people. I’ll just lie down in bed and do nothing other than scolding everyone once over, then I can become an Asian superstar as well. Where else can I find such a good thing?”

Everyone laughed.

The staff at Zhang Ye’s Studio were also amused to hear that.

Of course, everyone knew that this was just a joke. Zhang Ye had indeed relied on scolding and fighting others to advance in the rankings. All this while, his popularity had increased every time he scolded or fought someone. But even though it sounded simple, to scold and fight others in the way that Zhang Ye did—

How many people could do what he did?

He was the only person in the world who could do it!

No others could copy this style of his, absolutely no one!

In all of Asia, and even in the entire world, this was a highly difficult “skill” that was unique to Zhang Ye. Only he could pull it off. Anyone else who attempted it would die trying!

Zhang Ye chuckled and said, “It was just a coincidence this time. Who could’ve thought that comics would have such a big impact? Those seven comics of mine mainly received maximum exposure in Japan. I wasn’t really popular or even popular at all over there in the past, so there is naturally some room for growth. It’s still a little bad over in Korea, though. Even if they are always fiercely vocal about the comics, there aren’t that many Koreans who actually read them. So the popularity that I gained this time was still mainly from Japan.”

Li Xiaoxian grinned and said, “There’s quite a bit from the other Asian countries as well.”

Amy said, “That’s right, I was following Slam Dunk as well. Who could’ve thought that you would stop drawing it? With the comic canceled, the cartoon has also stopped showing. Ahhh, just thinking about it makes me so depressed!”

Zhang Xia looked at Zhang Ye and said with a smile, “You’re not playing nice.”

Zhang Ye laughed. “I really don’t have the time to draw them.”

Zhang Xia asked, “Judging by this momentum of yours, are you really thinking about taking a place amongst the Asian Heavenly Kings this year?”

Zhang Ye smiled and replied, “If I can reach the top, that would be for the best, of course.”

“Your popularity is growing so fast that it’s like you’re riding on a rocket.” Amy said, “Take it slow and consolidate your position. What’s the rush?”

But Zhang Ye said, “That won’t do. My child will be born in another few months. When the time comes, I’ll definitely have to divert my attention back to my family. I can’t just leave everything to my wife to take care of. I’ll definitely have to play a part too. Then there’s the issue of raising my child, so I won’t have much time left for anything else. I’m already prepared to take two or three years off work for that. From my debut until now, other than those scattered few days, I have basically not taken any time off to rest. It’s about time I do so as well, so I would like to ascend to the top of Asia before my child is born. If I can achieve that, I won’t have too much to worry about in the future. I can go on a break for a few years before coming back to challenge the international entertainment circle!”

International?

When they heard this, it sounded far away.

Zhang Xia said with a sigh, “The international arena is a stage we don’t stand a chance on in our lifetime.”

Amy also said, “Right, it’s not somewhere we can dream of. You might be the only one who can challenge it.”

“It’s still too early to say. I’m not confident either.” Zhang Ye said with a laugh, “I better think about reaching the summit in Asia before anything else. I’m still quite a bit a ways from achieving that.”

Yao Jiancai said, “It’s not far anymore.”

Zhang Ye shook his head. “It might look very close, but it’s actually very difficult to move up.”

There were still several more months to go.

He was still four places away.

On the Asian A-list, it got harder to advance the higher up you were. There was just too much competition up there. Back when Zhang Ye was promoted from the Chinese A-list to the Chinese S-list, it looked like he just needed to advance one spot. But in reality, how long did it take him to achieve it? It took him several months, working on variety shows and directing the Spring Festival Gala, before he barely overtook the person in front and move up the rankings. Meanwhile, the competition in the Asian rankings was clearly more intense. To move up in the rankings was conceptually easy; it was in fact a very large step to take.

At this moment, calls from Zhang Ye’s family and friends arrived.

Chen Guang.

Zhang Yuanqi.

Xu Meilan.

Zhao Wuliu.

And so on. Everyone was congratulating him.

So Zhang Ye decided to gather all his friends and book a restaurant to treat everyone. They haven’t had a gathering in a long time, so it was time they had one to enjoy themselves.

At the dinner table, everyone was giving toasts.

“Congratulations, Zhang’er!”

“Cheers!”

“Come, come, we won’t go home until we’re drunk today!”

“Zhang’er, I wish you an early ascent to the summit of Asia!”