TWWMABMTBH Chapter 42

Rong Ziyan’s words were light and airy, but they were like a heavy hammer, smashing down on everyone.

Entertainment to the death, what a brilliant summary.

The massive traffic brought by the internet has made entertainment one of the central points guiding public opinion. Anyone with a mobile phone can speak, and the saying “three people can create a tiger” has become the most incomprehensible, yet the most common, reality of reduced intelligence.

The impetuous tearing, the malicious conjectures, the mindless personal worship, wave after wave of netizens going underwater and becoming leeks arbitrarily harvested by capital, charging into battle under their manipulation, wasting countless hours on Weibo with long-winded arguments. Finally, when they reach their coffins, they suddenly realize that in this lifetime, the so-called “wielding swords and galloping across the battlefield” that they had conquered, was nothing but verbal victories online.

Both empty and insignificant, yet not worth mentioning. Sad, pitiful, and ridiculous.

And now, these people are trying to extend their hands into their academic circles. What difference is there between this shortsightedness and self-destruction?

The level of science and technology is one of the foundations carrying a country’s future. And the humanities represent a country’s cultural heritage.

If even these are tainted by impetuousness and noise, and can be arbitrarily manipulated by capital through public opinion, then is the meaning of the existence of humans themselves too superficial?

As for them, the first batch of pawns to be manipulated, they are the true historical sinners of the academic circle!

“What should we do?” The group leader of the competition group was the first to react and asked Rong Ziyan.

Immediately, others followed suit, wanting to go to war directly.

“Stay calm.” Rong Ziyan pointed to the side, led everyone over, and allowed Xu Chuanzhi to concentrate on fiddling with his parts, before making arrangements one by one.

Half an hour later, Xu Chuanzhi’s signal connector was finally completed. The anti-shielding applet that the computer science genius was working on was also entering the final stage of testing.

Rong Ziyan registered, logged in, and opened the live broadcast room.

A new account, a new room, there was no one else but them.

“This won’t work, no one’s watching us. What we say won’t matter.”

Rong Ziyan shook his phone, “So, we have to call people.”

“Call who?” The geniuses were all confused. The combined social media accounts of the entire group probably didn’t even reach a thousand. For a moment, they couldn’t figure out how to gain attention.

Rong Ziyan, “Call your brothers! Does your school have a forum?”

Everyone was still in a daze.

But Rong Ziyan had already opened Weibo and logged into his Weibo account to post his first message.

“Live stream to restore the real script of the trash program group. Retweet this Weibo and enter the live broadcast room, and we’ll draw three people to each receive a box of refreshing summer salted duck eggs.”

The accompanying picture had two small people, one bald with “genius” written on his chest, and the other with a wretched green hair and “program group” written on his chest, being brutally choked. [I have nothing to do today, so I’ll just choke you to death for fun.]

After posting the Weibo, Rong Ziyan simultaneously turned to log into the Agricultural University forum and posted with his real name. There were only two links in it, one to Weibo and the other to the live broadcast room.

“Will it work?” The others from different schools felt that Rong Ziyan’s method was a bit risky.

Rong Ziyan, however, was confident, “Don’t worry, there’s no problem. After all, my salted duck eggs are delicious. You won’t lose anything by investing.”

The geniuses: ???

So what does it have to do with the salted duck eggs being delicious? How could anyone retweet a Weibo for salted duck eggs? And what the hell is that accompanying picture? With all due respect, 90% of the people present have thick hair!

Rong Ziyan: Don’t worry, in five or six years, you’ll all be bald.

The geniuses: Damn it, I really want to hit him.

[Anger value 2900]

However, it was still a time of unity. They still needed Rong Ziyan to tear apart the program group, so the geniuses endured it.

As for the Agricultural University forum, it was instantly in an uproar when they saw Rong Ziyan’s post.

In fact, the forum had already exploded the moment the live broadcast was cut off. Countless people were calling, texting their counselors, department heads, and school leaders, asking them to confirm the safety of Rong Ziyan and the other two.

After all, this dog program group didn’t seem like they would behave properly. And this time, Rong Ziyan was so straightforward, he might actually get beaten up.

But the filming location was not in Beijing, and the Agricultural University was too far away. They could only try their best to contact them. At this point, the head of the veterinary department was so anxious that he was about to call the police.

So, the moment Rong Ziyan stood up and posted, the students at the Agricultural University went wild.

“Holy crap, holy crap, Rong Ziyan wasn’t threatened by the program group, was he? Is he going to help them with public relations!”

“It’s possible! Live broadcast room, I remember Rong Ziyan doesn’t do that, right?”

“Ahhhhh! Rong Ziyan, if you’re kidnapped, blink your eyes.”

The first reaction of the students was to worry about Rong Ziyan’s safety, but when they clicked on Weibo and saw the familiar salted duck eggs and the ridiculous emoji, they instantly understood that Rong Ziyan was still the same Rong Ziyan.

“Hahaha, retweet, retweet, I knew it, no one can be more cunning than Rong Ziyan!”

“I’m dying of laughter, where the hell did he get that emoji?”

“Putting everything else aside, for the salted duck eggs, brothers, I’ll take the first step!”

Soon, in the empty live broadcast room, more than three thousand people suddenly appeared.

But Rong Ziyan was not in a hurry to start immediately. Instead, he said to them, “Agricultural University brothers and sisters, stay calm, let’s wait for the others from the other schools.”

“No problem!” The reply was unanimous.

The other geniuses also understood Rong Ziyan’s meaning. They posted on Weibo and the forums.

They originally thought that their own schools might not be as enthusiastic as the Agricultural University, but they never expected that their classmates were just as worried about their safety.

Even if they usually had no contact and didn’t even know each other, they were all bound together by the school badge on their chests.

“Trash program group, hurry up and send our school’s geniuses back.”

“That’s right! A century-old prestigious school will not tolerate their insults!”

“These bastards are also removing trending topics and suppressing the news, are they afraid that we won’t call the police and report their illegal detention?”

“Send them to the headlines! The academic circle cannot tolerate this kind of trash!”

Ten thousand, twenty-five thousand, thirty thousand… fifty thousand!

Who would have thought that in just half an hour, over fifty thousand people would have flooded into the live broadcast room.

These fifty thousand people came from different universities, but their goal was surprisingly similar: they wanted the program group to apologize and pay the price for all the messed up things they had done!

The program group was also panicking. The chief director was yelling loudly, “Where is the public relations work I asked you to do?”

“It has already been released, saying that the temporary disconnection was to record with hidden cameras, and that the temporarily modified script was also released, proving that everything was arranged by the program group.”

“Yes, director, the live broadcast room has already calmed down. Also, the network in the dormitory has been disconnected, and even emergency calls cannot be made.”

“Then how did they connect to the internet? How did they get the Weibo retweets!?”

“I, I don’t know.”

Not only the chief director, but even the subordinates were also confused.

In fact, they dared to directly cut off the live broadcast and apologize because they had planned a way out. They were even glad that the one who was taking the lead was Rong Ziyan and not the other geniuses.

Because when they chose Rong Ziyan, they had investigated his situation and knew that he was burdened with 200,000 yuan in debt, including high-interest loans. And there was also a big scandal about him losing his recommendation opportunity due to bad character.

Therefore, the chief director had already figured out that they would throw all the blame on Rong Ziyan, accusing him of threatening the directing team for money, and because the directing team refused, it caused a broadcast accident.

That way, even if the program lost some fans due to the script, the later broadcasts could still proceed as usual.

As for whether the remaining geniuses would withdraw from the competition, the directing team was certain they would not. Because the breach of contract fee was very expensive. Those who were doing academic research, except for the very top tier, one after another all lived in poverty at the bottom. Selling them wouldn’t be enough to compensate for the penalties.

As for whether Rong Ziyan would come out and confront them, that was not important. What public opinion needed was speed and accuracy. Rong Ziyan’s black history was real, and they had blocked his signal to the outside world. As long as he couldn’t stand up and clarify in the first instance, he would definitely be stuck with this black pot.

However, the directing team forgot that the same principle applied to them as well.

And most importantly, Rong Ziyan was more than one step faster than them. Rong Ziyan had united all the geniuses. Even if they later wanted to forcefully claim that Rong Ziyan was deliberately inciting the situation, the title of “genius” was there, and their words were inherently more credible than their entertainment industry counterparts who say one thing to one person and another to someone else.

“What should we do? Should we release Rong Ziyan’s black material now?”

“Release what?” The chief director slumped back in his chair, it was all too late.

At this moment, in the live broadcast room, Rong Ziyan was leading everyone in doing something that shocked the public.

He replayed the entire six episodes of the show.

Not only the questions and sources of each duel in the six episodes, but even the words spoken by the host, the subtle changes in the speed of their speech when reciting the questions, were all replayed one by one.

Those details that were originally overlooked were all unearthed.

Two famous universities in the same city, who normally jokingly insulted each other, but were actually on good terms, were pushed into conflict by the program group because of a single point difference.

The reason why the junior class easily won against the other team was not because they were too talented and powerful, but because the program group deliberately suppressed the other team. They were the default stepping stones after three consecutive losses.

But who would have thought that their original three consecutive losses were deliberately orchestrated by the program group?

Not everyone can break through themselves under enormous pressure. Especially since these three people were all blessed with smooth sailing and were the pride of heaven, the constant self-doubt almost shattered the pride that had supported their self-confidence in the past.

They were forced to constantly deny themselves, constantly refute themselves, gradually becoming decadent and losing their youthful spirit.

“Is it scary?” Rong Ziyan did not force the three of them to come forward, but everyone in the live broadcast room had seen the show, and they all remembered the evasive look on the faces of the three when they last appeared on camera.

“For the sake of the program’s effect, they casually cut off a person’s future. The research cycle of an excellent scholar is very long. In China now, researchers in their eighties who are still fighting on the front lines are true treasures.”

“But this show has kept someone who could very likely become a treasure in the future, forever at the age of twenty-one!”

“This is the entertainment that you see, this is what the program group calls having no script.”

“!!!” The entire live broadcast room was in an uproar.

Everyone watching the live stream was shocked by the truth that Rong Ziyan revealed. And those netizens who used to watch variety shows without thinking were equally dumbfounded.

It can only be said that the program group had shot themselves in the foot. Initially, in order to get ratings, they used young students’ sense of belonging to their schools to play on the theme of comeback and exaggerate university rankings to create hype.

But now, when everything is exposed, the first to retaliate are these students!

This generation of young people are energetic, courageous, and not afraid of confrontation. And the students’ counterattack is just the beginning; a more terrible fermentation is yet to come.

When they invited these geniuses, they were interested in the aura surrounding them. But they ignored the fact that while the so-called bottom level academic circle appears to be poor on the surface, they have a lot of connections.

Even if the mentors behind these geniuses were the pillars of the mid-level research community, they were still famous teachers who had educated many students in various universities.

And when these mentors all came forward, the program group’s doom arrived.

They may not seek public help like Rong Ziyan, but they can use more rigorous methods to send the entire program group to a dead end.

In the information age, technology is the primary productive force. The country’s emphasis on researchers has reached a very high level.

This group of people tried to destroy the seedlings of the research community, and the backlash they received would far exceed their imagination.

Rong Ziyan had just released the news through the live broadcast, and the phone calls from higher-ups had already reached the local television station.

Although this was an online variety show, under the wrath of thunder, the local station would also have a hard time.

“No, these are just a group of ordinary students, they are just a bit better at studying. I checked, none of them have even published an SCI paper.” The station director tried to explain, but was immediately scolded back.

“Is that something you can measure by looking at what kind of personal papers they published? You know about SCI, but do you know that on the SCI papers published by the mentor of Rong Ziyan who is taking the lead, his name is the third author!”

“Are these students not good enough? Does that mean their teachers are not good either?”

“Then what now…”

“Find a chance to resign! None of you can escape.”

“…” The station director took a cold breath, and suddenly felt that when he agreed to the proposal for this variety show, he was indeed a bit too naive.

Entertainment is entertainment, but science is another pure land that cannot be tainted. He crossed the line first, so he would suffer the consequences.

As for the program group, the police who had arrived had completely taken control of the filming location. They not only rescued the fifteen geniuses who were still held by the directing team, but also went to the dormitories and released Rong Ziyan and the others.

Because everyone had wanted to quit the competition before, their luggage was ready, and they could leave as soon as they got on the bus.

Only Rong Ziyan, after packing his luggage, still went to the back garden.

“Brother Rong, is there anything else?” Xu Chuanzhi called him.

Rong Ziyan pointed to the garden, “The geese.”

“!” Xu Chuanzhi suddenly remembered that Rong Ziyan had also brought a dozen or so baby geese with him this time.

Remembering the baby geese that were fleetingly seen by the program group when they went to the school to shoot the pilot film, their tender yellow fluff, their round bodies, their shiny black bean eyes, and the silly hairs on their heads, Xu Chuanzhi was immediately filled with anticipation. He felt that the geese must have become more beautiful and moving now.

Yao Lele obviously thought so too, and also planned to take the opportunity to give them a good stroke. She had not touched Rong Ziyan’s baby geese.

The System was also excited. Rong Ziyan had been too busy for the past week, so the program group had helped feed the geese. It was also looking forward to seeing what the geese looked like now.

Therefore, under the spotlight of everyone’s attention, the baby geese finally made their debut.

It was completely different from what they had imagined.

There were no cute little chubby chicks as they had envisioned, only a group of “ugly” and fierce beasts with squinting, kitchen knife-like eyes, flapping their molting, patchy wings, stretching their necks and rushing towards them, with constant, noisy, and rough “ga ga ga” noises coming out of their mouths.