Chapter 256: Another Billow
Jia Zhengyi’s weak response to Xiao Luo’s post was telling. It clearly showed who had won and who had lost their joust on social media.
Chu Yunxiong couldn’t help laughing, “Xiao Luo… he really surprises me!”
He had never expected that Xiao Luo would throw down the gauntlet. Jia Zhengyi was a celebrity in his own right, and taking him on one-on-one was no mean feat. And on top of that, to toy with the rest of his followers with such witty remarks was utterly brutal, and really a treat to all who followed them on Weibo.
Ge Zhongtian was equally impressed, and laughing along, he said, “Yes, he has a way with words. Even I would admit defeat.”
“Able to trample over a talk show host, now that’s what I call power.”
Chu Yunxiong was amused. This young man, Xiao Luo, had never failed to surprise him. Even now, he had already caught wind that Xiao Luo had been roped in by the NSA’s top commander. In the days to come, he would be destined to achieve extraordinary feats.
…
…
Jia Zhengyi and San Qian Luo Shui’s “verbal war” had been trending on Weibo, and Gu Qianxue had been following the episode closely. When she learned that “San Qian Luo Shui” was actually Xiao Luo’s Weibo handle, she couldn’t help laughing out in sheer excitement. She was adorable when she laughed, she just seemed so much livelier. Gu Qianxue didn’t expect that Xiao Luo would have such a different side to him.
Gu Qianlin, on the other hand, never liked Xiao Luo, and only sneered, “What a vulgar person!”
“Xiao Luo is only responding to those who have insulted him. This isn’t being vulgar,” Gu Qianxue responded, defending Xiao Luo.
“The entire thing is filled with expletives. If this isn’t vulgar, what is?”
“They hurled insults at Xiao Luo first.”
Gu Qianlin pursed her lips, “Qianxue, I’m not gonna argue with you. I’m just gonna wait for Luo’s Workshop’s VP’s trial in three days. Don’t forget about our bet.”
Gu Qianxue thought about it seriously, then nodded, “I have not forgotten.”
…
…
A netizen with the Weibo ID “L00king for a Sunny Day” posted: “Today, I’ve witnessed a true past master in action. San Qian Luo Shui, please accept my grovel. The respect I have towards you is unceasing like a raging river.”
Comment posted by “Popular Apple”: “San Qian Luo Shui is way too domineering. During ancient times, we have the phrase ‘triumph against a group of learned men in a verbal battle,’ and now, we have ‘one against ten thousand.’ He’s absolutely my idol!”
Comment posted by “Cry Baby”: “La la la, la la la, I’m San Qian Luo Shui’s die-hard fan. He takes trash-talking to the next level. He is invincible, even fought against a million people. He viciously twisted down the dog-head of justice[1]!”
Even after the “verbal war” on Weibo ended, many people still enjoyed leaving comments for Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo’s account,” San Qian Luo Shui,” now had more than one hundred thousand followers. His points in the system have also reached a staggering six hundred thousand.
“What in the f*ck, you actually beat them. The people that have been criticizing Luo’s Workshop previously are all gone! Old Xiao, that’s a really nice one, you b*stard! Haha, haha…”
Zhang Dashan cracked up and then pa.s.sed his phone for Xiao Luo to look, “Even our university chat group has fired up. Everyone is talking about you now.”
“No way, they know it was me?” Xiao Luo was a little embarra.s.sed. He didn’t enjoy being in the limelight and s.h.i.+ed away from publicity.
“Of course, they don’t. You sneakily registered this Weibo account, even I just got to know about it.”
Zhang Dashan took back his phone and tapped on Xiao Luo’s profile. When he looked at it, his eyes widened in surprise, and he said, “What the f*ck is going on here? You gained more than a hundred thousand followers just because of this? Even I, an internet celebrity, only have 500 thousand! I had enough of this!”
“…”
Xiao Luo was speechless, he wasn’t after the followers, but only needed points. Fortunately, he had not posted any videos or pictures of himself on his Weibo account. Had he uploaded photos of himself in the past, he may not have been so adventurous going up against Jia Zhengyi.
When Luo Qi and Li Zimeng learned from Zhang Dashan, who “San Qian Luo Shui” really was, they were both shocked.
“Well, that’s it for Boss’s cool and collected image, but I really like him this way too. The way he jumped on Jia Zhengyi was legit awesome. I bet that talk show host can’t even tell left from right now. Boss, I love you to the max, hehe…” Luo Qi expressed her admiration for Xiao Luo with candor.
Just when Xiao Luo thought that things were going to settle down, Zhang Dashan suddenly jumped up and shouted in his phone like he had seen a ghost, “Holy, holy, holy pepperonis!”
The fact that he had not used an expletive and had mentioned ‘holy’ three times in a row meant this was something out of the ordinary.
“Brother Zhang, what’s wrong?” Feng Wuhen asked, his curiosity piqued by Zhang Dashan’s strange reaction.
Xiao Luo glanced at him, “Are you having a seizure?”
Zhang Dashan didn’t hear any of it and just hurried over to Xiao Luo with his phone, and a silly smile on his face. With an irrepressible excitement, he blurted out loudly, “Old Xiao, G.o.ddess Su Li is following your Weibo! And she even liked your reply right under that b*stard Jia Zhengyi’s comment. Haha!”
What?!”
“G.o.ddess Su Li is following Brother Xiao? And even liked his comment?”
When Feng Wuhen and the rest heard him, they quickly went for their phones and tapped into Xiao Luo’s profile. A few months ago, they were still noobs, but they had quickly adapted to the use of mobile applications and social media. They naturally knew what a big celebrity Su Li was, earning a fee of 50 million to star in a movie! Being followed by a superstar like her on Weibo was simply unheard of, especially for the average person.
Xiao Luo was staring at his Weibo page and spotted her avatar, a cartoon rabbit. He tapped on it and accessed Su Li’s profile. He was expecting it, but he was still shocked by the number of followers Su Li had.
70 million followers!
All of her posts were shared at least three million times, and they each generated over 200 thousand comments. Even a simple “Good night” had a record number of shares and likes.
Su Li following and liking his account had the same effect like a stone being thrown into a calm lake, setting off waves in all directions.
Many other celebrities came on and followed “San Qian Luo Shui,” even liking all his comments countering Jia Zhengyi. An actress who was once offended by Jia Zhengyi’s poisonous tongue also posted a direct message to rebuke Jia Zhengyi: “What someone only knows is to be arrogant. Getting all inflated just because he has a talk show. Inciting arguments on the internet, and flaming others without even getting to the bottom of things, I just want to tell that person – enough is enough.”
Another female celebrity by the surname of Lee also spoke out: “Those who humiliate others will only be humiliated themselves. I think someone has to reflect on himself.”
Several male celebrities took the opportunity to reprimand Jia Zhengyi. One of them posted a few extremely satirical cartoons where the protagonist was named “Jia Zhengyi” or “fake justice,” a pun in an apparent reference to Jia Zhengyi.
Jia Zhengyi had suddenly become the target of countless attacks. With Su Li and the other celebrities partic.i.p.ating in it, almost half of the people in the country got into the act. Very quickly, the number of followers on Xiao Luo’s account had reached an incredible four million. What made it even more unbelievable was that his account wasn’t a verified one, and it certainly was not a celebrity’s account.
Zhang Dashan was dizzy from seeing the number of flowers increasing rapidly, and he whined, “What the f*ck. Even I only, an internet celebrity, only have 500 thousand followers. And it is the result of my hard work over a long time. What the f*ck, you already got yourself four million followers in less than four hours. This is too f*ckin’ crazy.” He only wished that Xiao Luo’s account was his own.
[1] Justice (Zhèngyì): A pun referring to “Jia Zhengyi,” the name of the offending talk show host.