Chapter 255: Making the Headlines by Accident
The post was originally meant for everyone to just have a chat about a controversial topic and exchange their views on it.
However, no one expected it to rile up an influential figure from the literary world.
Delirium was triggered when everyone saw that a council member from the Traditional Writers Association was involved in the comment.
Those who previously lambasted Celestial Bane became even more arrogant and upped the intensity of their criticisms. The comments barely stopped short of classifying Celestial Bane as a trash book for children.
Some even suggested that Celestial Bane be banned. That way, the author would have to refund all the money he made.
Although the title of the Traditional Writers Association council member was merely an unofficial title, it was still a title no less. His words were gospel in the literary world—if he praised a particular work, then the work was deemed good. If he denounced it, then it would be considered bad.
Ye Lingchen noticed that the council member’s Weibo ID was Hong Yan, which was probably his real name.
Ignoring the barrage of jealousy and abuse, Ye Lingchen continued to scroll down.
The second wave created by that post also came after a comment. The comment replied to Hong Yan in the capacity of a peer!
Weibo verified him as a professor of Capital[1] University. His Weibo ID was Wan Yun and that was his real name too.
Weibo verification was a sign of authenticity!
If Hong Yan was able to shock countless people, then Wan Yun practically caused everyone’s eyeballs to explode. When they saw Wan Yun’s comments, their eyeballs nearly popped out of their eye sockets.
[Council Member Hong, have you read Celestial Bane? If not, you have no right to comment on it. I’ve read Celestial Bane from the beginning until the end!
Although the phrases and words used in Celestial Bane aren’t quite universal in style, it cannot be denied that something accepted and recognized by the public will stand out in its own way. It was a student of mine that influenced me to read Celestial Bane. He was reading this book in my class when he yelled as if he lost himself completely. Later on, I found out that the entire class was reading this book too.
At that time, I wondered what book this is and why it had such great charm. When I read it sometime later, the imaginativeness, plot, characterization, and overall feeling of the book were very good. And, it was not inferior!
Heart for the world, life for the people. Strive for hidden knowledge, strive for peace in the world. This is all from that book!
Our generation was born through times of troubles, rushed by age as we step into society. Dreams of greatness and talks of wonders. Nothing compared to a drunken night! This is also in this book!
These are all concrete achievements, please don’t ignore them!]
Wan Yun’s comments were lengthy, but it clearly showed his approbation of Celestial Bane, sending everyone into a frenzy.
He was a professor at Capital University!
And what of it?
Well, he was like a legendary character!
University professors were known to be reticent, more so when they came from Capital University. No mortal could ever hope to come into contact with beings like them.
Nevertheless, the professor read Celestial Bane and even praised it highly!
In a flash, readers of Celestial Bane felt that the gap between themselves and the professor was pulled closer. It turned out that their taste was the same as that of the professor, someone who was considered a leading figure!
Wan Yun has just only replied to the comment the previous night. He did so to set the record straight!
The comments section exploded within a day. All the comments below were worshipping the professor.
[Oh f*ck! Capital University’s professor! I spoke online with Capital University’s professor. I can boast about this for the rest of the year!]
[Ah, Professor, please accept my worshipping of you!]
[I came here just to say something to the professor. That way, I’ll look bad*ss.]
[No matter how much I dream, I would never have dreamt of Capital University. It’s so amazing to think that I had the chance to meet a professor.]
…
No wonder the post gained so much traction and surged in popularity. The reason was that some influential figures’ attention had been drawn to it.
After reading Wan Yun’s comments, Ye Lingchen could not help but shake his head and smile wry. It was too much of a coincidence—the professor taught him too, and it was the same old professor who caught Hao Jian in class.
It was truly surprising that the old man read Celestial Bane after punishing Hao Jian.
Ye Lingchen’s teacher—a professor, no less—was reading his book. More crucially, the man even spoke on behalf of him at a critical moment, giving Ye Lingchen an indescribable feeling of pride.
After a brief moment of pondering, he replied below Wan Yun’s comment, “Professor, your student thanks you for the support!”
A simple sentence caused the situation to develop at an unimaginable speed that night. The entire internet was sent into an instant frenzy.
The literature community went into a frenzy and so did the web literature community!
The next day.
Ye Lingchen opened his eyes. He brought Little Green and Little Gray out for his morning exercise in the wee hours.
After having breakfast, he switched on his phone out of habit and clicked into Weibo.
He glanced at his phone and was incredibly stunned.
No. 1 on Weibo’s Trending Searches: The Magical Little Wolf in Capital’s Zoo!
No. 2 on Weibo’s Trending Searches: The author of Celestial Bane is a student of Capital University!
No. 3 on Weibo’s Trending Searches: Huo Yuanjia’s Ending!
Ye Lingchen knew those three trending searches all too well because all three were related to him.
F*cking hell! Everything blew up to such epic proportions.
Did he just make the headlines by accident?
He clicked on the first trending search. Someone had obviously filmed a video of the incident at the zoo, whereby Little Green and Little Gray fought the evil dog to protect the children.
The comments section became extremely lively.
[Are you sure this is not a movie? This looks awesome!]
[Those two wolves are exactly like humans. Too cute and heroic.]
[Handsomeness overload. Have these two wolves achieved enlightenment or something? I thought demonizing animals was forbidden after the People’s Republic of China was founded[2]?]
[Ah, ah, ah! They’re so cute. It’s amazing that they would go to such lengths to protect the kid. I’m so emotional I’m gonna cry.]
[That last bit, was the green wolf bitten? Is the injury serious? Can the zoo please answer!]
[You’re right! They must give him the best treatment! These two wolves must be well taken care of. Oh, how I wish I could raise one.]
[Dear zoo, are these two wolves for sale? How much do they cost? Name your price! They’ll be much better than bodyguards once they get bigger!]
Little Green and Little Gray went viral throughout the internet. The playback statistics for the video skyrocketed and exceeded five million. Tencent News and Sina News even promoted it, attracting the attention of practically the entire nation’s population.
After all, those two wolves were extraordinary.
Ye Lingchen clicked the second trending search. As expected, it resulted purely from the previous night’s reply.
[Oh f*ck! I am Y is actually a student at Capital University? No wonder he could write so good!]
[F*CK! That professor is the author’s teacher? It’s such a coincidence that a teacher is keeping himself updated with a book that his student wrote.]
[Famous teachers produce worthy disciples. I see. My respect for Capital’s talented student!]
[Looks like there’s another Y in the literary world. This is the first time I’m hearing this.]
[I am Y is actually my university mate! I’m very honored, and… Can I request an autograph?]
…
[1] Any mention of Capital University in this chapter is actually written as Huaqing University by the author, but we all know that Ye Lingchen is from Capital University. We have used Capital University to avoid any confusion but we add this note to make readers aware of this error.
[2] 建国以后禁止成精 is translated literally as demonizing animals is forbidden after the People’s Republic of China was founded’. 成精 can be understood as being smart, achieving awareness, achieving sentience, achieving enlightenment, or developing a spiritual quality, depending on context. The entire phrase originated from the supposed rumor that the China wanted to ban feudalistic superstition and anything related to that during the new establishment. Nowadays it is often used to describe an animal that acts like a human and has humane qualities.