Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

The next day at 8:00 AM sharp.

Liu Qingshan, vice chairman of the Writers Association, updated his Weibo with a new post.

"This kind of toxic literature, like 'Journey to the West,' must be completely eradicated from the cultural sphere. I have joined forces with thirty colleagues in the cultural field to submit a letter recommending a ban to the relevant departments. The pure land of culture must not be defiled!"

The comments below were unanimously in support.

"Support Teacher Liu! Protect traditional culture!"

"Online novels deserve to be called literature? Ridiculous."

"We must resolutely resist!"

When this Weibo post was published, Liu Qingshan was brewing tea in his study at home, in a very good mood.

He's fifty-nine years old and has spent most of his life in literary criticism; he's seen it all.

He's just a young writer of online novels; no matter how much he tries to stir things up, he can't escape the grasp of the traditional literary circle.

With the joint statement from the literary associations, which publisher would dare to touch this book?

Liu Qingshan picked up the purple clay teapot, took a sip of tea, and settled down.

-

When Jiang Fan arrived at the company, Song Siyi sent him a message.

"Under pressure, the website 'Zhidian Literature' removed all the recommendation slots for 'Journey to the West' and took the book down."

Jiang Fan wasn't surprised after reading it.

Relying on others is ultimately not the way to go.

No matter how much Chen Ping supported him, he couldn't withstand the pressure from the Writers' Association.

An online literature platform shouldn't risk its own interests for a single book.

He replied with a few words.

"It's alright, let's just leave. It doesn't matter."

He doesn't want that little bit of traffic on the site.

At 10:00 AM sharp, Jiang Fan opened Weibo and posted a status update.

The text consists of only one sentence—

"This blow will reduce you to ashes."

Below is a link that redirects directly to the "Wukong" preview page on Tencent Music.

There was no pre-launch promotion, no homepage recommendation, and no pop-up ads.

The singer and lyricist/composer both share the same name – Jiang Fan.

After posting on Weibo, Jiang Fan tossed his phone onto the table, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

He doesn't need to worry about what happens next.

-

In ten minutes, "Wukong" surpassed one million views.

Twelve million in one hour.

The top comment in the comment section was upvoted by hundreds of thousands of people.

"What use is this iron rod to me? What good is this transformation to me?"

"I suggest that Teacher Liu listen to this song before posting it on Weibo, so that he won't be made a fool of without even realizing it."

"I got goosebumps after hearing that. This is what the Monkey King should be like. Liu Qingshan doesn't know anything about Journey to the West."

Su Yuyan was the first to repost it, with a simple caption: "It sounds good."

Shen Nian quickly followed up by reposting, adding a fist emoji.

Xu Qingya also shared the post; her account boasts a massive following of hundreds of millions of users. Once the post was shared, millions of fans flooded the song's page.

Tang Yingxue was the last to repost, and her caption was the longest.

"Some people can't write a single memorable sentence in their entire lives, yet they call others cultural garbage."

The simultaneous reposting by four top female celebrities instantly caused delays on both Weibo and Tencent's servers.

-

Shanghai, the headquarters building of Qidian.com.

Vice President Zhou Ming sat in his office, looking at the trending topics on Weibo on his computer screen.

The top trending topic: #Liu Qingshan harshly criticizes Journey to the West#

Second trending topic: #BoycottJiangFanCulturalTrash#

Zhou Ming picked up his teacup and took a sip.

You don't want 80 million? Fine, then I'll make sure you don't earn a single penny.

He picked up his phone to send a message to Liu Qingshan when the office door was suddenly kicked open.

Copyright Director Zhang Hong rushed in, his brow beaded with sweat.

"President Zhou!"

Zhou Ming frowned.

"What's the panic?"

"Jiang Fan released a new song!" Zhang Hong's throat was dry. "The entire Weibo platform is practically crashing!"

"A new song?" Zhou Ming put down his teacup. "What does that have to do with me?"

Zhang Hong handed over the tablet in his hand.

The screen displays Jiang Fan's Weibo post.

"This blow will reduce you to ashes."

Zhou Ming's gaze moved downwards, and the comment section was filled with screenshots of song lyrics.

He clicked on the audio link, and the page redirected to Penguin Music, where the intro string music played from the tablet.

"The moon shines on the Milky Way, the road ahead is long and winding—"

He didn't listen to the whole thing because he saw the play count.

Twelve million in one hour.

He went back to Weibo and scrolled down.

Su Yuyan forwarded it. Shen Nian forwarded it. Xu Qingya forwarded it. Tang Yingxue forwarded it.

Four top influencers. Retweeted at the same time.

Zhou Ming looked at the comments section—the propaganda war he had spent millions on had been completely destroyed by a single song.

"Please, when will this book be released in physical form? I want to buy ten sets!"

"The more Liu Qingshan criticizes me, the more I want to watch. Thank you to this old comrade for the free publicity."

"A song written that is better than some people's entire lifetime of work makes it obvious who is trash."

The more they criticize, the angrier they get.

Zhou Ming slammed the tablet on the table, knocking over the teacup and spilling water all over the table.

Zhang Hong stood to the side, not daring to breathe.

-

At the same time.

In Liu Qingshan's study, he stared at his phone screen, his fingers trembling.

An hour ago, his Weibo post was full of supportive comments.

Now—everything has changed.

"Teacher Liu, when was the last time you published something? 2006? How many copies of that collection of essays did it sell? The first print run was 3,000 copies, and 1,800 were returned?"

"Smash the heavens, be arrogant and unruly—eight words to kill your entire statement."

"I suggest that Teacher Liu clear out his inventory of the book that has been on the market for eight years before teaching others how to write."

Liu Qingshan wanted to delete comments. He clicked in, deleted one, and ten more immediately appeared.

He was so angry that he slammed his phone on the table.

His reputation is ruined in his later years.

He picked up the landline and dialed Zhou Ming's number.

beep - beep -

"Zhou Ming!" Liu Qingshan's voice was filled with barely suppressed anger. "Didn't you say you could handle this?! Now the whole internet is cursing me! The comments under my Weibo post have completely changed! You need to figure something out!"

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Teacher Liu, please calm down—"

"Calm down my ass!" Liu Qingshan pushed the tea tray on the table aside, and the teacup rolled onto the carpet.

"My reputation built up over thirty years is going to be ruined by your stupid idea! You said thirty people signed it, and I believed you! And now? I'm the only one taking the fall!"

Zhou Ming gripped his phone, unable to utter a single word.

What could he say?

How can you reason with four top female celebrities with hundreds of millions of views simultaneously?

"Teacher Liu," Zhou Ming swallowed hard, "why don't you... delete that Weibo post first?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Zhou Ming. You started this. You're responsible for cleaning up this mess." Liu Qingshan's speech slowed. "Otherwise, I'll make you pay me to publish this article tomorrow—"

"Teacher Liu," Zhou Ming's voice suddenly turned cold, "think carefully before you speak."

There was silence on both ends of the phone call.

Ten seconds later, Liu Qingshan hung up first.

Zhou Ming placed his phone on the table and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

He simply couldn't understand it.

How could someone who writes online novels have such a high level of connections?

Four divas simultaneously endorsed the event; what kind of network of connections must that be?

Zhang Hong was still standing to the side, tentatively speaking.

"Mr. Zhou, what's next..."

"Get out."

-

It's 3 PM. In Jiang Fan's office.

He put his feet up on the table and held his phone in front of him to browse Weibo.

#Wukong# has climbed to the top of the trending searches.

The original number one hashtag, #LiuQingshanCriticizesJourneyToTheWest#, has dropped to number four, and the trend of the topic has completely reversed.

Clicking through, nine out of ten comments were criticizing Liu Qingshan.

Jiang Fan closed Weibo and switched to the chat interface.

Song Siyi sent a voice message.

He clicked on it, and the voice on the other end couldn't hide its excitement.

"Jiang Fan! A major publishing house has called us! Xinghua Publishing House, one of the top three in China! They said they're willing to cooperate, with no upper limit on the first print run, and they'll handle all distribution and distribution."

Jiang Fan didn't reply with a voice message, but typed a few words instead.

"Come to my office tomorrow to discuss this in detail. Remember to wear a skirt."

There was no reply from the other end for half a minute.

Then four words popped up.

"Get lost. Be serious."

Jiang Fan chuckled and locked his phone.

The trending topics list is still scrolling, and the latest top comment under Liu Qingshan's Weibo post is only one sentence—

"Can you catch this baton?"