I’m Really a Superstar - Chapter 780

The next day.
The incident of the award rejection had created quite a stir for the past two days. At yesterday's press conference at Peking University, they had somewhat reached a conclusion on the matter. It was gradually subsiding as well. Zhang Ye who had been idling at home for several days now noticed the good weather today and decided to wake up early to go back to the office for a rare day of work.
He drove and arrived at work.
He could feel the fresh autumn air outside and see the clear blue skies when he looked up.
Zhang Ye bought a morning newspaper at the entrance of Central TV Tower and flipped through it as he walked to his office. Within just two pages, he saw his picture that was taken during the press conference at Peking University yesterday. The headline of the newspaper was very prominent, occupying about one-seventh of the page, with color added to it. Zhang Ye's original words were quoted: "'Feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves'!"
Actually, not only did The Morning Post's newspaper feature him in their report, all the other major newspaper outlets also commenced wide coverage and commentary on this news. The earliest report was published yesterday, while those who reported it late published the news this morning. Live recordings from last night's press conference were shown on some television stations, portraying the scene in its unedited form. Zhang Ye's quote of "feats or faults" immediately created quite a stir in the online community and went viral with countless netizens labeling it a famous quote! You could just randomly go online and most of the updates and news would be about the "Uncharactered Stele"!
He folded the newspaper and scanned through the Weibo app on his cell phone.
Overnight, more than 10,000 private messages and comments were left on his Weibo!
ChineseCabbage: "Idol! You said it so well!"
OriolesFlygrass117: "I really, really like you! What a great 'feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves'! Only you could say such strong words that shock the hearts of all of China!"
DJFOIK: "I've never chased any stars in the past and do not pay attention to anyone in the entertainment circle. At most, I just watch some celebrities who I like on television, but I can't even remember most of their names. But when I heard about this quote on 'feats or faults' yesterday, I was greatly moved by it as it was too shocking. I immediately looked up your works on the Internet and even checked out some of your past incidents. After reading everything, I just want to say this: You really are different from all of the other celebrities! From now onward, you will have another person added to your fanbase. I'm not chasing after stars, what I'm chasing is the special aura you emanate!"
LittleFei: "I will support you forever! Teacher Zhang, I'm cheering you on!"
Everyone was very supportive of him. During the past few days, his Weibo followers grew by a few hundred thousand to around 3 million fans in total. Although his follower numbers could not be compared to the S-list or A-list celebrities who had tens of millions of followers, and could not even compare to those Korean idol groups who came to China to develop their careers, everyone knew that these fans of Zhang Ye had an irrepressible combat strength that no other fanclubs could ever have!
Posting for the sake of posting?
Scolding others?
Making trouble?
Stirring up trouble?
They were experts in all of these! In a fight, one fan could take on three! This was not merely empty talk, the notoriety was earned from all the fan battles fought in the past!
Zhang Ye was delighted when he saw everyone's messages and noticed that his fanbase had once again expanded in scale, so he simply chose a few random messages to reply back to. Just by rejecting an award and making a comment inspired by the Uncharactered Stele, it had brought him so much popularity? Indeed, this was something that Zhang Ye did not expect.
This world also had Wu Zetian and a part of the important history remained the same. However, the quote 'feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves' about the Uncharactered Stele was not said by Wu Zetian herself. It was the later generation who came up with such a theory. There were some other similar theories. For example, how Wu Zetian thought that her feats were too great, and a stele was not enough to describe them all, therefore leaving it blank. Another theory suggested that Wu Zetian knew she lacked virtue, so she did not write anything on it. But in this world, some of those theories by the later generations did not surface at all. He knew this because he had spent a lot of reputation points after the college exam question setting duty, reading up on books and audio-visual materials of this world, then reviewing them from memory after that. He was familiar with a lot of this world's workings now. That was why he dared to graciously bring up the quote regarding the Uncharactered Stele.
Some long-lost classics must never be buried. That would be disrespecting history and the past generations. As the only spokesperson in this world, Zhang Ye naturally had the responsibility and duty to plagiarize the classics…no…to pass down the classics. Heh, isn't this what Lei Feng's spirit was about?!

He took the elevator and went upstairs.
Ding. The elevator door opened and he reached the floor his program team office was on. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, Zhang Ye saw two people engaging in a shouting match not too far away.
Who were they?
Why were they arguing this early in the morning?
After fixing his eyes on their faces, he saw that they were Jiang Yuan and another middle-aged man.
Yan Tianfei stared and said, "Old Jiang, are you people from Department 1 finding trouble with us? Our department has just recruited two high-caliber fresh graduates to join us, but look at what your department has done! You took both of them for yourselves? Leaving nothing for us at Department 14?"
Jiang Yuan looked at him, feeling troubled, knowing that this person was not easy to get along with. He was also the director of a department. If not for the special status that Department 1 had in Central TV, in terms of rankings, Yan Tianfei was still ranked higher than him as a vice director. "Department 14 has already been established for two years and still couldn't make a mark in the industry, so why would you still need so many people and equipment? After the Deputy Station Head considered all the factors and thought that those two graduates were not suitable for your department, he sent those two saplings to Department 1. Old Yan, we did not snatch your people, the Deputy Station Head was the one who made this arrangement. If you think it is improper, you can approach him to discuss it. As long as he gives his approval, we will release them immediately."
Yan Tianfei replied, "Since they went to your department, I should look for you!"
Jiang Yuan countered, "But it's useless even if you look for me. This matter was decided by the station heads after holding a meeting."
Yan Tianfei declared without giving him any face, "Old Jiang, don't try that with me. If you people did not request for them, would the station transfer away from my department? I can't understand this! Your department gets all the money, talent, and everything else good! Are all the other departments treated as stepchildren of Central TV? I'll fucking have it out with you today! After I finish with you, I will go and look for the Station Head! I'll demand an explanation for our Department 14 today! Otherwise, we'll just be dawdling around here! If I can't work properly? Then none of you will get to work properly either!"
Jiang Yuan knew that Old Yan actually dared to kick up a fuss over this. Old Yan was a veteran in Central TV and his qualifications were even higher than Central TV Department 1's Jiang Naixiong, much less Jiang Yuan. He had worked at Central TV all his life and had decades of experience. He even worked alongside two of the Deputy Station Heads at the same department before. So even if Yan Tianfei had a bad temperament and would shout or scold others over small things, he could still maintain his position as the Director of Department 14. The station heads did not bother him much since they could not control him anyway.
Jiang Yuan exclaimed, "Old Yan, what are you intending to do?!"
Yan Tianfei asked, "Where's Jiang Naixiong?"
Jiang Yuan said helplessly, "Director Jiang is not here yet." After thinking a bit, he got a little worried about the unyielding temperament of his opponent, so he took a step back and stated, "I'll make a decision on behalf of the Director. If you think you lack people on your side, except for those two fresh graduates, you can choose anyone who is idle or not doing any shows in our department now. Just one, be it an editor or producer. Will that be good enough for you?"
Yan Tianfei sneered, "Of the two graduates you took, one of them was the top scholar from Jiangsu's college entrance exam while the other was the vice president of the student council who had just graduated from Media College this year. For such good saplings, even ten of your staff cannot compare to them!"
Jiang Yuan threw up his hands and said, "Then I can't do anything about that."
Yan Tianfei added, "Fine, if you want me to choose, I'll take Zhang Ye from your department. Even if it's ten college entrance exam scholars who you took, I won't care. Just give me Zhang Ye and you can take as many people as you want from our department!"
Jiang Yuan: "…"
Zhang Ye who had just stepped out of the elevator was a little taken aback by this.
Eh?
Why did they mention me?
Central TV Department 14? What is this all about?