I'm Really a Superstar

Afternoon.

Caishikou.

"Teacher Zhang, we are here."

"There's no need to say thank you."

"There's no need to be so polite. Happy new year."

"All of you too. Here's me wishing you happy new year."

"Alright, then we will be dropping you off here. We'll be leaving."

Lu Yuhu and company drove off in their police car. Zhang Ye turned around and saw his bustling community, as well as debris of firecrackers on the ground. He walked over with mixed emotions!

Smash!

Smash!

They were still setting off firecrackers!

Big red lanterns were hanging from every unit's doors. Zhang Ye was in a better mood now and started humming "Woman Flower".

A middle-aged woman, who was with her child setting off some firecrackers, suddenly turned her head when she saw Zhang Ye. She immediately yelled, "Aiyo! Little Ye is back!"

Zhang Ye smiled and greeted, "Auntie Qu."

Another old man also shouted, "It really is Little Ye!"

Zhang Ye said, "Uncle Liu, I wish you a happy new year. Are you in good health?"

The old man said, "I'm in great health, but I have been worried about you, afraid that you would be in trouble. Quick, go back home! Your parents are still worrying!"

"Sure, thanks for your concern." Zhang Ye immediately went upstairs after he finished talking to his neighbors. He took his keys out and unlocked the door.

The door opened.

He immediately saw a woman in her fifties sitting in the living room.

Zhang Donghua was surprised, "Little Ye! Why are you are back?"

Zhang Ye smiled, "Aunt."

A woman aged 25-26 also came running out into the living room. Her looks were average, similar in stature to Zhang Donghua with a height of around 1.68 meters tall.

Zhang Shuang was also surprised, "Little Ye! Everyone was just talking about you! Aiyo, you really had us worried bad!"

Zhang Ye greeted, "Sis."

Zhang Shuang turned around and went back to the room shouting, "Uncle, Aunt! Come and see who's back!"

Before they could come out, Zhang Ye had already gone into the room. He was all smiles when he saw his parents, "Dad, Mom, I'm back. I'm sorry I made the both of you worry."

His father said, "They released you?"

"Yes, I just got back from the station." Zhang Ye said.

His father said worriedly, "Will you be OK?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's all been settled. A friend helped to 'fish' me out. Hai, it wasn't a big deal to start with anyway!"

His father heaved a sigh of relief, "Then that's good! That's good!"

Zhang Donghua gently said, "Our Little Ye has lady luck shining down on him. I said that he would definitely be alright!"

"Mom." Zhang Ye looked towards his mother.

She ignored him, looking at the side as she discreetly wiped her tears away.

Zhang Ye quickly rushed over to kneel down beside her, "What's the matter Mom? I've settled it already. Look at you, look at you. What are you crying for?"

His mother slapped her son's head and said as she cried, "You damned child! Do you want to worry me to death!? What if you get put away for 3 or 5 years! Who can your Dad and I rely on!?"

Zhang Shuang laughed, "Quick, coax my aunt. Aunt has already cried a few times since morning. She kept talking about you, afraid that you would be sentenced to imprisonment."

Zhang Ye did not know whether to laugh or cry, "What sentencing would I get? I only beat a guy up and it wasn't even that bad. How big of an issue is this? Look at you!"

His mother hit him angrily once again, "You still dare to laugh! You still dare to laugh!! Your Dad and I could not even sleep all night long!"

Zhang Ye did not dodge and just endured her hits. It wasn't painful anyway. He said, "OK OK, I know I'm in the wrong, Mom. I'm really sorry, don't be so angry anymore. I won't do it again."

His mother wiped her tears and said, "You already said that when you were released from the police station last time too! In the end? You still did whatever you wanted to do! Only you can do it? Only you are so special? No one did a thing in that situation, but you still went over to kick him? Only you have a temper!?"

Zhang Ye did not argue back and said, "I'm wrong, I'm wrong."

"You just won't allow me to not worry!" His mother was still angry.

His father interrupted, "OK, OK, our child has just been released after a long night at the station."

His aunt asked, "Have you eaten?"

Zhang Ye smiled, "No, I'm really quite hungry right now."

"Hur Hur, I'll cook some noodles for you." His aunt went to the kitchen.

But his mother stood up and stopped her. She dried her tears and said, "Sis, let me do it instead. He only likes Zhajiang noodles, so I'll fry some of the sauce."

Zhang Ye put on a face of flattery and said, "My Mom really loves me."

His mother rolled her eyes and said, "I will take care of you after your aunt leaves!"

Ring, ring, ring. The telephone rang.

His father checked the caller ID and said to Zhang Ye, "It's from your maternal grandma's house."

"Let me answer it." Zhang Ye quickly picked up the phone, "Hello."

His maternal grandma said in surprise over the phone, "Eh? It's Little Ye?"

Zhang Ye laughed heartily, "Maternal grandma, I just got home and was about to give you and my uncles a call....right, I'm fine now..... Don't you worry too much, watch your health...."

He made a few calls in a row to his relatives to inform them that he had been released.

Suddenly, his cellphone rang too. A few of his friends were calling him as well.

......

This was Wu Zeqing's call

"Hello, President Wu."

"You are back home?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

"I didn't help much."

"I heard from the police station and know you made some phone calls to give them pressure. Thank you. In a while, I'll definitely to visit you to give you my new year greetings."

"There's no need. Spend time with your family."

......

It was Zhang Yuanqi.

"It's me."

"Sister Zhang, I know it's you."

"How was it?"

"I'm already out. A friend helped me do something. I'm alright now."

"Hanging up."

"Uh, alright. Oh yeah, happy new year."

"OK."

......

It was Dong Shanshan.

"Old classmate, I heard you were released?"

"Yeah, I just got out. Shanshan, you went back home?"

"Yeah, I went back to spend the new year. You sure are awesome. There's news of you everyday over the new year. Even my small town's small newspaper has a report of you brawling."

"Eh, why am I so famous?"

"You are overthinking it. I guess they must not have much material for the publication, so they added it. Hur Hur."

......

Finally, there were also calls from Yao Jiancai, Zhao Guozhou, Wang Xiaomei, Ci Xiufang, Wang Xiong, Tian Bin, etc, etc, etc. They were all friends who had called out of concern and Zhang Ye explained the situation and chatted for a while before thanking each and every one of them.

"Old Tian, your work pass is still with me. Allow me return it to you in a while." Zhang Ye said.

Tian Bin said, "That's fine. It's just a temporary pass anyway. The gala is already over so it's useless now. You can keep it as a memento."

Zhang Ye said, "OK, sure. Thanks. So it's goodbye for now then?"

Tian Bin said, "Quickly go and have your lunch. Oh right, remember to take a look at the Celebrity Rankings index."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Zhang Ye asked curiously.

"Just take a look and you’ll know what I mean. I was looking at it a short while ago." Tian Bin laughed and hung up.

His mother had already finished cooking the Zhajiang noodles. She came out of the kitchen and said, "Don't answer the phone anymore. Eat first, otherwise the noodles will clump together!"

"Thanks mom." Zhang Ye immediately picked up his chopsticks and had a few mouthfuls. He ate without caring for his image as he was so hungry. At the same time, he browsed the internet on his cellphone, looking at the Celebrity Rankings index. When he found his name, he was overjoyed!

C-list!

How long had it been? He had finally broken into the C-list!

Although he was in last place, this still meant that he was now a real celebrity!

Zhang Ye immediately showed his cellphone screen to his family.

When Zhang Shuang saw it, she excitedly said, "You did it, Little Ye! You've done our family proud! You are now a real and famous celebrity! That Chen Qiqi that I idolized back then was still a C-lister now! And that really famous author, Tree Leaf, whose books have sold a few hundred thousand copies and had directed a blockbuster movie? He's still only a D-lister!"

Zhang Ye shrugged, "Well, I did it the unorthodox way. I took part in everything, tried out everything, so my reputation is a little more than theirs." He knew himself well.

Zhang Shuang was tickled by his 'unorthodox' remark, but thinking about it, she knew it was true.

Zhang Donghua also smiled, "Bro and sis, congratulations."

His mother turned quite snobbish, "Only a C-lister, still far from others."

Zhang Donghua said, "He's far off from those A and B-listers, but Little Ye has only debuted for how long now? It's only been six months and he has climbed from the bottom to become a C-lister. Who else is capable of something like this?"

Zhang Ye hurriedly finished his Zhajiang noodles. He was in such a good mood!

In his previous world, celebrities and artistes were also ranked in different rankings, but the rankings were less detailed and there wasn’t a central authority on such rankings. For example, there could be B-list directors, C-list hosts, A-list singers, S-list actors, and even A or B-list authors, etc., but it was different in this world. This ranking index calculated up all the reputation and fame attributed data sets to rank these celebrities with proper assessments, which made it more credible. A C-list celebrity in this world could be said to be already known by most people, either knowing this person's name or their works. In this world, where there was so much information available, being able to achieve a C-list ranking was already considerably difficult. Yet Zhang Ye had done it today and in only half a year's time!

C-list!

This was the great divide that was extremely difficult to cross!

If one couldn't get into the C-list, one would forever be considered as a wanderer in the entertainment circle. Only if they could get into the C-list rankings would they be considered a true celebrity!

Zhang Ye had originally calculated that he would have had a chance to get into the C-list after the full broadcasting of "Zhang Ye's Talk Show" had ended, but now his talk show had only been broadcasting for a few days and he had already achieved his target. He knew that this was because of the Spring Festival Gala's song, "Woman Flower". What was an even more contributing factor was his kick that sent Lee Anson flying. This incident had attracted all the attention from society. In just a night's time, Zhang Ye's fame had increased by leaps and bounds, propelling him from the D-list to the C-List. His ranking at that time was still very far behind the leaders in the D-list. Zhang Ye did not imagine that his kick would have brought him such great popularity!

He had literally beaten his way into the C-list!

Some people got famous by singing, some by acting in movies, others by writing novels. They made their ways slowly up the popularity ladder, but no one had ever done it the way Zhang Ye did! By beating and scolding others to become popular! Zhang Ye's name seemed destined to enter the annals of entertainment!

The entertainment circle's wonder!

Such an evaluation was too appropriate for him!

This way of increasing his fame had f**king no precedence to it!