Chapter 38

"Media has long been known as the 'king without a crown,' hailed as the voice of truth, the nemesis of corruption, and to some extent, it balances the uneven distribution of information resources, slightly enhancing the public's right to know. This is the value of its existence.

However, like public opinion, the media is also the easiest to manipulate and exploit. If the support rate of netizens is pushed to ninety percent, they will reach ninety percent; if more than half of the netizens express opposition, then sixty percent of the netizens will come out against it.

In an era where bloodline hierarchy is gradually fading, money and power have re-established class, and those at the top of the pyramid have gained the ability to change the direction of the wind."

...

The above excerpt is from Han Shuo's essay "Where the Wind Blows." As a prodigious young writer, like Xue Muliang, he has extensive experience dealing with the media, so he naturally understands the nuances and characteristics of this double-edged sword.

When Han Shuo wrote this article two years ago, he certainly did not expect that two years later, his colleague or junior, Liu Jingteng, would unfortunately personally verify his views.

"Martial arts novels promote violence and physical force, leading to extremely negative value guidance for underage middle school students, causing frequent incidents of students beating teachers and young people fighting in groups."

"Authors should adhere to basic moral standards and show sufficient respect for historical traditions. Casually distorting history and challenging historical facts, treating serious historical records as nothing, can cause immeasurable damage to the historical views of young people."

"A hundred years ago, national hero Lin Zexu fought the Opium War. Judging from the incident of students beating teachers, another kind of opium has quietly spread, known as spiritual opium, or martial arts novels."

...

"This group makes no contribution to the progress of literature and art. When it comes to hindering the development of literature and art, they are ingenious and frequent, truly a bunch of shameless scoundrels. They even call it spiritual opium; I think their brains are filled with opium residue."

Lü Yichou, facing the overwhelming criticism of Gu Yongsheng and his novels, lost his composure as a literary businessman and began to curse. Vice President Hou Lei, PR Manager Hong Ming, and Chief Editor Wei Wuzhi sat quietly on the side, their faces heavy, and they remained silent.

Throwing mud is nothing new among peers, but when the mud is thrown so pompously and hypocritically, it makes one want to explode.

"Clearly, someone is taking advantage of the situation. With the best-selling 'Yuan Shang Cao' and the resurgence of 'Da Jiang Hu,' someone is envious," PR Manager Hong Ming analyzed.

"What's the news about middle school teachers? In other words, aren't some of these well-dressed teachers deserving of a beating now?" Vice President Hou Lei, in solidarity with President Lü, naturally shared the same anger. "Using this incident to target us is too childish, isn't it?"

"The simpler the method, the more effective it is," Chief Editor Wei, who had been silent, finally spoke. "If it's just a desperate move by a competitor, purely to vent, then it's easy to handle. However, I think the media's unified stance suggests that the person behind this has bigger plans."

Each of the four middle-aged men in the room could be considered seasoned professionals, and together, their combined wisdom was formidable.

"This is a multiple-choice question for me," Lü Yichou, after venting his anger, regained his composure. "If I'm not mistaken, in the next few days, a certain department will send a notice, and either Han Shuo's magazine or Gu Yongsheng will have to be dealt with."

"Someone is trying to poach?" Hou Lei was surprised.

Lü Yichou nodded.

"Who is it?"

Lü Yichou said with disdain, "There are no more than three people in the industry who can set up such a scheme. Who would dare to target me?"

"Huang He Literature!" the other three said in unison.

"According to their logic, I would naturally protect Han Shuo, so their target is Gu Yongsheng."

"In that case, we cannot let him go," Wei Wuzhi said with a hint of anger.

"Of course," Lü Yichou frowned and thought for a moment. "However, 'Seven Swords' might have to be suspended for a few issues. They will certainly use this time to meet with Gu Yongsheng and try to lure him with promises and threats."

"So, the key to this matter is Gu Yongsheng's attitude, but..." Hong Ming hesitated. "Gu Yongsheng is still so young."

"They have the most popular youth magazine 'Ding Xiaoshuo' as a platform, a large team of author services, and most importantly, the most powerful backing," Vice President Hou Lei said objectively.

"Ah?" Lü Yichou's tone was filled with sarcasm. "We can quickly destroy their platform, we will have a more professional and humane author service team. Alright, they win on the last point."

"From the current situation, the last point is the most fatal," Chief Editor Wei pointed out sharply.

"I will personally handle the task of soothing Gu Yongsheng. The PR department can start moving. Contact our media friends and begin the counterattack. The counterattack will have two directions: one is to point out the universality of middle school students fighting, which has nothing to do with reading or not reading books. We can even find examples to prove that many people's writing skills have improved after reading Gu Yongsheng's martial arts novels. The other is to discuss the value orientation of Xue Muliang's novels. His book 'Sad Forest' has many things worth discussing."

...

While the two giants of the publishing industry were engaged in a power struggle, Liu Jingteng, once again the subject of the matter, was completely unaware. He was riding his bicycle with a group of friends along a straight road, heading north to a small river that had not yet been completely polluted. Every summer, the townspeople would go there in groups to swim.

By evening, they were riding their bicycles back from the river, and on the way, the children competed in speed and in riding with their hands off the handlebars.

Zhang Ailing once said that the most delightful moment in life is that moment of letting go.

Leaving aside the loneliness and composure of the female writer who said this when she was young, the act of riding a bicycle with hands off the handlebars is indeed one of the most brilliant memories of every boy's youth.

On the way home, Liu Jingteng met his father, who was in high spirits, carrying a large bag of grapes. Liu Jingteng got off his bike first, and the other children followed, greeting Liu's father.

Liu's father happily distributed the grapes. Liu Jingteng was initially taken aback, but after a quick calculation, he remembered that today was the day the high school entrance exam results were released. Before he could ask, another child beat him to it: "Uncle, are you so happy because my brother's exam results are out?"

Liu's father laughed even more happily and said, "Yes, 632 points, first in the town, ha ha..."

Liu Jingteng thought to himself, "If I hadn't controlled myself during the exam, I would have scored much higher." At that moment, he naturally had to pretend to be overjoyed and said, "Finally, I can enter Yuehe No. 1 High School as I wished."

...

The news of Liu Jingteng's top score in the high school entrance exam quickly spread throughout the town, and relatives and neighbors came one after another to congratulate him. According to the rumor, entering Yuehe No. 1 High School was equivalent to having one foot in a prestigious university.

Liu Jingteng found time to tell Mi Hu the news, half-jokingly saying, "Finally, I can have a proper campus romance, just say the word."

Mi Hu replied coldly, "I'm about to take the college entrance exam, how can it be proper?"

Liu Jingteng replied, "Then it won't be proper..."

Mi Hu sent a "punch" emoji and added, "Your birthday is in a few days, how do you plan to celebrate?"

In a way, Mi Hu was particularly eager for Liu Jingteng to enter high school and grow a year older, perhaps out of curiosity to see if such a prodigy would become even more extraordinary, or due to some other strange psychology.

Liu Jingteng thought for a moment and replied, "I'll buy a pair of flower pants."

Mi Hu: "..."

Actually, Mi Hu wanted to ask Liu Jingteng how he planned to deal with this crisis, but hearing his tone, it seemed he didn't care much about it. Given his previous experience, Mi Hu didn't want to worry unnecessarily, so she didn't mention it at all. However, based on her experience as an editor, she knew that this time, Liu Jingteng's problem could not be handled with a simple "ha ha."

...

The day after he received his score, Liu Jingteng received a call from Lü Yichou, inviting him to meet. Not long after hanging up, a young man he didn't know came to his house.

"Is this Gu Yongsheng's home?"

Liu Jingteng looked at the young man and replied, "I am Gu Yongsheng, who are you?"

"Hello, my name is Xu Xiaozhong, the operations director of 'Ding Xiaoshuo.' This is my business card." The young man said politely as he handed over a business card.

Liu Jingteng quickly recalled his connection with 'Ding Xiaoshuo,' then thought of Beige Tang and Kuang Heng. This made sense; he had used his home address to send his manuscript to 'Da Jiang Hu,' and since Kuang Heng had expressed appreciation for him, he would naturally pay attention to this detail.

"'Ding Xiaoshuo'? Yes, so Director Xu, you came to see me for..."

"To discuss a collaboration." Xu Xiaozhong, with his fair skin and well-dressed appearance, spoke softly but clearly.

"I am currently collaborating with Qianhong, which you should know."

Xu Xiaozhong looked at Liu Jingteng in surprise and said, "You don't follow your own news?"

"I do, I just found out my high school entrance exam score, first in the town."

"No, I mean the news about your novel." Xu Xiaozhong, looking at the down-to-earth young man in front of him, felt a headache.

Liu Jingteng recalled Lü Yichou's call and thought, "Could Qianhong have unilaterally announced the termination of our contract?"

"I might need to check the situation online first."

Xu Xiaozhong quickly said, "No need, I can explain the situation while we talk."

Liu Jingteng then realized he hadn't invited the guest to sit down.

"Let's sit down and talk. Would you like some hot water?"