5: Chapter 5 The fire started.

The push notification for the front-page headline of Xia Country Daily came suddenly and without warning.

At the same moment, countless phone screens—whether held in the hands of office workers in a hurry or at the fingertips of idle college students at home—vibrated with a 'buzz.'

A single line appeared on every screen in bold, black text.

In the first few seconds after seeing these words, the vast majority of people's first reaction was—

A push notification error?

Or perhaps some third-rate tabloid was masquerading as official media to bait clicks?

Otherwise, while they recognized every word in the headline individually, how could they possibly exude such a preposterously absurd vibe when combined?

Undergraduate?

Xia Academy of Sciences?

The youngest Distinguished Young Researcher in history?

This was as ridiculous as saying a middle school student had been appointed a five-star general.

Yet, that undeniable curiosity still drove countless fingers to click on it as if possessed.

When the page redirected and the familiar official website of Xia Country Daily came into view, and once the rigorously worded, powerful report was read in its entirety...

Everyone's brain buzzed as if struck by a heavy hammer.

“Am I seeing this right? This was actually posted by Xia Country Daily and isn't some Onion News piece?”

“Is the world crazy? An undergraduate who hasn't even graduated yet can enter the Xia Academy of Sciences? What kind of international joke is this!”

“Can someone educate me on what level this ‘Distinguished Young Researcher’ actually is? It sounds incredibly impressive.”

There was no need to wait for an answer to that question.

Self-media and science bloggers on the internet, with senses sharper than bloodhounds, moved into action the very moment the news was released.

In less than fifteen minutes...

A post titled 'Let’s Dig Into Just How Incredible the Xia Academy of Sciences’ “Distinguished Young Researcher” Really Is!' went viral across all major platforms.

The post used the simplest, most understandable language to clearly list the prestige of this title.

Those who could obtain this status were basically PhD graduates with several top-tier journal papers under their belts—monsters who had already shown the potential to be leading figures in their respective fields.

At the end of the post, a line of red text was specifically bolded.

“Previously, the record holder for the youngest person with this title was the prize pupil of Academician Su Zheming, a titan in the current Xia Country physics community! He was twenty-seven years old when he received this honor!”

This explanatory article was like a bucket of gasoline thrown onto the already parched firewood of public opinion.

If the public only felt this was preposterous before...

Now, once they truly understood the weight of this status, that absurdity turned into anger and doubt.

Public opinion completely exploded!

“A shady deal! This is the biggest scandal in the history of the Xia Country scientific research community!”

“Investigate! Investigate this Lin Yuan! I want to see which high-and-mighty god's son can act so willfully!”

“A twenty-year-old Distinguished Researcher? Damn it, at twenty, I was still agonizing over whether to sign up for a prep class for the civil service exam! What right does he have?!”

“This is a public insult to hundreds of thousands of researchers across the country! It's treating science like a joke!”

Lin Yuan's name climbed to the top of the trending searches on all major social platforms at an irrational speed, followed by a bright red 'HOT' tag.

Immediately following that, the omnipotent netizens began to exercise their traditional craft—

Doxing.

It didn't take long for Lin Yuan's personal information to be thoroughly exposed.

Jiuzhou University, a junior student with excellent grades, but by no means the kind of peerless number one who stood head and shoulders above his generation.

He had participated in a few insignificant science and technology competitions and won some awards, but none were top-tier national prizes.

His family background was also as ordinary as could be; his parents were from the farming class, and for three generations back, they were all ordinary people with clean backgrounds.

This mediocre, even 'lost in the crowd' resume was screenshotted by busybodies and placed side-by-side with the Xia Country Daily report.

On one side was a radiant honor worthy of being recorded in the annals of Xia Country's technological history.

On the other was the unremarkable resume of an ordinary student thrown into Jiuzhou University.

This intense contrast instantly maximized the sense of absurdity surrounding the entire event.

If you called him a well-connected person, his background was so clean you couldn't even fish out a single connection.

But if you called him a genius, this resume showed absolutely no trace of a top-tier talent.

Consequently, the direction of online discourse began to turn bizarre.

“I'm baffled. Is there a big shot who can analyze what's going on here?”

“I have a bold guess: could it be that this Lin Yuan solved some world-class problem, but it needs to be kept secret, so nothing is shown on his resume?”

“Stop trying to white-wash it, person above. Do you really believe in novel plots like that? Well, I don't. I'm waiting for an official explanation!”

Suspicion, speculation, debate, defense...

Countless comments intertwined and collided on the internet, pushing the name Lin Yuan to the very center of the storm.

Meanwhile, in the Junior Class 2 group chat of the School of Physics at Jiuzhou University.

This group chat, which usually had very few messages besides notifications from the counselor, was now refreshing with dozens of messages per second.

“Holy crap, did you guys see the latest news?!”

“I saw it. My damn hands are shaking. That's the front-page headline of Xia Country Daily!”

“Is the Lin Yuan in the news... the Lin Yuan from our class? It couldn't be someone with the same name, right?”

“Nonsense! Jiuzhou University, and still an undergraduate—who else could it be but him?!”

“@Lin Yuan, Brother Yuan, come out and say something! What's going on? What earth-shattering thing did you do over the summer break?”

“I'm dumbfounded. I'm still agonizing over which elective to choose next semester, and my classmate has already become a researcher at the Xia Academy of Sciences? This world is too surreal.”

Mentions and messages flooded the group chat as everyone was in a state of extreme shock and confusion.

Their own classmate, gone for one vacation, had suddenly become a national-level figure?

This was more bizarre than a novel.

Lin Yuan naturally saw the messages in the group, but he merely gave them a calm glance before exiting the interface.

All of this was within his plan.

Making it known to the public.

This was exactly the effect he wanted!

Doubt?

Anger?

Incomprehension?

None of it mattered.

Debate itself was a form of attention.

Whether it was well-intentioned belief or malicious speculation, it would all eventually transform into the rapidly ticking numbers on his system panel.

This was a massive reality show directed by him personally.

After closing the class group, Lin Yuan immediately opened another social media app.

On the trending list, his name hung high at number one, followed by various eye-catching hashtags.

#Lin Yuan Background#

#Xia Academy of Sciences Response#

#Youngest Researcher in History#

He randomly clicked on a hashtag, below which were tens of thousands of comments still growing at high speed.

Seeing this scene, a satisfied smile curled on Lin Yuan's face.

Very good.

The fire has been lit.

Next, it was time to use this towering fire of public opinion to forge the first indestructible cornerstone for his grand lie!