Chapter 12 - Tidal-like Good Comments from Listeners! (1/2)

The next day.

Zhang Ye squeezed in the subway to get to work. He heard two men, who had just got on the train, speaking nearby. The topic of conversation made Zhang Ye’s ears perk up.

“Old Zhao, did you listen to ‘Late-night Ghost Stories’ last night?”

“Of course, I did. I listen to that program every night without fail. Eh, I thought you didn’t listen to the radio?”

“I don’t listen to it, but my wife does. Yesterday, she forcefully made me accompany her and had me listen to the program. You should know my wife, right? She has so much courage. If she sees a gangster late at night on the street, just her voice will scare the gangster away. She listens to ghost stories just so she can sleep. She had never felt so afraid before. And strangely, yesterday, they had broadcast a new ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, which scared her so much that she woke me up. I told her not to listen to it if it’s so scary and just switch it off, but she refused and was adamant about tuning in.”

“Haha, yesterday’s ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ was awesome. Although I was not fear-stricken, I did find it creepy deep down inside and could not sleep well. It was very good.”

“I also accompanied my wife and listened till 1 A.M. It was indeed good.”

“I will carry on tuning in today. I really want to know what happens in the tomb later.”

“That host is a rookie, right? His name is Zhang Ye? I find his narration very good. His speed was very appropriate, as the host from before spoke too slowly.

As the two people continued to chat, they did not know that the Zhang Ye they were discussing was just a few meters away from them.

Zhang Ye felt good hearing that. This feeling was so good. Opening his game screen to look at his Reputation, it was now at 10,677.

Having bought the second ‘lottery’ ticket yesterday, his Reputation had been depleted all the way down to zero. His Reputation had grown by more than 10,000 in a night. One had to know that ever since Zhang Ye was born, he had only managed to gain 200,000 Reputation in his more than 20 years of living. Now, with just a night’s time, he had nearly matched what he had previously gained in a year. This speed was indeed very fast. There was indeed no mistake in choosing a radio station as his first step towards becoming famous. Besides, his Reputation would slowly increase. It would increase by one or two sporadically. It was the standard practice that every episode of “Late-night Ghost Stories” would be edited by specialized staff before they placed the recording on the radio station’s website. Clearly, the gradual increase in Reputation was from people who did not listen to the live broadcast the previous night and were instead from people who listened to the sound bite on the website and gave Reputation points to Zhang Ye if they found it good.

Getting off the subway and onto the platform.

Zhang Ye first went to a roadside store to buy cigarettes. His addiction was not too bad, as he would smoke two sticks whenever he encountered a good situation.

“What cigarettes do you want?” the boss asked.

Still Red River? This was the cigarette brand that Zhang Ye usually smoked. However, realizing that he was now at least a celebrity, smoking a 6 CNY cigarette did not match his status as a successful radio host and a would-be famous world celebrity. Smoking a 6 CNY cigarette would be too embarra.s.sing. A celebrity had to appear like a celebrity. They had to display their financial ability and their social image at every moment.

As such, Zhang Ye waved his hand, “Give me a pack of Double Red Joy!”

…Alright, this pack is 6.50 CNY.

Reaching the office.

There were many colleagues who had dark circles under their eyes, as they had worked overtime until very late yesterday.

Zhang Ye entered and was already accustomed to being ignored by everyone. He was preparing to take his seat to begin working. Now that he had his own program, it could be considered a promotion, so he naturally had a lot more things to do.

“Little Zhang, you’ve come?”

“Good morning, Teacher Zhang.”

“I heard the program. It was awesome.”

“Right, I could not come back yesterday, as I had something going on. I also listened back at home. I heard that it is an original work of yours? And without a script? Speaking whatever you thought on the spot? Amazing!”

“No ordinary person can go on a live broadcast without a script.”