The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 143 Strange Things, Remember to Close Your Private Messages, Exhibition Begins

Guangyue South Station.

Zhang Chang'an, carrying a simple backpack, walked out of the station exit with the crowd.

Afternoon sunlight streamed down from the glass dome, casting large patches of light on Cheng Liang's floor. He took out his phone as he walked towards the subway.

"Big cities are really something else. At this high-speed rail station, you don't have to worry about your luggage suddenly ending up in someone else's trunk and then inexplicably ending up in a car with a bunch of strangers."

Zhang Chang'an glanced at the buildings along the street, and after confirming that he was not at risk of being abducted by any driver, he casually opened a certain app.

His current cash reserves are already quite substantial. Even if the photography studio hasn't started making big money yet, with the family tree, he's unlikely to be short of money again.

However, given his personality, he wouldn't go on a trip for no particular reason. He came here for only one purpose: to see the exhibition of the cultural relics he had collected from foreign lands.

The first stop of the Bingzi Pepper Grove Exhibition was in Guangzhou, and what he was looking at now was naturally the online discussion about the follow-up to this matter.

Because today is the exhibition's open day, this topic has been pushed to the forefront again.

The latest trending post comes from a blogger called "Eastern Observation," whose verified information identifies him as a "freelance writer." He doesn't have many followers, but just by looking at the title, you can almost smell the spice in it.

"Some Calm Reflections on the Controversy Surrounding the Exhibition of the 'Bingzi Pepper Forest' and 'Dragonfly Cut' Cultural Relics"

Zhang Chang'an raised an eyebrow and clicked on it.

The beginning was relatively restrained, mentioning "respect for history" and "understanding of national sentiments," but the more you read, the more unpleasant it became: "Japan's choice not to follow suit precisely reflects the rationality and restraint of a civilized society. They know that unreasonable arguments will not help solve the problem, and knowing when to stop is the proper attitude of a great power."

In contrast, some netizens are filled with indignation, readily resorting to labeling and personal attacks, a stark contrast to the calm demeanor on the Japanese internet. This makes me think deeply.

As this was a popular post, the comment section below was indeed very lively:

@JinlingHuaigu: "This blogger is a veteran artist. Last time, when they said the items belonged to them, he said we should respect historical truth. Now that they've withdrawn, he says they were being rational and restrained."

@LingnanLaobiao: "There's been no movement over there, don't you have any idea? You're too scared to cause trouble now. What era are we living in that you're still stuck with Yilin magazine? You're really going to ruin us."

Even a young man who didn't finish nine years of compulsory education, yet exudes the spirit of a top-notch job seeker, wouldn't say such a thing.

The situation is quite clear: this thing is indeed still somewhat controversial, but for some reason, Japan hasn't made a move beyond the initial statement. Therefore, the noise surrounding this strange thing has immediately become much quieter.

Although the voice was soft, it didn't mean there wasn't any. Zhang Chang'an carefully looked through them and found that, like the person who posted this thread, there were still a few.

@CherryBlossomsInFullBloom (IP: Japan): "The blogger makes a good point. As someone who has lived here for a long time, I can attest that the online environment here is indeed quite calm, with very few irrational people."

@醒醒: "I think the blogger is right. Instead of cursing, we should reflect on why others don't stoop to our level."

Zhang Chang'an swiped his hand and opened the profiles of these people, glancing at them.

The person who posted this has a bio that says they think independently and refuse to blindly follow others, and their pinned post is titled "Why I Chose to Leave This Land," yet their IP address is still domestic. I don't know what's going on.

The rest, their flavor was almost overwhelming, just repeating the same few sentences over and over: be rational, be objective, be reflective, which was laughable to think about.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, in a cramped rented room in a third-tier city.

The man stared at the computer screen, his brow furrowed.

His name is Zhao Zhiqiang, online name "Dongying Observer," he is 37 years old, a college graduate, and has changed jobs seven or eight times. Now—

My monthly salary is 3,500 yuan. The rented room is less than 20 square meters, the walls are moldy, the air conditioner is humming loudly, and I don't dare to turn it on much because I'm worried about the electricity bill.

He has indeed never been to Japan, but that is completely different from his online persona.

Moreover, he genuinely felt that the environment was limiting its development. That's why he's been quite excited these past few days.

When the issue of those two cultural relics escalated, he immediately published three lengthy articles, ranging from international law to the gap between civilizations, and then to the quality of Chinese people. His online traffic skyrocketed.

The number of people who criticize him is countless, but his fan base has also grown considerably, and even a few like-minded people who usually interact with him have started to follow his lead.

They even have a group with over 300 people, including writers like him and those who forward foreign media news every day. Today, the incident has completely erupted, and the group is buzzing with excitement.

Dongying Observation: @All of you brothers, there are more and more people criticizing us online these days. I'm thinking that just arguing online won't work; we need to get real.

Light of Reason: What are your thoughts, bro?

Dongying Observation: Isn't the exhibition opening soon in Guangzhou? We could organize a trip there, hold up a sign, and hand out flyers. Let's demonstrate our civilized behavior and independent thinking.

Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom (IP Japan): Support! I'm too far away to go, but I'm here to show my support in spirit! Remember to take pictures when you go and send them back so the brothers in the group can see them too.

Zhao Zhiqiang saw everyone's feedback and continued promoting the message in the group, his fingers trembling slightly. But it wasn't nervousness; it was excitement. The blue light from the screen reflected on his greasy face.

He didn't go to the company today. He took the day off, saying he wasn't feeling well. Even if it might affect the company's performance or even his bonus, he didn't care at all.

Keeping a close eye on this momentum is more important to him than anything else: "As long as this move succeeds—"

He kept sending messages, but even though the exhibition was today, he showed no intention of going out.

Go to the scene? Are you crazy? He knows perfectly well that it's one thing to criticize online, but if he actually dares to go to the scene and cause trouble, he'll be dead without any official intervention.

However, that doesn't stop him from being a smooth talker. The other bloggers in the group who are similar to him are the same. They talk a big game, but when it comes to actually doing something, they're all cowards.

They can simply sit at home with a clear conscience and wait to see if any sucker actually goes, so they'll have material to write a viral article.

On the screen, his Weibo profile was still open, but he hadn't read the comments for a long time. He only needed the feedback from the people in the group, people he had filtered out.

Of course, he could still see the comment notification, and at that moment a new comment popped up.

He subconsciously turned his head, and then froze.

One became 50. 50 became 300, and then it kept jumping up like crazy.

His heart suddenly raced. What was going on? Which Weibo post had gone viral?

He quickly refreshed the homepage. The comment section for the latest long post had jumped from a few hundred to over three thousand, and it was still rising.

His hand was shaking slightly as he clicked on it.

@Master, what do you do for a living?: "Go protest at the museum entrance! Don't be a coward, I'm waiting to watch the live stream!"

@Guangzhou Local: "Hilarious! Keep jumping, blogger! Why is there no sound now that the exhibition has started? Did you not come to the event?"

@HistoryClassRepresentative: "Come out and say something! Your Japanese father's letter is already on display at the entrance of the exhibition hall. Why don't you go over and kowtow?"

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