Chapter 1358

On the third day of the Chinese New Year.

At Old Wu’s villa.

In the morning, another wave of firecrackers was being set off.

When Zhang Ye called out to Wu Zeqing several times after waking up and received no response from her, he continued to lie in bed, lighting up a cigarette and puffing away.

Oh, right.

Time to check the Celebrity Rankings Index.

When Zhang Ye opened it to check, he saw that his popularity status was still pending. Hadn’t it been two days already? Why wasn’t it out yet? Efficiency! Efficiency, my comrades! Then he remembered something. He opened up the game ring’s interface that he hadn’t checked in a long time. When he brought up the interface, a very long series of numbers was displayed. This astronomical figure was the Reputation Points that Zhang Ye had accumulated. It was so large that it even gave Zhang Ye quite a scare!

Having not used it in such a long time, it had grown to such a large figure?

Well, this wasn’t unexpected since his popularity had been growing all this time as well!

I Am a Singer.

His wedding.

The advertisements.

And the Spring Festival Gala.

Ever since his “Reach the Summit” plan began, his popularity had been climbing like a rocket’s ascent. Naturally, his Reputation Points would also increase since he hadn’t used it much all this while.

Since it was the new year, he thought that maybe he should try his luck out.

So he activated the Lucky Halo (Upgraded) and placed some additional stakes on Lottery Draw (Two). With a total of ten stakes, he spent 100 million Reputation Points.

The lottery draw began.

Clunk, clunk.

The slot machine started moving.

10 seconds.

20 seconds.

30 seconds.

With a ding, the machine gave out the prize!

Ten shiny Treasure Chests (Medium) were dispensed.

It was a Skills Category item!

—Calligraphy Skill Experience Book!

Zhang Ye was taken aback. He had received this item on more than one occasion. If he remembered correctly, he should have already maxed out on the level one Calligraphy Skill Experience Books? Even if he didn’t max out on it, he was probably quite close to the limit. The Calligraphy Skill Experience Books that he just received were the higher level ones. It was a very good item which could still be used to level up on a maxed-out lower level skill. These 10 higher level skill experience books could give Zhang Ye’s originally maxed-out calligraphy skill a further breakthrough. For these skills category items, it wouldn’t be too much no matter how many of them he received. His luck today didn’t seem too bad at all.

He immediately flipped open the skill experience books.

One book.

Five books.

Ten books.

He learned it all.

Zhang Ye was equipped with so many skills now. Lock picking? Flying a plane? Playing the piano? Directing? Photography? Acting? Taiji? Taekwondo? Hacking? Programming? And even that Flight Engine Manufacturing Skill Experience Book that he received in that last lottery draw he attempted? If he counted the Stats Category items as well, then it would be even more. Fruit of Alcohol Tolerance, Fruit of Strength, Fruit of Agility, Fruit of Charm, etc. Even he had lost count of them. Although there were a lot of them, they were not really that refined. For example, the Commercial Airline Piloting Skill? During the plane hijacking incident, Zhang Ye had only managed to land the plane with a lot of luck. If he were to attempt it again, he would probably die trying. So Zhang Ye had a goal in mind, which was to slowly upgrade all of his Skill and Stat Category attributes to the maximum level one by one!

It was a rather ambitious goal.

Heh, it would be better to take it slowly then.

Just as he was about to attempt another few lottery draws, his cell phone rang.

The call was from Ha Qiqi.

“Old Ha?”

“Director Zhang, are you home?”

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

“Are you at your parent’s place, or?”

“I’m at the villa.”

“Then we’ll head over there now. Is it convenient?”

“Why? There’s no need.”

“That won’t do. We must go over to pay you a New Year’s call. Old Zuo, Old Wu, and the others are already on the way too. We’ve already bought our gifts for you. Besides, there are also some work issues to discuss.”

“Hur hur, alright then. Come on over.”

“Alright, we’ll see you in a while.”

Zhang Ye minimized his game ring interface and put on his clothes before heading downstairs.

But to his surprise, some people were already downstairs. Wu Zeqing was sitting on the sofa and chatting with a man and a woman dressed in business attire.

When they heard the sound, the three of them looked over to the staircase.

Wu Zeqing smiled. “You’re up?”

Zhang Ye sighed. “I thought you were already out.”

Those two people hurriedly stood up.

The man said respectfully, “Mr. Zhang.”

The woman also said, “Mr. Zhang, happy New Year. We’re here to pay a New Year’s call to you and Chief Wu.”

Zhang Ye self-deprecatingly waved it off. “No need to be so polite. Just carry on chatting and don’t mind me.” He quickly made an attempt to slip away. Well alright, these people were both older than him and were in leadership positions at the SARFT but were addressing him as Mr. Zhang. This made Zhang Ye feel rather awkward.

The woman quickly said, “Don’t, Mr. Zhang. It’s about time we leave too.”

The man said, “That’s right, we won’t disturb Chief Wu and you from resting.”

Wu Zeqing stood up to send them off. “I’ll accept the fruits, but please take everything else back with you.”

The woman gave a wry smile. “Chief Wu.”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Your thoughts are appreciated, alright?”

The woman said, “We’re always in your care, but you’re still rejecting our gifts. You’re making us feel really bad about it, but alright, please continue to guide us in our work for the coming year.”

The two of them left.

Soon, another group of visitors arrived.

For the entire morning, six groups came to pay their new year’s call to Wu Zeqing. There were those from the SARFT, the television stations, the media organizations, as well as the old subordinates of Old Wu’s. Wu Zeqing received them one after another. As her husband, Zhang Ye had to be at his best too. Every now and then, he would come over to sit with them. But as they were always talking about things like government policies, culture, trends, and skill, Zhang Ye found it difficult to join in on their conversations. He was a coarse person, after all.

Having arguments.

Scolding people.

Smacking faces.

Becoming famous.

This was what Zhang Ye’s world was about.

…

Finally, Ha Qiqi and company arrived.

Zhang Ye quickly led them up to the second floor.

Little Wang giggled, “It’s so active at your place. Who are all those people?”

Ha Qiqi shushed her. “Quiet, those are executives and staff members from the organizations.”

“Who cares who they are?” Zhang Ye said with a laugh, “I don’t really know them in any case.”

Ha Qiqi said amused, “Then why were you chitchatting with them for so long?”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “Do you think that I wanted to? We’re completely different kinds of people, and there’s nothing in common for us to talk about.”

Zhang Zuo said, “Pfft, department heads are always afraid of trouble, while you’re always looking to stir up trouble. It sounds more like you have nothing in common to speak with them about.”

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Ye also chuckled.

Zhang Zuo handed over the gift they bought. “Director Zhang, happy New Year to you.”

Wu Yi also smiled and said, “There wasn’t a chance to wish you before the Lunar New Year since you were so busy with the Spring Festival Gala, but we’re finally able to come and visit you to wish you a happy New Year. Happy New Year, Director Zhang.”

Zhang Ye laughed heartily. “Thank you, happy New Year to you all too.”

In the second floor’s guest area.

Everyone was seated together.

Zhang Ye asked, “Old Ha, what was that you mentioned on the phone?”

“Oh, it’s an important matter that we’re very concerned about.” Ha Qiqi opened her bag and took out some documents. “The Chinese Celebrity Rankings Index will be updated soon. I just received news that your ranking will be revealed at midnight today!”

Today?

That was only a little more than 12 hours from now?

Zhang Ye took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

Ha Qiqi said in seriousness, “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “OK.”

Ha Qiqi said, “I had a meeting with Old Zuo, Old Wu, and the others before this to analyze the situation and get a gauge on our opponents. Have a look at this info.”

A copy of the information was handed out to everyone.

Zhang Ye lowered his head and went through the information. A graph detailing the seven S-listers’ popularity growth was shown, with his own graph included as well.

Ha Qiqi said, “Ever since the ‘Reach the Summit’ plan was thrust into motion, our popularity has caught up to the seven people, and the gap between us is shrinking. Although there’s still a bit more to go, it’s something we can achieve with some fight. If we quantify the data, our score would be at 85, compared to theirs at 100. Meanwhile, the other A-listers ranked below you would only score 50 or so. We’ve already pulled away from the other A-listers. Compared to those seven people, we’re really not that far away from them anymore.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Yes, that’s right.”

Zhang Zuo said, “We only got delayed these past two months due to the Spring Festival Gala.”

Ha Qiqi said, “One of the Heavenly Kings and another Heavenly Queen experienced a breakout in popularity as their holiday movies’ box office earnings reached a record high and won many awards. This increase in their popularity was something unexpected. It was even greater than the popularity you gained when you did I Am a Singer. Meanwhile, the other Heavenly Kings and Queens have not been slacking either. They’ve all been fighting their way up during this holiday period to fend you off. Because of the inactivity during these past two months, they have also pulled away from our popularity score by a bit. There was even a rumor in the industry recently that suggested that you’ve already lost your chance at fighting for a position in the S-list.”

Zhang Zuo said in amusement, “They claim that it’s already been decided.”

Little Wang giggled and said, “But none of them could have expected that the Spring Festival Gala would be so explosive, could they!”

Ha Qiqi laughed as well. “Yeah, those seven S-listers might not be pushovers, but they forgot that we’re not pushovers either. A Spring Festival Gala with a viewership ratings of 56.8%, that’s over half of the world’s Chinese population who stayed watching TV to catch the broadcast that night. I wanna ask: Who else is there? This viewership has surely given everyone a scare. All that’s left is to see how much popularity the Spring Festival Gala will bring us. I suppose those Heavenly Kings and Queens are also getting nervous over this. But since all will be revealed tonight, there’s nothing that they can do. It’s the same for us too. All we can do is wait for the results.”

Zhang Zuo said, “I doubt there’ll be too many people who will sleep well today.”

Wu Yi also said nervously, “Let’s stay up and wait for the results.”

Little Wang said, “What’s the use of waiting? We should go back and offer some joss sticks to ask for a blessing!”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “What’s the use of offering joss sticks?”

“Ah, I guess I’m probably too superstitious,” Little Wang apologized.

Zhang Ye said, “You’d have to give some offerings as well!”

Little Wang and Wu Yi were speechless.

Ha Qiqi laughed and said, “We still have to depend a little on luck. Let’s hope Lady Luck is on our side this time. Those seven people have been holding onto their spots for too long, and there hasn’t been much change in showbiz in a decade. Those seven people, those seven spots, it’s about time that one of them gave up a seat for Director Zhang!”

Little Wang applauded. “That’s right, this is what it means by the wheel of fortune is always turning.”

They appeared to be in a relaxed and happy mood, but the truth was that they were all extremely unsettled and were just pretending not to be. They couldn’t help being nervous. Having reached this point where they were at the final step, who wouldn’t hope that they would have a surprise waiting in store for them? Who wouldn’t hope that they could take a spot from one of those seven people!

A continuous onslaught for half a year!

A plan to reach the summit that was carried out for six months!

Popularity?

Contacts?

Experience?

Ability?

Status?

Achievements?

Whichever it was, they felt that Zhang Ye had already achieved enough to qualify for a place among those seven spots!

All there was left was to see how far this miraculous Spring Festival Gala could take them!

Be it success!

Or defeat!

It would all depend on tonight!http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/feature_2/Traditional_Fesitival/Spring_Festival/Activities_SP/t1022484.htmOfferings like fruits, food, etc.