544: Read Chapter 544 yourself, and judge for yourself.

"The Dream Weaver's comment section is being flooded!"

Chen Jiahao slammed his phone onto the table, his voice cracking from shouting.

"It would be one thing if they were attacking us, but now they're dragging the Dream Weaver into this too!"

On the screen, abusive comments were scrolling by one after another.

"Since when does a web novel writer have the right to critique a literary award?"

"Trying to ride the coattails of the Kunpeng Award?"

"Go back to writing your ghost blows out the light and stay away from pure literature."

The more Chen Jiahao read, the angrier he became; the veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

"To put it simply, they're just bullying us because we're not famous!"

"If Teacher Jian Shen were standing here, they wouldn't dare utter a single word!"

Dormitory 303 fell silent for a few seconds.

Dan Yi had been sitting by the window the whole time.

He didn't speak immediately, only staring at the post the Dream Weaver had made on the Microblogging platform two days ago.

Under that post, the comments were already drowned in sarcasm and vitriol.

Some were calling the Dream Weaver unprofessional.

Some were accusing him of leading web novel readers to storm the literary award.

Others were saying that as an author who made a living from serializations, he didn't understand what pure literature was at all.

Dan Yi's knuckles slowly tightened.

He didn't know what kind of plan the Dream Weaver had behind all this.

But he knew one thing.

The Dream Weaver wasn't lacking traffic.

The ongoing readership for ghost blows out the light was consistently at the top of the entire Red Fruit platform every day.

He could have completely ignored it and just focused on writing his book in peace.

Yet, he had chosen to post that message.

He told the readers to read it for themselves and judge for themselves.

He had blocked a wave of the filthiest vitriol for a group of students who hadn't truly been seen yet.

Dan Yi finally raised his head.

His voice was muffled, but steady.

"The Dream Weaver didn't ask for any benefits for himself with that post."

"He didn't campaign for votes, nor did he ask the readers to take sides."

"He simply returned the power of judgment to the readers."

Chen Jiahao was stunned for a moment.

Then, he nodded vigorously.

"Exactly!"

"That's exactly the point!"

Xu Changge glanced at Dan Yi, then turned his gaze back to Lin Que.

Lin Que was sitting at his desk, holding a water cup.

Since Chen Jiahao had slammed his phone down, his expression hadn't changed much.

Xu Changge said in a deep voice, "By dragging the Dream Weaver into this now, they are also testing Teacher Jian Shen."

Chen Jiahao paused.

"Teacher Jian Shen?"

"Yes."

Xu Changge clicked on a few posts on the forum.

"People online have already connected Teacher Jian Shen's annotations on the thirty manuscripts for the Program, his remote lectures, and Lin Que's participation in this assessment, linking them all together."

He paused.

"Teacher Jian Shen remaining silent right now is actually the most stable move."

"The moment he speaks, the other side will immediately slap labels like 'protecting his own,' 'manipulating the outcome,' and 'a literary senior stepping in to suppress others' on him."

"By then, baseless mud will be splashed onto him, bucket after bucket."

Chen Jiahao's anger was stuck in his throat.

He couldn't bring himself to curse anymore.

Xu Changge continued, "Moving now is equivalent to handing them ammunition."

Lin Que took a sip of water.

The water was already cold.

But his eyes remained calm.

Shen Jiangping was using flattery to destroy them.

Chu Pengshu was setting the standard.

Huanyu Publishing Group was laying out a matrix.

They were pressing preconceptions—that "the Program can't write about the true grassroots," "Qingbei is forcing growth," and "web novel readers can't understand pure literature"—layer by layer into the readers' minds.

The higher they jumped, the more the readers' expectations were suppressed.

The harder they compressed the spring, the louder it would rebound on the Open Day.

Lin Que didn't say this out loud.

He just set the water cup back on the table and looked out the window.

The sky over the capital was overcast.

Dark clouds hung low in the distance.

"Stay steady for now."

His voice was low.

Everyone in the dormitory looked at him.

Lin Que said, "What they want is for us to lose our cool and jump out to confront them."

"The moment we move, they'll be able to slap the label of 'guilty conscience' on us for good."

Chen Jiahao gritted his teeth, "So we just sit here and do nothing, just take the abuse?"

"Of course we have to move."

Lin Que looked up.

"First, everyone stop engaging."

"Just take screenshots and keep evidence."

"Save the forwarding chains, script templates, and account activity times, all in a spreadsheet."

Xu Changge had already opened his computer.

"I'll do it."

Lin Que continued, "Second, continue organizing the matrix accounts and complete the timeline."

"Third, before the Open Day, get the synopses, creative backgrounds, field research locations, and reading links for everyone's works ready."

He looked at Chen Jiahao.

"They want the readers to enter with prejudice."

"We will pave the road clean."

"Let the readers see the works the moment they arrive."

Chen Jiahao stared at Lin Que.

There was no anger or panic on that face.

But he couldn't help but feel that the calmer Lin Que was, the more dangerous the people on the other side were.

A few seconds later, Chen Jiahao slapped the table.

"Fine."

"Master Que, if you say pave the road, then we'll pave the road."

Dan Yi also said in a low voice, "Stay steady."

At the same time.

The top floor of the Huanyu Publishing Group Publishing Group headquarters.

In a private conference room, the projector screen was lit.

Vice President Chen Mo was holding a laser pointer, explaining several public opinion trend charts.

"President Zhao, public opinion is already following the second plan."

He pushed up his rimless glasses, his voice suppressing excitement.

"The focus of the discussion outside has shifted from the quality of the Program's works to the misjudgment of the Qingbei School of Literature."

"'Consumerist field research' has become the standard script for dismantling the Program's works."

He switched the screen.

A few sets of hot keywords appeared on the screen.

"Short-term experience."

"Tourist-style writing."

"Forced growth."

"Lacking market validation."

Vice President Chen Mo continued, "The most critical point is that the batch of web novel readers brought in by the Dream Weaver are still on the sidelines."

"They clicked into the Kunpeng Award page, checked the popularity rankings, and looked at the comment section."

"But since the main content hasn't been opened yet, they can't vote for now."

He clicked on another image.

"Once the Open Day arrives, reader reviews will definitely be divided."

"Some will complain it's slow, others will complain it's dull."

"There will also be those who question why the Qingbei School of Literature pushed students who haven't been market-validated onto the stage of the Kunpeng Award all at once."

Vice President Chen Mo paused.

"As long as this doubt stands, the Qinglan Project will be dragged into the mud."

President Zhao put down his water cup.

His gaze rested on the projection.

"What really matters goes far beyond a few negative reviews."

The conference room fell silent.

President Zhao looked up at everyone.

"After the negative reviews appear, the outside world will ask one question."

"Why is the Qingbei School of Literature in such a rush to push a group of students into the adult literary scene?"

His voice was very calm.

"Once this question takes hold, the Qinglan Project will turn from 'geniuses emerging' into 'Qingbei forcing growth.'"

In the conference room, someone chuckled softly.

President Zhao also smiled.

The smile was faint.

He had no grudges against Lin Que.

And he certainly had no personal vendetta against that group of students in the Program.

But they appeared too coincidentally.

Jian Shen made print media lift its head again.

The Worry-Relief Store, the ferryman, and ordinary world had blazed a new trail in the physical book market.

Over the past few years, Huanyu Publishing Group had firmly occupied the market entrance through channels, rankings, copyrights, and a matrix of young authors.

But now, a Jian Shen had appeared outside the entrance.

He didn't show his face, yet he could make countless readers walk back into bookstores.

What was even more troublesome was that Qingbei had pushed up thirty young people who had been tempered by real life.

If these children stood firm, a gap would be torn in the narrative power of the young literary scene.

The only card Huanyu Publishing Group had left to promote into a phenomenal young author was Shen Jiangping.

Therefore, the Program must fall.

Lin Que must fall even more.

No one to blame.

Just blame the timing of their appearance; it blocked Huanyu Publishing Group's path.

Shen Jiangping swirled his wine glass, his eyes full of smugness.

"President Zhao, this move is using their own strength against them."

"The harder the Dream Weaver pushes, the louder the crash will be in the end."

After saying this, he suddenly looked at Chu Pengshu.

"Pengshu."

"I see you've been staring at Lin Que the whole time."

"At this stage, do you still think he can turn things around?"

Chu Pengshu didn't smile.

He looked down at the analysis framework, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting cold light.

"I only look at variables."

Shen Jiangping raised an eyebrow.

"Variables?"

Chu Pengshu turned a page.

"In this game of chess, the only uncertainty right now is Lin Que."

The laughter in the conference room faded a bit.

Shen Jiangping sneered.

"I admit he can write."

"But no matter how strong a manuscript is, it still has to enter the field first."

"Public feedback has already been suppressed for thirty minutes; what does he have to fight against the entrances, rankings, and public opinion?"

Chu Pengshu raised his head.

"That's why I said he is a variable."

"The meaning of a variable is that before the results come out, no one can be certain how much deviation he will cause."

Shen Jiangping's expression darkened.

He didn't like this answer.

President Zhao didn't respond.

His gaze landed on the projector screen.

The Dream Weaver's post was still hanging there.

"Real reading data breathes; fake traffic only has formation."

President Zhao watched for a few seconds.

He said nothing.

Ten o'clock at night.

Studio.

The indicator light on the encrypted server was still on.

Lin Que had just finished confirming the final version after the reading session with Director Guo Changhe when a new message popped up on WeChat.

The sender was Wang De'an.

"[Teacher Jian Shen, sorry to bother you.]"

"[I've been monitoring the public opinion these past two days; people have already connected your annotations on the thirty manuscripts for the Program, your remote lectures, and the controversy surrounding Lin Que, claiming you are backing the Program from behind the scenes.]"

"[What's more troublesome is that some people are trying to link the Dream Weaver's post to you as well.]"

"[New Tide is worried that if this continues to ferment, it will affect the subsequent promotion of ordinary world and your personal reputation.]"

"[Do you think we need to issue a standard statement in the name of the publishing house, talking only about the work and not the Kunpeng Award?]"

After reading it, Lin Que's finger hovered over the screen.

Wang De'an was genuinely anxious.

This veteran editor had been blocking the wind for Jian Shen ever since ordinary world passed censorship.

Lin Que slowly typed out a reply.

"[No need to respond.]"

"[Clarifications in the eye of the storm are often edited into new storms.]"

"[Jian Shen only talks about text.]"

"[I will not endorse any awards, nor will I engage in verbal disputes with anyone.]"

"[New Tide should proceed with ordinary world as originally planned.]"

"[Let the other voices finish ringing first.]"

"[Once the text is placed in front of the readers, the preconceptions will fall away layer by layer.]"

"[By then, the people who should be quiet will naturally be quiet.]"

The other side replied after a long time.

"[Understood.]"

"[I will have the Propaganda Department proceed as planned and not touch the Kunpeng Award.]"

"[In addition, for the second printing of ordinary world and the promotion of overseas copyrights, we will proceed according to the B plan you set earlier, only releasing reader feedback and not having the author appear.]"

Lin Que exited WeChat and leaned back in his chair.

That line with Wang De'an was stabilized.

But the other group was more anxious than Wang De'an.

And more restless.

After the Dream Weaver's post was sent out, the real readers of Red Fruit did indeed flood into the Kunpeng Award page.

But over the past two days, the public opinion outside had also started to affect them.

In the comment section, someone asked:

"The Dream Weaver told us to go check out the Program's works, but the main content hasn't been opened yet, so what are we supposed to read?"

"They're saying online that those students write very dull stuff, is it true or false?"

"If we web novel readers go in to look at the literary award, will people laugh at us for not understanding it?"

"I'm already getting angry; on the Open Day, I'm going to see who's faking it."

Lin Que looked at these comments and instead let out a soft sigh.

The readers were willing to judge for themselves.

That was good.

But the mockery outside was too dense.

Once emotions were ignited, it was inevitable that readers would enter with anger.

Reading with anger meant they would only find anger in what they read.

What Lin Que wanted was true judgment.

He couldn't rush them.

He couldn't be impatient.

And he certainly couldn't be angry on behalf of the readers.

He needed them to calm down.

Lin Que sat up straight and logged into the Red Fruit backend.

ghost blows out the light had just reached the point where the tomb passage mechanism was triggered.

The previous chapter ended at the moment the stone door fell, and the comment section already had hundreds of thousands of requests for updates.

The readership curve was still climbing.

The comments from the early morning shift were dense.

This was the Dream Weaver's true stronghold.

Lin Que opened the new chapter editing interface.

The chapter that had long been prepared in the draft was uploaded.

Not a single word was added to the main text.

After the upload was complete, he moved the cursor to the "Author's Note" at the bottom.

He thought for a moment and typed out three lines.

"[A good story isn't afraid of being slow; what it fears is that you don't have the patience to turn to the page where it shines.]"

"[Don't be angry for others; don't draw conclusions for others.]"

"[Read it yourself, judge it yourself.]"

Publish.

In less than ten minutes, the comment section exploded.

"The Old Thief's words are interesting, but why does it sound like there's a hidden meaning?"

"Kunpeng Award? It must be the Kunpeng Award!"

"Fine, I'll listen to you; on the Open Day, I won't look at the comments, I'll read it myself."

"No one is allowed to draw conclusions for me."

"Why do they say we web novel readers can't understand it? I'm going to read it carefully before I judge."

"Read it yourself, judge it yourself!"

"Read it yourself, judge it yourself!"

This phrase quickly flooded the screen.

Lin Que looked at the comment section, and his eyes finally relaxed a little.

That was enough.

He closed the backend and stood up to walk to the window.

Outside the studio, the night in the capital had deepened.

The dark clouds that had hung low during the day had dispersed, revealing a few stars.

But the sky online was about to brighten.