Chapter 32

"Today, I posted this thread, mustering up a lot of courage. However, everyone doesn’t need to doubt my motives, nor should any of you powerful individuals try to dig up my personal information. I’m purely feeling guilty and want to vent. I won’t fight anyone, nor will I expose any organization. If you have any questions, you can leave comments after reading the post, and I will answer them one by one."

"I am 27 years old, have been out of university for two years, and currently work as a civil servant in the local government of my hometown. Yes, I am the so-called public servant. I majored in Chinese literature in college, which is one of the majors often referred to as having no future."

"Some people might think that there are more female students in liberal arts, and that any male student with a bit of charm will be surrounded by a group of girls. I can only say that such thoughts are naive. The reality is that even if there are occasionally girls around, it’s not because they are attracted to your nostalgic literary aura, but rather to tell you, as a male liberal arts student, how unworthy you are of a lifelong commitment."

"Tragically, whenever you try to fight back, they immediately pull out the official employment rate statistics, which clearly show that out of the ten industries with the lowest employment rates, nine are in the liberal arts."

"The funny thing is, when these liberal arts girls set criteria for boyfriends, the first requirement is that the guy must be from a science or engineering background. I want to roar in frustration, but I have no confidence, because our band (I am the bassist) has a friend who majored in civil engineering and received three job offers in the first semester of his senior year, each with an annual salary of around 80,000 to 100,000 yuan. My current job, on the other hand, was obtained after countless job fairs and, under the persuasion of my parents, I studied hard for half a year, took the exam, and went through a lot of trouble. The hardships and humiliations I endured are not something I can easily share with others."

"I believe many people have misconceptions about civil servants, thinking that we just read newspapers at work and wait for the end of the day. Here, I want to clarify that as a civil servant, I never read newspapers at work; I purely wait for the end of the day."

"The above is a simple rant and background. Now, let’s get to the main point. Because my job is so idle, I started looking for part-time jobs to earn extra money. However, since I’m used to being idle, I can’t handle physical labor, and it would be beneath my dignity as a civil servant. So, I entered the online world, hoping to earn money through my intelligence."

"Then, I naturally became a proud member of the internet army. Actually, the process of becoming a member was quite accidental. I remember browsing a game forum and seeing a post about the upcoming Golden Sheet Awards. Everyone knows that the competition for Best Actress this year is very intense, especially between XX and XXX. I couldn’t resist clicking on the link, which led me to another section, where a mysterious person sent me a private message..."

"To save everyone’s time, I won’t go into the details of my first experience, because if I did, I would definitely be attacked by XX’s fans. In short, I thus began my career as a member of the internet army."

"Then, I will detail the incident involving Gu Yongsheng. Before this, I had taken on no less than a hundred tasks of various sizes, including for companies, celebrities, so-called internet celebrities, and authors. The posts and comments I wrote could fill a book, but I don’t recommend you buy it because the content is too repetitive."

"About ten days ago, my team leader left me a message saying there was a new task and asked me to quickly research Gu Yongsheng, as well as the novels 'The Dragon and Tiger Battle in Beijing' and 'Seven Swords Descend from Heaven.' Seeing this message, I was particularly excited and felt no pressure, because I am a hardcore martial arts fan. I started reading 'The Dragon and Tiger' when it was serialized in 'The Great Wulin,' and after it was published, I was one of the first to buy the book and wrote a long review on Douban. So, I was very confident about this task."

"However, the next day, my team leader told me that this time, I had to thoroughly attack Gu Yongsheng and the two novels. You can imagine how I felt at that moment."

"My mood was terrible, and I had the impulse to give up the task. But my team leader told me that this task paid one yuan per post, and for posts over a thousand words that involved the plot, the payment ranged from five to ten yuan. For posts that could severely damage the author, the payment was no less than fifteen yuan per post. I was stunned; damn, I had met a rich client."

"You know, as members of the internet army, we usually get paid one yuan per post, and long posts rarely exceed five yuan, unless we have a team leader like mine, who can analyze any industry with great expertise. Please don’t mock me; although I am a civil servant, my salary is not high. Faced with such an opportunity, I hesitated for a moment and then immediately joined the ranks of those attacking Gu Yongsheng. However, please rest assured, I am the type who spouts dirty words but keeps Gu Yongsheng in my heart. I’ll let you in on a secret: I was mindlessly attacking while secretly supporting him, so..."

...

"Many people have asked about the employer behind this incident. Here, I can only apologize and say that the industry has its rules, and I cannot reveal any information about the employer. I will pretend not to see any of your guesses."

"Let me continue with the story of the attack on Gu Yongsheng. Regular forum-goers know how we operate. We concentrate our efforts, time, and place, post and reply in large numbers, and attack en masse. Some might think our attacks are very stupid and mindless, but we know this ourselves because it is a mindless tactic. Everyone understands that people are emotional beings, and almost no one can remain calm under such direct attacks. They will get angry, go crazy, and retaliate. That’s exactly what we want."

"When a person is angry and out of control, their words will inevitably be flawed. Once they show signs of being flustered, their perfect image will be damaged, and they might even look a bit ridiculous. Think about it, would his fans be shocked to see this?"

"Moreover, by flooding forums and comment sections, we eliminate any positive voices. People have a tendency to think in a certain way. When all they see are negative comments about someone, they will subconsciously start to imagine, or ‘fill in the blanks.’ For example, if I say dumplings are dog shit, and many people say the same, would you find dumplings a bit repulsive when you eat them?"

...

"Some people say our methods are despicable, which is a bit amusing. If we, as members of the internet army, still had a sense of integrity, we wouldn’t be doing this job. We need to be worthy of every penny our boss pays us. In fact, this time, the higher-ups directly ordered us to make 'The Dragon and Tiger' and 'Seven Swords' stink to high heaven, but I knew it was impossible to achieve that. Later, as everyone saw, experts and others appeared, and Gu Yongsheng’s simple 'haha' left them speechless."

"Posting this thread is not to expose or clear my name. I also beg you not to dig up my personal information. I will continue my promising career as a member of the internet army. Thank you all."

"Although the OP tried to play the role of an objective observer, the bias in the post was still very clear. The comments were divided into two camps: some thought it was a whitewash by Qianhong Company, while others, acting as detectives, keenly picked up on subtle clues to analyze the real identity of the employer."

...

"Back at school, Liu Jingtong naturally had no time to read this post, as the school had cut off the internet and even asked the graduating class not to contact the outside world, supposedly to maintain a calm and peaceful state of mind."

"Having traveled through an entire world, Liu Jingtong still saw the same sense of urgency and fear people have when facing exams, a nightmare that follows them wherever they go, regardless of time and space."

"Of course, there were also good aspects. For example, Editor Yao and Tang Nan both refrained from urging him for his manuscript and even left him a thoughtful message: Good luck on your exam!"

"In that world, Liu Jingtong had progressed from elementary school to university, taking countless exams, and the tests he had taken could circle the Earth twice."

"So, when he sat in the exam room and faced the middle school exam paper, his expression was as relaxed as that of a student who had given up. Those who have been through school can understand his feelings. A word or a math problem that once made you scratch your head in elementary school seems so simple and obvious when you look back years later."

"Similarly, as a college student, Liu Jingtong found taking middle school exams to be a pleasant and easy experience. However, when writing the essay, he encountered some difficulties because he had to control the quality of his writing to avoid exceeding the level of a middle school student, which might raise suspicions and cause unnecessary trouble."

"For the current Liu Jingtong, advancing to the next level of education was no longer the top priority; it was more about fulfilling a social role and satisfying his inner desire for certain specific pleasures."

"The last exam was in a foreign language, but to Liu Jingtong, it was even simpler than Chinese, showing how the skill of taking foreign language exams has been refined under the current education system."

...

"This so-called 'war without gunpowder' involved millions of teenagers around 13 or 14 years old, but not all of them."

"Qiao Keli is 13 years old. According to the normal plan, she should have participated in this grand exam this year, but she didn’t. Ten years ago, when everyone thought she should start speaking, she chose to remain silent. Even over the past ten years, the words she has spoken can be counted on one hand, and they are mostly single syllables or repetitions of others."

"She is an obvious beauty and has artistic talent far beyond her peers. So, the petty or fair God made her lonely and closed off."

"Qiao Keli has drawn many pictures, including people, buildings, flowers, forests, mountains, and animals. She is a well-rounded young artist. However, recently, she has become fond of drawing mice, specifically two mice: one wearing a white flight suit and the other a blue tank top."

"These two mice, like her, have big eyes, looking lively and cute, full of appealing righteousness."

"The prototypes of these two mice come from a magazine she is following, 'Children’s Literature,' where the mice are named Shuke and Beta."