I'm Really a Superstar

Before noon.

At Zhang Ye's maternal grandma's house.

"Brother, where's my new year's money?" his third younger sister asked with her hands held out.

His eldest younger sister also swung her hair back elegantly and asked, "And mine?"

His second younger sister sat up on bed. "Me too! Me too!"

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. "How long has it been since Lunar New Year? It's been more than half a month already and we can't even consider it a late new year, so what new year money are you talking about? No!"

The third younger sister pouted. "Why not? You haven't been home at all during the new year. So the new year's money was owed to us. You have to give it to us no matter what! Besides, didn't you just sell the copyright to your new novel? And aren't Ghost Blows Out the Light and the fairy tales going for a second reprint too? I heard from Big Aunt already that you've earned 2 or 3 million from this. So hurry up! I'm just waiting for your new year's money to save my life. There's so many things that I want to buy!"

Zhang Ye said, "Don't talk about money. Talking about it will only harm our relationship."

The second younger sister said, "It would harm our relationship more if we don't talk about money, Brother!"

The eldest younger sister blinked several times. "Brother."

The third younger sister tugged at his arm. "Brother…"

"Just give us a little, just a little will do!" the three sisters said peeved.

Zhang Ye couldn't do anything about them and finally took out his wallet unwillingly. New year's money? They might as well take his life! And so, he took out some money and said, "You all said just a little, so I will give you this much. 200 for each of you."

His third younger sister nearly fainted. "You're such a miser, brother. You're almost a B-list celebrity now. How can you possibly hand out only 200? It does not fit your status at all!"

His second younger sister, "........."

Finally, Zhang Ye could no longer bear with the begging of his three sisters, so he took out the remaining 5000 from his wallet and had nothing left. His three sisters excitedly took more than a thousand each and laughed happily. The eldest was still a little reserved as she did so, but his second and third younger sisters were already laughing crazily. Afraid that the adults in the house would suddenly come barging in, they quickly took the money and hid it on themselves. The second younger sister stuffed it into the pocket of her dress, while the third younger sister, who did not have pockets, took off her shoe and stuffed it under the insole.

If they let their parents see this, then this money was as good as gone. They were afraid of one of the greatest lies that parents say: "Let us save the new year's money for you."

Ring, ring, ring. His third younger sister's cellphone rang.

"Hello. What's up, Lingling?" she answered. "Ah? What awards?…Oh, oh, oh, I remember now. Of course I know about it….It's beginning today? What time? Understood….My brother? Of course he'll be taking part, he's just beside me right now, hehe….Yes….he'll definitely place well. Who do you think my brother is? He'd surely sweep away those bunch of people….I am boasting? I'm just telling the truth….Right, Lingling, you and the others must vote for my brother! Vote when the award polls begin, don't forget….Yes, ask your parents and your sister to vote as well…."

After hanging up.

His eldest younger sister asked, "What vote were you talking about?"

Zhang Ye couldn't understand either. "Awards?"

His third younger sister had an expression full of anticipation as she explained, "It's the Most Popular Celebrity Awards poll that's being held on Weibo. There's one every year and always happens after the Lunar New Year, around February or March!"

"Oh, that awards poll? I know it!" exclaimed his second younger sister when she remembered it. "They were promoting it on Weibo a while ago and many celebrities had already started pulling for votes."

Zhang Ye asked, "Why did I not know about this?"

His eldest younger sister said, "You were busy at that time, so you probably just missed it."

Zhang Ye was still unfamiliar with many things of this world, so he asked for some explanations, "What is the nature of the selection? Is it official? Is there an awards ceremony?"

His eldest younger sister explained, "It's not exactly official, just something organized by Weibo. They hold it annually and it should be in its 4th or 5th year this year. There are two awards One of them is Weibo's Most Popular Celebrity poll and the other is the Weibo's Most Unpopular Celebrity poll. As long as you're a celebrity, you stand a chance to be in the polls. Each Weibo account can only vote once for their favorite celebrity. It starts at noon and ends at midnight."

"There's even a most unpopular poll?" Zhang Ye was surprised.

His eldest younger sister nodded, "Yeah, there is."

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Then wouldn't those who get into the top 3 for that poll cry?"

After listening to the explanation, Zhang Ye understood that in the entertainment business there were all sorts of polls that were held. This round of Most Popular Celebrity Awards would be considered as organized non-officially by a private corporation, unlike the authoritative awards like the Golden Rooster awards. The rankings wouldn't be considered too reflective of true popularity nor would it mean the celebrities' works were exceptionally good. For example, if there were some hot topic on the day of the polls, a random might end up ranking ahead of an A-list celebrity. Besides, Weibo users were definitely differentiated from those who observed the entertainment business on a daily basis. On top of all that, these polls would not hold an awards ceremony. On the surface, it would not affect the celebrities much even if they were to get ranked at the top since there weren't any awards given out.

But that was just from the view of a layman.

In fact, to those working in the entertainment industry, no matter what sort of poll or award it is, they're all equally important to them, as these are all additional qualifications and glory for them. They are a form of support and affirmation from the audience for them. If they won it, then they would be able to claim that they had such an achievement the next time anyone asked or even brought it up when they appeared on a program. "So-and-so is so-and-so's award top ten winner" was also a form of popularity. Moreover, with so many Weibo users, this award poll could even be considered as important! As such, many celebrities who had not yet climbed onto the A-list were already pulling for votes since several days ago. They all wanted to be able to claim being one of the best in this Weibo poll to show off their strengths and fan cohesiveness.

Competing on strengths?

Competing on the fans' cohesiveness?

Hur hur, if that was the case, then would Zhang Ye be afraid of other celebrities?

His third younger sister's eyes gleamed. "Brother, are you going for it this year?"

"Of course I am!" Zhang Ye exclaimed without hesitation. "Since you've already let me know about this, then of course I will be aiming for the top. After having been suppressed for so long, today will be the day that your brother, I, will make a reappearance into this world! Using this Most Popular Celebrity Award poll, I will let everyone know that Hu Hansan has made his return!"

The eldest younger sister was taken aback by this, "Who is Hu Hansan?"

Only then did he remember that people of this world had not heard of this great name, so Zhang Ye vaguely said, "It's just a figure of speech, forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway."

His second younger sister positively added, "Then let's hurry up and use this time wisely to pull for votes. It's almost 11:50 AM now and there are only 10 more minutes before it begins!"

"Alright." Zhang Ye logged in to Weibo on his phone and browsed through the awards poll.

Although it was just a poll organized by Weibo, the scale and momentum of it was still very adequate. Weibo was promoting it via the main page and had positioned it in a very conspicuous location. The trending topics indicated that this awards poll had already been discussed more than 10 million times, but whether that was true or not would be another matter. On the list, a few thousand names of public figures was displayed. As the voting had not started yet, the numbers following each name showed 0. They were ordered according to alphabetical order and with Zhang Ye's name starting with Z, his name was also all the way at the back and not on the first page. But Zhang Ye was already satisfied with this as he knew that if his ban hadn't been lifted, he might not even have a chance to participate in this poll.

He browsed through the Weibo accounts of other celebrities.

Heh, there were quite a few people that he knew and friends who were trying to garner votes for themselves.

Yao Jiancai's Weibo was inactive, probably because he knew that he didn't stand a chance of getting voted into the top 100. But Zhang Ye's university classmate, Dong Shanshan, was very active.

Dong Shanshan's Weibo: "'Online Talents' will be ending soon! Did everyone feel satisfied with my hosting? If you are, then please vote for me. Little Shan thanks everyone for their support!"

Below, countless supporters left their messages.

"Ah, Goddess!"

"My sexy Goddess! I'll support you fully!"

"Go, go, go, Teacher Shanshan! We are supporting you!"

"'Online Talents' is great and you're too beautiful! Too sexy!"

"I'm salivating! I love you, Shanshan!"

Looking at the Weibo IDs of her supporters, he could see that Dong Shanshan's fans were generally males since her debut.

After Zhang Ye browsed through her Weibo, he found out that Dong Shanshan's program was also coming to an end soon. Back then, her "Online Talents" had started its run together with "Zhang Ye's Talk Show." But to avoid certain policies from the SARFT, "Zhang Ye's Talk Show" had to expedite its broadcast run to several per day and thus ended its run much sooner than her program.

Following that.

The Hallyu star, Lee Parkwoo: "Please give me your vote, thank you!"

A newly debuted actor: "It's time for this year's Weibo Celebrity Awards, need I say more? Let's go!"

The crosstalk actor, Tang Dazhang who was currently mired in a lawsuit: "Friends who support crosstalk and traditional arts, please let me see your support!"

Countless celebrities were trying their best to pull for votes.

But Zhang Yuanqi was missing from all of these. Clearly, her name was so famous that she did not even need to ask for votes and support. Or perhaps to her, this platform was not in her sights as she was no longer looking to conquer the domestic market but rather the international one. She was clearly on a different level.

Anyway, the slew of activities relating to the awards poll was very pompous and had attracted a lot of attention.

"Brother! You better hurry up!" his second younger sister nagged at him anxiously!

His eldest younger sister seemed like she was even more anxious than Zhang Ye. "Quickly ask for voting support! It's about to begin!"

Zhang Ye nodded and logged into his own Weibo account. After hesitating for a long time and considering his own status, he felt that if he wrote the same thing as others like "Please give me your support and votes", then it would be too disgraceful and wouldn't show his bearing as a literary person and artist!

Got it!

He'll use that!

He quickly typed in something on his cellphone and posted it onto Weibo.

Follow your own course,

And let people talk!

This quote* came from Zhang Ye's previous world's Italian writer, Dante, and his representative work Divine Comedy. If he remembered it right, it should be a verse in the part of the work called Purgatorio! It was a quote that anyone would know in his previous world! This sentence was also the best response for Zhang Ye, who had been banned for some time. It was also a follow up to his The Road Not Taken that he had recited on the live broadcast previously!

See me?

Or not?

There will I stay, to let the others talk!

Translator’s note: The quote is actually a paraphrase by Karl Marx of the original Dante’s quote for the conclusion to the preface for his book Das Kapital as a motto to live by. “Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti.”

The full Dante quote translation says, ‘Come after me, and to their babblings leave’ which is found in the poem Divine Comedy: Purgatorio, in Canto V, line 13.

You may want to research more about this matter here:

http://www.bartleby.com/20/ (Divine Comedy)

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