The two familiar faces were up ahead.However, at such a distance and with the crowd between them, they could not see Xiang Wan.
Nevertheless, Xiang Wan still kept on watching them.
They met each other in Xi City not too long ago and met again in Jin City…
Destiny was indeed strange and mysterious.
"… Xiang Gongzi Wan… which one…"
"… Point her out to me…"
"Have you seen… that new thread?"
"… It"s such a mess, dog-eat-dog…"
The music in the hall suddenly stopped. In that short time, Xiang Wan heard the whispers coming from somewhere behind.
If it weren"t for that "Xiang Gongzi Wan" word that they mentioned, she wouldn"t have bothered with that.
Nonetheless…
When it was something that concerned oneself, few could ignore it at all.
She knew that whatever happened with Du Landuo earlier was being talked about on the internet…
She was prepared for it, actually.
However, in reality, when she suddenly heard people talking about it, it was still a heavy blow to her.
The amount of money that Second Young Master Mu gifted her provoked too many people"s nerves.
With the addition of Du Landuo"s earlier accusation of "boyfriend s.n.a.t.c.hing", people would not bother if she had really done that, she could not control how it would head either.
If one told a lie a thousand times, it would be true in other"s eyes!
Originally, Xiang Wan didn"t want to pay attention to it, but the whispers not far behind were like a cat"s paw that reached out to her heart.
And scratched her repeatedly!
Xiang Wan felt restless and couldn"t resist the urge to check out the forum with her mobile phone.
True enough…
That thread got really hot!
There were people jeering and cursing; there were also those who danced around while stepping on others…
Coupled with the hot topic of the Annual Awards Ceremony, the vicious remarks targeting her worsened.
They accused Xiang Wan of making use of Second Young Master Mu"s fame and seduced Hu Bandao. The rumor spread like wildfire…
Du Landuo"s accusation gave another reason for the keyboard warriors to hurl abuse at Xiang Wan.
Everyone pointed an accusing finger at her!
A group of people were wildly excited and celebrating as though they were having a festival.
To them, Xiang Gongzi Wan was akin to a person who was down on their luck since everyone was actively trying to step on her!
They spurned and slandered her… it was vicious!
It was another familiar cyberbullying situation for Xiang Wan.
If a moral stain appeared on someone, regardless if it was true or not, tens of millions of "self-appointed saints" would immediately emerge no matter the distance. They would definitely "do their part" by joining in the attack, just to prove they had perfect morals and ethics…
Whoever joined in the "attack" would be cheered on by the rest!
The moment they saw something different from what they had wanted to see, they would immediately launch a joint attack till no other different opinions were being voiced out.
Xiang Wan"s readers were not adept in such a "battle".
Except for Yuan Qianqian, the rest…
They were too polite!
They tried to reason with these keyboard warriors for their favorite author.
They tried to let them know that making such insults were, in fact, cyberbullying. All these accusations were groundless in the first place.
They tried, but their comments and remarks sank quickly in the turbulent and boundless sea of posts—
n.o.body wanted reasons.
They only believed in what they saw.
They only needed an avenue to vent their dissatisfaction with life.
They needed only one event to soothe their paralyzed nerves…
When someone tried to reason with them, it would only make them retaliate even harder!
Xiang Wan couldn"t continue looking at the thread after reading through several pages of posts.
She was so angry that her head was humming away; she then logged on to her account and went to the forum.
"Hasn"t anyone thought that maybe the Second Young Master Mu who appeared in Wen Quan is really him?"
…
Uh oh!
The moment she sent it, Xiang Wan immediately regretted.
She was in a pique of anger and wanted to tell the truth.
She wanted to log in as her alternate account as a reader, only to realize that…
She actually logon to her author"s account.
Good grief!
Would she stir up another huge wave?
She had no right to delete anything at the forum, even though she just wanted to delete her reply to the thread.
Xiang Wan was fl.u.s.tered and looked around for Fang Yuanyuan, but she couldn"t see her. Then she left a message at WeChat.
"My dear cousin, you need to help me delete my latest reply at the forum. I logged on the wrong account!"
…
Fang Yuanyuan did not reply.
At that moment, all the editors were busy doing coordination work for the event.
Fang Yuanyuan would not have time to look at her WeChat.
Moreover, Fang Yuanyuan didn"t have forum management rights. She would need to seek help from her work colleagues to do that.
Deleting that reply wouldn"t happen anytime soon.
…
The event was being live-streamed on the website that night, and the forum was already busy with lots of traffic.
Many readers were watching the celebrities and the event live, at the comfort of their home…
Xiang Gongzi"s sudden reply looked like it was some cold water that was just added to a pot of boiling oil…
It exploded!
It exploded!
The keyboard warriors instantly swarmed the thread!
The servers were about to burst.
The original onlookers also quickly arrived!
They wanted to mock the "shameless and indecent" female author at the fastest time available…
"The real Second Young Master Mu? Did Xiang Gongzi Wan get confused by all these verbal abuses?"
"It"s really Xiang Gongzi who replied this herself? I can"t believe it!"
"Hahahah, really… I almost died of laughter. I had thought others were mistaken about her… Now she actually came out personally to bluff us; this is the first time I"ve seen this!"
"… I actually sympathize with her previously. Well… please excuse me everyone! I"ve lost!"
"Wow, wow, wow! This is getting exciting! The Xiang Gongzi who sucks up to famous authors finally showed herself? She actually doesn"t want to be a tortoise hiding in her sh.e.l.l anymore? I"m waiting for her to get slapped in her face!"
"Same as above, waiting for her to get slapped!"
"Is Xiang Gongzi still there? You said that your top fan is the real Second Young Master Mu. Do you have any evidence?"
"If she says it"s Second Young Master Mu, then so be it. Everyone of us will believe it, really… as if!"
"Xiang Gongzi, please come out and tell us how you seduced Hu Bandao? I heard that last night, both of you slept with each other and you even gave him a sweet-smelling sachet? Can you post a link of it? I want to know where to get it so that I can use it to seduce a famous author, and need not worry about my later half of life anymore…"
"I don"t like Hu Bandao anyway. I"m not interested even if she seduced him, but why did she have to make use of my Second Young Master Mu to gain fame? Stay away from my idol, wretch!"
"Stay away from my idol, wretch!"
"Stay away from my idol, wretch!"
These were already considered the more readable ones.
There were some crude posts that directly cussed Xiang Wan"s family; there were even mentions of private body parts and et cetera…
One could not bear to see it.
…
The event had started.
Xiang Wan just sat there; her hands were shaking while she went through those insults, and her heart started to beat faster…
The unhappiness that acc.u.mulated within her wouldn"t leave.
She had no interest to listen or watch at what was happening on stage at all.
She didn"t know what the emcee had said too.
Even if she chanted the Heart Sutra inside her head, it was of no use at all…
When she regained her senses, it was because Xuan Yue patted her arm lightly.
"Xiang Gongzi? Xiang Gongzi?"
"Mm?" Xiang Wan looked at her; her face was actually pale by now.
"What"s up?"
Xuan Yue looked at her face. "The editor is calling for you?!"
"Eh?"
"Over there…"
Xiang Wan looked over.
She then saw Fang Yuanyuan waving at her.
There were cameras everywhere, and it was difficult to move around from one seat to another, especially for Fang Yuanyuan, who had a fuller figure.
If Xiang Wan were to wait for her to squeeze through the seats, it would be quite a wait…
Xiang Wan knew Fang Yuanyuan wanted her to go over to her after a single glance. She turned back to smile at Xuan Yue and thanked her. Then she arched her back to move from her seat to where Fang Yuanyuan was.
"What is it?"
"Something good!" Fang Yuanyuan was grinning at her.
"…?" Xiang Wan was baffled.
She had not returned from the "nightmare"—the thread at the forum—hence, she was slow to react to Yuanyuan"s words.
"Follow me!" Fang Yuanyuan pointed up ahead. "We"ll move over there…"
Xiang Wan was bewildered by what "something good" meant.
Nonetheless, it was inconvenient to ask questions then.
Thus, without another word, she followed Fang Yuanyuan and moved to the right side of the stage. They then moved toward the front row.
When she arrived there, an editor who was doing usher work immediately let Xiang Wan have her seat.
Up till then, Xiang Wan still did not have an idea as to what was happening.
Her head was filled with chaotic thoughts that only fl.u.s.tered her. The only thing inside her head were all those keyboard warriors who were hurling verbal abuse at her online. The emotions within her remained repressed.
Time was ticking away fast…
In her world, it was as though she could hear nothing.
By then, more than half of the event had pa.s.sed.
The familiar face of the emcee on stage showed an amiable smile.
"Reading lets us grow up! Reading records our youth…"
After saying a string of words, the emcee suddenly announced something.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as well as everyone watching right now; it"s now time to give out the awards…"
Awards…
Xiang Wan"s heart shushed for a moment.
Could it be… she was there to receive an award?
Why didn"t anyone inform her beforehand?
This surprised Xiang Wan as she turned to look at Fang Yuanyuan.
Fang Yuanyuan"s attention was not on her but was looking at the stage in excitement.
The emcee had a very pleasant and calming voice. However, Xiang Wan"s ears were humming and her head was in a mess.
"First of all! The first award we will reveal is… the Best Originality Award of the Year!"
There was a burst of warm applause.
The emcee could grasp the rhythm when the applause almost ceased, he smiled and announced in a solemn demeanor.
"Thank you, everyone! I would also like to thank the audience who are watching our Annual Awards Ceremony live…"
"… Now, let us solemnly invite tonight"s special guest to come on stage to announce the award-winning novel of this year"s Best Originality Award…"
"Speaking of which, I think all of you must be very curious about who is this special guest, right? He"s our mystery guest that"s marked with a question mark as shown on the tickets…"