I’m Really a Superstar

Yalong Bay.

At the beach.

Zhang Ye’s parents and Old Wu were strolling back to the villa.

His mother laughed and said, “We bought too much again.”

Wu Zeqing said, “It’s alright, Little Ye has a big appetite.”

His father said, “Zeqing, let me carry it for you.”

“You don’t need to, Dad. It’s not heavy,” Wu Zeqing said with a smile.

Two hotel guests who were out swimming were talking excitedly. They were speaking so loudly that Old Wu and Zhang Ye’s parents could hear what they were saying.

The husband said, “PeterGo has finally lost!”

The wife said, “Although I don’t understand Go, this news really blows off steam.”

“Yeah, humanity has finally clawed back a game. It’s been more than two years, so it must not have been easy.”

“I heard the rules call for two wins out of three. That person might have to win one more game before they can secure a total victory. I wonder when the second game will be played.”

“We definitely have to watch it!”

“Yeah, this is mankind’s counterattack. We definitely should give our attention to it.”

When Zhang Ye’s parents heard that, they were stunned.

What?

PeterGo has lost?

What was this about?

When did it happen?

His mother suddenly thought of something and drew in a sharp breath. “Surely not, right?”

His father also looked quite surprised. “Come, let’s head back quickly!”

The three of them immediately picked up their pace and rushed back to the villa. But when they got back, they were all stunned by the sight before their eyes!

In the living room.

Sisi was in a very happy mood.

“Daddy, this is my writing.”

“Ai, it’s pretty good.”

“Daddy, this is my toy. She’s called Little Xi.”

“How nice, come and show her to Daddy.”

“Daddy, can you tell me a story tonight?”

“Sure, Daddy will tell you any stories that you wish to hear.”

Sisi was overjoyed. She hung around Zhang Ye and kept calling him “Daddy” every time she spoke. Her little voice sounded so sweet to Zhang Ye.

His mother was dumbfounded. “What happened here?”

Zhang Ye looked to the door and said happily, “Yo, you guys are back?”

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, “She’s started addressing you as Daddy?”

Zhang Ye said excitedly, “Of course! Don’t you know how charming this bro is?”

His father was convinced. “Kid, you’re great.”

They were thinking that it would be very difficult for Sisi to accept Zhang Ye since he had been away for so long. They believed that it would have to take some time for her to get used to his presence, but who could have thought that Sisi’s attitude towards Zhang Ye had done a 180 after leaving them alone for less than two hours. This situation was the opposite of what they had expected.

Sisi ran over. “Mommy, what did you buy?”

Wu Zeqing smiled and crouched down to show her what was in the plastic bags. “There’s seafood and some fruit.”

Sisi looked down. Then she reached in and clumsily took out two large mangoes. As her hand was too small, she had to attempt twice before she managed to take them out of the bag. Then she turned around and hobbled to Zhang Ye. “Daddy, have some fruit.”

Zhang Ye was on cloud nine. “Ai, thank you, my dear.”

His mother said jealously, “You’re only thinking of your daddy? What about Nana?”

Sisi blushed. Then she went over and took out another large mango. “Nana, for you.”

Zhang Ye’s mother teased, “Hey, you gave your daddy two mangoes, but only one to Nana?”

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “My daughter is implying that you need to go on a diet.”

His mother rolled her eyes at him. “Get lost.”

Everyone laughed.

At this moment, Sisi came looking for her mother. She was tugging at her mother’s dress excitedly and saying, “Mommy, Mommy, Daddy is so great. Daddy played Go with the robot!”

Wu Zeqing patted her daughter on the head and asked, “Who won?”

Sisi said proudly, “My daddy won!”

Zhang Ye’s father said in surprise, “Little Ye, it was really you?”

His mother also said, “You won against PeterGo?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I guess so, but I only won by half a stone.”

His mother said in disbelief, “You’ve not touched Go in so long. How do you still know how to play so well?”

Zhang Ye chuckled. “I’m not too bad.”

His mother said, “I was wondering why my eyes kept twitching just now. I knew that something big must have happened.”

“It’s just a Go game. What’s the big deal?” Zhang Ye said indifferently.

His father said, “If it were anyone else who lost, that would be easy to explain and wouldn’t really mean a thing. But this is PeterGo we’re talking about. It’s called the most powerful Go AI in history. Just have a look online. It’s become so chaotic. Your mom is right. You really can’t rest on your laurels for a day. You started something big the moment you came back!”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Let’s have lunch first. I’ll cook.”

Zhang Ye rubbed his belly and said, “Right, let’s eat, let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

Lunch was served.

Everyone got seated and Zhang Ye started wolfing down the food.

Sisi stared at him. “Daddy, I wanna eat those big crabs.”

Only then did Zhang Ye react. “Look at me, all I cared about was eating my own share. Alright, Daddy will crack the shell for you. Come and sit on Daddy’s lap.”

Wu Zeqing picked their daughter up and asked, “Do you want to?”

Sisi murmured a yes.

Only then did Wu Zeqing carry her daughter over.

Zhang Ye grabbed hold of his daughter with one hand and used the other to crack crabs for her to eat.

Zhang Ye’s mother shook her head. “Little one, you’ve forgotten all about your mommy now that your daddy is back.”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Looks like I can take it easy for a few days.”

Zhang Ye’s father suddenly said, “Turn on the TV.”

His mother facepalmed and exclaimed, “Oh right, I nearly forgot.”

The five of them watched TV as they ate lunch.

Sure enough, the media outlets and television stations in the country had burst into uproar!

…

Central TV News Channel.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with breaking news. Just half an hour ago, the American created AI, PeterGo, had its unbeaten record of more than two years running broken. In a game that was played, it lost to an account that originated from an IP address in China. This has sparked an uproar in the Go world as countless netizens and Go enthusiasts guess the identity of this person. As for how this person won against PeterGo, that is still unknown as of yet. Some people guess that PeterGo’s program bugged out and resulted in its loss. Our reporters are still investigating this matter to find out more, so stay tuned for further updates.”

…

Beijing Television.

“Which godly person could HEOR be?”

“Tian Weiwei?”

“Chen Ying?”

“Xu Haodong?”

“Park Hwaseon?”

“For now, no professional Go players have stepped up to admit that it was them.”

…

Shanghai Television.

“Our reporter interviewed 9-dan Tian Weiwei of China Qiyuan over the phone. He expressed that he does not know who HEOR is and publicly clarified that HEOR is unlikely to be a Go player of China Qiyuan, or even an active professional Go player from China. As there was no game record saved on the Go server, there is a lot of debate over how HEOR won the game and what his identity is. Everyone is looking forward to the second match to be played between HEOR and PeterGo.”

“Breaking news: The American team behind PeterGo has officially confirmed the news of PeterGo’s first loss. They did not elaborate on any specific details as to its loss but have sent an official invitation to HEOR to take part in the second game of the match. The battle between PeterGo and HEOR is scheduled to begin at 10 AM tomorrow, but so far, there’s been no response from HEOR.”

…

There was a bombardment of news.

The media was going haywire.

The people got into heated discussions.

Zhang Ye’s parents were watching the television in surprise. They hadn’t expected there to be such a great reaction.

Wu Zeqing asked, “What does HEOR mean?”

Zhang Ye answered matter-of-factly, “It means hero of course. Our daughter wanted me to use that name.”

Wu Zeqing laughed and said, “Your English has not improved at all.”

“Ah?” Zhang Ye said nervously, “Did I spell it wrong?”

Wu Zeqing said, “Yes.”

Zhang Ye sighed. “Who cares as long as it’s close enough.”

Wu Zeqing took a bite of her food and asked, “What do you plan to do?”

His mother said, “The Americans have thrown down the gauntlet, and you’re leading one to nothing. If it’s based on three games, you would have to win twice to truly be victorious, right?”

His father looked at him. “Can you win the second game?”

Zhang Ye shrugged. “Who knows?”

But Sisi looked up and said determinedly, “Daddy will definitely win!”

Zhang Ye’s mother humored, “Right, right, your daddy is the best.”

Sisi nodded hard. “You can do it, Daddy.”

Wu Zeqing smiled and said, “If you win another game, it won’t be possible to keep the news of your return a secret.”

His mother said, “Will they be able to guess that it’s Little Ye?”

Wu Zeqing said, “Other than him, who can do that?”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Then allow me to think it through first.”

After lunch.

Zhang Ye played with his daughter for a while until she got tired. Then Old Wu took her to have her afternoon nap while Zhang Ye returned to his bedroom. He powered on the computer and logged in to his HEOR account again. The moment he got on, he saw that the inbox was almost exploding with messages!

He had received over 10,000 messages!

“Master, you’re so good!”

“You’re my idol!”

“Fucking kill PeterGo!”

“Master, please sign an autograph for me!”

“Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!”

Zhang Ye smiled while going through the messages one by one. Later, he even spotted many familiar names messaging him.

9-dan Li Yi: “Who are you?”

Xiang Rong: “Thank you.”

Tian Weiwei: “Please help the Go world.”

Chen Ying: “I don’t know which old friend you are, but I know that we humans must not lose. If you also love Go, then please battle on behalf of Go and on behalf of mankind!”

As he went through the messages, a smile crept onto Zhang Ye’s face. He made up his mind.