I'm Really a Superstar

The next day.

Early in the morning.

In the Goof Group.

Xiaodong: "Ahhh."

Amy: "Teacher Zhang has reached number one in the A-list rankings already? Holy shit!"

Li Xiaoxian: "We just saw! Did something so serious happen in the night?"

Chen Guang: "Yeah, Zhang Ye's popularity score has shot him into first place."

Huo Dongfang: "Hur hur, I learned of it during the night."

A director: "Congratulations, Little Zhang."

A famous male actor: "Outside of the S-list, Zhang Ye has reached the top!"

Ning Lan also appeared, clenching her teeth in hatred. "@ZhangYe! Hurry up and show yourself, stop sleeping! Only a red packet can appease my broken heart!"

Xiaodong: "Hehe, Sister Ning has been overtaken."

There were red packets in this world too. However, they only became popular in recent months. Although the specific interface and functions were a little different from Zhang Ye's previous world, the concept was essentially the same.

When Zhang Ye woke up, he saw the messages in the chat group. He smiled and immediately sent out some red packets 1 .

"Wow!"

"Here come the red packets!"

"Snatch them!"

The chat group stirred with activity

Ning Lan has received your red packet!

Xiaodong has received your red packet!

Zhang Yuanqi has received your red packet!

So Zhang Yuanqi had been lurking all this while!

In just a few seconds, all the red packets were snapped up by them. Then everyone was furious!

Zhang Yuanqi: "Your sister!"

Ning Lan: "Your sister!"

Xiaodong: "Your sister!"

Huo Dongfang: "Your sister!"

Amy called out: "How can there be such a stingy person!"

Li Xiaoxian: "My data! I've suffered a loss this time!"

Everyone received a red packet of only one cent!

A smile on his face, Zhang Ye typed: "Thanks, everyone."

Zhang Yuanqi said: "You're at the top of A-list rankings and you're still unwilling to give out generous red packets? You're not going to have a bright future, hur hur. Ning Lan, finish him off and get back your spot!"

Xiaodong: "Sister Ning, finish him off!"

Amy: "Sister Ning, finish him off!"

Huo Dongfang: "Sister Ning, finish him off!"

They copypasted the same message as they thought that Zhang Ye was way too stingy!

After bantering a bit with them, Zhang Ye was in a rather good mood. These past three months had brought the largest ever boost to his popularity. When he had first entered the A-list celebrity rankings, he struggled to stay in them before finally settling near the bottom of the rankings. Then, he suddenly shot up the charts to reach the front spots after revealing his identity on King of Masked Singers. And now, after playing three games of Go, he suddenly found himself at the top of the A-list celebrity rankings. It was a very surreal experience for him. Initially, he had only set a target to get into the A-list rankings at the beginning of the year. Who could have expected that he could achieve this terrific a result? From the looks of it, it seemed like he was only a step away from the S-list rankings!

But of course, that was just what it looked like.

This next step up was really going to require a great effort to achieve!

Zhang Ye was still too far away from the coveted throne of the S-list. It was different from the A-list rankings and was a whole different world and battleground. For example, Ning Lan, who had once reached the top spot of the A-list rankings, only managed to hold on to that position for three months. She couldn't maintain her ranking or take another step forward. That was because even though it might seem like it was only a step away, this step was actually way too big. It was as though a cliff were separating these two ranking lists. There was once someone who remained stuck in the first place of the A-list rankings for several years. But in the end, that person was unable to advance forward. Now that Zhang Ye was in this position as well, it would probably be the same for him too. He was still too far away from the S-list. Zhang Ye might not even be able to hold on to his first place in the A-list rankings during the next few days!

The previous first place celebrity of the A-list rankings was now in second place and was going to overtake him soon. Zhang Ye barely passed him with a microscopic difference in the popularity scores. He could probably catch back up with just a song, half a movie, or two Weibo posts!

His mother had made breakfast.

His father had bought a stack of newspapers home.

Zhang Ye said in a speechless manner, "Why did you buy so many copies?"

His father placed the newspapers on the table. "All these newspapers wrote about you."

His mother said smugly, "My son is at the top of the A-list celebrity rankings. Which newspapers would dare not report about him?! They'd have to dedicate the front page to our son!"

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "How could I possibly get on the front page? It would already be quite good if I manage to get on the headlines of the entertainment sections."

Almost all of the entertainment section headlines belonged to Zhang Ye today. Other than one newspaper firm that was probably not on good terms with him and had deliberately pushed his news further down, all the other newspapers published Zhang Ye's picture in full color, along with a distinct headline on the first page of the entertainment section.

"Zhang Ye Reaches Top of A-list Rankings!"

"Does Zhang Ye have any hope of breaking into the S-list within the next two years?"

"Zhang Ye takes unusual path on his journey of popularity!"

"'Invincible' Storms into Major Music Charts!"

"Getting to the top of the A-list rankings: Perhaps this might be a short-lived high?"

The family ate breakfast together while flipping through the newspapers.

When his mother finished reading the final copy of the newspapers, she seethed, "What do they mean by a short-lived high?"

Zhang Ye explained, "The person behind me has almost caught up. The gap between us is shrinking very quickly."

His mother said anxiously, "Then you'll have to come up with some new works quickly!"

Zhang Ye said, "I'll just see how it goes. You can't force new works out because of something like that, and neither can it be rushed. Getting to this to this level of popularity has already surpassed my expectations."

His father gave a deep nod. "Our son is right. He can't just mess around for the sake of increasing his popularity."

His mother said, "But what if they catch up to you?"

"If they catch up, so be it. At most, I'll just have to catch back up again in the future." Zhang Ye smiled.

These days, Zhang Ye was battle-hardened after going through so many ups and downs in the entertainment industry. He had grown from a newcomer into a veteran of sorts. Having seen so much and gone through so many experiences, he was now more composed than ever, although he would still let fly a curse or two at times and go into a rage. But that was something which was impossible to change since it was ingrained in his character. His temper had become much better as well. At the very least, he was no longer as impatient as before in the way he did and said some things. There were some issues he definitely would not back off on, but there were also some things that could not be rushed.

However, the more he wasn't anxious about it, the more things developed in that direction!

As Zhang Ye finished eating breakfast, his phone started ringing!

On the caller ID: The Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences, Pan Yang.

Zhang Ye answered: "Hello, Dean Pan, you're looking for me?"

Dean Pan sounded a little excited. "Yes, that's right!"

"What happened?" Zhang Ye said in surprise.

When his parents heard that, they looked over.

Dean Pan said loudly: "It's a great piece of news!"

Zhang Ye: "Oh?"

"Professor Zhang, I now represent the Dale's Conjecture verification team to officially inform you that the proof you wrote has been fully validated after a year of checks by many of our world-class mathematicians!" Dean Pan was so excited that his voice went hoarse. "Dale's Conjecture has been solved by you! It has been solved by a Chinese mathematician! You're not just a world-class mathematician anymore! You can now be considered one of the smartest world-class mathematicians! You're just too fantastic! Professor Zhang! You've brought glory to us!"

It had been proven?

The verification was finally complete?

Zhang Ye could not sit still. "I'll be right over!"

"OK! OK! We are all waiting for you!" Dean Pan said: "We've already notified both the foreign and local media that we will be holding an official press conference this afternoon!"

Zhang Ye had waited for this day for too long!

Peking University had also waited for this day for too long, and so had China!

One of the most difficult mathematical conjectures in the world had been proven by Zhang Ye, a mathematician from China. It was an extremely meaningful day for the global mathematics world. And to Zhang Ye, this would definitely be one of the most memorable events in his life as well. Before Dale's Conjecture had been verified and proven, he was approached to be a recipient of an international math award. That would mean to say that even if there were any mistakes found during the verification process that would displace the entire proof, they were still willing to give him the award. From that, it could be seen just how highly regarded and difficult Dale's Conjecture was to the global mathematics world. But after a year of work by an international team made up of dozens of mathematicians, the proof was finally validated. This contributed to a major increase in Zhang Ye's popularity and reputation. A world-class mathematician had now become a preeminent world-class mathematician!

Just by adding the word "preeminent," the difference in meaning between the two titles immediately became poles apart! All of those preeminent mathematicians of the world and those who came before were considered treasures of humanity 2 . They were all historical legends. And today, Zhang Ye had also stepped up to that most glorious throne of the mathematics world!

He was now coronated with honor!

1. http://blog.wechat.com/2016/01/27/we-chat-about-wechat-5-red-packets-wechats-secret-weapon-in-payments/

2. Similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Human_Treasure