"Stubbornness" continued the momentum of Ting Yu's chart-topping surge.
The night after the competition, it climbed to first place on the Inspirational New Song Chart.
This genre wasn't a popular track, so after reaching first place, Ting Yu surged ahead, leaving the competition's opponent Li Shaojun's "Dream vs. Reality" in the dust with three times the trial listening and download volume.
This also proved what the judge had said earlier: in terms of market value, positivity and upward momentum were what the market recognized. Going against the grain like Li Shaojun could only provide temporary novelty and wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.
"This speed of dominating the charts is still terrifying!"
"So satisfying, is this the joy of being a Ting Yu fan?"
"Ting Yu female fan +1, tell Chen Shuhao for me, I really can't go back, because I've already become shaped by Ting Yu..."
"I've replayed the live performance video dozens of times. I have to say, it's perfect for singing live, and Gong Ju Ren's progress is incredibly fast. The final sing-along made me feel so energized!"
"This song gives me infinite motivation. I'll keep going, with my last bit of stubbornness!"
"Thank you, Ting Yu, for letting me stay firm in my dreams!"
"To borrow a line from the lyrics, I don't fear a million blocking me, only my own surrender!"
This song sparked a wave of inspirational declarations online.
It also gave Douyin bloggers a lot of inspiration.
Recently, the video trend had gradually shifted towards inspirational content.
The short video platform was once dominated by catchy earworm songs. Unbeknownst to many, it had become a trend that whatever song Ting Yu released, that genre of video would become popular for a while.
This situation had developed gradually, so much so that not many people had reacted to it yet.
At this moment, a trending topic suddenly exploded on Weibo.
The trending topic contained only a chat screenshot.
γLi Shaojun: Sorry, I just booked my flight. After eliminating Ting Yu, I want to go to a tropical island for a few days of swimming and enjoying life.γ
This screenshot was exactly what Li Shaojun had boasted about in the group chat.
When netizens saw it, they were instantly amused.
"Haha, talk about a slap in the face!"
"Well, you can go swimming now too. It's fine even if you swim back from a tropical island, because there are no more competitions for you, so you can swim to your heart's content."
" @Producer Li Shaojun, please stream your swimming. No other reason, just want to learn how to swim while crying without choking."
"That's a good suggestion. Perhaps it could reignite your career, winning first place in a swimming competition."
"Haha... @Producer Li Shaojun, consider the netizens' suggestion?"
"..."
Before they knew it.
"I want to swim on a tropical island" had become a meme.
And it was being imitated by countless netizens.
...
A certain music studio.
Li Shaojun was leisurely sipping his tea.
A suitcase was placed beside him.
His ticket was already booked, so he naturally wanted to go out and relax. Losing was losing, but he still had to go swimming.
When he opened his phone, he was drawn to a message on Weibo.
"Do you also want to swim on a tropical island?"
He looked at this advertisement message, completely bewildered.
Why did this sentence sound so familiar?
He took a sip of tea and opened the link.
"Pfft..." With a sound, the tea sprayed out of his nostrils.
Li Shaojun choked and gasped.
"Qian Qinghua! You scoundrel!"
He flooded the Shen Yin Zhe (Hidden Ones) group chat.
Now, Li Shaojun finally understood what Qian Qinghua meant by "it's already too late."
This guy was truly fast. He had only stepped away for a moment, and Qian Qinghua had immediately posted the screenshot.
"How does it feel?" Qian Qinghua replied, interrupting his rant.
"Feel? How dare you ask me how I feel?" Li Shaojun didn't care anymore and exploded. He was experiencing a major social embarrassment, and if he didn't vent, he feared he'd get sick.
After waiting for a while and with no reply from Qian Qinghua, Li Shaojun was about to call him and curse him out.
"Don't you want them to experience it too?" Qian Qinghua suddenly messaged.
Li Shaojun froze.
The fierce look on his face instantly vanished.
Of course, he wanted to!
I can't be the only one experiencing social death!
So what are we waiting for?
It's hunting time!!
Li Shaojun clicked into the Ace Producer group chat.
At this moment, everyone was having a lively discussion.
"We have a spy among us!"
"Investigate quickly!"
"Damn it, someone actually dared to take screenshots!"
"It must be Qian Qinghua. I remember he had an alt account before, find it quickly!"
"It's this ID, 'Watching the Show.' He changed his name, but not his avatar. @Group Leader, kick him out!"
After Qian Qinghua's alt account was kicked out,
The group members breathed a sigh of relief.
They didn't want to go through such an embarrassing experience themselves.
"Now everyone can speak freely."
"So comfortable..."
"We almost got exploited by Qian Qinghua."
"Li Shaojun is also pitiful, but it's good. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have discovered the spy..."
As the internal members of Ace relaxed,
Li Shaojun's phone pinged with a message.
Hidden One No. 1: "I've been exposed. It's up to you now."
Hidden One No. 2: "Don't worry, I'm the victim. They won't suspect me."
...
On Weibo, amidst a pile of trending topics about Ting Yu,
A different trending topic suddenly appeared.
#JiangnanOldThief, Are You Even Human!!!#
This trending topic appeared abruptly, catching everyone off guard.
No one knew who this "Jiangnan Old Thief" was.
When they clicked into it, they discovered.
It turned out that a book called "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" had finished. Readers in the online literature circle had been collectively triggered by an author named Jiangnan.
There was a widespread outcry online.
"Jiangnan Old Thief, you're amazing! You're so righteous!!"
"Razor blades! Send me all the razor blades!"
"After finishing the ending of Sword and Fairy, I'm completely broken!"
"My Ling'er fan, when I saw Lin Yueru die, I was still happy that finally no one would compete with Ling'er for Brother Xiaoyao. Who knew that Jiangnan Old Thief would write Ling'er to death in the end too!"
"Jiangnan Old Thief! Give me back Sword God!"
"Give back Ling'er!!"
"Give back Brother Jingyuan!"
"Looking at it this way, Anu and Tang Yu actually had the best ending..."
"It's just outrageous. At first, I was relieved that Sword God had a good ending, but in the blink of an eye, he was written to death. The most outrageous part is that he was killed by his own daughter!! Jiangnan Old Thief, you're truly formidable!"
"Heavy reward for Jiangnan Old Thief's address! I'm so full of regret!!"
"I predicted there would be some sadness, but I didn't expect it to be this brutal, with the protagonist group being reduced to just Li Xiaoyao!!"
"The previous commenter, and his daughter..."
"..."
"Damn it!!"
It was rare for online literature to trend on Weibo.
This trending topic also propelled the pen name Jiangnan to widespread fame.
The rage of the book fans piqued the curiosity of outside onlookers.
What kind of online novel could make so many people discuss it? What plot could cause such a collective breakdown among book fans?
As a large number of curious new readers flooded in, the book "Sword and Fairy" became a sensation that transcended its genre.
Of course, it became famous by being cursed at...
...
Not long after.
Just as the book fans of "Sword and Fairy" were in an uproar, author Jiangnan updated his Weibo.
"Thank you all for your support of Sword and Fairy."
This Weibo update gave the book fans an outlet for their emotions.
In the blink of an eye, the comments section exploded with thousands of replies.
"How dare you show your face?"
"Just give us your address. I've already contacted the wholesale city!"
"Jiangnan Old Thief, don't let me find out where you live!"
"Ahhh!! This is the first time I've been so emotionally invested in a book!"
"My great sword has been thirsty for a long time!!"
"..."
Su Yu held his phone, watching the comments on Weibo increase rapidly.
And the scene of exclamation marks filling the screen.
A chill ran down his spine for no reason.
He quickly shivered and looked back, but found no one.
He let out a sigh of relief and sighed inwardly.
It seemed that in the short term, he wouldn't be able to dispel the readers' anger.