Chapter 779: Feats or faults, leave it to the future generations to judge for themselves!

Translator: Legge Editor: - -

On the same day.

Peking University's Dean Pan had called Zhang Ye's mother several times. When his mother could no longer bear this incessant hounding, she finally gave in and allowed him to speak to Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye took his mother's cell phone.

"Dean Pan, I'm really busy right now."

"Even if you are dying, you still have to come back here!"

"But I've already turned down the award. What's the point in me going over there?"

"The reporters have already clogged our doorsteps and there's also foreign reporters!"

"Then why don't you help me handle them a bit?"

"You're the main character. If you don't make an appearance, who can possibly handle them? Everyone is waiting for you to show yourself! You'd better hurry and come back here right now! The whole world has already found out about your rejection of the award. The Abel Foundation has also issued their statement. None of us are going to ask you to accept the award anymore, so even if you want it, there's nothing to accept. I want you to come back here and handle the media and clear up the incident yourself. There has to be a follow through no matter what. How can you just say nothing and not show yourself? What would that demonstrate? If the foreign media sees that, they might even think that all of our Chinese professors are this unreasonable!"

"Al-alright then."

"The press conference will begin immediately, so come down at once."

"OK, I got it."

"You must be here at the venue!"

"I know. I won't make things difficult for you."

After he put down the phone, Zhang Ye informed his parents and changed into formal wear. Dean Pan was right. Ever since yesterday when this incident occurred, Zhang Ye had not made an appearance in public at all, nor did he express his attitude. Now that everything could no longer be changed, with his award turned down, Johannes getting sacked, and the Abel Foundation suffering a great blow, Zhang Ye was receiving a lot of criticism in the global mathematics field. No matter how it went, Zhang Ye still had to make an appearance and not let Peking University and Dean Pan bear the brunt of this pressure. In any case, Zhang Ye was used to such situations.

...

At Peking University.

Evening, 7 PM.

When Zhang Ye arrived in his car, a small-scale press conference was in progress in one of the smaller halls. Zhang Ye was escorted by Peking University's people through the back entrance, where he immediately saw the small hall packed with media reporters. The camcorders and cameras were set up all over the place, and about nine blond and brunette foreign reporters stood out in the crowd of people. Every one of them was staring at Dean Pan and a vice president of Peking University, posing questions to them.

When Zhang Ye appeared, the entire venue's atmosphere changed at once!

"Professor Zhang!"

"Zhang Ye has arrived!"

"Teacher Zhang, did you turn down the award because of the Abel Foundation's contempt for you?"

"Professor Zhang, do you know the stir that you have caused in the global mathematics field with your rejection of the award? What are your views on the criticism from the foreign academics?"

The reporters were asking questions like they were on stimulants as question after question was raised!

A Peking University staff member immediately tried to maintain order. "One by one! Please raise your questions one by one!"

Dean Pan gave Zhang Ye a look.

That vice president of Peking University also looked at Zhang Ye with blame. Ever since the incident, this was the first time they were seeing him in person again. Regarding Zhang Ye's rejection of the award, it would be a lie if they said they didn't care. Which person of Peking University did not hope to see Zhang Ye be honored with the award? Yet it was too late to say anything anymore. It was already a foregone conclusion, so what else could they do? They could only hope that after the proof of Dale's Conjecture had been validated, there would be another chance at getting an international award. By then, Zhang Ye had better not act impulsively like this anymore. Though coming back to the point, after this incident, which international award would dare come knocking on Zhang Ye's door again!? This fellow's handling of matters was simply too unreliable. He was too much of a troublemaker!

Zhang Ye went up on stage and took a seat near the Peking University Vice President. Compared to the glum people up there, today's VIP, Zhang Ye, had a much more relaxed expression than everyone else. He even occasionally showed a smile, making that vice president and Dean Pan grit their teeth.

Zhang Ye spoke after he took his seat, "Good evening, dear friends from the media. The reason for my rejection of the award this time was entirely personal, so please don't speculate about it."

Hearing that, the Peking University Vice President and Dean Pan nodded slightly, looking a little better this time. They knew Zhang Ye had explained it this way because he had given it proper thought. The matter was already laid to rest; he had also gotten his revenge and vented his frustration. If he still raised the issue of the visa application, then that would have been very meaningless, and would also show his pettiness. Therefore, at this point, he might as well not bring it up anymore. Otherwise, if he continued being aggressive about things, the criticisms against Zhang Ye would surely increase. If that happened, it would guarantee that no one would ever consider him for any international awards in the future. This was something that Zhang Ye clearly understood.

But the more Zhang Ye understood this, the more Dean Pan and the school leaders felt helpless about this situation. Who said Zhang Ye was dumb? This fellow was definitely not stupid, and he knew and understood everything very well. However, for all his cleverness, it made the things he did seem even more unreasonable. Sometimes, this really made people not know how to react!

Zhang Ye continued answering the questions. "As for the criticism against me from the global mathematics field, since I did not go online today, I'm unclear about them. However, I must make clear that rejecting the award was purely a personal decision. Therefore, if anyone has anything they want to say, please aim it at me alone. Do not make things difficult for my bosses and colleagues at Peking University."

More questions were thrown out in quick succession.

One…

Ten…

Twenty…

Zhang Ye answered without reservation, with a mostly bureaucratic tone.

An hour passed. The vice president looked at his watch and then interrupted the reporters' questions to announce, "It's getting late. I'm sure everyone has asked enough questions, so let's end the press conference here!"

Zhang Ye and the Peking University people stood to leave.

The Vice President successfully left the stage, with Dean Pan following close behind, nearly making it out as well. However, it wasn't so smooth for Zhang Ye as he got surrounded by the reporters who had rushed up onto the stage!

A reporter from The Morning Post: "Give us a little more detail, Teacher Zhang!"

Zhang Ye said helplessly, "Alrighty then, I will answer one last question."

A foreign reporter asked, "Zhang, I heard that there were some Chinese mathematicians who also expressed their dissatisfaction with your rejection of the award. How do you view your fellow mathematicians' comments of you?"

A female reporter from Beijing Times asked, "Professor Zhang, there are people who are praising you, but at the same time, a lot of people are scolding you. There's a great amount of controversy surrounding you, so what I would like to know is not how others see you, since that is already publicly known. I'm curious about how you view yourself. If a monument was erected for future generations and you could write your deeds or achievements on it, or if you prefer, your regrets and self-criticism, what would you pen?"

This question was very interesting.

Zhang Ye looked at her and smiled. "On that monument, I would not leave any words."

"Not carve anything onto it?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhang Ye said very calmly, opening his mouth to slowly speak, "Feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves!" With that, Zhang Ye turned and left without another word.

When Dean Pan heard that, he was taken aback.

The vice president also heard and immediately stopped in his tracks. He gave Zhang Ye a slightly startled glance.

The reporters on scene also showed shocked expressions!

Zhang Ye's words had not been heard by the people of this world before. However, this saying was very well-known in his previous world. The most widespread version of it was "there will be future generations to judge" or "give it to future generations to judge." The meaning behind these words was that perhaps several decades or centuries later, future generations would give a fair assessment. However, Zhang Ye did not put it this way here, as he chose the words "leave it to future generations to judge for themselves"—he essentially did not care how the future generations judged him. Be it praise or criticism, however the future generations judged him, Zhang Ye would not care. The only thing that mattered to him was this: a clear conscience!

As for anything other than that?

You can say whatever you like!!

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Chapter 780: Central TV Department 14?

Translator: Legge Editor: - -

The next day.

The incident of the award rejection had created quite a stir for the past two days. At yesterday's press conference at Peking University, they had somewhat reached a conclusion on the matter. It was gradually subsiding as well. Zhang Ye who had been idling at home for several days now noticed the good weather today and decided to wake up early to go back to the office for a rare day of work.

He drove and arrived at work.

He could feel the fresh autumn air outside and see the clear blue skies when he looked up.

Zhang Ye bought a morning newspaper at the entrance of Central TV Tower and flipped through it as he walked to his office. Within just two pages, he saw his picture that was taken during the press conference at Peking University yesterday. The headline of the newspaper was very prominent, occupying about one-seventh of the page, with color added to it. Zhang Ye's original words were quoted: "'Feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves'!"

Actually, not only did The Morning Post's newspaper feature him in their report, all the other major newspaper outlets also commenced wide coverage and commentary on this news. The earliest report was published yesterday, while those who reported it late published the news this morning. Live recordings from last night's press conference were shown on some television stations, portraying the scene in its unedited form. Zhang Ye's quote of "feats or faults" immediately created quite a stir in the online community and went viral with countless netizens labeling it a famous quote! You could just randomly go online and most of the updates and news would be about the "Uncharactered Stele"!

He folded the newspaper and scanned through the Weibo app on his cell phone.

Overnight, more than 10,000 private messages and comments were left on his Weibo!

ChineseCabbage: "Idol! You said it so well!"

OriolesFlygrass117: "I really, really like you! What a great 'feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves'! Only you could say such strong words that shock the hearts of all of China!"

DJFOIK: "I've never chased any stars in the past and do not pay attention to anyone in the entertainment circle. At most, I just watch some celebrities who I like on television, but I can't even remember most of their names. But when I heard about this quote on 'feats or faults' yesterday, I was greatly moved by it as it was too shocking. I immediately looked up your works on the Internet and even checked out some of your past incidents. After reading everything, I just want to say this: You really are different from all of the other celebrities! From now onward, you will have another person added to your fanbase. I'm not chasing after stars, what I'm chasing is the special aura you emanate!"

LittleFei: "I will support you forever! Teacher Zhang, I'm cheering you on!"

Everyone was very supportive of him. During the past few days, his Weibo followers grew by a few hundred thousand to around 3 million fans in total. Although his follower numbers could not be compared to the S-list or A-list celebrities who had tens of millions of followers, and could not even compare to those Korean idol groups who came to China to develop their careers, everyone knew that these fans of Zhang Ye had an irrepressible combat strength that no other fanclubs could ever have!

Posting for the sake of posting?

Scolding others?

Making trouble?

Stirring up trouble?

They were experts in all of these! In a fight, one fan could take on three! This was not merely empty talk, the notoriety was earned from all the fan battles fought in the past!

Zhang Ye was delighted when he saw everyone's messages and noticed that his fanbase had once again expanded in scale, so he simply chose a few random messages to reply back to. Just by rejecting an award and making a comment inspired by the Uncharactered Stele, it had brought him so much popularity? Indeed, this was something that Zhang Ye did not expect.

This world also had Wu Zetian and a part of the important history remained the same. However, the quote 'feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves' about the Uncharactered Stele was not said by Wu Zetian herself. It was the later generation who came up with such a theory. There were some other similar theories. For example, how Wu Zetian thought that her feats were too great, and a stele was not enough to describe them all, therefore leaving it blank. Another theory suggested that Wu Zetian knew she lacked virtue, so she did not write anything on it. But in this world, some of those theories by the later generations did not surface at all. He knew this because he had spent a lot of reputation points after the college exam question setting duty, reading up on books and audio-visual materials of this world, then reviewing them from memory after that. He was familiar with a lot of this world's workings now. That was why he dared to graciously bring up the quote regarding the Uncharactered Stele.

Some long-lost classics must never be buried. That would be disrespecting history and the past generations. As the only spokesperson in this world, Zhang Ye naturally had the responsibility and duty to plagiarize the classics…no…to pass down the classics. Heh, isn't this what Lei Feng's spirit was about?!

He took the elevator and went upstairs.

Ding. The elevator door opened and he reached the floor his program team office was on. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, Zhang Ye saw two people engaging in a shouting match not too far away.

Who were they?

Why were they arguing this early in the morning?

After fixing his eyes on their faces, he saw that they were Jiang Yuan and another middle-aged man.

Yan Tianfei stared and said, "Old Jiang, are you people from Department 1 finding trouble with us? Our department has just recruited two high-caliber fresh graduates to join us, but look at what your department has done! You took both of them for yourselves? Leaving nothing for us at Department 14?"

Jiang Yuan looked at him, feeling troubled, knowing that this person was not easy to get along with. He was also the director of a department. If not for the special status that Department 1 had in Central TV, in terms of rankings, Yan Tianfei was still ranked higher than him as a vice director. "Department 14 has already been established for two years and still couldn't make a mark in the industry, so why would you still need so many people and equipment? After the Deputy Station Head considered all the factors and thought that those two graduates were not suitable for your department, he sent those two saplings to Department 1. Old Yan, we did not snatch your people, the Deputy Station Head was the one who made this arrangement. If you think it is improper, you can approach him to discuss it. As long as he gives his approval, we will release them immediately."

Yan Tianfei replied, "Since they went to your department, I should look for you!"

Jiang Yuan countered, "But it's useless even if you look for me. This matter was decided by the station heads after holding a meeting."

Yan Tianfei declared without giving him any face, "Old Jiang, don't try that with me. If you people did not request for them, would the station transfer away from my department? I can't understand this! Your department gets all the money, talent, and everything else good! Are all the other departments treated as stepchildren of Central TV? I'll fucking have it out with you today! After I finish with you, I will go and look for the Station Head! I'll demand an explanation for our Department 14 today! Otherwise, we'll just be dawdling around here! If I can't work properly? Then none of you will get to work properly either!"

Jiang Yuan knew that Old Yan actually dared to kick up a fuss over this. Old Yan was a veteran in Central TV and his qualifications were even higher than Central TV Department 1's Jiang Naixiong, much less Jiang Yuan. He had worked at Central TV all his life and had decades of experience. He even worked alongside two of the Deputy Station Heads at the same department before. So even if Yan Tianfei had a bad temperament and would shout or scold others over small things, he could still maintain his position as the Director of Department 14. The station heads did not bother him much since they could not control him anyway.

Jiang Yuan exclaimed, "Old Yan, what are you intending to do?!"

Yan Tianfei asked, "Where's Jiang Naixiong?"

Jiang Yuan said helplessly, "Director Jiang is not here yet." After thinking a bit, he got a little worried about the unyielding temperament of his opponent, so he took a step back and stated, "I'll make a decision on behalf of the Director. If you think you lack people on your side, except for those two fresh graduates, you can choose anyone who is idle or not doing any shows in our department now. Just one, be it an editor or producer. Will that be good enough for you?"

Yan Tianfei sneered, "Of the two graduates you took, one of them was the top scholar from Jiangsu's college entrance exam while the other was the vice president of the student council who had just graduated from Media College this year. For such good saplings, even ten of your staff cannot compare to them!"

Jiang Yuan threw up his hands and said, "Then I can't do anything about that."

Yan Tianfei added, "Fine, if you want me to choose, I'll take Zhang Ye from your department. Even if it's ten college entrance exam scholars who you took, I won't care. Just give me Zhang Ye and you can take as many people as you want from our department!"

Jiang Yuan: "…"

Zhang Ye who had just stepped out of the elevator was a little taken aback by this.

Eh?

Why did they mention me?

Central TV Department 14? What is this all about?

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Chapter 781: Director Zhang looks for trouble!

Translator: Legge Editor: - -

The both of them were still disputing.

Jiang Yuan: "No, definitely not Zhang Ye!"

Yan Tianfei sneered. "Then were you just making an empty offer!?"

Jiang Yuan said, "Old Yan, I was only giving you face by letting you pick a person. It's not like our Department 1 owes your Department 14 anything. If you want to be that way, then just take it as if I'd never offered at all!"

Yan Tianfei replied, "Department 1 has badly fallen out with Zhang Ye, even going all the way to court for a lawsuit. You people no longer have plans to arrange any work for Zhang Ye, but with a person like him whose popularity ranks within the top three at Central TV and is able to plan programs and even host them, he's just going to be doing nothing all day long at your department with that cold storage treatment, right? Since you have no plans for him? Then Department 14 will make plans for him! We lack talent on our side. Just tell me, which TV channel works in such a way like you do? With such a top host in your ranks, you've chosen to censor him instead! A bunch of prodigals!"

Jiang Yuan was furious. "How can you talk that way, Old Yan!"

Yan Tianfei rebuked, "Since you have taken my people, then you ought to make it up to me!"

They did not notice Zhang Ye who had just came out of the elevator not too far from them. Zhang Ye caught a glimpse of them and overheard most of what they said, but did not go up to greet them. He just made his way back to his program team office.

Half the staff were here, while the other half had not arrived yet.

Little Wang's eyes lit up. "Director Zhang!"

Ha Qiqi also smiled and greeted, "Good morning, Director Zhang."

"Good morning, everyone." Zhang Ye smiled back at them.

"Those words you said yesterday were amazing!"

"Yeah, it made my blood boil with excitement after hearing it!"

"What a great 'Feats or faults, leave it to future generations to judge for themselves!' I got goosebumps all over when I heard that!"

"That's the strong spirit our Director Zhang carries. Not mentioning the entertainment circle, even in the academic world through the ages, there haven't been many people who carry that strength of character and domineering spirit like Director Zhang!"

All of his staff immediately started flattering him.

Hearing that, Zhang Ye could feel his face flushing and he couldn't help but laugh, "Oh come on. What strength of character could I possibly have? You're all praising me to the heavens too much."

A person said, "It's just a pity about that international award."

Another person beside said, "What's there to pity? Even if Director Zhang didn't receive the award, what he did was even more prestigious than receiving the award! Who wouldn't give Director Zhang the thumbs up if they saw him now? That Abel Prize and its undeserved reputation—it's better not to receive it!"

"Haha!"

"That's true."

Little Wang suddenly looked in the direction of the door and asked, "Listen, does it sound like someone is arguing outside?"

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "You're really nosy, just get on with your work." Then, suddenly remembering that his program team had not had much to do since half a month ago, he corrected himself. "Just get on with whatever you're playing."

Little Wang giggled. "Then I'll continue playing Plants vs. Zombies!"

Zhang Zuo said, "Director Zhang's game is still the most interesting. I heard that the sales volume of Plants vs. Zombies has already exceeded 20 million copies. It basically steamrolled all other foreign and domestic video game titles that were released around this time period!"

Those playing, played. Others chatted.

Zhang Ye went into his own office. After getting Little Wang to bring him a cup of tea, he sat there and started watching movies too. These were leisurely days indeed.

As for that altercation that happened outside their office earlier? Zhang Ye did not take it seriously or to heart. Central TV Department 14? Back in Zhang Ye's previous world, if he didn't remember incorrectly, Channel 14 was a children's channel. But over in this world, it was definitely not the same. The children's channel over here should be on either Channel 11 or 12. But whatever channel it was, it didn't mean anything to him now. It wasn't that Zhang Ye did not want to switch over. He had been put into the freezer by Central TV Department 1 and definitely wouldn't be able to do any work before his contract ran out, so of course it would be great if he could switch departments and start doing a new show. From the contractual terms, Zhang Ye was allowed to since he was bound by his contract to Central TV, and not specifically Central TV Department 1. Therefore, he could in principle transfer over to any department within Central TV.

But he knew that Central TV Department 1 would surely not allow him to go. He had fallen out with them. Central TV Department 1's aim now was to freeze him so that he would not get another chance to do a show for the remainder of the year. Since that was their objective, why would they agree to let him go to another channel? Even if those channels had comparatively much poorer viewership ratings than Central TV Department 1, it was still impossible. As long as they had a hosting position with a chance to be on camera, then Central TV Department 1 definitely wouldn't agree to it. As a result, Zhang Ye simply did not take it to heart or treat it as anything serious.

Dong dong. Someone knocked on the door.

Zhang Ye looked up. "Come in."

AD Zhang Zuo came in and closed the door behind him. "Director Zhang, I've just heard something."

"What's the matter?" Zhang Ye asked.

Zhang Zuo blinked. "The Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here, and the Gala broadcast has been scheduled. Since it is not going to be a live broadcast, the recording was almost completed last night. A friend of mine who was in charge of the stage effects this year told me that Ningxia Television and Zhejiang Television have both been in contact with Central TV Department 1 about inviting you over to attend their provincial satellite channels' Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. As Ningxia Television does not have any outstanding hosts, they were hoping that you could go and guest host for them. Meanwhile, Zhejiang TV had originally planned to invite you and Teacher Yao Jiancai to perform a crosstalk act for their event. They got in touch several times with Central TV. Zhejiang TV even offered an appearance fee of 2 million RMB for you!"

There are still television stations that want me?

Zhang Ye felt very grateful. "Then what happened?"

Zhang Zuo said angrily, "Central TV Department 1 rejected all their approaches!"

Zhang Ye nodded, not surprised at all. "As expected."

"Director Zhang, Department 1 has really gone overboard. Do they really intend to cut off all your paths? Not only you, even the group of us were utterly disappointed when we heard about that!" Zhang Zuo sighed.

However, Zhang Ye wasn't disappointed. Since his relationship with those executives of Central TV Department 1 was already irreconcilable, there was nothing in it for him to be disappointed in them.

What Zhang Zuo had just told him about the other television stations attempting to temporarily borrow him had happened before, but it just wasn't a common occurrence. Further, paying an appearance fee of 2 million RMB to borrow someone was even rarer. But that showed just how much value they saw in Zhang Ye's position in the hosting world.

However, it did not matter how much they were willing to pay. Even though Zhang Ye was not constrained by Central TV and had the freedom to pursue other activities, like writing songs, painting, or whatnot, within the television industry, his contract had some limitations to it. Without Central TV's permission, he could not take part in another television station's activities or recordings; not even interview programs were given the green light. If Zhang Ye went ahead and recorded an interview and Central TV found out about it, then all they needed was a lawyer's letter to stop the interview from airing. That was how bad Zhang Ye's situation was at this moment! If he sought to increase his popularity now, he could only do so through other means. His main job of producing and hosting his own show was completely held back and restrained by Central TV Department 1!

...

Zhang Zuo left the office.

After he finished watching the movie, Zhang Ye started to feel bored. He casually browsed the Internet and looked at several TV shows that had aired recently. Hai, how boring, there was nothing to do at all. If he knew it would be so boring, he would rather have stayed home to laze in his own bed.

Suddenly, he saw a post sent out by Central TV Department 1's official Weibo. It was a promotional post for a recently broadcast new show on Channel 1 called Traveling the World. It wasn't truly a variety show but was more of a travel documentary show. Zhang Ye quickly went online to check out the first episode of this show but was left seething almost immediately.

What crap was that!

There was no sincerity in the presentation of the show at all!

On Weibo, there were also many netizens who were arguing with the director of that program team.

Netizen: "This show is truly boring!"

The director replied: "The original intent of this show has never inclined towards variety."

Another netizen: "But it's still not professional enough to be called a travel documentary either. There's so much nonsense in it. It makes me wonder if your travel host has even traveled before! It looks like she's going out of Beijing for the first time in her life, doesn't it?"

Perhaps due to the poor viewership rating for the first episode, that Central TV Department 1 director and his program team staff did not seem to be in a good mood either, and they exchanged some words with the netizens. This was an online activity for Traveling the World to engage their audience by letting them ask questions or give suggestions, with the program team answering them. However, looking at it now, it didn't seem like there was any intention to answer any questions. The program team's attitude clearly said it all: Our program is already very good. Even if we try to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand!

The director was someone Zhang Ye had met before but never spoken to. However, Zhang Ye knew that he was rather chummy with Jiang Naixiong.

In the end, Zhang Ye decided to comment on the post: "This is the lousiest show I've watched this year. Nothing could be worse than this!"

With Zhang Ye appearing, the netizens who took part in this question and answer session started getting livelier as well!

"Wow! Did I see that wrong?"

"Aiya, it's Zhang Ye!"

"Pfft! Teacher Zhang has shown himself!"

"Quickly come and see this. Teacher Zhang is blasting Traveling the World!"

An internal rift at Central TV Department 1? Everyone was tickled by this as their interest was immediately perked up!

Traveling the World's director and staff were all exasperated by this, speechless.

But before another five minutes could pass, Zhang Ye posted another Weibo message. It directly attacked his old foe, the Spring Festival Gala host Chen Ye's interview show. "I thought that Traveling the World was the lousiest show I watched this year, but who could've guessed that Chen Ye Interviews was even worse!"

Chen Ye: "…"

Chen Ye's fans: "…"

Another five minutes later.

Zhang Ye started firing at another Central TV Department 1 show again. "I thought that Traveling the World and Chen Ye Interviews were already the worst there was, but it seems like there are mountains beyond mountains and more 'able' men behind other 'able' men. Having looked around, I think your program is the worst of all! I don't even get what the program was about! Did the director graduate from a sports school?"

The directors and the hosts of those related shows had all stirred up trouble for Zhang Ye when he declared war on Central TV Department 1 back then. They criticized Zhang Ye both privately and in public, but as Zhang Ye had too much to handle at that time, he did not have time to get even with them. But now that this fellow was so free that his balls were aching, he naturally had to get back at them one by one with his scolding!

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Chapter 782: Confrontation!

Translator: Legge Editor: - -

It was extremely amusing on the Internet!

Zhang Ye's Weibo handle kept showing up as he appeared everywhere!

"What lousy show is this!"

"What lousy attire is the female host wearing? Did she purposely dress that way to gain an advantage? She wants to grab the audience's attention? Then she might as well wear long johns on screen. Women who dare to wear long johns to work are definitely not your everyday, normal person. That getup will surely be more attention grabbing than your green and red combination of dressing!"

"Into the Cosmos? You spent 5 million RMB just to achieve these kinds of effects? I think it's more suitable if you change the title to Into the Village."

"What kind of filming technique is this? Did you use a cell phone to capture the footage?"

In a short period of time, Zhang Ye had bombarded seven or eight of Central TV Department 1's shows, including variety shows, social science shows, and interview shows. He was not making baseless accusations since he watched one or two episodes of those shows and truly felt that they were terrible. There were too many areas that could be criticized by the audience. Furthermore, this bunch of people had caused trouble for Zhang Ye previously, so with that mouth of his, would Zhang Ye let them off so easily? That was obviously impossible! Every comment that this fellow made was getting more and more painful. His mouth was sarcastic all the way to their grandma's house!

The netizens were laughing out loud!

"Pfft!"

"Teacher Zhang is such a tease!"

"Well said! Your criticism of them is too scathing!"

"Man, Teacher Zhang has gone crazy again!"

"Hur hur, get used to it. Every now and then, Teacher Zhang will go crazy and pick on someone to argue with. This is his usual practice!"

"It's time for Zhang Ye and his peers to start fighting among themselves again!"

"I'm so excited. I've been waiting for this moment for too long!"

"My young friends, come gather around!"

"Take your chairs out and prepare to watch a good show. Support Zhang Ye silently by giving him Likes."

"I'm already fully equipped and ready for the battle to start!"

"Bring it on! I'm also prepared for the battle!"

Indeed, the battle was on the verge of breaking out. However, the scale was not as large as everyone imagined.

The main forces of the opponents were the fans of Chen Ye and the female host of another show. As for the other shows, they actually did not have much of an audience. First, the viewership ratings were not that high and very few people watched it. Second, some of the shows did not have hosts in the traditional sense. For example, when Zhang Ye scolded the director of Into the Universe, which was a social science show, no one knew who he was. And as the director was not a celebrity, naturally no one would speak up for him. Third, the quality of those shows was indeed quite poor. So if one really pondered Zhang Ye's words, he was actually telling the truth and not just spouting nonsense. It was just that his words were a bit too harsh.

The two groups of people started to curse at each other. However, the battlefield was very small since there weren't much people involved.

Many of those netizens who were anxious to see the world burn were totally lost for words.

"Where are they?"

"Come on, get the battle started! Quickly, start fighting!"

"Dammit, will you guys start fighting already? Why are there so few people?"

"Zhang Ye has already reached your doorsteps. You people should fight back! Why aren't you all fighting back?!"

The netizens were not satisfied with the small commotion and were shouting in frustration about how there was nothing to look forward to!

Finally, a veteran netizen stated a fact to explain it all. "What's there to fight over? Every other day, Zhang Ye has a war of words online with his peers. This has become such a common occurrence that everyone has already gotten used to. In the past, many people who found it a novelty would join in the fun and bang their war drums. Many people would help each other scold Zhang Ye. If it happened once or twice, it's still fine. But even after ten or twenty occurrences, it is still the fucking same. Even novelty has a limit. The people have already lost interest in what's happening. Didn't you all notice that those old enemies of Teacher Zhang are no longer interested in having a war of words with him now? How boring! If it was the couple, Chen Guang and Fan Wenli, who declared war and started criticizing those shows of Central TV Department 1, the entire country's citizens would definitely gather around to discuss or join in the battle, but that's because it would be very rare for that to happen. However, for Teacher Zhang Ye? Hur hur! Forget it. Has there ever been a day where he did not scold anyone? Has there ever been a day when he did not look for trouble anywhere? There's nothing exciting to look forward to at all! Everyone knows that Zhang Ye is just such a troublemaker!"

The netizens were wholly amused by that explanation.

"That's right, that's right!"

"Teacher Zhang's reputation is way too terrible!"

"Uh, no one wants to battle Teacher Zhang anymore now!"

"Hehe, how boring, this is way too boring!"

Once upon a time, in a place like the entertainment circle where everyone cared about their reputation and fame, the sudden appearance of Zhang Ye who was such an unreasonable jerk had shocked everyone's jaws into dropping. However, a year later today, when everyone met with such an incident again, they actually remained calm and dismissed it indifferently. For such a change in attitude, it was actually quite laughable if mentioned.

However, even though most of the netizens were not interested in starting a scolding battle, it did not mean that other people could sit still. For example, Central TV Department 1 was in chaos at this moment!

...

At the program team office that was originally The Voice's.

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, Little Wang, and the others were looking at Director Zhang's Weibo in a speechless manner. Everyone looked at each other and they could spot the helplessness in each other's eyes!

It's starting again!

Director Zhang has done it again!

Ha Qiqi rubbed her temple and said, "This…"

Zhang Zuo didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. "Director Zhang has offended another wave of people this time!" He strongly suspected that it was because of what he had told Zhang Ye about the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala earlier that Zhang Ye would do something like this.

"This bunch of people had condemned Director Zhang online before when he was fighting the lawsuit, so it is not considered rubbing it in when he criticized their shows this time." Little Wang giggled.

Ha Qiqi looked at Little Wang. "You can still laugh at this moment?"

Little Wang also understood very well. "Anyway, our program team has already hit rock bottom. We have nothing to lose."

Suddenly, Ha Qiqi, Little Wang, and the others heard some shouting and a commotion coming from the outside. They turned their heads to look at where this was coming from. Eventually, they saw a group of 30 to 40 people appearing angrily at the entrance of their office. There were men and women, young and old in the group, turning out in full force. Every one of them appeared very angry and seemed to be here with unfriendly intent!

Ha Qiqi and Zhang Zuo went on alert!

Zhang Zuo said, "Quick, let Director Zhang know about this!"

Little Wang's expression changed and she rushed off to inform Zhang Ye.

While he said that, the group of people rushed in from the outside!

"Where is Zhang Ye?"

"Call Zhang Ye out!"

"This is too much! This has crossed the line!"

"What do you mean by changing the title to Into the Village?"

"Where's Zhang Ye? Telling our hosts to wear long johns on screen to grab attention? Long johns your sister! Aren't you being too sarcastic! Little Qian is such a good girl and host! Her face turned green after seeing what you posted on Weibo!"

"You said that our shows were recorded on cell phones? Go, go to hell! Our entire show was recorded on professional equipment! You lack ethics with your wording! Normally, we just tolerate whatever you do, but saying that our shows were recorded on cell phones? No one could pretend they never saw that!"

"This is too infuriating!"

"We demand an explanation today!"

"There's a group of netizens who don't understand the truth and are echoing Zhang Ye's claims! They are deriding our shows by picking on the faults! Mocking us! This is a great insult to our shows! It will surely affect our shows' broadcasts and viewership ratings! Based on what does The Voice's program team have the right to criticize our shows on the internet? Are you all qualified to do so? Huh? I'm asking if you people are qualified to do so!"

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Chapter 783: No one can do anything about Zhang Ye!

Translator: Legge Editor: - -

The office was in a tizzy!

The people of the program teams at Central TV Department 1 called out by Zhang Ye—whether the directors, editors, or hosts—all came looking for Zhang Ye to denounce him! If it were any other person who criticized their programs, they wouldn't be able to find them. But Zhang Ye's Weibo account was a verified one that everyone knew about. A colleague of theirs who was working in the same building, could it be impossible to find him!?

"Old Ha, where is your Director Zhang?"

"Zhang Zuo, tell your executive director to come out here!"

"No one does things the way he does!"

"I've been at Central TV for many years, but I-I've never come across such a shameless person before!"

Emboldened by the fact that they had more people on their side, they were shouting for Zhang Ye to show himself. The shouting here also alerted a few other program team offices opposite The Voice's. Some of the people from those program teams probably did not know about what had happened yet, but they were already stealing glances and pointing as they whispered among themselves.

"Did something happen over there?"

"Why did they start fighting over there? Did Zhang Ye do something again?"

"You all should take a look on Weibo."

"Weibo?"

"Zhang Ye bombarded quite a few programs of Central TV Department 1!"

"Ah? Publicly criticizing over Weibo? He even dares to do that?"

"Listen to what you're saying. What does Zhang Ye not dare to do?"

"Fuck, you're right."

At this moment, under the watchful gazes of everyone, Zhang Ye came out of his office.

When he saw that there were so many people, Zhang Ye was also slightly taken aback. Then he smiled and said, "Whoa, why is it so lively here? What's going on?"

The AD of Into the Universe shouted, "Stop playing dumb!"

Zhang Ye blinked. "Playing dumb?"

Beside him, another person from the same program team reacted by gently tugging back the AD a bit. Even if they were angry, Zhang Ye had been given the cold storage treatment by Central TV Department 1. However, Zhang Ye was still the same as before and his reputation was still kicking. Actually, if it weren't for him having offended so many people at once this time by scolding all of those program teams together, no one would have wanted to be the first ones to step up against him. Who didn't know that Zhang Ye wasn't someone they could afford to offend? Just look at those leaders of Central TV Department 1. Weren't they still busy clearing all those lawsuits brought up by those ex-employees of Central TV? Furthermore, no matter how down and out Zhang Ye was at Central TV Department 1, he was still the executive director, overall planner, and host of the top-top-rated variety show in the country. Their own shows did not even earn a fraction of The Voice's ratings, so when faced with a legend like Zhang Ye and his team, they still had some reverence for him.

The executive director of Traveling the World scoffed, "Don't tell me you've forgotten about the things that you posted on Weibo just half an hour ago. Your memory can't be that bad!"

Zhang Ye realized what they were talking about. "Oh, that."

Another person said, "Zhang Ye, you went too far! What makes you think you can scold our shows like that?"

Zhang Ye wondered, "Did I scold you guys? As your fellow peer and colleague, I only had some expectations for the shows that everyone here made. That was why I commented a little about them. When did I ever scold you?"

"Is that what you call commenting?" A youth said angrily, "Is telling someone to wear long johns on camera a comment!?"

Someone else said, "You also know that we're colleagues? Since we're all working at Department 1 together, why did you come and criticize one of your own? Those criticisms can come from anyone, anyone but our own! Otherwise, when our audience sees this, what would they think?"

When those words were said, many of the 30-odd people present here immediately blushed, with some coughing uncomfortably.

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were sneering at them from the side.

Colleagues?

One of your own?

You dare say those words with that mouth of yours!

When Director Zhang was being restrained and treated that way by the Central TV Department 1 heads, being coerced into giving up his overseas copyright of The Voice and ended up facing the entire Central TV Department 1 in a lawsuit all by himself, what were all of you doing? You kicked him while he was down! Currying favor with the executives! Standing alongside Jiang Naixiong and Jiang Yuan to condemn Director Zhang! Colleagues? One of your own? Bull fucking shit! Since you guys already made the decision to denounce Director Zhang, then you should've been prepared for the day you would be targeted as well!

Ha Qiqi could no longer bear to listen. "It's office hours right now. Instead of working, what are you doing here in our office? What's all the shouting for? Are you competing to see whose voice is louder?"

But Zhang Ye did not seem to mind and just gave a smile. "Sister Ha, it's fine. Let them say what they want."

The AD of Chen Ye Interviews was one of the more well-qualified to speak on behalf of the group. With Chen Ye's position as one of the pillars of Central TV Department 1, their show was considered one of the more popular interview programs and also a branded program of Central TV Department 1. That was why when he spoke, it sounded much more confident as well. "Zhang Ye, no one does things the way you do! You can't indiscriminately scold our shows that way. That's basically causing trouble! You are purposely smearing our shows that way! That's an extremely underhanded move! Go on, just go on and revel all you want for now. We'll definitely bring this up to the executives! By taking advantage of your appeal to the audience and stabbing us in the back with such toxic behavior, the execs will surely deal with you severely! They'll punish you!"

"That's right!"

"Such behavior is too wicked!"

"They must definitely punish you!"

"Well said! Let's go together, everyone! We will report this to the execs together!"

"Right, if that sort of behavior is not severely punished, then what else would need punishing!?"

They all echoed each other's calls to denounce him!

Ha Qiqi was annoyed by this!

Zhang Zuo was also getting tired of hearing all this. Were they done complaining yet?

Zhang Ye's people looked at him while the bunch of people who came to denounce him were also constantly reading Zhang Ye's expression. After all, this fellow's reputation was really terrible and no one knew when he would lose it, so they constantly stayed alert.

However, just when everyone thought that Zhang Ye was going to get angry, he grinned instead and was totally unaffected by their words. In fact, the look in Zhang Ye's eyes even seemed to be showing a sense of happiness. "Oh, really? This bro has really done something so serious? That's great then. You guys are right, totally right! I fully agree with what you guys are saying. I fully support everyone's intention to report this to the executives so that I may receive my punishment!"

Ha Qiqi and the others were stunned!

The denouncing bunch of people were also staring, dumbfounded!

What did you say? You agree with our views? And even fully support us to approach the executives to punish you!?

Suddenly, when this bunch of people caught on, their legs "gave way" and those who fainted, fainted, while others who vomited blood, vomited blood. Everyone "collapsed" at once, silently cursing Zhang Ye's 18 generations of ancestors once over!

Zhang, you son of a bitch!

Punish you? Fire you? Even an idiot would know that's impossible!

Everyone here knew that Zhang Ye had long been thinking of leaving this place, but it wasn't like anyone would let him do that. The executives wouldn't approve it for sure. They were already prepared to make things difficult for him by keeping him with the department and not assigning any shows for him to helm. This was Central TV Department 1's revenge plot! In such circumstances, how could the executives possibly fire him over such a small incident? Even if Zhang Ye committed the greatest sin, Jiang Naixiong and Jiang Yuan would never have him fired! Otherwise, why would the executives have spent such a great deal of effort to freeze him? Do you think they were playing a child's game!?

It was precisely because they thought of this that the gang of denouncers suddenly seemed to have awakened from their wishful thinking. They lost their morale immediately and were seemingly suffocating from this anger that couldn't be vented. This was even more uncomfortable than swallowing a fly! They were just wondering why Zhang Ye was in such a good mood today, and why it was so easy to reason with him! Not only did he happily play along with them, he even agreed and supported their intention to report him?

Fuck!

It didn't matter who reported him to the executives!

In the entire Central TV Department 1 right now, it wouldn't be at all surprising if any person got fired, unless that person was Zhang Ye!

Seeing that they couldn't muster up another word, Zhang Ye began protesting instead, "What's this? You guys better not be worried that this will affect our relationship as colleagues. Seriously, don't be worried about that. I can guarantee all of you that our working relationship and friendship will never change for life. Just go on and report me, I really won't mind at all. I am not someone who is that narrow-minded. When I heard your reasoning earlier, I finally realized how bad my behavior was! I definitely deserve to be severely punished! It wouldn't be overboard even if they fire me!"

Everyone: "…"

Everyone's anger utterly dissipated and died off.

Ha Qiqi and the others sniggered, unable to hold back their laughter.

The expressions of those people from the program teams were looking very bad. They seemed to have realized that they had come here for nothing now. This was all too meaningless!

Infuriating!

How infuriating!

It was clearly this Zhang fellow who came to scold them first, but how did this situation end up? Could it be that no matter how Zhang Ye scolded or insulted their shows, he would at most face a meaningless punishment of having his salary docked and nothing else? To be docked of one's salary might be very serious for people like them, since that was the thing they depended on for a living. However, to a B-list celebrity like Zhang Ye, what was a month's salary of several thousand really worth? It was worth a fart! To put it bluntly, if he randomly burped or farted, that alone would earn him several thousand!

Outside, many people from the other program teams who had gathered to watch the commotion were tickled funny.

Chen Ye Interviews' AD had a sunken expression. They initially came over to confront Zhang Ye but had now become the joke instead. As he really couldn't take this lying down, he ended up accosting him with a few words. "Zhang Ye, just stay here and goof off by yourself! You better work hard at goofing off! Just watch out!"

The others also said angrily.

"Right, watch out!"

"Sooner or later, you won't be able to smile anymore!"

"I'll see how long you can mess around for!"

Hearing that, Zhang Ye smiled. "Alright then, I have to respect my colleagues' views. I will no longer mess around in the future. I will definitely stop stirring shit up on you guys."

Everyone was totally caught by surprise at this.

Wow, did this guy's attitude do a complete turnaround?

How rare, you even know that you're a shit stirrer?!

In the end, Zhang Ye sighed and reflected, "Hai, I didn't know I was a stick, I was actually a stick!"

This bunch of people could not react in time initially. Stirring shit up on us? If you are a stick? Then, everyone slowly turned angry and nearly cursed at someone's mother!

Fuck!

If you're the stick?

Then wouldn't that make us the shit!?

Zhang! You're too damn sarcastic!!!