The remaining [ Ten-Million-Tier Popularity Card ] were completely detonated at this moment.
This card has already been used most of the time on the internet, and the remaining popularity, worth about 20 million Xia Country RMB, was used to launch a full-scale online marketing campaign the moment this popularity emerged.
Thus, the 20 million views surged like a flood bursting its banks, flooding into every channel of the Xia Country's internet.
Weibo, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, Tieba, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili.
All platforms exploded simultaneously.
#Cheng Che proved the Integer-Coefficient Polynomial Root Distribution Conjectures #
Cheng Che, Mathematician#
Cheng Che, Peking University #
Cheng Che, Grand Slam Champion #
#Cheng Che, a top luxury brand ambassador#
His name appeared in seven of the top ten trending topics on Weibo.
Of the top 30 trending topics, more than a dozen are related to him.
Clicking in, every comment section was filled with the same sentence.
"Is this the same person???"
A passerby posted a Weibo:
"I clicked on the first trending topic and saw a math paper. I clicked on the second and saw a tennis Champion. I clicked on the third and saw an LV ad. I clicked on the fourth and saw a TV drama clip. I clicked on the fifth and saw a Peking University announcement. My mind is a mess right now. Are these five different people?"
Someone in the comments section replied to him, "No. It's the same person. His surname is Cheng, his given name is Che, and he's nineteen years old."
Then this reply caused an uproar.
Wow!
Holy crap!
[I'm dizzy]
[Stop posting, my brain is about to explode!]
[As a math major, when I saw his name trending on social media, I thought I was seeing things. His name was on the first page of the paper, and I stared at it for five minutes.]
[As someone involved in sports, when I saw this trending topic, I thought I was seeing things. The Australian Open Champion and a math paper were trending together—I was completely dumbfounded.]
[As someone who works in the entertainment industry, when I saw this trending topic, I thought I was seeing things. A top luxury brand endorsement and a top academic journal publication were both associated with the same person. I'm starting to wonder if I've chosen the wrong profession.]
[At this moment, all the industry barriers across the internet were broken down by one person.]
This isn't just crossing boundaries, it's crossing dimensions.
The platform's reactions are more authentic than those in the comments section.
When Cheng Che's thesis topped the trending searches, Weibo's technical team saw its highest number of concurrent users online in history.
The programmer on duty was eating instant noodles when the system issued the warning.
He glanced at the screen, paused for a moment, and then called out to his workstation.
"Here we go again!"
The person next to them leaned over for a look, their expression shifting from confusion to horror.
"Isn't this a trending topic in the entertainment industry? Why are you bringing a thesis?"
"Look at the author."
" Cheng Che? That tennis player? Wait, what's with this paper title? Integer coefficients... Root distribution... Class conjecture? What's that?"
"Stop asking, just focus on expanding our capacity. We almost collapsed last time he made it to the finals; if we collapse this time, we'll miss out on our year-end bonuses."
The pressure is even greater on Douyin.
Real-time search volume broke historical records within ten minutes, surpassing any previous entertainment event.
The search operations manager stared at the backend data, muttering to himself:
"This isn't a person, this is a tsunami."
The Xiaohongshu technical team is relatively calm because they mainly focus on text and images, and their traffic pressure is not as great as that of video platforms.
But the community operations staff posted a message in the group:
"Here we go again. Last time it was an LV endorsement, this time it's a math paper. Which category should our platform categorize it into? Fashion? Sports? Academic? Or should we select all?"
In a programmers' group, someone posted a screenshot: the top ten trending topics on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, Tieba were all occupied by Cheng Che's name.
The caption was just one sentence. "We expanded our capacity three times, and it still almost crashed."
The comments section was filled with lamentations from fellow industry professionals.
[You guys crashed too? I thought it was just us]
[We are a short video platform, and this is currently our platform's most popular keyword, but we don't have the "mathematician" tag in our categories.]
[I added three more servers overnight. My boss asked me why, and I said Cheng Che published a paper. My boss was silent for a moment, then said, "Add them, add them for him."]
[I'm on Zhihu. Our servers are fine, but the homepage recommendation algorithm seems to have run out of ideas; math and entertainment topics are getting overloaded at the same time.]
[On Bilibili, Cheng Che's thesis interpretation videos have already surpassed one million views. The uploaders all rushed to produce them, and some even mispronounced the formulas, but viewers still watch them.]
The comments section also began to diverge.
Half of me was excited.
I started liking him from " The Youth Here," then watched his tennis matches, then his variety shows, and now he's telling me he can do math???
[I've been a fan of him for half a year. In just half a year, he went from being a top scorer in the college entrance Zhuangyuan to a world Champion, a top celebrity, and a mathematician. What kind of amazing person have I become a fan of?]
The luckiest thing in my life was meeting someone named Cheng Che when I was nineteen.
[Every time he appears, he surpasses my expectations. I thought being the top scorer in the college entrance Zhuangyuan was the limit, then he played tennis. I thought Grand Slam titles were the limit, then he entered the entertainment industry. I thought luxury brand endorsements were the limit, then he published a paper in a top mathematics journal.]
[Every day I follow him is a testament to history]
[I'm crying my eyes out right now. My roommate asked me what was wrong, and I told her my idol published a paper. She thought I was crazy. Then I sent her a screenshot of the paper, and she fell silent.]
Half of them were skeptical.
[Impossible. Absolutely impossible. A 19-year-old undergraduate student independently proving a century-old problem? Who would believe that?]
[It was most likely done by the supervisor, but his name is on it. Those who know, know.]
[ Peking University is probably trying to promote its students; laymen can't understand math papers anyway.]
[A tennis player publishing in a top mathematics journal? It's either fake or ghostwritten.]
[I suggest you investigate Professor Liu. This kind of practice is all too common; professors attribute research findings to students in order to create a celebrity.]
The voices of doubt are growing louder, and some people have even dug up Professor Liu's identity and started posting online to question Peking University's academic integrity.
Then Peking University's official website stepped in.
Peking University School of Mathematical Sciences issued a brief but weighty announcement.
[Explanation of Cheng Che's Academic Achievements]
Recently, a paper titled "Limit Homomorphisms and Continuity: On the Structure Preservation Idea Common to Three Branches of Mathematics," independently authored by Cheng Che, a 2023 undergraduate student from the School of Mathematical Sciences at our university, was officially accepted and published in Annals of Mathematics. This paper independently solved the Integer-Coefficient Polynomial Root Distribution Conjectures, proposed in 1965. After anonymous peer review and repeated verification by multiple experts both domestically and internationally, the proof was confirmed to be complete and error-free. Cheng Che is the sole first author of this paper, and Professor Liu is the corresponding author, providing guidance and recommendation throughout the process.
"Our school will hold an academic conference at the end of February, which will be streamed live online. We welcome supervision from all sectors of society."
The announcement included the time and live stream link for the report meeting.
This blow silenced the internet completely.
Then, the fans went wild.
Peking University has personally issued a statement to refute the rumors!!!
[Anonymous peer review + repeated verification, let's see how you still dare to deny it]
[Sole first author, completed independently; Professor Liu was only the corresponding author, providing guidance and recommendation throughout the process. Did you understand?]
[Those who accused the author of using ghostwriting services, don't you feel ashamed?]
[What did I tell you? My Che Baby is a genius!]
Peking University wouldn't risk its reputation. This announcement should shut up those critics.
In the comments section, someone cried.
A fan posted a long article, which was then pushed to the top.
"I started following Cheng Che the year he took the college entrance exam. At that time, he was just a top scorer in the Zhuangyuan. I saw his photo in the news and thought he was quite handsome, so I started following him."
Then he played tennis and won the Champion.
Then he appeared on variety shows and acted in TV dramas.
Then he signed a top luxury brand endorsement. Every time he accomplishes something, I think, 'This must be the limit.'
But he always manages to exceed my expectations.
Today, he published a paper in a top mathematics journal, solving a century-old problem that has stood for sixty years.
I sat in front of my phone, tears streaming down my face. Not from emotion, but from pride.
The luckiest thing in my life is meeting someone named Cheng Che during the best years of my life.
He showed me the limits of what a person can achieve. He showed me how much weight the word "idol" can carry.
The post has thousands of replies, all saying the same thing.
"Me too."
"Me too."
"Me too."
Meanwhile, on the twelfth floor of that new residential complex in Spring City, Jiang Xue was sitting on the sofa looking at her phone.
She came across the announcement on Peking University's official website and read it several times. Then she turned around and called out to Cheng Jianguo, who was chopping vegetables in the kitchen.
" Old Cheng, my son's thesis has been published in that Peking University announcement."
Cheng Jianguo poked his head out from the kitchen. "What announcement?"
"That refers to the announcement of his paper. It says he completed it independently, and that he proved the hypothesis himself."
Cheng Jianguo paused for a moment, then said, "Oh."
Then continue chopping the vegetables.
Jiang Xue glanced at him, then at her phone screen, and muttered to herself, "My son is really amazing."
She put down her phone, stood up, and went into the kitchen.
"Let's cook an extra dish tonight."
"Why?"
"Happy."
Meanwhile, in his apartment in Capital City, Cheng Che sat at his desk with a presentation slide spread out in front of him.
His phone screen was lit up, displaying countless messages and notifications, but he didn't look at them.
He was adjusting the layout of a formula, changing the line spacing and increasing the font size by one size.
Then he took out the system panel and claimed the reward for [ Intelligence Trial - Stage 4].
[Congratulations, host, on acquiring the active talent " Academic Descent "]
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained the item " Time Hourglass "]