Chapter 49

The deeper Bai Jike dug into the data, the stranger he found the whole thing.

Among the snowflake-like flurry of code suppressing Slow Yangyang's livestream popularity were numerous repeated snippets.

And that pointed to only one thing—

This bunch had done this before.

They'd been keeping his big brother from getting popular all along?

What vicious intentions!

A flush quickly spread across Bai Jike's cheeks as he took on the "gang" on the other side in a battle all by himself.

Green code piled up on the screen at breakneck speed, and the keyboard clattered like countless cavalrymen charging toward the enemy.

His opponents were clearly a disorganized rabble, gradually falling apart under Bai Jike's assault.

No teenage boy lacked a competitive streak. Bai Jike was about to break through their final line of defense, and a smile crept onto his face without his noticing.

Click.

Bai Jike's smile froze at the corner of his mouth.

???

The underlying code on the other side... looked awfully familiar!

"Automated applet for monitoring and controlling the online popularity of disgraced entertainers attempting a comeback."

This was the assignment he'd sent his mentor a year ago!!!

Another wisp of smoke rose beside the stray tuft of hair on Bai Jike's head.

So after all this time, with his competitive spirit fully roused, he'd actually been battling his past self from a year ago.

No wonder his opponent was so formidable!

Wait.

Only his mentor had that assignment, and it could only be found in the internal database.

Which meant that whoever was using this code to suppress Slow Yangyang's popularity...

Was one of their own?

Bai Jike stopped trying to break through the other side's defenses.

Would it make sense for the authorities to suppress Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang's popularity?

Bai Jike immediately opened another window and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he spotted something he'd overlooked.

The program's initial target had been Qiao Huan alone. Zhuo Yang had only been added a few days ago.

There were indeed plenty of rumors online about Qiao Huan's background, all saying different things, but not a single one was positive.

Bai Jike: ...

Could the program I wrote have automatically identified Qiao Huan as a disgraced entertainer???

By now, the staff member's computer had begun to hum from overwork. Clearly, it couldn't handle what he was doing and was about to sound an alarm.

With no other choice, Bai Jike had to stop for the time being. He looked over at his phone screen.

Slow Yangyang's livestream was still playing.

Although Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang weren't beside him for the moment, watching them through the camera actually made it easier for Bai Jike to observe them.

His automated program had caught those rumors about Qiao Huan's background long ago, but Bai Jike had thought they were all fake and hadn't investigated them further.

Only now did he take another look at Qiao Huan from an observer's perspective.

Hmm.

Qiao Huan wasn't looking at the camera at all; only a sliver of him even showed in the frame.

He recalled all sorts of details about Qiao Huan and realized that he really did seem... not all that interested in becoming popular.

Bai Jike grew increasingly uncertain.

As he mulled it over, his gaze drifted unconsciously to a portion of crayfish set apart by the stove, which flashed across the screen.

After a reminder from Qiao Huan, Zhuo Yang had set aside that portion of milder crayfish in advance.

And it was also Constantine's favorite food.

If he was right, those two would be coming to the hospital to visit Constantine shortly.

"Hiss..." Bai Jike was finding it harder and harder to sort out his thoughts.

If Qiao Huan really was a bad person, why would he go to such lengths for a child?

Fan Hui's movie was about to be released. Once their family's company filed for bankruptcy, Qiao Huan would have no further chance to interact with the little boy...

Was it really just simple concern?

Looking at that familiar profile, Bai Jike knitted his brows.

Perhaps Qiao Huan was just worried that if he suddenly shot to fame, his background would stir up controversy, so he was being cautious?

Then there was no need to worry.

He, NightWing, could take care of every last hater online.

With that thought settled, Bai Jike's previously hesitant expression became much more resolute.

The computer had now returned to its normal temperature.

Bai Jike tapped away at the keyboard, and the data in the livestream platform's backend appeared before him, nothing hidden.

The other side had made some additional changes to his old program, but those didn't escape Bai Jike's notice either.

"So that's where it was..." Bai Jike said.

A moment later.

The number of viewers in Slow Yangyang's livestream had surpassed one hundred thousand.

And it was still climbing wildly.

Having done all that, Bai Jike felt it had been as easy as eating a piece of cake.

But he still felt guilty.

He decided to give back all the popularity his program had cost Brother Huan.

After pondering for a moment, Bai Jike hid his phone number and called a client he'd worked with before.

"I want to put that fan-edited Xiu Si video from before on the screens in the plazas."

The other party was already surprised to receive a call from NightWing. Hearing his youthful voice speaking in the tone of a domineering CEO left the person even more taken aback. "Which... plaza do you mean?"

Bai Jike checked his balance:

"I mean... play it on a five-minute loop simultaneously in every plaza your company owns across the country."

!!!

"Ah? Are you crazy?! Do you know that would cost at least..."

Before the words were out—

The Country C director of multimedia advertising saw the amount added to the account and was instantly stunned.

Bai Jike got straight to the point:

"That's all payment for helping you fend off overseas cyberattacks before. If it isn't enough, call me again. My number hasn't changed."

The director's voice trembled. "Enough, enough! That's enough to run it on a loop for a whole year..."

After hanging up, Bai Jike immediately closed the computer and looked toward the green plaza diagonally across from the hospital.

The director was indeed quick to act. Soon, from the hospital, Bai Jike saw several familiar faces.

To some passersby, the newly debuted group really wasn't very well known.

But this time, Bai Jike had caused a huge stir. The screens playing simultaneously across the country were enough on their own to draw plenty of attention.

Not only did he put a video a fan had made especially for them on the plaza screens, having secured permission long ago, he even used "Beyond the Frontier Star River," which had caused quite a stir a couple of days earlier, as the background music.

"Is this a promo for some music video? It looks so gorgeous..."

"Why does it look like a group edit to me? Each of them has their own distinctive charm. This group really put their hearts into it."

"It's been so long since I've seen a music production made with this much care! Who's the lead? Please recommend them!"

Just as Bai Jike had expected, the fan-made video perfectly showed how the others saw them.

What was more, during production, the fan had used the background revealed in the movie trailer to add plenty of special effects that suited the film's theme even better.

With the video looping on screens across such a wide area, quite a few passersby stopped to watch.

"What boy band is this? They look so handsome!"

"I think they're the ones who sang the theme song for some movie before. But this version of the video looks a little clearer..."

"I know this one! They're trainees who debuted under Star Radiance just two months ago. I didn't expect their stage presence to be so solid!"

"Someone finally noticed this four-man group that's way too laid-back!"

Xiu Si's top fan leader secretly wiped away tears as she watched the numbers shoot up, then immediately contacted the other moderators of the group fan site.

After all, their favorites didn't endorse big brands or appear on popular shows, but instead worked hard to stay down-to-earth, following the approachable route usually taken by middle-aged and elderly celebrities.

But how could their fans bear to let such pearls lie buried in dust?

It was rare for them to see those familiar faces amid such a grand spectacle. They threw everything they had into refreshing the plaza's trending topics, doing their best to promote the group's precious qualities.

Their sincere praise for one another in interviews, the easy rapport they showed while appearing on programs together... without coordinating, the fans brought the group's best side before the public.

Whether it was Qiao Huan, who spoke little but had plenty of ideas, or Bai Jike, who never gave up easily and worked hard to keep up with his older brothers;

Whether it was the straightforward Zhuo Yang, who stood up for his brothers at every turn, or Ye Yiwei, who cared for everyone in his awkward way, each had a unique shining quality worthy of the group.

And their every move showed in every respect that they were idols entirely different from those groups whose members had schemed against one another.

Fans voluntarily posted the members' experiences in the plaza, drawing even more passersby into the livestream. Even Jiang Ji was both surprised and delighted.

So... had NightWing helped before because he was actually a die-hard Xiu Si fan?

And such a rich die-hard fan, too!

Jiang Ji had no time to dwell on it. He immediately contacted the PR team and bought a suitably placed trending search.

With help from all sides, this boy band that followed a completely unconventional path finally entered the public eye in the true sense.

X was also given the meaning of "new."

Bai Jike poured himself a glass of chocolate milk and quietly watched it all.

Ah, Brother Huan, the road to stardom is smooth and open. Keep it up.

A-Yi and A-Er, still livestreaming, couldn't see that the storm of online trends outside had quietly shifted.

All they, who were single-mindedly hoping to become popular again, saw was their viewer count soaring, and soon a number of generous big spenders began sending gifts.

The two knew full well that the best way to get fans to spend money was to act as though they didn't want them to.

So A-Yi and A-Er left the farmhouse courtyard, where they'd both felt terribly awkward, and went to the ridge between the fields to have a heart-to-heart with their fans.

A-Yi and A-Er greeted the people in the livestream as warmly and kindly as ever.

"Whether you're new here or one of our old friends, we're already very happy if you give us a follow."

"That's right, as for gifts and things... there's really no need," A-Er said.

"Brother Liu, let's turn off the gifting function in the livestream. We shouldn't make everyone spend their money."

"That's right, we started this livestream today just to chat."

As soon as they said that, exclamations filled their livestream.

"The old favorites are still the best. Our childhood idols, quality guaranteed!"

"Sigh, it's not easy to find idols like this anymore..."

"This industry changes generations too fast. People come and go; who knows how many we've seen. Being able to look back and still see you is already the greatest fortune of the two of our lives."

Ding-ding—ding-ding—

Off camera, the notification tones on the two men's phones rang nonstop.

A-Yi knew those were notifications that their follower count was steadily rising.

At the thought of becoming popular again and living a happy life, raking in money from endorsements, he looked at those fans as though they were mountains of gold beckoning to him. Every lie he told sounded deeply sincere.

The two brothers, their bellies full of dirty tricks, had long planned to cultivate an image of being as indifferent to fame as chrysanthemums. Their gesture, made under the fine-sounding pretext of saving fans money, was also meant to put them a notch above the stream next door.

Watching more and more people pour into the livestream, A-Yi and A-Er could barely suppress the smiles at the corners of their mouths.

Quick!

Come see how noble the two of us are, then go look at how ungrateful those two kids next door are!

Get the narrative rolling!

"Huh? Of course the gifting function in the livestream can be turned off, but that's a matter of personal choice."

A-Er laughed it off as he deliberately shifted his gaze.

The fans who viewed them through the filter of childhood nostalgia caught his meaning at once and rushed next door to watch.

Slow Yangyang's livestream had already gained many new fans.

And as those fans from next door, skilled at steering the narrative, flooded the screen with comments, the viewers immediately noticed that Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang hadn't followed suit by turning off their gifting function.

Those viewers, who had already found the new generation of idols somewhat hard to stomach, immediately began questioning the two of them.

"They have enough money to buy all that screen time, but they still have to earn money from fans' gifts?"

"Learn to be a decent person before you do anything else. Go see how the seniors next door do it!"

Although Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang couldn't see exactly what the scrolling comments in the livestream said, Jiang Ji could see them perfectly clearly.

His face abruptly darkened, and he frowned as he signaled for Qiao Huan, who was still chatting with the old man, to come over.

Using a drink of water as an excuse to approach Jiang Ji, Qiao Huan saw the constantly jumping comments and all sorts of bizarre special effects on the screen and instinctively felt something was wrong.

In stark contrast to how deserted the stream had been earlier, the comments were scrolling rapidly upward, and a constant stream of effects was being placed over both their faces.

With such a large fan base now, even if each person gifted only one yuan, the total would be enormous...

More and more people were sending gifts, and a steady stream of new viewers was still pouring in.

Naturally, the livestream platform didn't want to miss out on the excitement either. It kept recommending the battle to users who had just opened the livestream interface, profiting from it.

It was New Year's in the livestreaming world today, too!

"Brother Jiang, I understand." Back in front of the camera, Qiao Huan looked earnestly at the fans before their screens. "Thank you, everyone, for your support."

"But if any of you are using money you've already set aside for tuition, books, rent... fitness, beauty treatments, or anything else to send us gifts, please stop for a moment."

"Please don't spend that money on us. It would be more useful to you."

After speaking, Qiao Huan asked Jiang Ji to set the maximum gift amount in the livestream to 100 yuan, with each person allowed to gift only once.

Many people only realized the platform even had a function to limit gift amounts after discovering they could no longer send gifts.

But those people were not satisfied with Qiao Huan merely trying to persuade them without stopping them.

After leaving Qiao Huan's livestream, quite a few people stirring up trouble began accusing Xiu Si of being so eager to fleece fans that they had started right after their debut.

Many marketing accounts also seized the opportunity to write articles that bore no resemblance to the facts, spewing abuse the moment they opened their mouths.

The search term "Qiao Huan incites fans to send gifts" inexplicably shot up the search engine rankings.

The warm, happy atmosphere the fans had worked so hard to create was immediately shaken to the brink of collapse by the onslaught of marketing accounts.

Most casual fans wanted no part of it and left without a second thought.

Bai Jike's face suddenly went pale as he read the notifications.

But he was no pushover either.

"Just what you'd expect from people who came out of Star Radiance. A trash company raises trash idols!"

"They've got 'we want to fleece our fans' written all over their faces. If they want money so badly, why don't they go into business? What kind of talent does it take to make money off fans?"

In A-Yi and A-Er's livestream, people began furiously criticizing Qiao Huan and the others.

"Oh... you can't say that. Artists these days are all at their companies' mercy, after all. We just need to take care of the things we can."

Sharp-eyed A-Er spotted the latest notification on the livestream screen and shrugged helplessly.

A-Yi secretly gave A-Er a thumbs-up.

That was so beautifully said!

Not only did it take aim at those greenhorns, it even cursed out their company along with them!

If they could fan these winds a little harder, they would have the perfect pledge of allegiance to present to President Chen!

"Everyone has their own troubles these days. Oh... we're all working for someone else, after all. It isn't easy for those young people either."

"Actually, sigh... never mind, never mind. Things got a little unpleasant today, so let's end our livestream here. Otherwise, I'm afraid someone might cut our stream off in a little while."

A-Yi and A-Er played off each other, leaving their fans plenty of room for imagination.

As soon as the livestream ended, A-Yi and A-Er eagerly opened their personal accounts and found that their follower counts were indeed completely different from before the stream.

Their follower counts, which had originally been lower than those of a few minor internet celebrities, had shot up to over 300,000.

Once the buzz had simmered a little longer, they would have their tickets into that show!

But the two of them were so carried away with excitement that they failed to notice that the search terms whose popularity should have been soaring had vanished at some point, and even some bot accounts had stopped posting.

Because this time, the lists of paid trolls that appeared on the marketing accounts' fax machines had been clearly marked with their real names.

As well as the many offenses they had already committed in spreading information online.

"The internet has never been a place beyond the law."

Bai Jike's gaze was icy as he sent the last email.

Elsewhere.

Seeing the number of followers in the livestream settle at 1.28 million, Qiao Huan showed no disappointment at losing the follower-count contest.

He watched the fluctuating number finally come to a stop, then instead gave the camera a gentle smile.

"Thank you all for coming to watch our first livestream today. There were many things we didn't do well, and I hope you'll be understanding."

"Today, everyone did something very meaningful."

After making that out-of-the-blue remark, Qiao Huan shut down the livestream, leaving the baffled fans staring at one another.

"What did that last sentence mean? I can't wait to find out."

"Why be so mysterious? Voting for them with paid gifts is meaningful? They think a little too highly of themselves."

"The wool comes from the sheep. I don't know what they're so happy about."

Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang sat on either side of Jiang Ji and spoke in unison.

"Brother Jiang, could you give me the record of the gifts from just now?"

"Hahaha... we're sure to win this time!"

A-Yi and A-Er couldn't resist high-fiving in celebration. Even Brother Liu, the manager accompanying them, looked excited.

But just as they were still reveling in it, A-Er's phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a text message from the bank.

The 50,000 yuan A-Er had sent the broadcast director had been returned in full.

A-Er frowned, puzzled.

The tide of online opinion turned once again.

It turned out that Fan Hui had stayed by Constantine's side throughout the livestream. She no longer coaxed him as though he were a little child, but instead explained the whole story to him clearly, from beginning to end.

Constantine was exceptionally quick to understand and soon grasped all the twists and turns. Then he told Fan Hui everything he had experienced with the Production Team.

Mother and son were like a pair of adult friends.

Perhaps this was the right way for the busy mother and her precocious, unusually bright child to interact.

While the two were moved, they saw that Qiao Huan and the others had once again been caught in the eye of the storm. Without another word, they recorded a video at the hospital explaining why Constantine had fallen into the water and sent a copy to the Production Team.

Qiao Huan's fans immediately shared the video as well.

For the first dozen minutes or so, viewers who had just been brainwashed by all sorts of news paid little attention to it.

But whether someone was manipulating things behind the scenes or not, within half an hour of the matter starting to gain traction, the video had somehow reached over 200,000 views!

What was more, before netizens could press her for answers, the broadcast director involved admitted her mistake at the first opportunity.

At the same time, she stated that she had acted on someone else's orders.

The broadcast director's vague statement did nothing to dispel netizens' questions, instead shrouding the whole affair in a layer of fog.

But when some people in the industry tried to contact her, the broadcast director's phone was already switched off.

Many viewers who had witnessed the little boy fall into the water in the livestream had no choice but to approach the Production Team.

But the director's team responded only by telling them to wait for the results of the police investigation and offered no further explanation.

Police server room.

A-Shui had also graduated from a university of information technology, so he naturally became the person in charge of this ragtag Anti-Hate Station.

After receiving Qiao Tang's instructions, they had been trying every way they could to suppress the buzz around Slow Yangyang.

But tonight... their first foray had ended in failure.

They couldn't shake the feeling that they were showing off their broadsword skills in front of the grandmaster.

Before the popularity of Slow Yangyang's livestream had even risen, their computer screens went black.

After that, they never lit up again, no matter how many hundreds of times they were restarted.

Then.

They saw their own undercover agent's face appear on countless big screens in public squares.

A-Shui immediately called his master. "Boo-hoo-hoo, Captain Tang, we did our best, but we really can't hold out! There's a tough opponent working against us!!!"

Qiao Tang: ...

Having just completed his discharge paperwork, he sank into thought.

Should he go to the University of Science and Technology and find some outside help?