Chapter 144: A Fan is Diagnosed with a Terminal Illness!

The next day.

Beijing Television Station, recording studio.

“Last week, I brought up a point of view, that Cao Cao was a lovable arch-careerist. So, was that right? Let us talk about it part by part.”

“Let’s talk about an arch-careerist first. What is an arch-careerist, exactly?”

“Cao Cao’s family background was very bad……”

“So we can come to the conclusion that Cao Cao was a lovable arch-careerist. His treachery and heroism were one aspect of him, but in fact, Cao Cao had wanted to be an able minister. But what stopped him from becoming one? Please watch the next episode, ‘An Able Minister’s Path’. Thank you, everyone.”

The third episode had finished recording.

The audience instantly stood up and applauded!

A few other people at the side clapped and cheered!

Zhang Ye had to catch his breath. His forehead was sweating. An hour of nonstop talking and standing was physical work, too!

Xiao Lu hurriedly ran over to pass him a towel to wipe off his sweat.

Dafei brought over a bottle of mineral water for him, “Teacher Zhang, have a drink.”

“Thank you.” Zhang Ye drank with big mouthfuls and felt better.

Hu Fei walked over, “Why don’t we have a break? You are still injured, so don’t force it.”

Zhang Ye waved, “I’m fine, Leader. Our program will be broadcast within the next two days. Today is the deadline, so we have to record a few more episodes. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens in the next few days, what would happen if we were to stop broadcasting after just a few episodes? I intend to record three to four episodes by today.”

Hu Fei said, “So many? Are you able to take it?”

“No problem.” Zhang Ye saw that some of the audience members had returned from the washroom, so he said, “Let’s begin.”

……

4th episode, “An Able Minister’s Path”

5th episode, “Where to go from here”

6th episode, “Two wrongs don’t make a right”

7th episode, “Foresight”

Although he said that he would record three to four episodes, Zhang Ye couldn’t stop once he started. The more he spoke, the more spirited he became. He did not want to stop. After dinner, the audience was rotated and Zhang Ye continue recording. In the end, he had finished the recording for the 8th, 9th and 10th episodes!

Eight episodes were recorded in a single day!

They had even recorded next week’s broadcast!

After the recording studio was emptied, Xiao Lu, Hou Ge and Dafei were all exhausted.

Xiao Lu stared blankly, “Teacher Zhang, your battle strength is really too strong. I’ve never heard of anyone recording from the morning until the end of the day. And it’s only you speaking; you don’t even have a helper!”

“It’s not only battle strength.” Hu Fei laughed, “Teacher Little Zhang’s eloquence and memory are also godlike. He doesn’t even have a prompter and can speak off-script the entire way. Back when I heard people from the Beijing Radio Station say that Teacher Little Zhang recorded ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ for eight hours nonstop without a script, I did not believe it. I thought they were bullsh*tting. But now, I really believe it!”

Hou Ge laughed, “Today’s two batches of audience members must have got a kick listening to it. We enjoyed it, too. It was done so interestingly. The details were full of ups and downs!”

Hu Fei said, “Everyone, thank you for the hard work. Let’s go. It’s time to get off work.”

……

At night.

Before he slept, Zhang Ye switched on his computer and first checked for news regarding him on the internet. Most of it contained the raving reviews for “Zhang Ye’s Analysis of the Three Kingdoms”. After scanning them, he clicked into his fan club’s HQ in anticipation. The Tieba’s name was “Zhang Ye’s Nest”. The two moderators had been approved: ZhangYeNumber1Fan and Big Saber Bro. Zhang Ye did not apply to be a moderator, for he did not have time to manage the affairs of the Tieba account. However, he was its spiritual leader and the core figure. After all, this was a fan club established for him.

There were nearly a thousand posts in the forum.

A stickied post was an announcement and rules of the fan club made by ZhangYeNumber1Fan was included in it. For example, they had to support Teacher Zhang unconditionally. There should not be any internal squabbles and everyone was to be united, etc. She really did seem like a talent good at management. These things were done very well.

Big Saber Bro also posted, “Why am I a moderator? I’m just in charge of battles; I don’t care about anything else.”

This Big Saber Bro was also quite an interesting fellow. Zhang Ye had left his cell phone number with him yesterday, hoping to contact him and have an exchange of words. However, who knew that Big Saber Bro would not give him a phone call? It was like Big Saber Bro only had battling and curse words in his dictionary. He did not care about anything else.

Zhang Ye tapped his keyboard and was thinking of posting something, but he stopped after some consideration. He used his voice to record a message and posted on it. He imitated a Hunan province’s accent, “Comrades, I announce, Zhang Ye’s fan club…is established…today!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Ha, Teacher Zhang has appeared!”

“Idol! I’ve seen my idol!”

“Why is it this accent?’

“Teacher Zhang, you are being mischievous again. Haha!”

Others might not understand why he did so. As for why a Beijing person like Zhang Ye had to use a Hunan way of speech to say it, only Zhang Ye himself was amused. There was quite a bit of mischief in it. These words were known by everyone in his world. They were the the original words said by the Chairman at Tiananmen when the country was established. The accent was the same, but it was just changed slightly by Zhang Ye. Using a mighty figure’s words as an opening speech was also a showcase of how much Zhang Ye treasured his fan club. It also showed his hope for an auspicious and smooth beginning.

Uh, the only problem was that the number of fans was lacking.

The number of people who joined Zhang Ye’s Tieba page was less than 3,000 people.

This result was even after Zhang Ye promoted it on Weibo, and ZhangYeNumber1Fan promoted it along with others fans. No matter what, while Zhang Ye’s fame was at best passable in Beijing, he was still nothing in the other provinces. He had just debuted and did not have any foundation or influential works. Naturally, his fan numbers were lacking. However, it was alright. Zhang Ye was confident that his fan numbers would increase with time. This was just the beginning. Everything needed a gradual process. There was no reaching the sky in a single step.

……

Inside Tieba.

Zhang Ye interacted with everyone and began chatting about anything under the sun.

Suddenly, someone said, “Eh, why isn’t Number1 here today? Teacher Zhang has already appeared. Shouldn’t Number1 always be the first to reply?”

“Maybe he’s sleeping?”

“Recently Number1’s online time isn’t very stable.”

“Could it be due to work?”

“She isn’t feeling well. She went to the hospital today.”

“Ah? She? Number1 is a female?”

“The brother on post #5, you know Number1?”

“Yes, I’m her middle school classmate. Recently, she has been lacking in energy. She even called me a while ago, saying that she would go to the hospital. I have no idea what the results are. Maybe she’s suffering from fatigue with work.”

Zhang Ye felt bad seeing this. He thought Yang Lian had fallen sick because of busying herself for him. Yesterday, she had said that she was tired all the time, as she felt unwell. Hence, Zhang Ye gave Yang Lian a phone call. Ring, ring, ring. No one picked up, despite it ringing more than ten times.

Zhang Ye also had nothing else to say. He went to bed.

……

The next day.

Once again, he was caught up with work.

And the results for “Lecture Room” was building its foundation by the day!

Wednesday. It was the first day “Zhang Ye’s Analysis of the Three Kingdoms” was broadcast on a weekday. Although there was an inevitable drop in its rating, its reception was still very good!

Wednesday’s rating: 5.08%

Thursday’s rating: 4.99%.

Friday’s rating: 5.11%.

When it was the sixth and seventh episode, which were broadcast over the weekend, the ratings once again jumped up, while everyone was resting. It respectively hit 8.09% and 8.12%!

With the ratings stabilized, and with a tiny growth in numbers, everything was a given. There was nothing stopping the ratings legend that was “Lecture Room”. Amongst all the similar historical and educational programs in the same period, “Lecture Room” crushed its competitors. And even when counting the number of people tuning in, the Jinshi satellite television station’s historical segment paled in comparison to “Lecture Room”‘s numbers!

The program was hot. There were all sorts of discussions regarding “Lecture Room” on the internet. The number of clicks on the online video broke a million views for every episode. Many people either wanted more or felt that they had missed something after watching the television broadcast, so they would watch it on the internet another time or two. Few people watched “Lecture Room” as a form of entertainment, but rather, they watched it as a form of culture. Most watched it with the hopes of learning.

Naturally, Zhang Ye’s name as the main lecturer was mentioned again and again. He was becoming more and more recognized by the day. His career was developing very well!

……

However, on this day.

Zhang Ye had finished recording a few episodes yesterday, so the Leader gave him a day off. He switched on the computer after eating breakfast and checked his Tieba. Immediately, there was grievous news!

“Where’s Number1?”

“Right, where’s the moderator?”

“This is our fan club’s leader. Why isn’t she here?”

“It’s already been five to six days, right? Why haven’t we seen her?”

Then, a post was made. The poster was the self-proclaimed middle school classmate of ZhangYeNumber1Fan, “Number1 has fallen really ill! These few days, I could not get in touch with her over the phone. In the beginning, she did not pick it up, but later, her phone was just switched off. It was only last night when I contacted Yang Lian’s mother. Her mother said that.. she was hospitalized in Beijing. The hospital has already diagnosed that she suffers from myelodysplasia. I heard that it is in the initial stages of contracting leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant urgently. However, the medical fees would be more than a million Yuan. And that’s just the minimum. Their family situation has always been average. Her parents are just workers. What.. are they to do!? I’m dying of worry!”

“What?”

“Is that true?”

“Leukemia? How’s that possible!?”

The classmate of Yang Lian said anxiously, “Which of you are in Beijing? Who can help me visit Yang Lian? I do not know the situation at all. I’m worried that something will happen to her! Yang Lian was very competitive in school! To get such a terminal illness… I really do not know what she… I beg of you. Please visit her for me!”

“Who’s in Beijing?”

“Is there anyone?”

“Everyone, help out!”

“Right, let’s see what her situation is like. If it’s bad, we can begin a round of donations!”

Zhang Ye’s expression changed and he immediately replied, “Give me the address to the hospital!”