Celebrity Scams!

Besides posting on infertility forums, Xia Ping had also deliberately posted on the forums dedicated to masters of erotic fiction, such as Jia Zhiwei and Bao Pichang.

These two were pillars of the erotic fiction world. They had written countless classics and had a huge following. The number of fans following them on their forums alone reached thirty million.

If he could stir up a hot topic on these forums, he would surely attract plenty of readers.

So Xia Ping immediately registered several sockpuppet accounts. With one of them, he posted a thread titled, "A Discussion on How No One Would Read Master Jia Zhiwei's Works in Modern Society." The article deliberately took what seemed like an impartial stance, but kept taking digs at Master Jia Zhiwei's works, denigrating them as utterly worthless.

"I agree with the OP. Although I also think Jia Zhiwei was a master of erotic fiction in his era, his works are too outdated and stale. No one would read them in this day and age. I can't understand what he's even talking about. All I can tell is that he's indulging himself. He's writing purely for himself." One sockpuppet did its best to trash him.

"Isn't that the truth? If Jia Zhiwei came out of retirement and wrote another novel, only a few die-hard fans would buy it. Everyone else would curse him out. I think his work isn't even as good as this year's rising star in erotic fiction, Teacher Bai Rong. The gap is at least a hundred years." Another sockpuppet subtly promoted the novel.

"Word on the street is that Jia Zhiwei never completely quit writing. He once secretly published a novel online under another pen name, but it flopped. Nobody read it." A sockpuppet spread a malicious rumor. "Apparently, he read a novel called Teacher Bai Rong and sighed that the waves behind the Yangtze push the waves ahead, while the waves in front die on the shore. He cried all night, admitting he couldn't compare, and gave up on ever making a comeback. How sad. A master of his generation, brought low at last."

"Go cry to your sister! You're talking as if it were true." One fan saw the thread and immediately flew into a rage, furiously firing back. "Stop spreading rumors. I've never heard that Master Jia Zhiwei wrote novels under another pen name. He's in his sixties or seventies. How could he possibly have the time or inclination for that?"

"You shameless OP. Jia Zhiwei is a master of his generation. His novels have influenced countless people. Every erotic novel today follows his approach; none of them can escape his framework. Those younger writers are all living off his leftovers. You're just some nobody of a rising author. Who do you think you are, claiming the master admitted he couldn't compare? How can you even show your face?"

"Exactly! Master Jia Zhiwei is a god-tier novelist with unparalleled influence. Several of his works have even been adapted into TV dramas and films that grossed billions. And you dare slander him here, saying you can't understand his work? Are you fucking blind?"

"Sorry, everyone. The OP escaped from the psychiatric hospital before taking his meds. I'll take him back right now."

"Everyone, I'm sorry. The OP is my son. I let him out before I'd taught him better. I've failed you all by giving birth to this little brat. If only I'd shot him onto the wall instead."

A whole group of Master Jia Zhiwei's fans flew into a rage. They were furious at the shameless OP's malicious slander and his claim that Jia Zhiwei had read a newcomer's work and cried because he couldn't compare. Damn it, how could anyone be so shameless? That wasn't how you spread rumors!

Seeing these comments, the fans were livid. They immediately posted replies, cursing out the OP and trying to shame the bastard so badly that he'd never be able to hold his head up again, and people would spit at him whenever he went outside.

In just half an hour, the thread had received over a million views and fifty-eight thousand replies, shooting straight to the top of the forum.

Of course, most of the replies were people cursing out the OP and his ancestors for eighteen generations.

Xia Ping used that sockpuppet to start another thread: "Don't Disbelieve It—Teacher Bai Rong Is a Hundred Times Better Than Every One of Jia Zhiwei's Works. It Completely Crushes Them." In it, he went all out praising Teacher Bai Rong, while secretly taking jabs at Jia Zhiwei's works and dismissing them as worthless trash.

"Go die, OP. You think this work can crush Master Jia Zhiwei?"

"Even your dreams aren't that convincing. Go look at Jia Zhiwei's sales records before saying stuff like that."

"I've never even heard of this novel. Where did it come from? And you think something like this can crush Master Jia Zhiwei?"

"This bastard must be a fan of the novel's author, deliberately coming here to get cursed out."

"He wants to get cursed out? We'll give him what he wants. He says this work is better than everything Master Jia Zhiwei has ever written, right? I'd like to see just how good it is."

"Let's all go take a look and flood his comments section. Curse the author until he can't function in daily life."

"Yeah, let's curse that bastard to death. He dares slander Master Jia Zhiwei here? He doesn't know when to quit."

"Everyone, I'm a bricklayer. If I ever see that author, I'll smack him in the back with a brick and knock him out of his daydream."

The fans were furious and whipped into a frenzy. The replies were blazing.

Xia Ping didn't care when he saw them. In fact, he was rather pleased. This kind of hype had been extremely popular back on Earth in his previous life. There was even a professional term for it: celebrity baiting.

In simple terms, some minor internet celebrities deliberately said things to provoke major stars, climbing on their fame to boost their own following.

If the major star responded, that gave them more exposure, and the more heated the discussion, the better. If the star didn't respond, that was fine too. The fans couldn't stand it and would swarm in to curse them out, driving up their engagement all the same.

In short, for minor celebrities—or anyone without much fame—celebrity baiting was a surefire way to make a killing. At the very least, they could use the opportunity to get their names known and stop being obscure.

Although this tactic was shameless, there was no doubt that, from a publicity standpoint, it was the most effective and fastest way to promote something.

So Xia Ping followed the same playbook, posting provocative threads on the forums of other famous erotic fiction writers and riling up their fans. That gave his novel, Teacher Bai Rong, an enormous amount of exposure.

The results of this frenzied publicity were obvious.

The novel's comments section had been deserted, but now a large group of newly registered sockpuppet accounts had appeared. Like an army, they moved in perfect unison, doing their best to tear into Xia Ping with nothing but insults.

In just one hour, the comments section had received more than five hundred thousand replies. The novel had gained three million views and three hundred thousand bookmarks.

"Success."

Xia Ping clenched his fist. He knew that while plenty of people would curse him out, a considerable number would also be curious enough to subscribe to his novel.

Even if their proportion wasn't very high, they were still sparks. A single spark could start a prairie fire. With this first batch of seeds, he was sure his novel would soon become a hit.