Chapter 543: B-list!
The next day.
Morning.
At his maternal grandma's house.
When the door was opened, Zhang Ye and his parents were coming into the house. All of a sudden, everyone in the house looked over. Other than his grandpa and grandma, two of his three uncles were here, while two of his aunts were busy preparing meals in the kitchen. There were also three of his cousins who mobbed him as soon as he arrived.
The eldest sister said laughingly, "Brother!"
The second sister giggled and said, "Congratulations on getting unbanned!"
"I heard that your new novel will be published soon?" the third sister said as she pull at his arms. She went on, "I want to reserve 50 autographed copies to give out to my classmates and teachers!"
His first uncle beckoned him. "Little Ye, come in quickly."
His second aunt said, "Little Ye, Tongtong will be taking her university admission exams soon. Why don't you tutor her in math? She's always been bad at it. If we knew you were so good at it, I wouldn't have invited a tutor for her, hur hur."
"Let the kid come into the house first," his maternal grandma uttered.
Zhang Ye didn't know whom he was supposed to talk to anymore. He could only manage a smile, and went around greeting the elders one by one, "Grandma, grandpa, first uncle, first aunt, second uncle…"
The whole family started chatting.
Today's gathering was suggested by Zhang Ye. He wanted to make up for the time when he wasn't able to join them during the lunar new year. He had really been too busy at that time. First, he went to the venue where the Spring Festival Gala was held, then spent the night at the police station. Following, he was assigned to the Internet Surveillance Bureau before finally getting banned. After that, he joined the crosstalk competition and many other events followed after it. From the beginning of the lunar new year until now, he did not idle around at all and was always busy fighting for his career. Since he did not get to sit down for a meal with his family for the new year, with everything settled and ending on a good note, Zhang Ye decided that he wanted to have a gathering with them. He wanted to treat everyone to a restaurant, but his grandparents refused. Perhaps they'd gotten used to not spending frivolously, or it could also be because their legs weren't as strong as before. So they decided that this meal gathering would happen at home. Other than third uncle who had to work today, everyone else was here.
"Little Ye, you're really doing well!" his first uncle exclaimed.
First aunt also jokingly said to Zhang Ye's mother, "Sis, your son has done you proud again this time."
His mother grinned from ear to ear and demurred, "Hai, it's not too bad, it's not too bad." As she said that, her face reflected a much better mood than her answer.
His grandma held his hand happily as she sat on the sofa, not letting go as she patted on it without stop. She turned her head to Zhang Ye's mother and his uncles. "When I raised you kids so many years ago, it really took a lot out of me. Some of you were so naughty and stole food from other houses or fought in school. I was always so worried and wondered how you'd all end up. But it seems like none of you turned out to be capable anyway. Only Little Ye, my grandson, is good!" Then with a pause, she added, "He has never let me worry about him before."
His second younger sister was almost speechless. "Heh? My brother does not let us worry? Just recently, he picked on so many people on Weibo and scolded them. I still thought that our brother here even wanted to offend all of the other celebrities!"
When they heard that, his uncles and aunties all laughed joyfully.
His grandma stared hard at Tongtong and said, "That's still less worrying than you are."
His grandpa also added, "Little Ye, you must have a few drinks with your grandpa today."
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Sure, no problem."
His first uncle asked curiously, "Oh right, Little Ye is considered as an artist from which list now?"
His first aunt thought about it before saying, "I remember he was just promoted into the C-list, right?"
"That was ages ago." His third younger sister laughed. She obviously followed Zhang Ye's news very closely and knew about his celebrity ranking. "When I checked this morning, our brother was close to becoming a B-list star! Although he's still a C-lister for now, he's fourth from the top, so he's not that far off now!"
Zhang Ye said happily, "You know it that well? Even I did not pay attention to that."
His first uncle said in surprise, "Your fame grew so quickly?"
"Of course." His eldest young sister said to her father, "Just those three crosstalk performances and the mathematical conjecture incident was enough to push our brother from the bottom of the C-list to the top. That is one of the most difficult mathematical conjectures in the world. Do you think he wouldn't get famous from that?"
His third sister laughingly said, "Right. When we started school a few days ago, a few math teachers, after finding out that Zhang Ye was my brother, all called me over to see them. The head of department for mathematics even wanted to know about more about him and asked me to introduce them. They were really impressed by our brother. My math teacher even said, in class, that our brother really lifted the reputation of our country's mathematics world!"
His second aunt looked to the side. "Sis, even you and brother-in-law got on TV this time."
His mother said regretfully, "We had just woken up from our nap that day and were in our pajamas. I didn't even comb my hair. If only I knew that the reporters were coming. I would have dressed up a little more."
His father shook his head and said, "You're already so old. Does it matter if you dress up or not?"
His mother angrily said, "What did you say!?"
"I've watched the interview a few time. It's quite good. Sis, you looked great in it." His first aunt tried to mediate. "You were very photogenic."
C-List.
Fourth ranked.
Regarding his rise in ranking in the celebrity rankings, Zhang Ye hadn't expected it. It was really fell outside his expectations. Just a few days ago, he was still hovering at the bottom around the last or second-to-last spot. But after the events of the crosstalk competition, his rank rose to the middle of the C-list rankings. Following that, he solved the mathematical conjecture and that pushed him even further up the list. He got within a step away from the B-list rankings. This surge of popularity was really too fast, especially the popularity that he won after solving the mathematical conjecture. It was really too heaven defying!
From the bottom of the C-list to the middle?
From the middle all the way to the top?
Although these two increases in ranking might look the same, they were really different conceptually. The amount of fame needed was not in the same order of magnitude!
As this was the higher-ranked C-list rankings, the difference between each ranking increased as it went up. A simple example would be: If there were a total of a hundred people on the C-list, the integrated assessment score of the 100th ranked might be 1 point. The 50th ranked would be 200 points and the 10th ranked would be 1000 points. So rank number nine required 1100 points and that was the difference!
So the popularity brought by the crosstalk performances which had pushed Zhang Ye from the last few spots to the middle of the list rankings, even if it were to be replicated while he was ranked in the middle, would push him up a few spots at most, not all the way to fourth rank. And so, it could be seen just how much popularity the proving of the mathematical conjecture had brought to Zhang Ye. It was definitely many times more than the popularity gained during the crosstalk competition!
It was incredible!
To the people who were from the entertainment industry or those who paid attention to it, Zhang Ye's rise in popularity was truly incredible!
What did Zhang Ye possess that let him do this?
Was it looks? Well, he didn't have any!
Was it experience? He hasn't even debuted for a full year!
Works? None of them were mainstream!
How many of them had reached the A- or B-list of the celebrity rankings by hosting programs? Almost none! But you might find three or four of them if you really looked up their past works. Then how many celebrities had done it through their writings? Not a single one! As for directing, crosstalk acting, calligrapher, painter, literary works, lyricists, none of those that did such things could be seen in the top tier celebrity rankings! Why? Because they were all unconventional works! Due to the scope of the work, most viewers only paid attention to movie stars and singers. Those were jobs that would gain the most reputation. It was the easiest way to make your way into the top tiers of the celebrity rankings. It was evident if you scanned through the ranking list. Most of those at the top were either singers or actors, or both!
But what about Zhang Ye?
He wrote poems and literature? They were mainly used to scold people!
Talk show? No one knew that such a thing existed in the past!
He spoke about the Three Kingdoms and Dream of the Red Chamber? Many people have not even read the Four Great Classical Novels before!
A global mathematical conjecture? There were many people who couldn't even multiply two digit numbers, so you could say that it was a really dull and dry subject!
And those were the list of Zhang Ye's works and achievements.
Just looking at it, they were works that were more than unconventional, they were f**king one of a kind!
Yet somehow, a person with such average looks, whose works were all more unconventional than unconventional, had actually defied the heavens and almost reached the B-list celebrity rankings as a rookie who had debuted for less than a year! Many people who were not interested in math, did not listen to crosstalk performances, were not good at literature, or even those who never knew what a talk show was, started paying attention to Zhang Ye and began to enjoy those things that they would never have listened or watched in the first place. It truly made everyone gasp with astonishment!
Since everyone enjoyed music, you can just sing well to let them enjoy it. This was not a difficult task.
If people did not enjoy poetry, did not like talk shows, or hated mathematics, yet you are able to attract them to start liking these things that they wouldn't have in the first place, that would be a most difficult task!
And Zhang Ye did it!
Zhang Ye's surge in popularity this time was known by thousands and thousands of people and industry insiders. Many of them had seen the rankings and were moved deeply by it!
A wondrous person doing wondrous things!
For Zhang Ye to have such great popularity and achievements today, it was truly deserving as something no one could pick a bone with it! Everyone had to be convinced!
Why?
Because what Zhang Ye had achieved, even if you were to look thoroughly through the entertainment circle, going forward or backward several decades, you would not find another person capable of it!