Chapter 24: Li Lianfeng

At this moment, several new topics appeared on the trending list of Weibo.
#Xu Ze Completing Lyrics#
#Li Qingzhao#
#“As if in a Dream · Last Night Rain Sparse Wind Fierce” Completed#
#Xu Ze on Par with Li Qingzhao#
The lingering popularity from Xu Ze’s “East Wind Breaks” had not yet faded, so anything related to him quickly gained traction, and these topics soon shot into the top ten.
Passing netizens were somewhat puzzled: Xu Ze completing lyrics? On par with Li Qingzhao?
Curious, they clicked into the trending topics and discovered a photo. On the blackboard in the photo was written a single line: “Do you know, do you know, it should be lush green and faded red.”
Everyone rushed to discuss.
“Did Xu Ze write this?”
“Xu Ze’s handwriting is beautiful.”
“Xu Ze composed lyrics in class?”
“Wow, reading this gives me such a sense of poetic atmosphere.”
“Xu Ze is truly talented; I think the completion is excellent.”
“I’m a sports major, and I think Xu Ze’s line is the original!”
“Why are sports majors joining the fun? I’m a humanities student, and I agree with the sports major!”
“Agreed +1”
At that moment, someone suddenly commented:
“You’re praising just these few simple words? And shamelessly claiming it’s on par with the original? Aren’t you afraid the wind will twist your tongue?”
“Li Qingzhao’s lyrics aren’t so easily completed. What could a student possibly write?”
“That’s right, Teacher Li Lianfeng himself said this poem has no missing parts; he’s the vice president of the Ancient Poetry Association.”
Seeing this comment, many remembered that Teacher Li Lianfeng had indeed mentioned this on Weibo not long ago.
Could it be that Xu Ze had just scribbled something randomly?
Gradually, skeptical comments began to multiply.
Then someone suggested:
“Everyone, stop arguing. Let Teacher Li Lianfeng evaluate it.”
Yes, let Teacher Li Lianfeng judge; he’s the vice president of the Ancient Poetry Association after all.
So countless netizens started tagging Li Lianfeng, flooding his Weibo with messages.
With so many people, #Li Lianfeng# itself was pushed into trending topics.
……

Li Lianfeng had been quite pleased with himself lately. After posting about “As if in a Dream” on Weibo last time, his followers shot up from only one hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand.
Tasting success, he had begun posting his thoughts on various poems and lyrics from time to time, always garnering plenty of likes and comments.
Many even praised him as a master of ancient poetry studies in the modern era, which he greatly enjoyed.
With more fans, more universities and associations sought him for collaboration, and just these days, another school invited him for a lecture.
He was currently drafting the theme for his upcoming lecture on his computer when he noticed he was being tagged by many people on Weibo.
“Huh? What’s going on?” Opening Weibo, Li Lianfeng found he himself had made it into the trending list.
He checked his post from two days ago and saw it suddenly had a flood of new comments.
Li Lianfeng was baffled; the previous post was just a commentary on an ordinary Tang poem, so how had it exploded?
Clicking the comments, he immediately frowned.
“Someone has completed the last line of ‘As if in a Dream’? And even arrogantly claims it’s on par with the original?”
Li Lianfeng’s expression soured. He had only recently stated that the poem had no missing parts, and now someone had suddenly emerged to supply a line—wasn’t this a slap in the face?
“This Xu Ze… The name sounds familiar.”
He scrolled through Weibo and discovered Xu Ze was the young man who had topped the trending list last night singing “East Wind Breaks,” apparently a student at Qingbei University.
He had listened to the song; the lyrics were decent, but surely writing a song didn’t qualify someone to challenge ancient poetry.
Are students nowadays really so restless?
Ten minutes later,
Li Lianfeng posted on Weibo:
“Ancient poetry is a precious cultural treasure of our nation, containing wisdom and emotion that require generations to ponder and comprehend, to understand even a little.
In our times, we must calm our minds and read more, to truly appreciate its wisdom and value.
But some young people always seek shortcuts, borrowing the words of silent ancients to show off, even claiming to rival giants. It is simply laughable.
Having studied ancient poetry all my life, I firmly believe ‘As if in a Dream · Last Night Rain Sparse Wind Fierce’ is complete and has no gaps.”
……
The title of Ancient Poetry Association Vice President worked its magic once again; his post was instantly pushed to the top of trending.
Although he had not named Xu Ze, everyone knew he was speaking of Xu Ze—restless, exploiting the ancients to promote himself.
Most netizens lacked independent judgment. Seeing Li Lianfeng criticize Xu Ze, they began to follow suit and turn against him.
“Teacher Li is absolutely right; young people today are too restless!”
“Teacher Li has studied ancient poetry all his life—he is the true literary master.”
“Agreed, what Xu Ze wrote is just a few simple words, riding the fame of the ancients.”
“Exactly, just a few simple words—I could write that too!”
“Xu Ze’s trending topic was so awkward—too bad it’s been exposed.”

“After all, he wants to enter the entertainment industry; buying trending topics is normal.”
“Will Xu Ze’s PR team try to smear Teacher Li?”
“No worries, with us here, who would dare to smear a great literary master!”
“Last night I thought Xu Ze was actually talented—do you think someone else wrote his ‘East Wind Breaks’?”
“Could be.”
“I think ‘East Wind Breaks’ is nothing special, really.”
……
Meanwhile, a wave of marketing accounts posted copy about Xu Ze at the same time.
In an instant, Xu Ze was at the center of public opinion.
Yet Xu Ze was completely unaware, busily typing away in his dorm.
Today’s surge in updates had made him realize the importance of having drafts in reserve.
Tomorrow he would be recording the second round of the competition, so he needed to stock up today.
Suddenly, the chubby roommate lying on the opposite bunk exclaimed:
“Xu Ze, tons of people are suddenly criticizing you on Weibo! Was that line written in class today?”
Since the four roommates were from different majors, the chubby one didn’t know what Xu Ze had done in class.
Xu Ze was baffled—how had he ended up being attacked?
He took out his phone, opened Weibo, and saw that four of the top ten trending topics were about him.
#Xu Ze Exploiting the Ancients#
#Who’s Behind Xu Ze’s Team?#
#Xu Ze Recklessly Completing Famous Lyrics, Criticized by Scholars#
#Xu Ze Crafting a Scholar Persona?#
Seeing the headlines, Xu Ze realized they were discussing the line he had supplied for “As if in a Dream.”
Had it really spread to Weibo so quickly?
He clicked into the trending topics; almost all the comments were criticizing him for arrogance and ignorance.
Xu Ze frowned—this shouldn’t be happening. Even if netizens lacked literary appreciation, they shouldn’t all pile on to attack him.
Having experienced the storms of the entertainment industry in his past life, he sensed something was off.
Soon enough, he traced the source of the backlash.
Li Lianfeng, Vice President of the Ancient Poetry Association, and his Weibo post.