I’m Really a Superstar Chapter 223 - This is the Legendary Zhang Ye?

New house.

New day.

New environment.

The sun s.h.i.+ned its rays through the wide windows in the morning. The new house was very well lit; even with curtains closed, the room still did not appear dark. The place was fully furnished. After signing the contract last night, Zhang Ye had moved in. After covering the mattress with a bed sheet and used a blanket he bought, he slept till dawn.

It was time to wake up.

Zhang Ye enjoyed the sunlight with his eyes half-closed. He crawled up from his soft bed and brushed his teeth and woke up. After he came out of the bathroom in the living room, his cellphone rang.

“h.e.l.lo, Teacher Zhang.”

“h.e.l.lo, may I know who is this?”

“I’m from Weiwo company’s Human Resources department. Has the matters of the plane been settled?”

“It has been settled. Sorry for delaying for a day. Can I go over now?”

“Alright. Let’s schedule a time. How about an hour later? I will wait in our company’s lobby for you.”

“Alright. I will be there punctually in an hour. Let’s talk when we meet.”

After straightening his hair with a comb, Zhang Ye looked in the mirror with satisfaction. Then, he got his bag and left the house. He hailed a taxi and headed in the company’s direction. It was very close by. It would take him 20 minutes to get there even if there was a jam.

Weiwo Company.

It was not on a main street but behind a shopping center.

The building was not very tall. It was about four to five storeys tall, but it covered a large area.

After alighting from the taxi, he saw the company’s headquarters. Zhang Ye had a rough idea of the company’s strength. It was not bad, but it definitely could not compete with the mega internet giant companies. However, if it were to be compared with similar WebTV websites, it was definitely one of the best. It had strong financial backing.

Lobby.

Zhang Ye went in but did not see anyone. He then went to the front desk to inquire.

However, someone in the lounge recognized him and stretched out his arm with a smile. He was a youth and was in his twenties. He was about the same age as Zhang Ye. He looked pretty average. “You must be Teacher Zhang, right? Hur Hur, we have previously talked on the phone. h.e.l.lo and welcome.”

Zhang Ye shook hands with him, “Nice to meet you.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I’ll bring you around first,” the youth said.

“Sure, sorry for the trouble,” Zhang Ye followed him.

On the way, the youth gave him a general introduction to the locations of the various departments in the company, as well as their overall situation. Finally, he brought Zhang Ye to an office of a Leader.

He knocked on the door.

A woman’s voice from inside invited them in.

After the youth entered, he introduced, “President Feng, this is Teacher Zhang Ye. I’ve brought him here.” After that he turned towards Zhang Ye and said, “This is our company’s vice president. She is also Director-in-charge of our WebTV department.”

Feng Guiqin stretched out her hand, “I’ve been waiting for you for the past few days. Nice to meet you Little Zhang.”

Zhang Ye quickly went forward and shook her hands with both hands, “Nice to meet you President Feng. I’m new here and this is the first time I’m interacting with WebTV. Please take care of me in the future.” He knew that this woman would be his direct superior. She was the head of the WebTV department, so she had the final say in everything.

Feng Guiqin looked to be in her forties. She did not look very pretty, but she was very friendly. She looked like any ordinary mother in the neighborhood. “Little Sun, go to the Legal department and get Little Zhang’s contract.”

The youth accepted the order and went out.

Feng Guiqin gestured, “Take a seat.”

Zhang Ye did not stand on ceremony and after sitting down, he took out his resume. “This is my resume.”

Feng Guiqin smiled. “There’s no need. Since our company invited you here, we already know very well about your qualifications and achievements. This time, we have hired a few internet hosts as well as people in program planning. They were decided on personally by President Wei as well as the company’s higher management. We have seen your programs too. I’m no stranger to your work. On the contrary, you do not know too much about our company. Then let me give you a brief introduction. Our company was in the earliest batch of companies that obtained the authorized certificate to be a WebTV company. The WebTV industry has been developing at a rapid pace these few years. There have been many WebTV websites who have obtained the certificate too. There are even some television stations who have set up websites as well as cable TV companies who are fighting for a slice of this pie. It is extremely compet.i.tive, and it could be said to reaching some extreme limits…”

Zhang Ye listened attentively.

“WebTV began late so this industry is still very young; however, it still has a lot of room for development. Although it may seem like we are merging several disparate entertainment programs into one, it is actually not that simple. The independent and overall outcome are different conceptually. In terms of resources, it is not as simple as one plus one equals two. Sometimes, it might even equal to three. And there are even the special grants and tax rebates given to us by the country…” Feng Guiqin was a very good speaker. From the important points to the general introduction, she introduced the WebTV industry in a very clear manner.

Zhang Ye was still listening attentively. Of course, he was just trying to get some understanding over it. He was in no way responsible or qualified to care about the general trends and strategy. The industry was complicated and highly compet.i.tive, but Zhang Ye did not mind. His motivation was not the industry itself, nor did he really care if he could increase the overall click rate on the company’s WebTV site. What he wanted to do was to do his segment well, and make it popular. Zhang Ye was not a person of this world. His thoughts were still lingering on the model of his world’s web entertainment. That was the territory he was familiar with. Although Feng Guiqin said that WebTV was different from independent videos, to Zhang Ye, they were actually the same.

All he needed was a fixed time slot. Zhang Ye would do the program, publish it and attract an audience.

It was not that complicated and was actually very simple. Be it an internet video series or a television program broadcast, they shared the same basics.

The contract arrived.

“Take a look first.” Feng Guiqin said.

Zhang Ye flipped it and found no problems with it. It was a conventional contract.

Feng Guiqin smiled and said, “Our salary is decided on by our employees. That is for the basic salary. As for bonuses and other benefits, they are standardized.”

Zhang Ye blinked, “Really? I decide on it?”

Victoria had indeed mentioned this to him when she invited him on the phone.

However, Zhang Ye knew that this wasn’t something that was completely true. There had to be some restrictions. You couldn’t just say a monthly salary of 100,000 (US$15,000), right? It would be weird if they didn’t kick you out the windows, so Zhang Ye did not make unreasonable demands, “My ideal salary is approximately… 20,000 (US$3,000) a month?”

Feng Guiqin gave it a thought and nodded, “Sure.”

Zhang Ye was after all not very famous in the hosting industry. He was just a normal host of a star program of a local TV channel, so it was not right for him to ask for too much.

With everything agreed upon, Zhang Ye began signing the contract.

Feng Guiqin said, “Take these few days to familiarize yourself with the environment and to get to know your work. More preparation may quicken the speed in doing work. We only do the program after you are familiarized. Our WebTV segments are given relatively more freedom. You can plan it yourself or also discuss it with the department’s professional program planners. Of course, even though there is freedom, your program will eventually be vetted by a few Leaders. Only when they approve it, will a time slot be allocated on WebTV. The quality must definitely pa.s.s.”

Zhang Ye was done signing, “Sure.”

“Alright, then let me welcome you here.” Feng Guiqin said, “You can begin today. You can directly report to the WebTV department.” She made a call and got someone to bring Zhang Ye there.

The person, who came, was w.a.n.g Xiong, a middle-aged man. He was one of the Deputy Directors of the WebTV department. He was also a Leader. He seemed to be very interested in Zhang Ye. The moment he came over, he sized him up. He must definitely have heard of the hijacking news, so he wanted to know what sort of person Zhang Ye was. However, be it his looks or build, Zhang Ye looked like any other ordinary person. Other than his eyes having some brilliance and his voice sounding somewhat magnetic and charming, he was too normal in every other aspect. It felt like anyone taken off the streets would be better than him.

“Director w.a.n.g,” Zhang Ye said politely.

w.a.n.g Xiong patted him on the shoulder, “Alright, let’s go.” The two of them went downstairs. He said, “The WebTV office is on one level itself. The recording studio is also at one level by itself. It is our company’s biggest department. All the program teams are relatively independent, but if there’s something, you can always look for the others. My office is also on the same level as yours.”

Around the corner at the staircase.

Along the narrow corridor were transparent gla.s.s part.i.tions. The office desks were crammed inside. Just a look revealed about 140-150 people in the department. The exterior was filled with customer service. More than ten operators were busy picking up phone calls. There were more than ten regions with a sign suspended from the ceiling. The program names were written on it. Clearly, it was the region for each program team. Other than the leaders.h.i.+p’s office and meeting rooms, there was no sealed off area in this office. All the office desks were linked to one another. Everything could be seen at a glance.

The environment was good!

The scale was not much worse than a television station!

Zhang Ye silently observed and followed w.a.n.g Xiong in.

Bba Bba. w.a.n.g Xiong clapped his hands, “Everyone, stop your work for half a minute. Let me introduce to you a new colleague.” He held Zhang Ye’s shoulders, “Zhang Ye, former famous host of the Beijing Arts Channel. From today onwards, he will be a member of our WebTV department. Let’s give him a welcoming applause?”

Everyone gave a round of applause, but it was not very loud.

“Famous host?”

“To dare call him famous? Is his ratings very high?”

“Hey, why is the name Zhang Ye so familiar?”

“Holy sh*t! I remember! Beijing Arts Channel host? Zhang Ye? Isn’t that the anti-hijacking hero on the news? The one who flew a plane!”

“Ah? It’s really him?”

“What the f**k! Why did he come to our place?”

“He doesn’t look like one. How can he be a host with such average looks?”

A few people spoke. Everyone knew who this person was and a flurry of discussion erupted!

These two days, they had heard this name more than once on the news and internet. In other units, people might not pay that much attention, but Zhang Ye was previously a television host. He was considered in the same line as them. For a counterpart of theirs to safely fly and land a large pa.s.senger plane, this naturally attracted a lot of discussion. As such, they were very curious about Zhang Ye.

However, many people were disappointed seeing him.

w.a.n.g Xiong ignored it and pointed to a spot inside. “Little Zhang, your desk will be over there. There are many empty spots, so choose whichever you prefer.”

“Alright.” Zhang Ye went over with his things.

w.a.n.g Xiong did not speak much. After he asked an old employee about the situation with the programs today, he left the office and returned to his office.

Everyone were still looking in Zhang Ye’s direction.

The legendary Zhang Ye?

The legendary man of G.o.d?

He looked way too ordinary!