Chapter 60: The Sudden Mission, Unlock!
Right at that moment, a slightly chubby middle-aged man walked out.
He sported a small tuft of beard, walked over smiling with shades on.
Li Tai went up to welcome him eagerly, “Boss Zheng, how’s the audience measurement?”
The audience measurement statistics after screening could be checked on any phone, but Li Tai grew impatient and went directly to the TV station to get the real-time data instead.
“Hahaha, Old Li, you’ve struck gold this time!” Zheng Bing laughed, “Just before I came out, the audience measurement had just passed 2!”
“It passed 2!?”
Li Tai was stunned, his face glowing, “Really?”
“Absolutely! Furthermore, it’s going up relatively quickly! Even now it’s still climbing!” Zheng Bing nodded in confirmation.
“Old Li, congratulations on making a big step forward!”
Huff—
Li Tai let out a deep long breath of relief. Now that the anxiety had passed, it was replaced with a sense of uncontainable excitement.
In this era where the internet is readily available, everyone was on their computers and phones. Those who would still watch TV were declining, hence an audience measurement of 2 was already a commendable achievement.
Li Tai’s record was only 1.6!
‘Ye… Y didn’t let me down! Yesterday the audience measurement was only at 1.2. It’s obvious that most of the viewers are here to watch him!’ Li Tai thought to himself.
The main factor in their popularity boost was because of that video of him fighting a wolf with his bare hands. Next were his acting skills that maintained the popularity of the show. It could be said that he carried the entire TV series by himself!
“Old Li, this… Y. Just what kind of a person is he? You should know right?” Zheng Bing tried to find out more information.
“He prefers to stay anonymous. It’s not convenient for me to expose him.”
“Not even to me?” Zheng Bing frowned slightly, “Old Li, you know I’m not a blabbermouth. Now that his audience measurements are somewhat guaranteed, our station’s plans to invite him to join our variety show.”
Li Tai laughed bitterly as he shook his head, “Boss Zheng, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I don’t have the guts to.”
“You’re scared? He has some big shots backing him?” Zheng Bing was surprised.
Li Tai’s expression was serious as he pointed at the sky, muttering, “As big as the sky!”
…
Ring, ring, ring!
In the male dormitory, Ye Lingchen picked up his phone.
“Hello, Sister Feifei.”
“Lingchen, how does being a celebrity feel?” Xiao Feifei’s voice could be heard over the phone, carrying with it a tiny hint of envy. “You’re even more popular than me now.”
“Sister Feifei, please don’t make fun of me. I’m nothing compared to you.” Ye Lingchen replied with a smile.
“Weibo and Tieba are flooded with topics about you right now. From wrestling a wolf, saving a damsel, all the way to your astonishing acting skills. They’re praising you into the clouds.”
Xiao Feifei continued, “Are you sure you’re not going to join the entertainment industry? If you reveal your identity now, your value will skyrocket. Using this current hype and a few good scripts, you will reach the top with ease.”
“Currently I have no such intention.”
“Then would you like me to introduce you to some beauties in the entertainment field? They are all pestering me about Y in all desperateness,” Xiao Feifei laughed.
“Please don’t.”
“Oh right, I have to thank you for that past incident.” Xiao Feifei paused, then hesitated for a moment before asking, “In the future… will you still come give me a massage?”
“Sister Feifei, rest assured. I’ll be right there when you call.”
On the other side of the phone, Xiao Feifei finally relaxed. An intoxicating smile appeared on her face, “Are you free this weekend?”
Ye Lingchen thought about it, then quickly agreed as he was rather free for the time being.
The next day, Ye Lingchen started his first ever class since he entered university.
He majored in Chinese literature, and the first class was China’s contemporary literature.
An almost middle-aged female teacher.
After some simple introductions, they started to get on topic.
“What contemporary literature titles do you know of? Raise your hand and answer.”
Very quickly, someone raised their hand to answer. That was their first class, and everyone was burning with passion.
“Teacher, Pride and Prejudice!”
“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame!”
“Les Misérables!”
“Teacher, there’s also Gone with the Wind!”
…
“Not bad, those you mentioned are all widely known. However, did you all notice one thing they all had in common?” The teacher followed with another question.
One thing in common?
Everyone was exchanging glances, similarly speechless.
All these works originated from different countries and authors. Even their historical backgrounds were vastly different. How could there be something in common?
Ye Lingchen sat in an inconspicuous corner. He calmly answered, “These… are all non-Chinese works!”
“That’s right!”
The teacher looked over at Ye Lingchen, “This student is exactly on point!”
The rest of the class finally realized, as though waking from a dream. They all felt a slight sense of failure.
They slowly came to realize that after naming so many literary works, none of them were from China. ‘Our great country had such a long history, with such deep literary foundations. How is it that we did not produce a single work that could be recognized out of the country?’
“Language is the foundation of a country, and literature is the presentation of a country’s foundation. Via literature, we can showcase the foundation of our country to the world. However, in the past centuries, we failed to produce even one piece of literary work that is acknowledged by the world. This is something we should reflect upon.”
“I dream to see such a day come to pass!” With that, she stood on the podium and bowed towards the students.
Ye Lingchen felt a hint of sadness that crept into his heart. China was vast and full of resources. Its population size even ranked amongst the largest in the world, yet in terms of literature, it was this far behind.
He could not help but recall the four great literary works of China. Journey to the West was translated into The Monkey’s Story, Water Margin was translated to The Story of 105 Men and 3 Women. The Romance of the Three Kingdom was instead translated to the History of Three Kingdoms. Lastly, Dream of the Red Chamber was translated to Dreams Within a Red House.
These names were all a joke, but at the same time, it was also humiliating.
Chinese culture was not at all accepted by foreign countries. No matter the product, it was unable to convince foreigners to accept them.
If there was such a chance, he would want the foreigners to change the way they look at China!
To Ye Lingchen, that was not difficult!
‘Ding!’ A clear sound came from within Ye Lingchen’s head.
‘Prodigy System mission tab unlocked.’
‘Prodigy’s appearance, who could compare!’
‘Exclusive mainstream mission— make known the name of the Prodigy across the world!’
‘Trial mission (Exclusive compulsory mission): Create a classic literary work within a month and gain 100,000 popularity rating.’
‘Mission failure— Prodigy System will be revoked. Mission success— Unlock knowledge level-up ability!’
‘(PS: Popularity increment is tied to player’s overall fame, exposure, achievement, respect, credibility, and reputation.)
‘F*ck!’ Ye Lingchen almost screamed out loud within the class.
‘This system… had missions?!’
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