Let the Bullets Fly a While Longer

"Who was Chen Yuanguang?" Bill Gates's Twitter account was managed by the Gates Foundation, and he rarely logged in to check it himself.

When the Gates Foundation's social media staff saw so many Chinese people commenting below, with all the images mentioning someone named Chen Yuanguang, they began reporting it upward.

It eventually reached the head of the Gates Foundation's marketing department. "Yuanguang? Never heard of him, but I'd better make some calls and ask around."

He called around, but no one had heard of him. Since nobody knew who he was, they simply chose not to respond.

Most of the content on Bill Gates's verified Twitter account promoted his charitable work, and he rarely posted personal remarks.

In the eyes of the Gates Foundation's social media team, comments like these were best ignored.

Even if it were true, they would not reply through Bill Gates's account. They would issue a statement through the Gates Foundation instead.

Kate was a staffer in the Gates Foundation's marketing department. The higher-ups did not want to respond, but he had no intention of passing up this wave of attention. Twitter traffic could be turned into money.

With so many Chinese people around, he, as a social media operator, knew very well how many Chinese users left comments under Bill Gates's posts.

"The boss and the department head may look down on this little bit of traffic, but I can reply using my personal account. If I remember right, my personal account has business verification."

Views on Twitter could be exchanged for money. Once your follower count reached a certain level, Twitter calculated your monthly views and paid you accordingly.

It was like how Lao Hu from later years lost money trading stocks every day, yet the traffic he gained from stock trading earned him enough from Weibo to cover more than ten times his losses.

Kate directly reposted the comment from the Chinese netizen with the most likes:

"We have not heard of any plans to recruit this person, and the five million dollars is completely unfounded."

Watching the comments and likes beneath his repost rapidly surpass one thousand, then exceed ten thousand likes two hours later, Kate was thrilled. He had really cashed in.

Because Kate's employer had been verified, Chinese netizens quickly exploded. Even a Gates Foundation staffer had confirmed there was no such news, yet Chen Yuanguang was still putting on a one-man show.

Previously, Chen Yuanguang's Weibo had mainly been filled with doubts. Now, it was nothing but abuse.

Comments accusing him of overestimating himself and habitually bragging flooded the entire comment section.

When he woke up the next day, he found nothing but missed calls. "Hello, Mom. Don't worry, it's real. How could I possibly make something like that up?

"The invitation letter from the Gates Foundation is still in my inbox. I even have a handwritten invitation from Gates in the drawer of my office at MIT.

"Don't worry."

"It's fine. I'll clear this up."

Only then did Chen Yuanguang learn what had happened the day before.

Lin Jia asked blankly, "Yuanguang, what happened?"

Chen Yuanguang first opened Weibo, then clicked on a marketing account's summary of the whole affair and handed it to Lin Jia. "Here, take a look."

Lin Jia glanced at it. "Huh? A Gates Foundation staffer came out and said there was no such thing?

"But Bill Gates himself or the Gates Foundation's official account didn't respond, right?"

Chen Yuanguang nodded. "They didn't."

Lin Jia instantly woke up. "Did Goose Factory call?

"This could be an opportunity. Are you sure you kept all the evidence?"

Chen Yuanguang said, "I have both the email and the paper invitation. When Trevor came to see me for the second time, he specifically brought an invitation letter personally signed by Bill Gates to show his sincerity."

Lin Jia got up, took Chen Yuanguang's phone, glanced at the missed calls, and sneered. "Goose Factory is getting anxious. This is a good opportunity."

Chen Yuanguang was confused. "Huh?"

Lin Jia said, "Call Jenny back. Tell her you were being arrogant, then see what she says."

Chen Yuanguang began to understand. He took the phone and called Jenny back. Before it even gave a single beep, she answered.

"Yuanguang, what's going on with Weibo? The Gates Foundation has already responded to you. This could now have an enormous negative impact on the release of the Kuala Lumpur Affairs sequel.

"Have you thought about how to handle it? Do you want us to help you write an apology statement? Goose Factory's crisis PR team is already prepared. I'll send it to you first—take a look. If you think it works, post it as soon as possible. We need to seize these golden twenty-four hours."

Jenny was clearly anxious. Only then did Chen Yuanguang remember that, due to the viral outbreak, Kuala Lumpur Affairs 2, originally scheduled for release that summer, had been pushed back to the end of the year.

Because the first Kuala Lumpur Affairs had made him one of its key promotional points, and because he was indeed the original author and special consultant, the negative public opinion surrounding him would seriously affect the release of Kuala Lumpur Affairs 2.

Since the call was on speakerphone, Lin Jia held her phone screen up to Chen Yuanguang, poked him, and mouthed: Say what I wrote.

Chen Yuanguang stayed silent as he read the words on Lin Jia's screen. Seeing that he was not speaking, Jenny grew frantic:

"Yuanguang, are you listening? This isn't the time to sulk. The golden eight hours for crisis PR are almost over.

"Don't refuse to apologize just to save face. This has already become a public relations crisis, and it will seriously damage your personal reputation."

Only then did Chen Yuanguang reply unhurriedly, "Jenny, I was trying to debunk the fabricated posts circulating on Weibo about my cooperation with Zhifei Biological, to save retail investors and keep them from being fooled by those posts into becoming suckers.

"I didn't do anything wrong. At most, you could say my good intentions caused trouble."

The moment Jenny heard that, she knew it was over. He was young and headstrong and did not want to apologize. The problem was, he could not hide from this by playing dead. First he had offended capital, and then Kuala Lumpur Affairs 2 was set for a year-end holiday release, with a whole pile of competitors waiting. This matter would definitely be dragged out and beaten to death over and over.

"Yuanguang, this will seriously affect your public image," Jenny persisted.

Chen Yuanguang said calmly, "Jenny, you forgot that I'm a scientist. You were the ones who originally proposed turning me into an IP, and I never agreed. It's only my joining the Gates Foundation that has been called out as fake. No one has called my papers in Nature and Science fake. No one has called my contributions to scientific research fake.

"This won't affect my ability to become a professor at any top university in China."

After hearing that, Jenny felt as though rage had rushed straight to her heart. "You—"

Before she could finish that "you," Lin Jia snatched the phone from Chen Yuanguang's hand and pressed the hang-up button.

"Hmph. That old woman, still trying to put on an act. Let the bullets fly a while longer." Lin Jia looked utterly contemptuous.

Chen Yuanguang looked at her, waiting for her to speak.