Chapter 350: Almost a C-list Celebrity!
Chapter 350: Almost a C-list Celebrity!
Where should he go next?
What program should he do next?
If he produced a program, would the SARFT approve it?
At the table, Zhang Ye's mind began to wander as he quickly recovered. He did not want to think too much. It was almost the lunar new year. He decided to relax in Beijing and rest well. As for work, he decided to think about it after the lunar new year. Anyway, his popularity had increased once again. He was also not limited in his further development. He did not need to worry about not being able to find an opportunity to improve. For work, it had to be both tense but relaxed. If he was in the limelight over a prolonged time, that was not necessarily good. People might get irritated if he always appeared in the news, so he could take this opportunity to relax. Ever since he came back from Shanghai, he had not rested very well. He had been busy at Peking University, so it was time for him to give himself a break.
"Little Zhang, why aren't you eating?"
"Oh, I will. Dig in."
"The day after tomorrow is basically school holidays. Does anyone have plans?"
"I'm going to my hometown for the new year. I've already bought the tickets to fly out in three days."
"This year's lunar new year is rather early. I still need to invigilate the make up exams, so I won't be able to return home."
"My family of three is planning to go traveling. We have decided to go on a trip to the South. Teacher Little Zhang, you are familiar with Shanghai, right?. If you are in Shanghai, we'll look for you. You will treat us to some food, right?"
"Haha, food and accommodation will be provided. You are warmly welcomed."
"What you said is all that matters. Hur Hur. We might not even go."
Everyone ate and had a good time. Everyone was already considering the lunar new year break. As teachers, they had it better. The winter vacation was quite a long school holiday, so they could take a long break. Of course, as university teachers, they definitely were incomparable to primary and secondary school teachers. They were not given as much freedom. For example, some professors still had to take care of their graduate students and attend meetings. Some had to write journal papers or write academic reports, etc. They all had many things to do. Amongst them, Zhang Ye was probably the most free. He did not have any other obligations that he had to meet, and was completely relaxed.
Wu Zeqing was a woman of few words. She ate in an exquisite manner. She chewed her food slowly, and from inside out, could be described as a classic gentle beauty.
After Zhang Ye was done eating, his attention moved to President Wu's body. Today, she was wearing a long qipao. It was a white, with green flowers. There were also some red petals on it. It was very light and soft, and was great at showing off her figure. It was also very attention grabbing. Near the top of the qipao, she wore a white knitted jacket with a button. Her entire person looked very dignified. It was different from Dong Shanshan, who previously wore a qipao. Dong Shanshan wore it sexily, but when worn by Wu Zeqing, it looked mild and classic. She wore a pair of white high heels on her feet, making her exude a certain charm. The heels were not very high, and was only about 4 or 5 cm tall, but since Wu Zeqing's body was very good, with long legs and not a short stature, even without 8-9cm heels, she was also able to look very exceptional!
Beautiful!
Great figure!
Virtuous!
And had a high position!
She was perfect classic beauty that you couldn't find anywhere else!
Zhang Ye noticed that many of the males at the table were acting similarly to himself. They were occasionally glancing at President Wu. Even an old comrade like Professor Zeng was no exception. There was a glimmer of appreciation in Old Zeng's eyes. Wu Zeqing was a landmark of Peking University. Not only the people from Peking University knew, but even many people from other schools of higher learning in Beijing knew that Peking University had a Vice President whose beauty could topple cities!
President Wu mentioned that she still hadn’t gotten married?
If he were to marry her, wouldn't he be laughing to death, even in his sleep!?
Zhang Ye began to daydream about it jealously. He did not know if he would be able to marry such a pretty woman. President Wu, you must hold out. Don't let others snatch you away. Eh, right. It's the lunar new year, and he had nothing to do. He had all the time to do other things. With a glint in his eyes, he suddenly remembered an item inside his game ring inventory — Red String of Fate. In Shanghai, the reason why he could progress with such leaps and bounds with his old classmate, Dong Shanshan, to the point of staying together was all because of the "Red String of Fate". He had experimented with this item before. Its function and effects were all rather obvious. The difference between the Red String of Fate and the Cupid Sachet was that the cupid luck was random. It was unpredictable, but the Red String of Fate allowed him to specify his target. It could tie that person's Marriage Affinity with himself!
He had drawn two of them back then.
After using one, he still had one remaining.
Time to use it. Zhang Ye was prepared on tying it around Wu Zeqing's leg to give it a try, but here lay the problem. How would he tie it? Wu Zeqing was sitting completely fine there, yet he would have to lower his head to tie the Red String of Fate to her? In addition to this, there were so many people watching? He wouldn't be able to tie it now. Furthermore, he would be slapped to death by President Wu. He had to find some way to hide his actions and make it look natural. Immediately, he thought of how he gained the chance to tie the Red String of Fate to Dong Shanshan last time. His old classmate had dropped something, and Zhang Ye had taken the opportunity to pick it up for her. Hence, he got the opportunity!
That's the only way!
Let's try it again!
Zhang Ye did not feel his heart ache. To get closer to Goddess Wu, he even sacrificed his cellphone. He pretended to pick up his cellphone to take a look at it. After tapping on it a few times, he placed it back down on the table quietly. It was rather close to Wu Zeqing. Following that, Zhang Ye raised his cup and clinked it with the rest.
"Here, let me toast everyone again."
"Cheers."
"Teacher Zhang, cheers."
When he pulled back his hand, Zhang Ye placed his cup down and intentionally nudged his phone off the tabletop. Bada. His cellphone fell to the ground, causing even the battery cover to pop off.
Su Na exclaimed, "Aiyah, your cellphone!"
Professor Zeng said, "Hurry and take a look. Is it broken?"
Wu Zeqing pulled her leg back and looked down, "Where did it drop?"
"Carry on eating. Don’t worry." Zhang Ye pulled his chair back and squatted down. He pulled up the tablecloth and grabbed his cellphone. Then with another hand, he opened the game interface, and took out the only Red String of Fate from his inventory. He stretched out his hand, pretending to look for his battery and phone cover, but was actually secretly looping the Red String of Fate around Wu Zeqing's calf. President Wu thought the battery cover was by her feet, so she moved her feet, and with this motion, it caused Zhang Ye's wrist to touch President Wu's ankle. Her smooth, nude-colored stockings rubbed against Zhang Ye's skin, making his heart quiver uncontrollably.
"Oh, did I kick you?" Wu Zeqing said.
Zhang Ye took the opportunity to wrap the Red String of Fate around. "It doesn't matter. Don’t worry about me."
Immediately, he quickly tied a knot with his finders. Once he pulled the Red String of Fate's other end, a dead knot immediately formed on Wu Zeqing's ankles. Wu Zeqing did not have any reaction since the Red String of Fate did not have any physical attributes, and could only be seen and touched by Zhang Ye.
After picking up his battery and back cover, Zhang Ye resurfaced to assemble it. It still looked fine at first, since it was not broken. There was only a small dent mark on the back of his phone, so it was fine.
No one paid any attention as they carried on eating.
Zhang Ye's hand grabbed on to the other end of the Red String of Fate. When he found an opportunity, he crossed his leg and quickly formed a knot on his own leg while the others were paying attention to other topics.
Zhang Ye felt his leg go numb!
Wu Zeqing also suddenly looked downwards strangely!
Red String of Fate in effect! Their Marriage Affinity had been temporarily linked together!
Last time, when he experimented with Dong Shanshan, the Red String of Fate had only lasted for a few hours. This time, with Wu Zeqing, Zhang Ye could not be sure how long it would last. It depended on his luck, and there might be some other random components to it too.
After lunch.
Wu Zeqing had something to tend to, so she left with with her heels tapping.
Su Na watched with envy. "President Wu is really pretty today."
A Chinese department male teacher said, "That's right. Why do you think President Wu hasn't gotten married yet? Is it because her standards are too high? Ordinary people can't catch her eye?"
A intern teacher said, "Probably because no one dares to chase after President Wu. President Wu is way out of their league. Even an exceptional guy would be scared off."
Teacher Wu, who was almost about to be promoted to Associate Professor, interjected, "Don't talk about such things. If won't be good if she hears you." It was taboo to talk about the leadership behind their backs. Only the younger teachers dared to gossip secretly. Those who were older did not dare to do so. Everyone knew that Wu Zeqing was not an ordinary Peking University Vice President. To be precise, she was an official. She had been stationed here, and might be transferred back to the Education Bureau some day or to another ministry. She was completely different from them who had been cooped up in school for all their lives. She had her future planned out. Even many established Vice Presidents, who were much older than Wu Zeqing, did not dare to put on airs in front of her.
"Right, let's not talk about it."
"I need to go home. I have something planned this afternoon."
"I still need to finish up some work. It's about time to post the final grades."
After a short while, everyone went their own separate way. Some returned home, while others busied themselves with work.
Zhang Ye returned to the Chinese department office. He did not have anything to do that afternoon, but did not leave. He was waiting to see the effects of the Red String of Fate.
Five minutes...
Ten minutes...
As he waited, he could only browse the internet.
Oh right, the celebrity rankings should have been updated. What was his current ranking?
Zhang Ye immediately opened the official website that ranked celebrities. He did not search for his name, but instead directly opened the D-list celebrity rankings. And looked from the top to bottom. And after just a few names, Zhang Ye found himself. He was already ranked amongst the top D-list celebrities!
Sixth place!
He had been pulled up to sixth place!
Just thinking of back when he went to Shanghai to produce a talk show, his ranking was barely the last amongst the D-list celebrities, but after a few episodes of the talk show, causing a controversy with the SARFT, followed by his lectures on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, and today's publication of "Ode to Young China" in People's Daily, all this popularity and exposure allowed him to go from last few of the D-list to the top few of the D-list celebrity list in less than two months. If he were to rise another 5 or 6 ranks, he would become a C-list celebrity! And there were still dozens of episode of his talk show that had not been aired yet. He believed that once "Zhang Ye's Talk Show" was fully released, he would definitely qualify to be promoted to a C-list celebrity!
What was the concept of a C-list?
It meant being considered a quite popular celebrity!
Zhang Ye felt that his expedition in Peking University was absolutely the best decision. If he had gone elsewhere or walked another path, it would not have increased his popularity by so much!
Zhang Ye glanced at the Reputation points in his game ring. It made him even more excited. There was so much that he couldn't look straight at it!
Reputation points: 39 million!
The total amount of Reputation points that he had earned before added together would probably be less than this!
However, Zhang Ye did not plan on using all his Reputation points. Since it was the lunar new year soon, and he wanted to take a break, there was nothing on hand for the time being. The items in his inventory were still enough for him, so he could not waste it wantonly. This was what fueled his fame. There was never enough no matter how much he saved. He planned on saving up more Reputation points, and using them when the opportunity arose. He wanted to be able to put the game ring to its maximum use, and not use it all now. When he encountered an emergency without any Reputation points, then he would be in big trouble!
He felt really good!
Zhang Ye enjoyed his cup of tea. As his popularity grew, his reputation also increased. He had taken another big step towards his goal!