Chapter 813: Broadcast! (End)

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

At around 8 PM.

Central TV Department 1.

There were evening shows on this channel, so other than the program team of Rise to the Dance, there were several other program teams of Central TV Department 1 working overtime as well. Some time ago, Zhang Ye had blasted some people of Central TV Department 1 on Weibo. Those were the ones who kicked him while he was down during the court case with Central TV Department 1. This had caused the relationship between many of the program teams and Zhang Ye to become even worse. In turn, they became even more attentive to what Zhang Ye did.

At a certain interview program's recording studio.

"We're finally done recording!"

"Everyone has worked hard. It's time to clock out now."

"Oh, has that Zhang Ye's show started broadcasting yet?"

"It should be broadcasting already."

"Let's watch. I want to see what kind of a lousy show he can come up with on his first try at a documentary!"

At a certain variety show's office at Central TV Department 1.

"Rise to the Dance is quite exciting!"

"Yeah, it's guaranteed to get number 1 in the viewership ratings."

"How's Zhang Ye's documentary doing?"

"It should already be broadcasting, but I'm not sure."

"Old Xu is still as capable and Zhang Ye will have to admit that this time. OK, switch to Channel 14, I want to see what that 'Bite of Something' documentary is about, and see what Zhang Ye can come up with.

...

During Rise to the Dance's commercial break, many of the viewers, whether they liked Zhang Ye or not, changed their channels to Central TV Department 14 with their remote controls. Compared to the passionate dance and music on Rise to the Dance, the moment they tuned into Channel 14, soothing background music greeted them. It was calm like the trickling of a river stream, like the feeling of floating on fluffy clouds. This was accompanied by the deep and magnetic voice of Zhang Ye narrating.

"After Sangyé picks a mushroom, she carefully covers the hole with pine needles so that the mushroom can continue to grow. All villagers observe this rule."

In the office.

A Central TV Department 1 host mockingly laughed and shook his head. "After watching the intense scenes of Rise to the Dance, who would want to watch such a slow-paced and uninteresting documentary?"

Beside him, a female staff member laughed and said, "Yeah, it's really too boring."

"Let's just knock off and go back home to sleep," said another person.

There was also someone who went along with the crowd and added, "If there's anything interesting, it's only that the visual impact is better due to the usage of HD video cameras, but other than that? It's still the usual documentary style we've always known."

"Aren't they just filming food? Who doesn't know how to film something like that?!" A lot of them laughed.

But very quickly, all of them couldn't laugh anymore!

The documentary continued broadcasting on television.

Zhang Ye's voice wonderfully matched the scenes.

"Although the taste of pine mushrooms is very unique, they only became popular three decades ago.

"The main ingredient for another popular traditional Chinese dish is also found in mountain forests.

"Winter bamboo shoots are harvested and then sliced, before deep-frying them in oil and adding in seasoning. When completed, it becomes the most common household dish that is prepared within the Zhejiang region. In China, many people live near bamboo growths and understand bamboo shoots very well…"

As the scenes of the forests flashed across the screen, the HD footage of the ingredients in their most raw and original forms in nature left everyone salivating.

Those bamboo shoots could really whet one’s appetite!

Even if it were just the freshly harvested bamboo shoots, it was enough to make people unconsciously swallow their saliva. Even if they had already eaten and filled their stomachs, they could feel the freshness of the bamboo shoots rushing against their faces. Even through the television, it seemed like they could smell the wet fragrance of the grass seeds. The HD footage was undoubtedly amplifying this experience for them, leaving them fully immersed in the experience as though they were there in the forest!

It was too beautiful!

It felt…too real!

Several of those program team staff who had been mocking the documentary earlier looked at each other, while everyone else who was watching A Bite of China in the office were shocked!

A Bite of China continued.

Many of those people had fallen silent, their eyes glued to the television screen.

"Every September, brothers Qi Hu and Qi Chen go to Jiayu County in Hubei to dig out lotus roots from the lake pit. This plant grows deep underneath the mud in the lake. The thing that Qi Hu has just dug out is called a lotus root. It is a kind of vegetable that is commonly found in lakes.

"As professional lotus root diggers, the brothers work away from home for seven months every year. During the lotus root harvesting season, they come from their home in Anhui to participate in the harvest. The work is hard, but the pay is good, so Qi Hu and Qi Chen are willing to engage in this hard work. Lotus root diggers love the cold weather. This is because lotus roots sell well when the weather is cold."

Mud.

Fresh lotus roots.

Lotus root diggers.

What were just some ordinary images gave these city-dwellers a pleasant feeling. It was a feeling of happiness and joy that was difficult to describe in words!

This was Zhang Ye's documentary?

This was A Bite of China?

That Central TV host suddenly broke the silence and lightly shook his head while laughing. "We might have underestimated Zhang Ye. He has shot the documentary quite well there, but no matter how well he filmed it, it's still just a documentary. It will definitely not do well in the viewership ratings."

A person nodded and said. "Yeah, luckily it's just a documentary, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" a colleague beside that person asked.

That person gave a wry smile. "Otherwise the other shows broadcasting at the same time slot might have something to worry about."

An assistant director who had argued with Zhang Ye on the Internet before observed, "That Zhang fellow. It's obviously his first attempt at doing a documentary. Why does he even know how to handle such an unpopular genre?"

No one answered him.

Because no one had an answer.

...

At Yan Tianfei's house.

Old Yan and his wife's family were watching television together.

Only Old Yan constantly said, "It's too well shot, it's really too well shot. This type of documentary wouldn't have any problem winning a documentary award for sure!"

His wife beside him agreed, "This documentary is great to watch. So a documentary can even be made this way? I've never bothered watching any shows on your channel in the past, but this A Bite of China seems completely different from other documentaries, yet not completely different at the same time. Hai, Old Yan, turn up the volume, I can't hear it!"

Yan Tianfei gave a slight sigh. "How pitiful, it's really such a pity!"

His wife asked, "What's the matter?"

Yan Tianfei replied, "It's such a pity with Zhang Ye's capabilities. If he did not get handed a documentary project to handle this time, he would probably have had a chance to compete with Rise to the Dance. Our department has really held him back here."

Even though his wife felt that A Bite of China was good, she also understood that no matter how good a niche show like a documentary was, it would not be able to compete with a variety show. As a result, she just continued watching the show without saying another word.

...

Zhang Ye's parents' house.

His mother continued watching the documentary in astonishment. "Son, this is the documentary you shot?"

"Yes." Zhang Ye chuckled. "It's quite good, isn't it?"

His mother said, "It's great. This is right up my alley and just my type of show to watch." Pausing, she continued, "But it might not be so for other people. I believe a majority of the viewers won't be able to accept it."

Zhang Ye asked, "Why not?"

"Because documentaries are only for a minority of the viewers," his mother answered matter-of-factly.

Zhang Ye asked again, "Why is it only for a minority of the viewers?"

His mother said, "Because it's a documentary."

Zhang Ye gave up. "—Fine then."

Zhang Ye understood the concept of "nobody would watch a documentary." In this world, the hearts of people were too deeply ingrained with this mindset. Even if a lot of people liked this documentary when they watched it, no one thought that others would feel the same way as them and like the documentary as well.

Chenchen suddenly said, "Zhang Ye, I'm hungry."

Zhang Ye dismissively told her, "Go and cook yourself some instant noodles."

Chenchen pointed to the television. "I want some stir-fried bamboo shoots."

His mother laughed and ruffled Chenchen's head. "The restaurant is still open. Let grandma order takeout for you. Just as well, I'm getting hungry from watching the documentary too!"

His father added, "Order honeyed lotus roots as well."

…..

At Central TV Department 14, everyone still stayed put at the office.

But with the same thoughts as Zhang Ye, the group of Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were tuned in to watch the broadcast of Rise to the Dance.

Little Wang said angrily, "What is the audience so hyped about?"

Ha Qiqi sighed as she browsed through Weibo on her cell phone. "The audience's reception seems to be quite good."

"With so many promotions and those guest coaches, could they be unpopular?" Zhang Zuo also said with a heavy heart. "Did you guys really expect that our documentary had a chance against them?"

Wu Yi insisted, "How many people can understand an art like dancing?"

Zhang Zuo shook his head. "But at least they will understand it more than a documentary, right?"

The explosive debut of the popular Rise to the Dance had dealt this program team a great blow. It extinguished any last hopes they had for Rise to the Dance earning a bad reputation by doing terribly in the viewership and getting a lowly 0.3% viewership rating. If their documentary did not do badly, they would not be too far off from Rise to the Dance or even outdo them in the viewership ratings. But as of now, they knew that there was no hope!

Rise to the Dance did not experience an unexpected failure!

As for them?

Their A Bite of China?

As they were talking, Tong Fu suddenly exclaimed!

"Quick, have a look at this!" he announced rather loudly.

Ha Qiqi was startled by that and remarked, "Whoa, did someone step on your foot?"

Zhang Zuo looked over to him. "What's the matter? Look at what?"

Tong Fu quickly explained, "Look at the comments! Go onto Weibo and read the comments!"

Everyone was wondering why Tong Fu had such an astonished reaction, so one by one, all of them went to check their Weibo. When they saw it, they were also quite dumbfounded by it and couldn't react for a moment!

There were too many comments by the netizens!

Before they could really read the contents of the comments, their attention was already taken by the words "A Bite of China"!

"It's such a great show!"

"Goddammit, a documentary can even be filmed this way?"

"Is this what a HD video camera can do? How awesome!"

"The imagery is so exquisite that it looks like an expensively produced movie! Zhang Ye has really brought documentaries to a godly level!"

"I'm getting hungry! I'm getting hungry!"

"This is the first time I've seen such a documentary style! If Rise to the Dance did not go to commercial break, I wouldn't have switched to Channel 14. Once I tuned into this channel, I couldn't stop watching!"

"This is really good! Zhang Ye's reputation is indeed great!"

"I only watched this for Zhang Ye. I didn't expect much at first, but who could have known that A Bite of China could give me such a great surprise! This documentary is ridiculously innovative!"

"10,000 Likes! I couldn't stop watching once I started!"

Yao Jiancai suddenly posted on Weibo: "Recommending my Old Bro Zhang's new show, A Bite of China, which is currently showing on television. Everyone, go and watch. It's so good that I'm getting gastric pain just from watching!"

Beijing Television's Hu Fei: "I'm wholly convinced!!"

Dong Shanshan: "Strongly recommending A Bite of China! This century's most popular documentary!"

Zhang Yuanqi's manager, Fang Weihong: "What a surprise! Teacher Zhang Ye's shows are always so sincere and so astonishing!

Grandma Zhang Xia forwarded a Weibo post: "This is what you call a real documentary. How interesting!"

A famous documentary director of the industry: "I never expected that in the downturn of the market environment, someone could still create new heights with a documentary. Here's to recommending A Bite of China. Even though you can't expect a documentary to make much of an impact in the viewership ratings, nor can it compete against a variety show, but I feel that every documentary director could actually learn from A Bite of China's filming techniques and logic of story delivery. This will inspire many people, including me as well!"

A sea of praise!

Almost everyone who watched A Bite of China was calling it good!

Ha Qiqi was stunned on the spot!

Zhang Zuo was dumbfounded!

Everyone in A Bite of China's program team had a look of surprise on their faces, because none of them had much of an expectation regarding their documentary. They did not expect that this would happen!

...

Central TV Department 1.

In the program team office of Rise to the Dance.

Xu Yipeng was looking at the LCD TV that hung on the wall of the program team office. He was watching the fifth contestant who had just come onstage, and was all smiles. Occasionally, he would nod his head in approval. He was also extremely satisfied as he listened to the staff member beside him reporting about the Weibo comments and how the show's popularity was rising.

The show was definitely going to be popular!

That was without a doubt!

The only question left was how much viewership their premiere episode would garner!

At this time, a staff member suddenly stammered, "D-Director Xu, Director Ch-Chen."

"What's the matter?" Chen Ye said, also with a big grin on his face, as he turned to the staff.

"Uh, I don't know if I should say this, but…" That staffer still said anyway, "Department 14's A Bite of China is also beginning to trend."

Chen Ye did not pay much attention to this. "Oh?"

Xu Yipeng laughed and asked, "What's everyone's comments about it?"

"Everyone is saying that it's not bad." That staff phrased his words very carefully. "There is much praise about it."

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "That's very normal. Zhang Ye is a B-list celebrity and his fans still number quite a lot. There are surely some loyal, diehard fans who support him, so that's no surprise. Besides, they're just a niche documentary genre, so it'll definitely get more praise unlike variety shows which are always going to get more criticism than praise."

Xu Yipeng also had a look at the comments made by some people regarding A Bite of China. Then he said, "Looks like Zhang Ye did not mess up his documentary, but no matter what, it's still just a documentary, so they shouldn't even think about what their viewership ratings will be. No matter how well it does, they will at most get a documentary award later on. Um, but that might not be definite either, since Zhang Ye's reputation is so bad. He has offended people from at least seven or eight industries, so he might not get considered even if he were to qualify for a good award."

Even now, they still thought nothing of A Bite of China. Since the beginning, they had not considered A Bite of China to be a competitor at all, because they knew that an applauded program might not necessarily be a hit with everyone. A documentary had always been made with getting an award in mind. There was never a need to consider whether it would be a hit or not, because even if they did, there was no meaning to that. This was because 90% of the audience would not even want to watch a documentary. A documentary should only be concerned about its reputation and would go the artistic route, while their variety shows did not rely on needing a good reputation or getting praised. They were more concerned about whether it would be a hit with the masses, and how it would do in the viewership ratings. Thus, these two genres of shows were essentially not competing on the same playing field. There was nothing for them to compete on!

They wouldn't compete with a documentary for public praise!

Similarly, a documentary should never need to concern itself on competing with variety shows for viewership ratings!

...

A call arrived.

Hu Fei also had the same opinion of things.

"Hello, Brother Hu." Zhang Ye went back into his room to answer the call.

Hu Fei laughed loudly: "You're really great! Quietly going away for two months and disappearing from the scene. SO you were in fact preparing for something big. This documentary is so well filmed! I'm watching your show in the office with Xiao Lu, Dafei, Dong Shanshan, and the rest. Everyone is praising how good you were and are so happy for you!"

Zhang Ye laughed and said: "Thank you to all of you."

Hu Fei asked: "You really know how to shoot a documentary? And even managed to shoot it so well like this?"

Zhang Ye humbly replied: "I was just blindly doing it."

"Have you seen Weibo? The top three documentary directors have all given their Likes to A Bite of China and their comments of you are also very good. I think that you will definitely win this year's top documentary awards. There's no doubt about that!" Hu Fei was really very happy for him and he said: "But you shouldn't think too much about the viewership ratings. There's definitely no chance there. You should just work hard while you're at Department 14 and aim for the most prestigious award for documentaries. That will be good enough!"

Zhang Ye only gave a light smile to that and did not wish to argue about this anymore.

After hanging up, Zhang Ye browsed through Weibo to look at the comments from the netizens. After some consideration, he felt that the situation now was rather different from what he had predicted. It had surpassed his expectations!

Was it too unpopular?

It was exactly the opposite of that. It was too popular!

According to Zhang Ye's previous predictions, A Bite of China was supposed to bear disgrace and a heavy burden. After all, for the original A Bite of China in his previous world, what was the premiere episode's viewership rating? It was a mere 0.012%! It couldn't even garner a fraction of the worst performing variety show's viewership rating! That was why Zhang Ye had hoped that the documentary would gain an early reputation before erupting on its accumulated momentum of popularity. However, the love for the show that came from the audience rather surprised Zhang Ye. He knew that some of the measures he had taken were seeing a result now!

Like the controversy behind his scheduling of the broadcast time to clash with Rise to the Dance!

Like using his vast popularity which rubbed off on A Bite of China!

All of these were the differences! These were the reasons for the popularity gained in advance by A Bite of China!

The A Bite of China of this world was already traveling on a different path with a different setup and a different broadcast momentum from the original A Bite of China in his previous world!

Perhaps, there was no need for good preparation to ensure its success?

Perhaps, it was already time for the shows to compete and fight it out?

Zhang Ye pondered it, before finally taking out his cell phone and calling Yan Tianfei. "Hello, Director Yan. It's something urgent. I would like to make some last-minute changes to the broadcast time of A Bite of China."

Yan Tianfei muttered: "What changes?"

"I would like for A Bite of China to broadcast two episodes in a row starting tonight. We will broadcast all the way until around 10 PM!" Zhang Ye added: "So that we can end at the same time as Rise to the Dance!"

According to the broadcast schedule back then, A Bite of China would end before 9 PM while Rise to the Dance would run for two hours including advertisements. That would mean that after A Bite of China has finished the first episode, there would still be another hour's broadcast of Rise to the Dance.

Yan Tianfei said: "The schedule is already set. Although it's not like we can't change it, it's quite troublesome to do that. We would have to contact a lot of departments to get it through, so is there a need to do something like that?"

Zhang Ye said determinedly: "I feel that there is a need."

Yan Tianfei asked: Why?"

Zhang Ye kept quiet for a few seconds, then replied: "I'll tell you the reason tomorrow."

Tomorrow?

Why would you only give the reason tomorrow?

Yan Tianfei was taken aback, but did not ask any further. "Alright, I will make the arrangements for you. There are still 20 minutes until the end of the first episode, so we can still make it. I will get someone to put up a scrolling notice onscreen to let the audience know. As long as there are people watching A Bite of China, they will definitely see it."

"I'm sorry about that, Director Yan. I know I'm being willful," Zhang Ye apologized.

But Yan Tianfei said: "You're the overall supervisor of the program team for A Bite of China, as well as the executive director. You have your considerations and can judge for yourself, so I'll just have to take your word for it."

Zhang Ye declared: "Thank you so much. I'll contact the others. I'm going back to the office immediately!"

They were from the documentary channel, so this decision would not affect any hosts or other program teams. The documentary that they had originally scheduled for 9 PM was a licensed documentary that they had bought. By pushing it to the back of the schedule to broadcast so late at night, they might as well not broadcast it at all. No one would say a thing anyway, and neither would the audience mind, since no one would be watching it. Therefore, even though it was a last minute change, it wouldn't affect anything much.

After hanging up, Zhang Ye quickly put on his coat. "Dad, Mom, I'm heading back to the office. It's something urgent!" Then he called up Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others by the by, who were still in the office working!

"Old Ha, tell everyone not to leave yet! I'll be right back!" Zhang Ye said.

Ha Qiqi asked in surprise: "Ah? Didn't you already clock out?"

Zhang Ye laughed: "I guess you guys knew better by not leaving first. I'll explain when I get back to the office!"

...

Online.

Very soon, people found out about the news of this change!

On the broadcast of A Bite of China, the notice scrolled across the screen. Zhang Ye and the official Weibo of Department 14 also sent out an update to let everyone know!

The netizens got an unexpected surprise!

"Wow, it's a back-to-back broadcast?"

"That's so awesome! How ethical of the industry!"

"Hahaha, I was still worried about not having enough to watch!"

"The food I just ordered hasn't arrived yet. Seems like it will come just in time for the second episode's broadcast!"

"Back-to-back episodes? Then wouldn't the broadcast be as long as Rise to the Dance? Uh, what is Teacher Zhang trying to do? Why do I get the feeling that this is not a simple adjustment?"

"Could this change be directed at Rise to the Dance?"

"Fuck, you guys are looking too deep into this. Even if they were to broadcast ten episodes back to back, do you guys think that a documentary can beat a variety show, much less with just two episodes? Or would it be the large-scale talent show funded by a huge investment and having big names in it? If such a situation really happens, then the people of Central TV Department 1 should just vomit blood and jump off a building! Do you want to deal such a heavy blow to all the television stations' variety shows? Everyone knows how unrealistic that is."

"Uh, you're right too."

"Who cares about all that. It's fine as long as they broadcast it!"

"The talk about A Bite of China might be good and even though there is a lot more discussion about it now, there isn't anyone who would actually watch it. My guess is that it's just us who like it."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that. This show is too niche."

"Wow, why didn't they show any advertisements before going to the next second episode?"

"A Bite of China did not sell any ad spots?"

"Who do you think would want to buy a documentary's advertisements?"

"That's true. Let's not speculate anymore. Who cares if the others like this show as long as I like it myself. I'll go watch the second episode now, haha!"

"I'll go as well!"

"I'm so looking forward to it!"

...

The second episode.

Title: "Staple Food Stories."

"Staple foods usually provide most of the calories needed by people."

"The cooking styles of the Chinese vary in many different ways, from the most ordinary pot of rice or a steamed bun, to the myriad of delicately prepared staple foods that are the accumulated experience of the hard work by the Chinese. No matter how many dishes have been had, the staple food will always remain the main dish to be served on the dining tables of the Chinese."

The music was soothing.

The heat vapor from the dishes looked as though it was rising out from the screen.

...

With the positive talk of the show building up, more and more people were tuning to Channel 14. Even those who did not watch the first episode but heard about A Bite of China from the Internet or their friends and neighbors tuned in out of curiosity to see what this documentary was about!

As a result, it went out of control!

A lot of them ending up not changing the channel after they started watching for a few seconds!

Translator's Thoughts

Legge Legge

- Official CCTV English Dub http://english.cntv.cn/special/a_bite_of_china/homepage/index.shtml

- Official CCTV YouTube Chinese Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwXMmy5fUrVyGt6mtGEGf5_hv3gB1aSJG

- Unofficial A Bite of China English Subs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jopH3nBZYw&amp;amp;list=PLzYHLNgFdRjvyge-9eRENVFUiaBrvhRiJ

Rate Translation Quality

Chapter 814: The viewership ratings are out!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

The next day.

Saturday morning.

After he went downstairs and got into the car, Zhang Ye drove straight to the newspaper stand near the district's entrance. He put on his sunglasses and got out of the car to buy some newspapers. The newspaper stand's owner already knew that Zhang Ye stayed around the area and would come here very often to buy newspapers, so even though he was wearing sunglasses, the owner still recognized him immediately.

"You're here, Teacher Zhang?" The owner smiled.

Zhang Ye nodded."Yeah, give me a copy each of Youth Daily, Morning Post, and Beijing Times."

"Alright." The newsstand owner adeptly picked out three copies of newspapers and passed it to him."You're working today?"

"Yeah, there's a bunch of things waiting for me to do. I can't even rest on Saturday." Zhang Ye paid him the money.

"I watched your documentary last night." The newsstand owner said excitedly,"Aiyo, it's so good that it's indescribable. I started watching from the second episode, before playing and watching the first episode after that. It was the same for my neighbors who watched it. All of them said that they'd never watched such a good documentary before. It's even more enticing than watching a television series. When is the next episode going to be?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said,"Next Friday."

The owner:"OK, I'll definitely catch it."

Zhang Ye:"Thank you for your support then."

The owner:"No worries! We're all neighbors!"

Across the street, a few grandpas and grandmas walked in the opposite direction of Zhang Ye. They were all old neighbors with Zhang Ye. There was a person who stayed in the same apartment building as Zhang Ye's family too. Naturally, he got recognized immediately.

"Hey, Little Ye!"

"Grandma Cui, Grandpa Sun, you're out buying groceries?"

"Yes, you're going to work?"

"Yes, I have some overtime to clock today."

"Your A Bite of China was really well made!"

"Yo, you all watched it too?"

"Of course, how can we not watch a show of yours? It's good, it's very good!"

"Hur hur, thank you so much. I will continue to work even harder."

"Do you have the later episode contents with you? Let's have an advanced screening of them."

"Ah? There are regulations set by the department about such things. I can't bring out any of the contents that have been lined up for broadcast."

"You're the program team's supervisor. Shouldn't everything be decided by you? Don't you have a say in the regulations? Then why not tell us what the next episode is about?"

Only after some hassling was Zhang Ye able to get himself out of there. After he got back to his car, he took the newspapers and sat in the car as he browsed through them.

"A Bite of China garners great reviews!"

"Zhang Ye displays an astonishing directorial debut in his first documentary series!"

"Last night, Zhang Ye announced to all industry insiders with his work: A documentary can be done this way too!"

"Famed documentary filmmaker praises A Bite of China. Calls for all documentary directors to learn from it!"

"Yao Jiancai, Chen Guang, Dong Shanshan, and many more give their support to A Bite of China!"

"According to figures from online vendors, from 8-11 PM last night, several of the dishes featured on A Bite of China received seven times the usual amount of orders from customers! Many of the eateries that did not know what was happening called the online vendor to check if there was an error in the system!"

"Could this be the end of the downturn for the documentary genre?"

"Zhang Ye's reputation and hallmark is still as loud as ever!"

"Guessing the viewership ratings for A Bite of China!"

"In the past five years, the highest nationwide viewership rating for documentaries was at 0.172%. The average viewership rating was 0.034%. Could A Bite of China rewrite history?"

"Surveyed industry insiders and professionals predict a pessimistic viewership rating for A Bite of China: The documentary genre has long been weak with a niche audience base. It cannot be relied upon to contribute to a good viewership rating. What is most important for a documentary is still whether it can garner good reviews, while a low viewership rating is a common outcome. In any case, A Bite of China has actually succeeded already!"

"A large-scale documentary that amazes people!"

"How much more talent can Zhang Ye produce from his mind?"

Seeing the newspapers filled with reports about A Bite of China, Zhang Ye was very satisfied at this. Even if he flipped through the pages to see that the rest of the news was all taken up by reports of Rise to the Dance, which numbered at least two to three times more than theirs, he did not feel very surprised by it. For a variety show with so many big name celebrities, it was very normal for it to get that kind of exposure. Hence Zhang Ye put the car into gear, stepped on the accelerator, and drove off to Central TV.

...

At the office.

It was a rest day today, but there were still quite a lot of people who came to work. An organization like a television station was usually like this. Sometimes, it would even get busier during the holidays than on a normal working day.

He got out of his car and walked toward the main entrance.

As he was walking there, Zhang Ye received a lot of attention from the people around. Many curious gazes fell upon him, as everyone occasionally pointed at him while they discussed and talked.

"Look, it's Zhang Ye!"

"Which of you guys watched A Bite of China last night?"

"I watched it! It was simply amazing!"

"I wasn't thinking of watching it at first, but when I got home after working late last night, I saw my parents and aunt watching A Bite of China, so I just watched it with them in passing. But somehow, I ended up watching the entire show until 10 PM. I have to admit that Zhang Ye really brought this documentary to life!"

"There's a lot of praise about it on the Internet."

"I saw that. Everyone's giving it Likes."

"Central TV Department 1 still wishes to freeze Zhang Ye? This guy is so amazing. How can they possibly keep him frozen?!"

"Yeah, no matter where this man goes, he's always able to shine!"

"We can't say that. There can't be too many people who watch A Bite of China. It's just that it's getting praised, but it won't have much of a viewership in the end. At most it would earn a 0.0-something percent in the viewership ratings, so how is that different from being frozen? It's totally disproportionate to Zhang Ye's popularity as a B-list celebrity and it won't at all help him advance further."

"Of course it won't be able to compete with Rise to the Dance. But they've produced a documentary to such a level, so what else do you expect from A Bite of China? If a documentary really outdoes such a large-scale talent show like Rise to the Dance, then the world must surely be crazy!"

"Well, their results now are already quite good."

"That's right, don't assess a documentary using a variety show's standards. That's unfair."

"Looking at everything, Rise to the Dance is actually considered popular! Even though there are mixed reviews about it, there's no doubt about its popularity. There aren't any issues with the show's quality either. I watched it yesterday and find it to be rather good!"

"Chen Ye is going to get popular this time as well."

"Yeah, he's incredibly lucky to be able to get this show at such a great time."

"The way it goes, when Rise to the Dance finishes its broadcast, Chen Ye might even end up becoming more popular than Zhang Ye. Even if he doesn't catch up to him, at least the gap between them won't be that big anymore."

"Rise to the Dance is leading the way again!"

"Central TV Department 1 will end up as the big winner here."

"No matter how great Zhang Ye does, a documentary is still just going to be a documentary. Even if it's popular or has good influence, it still boils down to the viewership ratings in the end. Everything else is pointless!"

"The only question left now is whether the premiere episode of Rise to the Dance can exceed 1%."

"A 1% viewership rating shouldn't be an issue at all!"

"With the popularity effect persisting from The Voice, it should've brought a lot of viewers to Rise to the Dance."

...

Upstairs.

Department 14, program team office of A Bite of China.

Zhang Ye had arrived a little late for work due to some delays on the way here. When he got here, he found Yan Tianfei with his secretary standing in the office area of his program team.

"Little Zhang, you've arrived?" Yan Tianfei turned around and greeted him with a smile.

Ha Qiqi and the others also greeted him as well.

"Director Zhang."

"Good morning, Director Zhang."

"A very good morning to you, Director Zhang!"

Everyone seemed very excited and were in good spirits as well.

Zhang Ye quickly said,"Director Yan, you're here?"

Yan Tianfei nodded."In recent days, it's been quite hard on your program team. Everyone climbed mountains and waded through seas, working tirelessly. The reactions to the broadcast of A Bite of China was rather good, so I came here to extend my regards to everyone, especially to you, Teacher Little Zhang. It was mainly due to you that we successfully broadcast the documentary this time."

Zhang Ye laughed and waved it off."I don't deserve that. It was due to Director Yan's leadership and everyone working hard together."

Yan Tianfei asked,"Since the show has garnered a lot of praise, what are your plans for next week's broadcast?"

Zhang Ye said,"We won't do a back-to-back broadcast next week, but I would like to have one episode broadcast on Friday, followed by another one on Saturday. We will broadcast two days in a row so that we can consolidate the popularity of the show."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you to decide." Yan Tianfei purposely paused for a moment, and then chuckled,"There's another piece of good news that I want to inform everyone about. We received a call this morning from the selection committee of this year's television awards. They want to include A Bite of China as a nominee for Best Documentary. We've only broadcast it for a day and there're only two episodes, but the selection committee has already made an exception to nominate our program. This is the first time something like this has happened with the awards committee!"

"Ah?"

"Are you serious?"

"That's great!"

"Wow, we have a chance to win an award?"

Everyone was ecstatic. Wasn't all of the hard work they'd put in for the past two months just for a moment like this?

Zhang Ye laughed, but not as excitedly as the others. To him, getting an award was of course good, but his focus was still on the viewership ratings."Director, when will the viewership ratings be released?"

Yan Tianfei was taken aback."Viewership ratings? Oh, around 10 o'clock." Then on further thought, Yan Tianfei said to him,"Little Zhang, the nomination for A Bite of China this time is no ordinary award. It's the most prestigious award in the country for documentaries and it's also the highest honor that a documentary can get domestically. Our focus right now is to ensure that we can win this award. As for the viewership ratings, I believe that the selection committee is not going to focus on that. After all, a documentary's viewership ratings are usually not high, and every documentary performs similarly, so there's nothing to really compare. If the judging were to be based on that, then nothing could be judged. In the end, everything still depends on the reputation and artistic level of the documentary."

Zhang Ye replied,"I understand."

"So let me give you a heads up first." Yan Tianfei was afraid that the viewership difference would be too vast."It's still the same as I said before. Don't expect too much of the viewership ratings."

Yan Tianfei's secretary also said with a grin,"Yes, Director Zhang. The viewership rating of our A Bite of China does not necessarily have to compete with variety shows. As long as we do better than the other shows of the same genre, that should be good enough."

The outstanding praise for A Bite of China excited everyone to no end. But the mention of viewership ratings was avoided by everyone, while they only continued discussing about the nomination for the most prestigious award. This was because, even though there was so much praise for A Bite of China, no one believed that they could compare to shows such as Rise to the Dance and Do You Remember. This was not due to their lack of confidence, but rather because they knew that it was not a possibility at all whatsoever.

...

Central TV Department 1.

Director Jiang Naixiong and Deputy Director Jiang Yuan were talking in their office.

"Are the viewership ratings out yet?" Jiang Naixiong asked.

Jiang Yuan answered,"Not yet, today's calculations are taking a little longer. I've already called them up several times but they said that they were still preparing it. It should be ready by around 10 o'clock, or 9:30 if earlier."

Jiang Naixiong looked at his watch and mentioned,"It won't be long then."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said,"Yes, when the viewership ratings are out, we'll finally know the results. I am quite confident in Old Xu and Chen Ye. From the click rates and hashtag numbers, the viewership ratings will definitely be very high. Of course, it's not likely that we can match up to The Voice's viewership ratings for now, but there's a high probability that it will catch up from behind."

Jiang Naixiong was also looking very relaxed, laughing as he stated,"That's good. This key project must do well. The entirety of Central TV and the entire industry are all waiting to see how we would do."

Jiang Yuan reassured,"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"I heard that Department 14's documentary is also receiving rather good praise?" Jiang Naixiong inquired.

Jiang Yuan answered without even thinking,"It's not bad, but it's just the echo chamber effect. There can't be anyone who watched it when they don't even have the money to do promotions for it. Since there were no advertisements for the documentary, who would watch it? It's only Zhang Ye's hardcore fans who are making a lot of noise over it. At most they'd get 0.1% of the viewership ratings, tops."

Downstairs.

At the program team office of Rise to the Dance, everyone was also discussing this. In the newspapers, headlines of their show took up at least half the front page, giving everyone an unprecedented sense of confidence. In the office area, many of the staff were already talking about holding a celebratory feast.

"Director Xu, treat us!"

"Right, Director Xu, Director Chen, it's your treat!"

"It's all because of Director Xu and Teacher Chen that we could do this. The entire country's media and Weibo users are all discussing our show."

"I've heard rumors that there are already some television stations who want to follow in our footsteps. Tianjin Television already intends to launch a dancing talent show next year!"

"Our show has gotten really popular!"

"Do You Remember, Family Happiness, those shows can all take a seat!"

"Yeah, our viewership ratings are definitely going to crush all of the other variety shows. We will definitely get the honor of being number 1 in the nationwide viewership ratings! Who else is there? Who else can fight against us for the top spot?!"

The group of them were gloating, feeling extremely thrilled about it.

Xu Yipeng laughed."The viewership ratings are still not out yet."

A female staff member giggled,"Do we even need to wait for the statistics to be released? It's already guaranteed!"

Chen Ye also said,"Among the variety shows in the same time slot, there really are none that can compete with us. Even if Do You Remember has made some new changes to their show, it's not enough to stand up to us."

...

On Weibo.

Countless people took part in the discussion.

"What's the viewership rating for Rise to the Dance?"

"It's still not released yet?"

"With our Sect Leader Huo on the show, the viewership ratings can only be invincible!"

"Chen Ye, I'm cheering you on. You'll surely do well!"

"Rise to the Dance is unstoppable now!"

"Central TV Department 1 is rising quite unexpectedly in the field of variety!"

"I'm actually more curious about A Bite of China's viewership rating."

"Previous poster, there's nothing to worry about. A Bite of China's viewership rating should just be compared with other similar types of documentaries and not with variety shows."

"But A Bite of China is produced by Zhang Ye!"

"That won't make a difference. You're just asking for the impossible."

"Haha, yet another sheep from A Bite of China's camp. You guys must have been trying to contribute to the traffic and discussions the whole of last night, right? Are you tired yet? Isn't that enough already? What's the point of trying to inflate the numbers for a lousy documentary? You even think there's a chance for the viewership ratings? Even if we just take the fractional part of the viewership rating for Rise to the Dance, it would be several times more than A Bite of China's viewership rating. I really wonder if you guys understand anything at all!"

"Hey, it's out!"

"What's out?"

"I think the viewership ratings are out!"

"Wow, where is it? I want to have a look!"

At 9:40 AM, the statistics were published!

...

The netizens were looking at the online copy of it, while Rise to the Dance's program team staff were looking at the internally circulated copy. Actually, it was the same copy except that they received it earlier.

Xu Yipeng and Chen Ye were holding a copy of the viewership ratings table each.

"It's out, it's out!"

"How much did we get?"

"Hu, I feel a little bit nervous!"

"Director Xu, how much did we get? Quickly announce it!"

"Aiyo, you're really keeping everyone in suspense!"

Everyone stared at the two directors.

Then, they saw Chen Ye break out into a smile as he said to everyone,"It's quite good."

Xu Yipeng held the viewership ratings table in his hand and waved it at everyone."Rise to the Dance's first episode viewership rating is 1.27%! Without a doubt, we are the top-rated variety show in the entire country!"

Hearing that, everyone cheered!

"That's so great!"

"Haha, cool!"

"I knew it!"

"1.27%? The premiere episode has exceeded 1%!"

"It's really quite good. How many variety shows these days can break 0.5% with their premiere broadcast? Among those that could break 1% this year, other than The Voice, Rise to the Dance is the only other show!"

"We can finally enjoy the celebratory feast!"

"With this momentum, we can still get even better ratings in the future!"

Even if this viewership rating was not as logic-defying as they had expected, it was still much higher than their minimum expectations. It could be said that this was a satisfactory result, although not perfect.

Chen Ye, suddenly reminded by something, smiled and said,"Oh yes, what is the viewership rating of A Bite of China?"

Xu Yipeng also smiled and replied,"It's not stated on this table, but it should be available online, right?"

Chen Ye gloated,"I'll go and take a look."

Thinking of Zhang Ye's Rotten Fruit poem from back then, Chen Ye and the others were all waiting to see him make a fool of himself!

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Chapter 815: The entire world stills!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

Central TV Documentary Channel.

Many of their colleagues, including those from Section 1 and 2, had all gathered around at Zhang Ye's Section 3 office space to look at the newly released viewership ratings. As the viewership ratings for documentaries and variety shows were not released together, they did not receive the statistics for their documentary yet. Instead, they were checking out Rise to the Dance's viewership ratings on the Internet like the other netizens.

Ha Qiqi was shocked."1.27%?"

"They really managed to exceed 1%?" Zhang Zuo pulled a long face and said,"And it's not just barely past 1%?"

Little Wang felt depressed and groaned,"What's so good about that lousy show?"

Wu Yi sighed."There were cases of manipulated viewership ratings some years back, but since the strict crackdown, that practice has been quashed. These days, the viewership ratings can no longer be faked."

Tong Fu piped up,"Actually, a 1.27% viewership rating was still w

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Chapter 816: Giving the entire world a slap!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

1.27%!

Tied for first place!

The second episode of A Bite of China had actually tied for first place with Rise to the Dance on Friday's nationwide viewership ratings for television shows!

At this very second, it was as though time stopped and the entire world came to a standstill. As the seconds ticked by, everyone was shocked by the viewership ratings table that they had in front of them!

After a long time.

Yao Jiancai posted on Weibo:"What the fuck!"

Hu Fei:"Damn!"

Central Radio Station's Tian Bin:"Is this real?"

Fan Wenli:"...(*##%%)—%#@!!!"

The Internet was instantly abuzz!

The netizens gradually made their appearances, all of them with very shocked expressions on their faces!

"Heavens! Oh my god!"

"This is crazy!"

"Th-this is the viewership rating of a documentary?"

"How can this be possible!? Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

"I'm going crazy! Isn't this totally defying all common sense? Isn't this getting a little too crazy? A documentary's viewership rating actually managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Rise to the Dance? And took the number 1 spot in the nationwide viewership ratings? This must be fake, right? If you guys want to doctor it, can there be at least some effort in the technical details? Don't photoshop something so unrealistic!

"It doesn't look fake…."

"Uh, it looks real!"

"Documentaries…are actually on par with variety shows!"

"This is not a question of whether they are on par or not, dammit! This is a documentary that has steamrolled all of the variety shows!"

"What the hell!"

"What is Teacher Zhang Ye trying to do? Is he trying to poke a hole in the sky of the television industry? This is just a documentary! A documentary that no one would fucking watch! Yet you have made it into the top spot for the viewership ratings? You have really fucking made it into the number 1 spot for the viewership ratings!?"

"I'm already unable to use normal words to describe this! It's awesome! It's too damn awesome!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Zhang Ye is definitely going to be my idol for life!"

"I'm numb, my eyes have suddenly turned red! Teacher Zhang's hard work has not gone wasted! Teacher Zhang's efforts have finally paid off! Cold storage treatment? Banned? No one would watch a documentary? Go fuck yourself! Central TV Department 1, open your eyes wide! That was the Zhang Ye who you guys had let go of knowingly!" Even if he has been transferred to the documentary channel, Teacher Zhang is not someone who you can keep down! Even with a documentary, Teacher Zhang is still fucking unbeatable!"

"Zhang Ye has come back!"

"Hahahahahaha! The fearsome Teacher Zhang is back again!"

"I'm so excited! Teacher Zhang, you're too fantastic!"

"I'm happy for Zhang Ye! Cheers for A Bite of China!"

"Zhang Ye, why are you so cool?! Why?!"

If the first episode of A Bite of China with the viewership rating of 0.32% had shocked them, then the second episode's viewership ratings of 1.27% must have left everyone gasping in astonishment. Nobody in the country, even those who liked watching A Bite of China very much or had extremely high expectations of it would have believed that A Bite of China could actually get the top spot in the nation's viewership ratings together with Rise to the Dance before they saw this viewership rating table!

...

At Central TV.

Department 14.

Everyone was getting so excited that they were going crazy!

"We got first place!" Wu Yi said in a daze,"We're number 1 in the country! Number 1 in the country!"

Zhang Zuo was unable to express his overwhelming emotions, so he raised up his hand and screamed,"Ah!"

Ha Qiqi was in tears, but she was both laughing and crying at the same time. As she wiped her tears away, she said,"Our hard work has really paid off!"

Little Wang said rather dumbfounded,"Please tell me this is true!"

Huang Dandan hugged Little Wang excitedly."It's true! We're number 1!"

Little Wang also burst into tears!

Having been suppressed, humiliated, and stabbed in the back by Central TV Department 1, the original program team staff of The Voice were holding back their anger all this time. Only at this moment could they finally vent it all out. Many of them couldn't control their emotions, while some male colleagues were crying out in excitement and a few female colleagues wept!

They were very tired all this while.

In recent days, it hadn't been easy for them!

"Director Zhang!" Ha Qiqi turned around and hugged him as she cried."Thank you!"

Zhang Ye simply acknowledged her and smiled in embarrassment."You don't have to thank me, I should be the one thanking you. Thank you, everyone, for not leaving, and for following me from Central TV Department 1 to here. I also want to thank everyone for your continuous trust in me. Without all of you, even if I were superhuman, I could not have achieved all this. Therefore, I should be the one giving thanks to everyone. All of you did a great job and this outcome is the result of everyone working hard together, so everyone should have a share of the fruits of the labor!"

Not only were the original program team staff of The Voice excited, those originally from Department 14 were very excited as well!

"Director Zhang, congratulations to you and everyone else!"

"Our documentary channel has finally come out on top!"

"Thank you for coming to Department 14!"

"I'm so numb from this! Let's see who still dares to look down on our documentary channel in the future!"

Cheering!

Shouting!

Along with cries of joy!

There was jubilation throughout the entire office!

Yan Tianfei's secretary also wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. For some reason, he couldn't stop his eyes from watering. He said,"Director Zhang, you don't know this, but long have those of us at Department 14 suffered from the stress and pent-up resentment over the past few years. Although we know that you won't stay on with our documentary channel forever and will definitely leave in the future, but no matter what, I want to say that it's great to have you here!"

Zhang Ye smiled and replied,"It's my honor coming to Department 14 and working together with everyone." After saying that, he turned his head to Yan Tianfei and said,"Director Yan, I've told you before that I wouldn't disappoint you, now…I'm glad to say that I've managed to carry out my promise."

Yan Tianfei clapped Zhang Ye's shoulders excitedly."Good! Great!"

When they made the last-minute change to the broadcast time of A Bite of China yesterday, Yan Tianfei asked Zhang Ye for his reason in doing so, but Zhang Ye said that he would give him an answer the next day. Now, Yan Tianfei finally understood everything. This viewership ratings table was the answer that Zhang Ye had given to him!

...

Deputy Station Head's Office.

Deputy Station Head Zhou looked at the viewership ratings table and stayed silent for a long time.

...

In the program team office of Rise to the Dance.

Xu Yipeng was silent!

Chen Ye had a look of horror!

For two full minutes, the entire program team was in complete and utter silence!

...

Central TV Department 1.

Jiang Yuan was stunned there for a long time.

Jiang Naixiong had smashed a tea cup on the floor in anger!

The secretary trembled in fear and ran to tidy up the mess with a broom. He also quietly took away the latest viewership ratings table that he had brought over earlier!

...

A lot of the people from Central TV were furious and did not seem to be in a good mood!

A documentary!

A documentary without promotions!

A documentary without celebrity guests!

A documentary without advertisements that merely cost 10 million RMB to make and was so niche and so unpopular that no one was supposed to pay any attention to it!

Yet it had unexpectedly scored the same viewership rating as Rise to the Dance?

How was that possible?!

How could that be?!

At this moment, a poem was brought up by someone on the Internet.

Rotten Fruit

Black bugs have long since chewed through my flesh.

I lie on a bed of moss so cold it stings

just letting the rot set in deeper.

Waiting for the rot to pierce my core,

and decompose my prison.

My imprisoned soul will then,

wearing a pea-green vest,

leap out grinning from ear to ear.

No one could have imagined that the poem Rotten Fruit which Zhang Ye had posted earlier could really come true! No one could have imagined that Zhang Ye would really wear a pea-green vest and leap out grinning from ear to ear. With A Bite of China, he had given Central TV Department 1, Rise to the Dance, the television station, everyone, the entire world a very loud slap!!

On this day, chants of Zhang Ye's name reverberated all over the Internet!