557: Chapter 557 Soaring? Plunging!

At 9:45 AM, the main screen in the Qingbei School of Literature computer lab had just lit up, and the forum homepage was already pinned by two articles.

Thirty computers refreshed simultaneously, yet the sound of keyboards grew quieter.

Chen Jiahao's voice was the first to explode.

"Damn it, again?"

He slapped the tabletop, causing Tang He's water cup next to him to wobble.

"Look at this!"

He turned the screen around.

On the first screen of the forum homepage, Shen Jiangping's creative discussion piece was pinned at the top of the trending posts, with 3,700 likes, and the repost count was still jumping.

"If the main text can't keep readers, he uses his hard work to trade for sympathy votes? Does he even deserve to be called a writer?"

Chen Jiahao stood up and sat back down, his finger already hovering near the comment box.

"Yesterday, the main text was judged by readers, and today he drags out his field research experience to make up for it? Why doesn't he talk about who bought those paid trolls?"

"Jiahao, don't start cursing yet."

Xu Changge stared at the screen.

"The more troublesome thing is this."

Chen Jiahao turned his head to look at him.

Xu Changge didn't look up, his gaze fixed on Chu Pengshu's article on his own screen.

His brows were knitted together, his finger pressing on the mouse without moving for a long time.

"There's another one."

Xu Changge said.

Chen Jiahao leaned in.

Chu Pengshu's long article sat in the center of the main screen, the title like a ruler pressed onto the table.

Xu Changge highlighted a paragraph.

"...When a creator treats 'raw reality' as an end rather than a means, literature degenerates into unprocessed information dumping..."

After reading this, Chen Jiahao's expression changed.

"Is he labeling our field research as mere material dumping?"

Xu Changge's voice was very low.

"He has reduced the scenes we spent a month collecting into unprocessed material."

Chen Jiahao's fists clenched.

"The mud, the Gobi Desert, the urban villages... We spent a month grueling over those, and he compresses it all into a semi-finished product with one sentence?"

"In his framework, the scene only counts as material. If the material hasn't been tamed by the structure he approves of, it doesn't qualify for a high score."

Xu Changge took his hand off the mouse.

"Because the raw material hasn't undergone 'structural processing,' it can only be considered a semi-finished product."

Chen Jiahao was stunned for two seconds.

"This move is dirtier than using paid trolls, yet it looks so clean."

"Right."

Xu Changge nodded.

"Paid trolls suppress the traffic entries; this article suppresses the evaluation standards."

Several students around them gathered together.

"He is rewriting the standards of 'realism.' Once this narrative spreads, when the judges look at our manuscripts, the first thing they'll ask is: Is the structure organized enough? Is the sense of realism just a pile of materials?"

Tang He's expression was very grim.

She sat in the corner, staring at her own screen, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"If the judges also carry this ruler, I'm afraid our sense of realism will be penalized first."

She asked.

The sound of keyboards in the lab stopped for a moment.

Chu Pengshu's article had no profanity, didn't name names, and the logical chain was tight.

The more that was the case, the harder it was to refute on the spot.

Someone had already commented in the forum:

"The Program's manuscripts have a strong impact, but could they just be rough drafts?"

Tang He watched the constantly increasing repost count, her knuckles tightening:

"We just got the readers back to the main text yesterday, and today they've started seizing the readers' method of judgment."

Yuan Ningning also walked over.

"I just checked the backend; Shen Jiangping's new traffic entries have risen by 18 percent in half an hour."

Chen Jiahao cursed under his breath:

"It actually rose? Just from one creative discussion piece?"

"To be precise, it's the creative discussion piece plus that long article by Chu Pengshu."

Xu Changge said.

"One makes the readers soften their hearts, and the other makes them doubt the Program's qualifications for evaluation. Pushing both at the same time makes it very easy for the readers in the middle to be swayed."

Dan Yi sat by the window; the long comment in the review section about "305 House Number" was still pinned at the top, but no new replies had popped up below it for a long time.

The readers' attention was being diverted by those two articles.

No one was celebrating anymore.

Screens refreshed constantly; only the sound of mouse wheels remained in the computer lab.

"They've changed their tactics."

Someone said in a low voice, though it was unclear who.

No one responded.

Yesterday, they won the traffic entry war.

Today, the other side began seizing the right to define.

This is more troublesome than paid trolls because it affects the scales in the judges' hands.

Tang He looked up, her voice strained:

"How do we break this situation?"

Xu Changge instinctively looked at the middle of the second row.

That chair was empty.

"Where is Master Que? Where did he go?"

Chen Jiahao noticed it too.

Dan Yi glanced at the door:

"He just went out to get some water."

Just as the words fell, the door was pushed open from the outside.

Lin Que walked in carrying a cup of warm water.

He was carrying a cup of warm water, with the sleeves of his gray hoodie rolled up.

He swept a glance at the main screen; Shen Jiangping's and Chu Pengshu's names were hanging side-by-side on the trending posts list.

Lin Que looked for a few seconds, placed the cup on the table, pulled out his chair, and sat down.

Chen Jiahao leaned over.

"Master Que, did you see it?"

"I saw it."

"They're causing trouble again."

"Normal."

Lin Que put down the water cup.

"If they can't block the traffic entries, they'll try to open other channels."

Lin Que's tone was strangely flat.

Chen Jiahao grew anxious.

"Shen Jiangping's traffic entries rose by eighteen percent, and Chu Pengshu is still handing him new channels."

Lin Que took a sip of water:

"Do you know when an author is most desperate to write a creative discussion piece during a competition clash?"

Chen Jiahao was taken aback.

Lin Que looked at him, speaking at a slow pace.

"These kinds of hastily posted creative discussion pieces are mostly because the main text can no longer hold readers."

This sentence landed in the computer lab like a stone thrown into the water.

The surrounding chatter stopped.

Tang He turned her head.

Xu Changge's fingers left the keyboard.

Dan Yi took off one headphone.

Lin Que's voice drew everyone's attention.

"Promotion is fine, and writing creative discussion pieces is fine. But on the battlefield of a competition, using hard work to pave the way for the main text just shows that the main text is already struggling."

"A creative discussion piece is the icing on the cake for a good work, but for a main text that can't hold up, it's just a fig leaf."

Chen Jiahao was stunned:

"But his clicks have actually risen."

Lin Que didn't argue; he directly projected the Kunpeng backend onto the main screen.

Two curves lit up side-by-side.

three or two things in jincheng was on the left; qin opera was on the right.

Lin Que's finger pointed at the curve on the left.

"Look here."

Everyone in the computer lab looked at the two curves.

Forty minutes after the creative discussion piece was posted, the new traffic entries for three or two things in jincheng rose by eighteen percent, and the click curve was trending upward.

Lin Que skipped the click volume and switched the indicator to the effective reading completion rate.

The numbers on the screen were dropping.

Twenty-four hours ago, the completion rate for three or two things in jincheng was 31%.

After the paid trolls stopped yesterday afternoon, it climbed to 33%.

Forty minutes after the creative discussion piece was posted, it fell to 28%.

"Wait a minute."

Chen Jiahao stared at the number, his voice lowering.

"His clicks are indeed rising, but the completion rate... is actually dropping?"