I'm Really a Superstar

Over the next two days, Zhang Ye was so busy with treating all of his friends, bringing them around to enjoy a good meal, that he didn't go back home at all. In recent days, he had caused quite a big stir. First, he prevailed over PeterGo. Then, his proof of Dale's Conjecture was finally validated. On top of that, he was appointed as a full professor at Peking University. He also secured his foothold of the number one spot on the A-list celebrity rankings. With all that coming together and adding in the previously accumulated events, the results could finally be seen now. The entire country's media outlets were making mention of Zhang Ye's name without stop for a few days. This pushed his popularity up by quite a lot, which led to many celebratory feasts!

For example, with China Qiyuan.

For example, with his extended family.

For example, with friends like Yao Jiancai, Chen Guang, and the others.

For example, with his colleagues from Peking University.

And for example, with Rao Aimin, Yang Shu, and Chenchen.

How many meals was that already?

Later on, Dong Shanshan, Yu Yingyi, and the group of his old classmates also arranged to have a meal together with Zhang Ye to throw him a party. But as Zhang Ye was really unable to squeeze any time out from his schedule, they settled for having breakfast together.

At Dong Shanshan's villa.

His old classmates were all seated around the dining table and staring at the fried dough sticks and soy milk on the table, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Zhang Ye said, "Eat, eat, don't stand on ceremony with me. I just bought them, so have it while they're still hot!"

Dong Shanshan laughed and said, "Why would we stand on ceremony with you for over some lousy breakfast?"

Yu Yingyi rolled her eyes. "This is the first time I'm seeing someone treat others in this way!"

Wang He also said in a speechless manner, "Zhang'er, aren't you playing us for fools like this!"

Ma Xufei fumed while glaring, "I object! I strongly object to this!"

He Kui laughed from beside them.

"Hai, I really haven't had much time recently, and you guys are also going to be busy with your own work next week, so we could only decide on this morning to gather together like this. I have other appointments planned for this afternoon and tonight. Since we're all old classmates and know each other quite well, what's there to be so formal about. Don't dismiss breakfast as not fitting of a feast. Soy milk and fried dough sticks are really expensive too," Zhang Ye explained as he rubbed his temples. He had been drinking so much these past few days that his brain was hurting.

Yu Yingyi sighed. "Alright, we'll just have to make do. Squeezing a meal out of Professor Zhang is already an achievement. He's indeed quite busy these days, and I can testify to that."

Zhang Ye laughed. "Right?"

He Kui rolled his eyes. "You two are singing the same tune now, eh?"

Yu Yingyi said happily, "That's right. Just doing the commentary work for those three games that Zhang'er played helped me gain quite a lot of popularity, although this girl might not be comparable to Classmate Shanshan yet. But amongst the country's sports hosts, I'm considered as one of the more popular ones, haha. In the future, if there are any sports events that you all would like to attend, just let me know. Big Sis will help to get the tickets for you guys. It's not that I'm trying to brag, but with just a phone call from me, everyone is pretty much willing to give face to me."

He Kui said enviously, "Right now, it seems like only the three of you are doing well."

Zhang Ye, Dong Shanshan, and Yu Yingyi were the three referred to, of course.

Yu Yingyi said, "Compared to Zhang'er, who dares say that they're doing well."

Zhang Ye quickly said, "Ha, don't you guys tread on me like this."

Dong Shanshan drank some soy milk and gave him a look. "You're at the top of the A-list. Another step forward and you'll be in the S-list rankings. What plans do you have?"

"Hai." Zhang Ye shook his head. "I've not thought of any yet."

Dong Shanshan blinked several times. "You're probably going to get into the international rankings, right?"

Zhang Ye spread his hands. "I'm not even popular on the international stage, so I can't climb onto that list for sure. I don't even have any works that are known on the international scene, so I'll just take it step by step."

S-list.

Asia.

International.

There was still a long road ahead!

…

Meanwhile.

The news of Dale's Conjecture being proven was gradually spreading across Asia.

The Japanese netizens.

"What?"

"Why does this name sound so familiar?"

"Zhang Ye? Isn't that the man who played Go?"

"Oh yes, it's that guy from the war between humans and machines!"

"No wonder! So he's really a mathematician!"

The Korean netizens.

"Dale's Conjecture has been solved?"

"When did it happen?"

"Long ago? So it was him who solved it!"

"Why is this guy so good?"

"Is he really the smartest person in the world?"

…

That night.

A major incident happened again in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Almost without warning, and to everyone's surprise, when the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index was updated, Zhang Ye's name appeared on the Asian C-list rankings!

The Asian Celebrity Rankings Index. This was not a celebrity ranking list under the jurisdiction of China and the SARFT. It was overseen by a different authority and was a list of rankings that one wouldn't be able to get into if they did not have a certain level of influence around Asia. Every person that was in the rankings were well-known stars in the Asian countries and the index was segmented into four grades. They were respectively:

Asian S-list rankings.

Asian A-list rankings.

Asian B-list rankings.

Asian C-list rankings.

The statistics used in the rankings were not based solely on the number of fans that one had. Otherwise, with the population of China being so large, any random B-list celebrity would easily be qualified to be called a big shot around Asia. This rankings index was not that superficial. The number of fans one had was still the main statistical data—that was definitely necessary, of course. But there was also the status of whether their works won any awards, their qualifications, as well as how large their influence around the Asian region was. Combining all of those statistics, it would make it very difficult for someone to gain a place in the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index. This was especially true for celebrities from China and Japan. Currently, the celebrities in the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index were mainly Koreans!

For example, Korean star Lee Anson, who was sent flying by a kick from Zhang Ye, was in the rankings. He was in the Asian C-list rankings!

Lee Anson was actually very popular back then in China, although he was sent packing afterwards due to that incident. However, the base of his popularity was still there. Coupled with him doing quite well back home in Korea for the past two years, and having many fans in Japan and other Asian countries who loved him, those statistics made him a big shot as an Asian C-list celebrity! In contrast, although Zhang Ye was very well-known by everyone back in China and enjoyed a high level of popularity, he was still relatively unknown in Asia. He had never released any major works that were propagated into the Asian region, so his influence in the region was much more limited!

But this time, Zhang Ye had suddenly made it into the rankings!

And it wasn't just at the bottom of the Asian C-list rankings. He had appeared in the middle of the rankings!

There was a celebration across Weibo!

Zhang Ye's fans cheered!

"Damn!"

"He has made it to the Asian Celebrity Rankings Index!"

"He's finally there!"

"Teacher Zhang has blown up!"

"It was definitely due to the Go incident and the mathematical conjecture being proven!"

"Yeah, I was wondering why with Teacher Zhang's popularity in the country, he still hadn't made it onto this index. Look at Ning Lan and Xiaodong of Spring Garden, they've been in the Asian rankings all this time. So why was there nothing from Teacher Zhang? And now, I see that he has finally started his chapter in Asia!"

"Hahaha, congratulations!"

"Teacher Zhang's been having a year to remember since a few days ago!"

"Teacher Zhang can finally become more popular outside of the country! This is worth being happy and congratulated for!"

"Asian C-list rankings? Isn't that a little low?"

"It is a little low. Ning Lan is behind Zhang Ye by a little within China, but she's already a B-lister in Asia. Uh, but we can't really put it that way since Sister Ning's movies have always done very well in Asia. Along with being screened domestically, the box office earnings throughout Asia are also quite good. So of course she has an advantage there! As for Teacher Zhang's works, they're basically only known within the country, so there aren't too many people from the other Asian countries who know about him!"

"You still call that popularity of his low? Don't forget that Teacher Zhang has beaten up a Korean celebrity and scolded those Japanese dignitaries. Don't you remember the stir it caused back then? Just how badly had he been boycotted by those two main countries in Asia at that time? The Asian media was basically unwilling to report any news about him at all. So now that he has made it into the Asian C-list rankings, you should know just how heaven defying Teacher Zhang has been! He's totally unstoppable!"

"He's truly awesome!"

"Tossing flowers in celebration!"

"This is going to be an extremely important step for him!"

"Starting today, Zhang Ye is an Asian star!"

The fans sent in their congratulatory messages!

The media outlets were fighting to get their first reports out!

Zhang Ye's friends and family also called to congratulate him!

He had been getting so many such calls these days that he lost count of how many times he had been congratulated. It felt like everyone was constantly congratulating him one after another every other day!