I’m Really a Superstar

An uneventful night passed.

The next morning.

Ha Qiqi and Little Wang knocked anxiously on the door.

Little Wang said in panic, “Director Zhang, what happened last night?”

Ha Qiqi also hurriedly asked, “Did you get into a fight with Bangalore?”

“What fight?” Zhang Ye had just woken up.

Little Wang said, “We heard about what happened during the banquet last night. The two of you—”

Zhang Ye sighed. He said without a care, “He said that I wouldn’t be able to win the Nobel Prize, so I just told him sure thing. It was just a simple exchange of words. How did that become a fight?”

Little Wang said timidly, “Y-You didn’t hit him, did you?”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes and said, “Am I that sort of person?”

Little Wang and Ha Qiqi both rolled their eyes.

You’re not that sort of person?

If you aren’t that sort of person, then who is!

Have you ever held back from doing such things in the past?

Ha Qiqi said with lingering fear, “It’s good that you didn’t hit him.”

If anyone else heard what Ha Qiqi said, they would probably be vomiting blood right now. For a public figure, if they just gave a slight glance, had a slight conflict, or even spoke with a slight hint of sarcasm, the actions could easily get interpreted by the media for the headlines, much less if they hit someone. All of those actions would have an extremely serious impact, so how could they be sloppy about it? However, the staff from Zhang Ye’s studio were different. They really did not ask for much from Director Zhang. As long as he did not get into fights, or hit anyone, then he could do anything he wanted. Everything else was trivial.

Zhang Ye looked at his watch. “What time is the award ceremony?”

“Ten in the morning,” Ha Qiqi said.

Little Wang immediately said, “It’s time to put on some makeup.”

Zhang Ye nodded. “Alright.”

He ate breakfast.

He did his makeup.

He got into the line.

And waited to enter the venue.

The award ceremony staff were very busy, and the international media outlets also descended on the venue for the event.

Before getting admitted into the auditorium, there was going to be a brief outdoor interview. From here, you could see how popular some nominees were. To the surprise of many, a lot of reporters surrounded Zhang Ye, especially reporters from America, Russia, China, and even Japan.

Bangalore.

Felicia.

And several others also received similar treatment.

On the other hand, much fewer reporters were around the nominees from the chemistry and mathematics fields.

This wasn’t surprising at all. To the people of this world, the Nobel Prizes in Mathematics, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were just too distant to them. These academic awards were not something that ordinary people could understand or participate in. They probably did not even know most of the scholars and professors who worked in these fields. However, the Nobel Prize in Literature was different. The nominees were all world-renowned authors, and every normal person had access to and could buy any of their books from a bookstore. They could also recognize them or even judge who was a better author and whose works were the better ones. It was the same thing for the Nobel Peace Prize, so naturally, people around the globe would be more intrigued by them. As such, the media paid special attention to these two awards, and the winners from each year would be greatly discussed by everyone around the world.

This was also the reason why Zhang Ye had insisted on aiming for the Nobel Prize in Literature. It was much more popular than the Mathematics and Physics Prizes.

Zhang Ye’s interview was in progress.

The Chinese reporter said excitedly, “Teacher Zhang, you are the tenth person from China to be nominated for a Nobel Prize. Millions of Chinese citizens are looking forward to seeing you bring home a Nobel Prize.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “Sure, I’ll do that.”

The Chinese reporter said excitedly, “You’re that confident of bringing home the prize?”

Zhang Ye nodded. “I’ll ask them where they mint the medals afterwards.”

That Central TV reporter burst out laughing!

Who’s asking you to mint a medal!

I was asking you how confident you were of winning it!

A female Russian reporter immediately said, “Professor Zhang, I’m a Russian journalist. The President has praised your novel endlessly and even started peace talks because of it. He has taken the most crucial step in these past few years, which in turn affected the state of world affairs. This is something that no literary work has been able to achieve so far.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I’ve heard about it too.”

The Russian reporter said, “What do you think is the charm of your work?”

An American reporter interjected, “In America, Gone with the Wind has sold extremely well. With the repeal of the last remaining Exclusion Act, tens of millions of people in North America have benefited greatly. Many black people and others who oppose racism have a high opinion of your work, and the impact of it on the world is still ongoing. Do you think this will help you to ascend onto the podium of the Nobel Prize in Literature?”

Question after question.

Zhang Ye answered them one by one with a smile on his face.

He was neither humble nor arrogant.

He spoke in a gentle and refined manner.

He had a graceful demeanor.

Many of the foreign reporters couldn’t help but nod in agreement at his answers.

…

China.

At Zhang Ye’s parents’ house.

Due to the time difference, it was already evening in Beijing.

“Has it started yet?”

“Which station is it showing on?”

“Central TV Department 1.”

“Let me have a look. Ah, it has started!”

“Zeqing, come quickly.”

The entire family sat down in front of the television.

Sisi also ran over. “Where is Daddy? Where is Daddy?”

His mother pointed excitedly at the television. “Look, quick, look! Your Daddy is getting interviewed right now. Hey, what language is Little Ye spouting? It’s not being translated either!”

His father also hurriedly said, “Zeqing, what is Little Ye saying?”

Wu Zeqing chuckled and translated it for them.

…

At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.

His three sisters had gathered here.

“The live broadcast is starting!”

“It’s almost time for them to enter the venue!”

“Wow, there’s even an interview with our brother!”

“Why are foreign reporters interviewing our brother as well?”

“Our brother is so popular!”

His grandma gave them a stern look. “Be quiet. Don’t make such a ruckus.”

His grandpa was also quite excited. “It’s the Nobel Prize! I never could have imagined that my grandson would one day attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony.”

His second sister shouted, “Brother, you can do it!”

His third sister also shouted, “Bring glory to our country!”

…

At Yao Jiancai’s house.

“Dad! Hurry over!”

“It’s on, it’s on! The live broadcast has started?”

“The interview finished. They’ll be entering the venue soon.”

“How long until they announce the prize winners?”

“At least half an hour more, I think!”

“Today is the most important day for Zhang’er since his career started.”

“It’s also a very important day for the Chinese entertainment industry and literary world!”

…

At the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Old Chi, I’m a little nervous!”

“Me too, Old Zhou.”

“It all depends on Zhang Ye now!”

“That’s right! Whether he succeeds or fails, it all rest on this moment today!”

“Hopefully, Zhang Ye will give us something to cheer about!”

…

On Weibo.

“Pfft.”

“This comedian!”

“Look at that Central TV reporter! He’s about to cry!”

“Haha, he says he will ask them where they minted the medal? My sides hurt!”

“Seeing how Face-smacking Zhang can still crack a joke, it seems like he’s still very relaxed.”

“It’s the Nobel Prize! Bring it back home!”

“Supporting Zhang Ye!”

“China’s first Nobel Prize will all depend on whether Zhang Ye can get it!”

…

Japan.

“This fellow was really nominated?”

“He’s our sworn enemy!”

“Does he intend to finish the comics or not?”

“This damned eunuch! I’d rather the Indian writer win the award than him!”

“Supporting our Japanese author!”

“Good luck, Teacher!”

“The Nobel Prize in Literature will definitely be ours!”

…

Australia.

“We have a candidate who was nominated for the Physiology or Medicine Prize.”

“Is there any hope of winning?”

“I don’t know. There are too many variables to consider for the Nobel Prize.”

“Yeah. Even if someone is the favorite to win, they might not win it. It’s too hard to say.”

“Who do you all think will win the Literature Prize?”

“I still think that the Indian writer has the best chance.”

“Yeah, they haven’t given it to Bangalore in the many years he was nominated, so I doubt the Nobel Prize Committee will be able to withstand the pressure to award it to him this time. It’s obvious to all that Bangalore’s works are very good.”

…

America.

“It’s starting!”

“Today will be very interesting.”

“The winners of this year’s awards will be revealed soon.”

“Yeah, let’s see who’s the biggest winner.”

“I think it’s gonna very close this time.”

“Too bad that our female author is out of the running ¹ to win the Literature Prize.”

“That’s right, the sales of her new book suffered greatly due to competition from Gone with the Wind.”

…

England.

“We’re the hosts for the awards this time, so our chances should be greater.”

“Not necessarily.”

“We can only fight for the Economics Prize.”

“Right, we have a chance of winning that.”

“We stand a chance at winning the Literature Prize too, right?”

“I’m afraid we don’t have any chance at the Literature Prize. The Chinese and Indian writers are too strong.”

“But I’m not optimistic about the Chinese author’s chances. China wants to win an international award, especially when it’s the world’s most prestigious Nobel Prize. So I doubt they’ll give it to a Chinese man so easily.”

“Yeah, no Chinese person has ever won a Nobel Prize.”

…

On this day.

At this moment.

100 million people.

500 million people.

1 billion people.

With the time in many countries getting late into the night due to the time difference, countless people crawled out of beds and turned on their televisions like China would during World Cup season. With a beer in their hands and some snacks, everyone started watching the live broadcast of the Nobel Prize. This world’s Nobel Prizes were much more influential than the ones in Zhang Ye’s world. Almost every country’s television stations were showing the live broadcast, and all eyes around the world were focused on this event. They were all waiting for the awards ceremony to begin so that they could find out who would walk away with the most prestigious prize in the world!