I'm Really a Superstar

Under public attention.

The countdown to the recording of King of Masked Singers begun.

There were three more days.

There were just three days remaining.

...

At home.

On this morning.

Zhang Ye was feeling unwell after getting up from bed. He felt a little dizzy, but was more bothered by a tickle in his throat. However, he did not think much of it. It might have been due to the added pressure in recent days or the long duration that he'd spent practicing that led to him catching a slight cold. He believed that he would recover after taking some medicine.

His mother, who had made prepared breakfast, suddenly said, "Son."

Zhang Ye said, "Ah?"

His mother smiled and said, "I discussed things with your dad yesterday. We're planning to sightsee and vacation in Hainan for a while. The two of us haven't really traveled much all these years."

His father, who wasn't too keen on going, asked, "Are we really going?"

"Didn't we already agree to it?" His mother stared hard at his father.

Zhang Ye found them funny and said, "Go on then. It's good to get out and have some fun."

His mother made a noise in agreement as she looked at him. "Will you be paying for us?"

Zhang Ye replied, "Of course! I must!"

His mother said, "Great, shall we book the tickets then?"

Zhang Ye said, "Go ahead. Go and have fun with Dad. I'll take care of all the expenses."

"Will you be fine staying at home by yourself?" His father was a little worried.

His mother sneered, "Our son is a grown-up. Does he still need you to worry about him?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "Don't worry about me. If I get hungry, I'll order something to eat. I won't starve to death."

His mother said, "We'll be back in a couple weeks. And you better find a job quickly."

"OK, I will," Zhang Ye responded.

His mother was the impatient type, who would act as soon as she made a decision. In that sense, Zhang Ye had inherited a part of her character. After booking the airplane tickets and the hotel, his parents packed their luggage and headed for the capital's airport to catch their same-day, afternoon flight. They left just like that!

At night.

Zhang Ye cooked a packet of instant noodles for dinner, then took some medication for his cold before turning in early for the night.

When Zhang Ye got up from bed the next day, he nearly fell down on the spot. He was feeling a bit dizzy, and his legs were a little wobbly. Only now did he realize that his cold had gotten worse, and that he even had a fever!

Damn!

No way, right?

Why are you chaining me up at this key point in time?

Zhang Ye didn't know what to do. He was scheduled for a rehearsal today at Beijing Television, where he was supposed to discuss the songs with the musicians and the arrangements. But Zhang Ye probably couldn't go anymore in his current condition. So he took The Clown's cell phone and called Han Qi, his liaison, to apply for time off.

Han Qi was very worried when she heard. "Teacher, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"We start recording the show tomorrow. This…"

"I'll be able to make it tomorrow."

"You're one of the contestants scheduled for the first round, so it's too late to make any changes at this time."

"I know that."

"Let me visit you. Where do you live?"

"There's no need."

"Th-Then please get some bed rest. It won't make much of a difference to discuss tomorrow's rehearsal."

"OK."

After hanging up, Zhang Ye struggled and crawled out of bed quick as he could. He ransacked the drawers and found a bunch of cold and fever medicine and popped them all in one go before lying back down to sleep. He was hoping to recover from the cold quickly. Otherwise, it would be really stupid if it affected tomorrow's competition.

Many outstanding singers had come to compete on the stage of King of Masked Singers. Although Zhang Ye did not know their names, but when he saw their stage presence and heard their voices, he knew that every one of them was going to be a strong foe. Even if Zhang Ye faced the competition in his best condition, he might not necessarily win, much less if he had to perform when he was down with a cold. He could not even guarantee that he would not be eliminated in the first round, so he was feeling rather anxious!

He had to recover as soon as possible!

If he lost in the first round, and was forced to reveal his identity, how could he advance in this industry in the future?

But things don't always go as planned. Sometimes, the more you hope something will get better, the more it gets worse!

...

Friday.

On the day of the recording.

The interval between this world's recording of a television show and broadcast was much shorter than Zhang Ye's previous world. Due to having a live audience at the recording studio, it was impossible to keep a lot of news and competition results a secret. They would be leaked to the public. Therefore, in consideration of the possibility that, if the interval between recording and broadcast was dragged on for too long, the show's intended effect would be affected. As such, the King of Masked Singers program team compressed the interval even further by recording the show on Friday and then broadcasting at 8 PM on Saturday. The entire turnaround time was only a day, but even though there was enough time to do it this way, there was no allowance for any problems to arise. Everyone had to be extremely careful and focused, because if there were any recording accidents or problems, they would be unable to get the episode to air on the following day. That would then become a massive problem!

Around 5 in the morning.

It was still dark out.

Beijing Television's King of Masked Singers program team had all arrived.

Inside the recording studio, the entire place had been renovated. Anyone would be astonished once they saw the stage, lighting, studio, and heard the audio system, as they were all the best that anyone could get in the industry. The program team, which secured the 150 million RMB in title sponsorship, had also reinvested a lot of that money back into the show. They were essentially willing to dump any amount of money into it. They would either not make a splash, or they would amaze everyone with their show! Beijing Television's executives were also very cooperative on their part. This was the most important show for Beijing Television this year, without any other shows even coming close. so the station's and program team's efforts were fully concentrated on it!

"Brother Hu, Teacher Sunset Glow has arrived!"

"This early?"

"She wasn't too satisfied with the rehearsal yesterday, so she changed part of the arrangement and wanted to come rehearse with the band one more time. She's already in the second rehearsal room!"

"That's fine. The official recording will begin at 1 PM. Let's hurry and get our preparations done!"

"OK!"

"Understood!"

"Eh, where's Teacher Zhang Ye?"

"He didn't come?"

"He's here. I just saw him come in after getting out of his car when I went downstairs."

"Is that so? But I didn't see him."

"I didn't see him either. Maybe you were mistaken?"

"It was a BMW X5, the car that Teacher Zhang drives."

"Let's not worry about Teacher Zhang for now. The biggest variable right now is Teacher Clown. Where's Han Qi?! Little Han! Has Teacher Clown arrived yet?"

"He's here! Little Han went to bring him here!"

"Has he recovered?"

"I don't know."

"Go and check it out! If Teacher Clown does not make it for the recording, that'd be trouble! There's no way we could find someone to replace him at this time!"

Backstage.

Outside the rehearsal room.

The Clown again arrived wearing his mask. No one saw when he came in either. When Han Qi came out to bring him in, The Clown had already changed into his costume. His mask already covered his entire face!

Han Qi said in surprise, "Teacher Clown, you've recovered?"

The Clown was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm…alright."

The moment he spoke, that hoarse and broken voice was immediately unveiled!

Han Qi was stunned. "Sir, your…"

A little while later, the rehearsal room door opened.

When Sunset Glow emerged from inside and saw that man in the clown mask standing at the door, she was startled for a moment before giving him a smile with her eyes from under the mask. She had heard The Clown singing those working class songs in the video clips and was also extremely curious about his identity. She wondered what kind of wondrous song this "50-year-old driver" with a beautiful voice would perform this time, so she tried to explore the enemy's plans. "Teacher Clown, what song did you choose to perform?" she said with a purposely disguised voice, as she did not wish for her true identity to be exposed.

The moment The Clown spoke, she also got stunned.

The Clown said in a hoarse voice, "Haven't…thought of…it yet."

Sunset Glow said, "Your voice…"

The Clown spread his hands. "A…serious…cold."

Sunset Glow immediately said, "Don't talk anymore. The less you can speak, the better. Have you gone to the hospital yet? Did you get a cortisone injection 1 yet? No, your case is too serious! Even a cortisone injection is useless!"

Han Qi stamped her feet in worry. "W-What can we do now!"

Suddenly, Hu Fei, Hou Ge, Xiao Lu, and the others rushed over. When they heard about the condition of The Clown's voice, their expressions changed slightly for the worse, and everyone fell silent.

Dafei clenched his teeth and said, "Let's get a replacement, Brother Hu!"

Hu Fei said, "How're we to make any changes? It's too late for that!"

Xiao Lu exclaimed, "This is bad!"

"The show's gonna start recording this afternoon!" Hou Ge was getting anxious.

However, The Clown just looked at them and smiled. He was obviously very sick but his mental state seemed to be much more better than theirs. "I'm…fine. I can still sing."

Han Qi said anxiously, "But how can you sing like that!"

The Clown ignored her and went straight into the rehearsal room. "Let's…rehearse—" A coughing fit consumed him.

When he walked in, everyone looked at him and found that his footfalls were a little light and swaying!

When the Miracle Wheels' band members saw him, their hearts pounded.

The music director, Bai Yuanfei, immediately came forward. "Are you alright?"

The Clown smiled. "Yes."

Bai Yuanfei nodded. "Then, let's rehearse."

The Miracle Wheels' drummer said, "How can you sing in that state? You'll definitely be eliminated even if you insist on singing!"

The guitarist sighed and said, "You sing bel canto, The Clown, but you can't possibly sing—"

"Pop…songs or rock, I can…sing them all," The Clown said.

The guitarist said, "You really can't sing like this!"

The Clown said staunchly, "Even if I can't…I must!"

Lose?

Elimination?

Zhang Ye was not afraid to lose. If he really lost, so be it. He was not a sore loser. But what he couldn't accept was that he did not even have the courage to get onstage. Having worked for so long in the industry, what sort of difficulties had he not encountered? What calamities had he not been through? He could lose, but even if he lost, he still wanted to lose while standing onstage!

This was who Zhang Ye was!

He had a bit of the wolf in his bones!

The word "retreat" didn't exist in his dictionary!

When he thought of all this, Zhang Ye suddenly knew what song he was going to sing today. The melody and lyrics of a song naturally surfaced in his mind!

He wanted to tell the audience.

Who he was!

Where he came from!

And where he wanted to go!

Zhang Ye immediately picked up pen and paper and started to write out the song.

When Music Director Bai Yuanfei and the musicians saw this, they were in disbelief.

Bai Yuanfei gasped and said, "Y-You're even thinking of singing an original?"

Zhang Ye nodded.

The bassist facepalmed and really had to hand it to Zhang Ye. "You're still thinking of singing an original in your current state? This is too hard. Why don't we choose something simpler instead?"

The guitarist also disagreed with Zhang Ye. "Besides, the audience might not even be convinced by it. How many people would accept a song that they've never heard before? How many would accept it after only hearing it for the first time? That's still a question mark. Your voice is already not up to mark today, so if you still insist on taking such a risk, you'll definitely get eliminated!"

But Zhang Ye just looked at them with determination and handed them the score. "My…first…song…must be…this one!"