I’m Really a Superstar

Noon.

It was break time, and the studio staff were seated together, having lunch and chatting.

On the television, the news surrounding the State Science and Technology Prizes was increasing.

“The State Science and Technology Prizes ¹ will be announced soon!”

“Will there still be no recipients for the Highest Science and Technology Award this year?”

“The Highest Science and Technology Award has not been awarded to anyone for two years running!”

“Our self-developed fighter jet will be entering service soon!”

“The first self-developed fighter jet in China will be unveiled soon!”

“The list of newly appointed research fellows of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering ² to be revealed soon!”

“The celebrity scientists will be making a collective appearance at the event!”

Online.

The netizens were getting extremely excited.

“We’re coming to the ‘tech month.’”

“The fighter jet will be entering service? It’s happening so soon?”

“We’re finally getting our own fighter jet!”

“It was researched and developed independently by our own country too. This is the result of our country’s grand efforts!”

“Military enthusiast here expressing that I cried tears of joy!”

“This is such exciting news.”

“The key issue is still the engine technology. Since when did we gain expertise in that? There was absolutely no news about something like this in the past. I’ve never heard of any breakthrough in technology surrounding our engine manufacturing process either.”

“Yeah, when it was announced that we were going to conduct a test flight of our self-developed fighter, I was stunned by the news. How did we manage to deal with the issue of the engine in the first place?”

“The media didn’t report about it either.”

“I guess it was some genius who did it.”

“There’s going to be a lot of attention on the State Science and Technology Prizes this year. I’ll be watching it closely.”

“I don’t think they still won’t give out this prize again this year, right?”

This year was such a great year for the citizens of China. Not mentioning anything else, just the successful test flight of the latest self-developed fighter jet alone had shocked everyone both at home and abroad. And now, it was even announced that this fighter model had passed all of the tests and would be put into service soon. What did this mean? It meant that the military strength and technology of China had taken a big step forward. Furthermore, this was a key step forward!

…

Japan.

Online.

“China’s self-developed fighter jet is entering into service?”

“This is too fast!”

“This—”

“It’s impossible that they have the technology to do this.”

“When they said that they were conducting a test flight, I thought it was just a bluff.”

“So it is really entering service soon? Will it translate into combat power for them?”

“China is developing too quickly!”

…

Korea.

Online.

“China has its own fifth-generation fighter jet too?”

“Their aircraft engine was self-developed too?”

“How did they do it?”

“Could this be a smokescreen? Fake news?”

“I also think that it’s too soon.”

Could a foreign expert have helped them?”

“That’s impossible. There aren’t even that many countries that have fully mastered the development of a fifth-generation fighter jet on their own.”

…

America.

Online.

“Did they really manage to do it?”

“The Chinese are so scary.”

“In just a few short years, they had managed so many breakthroughs in technology?”

“The Chinese scientists are such geniuses.”

“Who’s the lead scientist behind the development of their aircraft engine?”

“I don’t know.”

Countless countries around the world.

And many military enthusiasts were shocked by this news!

…

At Zhang Ye’s Studio.

Ha Qiqi smiled and said, “This is such great news.”

Zhang Zuo said as he ate, “There’s so much meaningless news being reported these days, so this news is finally something to get excited about.”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “You’re right. Only when our country gets strong will we as citizens and celebrities rest easy. This is why the celebrity scientist is the true celebrity.” These were the exact same words that someone had used to dupe him with years ago, and it was reproduced in its whole now by Zhang Ye over here. Moreover, this fellow believed deeply in what he had just said.

All of a sudden, someone knocked on the door.

Tong Fu was the closest to it, so he opened the door. “Eh?”

A woman who looked slightly familiar was standing outside.

Ha Qiqi recognized her. “Professor Xin?”

The visitor turned out to be one of Wu Zeqing’s few good friends. She was also a mathematics professor who came out of Tsinghua University and one of the well-known young mathematicians in the country.

Zhang Ye put down his bowl. “Yo, Professor Xin.”

Xin Ya narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “How have you been, Professor Zhang?”

“Please, come in.” Zhang Ye said in delight, “What brought you here today?”

Xin Ya said, “I just got off work from the research institute and happened to pass by your office, so I came over to have a look. I haven’t seen you in four years. Why haven’t you bought me a meal yet?”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “You’ve already applied to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and soon will be the second woman appointed as a research fellow, so shouldn’t you be the one buying me a meal?”

Ha Qiqi said in surprise, “Aiyo, congratulations.”

Zhang Zuo also smiled and said, “Congratulations, Professor Xin.”

But Xin Ya was startled. She looked at Zhang Ye and choked out, “How do you know?”

“Ah?” Zhang Ye was taken aback. He said, “Didn’t they announce it?”

Xin Ya looked at him. “The application hasn’t even been approved, and no discussions have happened at the Chinese Academy of Sciences yet, so how could it have been announced!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “My wife, she’s—”

“I haven’t told Old Wu about this matter either!” interrupted Xin Ya.

Zhang Ye coughed and said, “Eh, then who did I hear it from? I can’t seem to remember.”

Xin Ya pressed, “Where did you hear it from?”

“I’ve really forgotten,” Zhang Ye continued lying.

Xin Ya wasn’t stupid. She didn’t believe the bullshit that was coming out of Zhang Ye’s mouth for a second.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to say it, but that he could not talk about it yet. This was because he had signed so many confidentiality clauses. He had to keep a lot of matters a secret until the time was right to talk about them. Actually, Zhang Ye had even taken a look at Xin Ya’s application to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The reason for this was that Zhang Ye was currently a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the academy, with the exception of a special case like Zhang Ye, all applications to become a research fellow had to pass through the unanimous voting of the relevant academy’s research fellows. Therefore, for most research fellow applications related to the field of mathematics that had been submitted, every research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science would have to have a look at it. As it happened, Zhang Ye had come to know many of the Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science’s research fellows over the past few years, so he even helped to canvass votes for Xin Ya from them. However, none of that needed to be mentioned to her.

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “In any case, treat me to a meal.”

Seeing his lips were sealed, Xin Ya couldn’t do anything about it. She knew that as a mathematician, she couldn’t possibly outtalk a person like Zhang Ye. As such, she took out an invitation and said with a smile, “It will be the State Science and Technology Prizes Award Ceremony in another few days. I just received the invitation this morning. It says that I can bring a person along. Considering you’re Old Wu’s husband, what say you about going with me? I, Sister Xin, will bring you along to broaden your horizons.”

Everyone laughed. They knew that the two of them were just kidding.

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “Oh, thank you.”

Xin Ya smiled and said, “You’re welcome. We’re friends, after all.”

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.

Ha Qiqi went to answer the door this time and saw that it was a courier. “Director Zhang, it’s for you.”

Zhang Ye asked, “What is it?”

Ha Qiqi opened up the package and was surprised. “An invitation?”

Hearing that, everyone gathered around her out of curiosity. Even Xin Ya came over to have a look.

It was a very simple invitation letter that was red in color.

—The State Science and Technology Prizes Award Ceremony!

It was exactly the same as the invitation Xin Ya had received!

Xin Ya said in surprise, “Ah? Why did you get one too?”

The studio staff were also confused. “Yeah, this doesn’t make sense.”

Zhang Ye snorted as he opened the invitation letter to read it. “And why can’t I get one too?”

“Which row are you in? We’re both in the field of math research, so we should probably be sitting next to each other?” Xin Ya stuck her neck out to have a look at his invitation. When she saw it, Xin Ya got so surprised that her eyeballs popped out of their sockets. “Damn, you’re in the first row?!”

Zhang Ye didn’t understand what she meant, so he reactively asked, “Which row are you in?”

Xin Ya said in a daze, “I’m—row sixteen.”

Ha Qiqi said in amusement, “Director Zhang’s seat is right up front?”

But Xin Ya knew! How was this as simple as sitting at the front!

The first row!

And the second row!

The people sitting in these two rows were clearly—

Suddenly, Wu Yi, who was watching the news, exclaimed, “Come and see this! It’s the announcement of the nominees for the State Science and Technology Prizes Award Ceremony! There are a total of 102 people shortlisted for it!” He turned to Zhang Ye in astonishment. “Director Zhang, what the fuck! You…you…why is your name also on it?”

Ha Qiqi was dumbfounded. “Could it be someone with the same name?”

Wu Yi pointed at the television and said, “It’s not! There are even the details of their birthdays beside their names. This is clearly referring to Director Zhang!”

Zhang Zuo said, “What?”

Xin Ya asked, “Did you really get shortlisted for the awards?”