Chapter 42

While under the care of higher leadership, with the tireless efforts of relevant departments, and under the media's due attention, the "Legend Cup" essay competition quickly fermented into a grand event in the cultural and educational circles. From the China Daily, to blog headlines, to internet celebrities, and down to countless netizens, everyone was participating in this competition in their own way.

Even those public intellectuals who usually maintained a sharp and caustic attitude towards mainstream events gave this essay competition a positive evaluation. For example, the famous blogger Luotou even submitted a manuscript, showing his support through action, and jokingly said, "I know many people like me, who pride ourselves on having a bit of literary talent, have submitted manuscripts under pseudonyms. I also know that our purposes are the same as mine—contributing to the prosperity of culture? Purifying the spiritual civilization of all mankind? No cavities?

Of course not, our purpose is very simple, summed up in three points:

Prize money, prize money, and prize money!

...

While everyone was discussing the "Legend," a post from the Nankai University campus forum quietly spread, first on various university forums, then to "Jianghu People," "Haijiao Forum," "WC Space," and then to microblogs...

"This short martial arts story is based on the first picture of the Swordsman's Map, 'Zhao Chunu.' It is not long, but it is just over ten thousand words. Throughout the story, there is not a single word that is not brilliant... The last hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period, the first beauty in history, form the brilliant historical background; the delicate young girl, the shocking killing sword, form the brilliant sword technique; the hearts of those who have someone to love, form the brilliant emotional setting... All of these are already enough to make one marvel, but the author is clearly not satisfied with this. At the end of the story, he adds a brilliant touch, vividly depicting the 'Xizi Holding Her Heart,' the most beautiful pose in history, leaving one in awe, a truly remarkable stroke!"

This text was written by Song Xiaoyu, a sophomore who stayed on campus during the summer, and was attached to "Yue Nv Jian," lavishing praise and concluding that "Once this story is out, all other writers will put down their pens."

This almost fawning commentary made many people suspect it was a promotional post. This inference was reasonable, as the timing of the post during the competition was very clear. Some other participants began to post scathing criticisms of the promoters and simultaneously pretend to be readers to advertise their own works, with the following format: "This post is clearly a personal promotion, self-aggrandizing, and shameless... I looked at the submitted works for the competition, and I think 'XXXX' is pretty good..."

Despite this, the post still spread like a virus, rapidly expanding. Although many suspected it was a promotional post, after reading the entire story, they were genuinely moved and willingly went to the homepage of the essay competition to vote for "Yue Nv Jian."

More readers began to write reviews and reflections. Female readers mostly sympathized with Aqing, condemning Fan Li for using her feelings and hurting the pure and kind Aqing. Of course, some female readers had different opinions, believing that Fan Li had only one person in his heart from the beginning, and after the beauty strategy, he still stayed by Xi Shi's side, eventually giving up his immense power to retire with her, which is very rare for a man.

Regarding the emotional issues, male readers' opinions were relatively unified. They shamelessly believed that why can't one have all the beauties? The rhythm of Ehuang and Nüying is the most swaying.

Another part of the readers were very calm and rational, sharply pointing out that Fan Li was willing to take on the responsibility because Xi Shi was the beauty who could make fish sink, advising some female friends to recognize reality.

As the discussion cloud formed, the doubts about the promotion quickly dissipated. At the same time, on the homepage of the essay competition, "Yue Nv Jian" led the second place by more than ten times, firmly occupying the first position, and the votes were still increasing.

The dominant position of "Yue Nv Jian" was established so openly and justly that even the participants who ranked lower began to write reviews of this short martial arts story. The most notable article was written by Luotou, who currently ranked seventh, titled "Beauty is the Most Powerful Weapon for Women—A Review of Yue Nv Jian."

Luotou first recalled his college days, telling the story of his one-sided love for a goddess. In the article, he said that to pass exams for the goddess, he studied hard, even enduring the contempt of his roommates, studying late into the night, and during exams, he risked being disqualified to pass answers to the goddess.

Even after all this, he never revealed his feelings to the goddess. Although the pancake seller below the dormitory could see that he liked the goddess, in his third year, on Christmas, his goddess started dating the main forward of the school basketball team. Before going to the hotel, she sent him a text message saying, "Actually, you are a good person."

Luotou wrote with anger, "At that moment, I really wanted to reply, 'You are the good person, and your whole family is good!' But the message that finally appeared on my phone screen was 'Remember to use protection,' which again proved that I was a good person."

After recalling his sad past, Luotou changed his tone and began to formally review the novel. He attacked Fan Li from the perspective of a victim and a person who had been through it, using the story to criticize all those who play with emotions. However, at the end of the article, Luotou sadly concluded a harsh reality: all rejections in the world are because you are not pretty enough, or not handsome enough. In simpler terms, in campus love, almost all failed confessions are because the confessor is ugly!

From this, Luotou deduced that the reason Fan Li chose Xi Shi to row the boat in "Yue Nv Jian" was ultimately because Xi Shi was too beautiful. This beauty was more piercing than Aqing's sword, to the point that even Aqing felt ashamed after seeing Xi Shi.

"Combining this with the historical context, the state of Yue used Xi Shi to implement the beauty strategy, successfully corrupting Fuchai, leading to the final victory of the state of Yue over Wu, making Goujian the last hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period. These two facts point to a conclusion: beauty is the most powerful weapon for women, capable of destroying a country on a large scale and stealing a man on a small scale."

...

Luotou's article, once published, immediately caused a frenzy among his fans. The big V bloggers, both inside and outside the industry, also forwarded it, joking about Luotou's one-sided love in college and sympathizing with his "Remember to use protection."

Some of Luotou's friends even believed that "Yue Nv Jian" was written by Luotou under a pseudonym, so they forwarded it with the intention of helping.

Thus, the popularity of "Yue Nv Jian" could not be stopped. However, even in this situation, no mainstream media publicly reported on the article because they had not yet received any instructions. This essay competition had been defined as a major cultural event, and before the higher-ups decided its direction, the mainstream media dared not make any rash decisions.

The collective silence of the mainstream media further fueled the enthusiasm for "Yue Nv Jian." Some sensitive social commentators had already roughly deduced the reasons, and Han Shuo even bluntly mocked, "They had already agreed over the phone with their old friends to give the award to him, but the sudden appearance of such an article made them panic, their hearts in turmoil..."

The social commentators said these harsh words not entirely out of malice. Mutual flattery and award-giving in the cultural circle were common, and the suppression of dissidents by some people was also frequent.

This phenomenon continued until the end of July, when the China Daily published an article by a well-known scholar from Fudan University, Professor Chen Shijiang, titled "Adding Makeup to History." The article highly praised "Yue Nv Jian," believing that the author cleverly used the historical events of the Wu-Yue rivalry to create a touching story. Professor Chen compared history to a "little girl," pointing out that throughout history, it has been constantly painted over, either to glorify the imperial family or to expose their shortcomings.

"Yue Nv Jian" vividly presented the historical events of Yue's victory over Wu and Fan Li's retirement, combining story and fact in a exemplary manner. The author's portrayal of Aqing and the beauty Xi Shi added a layer of rouge to the smoky era, and the ingenious conception was truly commendable. This story is undoubtedly a masterpiece among short stories and a fine work of fiction!

...

Professor Chen Shijiang's article was published in the China Daily's supplement, marking the first time mainstream media expressed an opinion on "Yue Nv Jian." Other media, which had been preparing for a long time, quickly published their ready-made articles.

"Yue Nv Jian," which had already established its dominance on the internet, finally entered the mainstream media's view. With the respected Professor Chen Shijiang's firm endorsement of "Yue Nv Jian" as a short story masterpiece, subsequent comments mostly revolved around this point.

"Yue Nv Jian" has a mature writing style and a brilliantly conceived plot, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips of the reader.

"The last touch of green in the late Spring and Autumn period, also discussing the ingenious use of history in 'Yue Nv Jian.'"

...

Of course, besides the praise, some media also criticized "Yue Nv Jian" in a way that did not overshadow its merits, pointing out that the sword technique of the Yue girl in the story was too exaggerated, able to move freely against a thousand people, which could only be done by a god. Additionally, Yue's victory over Wu was a great achievement that required a series of effective preparations and strategies, involving various aspects, and it was impossible to become invincible with just one sword technique.

Regardless, everyone agreed that "Yue Nv Jian" was a well-structured short story, and the extent to which this story would progress in the competition remained to be seen.

...

From small forums to large forums, to microblogs, and then to being forwarded and commented on by internet celebrities, "Yue Nv Jian" finally entered the mainstream media's view. Its rise to fame was quite conventional, so naturally, everyone's attention turned to the author.

However, the author of this novel was so low-key that he refused all media interviews, and netizens, driven by curiosity, began to collectively pressure the competition organizing committee to get a response from the author.

The "Legend Cup" organizing committee stated that they were in communication and would soon give an explanation to everyone.

Soon, the author of "Yue Nv Jian" indeed responded. He expressed gratitude and affirmation for everyone's support through an announcement on the homepage of the essay competition website, and finally introduced himself briefly:

"Do you remember the old man by the 'Great River,' Gu Yongsheng? That person is me!"

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