333: Chapter 333: What exactly will the gift he give be?

3:00 AM, Gusu Operations Department.

Only the 25th floor of the entire building was still lit.

Wang Shulin was in the office, staring intently at the rapidly scrolling data on his computer.

The office was filled with smoke, and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts.

He was monitoring hot news on the internet.

Weibo, Zhihu, Bilibili, Douyin... he had opened the backends for the real-time hot searches on most platforms.

All topics related to Jiang Zhe were dominating the top three spots.

Hot search number one: Is human civilization the only civilization? Read count: 310 million.

Hot search number two: How did the ancients know that stones could last for ten thousand years? Read count: 270 million.

Hot search number three: How many out-of-place artifacts are there in history? Read count: 180 million.

"Brother Wang, this popularity!" A subordinate standing behind him was so excited he could barely breathe. "Our platform has never been this popular."

Wang Shulin took a deep breath; this level of popularity could last for at least three days.

Over the next two days, the hot searches would slowly decline; by the day after, only core fans would be discussing it, and by the day after that, no one would remember.

He was worried that releasing the news now that Jiang Zhe would no longer be giving lessons would suppress these hot searches.

He felt tremendous pressure knowing that there would be no hot searches for Jiang Zhe for the next month.

"Brother Wang, should we release the news about Master Jiang?" the subordinate couldn't help but ask.

Wang Shulin shook his head.

"Wait a little longer. With this kind of popularity, if we release the news that he won't be giving lessons for a month, it will overshadow all of this. After that, without new content, it won't be worth the loss."

"The news about him not giving lessons for a month, the leaderboard, and the gift for the whole world—if we release these three pieces of information, tonight's popularity will completely explode. But what about after it explodes? What about tomorrow? The day after? The day after that?"

"Once Master Jiang has no new content to output, he will soon be forgotten by netizens!"

"We must proceed step by step, pretending that he is still giving lessons within the month, releasing the news bit by bit to keep the momentum going."

"Then let it explode!" The subordinate frowned and offered a strategy. "We can use the platform's name to gradually release more past information related to Master Jiang; for example, the last hexagram of the tui bei tu; or how much of a gap still exists between physics and metaphysics; or how metaphysics can be deconstructed using cutting-edge physics."

"Netizens' tastes have become sophisticated, but we can invite nearby professors, like those from the Gusu Physics Academy, and we can invite science fiction writers. With a theory-and-writer combination, we can create a buzz no less than Master Jiang's. When the time comes, we can guarantee with the platform that our content is solid."

Wang Shulin did not listen to his subordinate, his eyes still fixed on the hot searches on the screen.

His subordinate naturally did not know that Xiaoyu's brother and J were a brand, one that could not be compared to a combination of ordinary physics professors and science fiction writers.

Just then, the black phone on the table rang.

Wang Shulin glanced at the caller ID: Kyoto Headquarters.

He took a deep breath and picked up the receiver.

"Which leader is this?"

"Little Wang, it's me," the person speaking was none other than Supervisor Liu, who had previously been transferred to Kyoto and had now been promoted to General Manager. "It's time to release the news about Jiang Zhe not giving lessons."

Wang Shulin looked troubled.

"General Manager Liu, this popularity can last for another day, no, at least three days."

"You must release it, whether you want to or not. I just received a call from above. It's not the Cyberspace Administration; it's higher."

"Release the news: the fact that he won't be giving lessons for a month, the leaderboard, and the gift. Release it all. Don't hide a single word, don't change a single word."

"Yes, General Manager Liu."

"Also, that gift he mentioned might involve some classified information. Relevant national departments are investigating. They have already invited relevant masters to divine it. You are not to ask, not to guess, not to spread it. Do not go and explain it to the netizens. Just act like you don't know."

"Understood."

The phone hung up.

Wang Shulin shook his head helplessly. "Release the news. All three, release them together!"

"Now?"

"Now."

The young subordinate nodded and turned to carry out the task.

One minute later, the official account of the Dougu Platform posted three updates on Weibo.

The first one: [Important announcement regarding Mr. J's streaming schedule!]

[Dear netizens in the streaming room, we have received a notification from Mr. J himself. Due to the Spring Festival holiday and personal arrangements, Mr. J will suspend live streaming lessons for one month starting from today.]

[The resumption time is to be determined. Please pay attention to subsequent announcements from this account.]

[Thank you all for your company and support over the past month.]

The second one: [Announcement regarding the offline meetup on New Year's Eve!]

[At the invitation of Mr. J, the top 20 viewers on the Dougu Platform's tipping leaderboard will be eligible to go to Jingan Manor in Gusu to attend the offline meetup on New Year's Eve.]

[Please private message this account to confirm your intention to participate and your travel arrangements.]

[Note: If anyone cannot attend, the quota will be extended according to the leaderboard.]

The third one: [Mr. J's New Year's gift to the whole world]

[This platform does not yet know what the New Year's gift is. Please look forward to it, everyone!]

The moment the three updates were posted, the entire late-night internet came alive again.

Soon, the three pieces of information were synchronized into the late-night hot search platform.

[J announces a one-month hiatus from streaming]

This hot search rushed to the number one spot on Weibo within ten minutes of being posted.

The view count was rising by hundreds of thousands per minute; it seemed many night owls still hadn't gone to sleep.

"What? No more lessons?"

"A month? No J's stream to watch for a month?"

"I just started watching! I've only watched the recordings of three episodes, why stop now!"

"Don't do this, Brother, I just didn't watch last night, and you're saying you're not giving lessons anymore?"

"It's over, it's over, my spiritual food is gone. How will I survive this month?"

"Wait, he said within a month, not a permanent hiatus. There's still hope!"

"A month is also very long. No lessons from J for a month, I feel like I'm going to regress."

"To the person above, what are you regressing from? You're not Xiao Yu, you weren't getting tutored."

"Hahahaha, hilarious, but I also want to say, a month really is too long!"

"Has anyone counted how much stuff J has taught in this month or so—tui bei tu, alien evolution theory, origin of the moon, quantum consciousness and destiny choice, after death, Antarctic underground, Puma Punku, OOPArt... Brother has given me more knowledge than I learned in college."

"And the Time Stream, 36 degrees inside the sun, black hole universe; so Brother is really tired, he needs a rest."

"I understand, but I still want to cry. Brother decided not to give lessons only after being exposed by Xiao Yu's secret filming. Wuwuwu, blame Xiao Yu!"

"..."

There was wailing all over Weibo.

Someone started a topic [Waiting for J to return], and twenty thousand discussions poured in within half an hour.

Some people started organizing the live stream recordings of the past month, making a collection titled "Brother's Tutoring Diary."

Some people also wrote long posts to comfort themselves: [He was just tutoring his sister; we were just eavesdropping. Now they want to celebrate the New Year and spend time with his sister, what right do we have to hold him back?]

This comment was voted to the top.

"Well said, he wasn't teaching us in the first place. We were just crashing the class."

"We've crashed the class for over a month, we should be content."

"But I still want to hear him talk!"

"Stop talking, I'm going to watch the recordings. There are over thirty episodes, enough for me to review for a month."

"And also—that episode with the postdoctoral students is worth pondering!"

"..."

Second place: The offline meetup for the top 20 on the leaderboard.

If the hiatus was a wail, then the offline meetup was a complete regret party.

[J's New Year's Eve offline meetup], this hot search rushed to second place within fifteen minutes of being posted.

The style of the comment section changed completely.

"Damn, top 20? I'm ranked 159th. I've never regretted anything so much in my life."

"I'm 32nd, just 12 spots away. I hate it!!!"

"23rd. I'm going to jump off a building. Don't stop me."

"To the person above, I'll swap with you. I'm 1st, but I'm in the USA and can't go. Dying of grief."

"1st place, brother, don't brag. The first is that person from the expert professor group, but I believe you tipped a lot!"

"If I had known, I would have tipped a bit more. I was only 108 yuan away from the top 20, I thought it was useless!"

"Little sister Xiao Yu, I beg you, increase the quota; your villa is so big, 20 people is too few! Add a few more!"

"Can you open a second batch of spots? Even standing at the door and watching is fine!"

"I'm willing to bring my own small stool and sit in the yard to listen!"

"I'll bring my own tent and sleep on the lawn!"

"I'll bring my own dry rations, I definitely won't cause any trouble!"

"You guys are enough, hahahaha, are you going to listen to a lecture or go camping?"

"..."

But there were also people seriously analyzing it.

The top 20 are all professors and related teams from various academies.

Their funds are provided by relevant universities, basically all classified as national money.

Except for Celestial Master Zhang and Zheng Ming, who spent their own money.

"Damn, it really is true, the top 20 are almost all professors, researchers, scholars!"

"So J didn't choose randomly; he knew who was listening to his lectures."

"He knew it a long time ago; he knew who was listening, who was studying seriously, and who was writing papers. He knows everything—he even silently cracked the Ministry of State Security's IP block; this hacking skill is a bit awesome."

"This man is too terrifying."

"What I'm more curious about now is—on New Year's Eve, with these twenty people sitting in his living room, what will J tell them?"

"He said he would give Xiao Yu a big gift, and also give the whole country a big gift."

"What kind of gift will it be?"

"Don't know, we'll see at the New Year."