198: Chapter 198 Remember to wear a skirt tomorrow

At exactly eight o'clock the next morning.

Writers Association Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's Weibo updated with a new post.

“Literature like journey to the west is a cancer that must be completely purged from the cultural sphere. I have joined forces with thirty colleagues in the cultural industry to submit a proposal for a ban to the relevant departments. The pure land of culture must not be defiled!”

Below, the comments were unanimously supportive.

“Support Teacher Liu! Protect traditional culture!”

“Web novels are worthy of being called literature? Laughable.”

“Resolutely boycott!”

When this Weibo post went out, Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan was brewing tea in his study at home, in an excellent mood.

At fifty-nine years old, having spent most of his life in literary criticism, what kind of situation had he not seen?

Just a young fellow writing web novels; no matter how much he thrashed about, he couldn't escape the palm of the traditional literary circle.

Once the Writers Association's joint statement was released, which publishing house would still have the guts to touch this book?

Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan picked up his clay teapot, took a sip of tea, and felt completely secure.

—

When Jiang Fan arrived at the company, Song Siyi sent him a message.

“Under pressure, Zhongdian Literature has removed all promotional spots for journey to the west and taken the book down.”

After reading it, Jiang Fan wasn't particularly surprised.

Relying on others was never going to work in the end.

No matter how much Editor-in-Chief Chen Ping supported him, he couldn't withstand the pressure from the Writers Association.

A web novel platform had no reason to drag itself down for the sake of a single book.

He replied with a few words.

“It's fine. If they take it down, so be it. It doesn't matter.”

It wasn't the platform's traffic that he wanted anyway.

At exactly ten o'clock, Jiang Fan opened Weibo and posted an update.

The text was only a single sentence—

“With this strike of my staff, I shall turn you to ash.”

Below was a link that redirected straight to the preview page for 'Wukong' on Tencent Music.

There was no pre-heating, no homepage recommendation, and no pop-up ads.

In the column for the singer and the songwriter, the same name was written—Jiang Fan.

After posting on Weibo, Jiang Fan threw his phone onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

He didn't need to worry about what would happen next.

—

In ten minutes, the play count for 'Wukong' broke one million.

In an hour, it reached twelve million.

The top hot comment in the comment section was upvoted by hundreds of thousands of people.

“What use is this iron staff to me? What use is this shape-shifting power?”

“I suggest Teacher Liu listen to this song before posting on Weibo, lest he be made a fool of without even realizing it.”

“I got goosebumps all over after listening to it. This is what the Great Sage Equal to Heaven should be like. What does Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan know about the journey to the west?”

Su Yuyan was the first to repost, with a caption of just two words: 'Beautiful.'

Shen Nian followed closely behind, reposting with a fist emoji.

Also reposting was Xu Qingya. Her account boasted a traffic pool in the hundreds of millions; once she reposted, millions of fans flooded directly into the song's page.

Tang Yingxue was the last to repost, and her caption was the longest—

“Some people can't write a single memorable sentence in their entire lives, yet they call others cultural trash.”

Four top-tier female stars reposting at the same time instantly caused lag on both Weibo and Tencent Music's servers.

—

Shanghai, the headquarters building of Qishi Chinese Network.

Vice President Zhou Ming sat in his office, looking at the trending search list on Weibo on his computer screen.

Trending search #1: #Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan Harshly Criticizes journey to the west#

Trending search #2: #Boycott Jiang Fan Cultural Trash#

Vice President Zhou Ming picked up his teacup and took a sip.

You rejected eighty million? Fine, then I won't let you earn a single penny.

He picked up his phone, preparing to send a message to Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan, when his office door was suddenly burst open.

Copyright Director Zhang Hong rushed in, drenched in sweat.

“Mr. Zhou!”

Vice President Zhou Ming frowned.

“What's the panic?”

“Jiang Fan has released a new song!” Zhang Hong's throat felt dry. “Right now, the entirety of Weibo is about to crash!”

“A new song?” Vice President Zhou Ming set down his teacup. “What does that have to do with me?”

Zhang Hong handed over the tablet in his hand.

On the screen was Jiang Fan's Weibo post.

“With this strike of my staff, I shall turn you to ash.”

Vice President Zhou Ming's gaze drifted down; the comment section was flooded with screenshots of the lyrics.

He clicked the audio link, redirecting to Tencent Music, and the sound of string instruments from the prelude came from the tablet.

“The moon splashes across the river of stars, the road ahead is long and endless—”

He didn't finish listening because he saw the play count.

In one hour, twelve million.

He went back to Weibo and scrolled further down.

Su Yuyan reposted. Shen Nian reposted. Xu Qingya reposted. Tang Yingxue reposted.

Four top stars. Reposting at the exact same time.

Vice President Zhou Ming looked at the comments—the public opinion war he had spent millions on was beaten to smithereens by a single song.

“Please, when will this book get a physical release? I want to buy ten copies!”

“The more Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan curses it, the more I want to read it. Thanks to this old comrade for the free publicity.”

“A single song is written better than some people's lifelong works. It's obvious who the trash is.”

The more they cursed it, the more popular it became.

Vice President Zhou Ming slammed the tablet onto the desk, knocking over the teacup and spilling water all over the tabletop.

Zhang Hong stood nearby, not daring to make a sound.

—

At the same time.

In Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's study, he stared at his phone screen, his fingers trembling.

An hour ago, the comments under his Weibo post were still full of support.

Now—it had completely changed.

“Teacher Liu, what year was your last published work? 2006? How many copies of that essay collection did you sell? A first print of three thousand, with eighteen hundred returned?”

“‘Trample the High Heaven Palace, unrestrained and wild’—eight words, completely crushing your entire statement.”

“I suggest Teacher Liu clear out the inventory of your own book that hasn't sold out after eight years before teaching others how to write.”

Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan wanted to delete the comments. He clicked in, deleted one, and ten more popped up instantly.

He was so angry that he slammed his phone onto the desk.

His late-career reputation was ruined.

He picked up the landline and dialed Vice President Zhou Ming's number.

Beep— Beep—

“Vice President Zhou Ming!” Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's voice carried an unsuppressible anger. “Didn't you say you could handle this?! Now the entire internet is cursing me! The comments under my Weibo post have completely changed! Figure something out for me!”

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the line.

“Teacher Liu, please calm down first—”

“Calm down my foot!” Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan pushed the tea tray on his desk aside, and a teacup rolled onto the carpet.

“My thirty-year reputation is about to be ruined by your lousy idea! You said thirty people would sign jointly, and I believed you! Now? I'm the only one taking the bullet at the front!”

Vice President Zhou Ming gripped his phone, unable to say a single word.

What could he say?

Four divas with hundreds of millions of followers had personally entered the fray. How could you reason with them?

“Teacher Liu,” Vice President Zhou Ming swallowed. “How about... you delete that Weibo post first?”

The other end of the line fell silent for two seconds.

“Vice President Zhou Ming. You started this. You clean up the mess for me.” Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's speaking pace slowed down. “Otherwise, tomorrow I will expose the fact that you paid me to make that post—”

“Teacher Liu.” Vice President Zhou Ming's voice suddenly turned cold. “Think carefully before you speak.”

Both ends of the line fell silent.

After ten seconds, Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan hung up first.

Vice President Zhou Ming placed his phone on the desk and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

He really couldn't figure it out.

How could someone who writes web novels have connections of this caliber?

Four divas endorsing him at the same time—what level of network must that be?

Zhang Hong was still standing to the side, not having left yet. He spoke tentatively.

“Mr. Zhou, what do we do next...”

“Get out.”

—

Three o'clock in the afternoon. In Jiang Fan's office.

He had his feet propped up on the desk, holding his phone in front of him as he scrolled through Weibo.

#Wukong# had already climbed to the number one spot on the trending search list.

The hashtag that was originally first, #Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan Harshly Criticizes journey to the west#, had dropped to fourth, and the direction of the discussion had completely reversed.

Clicking into it, nine out of ten posts were cursing Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan.

Jiang Fan closed Weibo and switched to his chat interface.

Song Siyi sent a voice message over.

He played it, and her voice on the other end carried an unsuppressible excitement.

“Jiang Fan! A major publishing house took the initiative to call! Xinghua Publishing House, one of the top three in the country! They said they are willing to cooperate, they won't set a limit on the initial print run, and they'll handle all channels and distribution.”

Jiang Fan didn't reply with a voice message, but typed a few words back.

“Come to my office tomorrow to discuss the details. Remember to wear a skirt.”

There was no reply from the other side for half a minute.

Then four words popped up.

“Scram. Be serious.”

Jiang Fan chuckled and locked his phone screen.

The trending search list was still scrolling. Under Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's Weibo post, the latest top comment was only a single sentence—

“Can you take this strike of my staff?”