Chapter 1351

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

It was now past midnight!

It was a new year!

The sounds of firecrackers going off popped through the streets. Those at the venue of the Spring Festival Gala were also in a very boisterous mood.

The Spring Festival Gala continued.

The acts were being performed.

When Ning Lan, Huo Dongfang, and the other celebrities appeared onstage together, when the song was performed, the world’s Chinese population overflowed with excitement once more!

” My Chinese Heart 1 ”

“Hills and streams appear only in my dreams.

“I’ve not set foot in my homeland in ages it seems.

“Yet nothing can ever possibly transform

“My Chinese heart.

“Though I wear a Western suit.

“My heart is still Chinese.

“My ancestors branded every inch of me

“With the Chinese stamp.

“Yangtze! Great Wall! Huangshan! Yellow River!

“Weigh so heavily on my bosom!

“Whenever, wherever I am!

“You are dear to me!”

…

At Old Wu’s parents’ house.

Wu Changhe slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Well sung!”

Li Qinqin said, “‘My Chinese Heart’? What a great song!”

Wu Mo was dumbfounded. “Did Brother Zhang write this song too?”

…

At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.

His third sister applauded. “Our brother is indeed our brother!”

His eldest younger sister marveled, “I thought that the acts after midnight would just go through the motions and not be so detailed and serious. But it turns out that there are actually still such good performances to watch? The quality of the acts is still as high!”

His father said proudly, “Your brother has never been sloppy when it comes to work. If it’s something that he can do, he will surely do it to the best of his abilities. Little Ye takes after me in that area.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “Go away, he takes after me!”

His father said in a speechless manner, “With that sloppy attitude of yours, what has it got anything to do with you?”

His mother stared her husband. “Who’s sloppy? Who are you talking about?”

His grandma quickly stopped them both. “Alright, alright, why are you both arguing on New Year’s day? If I have to say something fair, Little Ye—actually takes after me.”

Everyone burst into laughter at that!

…

This was destined to be a night to be remembered forever. Especially for those who were attending the Spring Festival Gala live, they knew very well what kind of a Spring Festival Gala they had witnessed tonight!

Be it the introductory video at the beginning, the gala’s opening, the middle, the closing, or the finale.

Or perhaps even the construction of the stage, the lighting, the special effects, or the costumes.

They were astounding from the start until the end!

It had exceeded all expectations from beginning to end!

It was unprecedented and would never be replicated again—this saying might not be really suitable when used in many other situations. To say that it was unprecedented was still quite a valid argument, since that could be verified with past cases. But to say that it would never be replicated again was something that people in the present could never be certain about. But at this moment, a lot of people were actually thinking to themselves that this year’s Spring Festival Gala would really “never be replicated again.” It wasn’t that they weren’t rigorous about the standards, nor that they were shortsighted about the future. It was simply because they really could not imagine how future Spring Festival Gala could get mentioned in the same breath as this year’s Spring Festival Gala that Zhang Ye helmed!

It was unimaginable!

Truly unimaginable!

If such a time were to come, then the executive director of that year’s Spring Festival Gala would probably be Zhang Ye too!

The live audience members felt this way.

The television viewers similarly remembered this night in their minds. Especially those who participated in the five fortunes battle, they would never ever forget this night which would leave them gnashing their teeth in anger!

…

On TV.

Host Yan Mei started the advertising talk. “Now, I would like to announce some exciting and good news. Our Five Cards of Fortune Collection campaign has ended, and the cash prize has been disbursed. Those who have collected all five cards of fortune can now launch your Unipay app. A surprise is waiting for you inside.”

Exciting?

Surprise?

Haha, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time!

It blew up in the outside world!

Even many of those who were at the venue of the Spring Festival Gala started taking out their phones!

“It’s here, it’s here!”

“The campaign has ended!”

“Haha, it’s time to receive the red packet prize!”

“My 200 million!”

“Quickly, quickly, quickly!”

“Has it been credited yet?”

“Ah, it’s been credited already!”

“How much did you get?”

“Eh?”

“Th-This is?”

…

In the production control room.

When Zhang Ye heard the announcement, the look in his eyes started flickering.

Ha Qiqi, who was standing next to him, asked, “What’s the matter, Director Zhang?”

Zhang Ye coughed. “Ahem, nothing.”

The five deceptions were here!

Their arrival could not be avoided!

…

Meanwhile.

When those people who had gathered all five of the cards of fortune opened up their Unipay wallets, each and every one of them was deeply shocked as their eyes grew wider and wider!

Surprise? Your sister!

Exciting? Your sister!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“What is this? What the hell is this?”

“220 yuan?”

“I received 220 yuan as well!”

“Me too, what the fuck!”

“Your sister, didn’t they say that it would be 200 million!”

“I, I had to fucking toil to gather those five cards!”

“Where’s my 200 million prize money?”

“Has it all been split and given out? Aren’t they splitting it amongst too many people this way?!”

“Just how many work dedication cards did the Spring Festival Gala program team give out at the last fucking moment?!”

“My God!”

“Zhang Ye! Show yourself!”

“I’m in tears! I’ve been collecting them for a month! And all I got for it is 220 yuan? It’s not even enough to pay for my Internet bill!”

“Whose idea was this? Whose idea was this!”

“This advertising campaign was planned by Zhang Ye!”

“I should’ve known that this scammer wouldn’t have any good intentions!”

“220 yuan? I might as well die!”

“Pfft! Zhang Ye really is a fucking great trickster!”

“Yeah, he’s just like the character he played in the skit!”

“This fellow has totally scammed all of us! Ahhhh! I wanna bite someone!”

“This has got to be the biggest scam in history!”

“Hahahahahaha! Aiyo, this is so funny it’s killing me! I knew it. Any plans created by Zhang Ye definitely aren’t anything good! Just look how this ended!”

“This fellow only wanted us to watch the Spring Festival Gala to gather the five cards of fortune. He only used us to contribute to the viewership ratings!”

“It’s a conspiracy! It’s a great big conspiracy!”

“Zhang Ye, you’re really oozing with evilness!”

“Quick, turn off the TV! Don’t help him by contributing to the viewership ratings anymore!”

“What’s the point of turning it off now? The Spring Festival Gala is ending right after this. He’s already gained enough viewership ratings!”

“Ahhhhhhh! I’m so pissed off!”

It was only now that everyone realized what this was all about.

…

Backstage.

Some of the production team’s staff had also gathered all five of the cards of fortune. They secretly opened up their Unipay wallets to check but were startled and nearly fainted from the surprise that they saw!

220 yuan?

They nearly rolled up their sleeves and confronted Zhang Ye about it!

Does it have to be this little!

Does it have to be such a scam!

We gathered them for so many days!

Do you know how much electricity we’ve wasted?!

And that was it?

…

At Old Rao’s house.

Rao Aimin cursed angrily, “Zhang Ye, fuck your grandpa!”

Chenchen was also very angry. “Aunt! Zhang Ye, h-he really doesn’t have the makings of an adult!”

Rao Aimin sneered. “You’re only giving me 220 yuan, right? Fine! Chenchen, go get the key to Zhang Ye’s Studio. I’ll see what valuable things are in there and take them for myself!”

…

The netizens were enraged!

Countless people were so angry that they broke down!

A group that was spontaneously organized started causing a commotion. They were all expressing their views by “shouting” rallying cries!

“Denounce Zhang Ye!”

“Denounce Zhang Ye!”

“Return my 200 million!”

“Return my 200 million!”

“Zhang Ye, your sister!”

“Zhang Ye, your sister!”

Those who didn’t manage to gather the five cards were cursing.

Those who did manage to gather the five cards were also cursing.

Everyone gritted their teeth in hatred. Come on, you can’t deceive people in such a way!

In the blink of an eye, countless threads that were titled “Zhang Ye, your sister!” started appearing in the forums and on Weibo all over the country to fully express the countless grass mud horses that were rampaging through their heads!

…

And now, the Spring Festival Gala was finally coming to an end.

The music started playing on television. Zhang Xia appeared onstage as the lead singer.

Behind her, all of the Spring Festival Gala’s participating performers came back out and the entire stage was filled with them, including the hosts. “Selling Crutches” was the finale act before the new year at midnight, while this song was going to be the finale act of this year’s Spring Festival Gala. It was the essential song of Zhang Ye’s previous world’s Spring Festival Gala: ” A Night To Remember 2 “!

“A night to remember, a night to remember.

“Wherever you might be in this world.

“We are in the same embrace in this vast country.

“Wishing our homeland well, homeland well.

“Farewell to this night, farewell to this night.

“Whether you are a new friend or old.

“Let us meet again next spring.

“The green hills, forever young people, forever young people

“The green hills, forever young people.

“The green hills, forever young people.

“Wishing our homeland well.

“Wishing our homeland well.”

The song was very touching!

The singing voices lingered in the air!

The curtains on this year’s Spring Festival Gala had finally drawn to a close!

…

Watching TV.

A lot of people were feeling a swirl of emotions!

Some people gasped in admiration.

Some people were calling it good.

Some people couldn’t help but appreciate it.

Some people were discussing the prior acts with their family.

And a large group of people were scolding Zhang Ye for being so immoral. Initially, they had been amazed by this year’s Spring Festival Gala and Zhang Ye’s abilities to oversee it to such success. They also had a good laugh over Zhang Ye’s skit. But they couldn’t have expected that this fellow was so terrible to cheat all of them at the very end of the show!

Especially this song at the end, it sounded even more sarcastic the longer they listened to it, and they got angrier and angrier as a result!

“A Night To Remember”?

That’s right!

This was truly a night to remember alright!

The five fortunes?

They should be called the five deceptions instead!

And they were even the five goddamn heavenly deceptions!