I’m Really a Superstar

In the auditorium.

The awards ceremony ended and the crowd dispersed.

Instantly, the reporters made a mad dash towards Zhang Ye.

“Teacher Zhang!”

“Fellow Zhang!”

“Please, don’t go yet!”

When Zhang Ye saw this, he hurriedly avoided them.

General Li happened to come over.

“Old Li,” Zhang Ye said.

General Li smiled and said, “Congratulations.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “Since the news is now public, the confidentiality clauses should be invalid now, right?”

General Li took out several documents and gave them to him. “These three are invalid, but the rest are still in effect. As long as you’re alive, they won’t be invalid.”

Zhang Ye shrugged. “Alright, I understand.”

From nearby, quite a few scientists also came over and surrounded him.

“Fellow Zhang.”

“Congrats, congrats!”

“Our research institute has encountered some technical difficulties for a dynamics issue. We can’t seem to overcome it. Can we ask which day you might be free? Can you come over to our research institute to have a look?”

“Fellow Zhang, will you be free tomorrow? Let me buy you dinner!”

Zhang Ye became very highly sought after all of a sudden.

Xin Ya squeezed her way to the front. She said in astonishment, “Professor Zhang, what is it with you?”

The venue descended into chaos!

…

On Weibo.

The netizens were still analyzing the situation.

“It’s still not announced yet?”

“The awards ceremony should be ending soon, right?”

“I wonder who won?”

“I don’t know.”

“I just received news that Fellow Chen was only awarded a consolation prize.”

“All other awards are just consolation prizes. They’re only there as the bridesmaids to the Highest Science and Technology Award, which is the true highlight of the ceremony!”

“So when are they gonna announce it?”

A lot of people were waiting.

A lot of people were watching the buzz.

A short while later, the news was announced!

On the television.

In the papers.

Online.

The news blew up!

“More than 10 science awards have been announced!”

“Zhang Ye takes home the Highest Science and Technology Award!”

“Zhang Ye wins the highest honor in science and technology!”

“Zhang Ye’s résumé shocks everyone both at home and abroad!”

“Zhang Ye fulfills the dreams of the people for an aircraft engine!”

“Zhang Ye develops dozens of advanced international technologies!”

“Zhang Ye: The youngest research fellow of the Two Academies!”

“Zhang Ye’s speech: ‘Bu I long to use the sword I carry, / For the State, oh, the barbarians I’ll bury!'”

“During his sentence of over three years, Zhang Ye has actually been working for the country all the while!”

“Zhang Ye to become the most successful scientist in the country?”

The news was too shocking!

It shocked so many people that they thought they had been reading fake news!

…

At Yao Jiancai’s house.

The entire family was stunned.

“What?”

“Uncle Zhang?”

“How is it him!”

“The highest award in science?”

…

At Beijing Television.

“Ahhh!”

“Didn’t they say that Zhang Ye’s nomination was just to round off the numbers?”

“H-How did he end up getting it!?”

“What the heck!”

“Developed an aircraft engine?”

“Designed a fighter jet?”

…

At his old classmate’s house.

“Holy shit!”

“Quick, come and see this!”

“Zhang’er, he’s crazy!”

“The president presented him with an award!”

“They’re showing a recording from the venue!”

…

At Li Shao’s studio.

“Shit!”

“Why is it him again!”

“Yeah, why is it him again!”

“He can even qualify for an award like this?”

“Fuck! What happened!”

…

At an entertainment company.

“How scary!”

“He’s absolutely unstoppable now.”

“So that latest self-developed fighter jet was actually a project led by Zhang Ye!”

“Has he really crossed over to the field of science?”

“And he has even reached the summit of the scientific community too?!”

…

At the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Zhang Ye is one of us?”

“So it was him?”

“He joined the Chinese Academy of Sciences long ago!”

“My idol! He’s so amazing!”

“So this is the person who’s been hailed as the smartest person to exist in several hundred years?”

…

At Zhang Ye’s Studio.

“This is absolutely crazy!”

“Director Zhang has won the highest prize in science!”

“I knew it! I was wondering why Director Zhang insisted on waiting longer before reopening his spot on the popularity rankings!”

“We can finally reopen our spot!”

“Just how much popularity will this bring to Director Zhang?”

“I don’t know, but he’s definitely going to be on the level of a Heavenly King!”

…

Online.

“There’s really no one in the world who can stop him!”

“Teacher Zhang—no, I should be addressing him as Fellow Zhang instead!”

“So he has actually been doing so many things since he got sent to jail!”

“Why can’t I seem to believe it!”

“I can’t believe it either.”

“Is this some sort of tall tale?”

“Is Teacher Zhang really so awesome?”

“That poem is too domineering!”

“What a good ‘For the State, oh, the barbarians I’ll bury!'”

“My blood is also racing from that!”

“Teacher Zhang is mighty! This is truly a contribution that will fucking benefit the future generations!”

“Yeah, this sort of an important award is worth far more than 10 awards earned in the entertainment circle. Zhang Ye has really made a great contribution to the might of our country! Patriotism isn’t simply talk. It has to be acted on!”

“Ahhhh, I’m so in love with Zhang Ye!”

“This is what you truly call a star!”

…

On the way home.

Calls kept coming in from his family and friends!

Zhang Xia.

Chen Guang.

Hu Fei.

Ha Qiqi.

Ning Lan.

Xu Meilan.

Dong Shanshan.

“Zhang’er, you weren’t resting even when you were in prison!”

“Hahaha, I guess.”

“Aren’t you being too clever? You can even dabble in the field of science and technology?”

“Just doing my part for the people.”

“What on earth happened?”

“Hur hur, I’ll explain it in detail in the future.”

Up ahead, he had arrived back at home.

Xin Ya’s car came to a stop outside as the villa’s gate opened.

Zhang Ye’s parents, Wu Changhe, and Li Qinqin all came rushing out!

“Little Ye!”

“Damn, what is going on?”

“How did you win it!?”

“Hurry up and tell us!”

The four of them were very anxious and excited!

When the scene showing Zhang Ye accepting the award from the president was broadcast on television, they were the people in the entire nation who were the most surprised!

Li Qinqin grabbed Xin Ya and asked, “Little Ya, did that really happen?”

Xin Ya said with a bitter smile, “It’s real. They really did give him the award.”

Behind them, Wu Zeqing came out holding their child. She smiled and said, “Let go inside and talk.”

But Wu Changhe couldn’t wait a second more. He stared at Zhang Ye. “Tell us right now! You’re really too good at keeping a secret! Have you never spoken the truth before!”

Zhang Ye laughed and threw up his hands. “Dad, what do you mean by I’ve never spoken the truth before? I was just held back by the confidentiality clauses that I’ve signed off on. I couldn’t talk about it until they were canceled.” Now he could talk about it. “In any case, this was what happened. When I was in prison, the government insisted on recruiting me to help them out. As such, I helped them out by tackling a few technical difficulties that they had, and dabbled in developing an aircraft engine, a radar system, guided missiles, and the like. Why else did you think I was able to get released in half the time from my original sentence? It was all because I got a sentence reduction.”

The lot of them came back into the house.

Zhang Ye related the events of the past few years to them.

Everyone listened to him, expressing surprise and astonishment at times, and getting dumbfounded at other times!

Xin Ya had to take her hat off to him as well. She was speechless and astonished by how capable Zhang Ye was!

You can even do that?

That’s even possible?

Building an aircraft?

Manufacturing an engine?

Designing a radar system?

And you even know about missile technology too?

Why the fuck do you seem to know about everything!