The news that Cheng Che had won all four Grand Slam titles in a single year spread Jiangnan Xia Country within twelve hours.
On a short video platform, a sports blogger posted a video titled " Cheng Che Che's Forehand Technique Breakdown," which garnered eight million views in two hours.
A meme creator edited his expressions from the competition into a beat-synced video, using the chorus of " Chasing the Wind " as background music, and it garnered over three million likes.
Someone even edited together all his match point shots from that year into a compilation titled "One Year, Four Grand Slams, Nineteen Years Old," which garnered over 20 million views in one night.
On Xiaohongshu media platform), someone compiled a list of all the clothes he wore in public, labeling the brands and prices;
Someone posted a guide on how to watch the US Open live;
Someone even created a timeline of his photos from childhood to adulthood, captioned "Watching someone slowly grow into a legend."
He dominated the top ten trending topics on Weibo.
The top celebrities who had been at the top of the list for years quietly gave up their positions this time, without their teams even putting up a fight, because the data gap was too big.
Beyond all the excitement, there are a few details that are not visible on the trending topics.
In the marketing department's conference room of a sportswear brand, the manager looked at the sales curve after a competitor announced Cheng Che as their spokesperson, remained silent for a while, and then turned to ask:
"Who was it that said he wasn't worth that price?"
No one dared to speak.
When Cheng Che's team initially inquired about the price, they thought it was too expensive and offered half the price, which Qin Lie politely rejected.
Now that brand has signed Cheng Che, one quarter of his sales is equivalent to half a year's worth of theirs.
In a WeChat group for people in the entertainment industry, someone posted, "This guy is no longer in the same league as us," and no one responded.
A few minutes later, someone quietly posted a screenshot showing the check-in data for Cheng Che's super topic, which was higher than the combined total of everyone in the group.
Then that person deleted the screenshot, but someone had already saved it.
The reaction from the tennis world was surprisingly simple. Djokovic posted on social media. "Four Grand Slams in one year, incredible. Congratulations to Cheng Che."
Nadal retweeted this, adding the comment, "The future belongs to him."
There was no sarcastic remarks, no veiled criticism; losing to someone who wins four Grand Slam titles in a year is not shameful.
CCTV News devoted nearly a minute to reporting the championship victory in its evening Xinwen Lianbo that night.
The General Administration of Sport's official account posted eight characters: "Tennis in Xia Country is different because of you."
Qin Lie received dozens of endorsement offers in his email within twelve hours, with several brands directly stating that they would "name their price."
Qin Lie gave a unified reply, "We'll discuss this further after the US Open issues are resolved."
But among all these voices, the quietest were the few people around Cheng Che.
Jiang Xue and Cheng Jianguo did not post on WeChat Moments.
After Cheng Che won the championship, they made a phone call. Jiang Xue said, "Your grandparents were so happy that they ate two extra bowls of rice tonight." Cheng Jianguo added, "I'll make you braised pork when we get back."
After hanging up the phone, the two sat in the living room and watched TV for a while. The replay of the championship scene was shown several times. Neither of them said anything; they were both just smiling foolishly.
Guo Xin sent a red envelope in the dormitory group chat, with the note "A congratulatory gift for Boss Cheng's championship victory."
Wang Zheng sent a message saying "Godfather is awesome," Li Yuan sent a message saying " Brother Cheng, I got a perfect score on my math exam, you won the championship and I got a perfect score, we both have a bright future," Zhou Hao didn't send anything, but directly transferred 1,000 yuan with the note "Treat me to dinner, you treat, I'll pay."
Su Miaoyin posted three words in the super topic. "I'm proud."
Su Qingyue posted a photo on her WeChat Moments. In front of the Beijing Normal University library, she was holding up a sign that read " Cheng Che " and her eyes crinkled with laughter.
Yan Ruanning posted a Weibo with a picture of Cheng Che in a school uniform from Esquire. She didn't add any text, just a sun emoji.
Pei Jingshu posted an Instagram Seoul from Seoul, in both Korean and Chinese, with a picture of her watching the championship victory on TV and the caption "Our Champion ".
Ning Qing quietly posted a picture of a short tennis comic.
Meanwhile, " The Realm and Old Friends " went so far as to post more than a dozen Weibo to capitalize on Cheng Che's popularity.
Tengda Video's recommendation page even features an image that reads "Congratulations to Cheng Che for winning the four Grand Slams," highlighting his status.
Even more outrageous were the large screens that Cheng Che's fans had prepared in advance.
The moment he won the championship, it lit up on big screens across the country...
Cheng Che knew nothing about any of this.
He sat on the bed in his New York hotel room, his phone screen lit up, but he wasn't looking at it.
I just finished talking to Jiang Xue on the phone, replied to a few messages, and then put my phone on the bedside table and leaned against the headboard.
The room was quiet, and the lights of Manhattan filled the floor-to-ceiling windows outside, with the spire of the Empire State Building faintly visible in the distance.
He tilted his head and looked at it for a moment, then looked down at his left hand.
She wore a black braided bracelet on her left wrist, with a small silver tennis racket hanging from it.
He reached out and touched the pendant, gently rubbing his fingertip against it.
Then he chuckled.
" Who Under Heaven Does Not Know You?" he muttered to himself, his tone soft, as if he found the statement somewhat amusing. "It's only just begun."
He exhaled, stood up, and looked at the system panel.
[ Stamina Trial - Phase Two: Crowned with All Grand Slam Titles. Mission Objective: Win all four Grand Slam titles ( Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open ). Completed!]