I’m Really a Superstar - Never, ever compromise!

Zhang Ye was writing something when the screen of his cell phone on the table lit up. As he had received too many calls from people last night, he had already switched it to silent mode. Zhang Ye glanced over without thinking of picking it up, but when he saw Yao Jiancai’s name on the caller ID, he reached for the phone.
    

“Old Yao?” he said after accepting the call.
    

On the other side, Yao Jiancai said, “Get online.”
    

Zhang Ye asked, “Go online for what? What’s the matter?”
    

“You’ll know when you see it.” Yao Jiancai sounded very calm and relaxed. “There’s an addendum to Decree #43 that SARFT previously announced. They posted some additional info.”
    

Zhang Ye asked with interest, “What does it say?”
    

“Take a look at it yourself,” Yao Jiancai answered merrily. “All thanks to you, half of this batch of banned artists have some hope of getting their ban lifted.”
    

Zhang Ye asked, “What about you?”
    

Yao Jiancai answered, “I’m no longer on the list.”
    

“Yo, that’s great then, congratulations.” Zhang Ye quipped, “Your ‘prostitution’ label can finally be put to rest. When will you be treating me to a meal?”
    

“After you settle your own issues.”
    

“Sure, I’ll go take a look now.”
    

“When you have your ban lifted, we need to have a good drink together.”
    

After hanging up, Zhang Ye went onto Weibo and directly searched for the SARFT’s verified account. Indeed, a post titled “In regards to Decree #43’s addendum clarification” was posted earlier and the updated banned artists list did not have Yao Jiancai’s name on it. Another six names were also deleted, like the movie star who held a press conference apologizing for his actions and another singer who expressed regret for her past actions during an interview. Scanning through the list, Zhang Ye could still see his own name on it.
    

The lifting of the ban was beginning?
    

Base on what reasons do they lift the ban for?
    

It was only normal that Old Yao would be unbanned as his incident was just a case of misunderstanding. Because of the media reporting on unfounded truths, Old Yao was banned. But after clarification statements from the police that the case has been resolved with no charges pressed, Yao Jiancai would naturally be the first person to be unbanned when the ban list was refreshed, that was without a doubt. But how about the others? Why did they get unbanned? These artists’ misdeeds were already set in stone, no?
    

Reading further, Zhang Ye finally understood.
    

Actually, this clarification was to announce the conditions to get unbanned. The artists who had committed misdeeds more than 3 years ago and had shown improvements in their behaviors without any further misdeeds or those who had committed minor misdeeds within 3 years but had apologized could all send in their applications to the SARFT for them to consider and approve before releasing the decision to the public!
    

The application form for the revocation of ban was also leaked.
    

Name: XX.
    

Gender: XX.
    

Age: XX.
    

Representative Agency: XX.
    

There were even blanks labeled “Previous Misdeeds” and “Self Reflection Statement” at the bottom of the page before an acknowledgment by signature and effective date ended the application form.
    

Other than Yao Jiancai, the names of those artists who had been removed had committed their misdeeds more than 3 years ago and were apologetic about their actions, hence the automatic exclusion of their names by the SARFT. Except for one artist who had committed his misdeed of soliciting prostitutes within the past year, considerations were made due to the fact that he was unmarried and the crime wasn’t too serious, on top of which he had also expressed his regret in the events and so was given the chance to improve on his behavior. This was an example of the clarifications to Decree #43 regarding those who had committed minor misdeeds within the past 3 years and were given the pass to have their ban revoked.
    

This was what the clarification generally meant and after Zhang Ye had finished reading through the article, he had also fully understood it’s meaning. No wonder Old Yao mentioned that it was due to him that he was able to get his ban lifted. But the timing of this clarification was still quite ambiguous as according the the current batch of banned artists, slightly less than half of them were covered by the conditions that would allow them to be unbanned, including Zhang Ye himself, involved in the minor crime of assault. Or it could be perceived as these conditions were actually made directly as a result of Zhang Ye’s crimes, which he felt was the true reason behind it!
    

Why?
    

Because of the artists who had been unbanned of course!
    

This addendum clarification had only obviously been issued a short while ago and the application had also just been leaked. The few banned artists who had their bans revoked could not have possibly filled in the form and submitted it beforehand. Yao Jiancai had also not made any mention of this application in the phone call and if he did fill it in and submit it, he would have made any mention of it. From this, it could be said that the other banned artists were in the same situation, so why didn’t they need to submit an application before getting their bans revoked while Zhang Ye’s name was still on the ban list? Was it because Zhang Ye had not made any apology since the incident? It did not seem like it. If a public apology could replace an application form, then why did this addendum have to state the procedures of filling up the application form so clearly? They even explicitly stated that this would be a required step in the procedures? Yet, in the revocation of the bans on the other previously banned artists, this was obviously not the case. Old Yao and the others did not fill in any application forms and were quickly taken off the ban list!
    

Wasn’t it illogical?
    

This showed that there was something fishy about it!
    

It was as though this document was screaming out to Zhang Ye for him to fill it in. It was definitely directed at him and the other names on the list seemed irrelevant.
    

Zhang Ye knew the reason for this. Why did it seem like it was targeted only at him? Logically speaking, on the list of banned artists, Zhang Ye was not the one with the most fans. There were others who had a few million fans, so Zhang Ye was not the most famous name on it as there were others who were previously B-list movie stars. Neither was his misdeed the most serious since there were drug abusers on it as well, so he should not have been so targeted if everything was considered. But it seemed it was happening because of one specific reason. The reason was that Zhang Ye was much better than any of these other artists at one, and only one thing—This wretch could really cause trouble!
    

That Bamboos on the Rocks!
    

That Li Bai poem!
    

Going to Central TV to cause trouble with his crosstalk performances and the incidents regarding the promotions of Legend of Wukong!
    

After he had been banned, Zhang Ye’s protest had never stopped. Time after time, he took the bull by the horns and created a stir that got bigger and bigger each time. He was the proverbial thorn in the side as each and every move he made had a big detrimental effect to the authorities. This was exactly the reason why he was targeted and the hidden agenda of this addendum clarification!
    

They want to revoke the ban on Zhang Ye!
    

They want to pardon him for his offenses!
    

But before that, Zhang Ye had to compromise and fill up the application form to submit to the SARFT for approval. They wanted him to guarantee his behavior and admit to his offenses. As of yesterday, Zhang Ye had solved a global mathematical conjecture and his presence could no longer be suppressed, neither was it suitable to do so any longer. But to lift his ban directly would mean that the reputation of the SARFT was at stake! They needed a proper excuse to do so and to protect their reputation so that people would not gossip. This was why they had come up with a reason like this to lift the bans!
    

……
    

This addendum clarification had also caused a big reaction online!
    

“Wow!”
    

“Teacher Yao has had his ban lifted?”
    

“That’s great. Looks like Teacher Zhang Ye will be unbanned soon as well!”
    

“Haha, this is so exciting. The SARFT has finally loosened their grip on this. I thought that Teacher Zhang would have been banned for life. From the looks of it now, we are not far from the day Teacher Zhang returns to the entertainment circle. All he has to do is submit the application? That’s so simple. Teacher Zhang, quickly submit the form. Your misdeed was just a minor one. You merely beat someone up and that incident was already a thing of the past. The honor you have brought to our country’s mathematics world cannot be argued with, so just quickly complete the form! The authorities will surely agree to lift the ban on you!”
    

“Hooray! We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!”
    

Many of Zhang Ye’s fans were cheering at this because their Teacher Zhang was finally going to be able to return through sheer perseverance after so long. How could they not be excited by this?
    

But there were also those who understood the situation.
    

“You’re all looking at this too simply!”
    

“There are some problems with this clarification. Why did they release this information at this time? It’s too coincidental. Clearly, they are targeting this at Zhang Ye. They knew that they could no longer suppress him but still want to keep their reputation, so they made such a move to force Zhang Ye to compromise.”
    

“I see it that way as well. But no matter what, his career should come first so he should just submit the form as a procedure. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
    

“But Zhang Ye has never expressed that he was not wrong in the incident involving Lee Anson. If you want him to submit the application and admit that he was wrong before, it seems unlikely that he will do so. Zhang Ye’s temper is well-known to all, so it might not happen as we want it to.”
    

“That can’t be? Teacher Zhang couldn’t possibly be so rigid?”
    

“Yeah, it’s just an application form and can’t be considered as a self-review statement. Can’t he just pretend to be sincere?”
    

At this time, a D-list celebrity that was also on the list of banned artists named Wu Shaoan posted on Weibo. He attached a picture of his application form and added the following: “The application has been sent. I recognize the seriousness of my misdeed and I promise to never commit them again. I hereby ask for a chance and the authorities to lift the ban on me.”
    

The netizens commented.
    

“Ah?”
    

“He’s already submitted it so quickly?”
    

“He acted so quickly.”
    

A few minutes later, another banned artist also sent in his application. He did not post the application details but simply said so on Weibo.
    

The third…
    

The fifth…
    

The seventh…
    

All of these banned artists had been suppressed for so many days and could no longer bear the consequences. When they saw hopes of being unbanned, they grabbed at it. Even those celebrities who had considered retiring and moving into business reversed their decisions when they saw this clarification. They printed out the application and immediately filled it in before submitting it to the SARFT in hopes that they would be approved.
    

Eight people!
    

Ten people!
    

The number of applicants increased gradually.
    

The SARFT also posted a statement: “After receiving the applications, the relevant departments will handle them immediately. Principle decisions will be made in no later than seven working days.”
    

Some of the artists who knew that they had no hopes of having their bans lifted also sent out the application form hoping for a miracle to happen. Even if they knew that it would not happen, they knew that they had to express the right attitude as they might have a chance should there be another round of applications. This was to leave a positive image on the authorities.
    

But only one person did not do anything!
    

Zhang Ye still did not show any signs of any actions!
    

“Where’s Teacher Zhang?”
    

“F**k, did Zhang Ye not see this?”
    

“It can’t be! This is such big news, how could he not know!”
    

“Zhang Ye, come out of wherever you are quickly!”
    

“@ZhangYe don’t mess around any longer, quickly write your application!”
    

“Yea, Teacher Zhang, don’t be so unrelenting. It would do anyone any good. Get past this setback first and return to the entertainment circle first before you think of anything else!”
    

“Yea, don’t try to fight them like this! It’s more important to get your ban lifted!”
    

The SARFT was paying a lot of attention to this matter. So were the media and countless other people!
    

The news in the past two days had fully been focused on Zhang Ye. He was the talk of the town and any topics regarding him were highly publicized. So when this addendum clarification was published, some media outlets started hyping it up. All they lacked now was the main character showing himself as everyone waited for Zhang Ye to come forward with his application!
    

At 10:05 PM, Zhang Ye’s Weibo finally saw some action!
    

“It’s here!”
    

“Ah!”
    

“Zhang Ye has appeared!”
    

“Take a look, quickly! Is it an application form?”
    

Countless people swarmed to his Weibo page!
    

Then, all of the media outlets and netizens saw a sentence that left them in shock. It was a sentence that they had never seen before but was very well known in his previous world.
    

On Zhang Ye’s Weibo, this was written:
    

“Fighting the Heavens.”
    

“Fighting the Earth.”
    

“Fighting men.”
    

“What joy!”
    

Translator Notes: poem titled Self-motivation: Struggle (奮鬥自勉) written by Mao Zedong at the age of 24 in 1917. The poem was later distorted to read as if Mao Zedong said “Fighting the Heavens, what joy! Fighting the Earth, what joy! Fighting men, what joy!”
    

Indeed, in the original poem, the verses read as “Fighting with Heaven, oh the joy! Fighting with the Earth, oh the joy! Fighting with men, oh the joy!” However, the original verses have been distorted as “Fighting the Heavens,” “Fighting the Earth,” and “Fighting men.” Hence, Mao Zedong was depicted as one who inclined to fight against everyone, and this ideology had been made the guiding principle for class struggle.