Chapter 500: Wooing Sis Wu!
Afternoon.
It was cold out on the streets, but hints of Spring could be felt.
Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai emerged from the mess in Central TV's Department 11 and slipped out of the compound. Their mood was surprisingly good.
Behind them, some people also gradually made their way out.
One of the participants said, "How unlucky!"
A crosstalk rookie said, "How did it end up like this?"
Outside the compound, a few participants, who had been eliminated during the second round, were smoking when they saw them and asked curiously, "Hey, Old Wang, Old Sun, Teacher Chen, what are you all doing outside at this time? Didn't all of you qualify for the third round? It should be your turn to perform soon, right? Why are you all leaving?"
One of them replied, "Hai, don't mention it anymore."
A middle-aged crosstalk actor said, "Don't you all know? The live broadcast was stopped and the competition has been canceled. It's all over. The SARFT has already ordered this year's competition to be cancelled!"
The few eliminated participants were stunned and asked in surprise, "What? How could that happen?"
One of the young participants was almost on the verge of tears, "It's all because of the mess that was caused by Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai! Central TV's Department 11 continuously made mistakes and allowed them to get live broadcasted day after day. This angered the authorities and their patience finally snapped and handed down a heavy punishment. The targets were supposed to be Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai, but it has now even affected all of us while Central TV and the crosstalk world's reputation has suffered greatly. We were still discussing how Zhang Ye was such a jinx and whoever got in his way would surely suffer from bad luck. Everyone put in so much effort for the competition this time, but all of that has gone to waste now!"
The participants were dejectedly walking away when they suddenly saw Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai ahead of them. Their expressions changed as they looked like they just wanted to get out of compound quickly to avoid the jinx. These were the people who had called for a boycott of Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai. Some of them even sent out open letters denouncing them as they played along to the tune of the crosstalk world, which had been aggressively denouncing Zhang Ye, but now, their expressions were no longer arrogant like they had been before. Their body language showed a sense of defeat as their opposition to Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai this time had ended in complete and utter failure!
They gained nothing!
They did not become popular like they thought they would have!
They even got into trouble? How could this happen!
Behind them, the other mainstream crosstalk artists and members of the Folk Arts Association were all looking glum. They had been the partners and organizers of the crosstalk competition every year, but this year's cancellation left a very big dent in their reputations!
"This is too much!"
"That Zhang guy!"
This was a damn hooligan!
Countless of crosstalk actors were scolding Zhang Ye.
At this moment, Zhang Ye and the crosstalk and folk art world had completely parted ways!
......
On the road.
Zhang Ye was driving while making a beat by tapping on his steering wheel. Yao Jiancai was in the front passenger seat where he was singing Peking Opera along to the beat. Their mood was extremely good.
Finally, Zhang Ye said, "Are you going home?"
Yao Jiancai stopped singing and said, "Yes, home. I've been overworked these past few days and I’m feeling so tired. I just want to get home and have a good sleep."
"Then I'll send you back home first." Zhang Ye asked, "What do you intend to do from tomorrow onwards?"
Yao Jiancai gave a wave of his hand and said, "What else can I do? The ban is still in effect and I can't do crosstalk anymore either. I guess there are no other things I can do for now, so I will probably stay home to rest and recharge my batteries. I can also accompany my wife more now and she wouldn't be able to complain that I've been spending too much time outside doing filming. She can't make me go out and film now even if she wants me to."
Zhang Ye said, "That's not a bad thing, though."
Old Yao still sounded rather optimistic. Perhaps it was because he was still feeling good from the crosstalk performance earlier. On top of that, with the stoppage of the competition, the crosstalk world's reputation had also dropped and that made him very happy. All of these things had happened precisely because of him and Zhang Ye, "Because of your blessings, this old bro has finally gained a great increase in the celebrity rankings. The 10 odd, 20 TV dramas that I starred in, together with those 6 or 7 movies could not have brought me such a great increase in popularity like I experienced today. I guess after I've had enough rest, I will go and do some commercial performances. Earlier, someone from my company informed me that there have been people asking about my availability to take part in ribbon cuttings, weddings, and what not. They offered a very high price for it too, so what do you think? Are you interested? If you are interested, we can take up some commercial performances. They will definitely up their offer, so how about we do this together?"
Zhang Ye waved his hand, "I won't take up commercial performances."
"Are you for real?" Yao Jiancai asked.
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "How can I not be for real? I don't even have an agent."
Yao Jiancai laughed, "I've heard that you didn't take up offers for commercial performances before as those interested parties could not even reach you. I didn't think much of it before, but I didn't expect you to be for real? This old bro here is not reaching for a target as high as you. I just want to earn enough money to support my family." Yao Jiancai's eyes focused on a long legged beauty sitting outside of a coffee place for the longest time before he turned back around, "So what’s your plan?"
Zhang Ye said helplessly, "I don't know, I guess I will just stay at home."
Regarding the matter of crosstalk, Zhang Ye had, with the help of Yao Jiancai, caused a very big ruckus. Although they did not become the champions, they had gone much further than Zhang Ye had expected. As for which path he would now go on towards, Zhang Ye was still undecided. He was still thinking about how to get out of the artist ban list since if it didn’t get lifted, Zhang Ye would basically have no way to move forward in the entertainment industry. The 5 times lowered difficulty would still be effective for the next three and a half days, so he should make use of this time to find a way around the ban. Otherwise, once the lowered difficulty effect was over, it would be extremely difficult for him to make his comeback.
......
He dropped of Old Yao at the entrance of the district, turned his car around, and went back onto the road without a destination. He was just driving and wandering about in on the city roads.
Oh right, the cellphone was still switched off.
When he switched it back on, his cellphone rang immediately.
......
"Son."
"Mom."
"Why did the competition get cancelled?"
"Hur hur, I don't know why."
"They got what they deserved. If you can't stay in it, then they should forget about being able to do it as well!"
......
"Little Zhang."
"Hi, former leader."
"You're really great. A national crosstalk and skit competition can be thrown into a mess all because of you. Why can't you take some time to stay out of all these troubles? Hur hur."
"It's not my fault that this happened. You should know exactly what kind of person I am. I never like causing trouble."
"Haha, come on you!"
......
"Zhang Ye."
"Old Tian, you went to the venue as well? I saw you."
"Heh, your eyes are really sharp then. I saw it all. Your crosstalk was really too godly. Listening to it live really left my adrenaline rushing, hahahaha! You're really the best! That bunch of crosstalk world members were probably crying after continuously being scolded by you for two days. Even the annual crosstalk competition has been cancelled and those crosstalk actors' popularity are all plummeting. They really lost it all this time! That mouth of yours is really the most vicious in the entertainment industry. You can kill someone with your scolding and even bring someone back to life with it! I doubt that they will dare to take you lightly from now on."
......
His cell phone was constantly ringing with calls from his friends.
Some sent messages to congratulate him for being able to increase his popularity while he was still banned and for destroying the crosstalk competition, etc, etc, etc.
Zhang Ye replied them one by one and spent a whole day doing so.
Not long after, there was only one last message to reply to. It wasn't an SMS, but a message from a chat app. He focused on the message from "Water Lotus Moon", or better known as Wu Zeqing, the Vice President of Peking University. He had not had a chat online in a long time.
Water Lotus Moon: "You created a quite a wave."
Zhang Ye replied: "I was just talking nonsense."
After a few seconds, “di di” and a reply came in: "Just talking nonsense and you brought down an entire nation's top rated program?"
Zhang Ye stopped his car by the side of the road to reply: "I couldn't help it. They were bullying me and trying to get me banned, so I could only break through where ever I could find an opening."
Water Lotus Moon: "Your performance was quite good. I heard it. I never expected that you would know crosstalk."
Zhang Ye: "There's no use in that. The competition has been stopped and I can only stay at home now. Hoping for your consolation, big sis."
Water Lotus Moon: "Hur hur, how should I console you?
Zhang Ye: "Cough, cough. With a picture?"
Water Lotus Moon: "Oh, what pictures do you want?"
Zhang Ye blinked and refrained from saying that he wanted nudes, so he sent over: "Whatever is fine, anything."
Usually, he wouldn't dare speak like this if he stood before President Wu in real life. Her authority and status was too high for him, but when he chatted online with Water Lotus Moon, Zhang Ye's tone became more natural and easy-going. Of course, no matter how easy going his tone was, Zhang Ye still had to put on a brave front to ask for a picture.
There was no response from the other end.
After about half a minute, a message came in.
Zhang Ye quickly checked the incoming message and saw a photo being sent over. When it was successfully downloaded, he clicked on it and the picture opened up on his screen. It was a landscape photo taken from shoulder level pointing downwards into the neckline of a coffee brown loose sweater. The neckline was revealed slight a deep cleavage, accompanied by the fair skin of her breasts. It was especially dazzling.
If there were three ways to describe Sis Wu's breasts, then it would definitely be:
Big!
Too big!
Too damn big!
Although this was not the first time viewing Wu Zeqing's photos — and he had even helped her take such pictures before in real life, but after viewing such a picture again, Zhang Ye was still amazed at how big they were. Yes, it was so fair that it left Zhang Ye feeling thrilled!
In the photos, a pair of slippers could be seen beside her left leg and in front of her was a chopping board and knife. It looked like there were freshly chopped mushrooms and pork ribs.
Zhang Ye swallowed his saliva and sent over: "Beautiful!!!”
Water Lotus Moon replied with a smiley face: "Thank you."
Zhang Ye: "You're preparing dinner?" She was at home?
Water Lotus Moon: "Yes, it's almost time for dinner. Have you eaten yet?"
Zhang Ye: "Not yet, I just left Central TV."
Water Lotus Moon: "Then the timing is just right. Come over to eat. It's more meaningful than me eating by myself."
Zhang Ye replied: "Is that OK?"
Water Lotus Moon: "Hur hur, what's there to stand on ceremony with Big Sis for?"
Zhang Ye immediately replied: "Then I will respect your orders. I will there immediately."
Water Lotus Moon: "Well, no need to rush."
Putting down his cell phone, Zhang Ye took two deep breaths and looked at the picture that she had sent over once more. He could no longer wait, so he quickly drove his car towards Taoran Pavilion!
At this timing, this place would usually have a traffic jam. The city's traffic junctions were very dense and close in intervals, but probably because of the difficulty adjustment die's effect, Zhang Ye did not get caught in a jam along the way. Not only that, from where he was to Taoran Pavilion Garden's East Gate, there were a total of 15-16 traffic junctions, in which all were showing the green light!
There was totally no obstruction!
The difficulty adjustment was too obvious!
When he was almost at the destination, Zhang Ye suddenly thought of something. How would he try to solve the matter of being banned? He did not know and had not started thinking about it yet, but since there were still three and half days left of the reduced difficulty effect, Zhang Ye was not going to meet with any obstruction of any kind for the next few days, so he decided that he could do something within his control for now. Something that he could never have achieved if it was not for the difficulty adjustment die, something like...wooing Sis Wu?
Translator Notes: Thank you for your support so far! Please continue to support IRAS by submitting a vote at Gravity Tales Vote Page. The top 3 novels at the end of the month will get a free sponsored chapter!