I'm Really a Superstar

After lunch.

Zhang Ye insisted on clearing the dishes.

"Little Zhang, take a break."

"Auntie, let me do it!"

"Just leave it there, I'll clear them."

"No, no, leave it to me!"

"Aiya, why are you being like that!"

"Where's the sink?"

"There's one in the house and another in the yard."

"Alright, you can go rest for a bit. Leave it to me!"

He stood in the yard and did the dishes. Zhang Ye was not one to usually do chores at home as his mother handled all of that. Old Wu also did not let him touch any pots and pans when he was at her place. But now that he was visiting Old Wu's parents' place for the first time as Wu Zeqing's official boyfriend, Zhang Ye definitely had to impress them a little. It didn't matter if he could clean them properly or not. It was the least he could do to show his sincerity and bearing. He was slow at washing the dishes, but he did it very seriously.

Li Qinqin nodded slightly in approval beside him.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Auntie, in the future, if you need any chores done or have anything you need, just give me call. I'll be at your service immediately."

Li Qinqin smiled and said, "OK."

Suddenly, the wind outside picked up.

Li Qinqin looked up. "It's going to rain soon. Let's get inside."

Zhang Ye quickly finished washing the dishes. "OK."

Back in the house, Wu Changhe and Wu Zeqing were chatting as they watched the news.

Wu Zeqing said, "This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Go world."

Wu Changhe said, "Yes, what a close call. It was almost like we were caught between life and death at that moment!"

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, "It was really quite dangerous. If the AI had won, Go would start going downhill as a sport. But the Americans clearly never thought that there would really be a person in this world who could face the AI. After Little Ye's win, it's likely that Go will start thriving and get better from here. The news just reported that Go classes for children have been filled up for summer break. This is the start of something new."

Wu Changhe grunted, "That kid has at least done something human for once."

Even Wu Changhe had to admit that it was Zhang Ye who saved the Go world this time!

On the TV, they were replaying Zhang Ye's win against Peter. Suddenly, it switched to a different scene and a song came on.

"How lonely it is to be invincible.

"How empty it feels to be invincible."

Wu Zeqing was startled!

Wu Changhe and Li Qinqin were startled as well!

Pfft!

What kind of song was that!

Zhang Ye said dumbfounded, "Damn, when did they record this?"

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, "Did you sing it?"

Zhang Ye was floored and replied, "I was just singing it at the Qiyuan after winning the game. Why did they record that? And they're even broadcasting it on TV now?"

This song made a lot of people laugh hard!

Everyone was rolling on the floor laughing on the Internet!

"Teacher Zhang released a new song!"

"Quickly watch TV!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"What lousy song is this!"

"Aiyo, I can't take it!"

"How lonely it is to be invincible?"

"What a great song!"

"Pfft, this song is indeed Teacher Zhang's style!"

"What a jokester! He's so cocky!"

"What's the title of this song? I've been brainwashed by it!"

"Requesting review of the Americans' phobia!"

"Teacher Zhang is indeed invincible! Who can understand him!"

"Now that Zhang Ye is at this level, it really does get a little lonely!"

"She who hides beyond the horizon? Who is 'she'?"

"Yeah, who was Teacher Zhang singing the song for?"

When the video clip was released, it got forwarded countless times. "Invincible" went viral and became an instant hit. The lyrics that went "she who hides beyond the horizon" also got discussed by countless people. Everyone was trying to guess who "she" was!

Watching the television.

Wu Changhe grunted, "What a show off!" Go is not a game that is particular about employing masterful moves, but focuses on the strategy, stability, and intense discipline of one's behavior. That was why Wu Changhe and many of the Qiyuan's people couldn't understand why a rash and showy person like Zhang Ye could play the game so well. That in itself didn't make any sense! But Wu Changhe did not seem to realize that his own temper was not any better!

Wu Zeqing chuckled. "I don't think it's a bad thing. When it's time to keep a low profile, he keeps a low profile. But when it's time to let loose, he does so."

Zhang Ye liked what he heard. "Old Wu knows me so well!"

Li Qinqin looked at him and said, "Little Zhang, what's your popularity ranking now?

"Uh, I didn't pay attention to it." Zhang Ye said, "I've been so busy playing Go for the past few days that I forgot to check."

Li Qinqin laughed and said, "Since you won the game today, there'll definitely be a large increase in your popularity."

Zhang Ye immediately checked the Celebrity Rankings Index. He still found himself in third place on the A-list rankings, sitting close behind Ning Lan, who was in second place. Although there were no changes in the rankings, Zhang Ye's popularity score was almost even with Ning Lan's. He had almost caught up to her. Needless to say, there was a boost to his popularity yesterday after he won against Peter in the second game of the final battle between humans and machines. And today, Zhang Ye won again to defeat Peter by a score of two to one. No one knew if there would be any more changes to the popularity ranking!

Thinking of that, Zhang Ye started to greatly anticipate how it would turn out. His original intent was only to help the Go world, and also to gain the acknowledgment of the Wu family regarding his relationship with Wu Zeqing. The matter of how much his popularity could increase by was not even on his mind as Go was just a niche sport, while Go players were only considered small-time celebrities. For example, Xiang Rong 9-dan, the Go world's number one who was also a public figure to speak of. He should be the most glamorous celebrity in the Go world at the moment, but was only an E-list celebrity in the popularity rankings. As for the rest of the professional Go players, they were even less popular and famous. They probably wouldn't even rank among the E-list celebrities!

But Zhang Ye was clearly an exception. Just a single victory in Go had brought him such a massive increase in popularity. That was because many people paid attention to the war between humans and machines!

Would his popularity soar again?

This was really such a pleasant surprise!

…

At night.

The moment he reached home, it started raining.

His mother greeted him. "Son, did you get caught in the rain?"

"No." Zhang Ye smiled.

His father strode out from the bedroom. "Little Ye, you played well! You played really well in today's game!"

Zhang Ye said with a laugh, "I guess so. Whoa, did someone come over? Why is it so messy?"

His mother said, "It was our neighbors. They came over in the evening, and everyone was praising you. They said that you were going to get popular again and might even overtake Ning Lan this time!"

Zhang Ye shrugged. "Who knows."

His mother asked, "Are they refreshing the rankings at midnight?"

"Yes."

"OK, I will wait for it then!"

"Hey, you better hurry off to bed. It's late."

"I'm so happy today that I can't sleep!"

Ring, ring, ring.

Speak of the devil and he will call.

It was Ning Lan. Zhang Ye answered.

Ning Lan immediately said when the call connected: "Hey, Teacher Zhang, you didn't play fair!"

Zhang Ye asked: "What's up?"

Ning Lan laughed and said: "Just look at your popularity score. You claimed you were going on a two-week break. How did I fall for your lie! All of us have been slogging so hard every day and night, yet our popularity only creeps up by a little bit. But when it comes to you, you have it so good. You take a two-week break from work and your popularity is still going up every other day. The way it is increasing really makes no sense at all! I'm about to be overtaken by you!"

Zhang Ye laughed and said: "That might not necessarily happen."

"Today's rankings haven't been updated, but I think it will be difficult for my popularity score to increase by much." Ning Lan said sadly, "I've been cast in three movies this year, but my gained popularity is not even close to what you've gained by playing Go in the past three days. You are really doing things differently, huh? I can only take my hat off to you. Do you know what the people in the industry are saying about you? They say that your luck is so good that you can get popular even without doing anything."

Zhang Ye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What do they mean by without doing anything? It's just that you don't know this, but I was nearly annihilated by that Peter. I was this close to losing!"

Ning Lan said: "I will congratulate you first then, although I'm still clenching my teeth in hatred, haha!"

Zhang Ye quickly said: "Don't congratulate me yet. It might not increase by much."

"Don't worry, you will definitely overtake me," Ning Lan said.

That same night.

There were also reports in the foreign news.

The Japanese media: "Chinese genius defeats an AI!"

The Korean media: "The Go world could be welcoming a hundred years of glory!"

The American media: "The most advanced AI in history was dealt a shocking blow by humanity!"

On Weibo.

A lot of netizens were waiting.

"It's almost midnight!"

"Are the rankings updated yet?"

"Not yet!"

"Teacher Zhang's popularity has gone up way too fast. King of Masked Singers only just ended and his popularity is soaring again? I wonder how much his popularity will increase this time!"

"Well, Teacher Zhang is truly very capable after all!"

"Being invincible is indeed lonely!"

People were waiting to find out!

Zhang Ye's close friends and relatives were waiting to find out!

Everyone in the entertainment industry was also waiting to find out!

Everyone was concerned about how much Zhang Ye's popularity would rise by. This was because it was the first time in history that someone could gain popularity from such a niche activity like Go. For show business, this was rather refreshing. So the industry insiders wanted to see if they could learn a thing or two from Zhang Ye's success. Since they were all in the same industry, everyone had to keep learning from one another. But many of them also knew that Zhang Ye's success model was not replicable!

Midnight arrived!

The Celebrity Rankings Index was updated!

The netizens got excited.

"It's here!"

"It's time!"

"Has it been updated yet?"

"Quickly!"

"Is it out yet?"

"Did Zhang Ye overtake Ning Lan?"

After a delay of two minutes, the rankings were suddenly updated!

When they saw the A-list celebrity rankings, everyone online suddenly became silent!

The netizens were astonished!

The industry insiders were tongue-tied!

Even Zhang Ye and his parents couldn't react!

His popularity score had shot past Ning Lan's score. Not only that, Zhang Ye even overtook and replaced that A-list celebrity who used to be in first! The first and third places might only be two spots apart, but it was an entirely different concept altogether. Even the treatment of each one's status was an earth-shattering difference!

The top A-list celebrity!

—This was the result that Zhang Ye had achieved in the Go world over the past three days!

A lot of industry insiders were greatly shocked by how insane Zhang Ye's achievement was!

This is Go we're talking about!

This is only a fucking game of Go!

How does this make any fucking sense at all!