Zhu Fangcai was in an excellent mood today.
Taking shots at everything under the sun was part of his daily routine, but he had never expected one of those shots to land him at the top of the trending searches.
Although Jinling University and the editorial office of Modern Communications and Geographic Information Technology had both responded that there was nothing wrong with the papers, the public wasn't buying assurances from the very people being questioned.
And now Jinling University had run out of options. It had even sent him a lawyer's letter!
In the letter, Jin University insisted that there was nothing wrong with the papers. It demanded that he retract his statements immediately and apologize for what he had said, or it would reserve the right to sue.
Meanwhile, Jinling University's official Weibo account, which had already locked its comments, posted replies from several academic editors responsible for reviewing submissions to Modern Communications and Geographic Information Technology. The replies confirmed that the papers had academic merit. Some of the spectators who had been eager to see the drama unfold came to their senses and began wondering whether they had been swept along by the hype...
But was Zhu Bigmouth afraid?
Could a university's official account beat him at the publicity game?
A lawyer's letter was great!
So what if he got sued? It wouldn't be his first lawsuit.
He had been worrying about how to keep the attention on him!
In just two days, he had gained nearly four hundred thousand followers, bringing his total past three million! His advertising rates had more than doubled. If he made a spectacle of this lawyer's letter, he might even break four million!
So Zhu Fangcai ignored the letter entirely. Instead, he opened his computer, logged into the web version of Weibo, and began drafting a second post.
Or rather, a declaration of war!
"The Hypocrites Who Can't Take Criticism: It Began with a Lawyer's Letter"
Satisfied with the title, Zhu Fangcai kept typing, filling out a template he had prepared.
"Jinling University has responded. The papers have no problems, it says. Very official. Very bureaucratic."
"...But let's take a step back and use our heads. Even if there's nothing wrong with the papers, how could a first-year undergraduate publish nine SCI papers in a single month? Who can prove he wrote them? I say he either plagiarized them or had someone else write them!"
"...When a university discovers academic fraud, its first response isn't to investigate the student involved but to silence the whistleblower with a lawyer's letter. That should chill every citizen who cares about education! It seems this student has some powerful connections!"
"If I've offended someone important, then I'm sorry. But I won't apologize for what I've said! Why should I apologize for doing the right thing? I'm a researcher myself, and I believe it's impossible to complete nine papers in one month. I'm also an education commentator, and I believe I have the right to speak up for the public and remain skeptical!"
"If they want an apology, they can have Mr. Lu face me and answer every one of my questions. But does he dare?"
After typing "Mr. Lu," Zhu Fangcai paused. His eyes shifted, and a sly smile curled his lips. He hit backspace and changed it to "a certain student named Zhou."
He wouldn't just point out that the man's surname was Lu.
He'd make sure everyone knew his given name was Zhou, too!
Post!
Zhu Fangcai hit the button, leaned back in his computer chair with one leg crossed over the other, and started picking at his foot.
By the time he was done, comments and likes had poured in.
[Wait, he's a first-year student? That's shocking!]
[Lu Zhou. So that's the name of this "amazing" undergraduate! That pretty much confirms it, right?]
[This is a sad day for our education system...]
[We support you, Teacher Zhu! Fight academic fraud to the end! (fist) (fist)]
[In Country X, the police would take you away once academic fraud was proven...]
[What are the people claiming the papers are fine thinking? Of course Jinling University would defend its own student. It has its academic reputation to protect. But this student has made such a huge mess of things that I'd say he's finished. (smile)]
[...]
Hahahaha!
Watching the search numbers soar, Zhu Fangcai could hardly contain his delight.
Just then, the phone on his desk rang.
He cleared his throat, picked it up, and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mr. Zhu. I'm calling from Jinling University's academic affairs office..."
"Oh, look at you. You even got my number? Let me make one thing clear: I'm not one of your students. If you've got something to say, spit it out." Zhu Fangcai pulled a cigarette from the pack, put it between his lips, and lit it at his leisure.
His arrogant tone gave the teacher on the other end a moment's pause, but she kept her composure. "...Then I'll get straight to the point. Your baseless accusations have caused one of our students considerable distress. We hope you'll take this matter seriously and apologize for your words and actions."
Zhu Fangcai chuckled, tapped ash from his cigarette, and said lazily, "Distress? I don't see what there is to be distressed about. You're welcome to challenge what I said, but you can't take away my right to speak. I'm free to say whatever I want!"
"You—" Angered by his attitude, the teacher got only one word out before catching herself.
You could never underestimate how shameless a scoundrel could be. If he recorded and edited the call, tomorrow's headlines might claim that a university had threatened a whistleblower.
When the teacher fell silent, Zhu Fangcai clicked his tongue. What a shame. He switched the phone to his other hand and went on. "All right, let's not waste time. I'll apologize if you can prove two things. First, that the papers are actually useful and not just filler! And mind you, I want proof from a more authoritative source. What good is it for you to vouch for yourselves? Second, that he really wrote them! If you can't prove those two things, I'll stand by my opinion! I'll fight to the end for integrity in academia!"
With that, Zhu Fangcai hung up without another word.
Over the past few days, Lu Zhou had felt like a giant panda on display. He didn't know who had leaked his WeChat account, but a flood of people had suddenly tried to add him.
[Big shot, can you write a paper for me?]
[I'd like to ask you about SCI papers. It's important—could you accept my request?]
[Need someone to write an SCI paper for me. Price is negotiable.]
Apparently, some people did believe the papers were his.
Their way of showing support was strange, though.
Of course, there were also plenty of even stranger abusive messages, probably from Mr. Zhu's fans—the especially fanatical ones.
Lu Zhou had grown used to it and stopped taking it to heart. The trolls kept repeating the same few insults without a shred of originality.
His family didn't use Weibo, so they were unlikely to see the negative news. As for its effect on his life, there was barely any. He had even gone to tutor Han Mengqi in mathematics the day before and the day before that as if nothing had happened.
No one on the street recognized him as that Lu Zhou, and with summer break underway, there were hardly any people at the university.
Just then, Lu Zhou noticed that Chen Yushan had sent him a message.
[Chen Yushan: I haven't seen you at the library lately... Are you doing okay?]
[Chen Yushan: That man is awful! You worked so hard on those papers...]
[Chen Yushan: How about... coming out tonight? Dinner's on me.]
Warmth rose in Lu Zhou's chest when he saw that someone cared about him. He tapped out a reply: [Another day. I have an interview with Jinling Daily soon, and I don't know when it'll be over.]
[Chen Yushan: You're going to be in the newspaper???]
[Lu Zhou: Not for a good reason, though...]
Lu Zhou waited a moment, and Chen Yushan sent two replies.
[I believe you!]
[You've got this!]
Yeah.
Lu Zhou smiled and glanced at the time on his phone.
It was almost time!
When Lu Zhou arrived at the lecture hall, Director Lu was there, along with several other leaders from the School of Mathematics.
Having read Lu Zhou's papers, the professors all thought highly of him. When he greeted them, they smiled and nodded in return.
There was nothing wrong with their student, so of course they would present a united front.
The Jinling Daily reporter was setting up her equipment. Taking advantage of the pause, Director Lu walked over, drew Lu Zhou aside, and said, "Are you ready? The reporter will ask you questions. Just answer the ones you're comfortable answering."
"I understand." Lu Zhou nodded.
Director Lu said nothing more. He patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder. "Then go ahead."
The interview began.
Sitting in the lecture hall with a camera and microphone trained on him, Lu Zhou was surprised to find himself calmer than he had expected.
The reporter, a woman with a ponytail, smiled at him. After receiving the signal to begin, she asked in a broadcaster's clear voice, "Hello, I'm a reporter with Jinling Daily. Could you tell us how you completed nine SCI papers in one month?"
It was the question he had expected.
Lu Zhou thought for a moment, then answered, "Honestly, I didn't find it all that difficult. All nine SCI papers concern applications of Artificial Intelligence in drone logistics. It's an emerging field, so I don't think getting results is particularly hard. Besides, I'd already spent some time researching it. I only started writing the papers recently..."
The reporter nodded and gave him an encouraging look before moving to her second question. "What would you say to Mr. Zhu's claim that your papers are just filler?"
"I think 'filler' is a meaningless accusation. He can't call my papers filler just because he knows nothing about computer technology. Has he read them carefully? Has he tested the algorithms I proposed? He probably hasn't read them at all. Maybe he couldn't even understand them..." Lu Zhou said helplessly.
"I doubt Mr. Zhu would like hearing that. He has always described himself as a researcher." The reporter smiled, then continued. "Still, it does seem rather incredible for a first-year undergraduate—or one about to enter his second year—to publish in SCI journals, let alone publish nine papers in a single month. That's the focus of the public's doubts. Mr. Zhu has also suggested that the papers may be plagiarized or written by someone else..."
"Those are baseless slanders." Lu Zhou shrugged, keeping his tone as measured as he could. "Starting with my first mathematics paper, I wrote every one of them in the library. If necessary, I can ask the university to provide the surveillance footage."
"There's no need for footage. You mentioned that you've published mathematics papers before... Is that right?" The reporter had spotted a newsworthy detail and immediately followed up.
Anyone who wanted to check could find them. Rather than let someone else dig them up and use them against him, he might as well reveal them himself.
With that in mind, Lu Zhou nodded and admitted it openly. "Yes. In addition to the computer science papers, I previously published two papers in the international journal Communications in Mathematics and Applications. One of them was published before those nine computer science papers. So 'nine papers in one month' isn't actually accurate. It should be ten papers in one month."
The reporter's eyes lit up. Director Lu's face, meanwhile, went nearly black. He shot Lu Zhou frantic looks, signaling him to stop steering the conversation toward anything that could hurt him.
Lu Zhou deliberately avoided looking at him.
Since the other side had chosen to attack so loudly, keeping quiet now would do no good. Only an equally bold response might turn the tables.
A battle over public opinion wasn't a debate. Worse, the accusations thrown at him were difficult to disprove. He could say that academic editors had verified the quality of his papers, and his critics could simply question those editors' authority or suggest that the university and journals were covering for him to protect their reputations.
As for expecting the spectators to think for themselves...
It would be easier to teach a watermelon to think.
Whatever the truth, once public opinion became overwhelming, people would decide the matter for themselves.
So Lu Zhou had made up his mind.
Ordinary people couldn't do it, but a genius wasn't ordinary.
If you want to paint me as an academic fraud who only writes filler, I'll show the world a genius instead!
The reporter nodded and was about to ask her next question when a loud, insistent knock came from outside the lecture hall.
The interview stopped. Director Lu frowned and was about to ask what was going on, but the teacher who entered spoke first, unable to contain her excitement.
"Director Lu! Our school's mailroom received a letter of thanks from New York University! It's addressed to... Lu Zhou!"
Before you continue