Chapter 1637: Zhang Ye, King of Posturing!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge#
On this day.
In China.
On Weibo.
“I heard that the filming of Commando 2 has already wrapped up.”
“Yeah, Hollywood productions move so quickly.”
“The commercial films of Hollywood have an ecosystem of their own when it comes to movie productions, and the process is like a pipeline of sorts. Besides, this is the second movie of the franchise, so of course they wrapped up filming that quickly. It’s totally unlike our domestic movie productions that sometimes take up to a year or two to finish. In the end, their box office performances don’t even have the results to show for all that effort. Hai, there’s really no comparison at all.”
“Commando 2 will be out in theaters soon.”
“Calling for a strong boycott of that movie by everyone.”
“Yes, based on the claims that Wilson made, we must boycott it!”
“Let him have zero box office earnings in China!”
“I heard a rumor that Zhang Ye’s movie has wrapped up filming too!”
“What? So fast?”
“Is Face-smacking Zhang on steroids?”
“Didn’t Wolf Warrior 2 start filming half a month later than Commando 2?”
“Zhang Ye is really too fucking fast when it comes to filming things!”
“Hahaha, this should be considered slow. Remember In the Name of the People? That fellow only took 10 days to finish shooting it. That’s a TV series with over 40 episodes!”
“Is he really thinking of challenging Hollywood?”
“Supporting Zhang Ye! Fuck them up!”
“Damn, can he really beat them?”
“Who cares if he can win or not, just fight them!”
“I’m looking forward to Teacher Zhang’s debut film appearance!”
…
Noon.
Back at home.
The welcome banquet had been prepared in advance.
The entire family had gathered here today, and Sisi was even lying on her belly at the first-floor window, looking outside eagerly and listening for the sounds of a car.
A car drove over.
Sisi shouted in excitement, “Daddy! It’s Daddy!”
When the door opened, Sisi clambered out!
Zhang Ye had just gotten out of the car when he saw his daughter running to him. His heart melted. He sprinted over to pick her up, laughing loudly as he raised her in the air and spun around a few times. Then he lowered his head and gave Sisi a dozen kisses!
“Daddy!”
“My dear, I missed you so much!”
“Daddy, I missed you too!”
“Good girl, good girl!”
Behind her, his family had also come outside.
Wu Zeqing looked at him and said with a smile, “You’ve gotten a little tanner.”
His mother stared at him and said, “How is this just a little tanner! He’s as tan as a black dog’s bollocks! If not for the car’s license plate number, I wouldn’t have recognized you!”
Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “The sun was really strong in Africa.”
Li Qinqin said, “Why did you just get back?”
His father also said, “Yeah, Yao Jiancai and Shanshan both returned much earlier than you.”
Zhang Ye sighed. “I was outside of Beijing all this while. After the filming wrapped up, I remained with the VFX firm to supervise their work. Then there was also the editing work to do. I couldn’t leave it to the others, so I had to handle it myself. Luckily, it’s all done now, haha. Zeqing, I sent the film’s footage to the SARFT this morning. Get someone to quickly approve it for me. After that, there are only the publicity, distribution, and screening work left. Everyone will be able to watch it soon.”
Li Qinqin asked in concern, “How did it go?”
Zhang Ye said as he followed them into the house, holding his daughter in his arms, “When we just started rolling the cameras, this bro still had some reservations and felt a little unsure about it. After all, it was my first time making a movie, so I didn’t know how it would turn out. But after filming wrapped up, when the VFX were added in and the film’s editing was completed, haha, don’t mention Commando 2, even if Hollywood released a few more blockbusters this year, I would still freaking challenge them!”
Wu Changhe curled his lips.
His family members were also quite skeptical.
As it was time for lunch, the entire family sat down to eat.
Li Qinqin smiled and said, “You haven’t been back in two months. Why don’t you share a drink with your father-in-law?”
Zhang Ye waved it off. “I can’t drink today. I still have a press conference to hold in the evening.”
“You must have suffered a lot this time?” Wu Zeqing asked.
Zhang Ye sighed. “It was no big deal, no big deal at all!”
His mother muttered, “You even went to Africa. Don’t you know how chaotic it is over there?”
“Aiya, it was fine,” Zhang Ye said, brushing it off.
His father said, “Your mom is just worried that you’ll fail.”
Wu Changhe rolled his eyes at that.
Li Qinqin laughed.
All parents are the same. Ever since the day Zhang Ye debuted, Zhang Ye’s parents had been worried that their son would suffer. They were worried when he was with the radio station, they were worried when he was at Central TV, they were worried when he got banned by the SARFT, and they were worried when he quarreled with Japan and Korea!
However, in which of those situations did this fellow even suffer once?
Have you all ever seen him getting the short end of the stick?
Worried that Zhang Ye would fail—this was a joke that would keep everyone laughing for an entire year!
…
On the same night.
The venue of the press conference.
The livestreaming equipment had already been set up, and all the reporters were waiting at the scene. The reporters from the Chinese newspapers, online media, and television stations had all descended like a swarm of bees. As too many people were in attendance and the organizers were not prepared for it, many of the reporters could not even get a seat. Even though around 20 chairs were added at the last minute, some reporters still had to stand in the aisles and behind the last row.
It was such a crazy scene.
There had never before been such a turnout for any of the movie press conferences in China!
This was the current state of popularity that Zhang Ye had as an international star, and it further reflected the people’s attention and interest for Zhang Ye’s debut movie!
Backstage.
Ha Qiqi reminded, “There are still two minutes to go.”
“OK.” Zhang Ye straightened his clothes.
Zhang Zuo smiled and said, “This is the first promo run we’re doing for Wolf Warrior 2, so maybe you should reveal some tidbits for the press. Whether the movie can get hype or not all depends on you now.”
Reveal some tidbits?
Well, alright.
Zhang Ye smiled. “I understand.”
Ha Qiqi checked her watch. “It’s time.”
Zhang Ye gathered everyone and said, “Let’s go.”
Yao Jiancai wasn’t here.
Dong Shanshan wasn’t here.
Jiang Hanwei and the others were not here either.
There were no actors present today. The press conference was going to be headed just by Zhang Ye and the main production team.
When Zhang Ye and his team appeared, the media at the venue blew up!
“Director Zhang!”
“How do you feel about your first time making a movie?”
“Why is it called Wolf Warrior 2? When are you going to film the prequel?”
“How much money was invested into this production?”
The reporters were all shouting out their questions!
Zhang Ye smiled and answered them one by one.
The press conference was streamed live as well and countless citizens were watching it with anticipation.
From the investment sum, to the filming process, to the actors, Zhang Ye described it all to everyone. He also bragged to the media about how good the movie was. What else was needed for a movie’s initial press conference? Nothing but some self-confidence and good old posturing would do. It was only through this that everyone would feel that your movie was going to be worth watching. In this way, everyone would start anticipating it and want to go to the theaters to catch the movie. This was something that Zhang Ye was very familiar with. He couldn’t be more familiar with posturing. Once Zhang Ye started posturing, it never ended!
The reporters barrage him with questions.
The questions gradually shifted from the movie to Zhang Ye himself.
A female reporter from Xinhua News asked, “You’re probably the celebrity with the highest net worth in China right now. But as everyone knows, you’ve never accepted a commercial appearance before, so how did you earn your money? Could you share some of the secrets to making money with ordinary people like us?”
The reporters laughed.
They had thought that Zhang Ye would not answer this question.
But to their surprise, Zhang Ye calmly answered, “How to make money? I can talk a little about that. A lot of young people these days have goals in life. For example, it’s not wrong to dream about becoming the richest person in the country and is a direction they can work towards. But it’s better to set smaller goals first.” He raised a finger and said something that would make all of the reporters at the venue and the people watching the livestream around China want to vomit blood. “For example, I can aim to earn a 100 million first. Then, see how long it takes you to earn that amount of money. Are you planning to do it within three or five years? Once you reach your target, aim for the next goal of earning a billion or even 10 billion.”
Set smaller goals?
A 100 million?
1 billion?
10 billion?
Fuck! Set smaller goals, your sister!
Three years? Five years?
I can’t even earn a hundred million in my entire fucking lifetime!
Standing next to him, even Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others could feel their legs sway a little as they nearly spewed!
Another reporter said dumbfoundedly, “But to people from ordinary families like us—”
But Zhang Ye answered, “Actually, I don’t think I’m that rich either. I’m also from an ordinary family. Years have passed, but our family’s lifestyle hasn’t changed much at all, other than the house getting a little bigger.”
The reporters saw red!
The netizens saw red!
House getting a little bigger?
That’s a fucking villa, alright!
Is that just a little bigger?!
And you’re even claiming to be from an ordinary family?
Your wife is a minister at the Central Publicity Department!
Ordinary family, your grandpa!
The reporters were dumbfounded and just sat there, not knowing how to continue.
Then a reporter from People’s Daily finally broke the silence again. “Teacher Zhang, can you tell us about the greatest mistake you’ve made?”
Zhang Ye gave it some thought and said, “The greatest mistake in my life must be setting up Zhang Ye’s Studio. I had originally planned for it to be a small company and did not expect that there would be so many responsibilities. There are so many matters that I have to resolve on a daily basis, and they take up almost all of my time.” Looking at the dumbfounded reporters, he said with a sigh, “In my next life, if there is one, I wouldn’t want to be a celebrity, nor would I want to step up onto the international stage. I just want to do my own thing and enjoy life.”
The reporters were going crazy!
Fuck your sister!
Why don’t you just die!
Zhang Zuo’s lips were trembling!
Ha Qiqi couldn’t bear to listen anymore. She hurriedly kicked him below the table.
Little Wang was trying to hold back her laughter so much that she nearly teared up!
Finally, another Central TV reporter stood up to ask, “Teacher Zhang, can you tell us about the most correct thing that you’ve done in your life? Or something that made you particularly proud? Uh, like having such a good daughter? Or perhaps a beautiful wife?”
This was a very normal question.
The reporters were all thinking that he couldn’t possibly talk big this time.
But to everyone’s surprise, they underestimated Zhang Ye!
They saw Zhang Ye shake his head with a solemn look. “Actually, I’m not good with faces. I can’t tell if someone’s pretty or not. Frankly, when I was wooing my wife, it was mainly because her personality attracted me since I don’t know if she’s considered pretty or not.”
When he finished speaking.
All of the reporters at the venue went crazy!
The netizens around the country were all vomiting blood!
Even vomiting blood wasn’t enough to express the emotions they were feeling right now!
Will you die if you don’t posture? Will you?!
You don’t know if Minister Wu is considered pretty or not?
Fuck your second grandma!
Fuck your third grandpa!
You win, Zhang Ye!
You fucking win!
On this day, all of China’s citizens were left kneeling!
On this day, Zhang Ye gained yet another nickname!
—King! Of! Posturing!
