Weibo Buzz

Li Vida felt it was a pity, but their relationship had not yet reached the point where he could keep persuading him. He could only think of ways to put in a good word later.

Meanwhile, the decadent handsome guy Serai also felt it was a shame, but he still came out with a smile to ease the atmosphere and change the subject.

"Hehe, Teacher Wang Yi said he wants to become a researcher. But speaking of which, I happened to come across a popular post before. Someone named Yi Wan made a post on an overseas site that was somewhat related to scientific research. It got reposted here, and quite a few people are following it. It's pretty interesting."

Serai was a musician with one foot in the entertainment industry, so he was fairly sensitive to trending topics. He had only brought it up because he happened to see it.

But something about it immediately felt off to Wang Yi. Yi Wan, my ass!

Reposted from an overseas site? Then it should be about him, right?

He had not expected the reposters to move so quickly. It had only just started gaining traction over there, and it had already been brought back home.

Wang Yi suspected it had something to do with the carefully chosen replies he had used to fire back. Maybe someone had gotten so furious that they deliberately reposted it domestically.

Still, that was a good thing. As long as it gained attention somewhere, that was enough.

True gold feared no fire.

That had been his purpose all along.

However, Serai only knew it was a post related to "scientific research." Things like the Goldbach Conjecture were far too distant from the entertainment industry.

Most people had not even heard of it.

Maybe they had heard a teacher casually mention it during their school days, but that was as far as it went. Even among those who knew of it, many thought it was merely a waste of time spent proving one plus one.

The reason it had gained traction after being reposted this time was that it involved issues of dignity and discrimination.

"Oh, let me take a look. Hehe, when it's spelled out, it does look a lot like Teacher Wang Yi's name—just reversed."

Since Wang Yi had made it clear that he did not want to debut, Li Vida followed Serai's lead and changed the subject to preserve their relationship. He took the phone and looked at it.

The original post had been made by a blogger called "Studying Abroad in the Beautiful Country."

In the past, the blogger had only posted photos from abroad, shared information, offered consultations on studying overseas and even immigration, and occasionally acted as an intermediary.

They had a certain fan base.

This time, it was a one-sided attack. Combined with the enthusiastic reposting by the blogger's fans and the topic's inherent controversy, it quickly gained some traction.

Moreover, its popularity was still rising. More and more people were following and reposting it.

Since many netizens could not understand English, and some of Wang Yi's replies had already sounded infuriating, the blogger cropped out the beginning and end, hid certain parts, and magnified others. In an instant, it became a massively negative post tarnishing Huaxia's image.

Quite a few netizens were now criticizing him for it.

"It doesn't just look similar. I simply didn't change the spelling format. It was probably posted by me. I said I'm a scientific researcher, so publishing a paper is perfectly reasonable."

Wang Yi did not particularly try to hide anything and said it openly.

The atmosphere instantly became heavy and awkward.

Li Vida fell silent.

If the other party was not joking, Li Vida felt he would have a better future debuting as an idol with him. There was really no need to stubbornly fight for a dream like this.

Really, having dreams was a good thing, but he could not waste his talent!

For a moment, Li Vida did not even know how to persuade him.

The man was being criticized by the entire internet right now. Trying to persuade him at this point would make it seem as though he was taking pleasure in his misfortune, so he could only give a few dry laughs.

"Teacher Wang Yi's English is really good."

What else could he do? He could only hope Wang Yi would not be so devastated by the blow that he never recovered.

Li Vida had seen many people fall under the weight of online harassment.

Some netizens did not care whether the person involved lived or died. They only cared about making themselves feel better and venting their hostility.

With Wang Yi's "icebreaker," the lingering impact of his appearance as a genius singer-songwriter that day immediately died down.

Faster than liquid nitrogen cooling something down.

No one mentioned going out together for a meal anymore.

They stiffly completed the copyright transfer agreement, transferred the payment on the spot, and then went their separate ways.

Watching Wang Yi leave without looking back, Li Vida could not help but sigh.

"Ah, what a pity. Why is he so stubborn? His musical talent is terrifying, and that voice of his is practically heaven-sent."

"Everyone has the right to pursue what they want. Making money through music, then using it to realize his dream—shouldn't that be inspiring?"

Serai saw things somewhat differently from Li Vida. He himself had given up everything for music and built this recording studio, yet he did not have much talent for musical composition. In a sense, he could understand Wang Yi's thinking.

"Don't worry about him. Didn't you notice that guy has an incredibly good physique?"

Serai's focus was different from Li Vida's.

"Huh? Why are you looking at someone else's physique? He was wearing clothes."

"What I mean is, the fact that he trained himself into that shape and maintained it shows that he's extremely disciplined and strong-willed. If it were you, could you refuse the temptation of debuting for the sake of your dream?"

Hearing Serai's words, Li Vida nodded in agreement.

Indeed, he had readily changed his mind and sung a few lines for fifty thousand at first. But later, when Li Vida had laid out such a grand future for him—a future that was highly likely to come true—he had refused without hesitation.

He had given up wealth that was practically within reach and chosen a difficult path. Someone like that definitely would not be brought down by this kind of criticism.

Then Li Vida casually opened Weibo, liked the post criticizing Wang Yi, and added a repost with the comment: "The paper was very well written. Don't write another one next time."

Wang Yi, who had been deemed exceptionally self-disciplined, was currently eating fried skewers.

Though fried food had all kinds of drawbacks, it really was delicious.

Chewing on a fried skewer, Wang Yi continued toward the market, planning to get another batch of cow bones to fill the gap. This time, he would take them back while the neighbor was out at work. No, this time he would find a place to summon the skeleton first, then bring it home as a figurine.

On the way there, he gnawed on a fried skewer with one hand while rapidly scrolling through his phone with the other.

He had registered a Weibo account as soon as he bought his phone.

"Master Yi 10086," tagged as Independent Musician and scientific researcher.

Using his logged-in Weibo account, he began searching for posts related to himself.

The topic had already entered the top thirty, and it had even been marked as hot. It would likely continue climbing.

After all, the issue was quite controversial, not to mention that the blogger who reposted it had added fuel to the fire with their own embellishments.

Not long after Wang Yi logged in, he discovered that the topic had jumped several more places. Then he saw that a well-known influencer had also reposted it.

He was a famous Anti-Fraud Influencer.

Once again, he had spotted the right moment and found a soft target to attack as a way to generate buzz.

For a long time, this anti-fraud crusader had carefully selected his targets. He never dared touch anything that would truly affect the interests of capital, mostly going after individuals and small businesses.

Questioning others about plagiarism and academic fraud was one of his specialties.

The material Wang Yi had provided this time was practically delivered straight into his bowl, making him ecstatic.

He immediately launched a sharp-tongued attack on his own Weibo...

First update~ I managed to send the contract before the editors moved offices. The status has been updated, so please vote and support~