The third day of the New Year.
At Old Wu's villa.
In the morning, another wave of firecrackers was heard.
When Zhang Ye woke up, he called out to Old Wu, but no one answered him. He just lay on the bed happily and lit a cigarette leisurely, puffing out smoke.
Right.
He looked at the ranking list.
Zhang Ye opened it and saw that his popularity ranking was still pending. It had already been two days? Still not out yet? Efficiency, efficiency, comrades. He suddenly thought of something and opened up the game ring that he had not used in a long time. The virtual screen popped up and displayed a long list of astronomical numbers. This number was the total Reputation Points that Zhang Ye had accumulated. It was so high that it made Zhang Ye shudder!
I haven't used it in a long time. You've saved up so much?
That's right, his popularity has been rising recently!
I'm a singer.
When they got married.
Shoot a commercial.
And the Spring Festival Gala.
Ever since the start of the "Reach the Summit" project, his popularity had been rising like a rocket. Of course, he had saved up a lot of Reputation Points, but he had never used them.
Come on, it's the New Year. Let's see how our luck is.
He then activated the Lucky Halo (Upgraded) and placed additional stakes on the second lottery draw. There were a total of ten stakes and he spent a total of 100 million Reputation Points.
The lucky draw began.
Crack, crack.
The slot machine continued to spin.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty seconds.
With a "ding" sound, the machine had drawn a prize!
Ten golden treasure chests (medium) appeared.
It was a skill type item!
[Calligraphy Skill Experience Book]!
Zhang Ye was stunned. He had gotten this item more than once in the past. From what he remembered, he should have already maxed out the Small Entry Skill Books, right? Even if it wasn't maxed out, it was probably close enough. The Calligraphy skill that he had drawn was clearly a large Experience Book. It was a type of Skill Book that allowed him to level up after reaching the limit of the skill. Ten large Experience Books were enough to allow Zhang Ye's Calligraphy skill to break through to the next level. One could never have too many of these skills. His luck today was pretty good.
He immediately flipped open the Experience Book.
One book.
Five books.
Ten books.
They were all learning.
Zhang Ye had too many skills at his disposal. Unlock? Fly a plane? Piano? Director? Photography? Acting? Tai Chi? Taekwondo? Hacker? Programming? There was even the aircraft engine manufacturing that he had just drawn last time? There were even more attributes, such as alcohol tolerance, strength, agility, charm, and so on. He couldn't even count them all. Although he had a lot, he wasn't very good at it. For example, piloting a passenger plane? During the hijacking, Zhang Ye had only managed to land the plane due to a stroke of luck. If he were to fly it again, he would probably die there. Hence, Zhang Ye had a goal, which was to slowly replenish all his skills and attributes. He wanted to max out all his skills and attributes!
His goal was a little too ambitious.
Hey, take it slow.
Just as he was about to draw a few more times, his phone rang.
It was Ha Qiqi.
"Old Ha?"
"Director Zhang, are you home?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"At your parents' house or?"
"In the villa."
"Then let's go over now. Is that a bother?"
"What? No need, no need. "
"That won't do. I have to wish you a happy new year. Old Zuo, Old Wu, and I are already on the way. We've bought everything and we still have work to do."
"Hehe, alright then. Come."
"Alright, see you in a bit."
Zhang Ye turned off the game ring, put on his clothes, and went downstairs.
But to his surprise, there were already people downstairs. Wu Zeqing was sitting on the sofa chatting with a man and a woman dressed as government officials.
Hearing this, the three of them looked towards the stairs.
Wu Zeqing smiled. "You're awake?"
Zhang Ye sighed. "I thought you went out."
The two of them quickly stood up.
The man said respectfully, "Mr. Zhang."
The woman also said, "Mr. Zhang, happy new year. Happy new year to you and Chief Wu."
Zhang Ye couldn't stand this and quickly waved it off. "Don't stand on ceremony, don't stand on ceremony. Just carry on chatting and don't mind me." He quickly slipped away to the side. Alright, all of them were older than him and were the heads of the SARFT or government agencies. Yet they kept addressing him as Mr. Zhang, which made Zhang Ye feel uncomfortable.
The woman quickly said, "Don't, Mr. Zhang. We should go back now."
The man said, "Yes, yes, we won't disturb Chief Wu and Mr. Zhang's rest any longer."
Wu Zeqing also stood up to send them off. "I'll keep the fruits. Take the rest back with you."
The woman gave a wry smile. "Chief Wu."
Wu Zeqing smiled. "Thank you for your kind intentions, OK?"
The woman said, "Thank you for taking care of us, but you still refuse to accept our gifts. We're really sorry about that. Then, alright then, please criticize and correct us more in the coming year."
The two of them left.
Just as they left, another wave of people arrived.
On this morning, six groups of people came to the house to wish Wu Zeqing a happy new year. There were people from the SARFT, television stations, media organizations, and even Old Wu's former subordinates. Wu Zeqing received them one by one. As Wu Zeqing's husband, Zhang Ye couldn't drop the ball and would come over to accompany her from time to time. However, they kept talking about policies, culture, trends, and production capacity. Zhang Ye couldn't understand what they were talking about. He was just a crude person.
Quarreling.
Scolding people.
Face smacking.
Being famous.
This was Zhang Ye's world.
…
Finally, Ha Qiqi and the others arrived.
Zhang Ye quickly led them up to the second floor.
Little Wang giggled and said, "It's so lively at your place. Who are those people?"
Ha Qiqi shushed them. "Keep it down. They're the leaders of the relevant departments."
"Who knows?" Zhang Ye laughed and said, "I don't really know them anyway."
Ha Qiqi said happily, "Then why did you chat with them for so long?"
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. "Do you think I want to chat with them? They're not the same kind of people, so I can't get along with them. "
Zhang Zuo said, "Pfft, the department heads are all afraid of getting into trouble, but you're always thinking of stirring up trouble. You just can't get along with them."
Everyone laughed.
Zhang Ye was also amused.
Zhang Zuo handed over a gift. "Director Zhang, happy new year to you."
Wu Yi also smiled and said, "I didn't get a chance to do so before the festival. You were busy with the Spring Festival Gala, but now I can finally pay you a visit. Happy new year, Director Zhang."
Zhang Ye laughed heartily and said, "Thank you. Let's celebrate together."
In the reception area on the second floor.
Everyone was sitting together.
Zhang Ye asked, "Old Ha, what did you say over the phone?"
"Oh, there's something important that everyone is most concerned about right now." Ha Qiqi opened her bag and took out some documents. "The Chinese Celebrity Rankings Index is going to be updated soon. I just received news that your ranking will be revealed at midnight tonight!"
Today?
There's still more than a dozen hours left?
Zhang Ye took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"
Ha Qiqi said solemnly, "I should be sure."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright."
Ha Qiqi said, "I had a meeting with Old Zuo, Old Wu, and the others in advance to analyze the situation and weigh our enemies. Have a look at this information."
Everyone had a copy of the information.
Zhang Ye lowered his head and looked at it. The popularity score curves of the seven S-list celebrities were all there, and one of them was his.
Ha Qiqi said, "Since the start of the 'Reach the Summit' plan, our popularity score has caught up. The gap between us and those seven people at the top is getting smaller and smaller. Although there's still a gap, we can at least put up a fight. If we quantify the data, if those seven people's popularity scores are on a scale of 100, then we're at 85, while the other A-list celebrities below us are at 50. We've already pulled far away from the other A-list celebrities.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Yeah."
Zhang Zuo said, "It's just that the Spring Festival Gala has been delayed for two months."
Ha Qiqi nodded. "There's a Heavenly King and a Heavenly Queen whose movie became a hit and broke box office records. They also won a bunch of awards, so the increase in our popularity score was beyond our expectations. It's even more popular than I Am a Singer did for you. The other Heavenly Kings and Queens didn't stay idle either. During the new year, they were all vying for you. Because we didn't release any new works or make any public appearances in the past two months, our popularity score was pulled away by those seven Heavenly Kings and Queens a little. There were even rumors in the industry that you'd already lost your chance to compete for the S-list spot."
Zhang Zuo said in amusement, "Everyone said that the outcome was set."
Little Wang giggled and said, "But none of them could have expected that the Spring Festival Gala would be so popular!"
Ha Qiqi also laughed. "Yeah, none of those seven Heavenly Kings and Queens are pushovers. But they've forgotten that we're not pushovers either. The Spring Festival Gala got a viewership rating of 56.8%. More than half of the world's Chinese population was glued to their televisions on that day. Let me ask you, who else could it be? This viewership rating has shocked everyone. Now we're just waiting to see how much popularity the Spring Festival Gala can bring to us. I reckon that those Heavenly Kings and Queens' teams are also getting nervous. But since it'll be revealed tonight, there's nothing they can do about it. It's the same for us as well. We can only wait for the results. "
Zhang Zuo said, "A lot of people won't be able to sleep tonight."
Wu Yi also said nervously, "Let's just stay up and wait for the results."
Little Wang said, "What's the point of waiting? Let's go back and light some incense sticks!"
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. "What's the point of lighting incense sticks?"
"Ah, I was just being superstitious," Little Wang apologized.
Zhang Ye said, "You have to add more tributes!"
Little Wang was speechless.
Wu Yi was speechless.
Ha Qiqi laughed and said, "We still have to depend on our luck. Let's hope that luck is still on our side this time. Those seven people have been sitting in their positions for too long. The landscape of the entertainment circle hasn't changed much in the past decade. Those seven people, those seven seats, it's about time that Director Zhang took one of them!"
Little Wang applauded. "That's right, this is what they call the wheel of fortune."
They appeared very relaxed and happy, but in reality, they were all feeling very uneasy. They were just pretending to be relaxed. There was no way they wouldn't be nervous. At this point, at this final step, everyone hoped that there would be a surprise for them. Everyone hoped that they could snatch a seat from those seven people!
A battle that would last for half a year!
A plan to reach the summit that would last for half a year!
Popularity?
Connections?
Experience?
Ability?
Status?
Achievements?
No matter what it was, they felt that Zhang Ye was qualified to take one of those seven seats today!
Now, it all depended on this year's miraculous Spring Festival Gala to see how far it could push them!
It was good if it succeeded!
It was good if it failed!
It all depended on tonight!
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