Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
The next morning.
News was spreading through the grapevine.
"A situation at the Spring Festival Gala's first approval session?"
"No acts were passed at the first approval session?"
"The Spring Festival Gala's program list could be cast aside! "
"The Spring Festival Gala's organizing committee is extremely unsatisfied with the acts!"
"Zhang Ye loses his temper in public!"
"Where will this year's Spring Festival Gala go from here?"
"The most difficult year of the Spring Festival Gala!"
"Will Zhang Ye be able to save things?"
…
At Central TV.
In the office of the Spring Festival Gala's production team.
Zhang Ye stayed overnight. This was the fifth night he spent at Central TV. He did not step out of Central TV during the day either. He ate, slept, and worked there. As long as the production team or organizing committee had any matters to resolve with him, they could always find him in his office or on the stage. This was who Zhang Ye was. When it came to work, he would risk his life. For the Spring Festival Gala, he was really throwing all he had into it.
The brand-new program list was out!
Only the names of the acts could be seen. No description of their contents was available. Only he knew all about them for the time being.
But this was the most brilliant program list that Zhang Ye felt that he had come up with after racking his brains all night. He had deliberated repeatedly and changed his choices until he thought it was the most appropriate and brilliant program list there was!
An opening dance?
Acrobatics?
Magic?
Skits?
Crosstalks?
It had all of that. In fact, even the order of the acts was rudimentarily decided upon!
If the people of this world had a look at the program list, they would definitely find it rather odd and not understand it. But if it were the people of Zhang Ye's previous world who saw it, they would surely be dumbfounded. This was because all of the acts listed were the most closely watched programs in all the years of the Spring Festival Gala in that world. They were the most hotly debated and talked about acts of all. To put all of these earth-shattering acts into one gala, just what kind of an impact would that have? No one knew, and not even Zhang Ye himself could predict it!
With the program list out, all that remained was to find the performers. Some of these performers were easy to get, but some were not. Many of the new acts on this list required him to pick out the performers very carefully. Not only would they need to have skill, their statuses, image, and presence would also need to fit together. This was what was so difficult.
Zhang Ye called out, "Old Ha."
"Director Zhang, you're calling for me?"
"Where's Little Wang?"
"She's at the main stage."
"Get her here. I need you both to go out with me for a bit."
"Now?"
"Yes, now."
"Alright!"
Then Zhang Ye called over Assistant Director Zhang Zuo as well and gave him some instructions. After that, he left with Ha Qiqi and Little Wang. Right now, Zhang Ye didn't need to stay put at Central TV in his capacity as the executive director. Only one month was left until the second approval session, which was also the final one before the rehearsals, so there was a need to get all of the acts finalized before that. What Zhang Ye had to do now was to find the performers and make sure that he could get the acts out one by one!
It was a fine day today.
After having not been out for so many days, the sun was very piercing to his eyes.
Little Wang was driving. "Director Zhang, where are we heading?"
Zhang Ye handed her his cell phone. "Just follow the GPS."
"Th-This is a construction site?" Little Wang was stunned.
Ha Qiqi said startled, "Why are we going to a construction site?"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "A song on my new program list requires two people to sing it."
Ha Qiqi said floored, "And those two people are at the construction site?"
"That's right," Zhang Ye said calmly.
Ha Qiqi was speechless.
Little Wang was speechless.
Both of them were a little confused.
Half an hour later, the car reached the location.
Loud singing reached their ears.
Zhang Ye rolled down the car window. "Stop the car and park it to the side."
Little Wang steered to the curb and stepped on the brakes.
Ha Qiqi pricked up her ears.
Two voices were coming from that direction. They were singing songs that Zhang Ye had performed on King of Masked Singers.
…
"There are times I feel like I'm a small, li'l bird.
"I wanna fly, but no matter how I can't fly high.
"Perhaps I'll one day perch on the branches,
"Yet the hunters I've incurred.
"Only when I flew into the blue sky did I discover,
"that I had nothing upon which to rely."
…
"Arise!
"ye pris'ners of starvation!
"Arise!
"ye wretched of the Earth!"
…
One song.
Two songs.
Three songs.
Two people were singing as they carried steel beams.
They were blood-related brothers. One was called Zhang Guang, the other was called Zhang Fang.
Their nearby coworkers were listening in enjoyment and even sang along with them at times.
In the car.
Little Wang exclaimed, "It's the Laborer Brothers!"
Ha Qiqi looked at Zhang Ye in surprise. "You're here to look for the Laborer Brothers?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "You two know them as well?"
"Of course, we know them really well." Little Wang said, "They're really popular online. It was around the end of last year when a passerby recorded a video of them and put it up on the Internet, which ended up going viral. That song was especially touching. I heard that a lot of people came from afar just to listen to them sing. They've been calling them the Laborer Brothers. In terms of laborers, the two of them are the most well-known. But I wonder why they're still working at the construction site?"
Ha Qiqi said, "That's because their singing is not up to standard. Do you think everyone can sing as well as Director Zhang? Just listen to them. Even though they're not singing out of tune and have quite an alright vocalization technique, would it be proper to describe it as an earth-shattering performance? Is their singing really that exquisite? I really don't think so. We can pick any professional singer, and they would all sing better than them. Besides, they're too lacking in their image as well. If they're thinking of making it in show business? That possibility is too far-fetched."
They continued listening for a while longer.
Little Wang nodded. "You're right. They're really not comparable to pros."
Ha Qiqi said, "Director Zhang, you've heard them too, right? Let's go. They can't sing your songs, and they're also not popular enough. Right now, you have the entire entertainment circle's performers and singers to pick from."
Zhang Ye chuckled. "But they're who I've picked."
Ha Qiqi said, "Are you serious?"
"Little Wang, go approach them," Zhang Ye instructed.
Little Wang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You're sure about this?"
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Of course! Why else would I come all the way here for? Do you think that I have a lot of time on my hands?"
The Spring Festival Gala has been too routine in recent years. Other than celebrities, it was still celebrities. Other than big name performers, it was still big name performers. It seemed to suggest that only they could support the stage of the Spring Festival Gala. It was as though the audience would only recognize them. Actually, that wasn't how things worked. They simply could not understand how powerful it was to subvert expectations.
So what if they were laborers?
So what if they didn't have the looks?
So what if they weren't professional singers?
Their voices could still be just as impressive!
At the site.
Zhang Guang and Zhang Fang sat down for their break. Both of them had not eaten breakfast yet and wiped their hands before picking up a large bun each and pairing it with some pickled vegetables, chewing on the food. They changed their lifestyle much ever since they became famous.
Their coworkers were chatting with them.
"The Spring Festival Gala is almost here."
"Yeah, I heard that they're still selecting the performers."
"Zhang Guang, Zhang Fang, it would be great if you two could get on the Spring Festival Gala."
"That would really cheer us up as well!"
Zhang Guang gave a wry smile as he waved it off. "Us two brothers are just singing for fun, so how could we possibly dare to think of getting onto the Spring Festival Gala's stage?"
Zhang Fang chewed on his bun and whined, "I wish I could though."
Zhang Guang rolled his eyes. "Stop dreaming."
Zhang Fang snorted, then simpered, "We have to have dreams."
In the distance, a pretty girl came walking over.
The workers looked over.
"Eh?"
"It's someone from the city?"
"She must be here to listen to Zhang Guang and Zhang Fang sing."
No one found this strange.
Little Wang walked up to them. "Are you Teacher Zhang Guang and Teacher Zhang Fang?"
Zhang Guang hurriedly put down his bun and stood up. "We're not teachers, we're not teachers."
Zhang Fang was also taken aback by this term of address.
Little Wang said, "Hello, I am from the Central TV Spring Festival Gala production team. We would like to invite both of you teachers to take part in the Spring Festival Gala this year. Would you be interested?"
They were stunned silly!
The other workers present were dumbfounded as well!
Zhang Guang exclaimed, "Ah?"
Zhang Fang did not believe it. "Us? On the Spring Festival Gala?"
Little Wang smiled. "That's right."
Zhang Guang furiously waved his hands and said, "That's impossible, impossible."
Zhang Fang said, "Are you teasing us?"
Little Wang said, "Come with me to the car and you'll understand."
Some of their coworkers cautioned them.
"Don't go! She must be lying!"
"Yeah, you two might get sold off and still be clueless as to how it happened."
"Yeah, there are a lot of scammers in the city these days."
"You must not get into the car!"
The group of them nearly surrounded Little Wang!
A scammer?
Sell them both off?
Little Wang nearly fainted. You two are rugged, grown men. Who would possibly want to buy you two!
Zhang Ye, who was inside the car, was quite amused. He opened the car door and got out, saying, "Little Wang, I only asked you to do a simple task, but look at this efficacy of yours."
Little Wang said anxiously, "You can't blame me for that, Director Zhang. They don't trust me."
Zhang Ye said with a grin, "That's because you look like a bad guy."
Little Wang got angry.
Ha Qiqi also got out of the car in laughter.
An uproar occurred at the construction site!
Zhang Ye!
It was Zhang Ye!
The executive director of this year's Spring Festival Gala!
Zhang Guang and Zhang Fang were stunned!
At this point, their coworkers should surely know that this was for real even if they were idiots. These people were really from Central TV!
"Alright, let me say it." Zhang Ye looked at the two brothers. "Do you wish to go on the Spring Festival Gala?"
Zhang Guang's eyes reddened. "Yes! We wish to!"
Zhang Fang also stared with wide eyes as he nodded furiously.
Zhang Ye said, "Alright then, I've got a song here. If the two of you can perfect it before the Spring Festival Gala's second approval session, I'll leave a slot open for the two of you on this year's gala."
Zhang Guang was so excited that he almost went crazy. "Thank you! Thank you!"
Zhang Fang said, "We, we'll definitely sing it well! Definitely!"
Zhang Ye said, "During this time, there will definitely be a need to practice, go to the approval session, and attend the rehearsals. As such, from now until Lunar New Year's Eve, the two of you might not exactly have much time to work. I'll say this first. The appearance pay for the Spring Festival Gala is not much, probably amounting to only several thousand yuan. So if you two have any difficulties or requests, please let me know in advance. I can help you to handle the issue in private. Be it if you need assistance in your daily lives or financial help, it's all fine with me."
Zhang Guang and Zhang Fang immediately looked at one another.
Ha Qiqi smiled and said, "Just speak. You don't have to stand on ceremony with Director Zhang."
Zhang Guang said hesitatingly, "We don't lack any money, we have enough to use."
Zhang Ye said, "What about any other difficulties? You can request anything you want."
Zhang Fang said, "Anything?"
Zhang Guang tugged at him.
Zhang Ye nodded. "Yes, anything is fine."
Zhang Fang cautiously said, "I'm really gonna say it then?"
"Go ahead." Zhang Ye grinned.
Zhang Fang suddenly said, "Can you send me a work dedication card of fortune?"
"What?" Zhang Ye sounded like he had misheard.
Zhang Fang quickly said, "I can use the prosperity and strength fortune card to trade for it!"
Zhang Ye was floored!
Little Wang giggled, "Pfft!"
Ha Qiqi was speechless.
Those five rip-off cards of fortune had even made its way to the laborers and the construction sites?