Chapter 109: Calligraphy Skills Experience Book!
The next day.
At the new unit.
Zhang Ye had arrived very early for work. When he entered the office, he grabbed a broom to begin cleaning; he was very hardworking.
It was different from when he first arrived at the radio station; the colleagues here treated him with respect. Of course, this was also because Zhang Ye had fought for it with his reputation. Even though others were polite to him, that was their initiative. He could not be big-headed, otherwise it would be difficult to maintain their relationship as colleagues. After all, he was still a rookie and he was considered the youngest here, too. There was no harm at all in doing more chores. This would partially contribute to his self-cultivation. It was a necessary step of valuable mental training on his path to success.
After the chores were done.
Zhang Ye checked the game ring for his Reputation. As expected, it was as he had guessed yesterday; his Reputation had reached over 700,000, being just short of 800,000.
+23！
+11！
+9！
His Reputation was still growing, albeit slowly now after yesterday’s peak.
After waiting for what seemed like half a day, his total Reputation had reached exactly 800,000. This made Zhang Ye’s hands itchy for a draw at the lottery. There was no point in saving it without spending it. Anyway, the Reputation was a one-time windfall and was unexpected “side-pocket earnings”, so that he didn’t feel bad about using it.
Also, at this time, Zhang Ye only had 2 Lucky Bread left in his inventory from the last Lottery draw. He definitely would like to have more items stored for times when he might need them. It would be better than the last time, when he was blindly forced to draw for something. With some insurance, it would be better. This was all to ensure that Zhang Ye’s stardom dream would be smooth sailing, so he would definitely be motivated and not slack.
He clicked on the lottery draw!
As usual, he spent 100,000 to start the pointer moving for the draw!
Zhang Ye did not plan to place Additional Stakes this time because he wanted a few more draws to receive more items, or maybe, if he was lucky, try his luck at getting the Special Category Treasure Chest. Of course, this was what he had planned. But when the pointer was slowing down to a stop, Zhang Ye realized that the pointer was now in the Skills Category; in fact, it had just moved into the Skills Category portion. Although the pointer always spun at different speeds, Zhang Ye was still 90% certain that this was where the needle would end up pointing!
Skills?
He had never drawn this category before!
Zhang Ye immediately changed his mind and clicked on the Additional Stakes, thinking that it was a rare chance, so he might as well go for it.
Add seven Additional Stakes!
Pour all of his Reputation into this round!
As to why 100,000 Reputation was not reserved as a backup for a Memory Search Capsule, it was because the public service advertisement was still running and the internet would still be discussing about it for another one to two days. It might not be able to add much more Reputation, but 100,000 a day shouldn’t be an issue. Moreover, the book sales for “Ghost Blows Out the Light” was still booming; for every book sold, he would receive one additional reputation. Therefore, he staked everything!
There was another reason for doing so. From the game’s introduction, Zhang Ye knew that many of the Skills Category and Stats Category items were stackable. For example, the Fruit of Growth and the Fruit of Charm; these could both be used without limitations. Eating one would add onto the stat. The Skills Category was the same. If he used a single skill book, the effect would be too small to be noticeable. From the Fruit of Charm, we could see that the effect was minute; eating one did not make much of a difference. This was also the reason why Zhang Ye put in all his reputation for the Additional Stakes. Only if the quantity was enough would the effect be noticeable; otherwise, he would be better off not using them.
The needle stopped!
It wasn’t a surprise that it landed over the Skills Category.
8 Treasure Chests (Small) were added automatically into the inventory. Zhang Ye took them out one by one and placed them on the computer desk. The Treasure Chests were not big; it was a (Small) item after all. But on the desk, it was crowded all the same.
Let’s open them!
Zhang Ye opened them all at once!
It was an ancient-looking book. It was a little old, and neither thin, nor thick.
"Calligraphy Skill Experience Book" (7)
Item description: Takes effect after reading. Increases player's calligraphy skill experience. Stackable usage.
This was the first time that Zhang Ye had received such an item. He did not know how to use it. Will it take effect after being read? He still had to read the whole book? Zhang Ye tried to open the book, but realized that he had overthought the process. The moment that he flipped the book, a white flash of light appeared, the book dissolved, and the contents surged into his mind. It made his brain go into a mess momentarily, as if something had grown in it, but yet he could not explain it. Just flipping through it once and it was done? It’s just like the skill books in games? That’s convenient!
Calligraphy?
Does it have to be the brush type of calligraphy?
That shouldn’t be; ball point pen or fountain pen writing should also be considered a form of calligraphy!
Zhang Ye used a pen to test it out. Since he had started school, his penmanship had not been too good. Sure, it was pretty standard. But you know guys; people with good handwriting were still in the minority, so it was nothing strange. But when Zhang Ye’s pen landed on the back of the unit’s work file, the written word gave Zhang Ye a minor shock. He swore that he was still writing in his original style and it did not feel any different. Somehow, the moment when pen was put to paper, his brain had an especially vivid memory of writing; when he wrote it, it would automatically adjust to his memory!
His writing was good!
It was really better-looking; at least, it was not messy. It was much more organized than before!
Even if it was just a slight improvement, Zhang Ye was delighted. This showed that the “Calligraphy Skill Experience Book” had a visible effect. After that, he did not need any further explanation. He just flipped open all of the remaining experience books.
1 book…..
3 books…..
5 books……
After eating these skill experience books, Zhang Ye had wanted to try out his new writing, but a colleague had just arrived. He raised his head and, from that point on, did not manage to test it out.
“Teacher Zhang.” Dafei arrived.
Xiao Lu also followed closely behind, “Yo, Teacher Zhang. You are so early.”
“Good morning.” Zhang Ye greeted them, too.
Xiao Lu gave a him a thumbs up, “I saw your public service advertisement; it was so awesome, too awesome. I swear, I have never seen such an interesting public service advertisement!”
Dafei’s praise was even much higher, “This advertisement was…..marvelous!”
Hou Ge and Hou Di had arrived too, looking at Zhang Ye, Hou Ge was very excited, “Teacher Little Zhang, must you be so talented? Yesterday, Brother Hu said your idea was very good, and I still didn’t know what was going on. I was still having my doubts. But last night, when I saw the advertisement, my brother and I were dumbfounded.”
Hou Di added, “He’s not exaggerating; we really were dumbfounded!”
“I cannot get tired of watching this advertisement! When I watched it again during the rebroadcast, it was really better than the first time; the feeling builds up!” Hou Ge said admiringly.
Soon, Hu Fei came into the office, “Yo, everyone’s here?”
Xiao Lu laughed, “Brother Hu, we were just chatting about Teacher Zhang’s creative ad; it’s too interesting!”
Hu Fei laughed and looked over to Zhang Ye, “You saw it yesterday, too, right? I thought that the ad was good, but didn’t expect that it would cause such a sensation and response. Did you all know? Little Zhang created a miracle; during the public service advertisement’s second broadcast, the ratings surpassed the official programs before and after it. Haha!”
Hou Ge was shocked, “What?”
Hou Di was also amazed, “The ad’s rating was higher than the official programs’?”
“It’s because of the first broadcast’s good response, so once the program ended, to make way for the advertisements, everyone waited for it. This created such a miracle.” Hu Fei sighed, “This advertisement has really gone viral. The feedback from the audience was not only good. Many said it was fresh and creative, and many people even expressed that after they watched the advertisement, they would definitely have their ‘lights off with people gone’. Hur Hur. We have gotten the recognition and praise from the television station’s higher management. Little Zhang, I happened to bump into Director Wang Shuixin upstairs. He had named you in his praises. Your bonus this month definitely can’t be low. Check it out yourself when that happens.”
Zhang Ye humbled himself, “I was just lucky.”
Hu Fei waved his hand, “There’s no point in being humble. This isn’t luck. Why aren’t we lucky? Why were so many advertising professionals not lucky at all over all these years? This is your ability!” Saying this, Hu Fei’s expression suddenly looked odd and also a bit funny. He said to Zhang Ye, “There’s another interesting thing.”
Zhang Ye blinked, “What?”
Hu Fei said with amusement, “After you were hired, wasn’t your resume posted on the television station’s official website? Many domestic advertising professionals found you through your resume. I received two phone calls last night, and one this morning. All of them were requesting your contact information from me, hoping that you could go to their company or their television station’s advertising department for further development. One of them even has quite good a relationship with me. Hur Hur. One of them even offered a 500,000 annual salary to headhunt you. He even tried his best to convince me to let you go. This is the salary of their company’s upper management. See how much they value you?”
Zhang Ye immediately made known his stand, “Brother Hu, I’m not going.”
Xiao Lu and Dafei were also worried. They did not want Teacher Zhang to be headhunted, for their relationship was getting more harmonious over the past two days.
“Haha, I was just waiting for you to say that.” Hu Fei pointed at Zhang Ye and laughed, “Even if you wanted to, I wouldn’t agree to it. I used so much effort to rope you in against all odds. Who dares rob you from me? I’m the first to reject! No way!”
Zhang Ye was relieved, “Don’t worry. Even if they gave me a 5 million Yuan annual salary, I would definitely not go, let alone a mere 500,000!”
Xiao Lu giggled, “That’s right. Teacher Zhang’s car is a 5 million X5 bulletproof car. Does he lack that hundreds of thousands of salary?”
Hou Ge laughed, “Indeed. Teacher Little Zhang looks wealthy from any angle. They sure dared to name their price.”
Hu Fei was shocked, “Bulletproof car? The bulletproof version of the BMW? People actually buy that car? I thought not a single one would be sold!”
Xiao Lu said, “Brother Hu, you may not know. When we went for lunch, a flower pot even smashed into it from the fifth floor. We were all dumbfounded. But in the end, Teacher Zhang cleaned off the pot fragments in a relaxed manner. Guess what we saw? The car’s paint was not even chipped off! It was in perfect condition! That car was too awesome!”
Hu Fei said, “Really? Then I must try it the next time. I doubt I can earn that much money in my entire life. I’ll try to rub off some of Teacher Little Zhang’s greatness. Hur Hur. But indeed, Little Zhang won’t covet that tiny bit of money, so I was not afraid of them poaching. Teacher Little Zhang can casually write a ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ and earn millions of royalties, right? If he really wanted to make money, he would have gone into writing books and poetry. Why would he need to trouble himself making advertisements?”
Xiao Lu was also curious, “Teacher Zhang, then what are you doing this for?”
Hou Ge was also quite concerned, “That’s right; you aren’t short of money, so why did you come to the television station? The salary here is pathetic. You may earn a bit more as a host, but it can’t exceed 20,000, right?”
Zhang Ye gave some thought and declared, “I am for the transmission and development of Art. I dedicate my strength for national education. Social harmony and national peace are things I spend my efforts researching on. Only the television station can express my greatest ideals…”
Hu Fei rolled his eyes, “Speak normally!”
Zhang Ye was helpless, “Alright; I can become famous here!”
Xiao Lu also burst out in laughter, “Hahaha!”
Hou Ge and Hou Di were also amused!
In this line, they either wanted to make a name for themselves or make money. They were all the latter, doing it for a living. However, Teacher Zhang Ye was clearly a level higher. He was in pursuit of the former!
Was it embarrassing?
What was so embarrassing about it!?
Everyone had desires. However, many people had used it as a derogatory word. It could be a bit ridiculous, but if desire was said in a different way, it was motivation!
This was the power and source of success!