Chapter 180 - 134: You Still Don’t Get the Internet
「Back to 6:30 AM, at Jiangcheng University.」
Outside the window, a deep gray still shrouded the world, and the dormitory was silent.
Yang Han’s eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at the glaring light of her phone screen.
On the screen were news reports about Chen Lin’s paper taking the world by storm, and about Jask offering him an annual salary of one million US dollars.
Every word of praise was like a red-hot steel needle, stabbing viciously into her heart.
Why him?!
Why did he get to be so successful and celebrated?!
She couldn’t understand it, nor could she accept it.
The man who had made her lose face in front of all the students and judges at the modeling competition. The one who had ruined her reputation, causing her to be criticized by the entire internet. The culprit who had even forced her to write that apology letter...
How could he just act like nothing had happened? Not only did he escape any punishment, but he was now reaping rewards in both academia and business, being put on a pedestal by the whole internet, and basking in flowers and applause?
The more Yang Han thought about it, the more fiercely the venomous flame of resentment burned in her heart.
’She had always felt that her actions at the competition were nothing more than raising a perfectly reasonable doubt.’
’How could a mere sophomore like Chen Lin come up with an algorithm of that caliber?’
’There had to be something shady going on behind the scenes!’
If he hadn’t kicked her while she was down after solving Academician Liang Tianshi’s problem, using that smug, superior attitude to condescendingly force her—
"Ms. Yang Han of Jiangcheng University, please issue a formal apology to Ms. Shen Yan, and to us, Yannan University, for your baseless and unwarranted accusations!"
That was the sentence!
That single sentence was what triggered all the subsequent cyberbullying and public condemnation!
’I wasn’t the one in the wrong! It was Chen Lin!’
’He was the one who used his position to bully others! He’s the one who’s petty and vindictive!’
Yang Han’s chest heaved violently, jealousy and bitterness threatening to consume her sanity. She wanted revenge. She would make Chen Lin taste the bitterness of utter ruin and disgrace!
’But how?’
She opened Weibo again and found the familiar profile picture in her list of direct messages.
Big Spitting Mushroom.
She poured out all her indignation and resentment in a torrent of words, ending with: "You said before to wait for him to make a mistake, but he’s just getting more and more famous! I can’t wait any longer!"
A few minutes later, a reply finally came, its tone laced with mockery and calculation.
Big Spitting Mushroom: "Heh, I told you before, the higher they stand, the harder they fall. Now is actually the best time to attack him."
Yang Han was confused: "But the entire internet is praising him and supporting him right now. How can we attack him?"
Big Spitting Mushroom: "You still don’t get the internet. Netizens are a funny bunch. They love to build gods, but what they love even more is to personally tear down the gods they’ve built. As for the truth? Who cares?"
"As long as you can stir up their emotions, you can make black look white. Just you watch. Before long, some ’rational’ and ’objective’ voices will pop up, saying the media is ’killing him with praise,’ or that Chen Lin, having found fame so young, will ’lose himself.’"
Yang Han felt a glimmer of hope and asked eagerly, "So what should we do?"
Big Spitting Mushroom: "I have a friend who runs a pretty popular Official Account on WeChat. I’ll have her write a piece interpreting this whole thing from a different angle.
"Then I’ll find a few friends with a lot of followers on Weibo to share and comment on it. The topic itself is already trending. However, if you want the article’s content and the shares and comments to be biased in your favor..."
Yang Han immediately understood what they were implying: "How much?"
Big Spitting Mushroom: "2,000 for the article, 1,000 for me to get people to share and comment. 3,000 total."
Three thousand yuan!
Yang Han’s heart clenched. For a student like her, that was definitely not a small sum of money.
But the moment she pictured Chen Lin’s triumphant face and recalled the humiliation she had suffered, her resentment instantly overpowered her reason.
She gritted her teeth and started scrolling through her WeChat contacts, quickly locking onto two targets.
She sent messages to two guys she had saved in her contacts as "Simp 1" and "Simp 2," giving them different excuses to get each to send her 1,500 yuan.
Looking at the extra three thousand yuan in her WeChat Wallet, Yang Han felt not a shred of guilt. She unhesitatingly transferred the money to "Big Spitting Mushroom."
Big Spitting Mushroom: "Done. Just you wait. In a day or two, you’ll see the results on Weibo."
...
...
「Back to 11:30 AM, at the Yannan University School of Mathematics office building.」
In Professor Gu Ming’s office, Chen Lin was bored, scrolling through his phone and looking at the increasingly absurd rumors about himself on Weibo.
Someone had even sworn up and down that the money for his company came from a mysterious rich sugar mama.
Chen Lin shook his head, thoroughly impressed by the wild imaginations of netizens.
He glanced at the time, and his stomach began to GROWL.
’Might as well order takeout. Low-key and comfortable.’
Just as he was about to open a food delivery app, his WeChat notification pinged.
Chen Lin tapped on it and saw it was the group chat for the "Yanhai Startup Squad."
Yunqing: "@Boss Chen Lin, I just got takeout for five from that new restaurant next to campus. Hurry back and eat!"
Seeing the message, Chen Lin felt a warmth spread through his heart.
He smiled, immediately stood up from the sofa, and walked out of the office.
To avoid any unnecessary trouble on the way, he deliberately took a campus path that was usually deserted, one that cut through a small grove of trees.
By the time he returned to their office on the second floor of the co-working space, the enticing aroma of food already filled the entire room.
On the large conference table sat four or five exquisite takeout containers, and Yunqing and Huang Yiyi were busy setting out the food.
"The boss is back!" Yunqing said, grinning and waving when she saw him.
After the hearty lunch, Chen Lin stretched languidly. He glanced at Sun Yu, who was staring at him with a look of pure adoration, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, Yu. Let’s party up! I’ll carry you for a couple of games!"
"You got it, President Chen!" Sun Yu instantly perked up.
The two of them sat down at their respective top-spec computers and happily bashed out a couple of rounds of Brawlers.
After losing two games in a row, Chen Lin glanced at the time in the bottom-right corner of his screen. 1:30 PM. It was about time.
He stood up and said to Shen Yan, who was quietly reading through some documents nearby, "Shen Yan, let’s go. It’s time for our meeting at the School of Chemistry."
Hearing this, Shen Yan put down her documents, nodded, picked up her notebook and pen, and followed Chen Lin out of the office.
As the two walked side-by-side toward the School of Chemistry, they drew many gazes from students along the way, but thankfully, no one rushed up to surround them like the pack of reporters that morning.
Soon, they arrived at Building A of the School of Chemistry’s laboratory complex and found Room 301.
Chen Lin knocked on the door and pushed it open.
The room wasn’t large, a small classroom, and two people were already waiting inside.
One of them was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties.
When he saw Chen Lin and Shen Yan enter, he immediately stood up with a broad smile and extended his hand.
"You must be Chen Lin. I’m Lu Zhongqi."
"Professor Lu, a pleasure." Chen Lin replied politely, shaking his hand.
Lu Zhongqi enthusiastically invited them to sit down, then pointed to the young woman who had remained standing beside him. "This is my doctoral student, Yan Lin. For the foreseeable future, she’ll be acting as my assistant and following this project from start to finish."