Chapter 1474 - Setting the Olympic Stadium venue!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

The next day.

Early in the morning, Zhang Ye rushed off to the Ministry of Culture.

There were also different tiers when it came to holding concerts. The easiest way to identify the scale of a concert would be its venue.

For the C- or D-list singers who were holding an experimental concert to gauge their popularity, a venue that held a thousand people would be good enough, especially in a place like Beijing. Many of the better venues required the organizers to line up and get approval to use them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even be considered for the venue. Meanwhile, the chance to perform at the bigger venues were only given to A- or B-list celebrities who were also professional singers. Only Heavenly Kings and Queens like Zhang Ye, Zhang Yuanqi, and Xu Meilan would be qualified to hold a performance at a venue which could hold tens of thousands of audience members!

10,000 audience members?

15,000 audience members?

That was already the highest, the peak!

Any higher than that? A venue that could hold 100,000 audience members?

No one had ever pulled that off before! It was virtually unheard of!

Olympic Stadium had only been completed a year ago. There were no cases of it being rented to a celebrity to hold a concert, nor did any celebrities even get such an idea. It was only Zhang Ye who dared to think of something like that. This fellow was already toying with the idea of holding his concert at Olympic Stadium. It was not that he was brave, but rather, many precedents had been set in Zhang Ye’s previous world. The Olympics had taken place many years earlier in his previous world, so it was not as though there had not been celebrities who held their concerts at the Bird’s Nest. Although the two worlds were different, whatever worked there should logically work here as well, so it should be worth a shot.

So he rushed over.

Others wanting to pass through the gates to the Ministry of Culture would not find it easy, but it wasn’t so for Zhang Ye. He was the executive director of the previous Spring Festival Gala and had come across many executives in his work. He also knew a lot of people, so there wasn’t a need for Old Wu’s influence on this matter. Zhang Ye had his way around here just like he did at the SARFT.

At an office.

Zhang Ye knocked on the door and entered. “Supervisor Hu.”

Supervisor Hu looked up. “Aiyo, Director Zhang, what brought you here?”

“I came to visit you,” Zhang Ye said with a smile.

Supervisor Hu was a shrewd man. “Come off it. It can’t be anything good since you had to come here. Speak.” He got him to sit down, then called his secretary over to pour Zhang Ye a drink.

Zhang Ye did not stand on ceremony and said with a laugh, “Then I’ll be straight. The ministry is in charge of the approval for cultural and music performances, right?”

Supervisor Hu nodded. “That is correct.”

Zhang Ye said, “Well, I would like to hold a concert.”

“Yo, that’s a good thing.” Supervisor Hu smiled and said, “So why are you looking for me? With your influence, Boss Zhang, wouldn’t it be easier to handle it through the SARFT?”

Zhang Ye smacked his lips and said, “The issue is not with the approval of the performance but the venue’s approval.”

Supervisor Hu understood. “The venue? That won’t be a problem. It’s just a simple matter.” He picked up his phone. “So, which location do you have your eyes on? I’ll get it approved for you immediately.”

Zhang Ye directly said, “O-lym-pic! Sta-di-um!”

Thud. The phone in Supervisor Hu’s hand dropped. “What?”

Zhang Ye repeated himself.

Supervisor Hu was stunned. He reached out to touch Zhang Ye’s forehead.

Zhang Ye asked, “What are you doing?”

Supervisor Hu replied, “I wanted to check if you have a fever!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I don’t have a fever. So can I hold it there?”

“Can you hold it there!” Supervisor Hu said, “How dare you even think about using the Olympic Stadium!”

Zhang Ye said, “If sports can be held there, or a large-scale event can be organized there, why not a concert? Isn’t the schedule for that venue quite free recently? Let me book it. I’ll help generate some revenue for them. The place would be empty otherwise.”

Supervisor Hu nearly fainted. “This isn’t about generating revenue. Sports are sports, large-scale events are large-scale events, but what you have planned is something very different. You intend to hold a commercial performance there!”

At this moment, someone entered from outside.

Supervisor Chen was taken aback. “Eh, Zhang Ye is here?”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Hi, Brother Chen.”

Supervisor Chen said with a smile, “What’s up? You here on business?”

Zhang Ye said, “Yeah, I came to look for Old Hu to approve a venue for me, but he’s acting all bureaucratic with me.”

Supervisor Chen was amused as he looked at Supervisor Hu and said, “Old Hu, you’re at fault if you do that. We fought closely with Zhang’er during the previous Spring Festival Gala. Surely you can’t refuse to help him over such a minor matter, right? That’s terrible of you.” He then thumped himself on the chest and said, “Zhang’er, your Brother Chen is here. I’ll approve it for you. Just say the word. Which venue are you eying? I have no jurisdiction in Hong Kong, but as long as it’s a place in the Mainland, feel free to choose wherever you like!”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Brother Chen is still the best. I’m looking to book Olympic Stadium.”

Supervisor Chen immediately turned around and went off in the opposite direction. “—Good! Bye!”

Zhang Ye hurriedly pulled him back. “Where are you going?”

Supervisor Chen said in a speechless manner, “Old Hu is indeed unable to help you with this. Who would dare to approve that venue for you? You’re really bold, huh? Do you know what kind of a place Olympic Stadium is? Why don’t you choose another venue?”

Zhang Ye went over to the sofa and sat down. He shook his head and said, “But I already have my eyes on that place.”

Supervisor Hu spoke up, “But we really cannot approve that. There hasn’t been a precedent for something like this yet.”

Zhang Ye said, “If l start the ball rolling, then there would be a precedent for future cases, right?”

Supervisor Chen rolled his eyes and said, “This is really something that only you dare to think of!”

An hour.

Three hours.

Five hours.

Pulling strings.

Logical reasoning.

Highlighting the pros and cons.

He stayed at the Ministry of Culture for the entire day!

When the Ministry of Culture found out that Zhang Ye had his eye on Olympic Stadium, everyone broke out into a cold sweat. Initially, nobody thought this could possibly go through. If you were organizing a large-scale Asian charity event, it would be fine to let you book the venue. But how could that be allowed for a concert?

Then, the situation took a turn.

One of the executives at the Ministry of Culture could no longer watch on.

That executive called for a meeting and summoned Supervisor Hu, Supervisor Chen, and a number of other relevant personnel to attend. He asked them if they knew how greatly Zhang Ye had contributed to the national culture up until now. Literary novels, calligraphy pieces, Chinese heavy metal music, the revival of the Spring Festival Gala, and in recent times, the rise of Chinese animation were all started by Zhang Ye. To say that Zhang Ye was a leading figure of the new generation in Chinese culture would not be too far-fetched, would it? How much glory had Zhang Ye brought to China? How great were his contributions to the cultural cause? Wasn’t he just asking to hold a personal concert at Olympic Stadium? Was that too much to ask for? Just let him hold it! I’ll approve it! If the venue isn’t approved of, I’ll go and settle it with them personally!

Zhang Ye still had quite the influence here.

Or perhaps Old Wu’s influence played a part.

So things were settled just like that. This was a very big issue initially, but after the important leader had spoken, it soon became a triviality. With the Ministry of Culture taking the lead, the venue was secured on the afternoon of the same day. This was only possible for Zhang Ye. If it were Zhang Yuanqi, Xu Meilan, or any of the other Heavenly Kings and Queens, it wouldn’t be possible for them to get this booking approved.

…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the evening.

At the studio.

Zhang Ye returned and announced, “I’ve secured the venue!”

Ha Qiqi was dumbfounded. “What?”

Zhang Zuo said in a stunned manner, “How is that possible!”

Zhang Ye smiled as he handed Ha Qiqi a business card. “This is the contact for the venue. Go and liaise with him about the performance time. Get it done as quick as possible.”

Only now did everyone believe it!

Loud screaming rocked the studio!

“Holy shit!”

“It’s really happening?”

“We’re going to hold a concert at Olympic Stadium?”

“Heavens, it seems like this concert will be rather big!”

Was it just rather big?

This was the largest performing venue in China!

And also the largest performing venue in the whole of Asia!