Brewing

After returning to his room, Wang Yi finally had time to log into Mote.

A quick glance showed that it had already received over two hundred reposts and several hundred comments.

There was a twelve-hour time difference between here and the Beautiful Country. Most of the time since Wang Yi posted on Mote had been late at night over there. For an unknown new account, these numbers were already quite good. It seemed the title had been eye-catching enough.

Racism in academia—a wonderfully new battlefield.

So even though Wang Yi's account had started from nothing, it was easy to attract some interest and attention.

And because the title was good and the pacing had been handled well, most of the comments below actually took Wang Yi's side.

They might not have understood the derivation process, but they could understand the timestamps in the images showing Wang Yi's manuscript being rejected.

One after another, they were speaking up for him.

Many people in the comments did not even know what "Science" was, yet they still said they would not buy the magazine as a show of support.

Quite a few had Black people as their profile pictures.

There were also plenty of White people supporting him.

On the contrary, quite a few people of Chinese descent commented to condemn Wang Yi, accusing him of grandstanding and tarnishing the image of Chinese people.

Some commenters with a certain degree of academic literacy—at the very least, those who knew what this was—had already begun fiercely criticizing Wang Yi.

"What do you think 'Science' is? Rejecting you so quickly was saving you time!"

"I was fortunate enough to publish in an EI journal. When I submitted for the first time, it was sent back several times over formatting alone, but I was grateful to the reviewer for returning it. It let me find my mistakes sooner."

Those were comparatively rational comments, and their arguments had some basis. Others, however, were far less polite.

"Go back and ruin your own journals. Don't come here and embarrass yourself."

"I'm dying. The Goldbach Conjecture has been proved again. A Mote paper? You're really original."

"Hehe, we've worked so hard to improve our standing, to improve how the outside world sees us, enduring humiliation and hardship, yet people like you make all our efforts go to waste. Sure enough, everyone still staying in that place is a bunch of (beep~)!"

"This is the holy land of global academia, a beacon where the world's top talents gather. It isn't some backwater corner like where you come from. Don't bring your rural ignorance here and pollute everyone's eyes."

"Looks like I was right to leave."

"That's right. Staying there would only lead to decay. What we need is the fragrance of freedom."

Comments like these had strayed off-topic to some extent, expressing tremendous indignation, as though Wang Yi could somehow damage their interests.

But then, the user who had previously claimed to have published in an EI journal left another comment.

"That said, the format of the paper he posted does look fairly proper. But you filled in your workplace too simply; maybe that was the reason. And your title is way too exaggerated. Even as someone outside mathematics, I know that title is alarming. If you really have results, it would be better to write them out in more detail."

A few people replied to that comment.

"Really? I can't understand any of it."

"It looks really impressive."

"But instantly rejecting such a long paper is too hurtful. It really is discrimination."

"If you put it that way, his paper's formatting should be pretty standard, right? Then it shouldn't have been rejected so quickly."

After skimming through the comments, Wang Yi felt the buzz was decent. Many people had reposted it, and as it gradually became daytime in the Beautiful Country, there should be another major surge due to people's reposting habits.

But to add fuel to the fire, Wang Yi deliberately picked out those who had replied most aggressively.

Buzz needed conflict to build, especially for an unknown account like his.

Well, the useful tools had arrived...

He then selected a few suitable targets and gave them some simple replies.

"I heard the public safety where you live isn't very good."

"You can't get anyone to come to the parties you hold at home, can you?"

"You weren't this brave when you got robbed, were you?"

"..."

Wang Yi himself never discriminated against workers. Earning money with one's own hands was worthy of respect wherever one was. A large forest was bound to have bad birds, and one could not condemn everyone with a single stroke. But some people with the fanatical mentality of converts tended to hold more extreme positions.

Especially those whose lives after leaving had sharply diverged from what they had hoped for. They would do everything possible to prove that their choice had been correct.

In truth, quite a few people leaving such replies under Wang Yi's post were relatively well-off middle-class types. But precisely because of that, Wang Yi fabricated accusations and slapped them with labels they despised most, instantly setting all of them off.

Replies began pouring in one after another. Many even attached photos as proof—pictures of parties at home, photos of their houses, photos of them playing golf, showing off their cars and watches, all wanting to slap Wang Yi in the face.

Some had genuinely been hit where it hurt by Wang Yi and started cursing furiously after their defenses broke.

In any case, the fire had been lit.

Even if some major figures in academia did not have much time to follow Mote, Wang Yi only needed to fan the flames as much as he could.

Now, that guy who had published in an EI journal had already offered some comments. As long as more and more people saw them, that would be enough.

After adding more fuel to the fire, Wang Yi tossed it aside to ferment slowly and plunged back into the ocean of knowledge.

He already had many problems piled up, but after coming into contact with more things, he found that the problems he needed to solve seemed to be increasing as well.

There truly was no end to learning...

It was another fulfilling night. Near dawn, Wang Yi closed his eyes and meditated for half an hour.

Perhaps because she had drunk a little yesterday, Liu Xiaoke left the house later than usual today. As for Ma Dong, Wang Yi could easily hear him snoring even from his own room.

With that kind of alcohol tolerance, he still kept beer stocked at home all the time. He was weak but addicted.

Still, after last night's meal, the three of them had become much closer.

A familiar ringtone sounded. Wang Yi glanced at his phone and saw that it was Li Vida.

"Teacher Wang Yi, I've arrived in Shudian. I'm at the Film Studio now."

Wang Yi was slightly surprised to hear that. This guy had come quite quickly.

"Let's meet at the Starbucks by the Film Studio entrance."

"Okay."

Since the man had already arrived, Wang Yi naturally would not make him wait too long.

At least the other party had shown his sincerity.

He casually bought a steamer basket of buns downstairs, then hurried over while eating.

After arriving at the Starbucks entrance and making a call, he saw a fat man not far away waving at him.

His round belly, dressed in a casual suit, made for a rather amusing sight.

His face was chubby too, and when he smiled, his eyes disappeared entirely.

"Teacher Wang Yi, I really didn't expect you to be so young. What a surprise."

Li Vida spoke with a cheerful smile.

"Manager Li is young too. Your net worth is much higher than mine."

Wang Yi was not flattering him. Although the man had deliberately worn a suit, he was probably only in his early twenties, not much older than Wang Yi himself.

At that age, he could not have been out of school for long. Yet he could directly put up several hundred thousand to buy the rights himself. He could not possibly have gone all in, so he definitely had even more liquid funds on hand.

Reality was not like the internet, where everyone supposedly started with an annual income of a million.

"It's just some support from my elders. It can't compare to your real ability."

Li Vida sounded very sincere.

But family background was itself a kind of resource and strength, and in most cases, it was even more important.

"Should we go inside and talk first?"

Wang Yi asked him.

Having come all this way, Li Vida definitely had the intention to buy, but he would naturally need to confirm the quality first.

However, Wang Yi was not afraid of his quality check. As a Great Knight, Wang Yi possessed the full vocal range and could even produce ultrasonic and infrasonic frequencies. If he wanted to check the quality, he could come himself. Wang Yi would definitely satisfy him...