Xu Ruifeng's Counterattack

The sky was gray, as if a massive downpour was about to fall...

Xu Ruifeng was unaware of the "news" about the fifty thousand yuan fortune-telling because it hadn't appeared on Master Shen's Weibo account.

Besides the account nicknamed "Master Shen," Chen Yuxiang's account was also discussing Shen Qiong's fortune-telling.

At this moment, Xu Ruifeng clenched his teeth, locked himself in his room, and ignored his three-and-a-half-year-old child knocking on the door, staring coldly at the computer.

Instead of choosing to curse outside Shen Qiong's shop, he thought of another way to ruin Shen Qiong's reputation.

"Pretty impressive, huh? So many people supporting you," he muttered while browsing Master Shen's Weibo.

Suddenly, a cunning smile slowly spread across his face. "Interesting. In that case, I'll give you a hand."

Click-clack...

He typed rapidly on the keyboard. As the text on the computer screen grew longer, Xu Ruifeng's smile widened.

It took him a full hour and a half to post this lengthy thank-you note on the Deshun City campus forum, and he also hired some internet trolls on Taobao to help promote it.

After completing all this, he finally pushed open the door. In the living room, a chubby child grinned and shouted, "Dad!"

The internet trolls were very effective, and the post titled "To Us Who Chase Dreams" quickly became popular.

At the beginning of the article, he directly borrowed a sentence Master Shen had used for promotion on Weibo.

"Perhaps you were born at the wrong time? Perhaps you are still lost about your future, wanting to participate in 'The Voice'? Or perhaps you dream of becoming a star admired by thousands one day. Maybe you are talented but lack confidence. You, who are ordinary, might have a talent that can change your life."

"Thousand-mile horses are common, but discerning patrons are rare. The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion will guide you!!!"

The line above was specially highlighted in bold, followed by Xu Ruifeng's "masterpiece" created with painstaking effort.

Although Xu Ruifeng had studied art, his writing skills were not bad. The beginning was as captivating as a novel, making people unable to resist reading on.

"There's an excitement called sudden happiness. I am an unknown art student, living like a walking dead person every day, not daring to resist fate in any way. I complete my assignments on time, study late into the night, and sometimes even forget why I'm working so hard or if it's worth it."

Since the post was on the campus forum, most of the people browsing were students. At this point, most students felt a strong sense of identification.

"On the way home from school that day, I was going to get food at the school cafeteria as usual before attending evening self-study. But... the campus broadcast suddenly came on and started playing music. Although I couldn't name the song, the familiar melody attracted me."

"It was a love song that could draw people into an emotional vortex. The moment the song started, I couldn't help but stop. It turned out that the familiar thing wasn't just the melody, but also the voice. The person singing that song was actually a classmate I knew. Oh my god!!!"

"It's unbelievable. I can tell it's his voice. Fang Yongkang, I know him."

"However, before this song, no one knew he could sing. There were even many negative rumors circulating among classmates about him."

"He was so ordinary, like a person lost in a crowd, impossible to find again. Like me, like you, like every ordinary student."

"But all of this changed because of his unwillingness to give up. He was like a fugitive at the end of his rope, desperately pursuing his ideals. Fortunately, he met Master Shen."

"Master Shen, because Master Shen is in Lingxi City and not Deshun City, perhaps you haven't heard of him."

"Fate favored Fang Yongkang. He met Master Shen. Master Shen is skilled at fortune-telling, and his predictions about talent are particularly accurate. He confidently assured Fang Yongkang that he had a talent for singing and must persevere."

"Master Shen even personally promoted Fang Yongkang's recorded song on Weibo..."

"A boy chasing his dream, a boy stumbling and being crushed by harsh reality until he had no strength to resist, like me, like Fang Yongkang."

"But he's better than me because with Master Shen's support, he successfully gained encouragement from netizens, and even the campus broadcast is playing his song."

At this moment, countless students reading the post began to like it, liking it frantically...

Xu Ruifeng wanted to attribute all of Fang Yongkang's success to Shen Qiong, portraying Shen Qiong as an unfathomably mysterious, god-like existence.

"I am writing this article not to praise anyone, nor am I a paid troll hired by Master Shen. I am just an ordinary art student, but like Fang Yongkang, I am also someone with dreams."

"Perhaps I am just an ordinary horse of lesser quality, or perhaps I am a horse of superior quality, but who can say for sure? Not me, not the teachers, and certainly not the parents."

"Find Master Shen. Thousand-mile horses are common, but discerning patrons are rare!!!"

These words instantly ignited the passion of countless students. Who didn't have dreams?

At the age of high school, an age for dreaming, they were all passionate youths. They began to search for Master Shen's information on Baidu.

While eating, Xu Ruifeng used his phone to log into the forum to check his post. As expected, in less than an hour, the post became the hottest topic recently.

Countless people left comments below, asking for Master Shen's address and appointment method.

Of course, many people didn't believe it, thinking it was definitely the work of internet trolls. They started investigating Fang Yongkang and found that such a person did exist. He had cover songs on Gemstone Music, and the playback volume was quite high, receiving much praise.

Most importantly, the registration information for Fang Yongkang on Gemstone Music showed that he was indeed a high school student in Deshun City. It was an instant explosion!!!

Was it a publicity stunt?

Was the target of the stunt Master Shen or Fang Yongkang?

Meanwhile, the click-through rate of Fang Yongkang's cover songs also soared, as his talent was undeniable.

In a high school WeChat group.

"It's really good. I asked a few of my elementary school classmates. One of them said their school does have someone named Fang Yongkang, and he's quite popular at school recently. Many classmates have heard his songs."

"Really? Which high school?"

"No. 73 High School."

"That's not far from us!"

"Definitely not far. My cousin is in the first year there."

For Xu Ruifeng, the more people discussed this matter, the happier he became.

He stood alone on the balcony, the cold wind blowing, but his mood was incredibly refreshed. He sneered, "No matter how capable you are, when so many people are looking for you, there will always be loopholes and mistakes. The higher I lift you, the more spectacularly I want to see you fall!!!"

In Shen Qiong's small room, Gu Liming quickly found the post online and exclaimed, "Shen Qiong, look quickly! Someone is hyping up Fang Yongkang's matter."

The two stared at the computer, and soon finished reading the article in the post.

"Holy crap, if I hadn't been watching you all day, I would have thought you hired internet trolls," Gu Liming shouted excitedly.

While Shen Qiong was happy, he felt the article was a bit over the top.

He shook his head, "No one would speak up for us for no reason. It would be one thing if the poster was Fang Yongkang, but it's a student who hasn't revealed their name from start to finish?"

Gu Liming keenly spotted the presence of internet trolls in the post's comments. "It's 100% someone hyping this article, but the whole thing praises you, making you sound like a savior. It doesn't seem like they're targeting us!"

Targeting? Shen Qiong frowned, immediately thinking of that idiot who came to his door wanting to buy him off for five hundred yuan.

Could it be him?

Gu Liming knew who Shen Qiong suspected and immediately said, "No way. He should be spreading rumors about us everywhere, why would he be advertising for us?"

A slight curve appeared at the corner of Shen Qiong's mouth. "There's a tactic called 'praise to destroy' (pěng shā)!!!"