Chapter 1159: Zhang Ye is going to the Olympic opening ceremony!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

The next day.

There were already stories in the news!

At Jiaomen East, Zhang Ye's Studio.

Little Wang was holding several copies of newspapers in her hands and shouting, "Here are today's papers!"

Everyone gathered around her while Zhang Ye also came over to have a look.

"Olympic Opening Ceremony Rehearsal Delayed!"

"A major problem might have befallen the Olympic opening ceremony!"

"Last-minute change of singers and theme song for opening ceremony!"

"Jiang Hanwei not destined to perform opening theme song?"

"Who will land the Olympic opening theme song?"

On the Internet, the netizens were also extremely surprised by the news!

"How did something like this happen?"

"It's already so close to the start of the Olympics!"

"The foreign Olympic contingents are already gradually arriving to Beijing!"

"Why did the theme song suddenly get changed? What was wrong with the previous one? I thought that they had already confirmed that it would be performed by Jiang Hanwei and Shu Han? Damn, wouldn't Old Jiang and Sister Shu have worked in vain then!"

"I wonder what's going on?"

"They're changing the lineup and song so suddenly?"

"Is there still time for that?"

"Then who's going to take over?"

"This is going to be a very lucrative job. There's definitely going to be a lot of people eyeing this chance!"

"Yeah, heads will probably roll when everyone contends for the song!"

The citizens were very concerned. After all, this was the first time that China was hosting the Olympics. It would be the only time in history that this was happening, so who wouldn't want it to be carried out flawlessly?

The entertainment industry's artists were also very concerned. Who could take the stage to sing the one and only opening ceremony theme song for the Olympics? This was incredibly important for an artist, especially those who harbored thoughts of stepping into the international stage. The lure was too enticing!

At the studio.

Ha Qiqi exclaimed, "So something really did happen!"

The moment she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

Little Wang went to answer it. Then, she got a shock. This was because there were seven or eight people standing outside the door in suits. At a single glance, it was clear that they were officials. She didn't know most of them, but there was one person in the group she recognized immediately. This person was very famous!

—Li Ke!

He was one of the most famous film and television directors in China. This "one of" did not refer to being one in dozens, but one in only four people. When mentioning Chinese film directors, he would definitely rank within the top three. Even on the international stage, Li Ke's works had pretty good results. Right now, the post he held was the executive director of the Olympic opening ceremony!

"Is this Zhang Ye's Studio?"

"Yes."

"We're from the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games."

"Ah, please come in."

Little Wang led the group of people inside.

Zhang Ye also walked up to them slowly.

Li Ke smiled and stretched out his hand. "Director Zhang, I'd been looking forward to meeting you."

Zhang Ye shook hands with him. "I wouldn't dare to call myself a director in front of you, Director Li."

Li Ke was also in the Celebrity Goof Group. He occasionally joined in the conversations, and the two of them had chatted as well. Although they hadn't met, they were not exactly strangers either.

Then, Zhang Ye noticed that the famous lyricist and composer, Wang Zhuishu, was also part of the group. "Old Wang?"

Wang Zhuishu and Zhang Ye had known each other through King of Masked Singers and their relationship was considered alright.

Wang Zhuishu gave a wry smile. "Teacher Zhang, you're really something!"

Zhang Ye played dumb. "Ah? What about me?"

Wang Zhuishu said helplessly, "Let me make some introductions first. This is Qi Yihai, the vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games."

Qi Yihai smiled and said, "Teacher Zhang, I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."

Zhang Ye smiled back. "If I knew that President Qi was visiting today, I would have gone downstairs to welcome you!"

Li Ke joked, "So you wouldn't have gone to welcome us if it was just me?"

"Haha, of course I would have, of course I would have," Zhang Ye laughed.

Afterwards, the rest of the people were introduced. Other than one person who did not seem too friendly, probably because he was from the sports world, the others all greeted Zhang Ye politely. If it were just a normal celebrity, there wouldn't be a need to be so polite. However, as they had come to Zhang Ye for a favor, and with his status different from other normal celebrities since he held three professorships from two universities, everyone had to politely greet him as "Professor Zhang" or "Teacher Zhang." They wouldn't address him as "Little Zhang" or directly by his full name.

After a simple exchange of a few words, Zhang Ye got the studio employees to move upstairs, leaving Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and Little Wang behind with him. Ha Qiqi was now in charge of external communications for Zhang Ye's Studio, while Zhang Zuo was in charge of the internal communications. Meanwhile, the reason for Little Wang staying behind with them was because she had to serve drinks to the guests.

Everyone got seated.

Wang Zhuishu said, "Director Zhang, have you reached a decision yet?"

Zhang Ye blinked. "What decision? Oh, I remember. You mean about the song!"

Wang Zhuishu rolled his eyes.

Zhang Ye said, "May I ask why you all approached me?"

The vice president of the organizing committee looked at him. "Teacher Zhang, I won't hide this from you. There were some problems with the theme song for the opening ceremony. There's a problem with the personnel, as well as with the song. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that all the songs that were previously lined up have been rejected. We feel that the lyrics and the melody were completely unsuitable for performing at this sort of an international stage. Like for one of the songs, Chinese elements were too heavily emphasized. This should have been a good thing since it would showcase the charms of our country. But then, it kind of felt unsuitable for the Olympics. After much deliberation, our Organizing Committee feels that we should have something that is a little more international sounding. But there has been nothing suitable so far, and we have already dragged this on for too long."

Wang Zhuishu added, "I wasn't able to help either. I've already written seven or eight drafts for proposal, and so have some of our country's other musicians. A song that is more international sounding is what's making this so difficult. The score for the music is not easy to create, so that's where the problem lies. We were all out of ideas. Then, later, when Director Li mentioned you, I suddenly remembered that writing songs is a specialty of yours. So Director Li and I recommended you to the Organizing Committee."

Is writing songs my only specialty?

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I can sing well too." His words carried a double meaning.

Wang Zhuishu simply nodded.

Li Ke smiled but did not say anything.

An executive from the sports world frowned.

But it was Qi Yihai who spoke, "I know that. My daughter is a fan of your singing. She likes you so much that she doesn't even listen to me anymore, hai."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Did I just get implicated in something that I don't know about?"

However, Qi Yihai said, "I don't like her chasing after celebrities and idols, but you're an exception. I've always admired Teacher Zhang's principles concerning major issues."

Zhang Ye did not know how to respond to that.

So he listened to Qi Yihai continue, "We're getting closer and closer to the day of the opening ceremony. There isn't much time left. Director Li and Teacher Wang told me that if anyone could come up with a new song in a short period of time, then it would only be you, Teacher Zhang. I agree with what they said, so that's why we came over today to pay you a visit. We wanted to know if you can come up with a song for us. Our requirements for the song is that it has to sound like it was written for the international stage in mind, has to have a nice melody, be able to spread positive energy, and also showcases the bearing of our country."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Your requirements are not simple."

Qi Yihai said, "That's why we came looking for you."

Wang Zhuishu asked, "Director Zhang, do you think you can do it? It's really urgent!"

Zhang Ye thought about it and told Little Wang, "Little Wang, go to my office and take out the document from the first drawer on the right. Bring that to me."

"OK!" Little Wang very quickly returned with what he wanted.

Zhang Ye gripped the score and placed it on the table. "Everyone, please have a look at this song."

What?

There's already a song?

Damn, isn't that too fast! We know that you're the quickest draw around, but isn't that still way too fast! Are you a machine gun or something?

Everyone was very surprised. Even Ha Qiqi and Zhang Zuo did not know about it!

"You and Me"?

Wang Zhuishu took the score and immediately started humming!

Qi Yihai, Li Ke, and the others watched and listened to him very seriously!

Ten minutes later.

Everyone was stunned!

Li Ke laughed. "Good! It's really good!"

An organizing committee official praised, "This is great!"

Wang Zhuishu banged the table. "This is it! This totally sounds like a theme song that was tailored for the Beijing Olympics!"

Zhang Ye said, "Well, I did write it specifically for the Olympics."

Wang Zhuishu had no reply.

Zhang Ye asked with a smile, "President Qi, what do you think?"

Qi Yihai gave him a thumbs up. "It's impeccable! Teacher Zhang is really as good as everyone says!"

Zhang Ye said, "That's good then."

Qi Yihai was also a smart person. He looked at him and said, "Teacher Zhang, we definitely want this song. You won't have written this in vain. Just tell us what requests you might have."

Zhang Ye said, "I only have two requests. No, I shouldn't say that they're requests since this is a national affair. I only have two wishes. The first one is that I hope to be the one to sing this song since I believe that I should be the one to sing my own song. I could perform it to the best that way. Second, I hope that I am allowed to pick the partner for the part of the female duet."

The person from the sports world immediately said, "No way!"

Zhang Ye looked at him and vaguely remembered from the introduction earlier that his surname was Qian. He was a chief of some bureau it seemed.

Chief Qian said, "The song performers have already been decided. It will definitely be performed by Jiang Hanwei and Shu Han. The two of them rehearsed the opening theme song for a very long time."

Zhang Ye said, "But hasn't the song been switched now?"

Chief Qian looked at him. "We still have to consider the two teachers' feelings."

Zhang Ye asked in return, "If you wish to be considerate of the teachers, I can understand that. You can handle that however you deem fit, but don't use my song to do it. You sound like you're taking things for granted from the way you speak."

"Did I ever say anything like that?" Chief Qian was also getting annoyed. "These Olympics are a matter of national importance. It's a diplomatic mission, so can't you just write a song for someone to sing? Can't you even make a small sacrifice for the country?"

Zhang Ye said, "I can make sacrifices for sure. For my country and its people, I can do a lot of things. Furthermore, it won't just be paying lip service like what you're doing. Everyone knows how much I have done in the past, so don't resort to using moral coercion to pressure me! Why do I have to be the one to do everything and still be the one making sacrifices? Why is it that some people do not have to do anything and still get to bask in the glory of others? In the end, I still have to be insulted like I did something wrong?"

Chief Qian raged, "You!"

Ha Qiqi quickly held Zhang Ye back. "Director Zhang!"

All of a sudden, they started arguing. This had always been Zhang Ye's style. No one present found this to be odd. They all knew just how ill-tempered Zhang Ye could get, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Qi Yihai looked at the two of them helplessly. "I also know about the disagreements between Teacher Zhang and the sports world from back then. So it's still going on? Hur hur."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I suppose it's not over yet. Please forgive me, President Qi. I don't mean any harm, but it's just that I'm rather blunt and offend people easily."

Qi Yihai thought to himself, Was that being blunt? It sounded more like every word was cutting! However, Qi Yihai's impression of Zhang Ye was still pretty good. He wasn't a member of the sports world and had been assigned here to lead the committee. He also knew about the cold relations between the sports world and Zhang Ye, but that was none of his business, and he wasn't bothered by it either. What he needed to do was just to ensure that the Olympics would be properly organized and that the opening ceremony could be carried out without a hitch. That was all.

Li Ke was on Zhang Ye's side regarding this matter. "Director Zhang's singing is much better than Old Jiang's, and he's also more popular than Old Jiang."

Chief Qian reiterated, "But in terms of international popularity, Teacher Jiang is much more well-known, and his movies are also quite influential overseas. This is an international stage, so we have to consider all these factors. And his partner for the song, Shu Han will definitely…" He started gesturing.

Li Ke did not like hearing that. "Chief Qian, I think I'm the executive director here?"

After getting snubbed, Chief Qian flushed red with embarrassment!

Zhang Ye also spoke at this moment. "President Qi, you can make the decision?"

"Of course I can," Qi Yihai said.

Zhang Ye nodded. "If the Organizing Committee is really against it and doesn't find me suitable to represent our country on stage, that is fine. Just take the song, and we'll carry on with our lives as they were. It's all fine. This is my country's Olympic Games, so long as I can make a contribution, I won't ask for anything more than that."

Chief Qian said, "President Qi!"

Another person on the Organizing Committee said, "President Qi, we…"

Qi Yihai gave Zhang Ye a look and suddenly said with a smile, "Alright then. Just by those words of yours, I will fulfill your two wishes. Director Li, what do you think?"

Li Ke said, "I don't have any objections."

Qi Yihai said, "Alright, I will let the higher-ups know about this, so it's settled!"

Zhang Ye stood up and put out his hand. "Let's work well together."

Qi Yihai laughed heartily and shook his hand. He said, "You'll have to start making preparations immediately. With the time extension, we're only three days away from the rehearsal for the opening ceremony."

Chief Qian looked annoyed!

The other Organizing Committee members looked at one another!

Let Zhang Ye sing the Olympics opening theme song? Isn't that as good as slapping the face of the sports world! Who didn't know that Zhang Ye had scolded a large number of coaches and athletes of the sports world? He even deliberately used a skit to insult them. But now? He was going to represent the sports world and perform onstage? Would that work out? Hai, whatever. Since President Qi had decided, it was all set. They just had to make the opening ceremony happen, and everything would be decided in the best interests of the country.

Meanwhile, those people from Zhang Ye's Studio nearly screamed from the excitement!

He had done it!

He had really done it!

Director Zhang was going to represent the country and take to the stage for the Olympic opening ceremony!

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