Chapter 499 - Chapter 499: Netizen 198 has gone crazy, NO.14 (second update)_1

Chapter 499: Netizen 198 has gone crazy, NO.14 (second update)_1

Lou Yang’s fans were wealthy.

They threw money at popular posts and searches, and soon the hot search “Lou Yang is truly miserable” climbed to second place.

Casual fans who clicked in saw the analysis by Strawberry Ice Cream. Her analysis made perfect sense, and the latter half of the show had indeed disappointed the fans, who now had an epiphany after seeing the analysis.

“Come Here Friend” had high popularity, and many people watched the live broadcast, all remembering the segment where Bai Lian and Ning Xiao discussed the topic.

But the shots of the questions that followed were cut by the show’s producers.

Deleting hot searches and footage was already a sign of guilt, and most people, who were still skeptical, immediately believed it upon seeing the actions of the production team.

“I knew it. Why did the production team delete only the posts of ‘Miss Bai’, ‘Chi Lu’, and the high school students? Now I get it.”

“Does the production team think the viewers are fools?”

“Sorry, sorry, I was also bashing Lou Yang last week.”

“Looking at it now, Lou Yang is truly a lotus untainted by mud—there are few artists like him in the entertainment industry.”

“…”

The fervor online was fermenting, and Yan Lu, Mei Yi, and the production team all faced varying degrees of slander.

Many people were asking underneath the official Weibo account of Lou Yang—

“Lou bro, is it really like that?”

Lou Yang’s agent’s phone rang. It was Sister Xin.

“Sister Xin,” Lou Yang’s agent walked to the window and answered the phone, “What does a busy person like you need from me?”

“Let’s not beat around the bush. The posts on Weibo are your team’s doing, right? What will it take for you to take them down?” Sister Xin was blunt. “You know better than I do why Lou Yang isn’t in the production team.”

Lou Yang’s agent pretended to be dumbfounded and hesitated, “Sister Xin, what are you talking about? What’s happened on Weibo?”

Sister Xin’s voice was tense as she pressed her brow, “What do you want? Money or resources? Those kids really are high school seniors and they’re about to take the college entrance exam. You’re going to affect their grades.”

Lou Yang’s agent smiled, unhurried, “Sister Xin, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

With the high Weibo popularity at the moment, he had no wish to let Lou Yang easily give up this heat.

He ended the call.

“Are we not going to reply?” the assistant asked, holding the phone, looking to Lou Yang’s agent.

Lou Yang’s agent looked at the Weibo and flipped his phone down, “For now, leave it be. We won’t interfere, this wave doesn’t harm Lou Yang anyway.”

If you want to trap the wolf, you must be prepared to sacrifice the sheep.

At Wang Xin’s residence.

“They’re not budging?” The director sat down in the chair, anxiety bubbling up like blisters.

Bai Lian and Ning Xiao were being mocked, the Xingyi Martial Arts School was under suspicion, and so was Chi Yundai.

The production team was suspected of orchestrating publicity for Xiangcheng.

“That’s right,” Sister Xin put down her phone and reopened Strawberry Ice Cream’s Weibo, momentarily at a loss for a solution, “I’ll see what Yan Lu has to say.”

She made a call to Yan Lu.

Chi Yundai’s situation wasn’t a big deal, but Bai Lian’s wasn’t easy to resolve.

**

The show was too popular.

At eleven o’clock at night, Pu Xiaohan was preparing for bed when she saw a notification pop up.

She frowned, clicked on it, and read through the comments—

“Read some books, a normal high school senior deals with these kinds of problems [screenshot].”

“Can we not compare everyone to Zhao Lu, please?”

A message popped up in WeChat, from one of her classmates in Class 15. It seemed many had seen the Weibo post by Lou Yang’s fans.

Pu Xiaohan screenshotted the content and sent it to Chi Yundai—

“Chi Lu, aren’t you going to sue them?”

Chi Yundai was at home, reviewing files.

He held a pen in his right hand, drawing a symbol on the file.

Seeing Pu Xiaohan’s message, he was surprised.

He was indifferent to the public’s opinion of him, and even found it amusing when netizens praised his cooking skills.

Lawyer Chi: “Too bad I didn’t get to show off my cake.”

Pu Xiaohan: “…??”

Lawyer Chi: “.”

Chi Yundai coughed softly, guessing that the netizens were referring to the two students, including Bai Lian. After a moment’s thought, he made a phone call.

**

At the Xiangcheng Research Institute.

It was eleven o’clock, but tonight Jiang Fulai was not planning on going home.

He had just finished his work, passing along rows of tall machinery on his way out. Approaching a steel door, he swiped his fingerprint and the doors opened from both sides.

He stepped out while taking off the blue radiation suit.

His hands, defined by distinct knuckles, casually carried the garment.

The lights in the lab were always on, casting a cold hue on his skin, making his complexion even paler.

The smartphone in his pocket rang.

It was Chi Yundai.

He glanced down, swiped to answer.

“Mr. Jiang,” even through the phone, Chi Yundai couldn’t help but stand up from his chair, he put down his pen, “There’s something happening online.”

He went through the events, reporting everything to Jiang Fulai.

Jiang Fulai paused mid-step, his focus always different from ordinary people, “Netizens are saying that question is hard?”

Chi Yundai: “…Yes.”

“I got it.” Jiang Fulai arrived at his rest room, pushed the door open carelessly, switched on the lights, and turned on the computer to check the messages online—not caring about the issue with Xingyi Martial Arts School or Chi Yundai.

But concerning Bai Lian, his light-colored eyes fixated on one comment—

[Miss Bai sure knows how to put on a show with Student Ning.]

Jiang Fulai, with an indifferent look in his eyes, typed out a string of code and deleted that comment; then he messaged Bai Lian—

[What are you doing?]

Bai Lian replied succinctly, sending him a picture: [Picture]

She was writing a cipher.

Bai Student: [You type so coldly.]

Feeling his anger even through the text, Jiang Fulai stopped for a moment. He didn’t mention the situation online, only replied—

[The people at the institute are fools.]

Bai Student: [Try to understand them.]

Jiang Fulai replied to her: [Oh.]

He finished typing lazily, his gaze at the computer screen was exceptionally cold as he clicked open Zhao Lu’s WeChat.

**

The next day, seven in the morning.

Most people had just woken up, preparing for work.

Lou Yang donned his mask, surrounded by a group of assistants as he stepped out.

The agent hung up the phone, smiling at him, “The crew of ‘The Ballad of the Green Hills’ sent a message last night, they want you to audition next week.”

Lou Yang’s side had communicated with ‘The Ballad of the Green Hills’ before, but they hadn’t agreed; they preferred Mei Yi’s acting and popularity.

Their agreement today was only due to Valuing Lou Yang’s current popularity.

It was just then that Lou Yang’s phone rang—it was his boss.

Lou Yang answered immediately, and without waiting for him to speak, the boss exploded with curses, “Lou Yang, have you lost your mind, riding the wave of any trend? I’ve told you not to provoke the people from ‘Come Here Friend,’ didn’t you listen? What are you going to do now?”

Lou Yang faltered; he had tacitly approved of last night’s event.

Upon hearing his boss’s words, he sensed trouble and stopped to check his phone.

“What happened?” The agent looked at him puzzled.

Lou Yang shook his head without speaking and just opened Weibo. The app was slow to respond, so he waited a moment before proceeding, “Check what Yan Lu’s side has done…”

The trending searches had changed to “Zhao Jingzhou” and “Jingjiang Preparatory Camp.”

**

As the larger online community continued to indulge in the spectacle, Yan Lu’s fans mourned in their groups, saying they didn’t believe it and awaited Yan Lu’s denial.

But the night passed without any word from Yan Lu.

Even at six in the morning, she posted a Weibo of the sun, driving her fans to despair.

It was only then that Yan Lu retweeted three posts, and her fans, with a doomsday mentality, clicked in.

The first post she retweeted—

was ‘Come Here Friend’ official account reposting and commenting on Strawberry Ice Cream’s post: [Picture] Let’s congratulate Master Xu He on joining Xingyi Martial Arts School.

The picture showed Xu He’s sixth dan certificate.

The second post—

Zhao Jingzhou reposted and commented on Strawberry Ice Cream’s post: [Chi Lu is my teacher.]

He was always succinct.

The third post—

Jiangjing Research Institute reposted and commented on Strawberry Ice Cream’s post: [Screenshot] Let’s introduce to everyone, this is the app for the Jiangjing University Preparatory Camp.

Jiangjing University Preparatory Camp?

What’s that?

Ordinary people had never even heard of this app.

The top hot comment: [Let me explain to everyone, Jiangjing University Preparatory Camp is prepared for top students. The top twenty in the province each year are eligible for a place, the top two hundred can get into Jiangjing University, and the student in this screenshot is NO.14.]

The netizens went completely wild.