The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 160: I have a great scholar to argue for me
Lin Shaotao frowned.

When was this video taken?

Zhou Yiming's face was gloomy.

"Three days ago, at Nanjing University of Science and Technology."

Lin Shaotao's brows furrowed even more.

Most of Professor Zheng Qiang's lecture videos online are uploaded by students themselves, and you usually have to actively search for them on various video websites to watch them.

Furthermore, given that this speech at Nanjing University of Science and Technology was given three days prior, it's unlikely that it was specifically targeted at the Three People Band.

Could this be another case of "collateral damage"?
How did Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan find this video?
"Tieba (Baidu's online forum)."

When Jia Kuan spoke, his eyes darted around, and Lin Shaotao could tell at a glance that something was wrong.

"Our school's online forum?"

"Yes."

Jia Kuan honestly replied, "Didn't someone post on Tieba questioning whether Old Boys singing a pop song like 'Little Apple' was self-degradation? Then someone posted this video to vindicate Old Boys."

Lin Shaotao had a look on his face that said, "I just don't believe it."

"Really?"

Finally, Zhou Yiming lost his temper and confessed.

"Last night, our school's Tieba (Baidu's online forum) was attacked. The administrator only lifted the ban on everyone this morning. Jia Kuan and I just wanted to see what people thought of our cover of 'The Lone Warrior,' but we saw a user who kept posting and praising 'Little Apple.' I replied to his post, and then he kept targeting me and started arguing with me like crazy."

"So Professor Zheng Qiang's video was posted by that person?" Lin Shaotao immediately guessed the whole story.

“He’s a cowardly guy. I asked him to meet me in person, but he didn’t dare and kept posting to insult me. I don’t want him to find out which department he’s from.”

Zhou Yiming said bitterly.

"So what if you found out? Are you really going to go to their door and fight them?" Lin Shaotao said speechlessly.

Fighting on campus will result in a demerit or probation in your academic record. Do you even want to find a job after graduation?

Zhou Yiming looked displeased.

"I just can't swallow this! We've definitely been tricked this time!"

Lin Shaotao pressed down on Zhou Yiming's shoulder.

"Don't think too much."

Why would Yang Muyi bother scheming against three nobodys?

If anyone's to blame, it's just that the three of them were unlucky.

Last night I was sniped by the square dance version of "Little Apple" by the Plastic Brothers, and this morning I was completely crushed by the "Little Apple" MV from Sisters Who Make Waves.

I accidentally became cannon fodder.

Even Lin Shaotao could only lament his bad luck.

Yang Muye didn't pay attention to Tieba, but kept staring at Youku.

By a little after 1 p.m., the "Little Apple" music video from Sisters Who Make Waves had garnered over a million views in just four hours.

This is definitely going to be a bestseller.

Most of the K-pop fans who questioned whether "Little Apple" was trying to piggyback on the popularity of Korean girl groups have fallen silent.

After all, South Korean girl groups haven't really taken off yet, and their influence in China is far less exaggerated than it was at some point in the past.

To put it bluntly, they haven't yet developed any real combat capability.

The fact that they can cause a forum-bombing incident is already the limit for these people.

For these people, the "Little Apple" MV from Sisters Who Make Waves was nothing short of a game-changer.

That evening, the Old Boys account posted a video of them singing "Little Apple" with Sisters Who Make Waves at the welcome party.

The video then went viral.

In contrast, the live video of "Want to Go to the Beach" released by the Barbarians using their new account was much more low-key.

The title didn't include any trending keywords or gimmicks, nor did it involve hiring online trolls for marketing.

Even after repeatedly asking Old Boys and Plastic Brothers to help share and promote it, nothing came of it.

After the video was released, Yang Muye didn't pay any more attention to it.

If Wu Di hadn't called the next day at noon, Yang Muyi wouldn't have even known that the video of "Want to Go to the Beach" had surpassed the number of views of the Three People Band's cover of the failed version of "The Lone Warrior".

Yang Muye could only joke with Wu Di over the phone about this.

The Barbarians have really made something of themselves now, they're even on par with the Trio.

Wu Di suggested using the Old Boys account to help with the promotion, but Yang Muye refused.

Later, Xu Kaiyang also called to ask if he wanted to use the Plastic Brothers account to forward the promotion, but Yang Muye refused again.

When the third call came in, Yang Muyi initially thought it was someone else offering to help spread the word.

When he picked up his phone, he saw that the call was from Xie Zhiyao.

"are you free tonight?"

"What, you feel like three autumns have passed since we last met?"

"roll!"

Xie Zhiyao is serious.

Every time he met Yang Muye, he suffered a setback.

If it weren't for the fact that he still owed her a meal, Xie Zhiyao would never have met Yang Muye so soon.

"There has to be a reason for inviting someone to dinner, right?" Yang Muye then asked.

"You know Professor Zheng Qiang, right? He's giving a lecture at our school tonight, and the tickets are really hard to come by. I went to great lengths to get you one."

"That internet celebrity professor?"

"Correct."

"If I remember correctly, Professor Zheng Qiang researches polymer materials, right? How could you think that someone like me, a business student, would be interested in his lecture?"

"Professor Zheng Qiang's lectures are not subject-specific; they are aimed at general education for university students. And didn't you see the video of Professor Zheng Qiang's lecture at Nanjing University of Science and Technology a few days ago? He also specifically mentioned 'Old Boys'."

Yang Muye hadn't actually seen the video, but since Xie Zhiyao had said so, he might as well go and listen to it.

In the afternoon, Xie Zhiyao was waiting at the school gate early.

Seeing Yang Muyi get out of a taxi, Xie Zhiyao joked on the spot, "I thought you would drive that G-Class here. I was all ready to be your parking attendant."

Yang Muyi asked curiously, "Does your school allow outside vehicles to enter?"

Xie Zhiyao spread his hands, feigning regret.

"That's definitely not possible."

Yang Muye looked at Xie Zhiyao with annoyance.

"Then why are you even saying anything?"

Xie Zhiyao put away his playful expression.

"Your G-Class is certainly imposing, but I honestly think you should have asked Uncle Deyuan to get you an Audi A6. That car can go almost anywhere without any problems, and it would definitely be able to get into our school."

After entering the school, Xie Zhiyao first led Yang Muye on a general tour. Finally, they met up with Yao Wei at the entrance of the cafeteria.

We ate at the same Hunan rice noodle shop that Yao Wei mentioned last time.

This time, Yang Muye was in charge of reserving seats, while Yao Wei and Xie Zhiyao went to pick up the food.

When Xie Zhiyao returned with two bowls of rice noodles, she saw Yang Muye standing with a girl, and the girl's companion was taking pictures of the two of them with her phone.

After one person took their turn, another person took their turn.

After the two girls left, Xie Zhiyao came over with the rice noodles.

"Oh, another fan?"

Yao Wei, who was also carrying a bowl of rice noodles, asked curiously:

"again?"

"Yeah, when I was touring the school just now, three girls kept following me. At first, I thought they were just passing by, but when one of them came up to chat me up, I realized that they were here for Makino."

Xie Zhiyao sat down in the seat opposite Yang Muye, and at the same time, he did not forget to joke with Yang Muye.

"From now on, you'll probably have to be fully armed with a mask and baseball cap when you go out."

Yao Wei originally intended to sit next to Xie Zhiyao, but found that the chair was a bit dirty, so she had to move to the seat next to Yang Muye.

"I also watched the live video of 'Want to Go to the Beach,' and all the girls in my dorm really like this song."

After sitting down, Yao Wei said.

"It's the same in our dorm; we like it second only to 'Little Apple' from Sisters Who Make Waves."

Xie Zhiyao immediately added a sentence.

Yao Wei's face showed a look of envy: "Sisters Who Make Waves is really popular now. The music video is better than many professional singers' videos."

Xie Zhiyao said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Professor Zheng Qiang mentioned Old Boys at Nanjing University of Science and Technology last time. Maybe he will also give his comments on Sisters Who Make Waves tonight."

It's clear that Xie Zhiyao is quite looking forward to Zheng Qiang's speech.

Yao Wei is the same.

While the two were discussing, Yang Muye kept his head down, intently slurping his rice noodles.

Although I had watched some of Zheng Qiang's speeches online in my past life.

But I haven't had much contact with it in real life.

My biggest impression of Zheng Qiang is that he is a "celebrity principal".

After leaving Zhejiang University, Zheng Qiang served as president of two other universities, where he received high praise.

After learning that Zheng Qiang's speech would be held in a lecture hall that could accommodate a thousand people, Yang Muye actually listened to advice and bought a black mask to wear after finishing his rice noodles.

When we arrived at the lecture hall, there were no seats left in the front rows.

Xie Zhiyao chose a seat in the middle by the window.

Yang Muyi sat at the innermost seat, Yao Wei sat in the middle, and Xie Zhiyao sat at the outermost seat.

Ten minutes before the speech, Zheng Qiang entered the venue accompanied by staff from the Central University of Finance and Economics.

The lecture hall was already full of people.

Those who were stopped at the door because they didn't have tickets were all allowed in before the speech started, but they could only stand at the back of the classroom.

Zheng Qiang was invited by the Central University of Finance and Economics to give a speech, and the theme was still general education.

Its core idea is to advocate for the importance of social science education in universities.

This is especially true for students majoring in science and engineering.

Previously, Zheng Qiang was invited to give speeches at either comprehensive universities or science and engineering universities.

This is the first time I've given a speech at a business and management university.

At the beginning of his speech, Zheng Qiang explained the reasons.

In fact, he had received an invitation from another prestigious university in Yenching University a long time ago, which was also a business and management college.

Zheng Qiang did not mention his name, but that did not stop the audience from eagerly answering.

Foreign trade and economic cooperation?

One of the boys said something.

Zheng Qiang immediately denied it and asked everyone to stop speculating.

Because this is a multiple-choice question.

There are only two business and management universities in Yenching University that can be compared with the Central University of Finance and Economics, and now we have ruled out one wrong answer.

The remaining one is definitely the correct answer.

Just as Xie Zhiyao and Yao Wei subconsciously looked at Yang Muye, Zheng Qiang's voice rang out.

"That school is very famous now, so I won't advertise for them. The reason I haven't agreed to go there yet is because I don't know what to say if I go there."

"Tell them to pay attention to relevant social science disciplines. They not only pay attention to them, but their practice is also at the forefront of universities across the country."

"At this point, some of you might be wondering, Professor Zheng Qiang, are you encouraging all of us college students to become internet celebrities?"

"On the contrary, I do not encourage everyone to blindly follow the trend, because being an internet celebrity is just a facade. What I want to talk about today is the true nature behind being an internet celebrity."

"Speaking of the earliest internet celebrities, some of you may still remember the Back Dorm Boys, right? Two boys from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts were very popular back then, and you could even see their videos on foreign websites. But why did they stop being popular after graduation?"

"I think a major reason is that they were too busy becoming internet celebrities and didn't put in the effort to study. After graduation, it's not entirely accurate to say that they lost their talent, but they certainly became just ordinary people."

"Then let's go back to some of the current internet celebrities, like Old Boys and Sisters Who Make Waves who are currently very popular."

"I've watched the music video and the live performance of 'Little Apple,' but I won't comment on the song itself. After all, I'm just a polymer materials professor who won a singing competition, not a professional."

"If you ask me if they sing well or dance well, I can only tell you that they are all very good-looking!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

Zheng Qiang took the opportunity to drink some water and continued:
"Seeing Old Boys and Sisters Who Make Waves become popular one after another, I was actually a little worried. I was afraid that they would follow in the footsteps of Back Dorm Boys. So I even called the secretary of the college where Old Boys is located to learn more about their situation."

"After that phone call, I was shocked. Do you know what I heard? It wasn't about how amazing or outstanding Old Boys was. Even their Party Secretary didn't mention Old Boys to me much. Instead, he talked about another guy in their department."

"Why did he tell me about that guy? Because the novel 'The Lone Warrior,' which made Old Boys famous overnight, was written by that guy, and the novel 'Little Apple,' which is now pushing Sisters Who Make Waves into the spotlight, was also written by that guy."

“You’re all surprised, aren’t you? I was surprised too. I even wanted to ask their secretary if the boy had chosen the wrong school and major. But the secretary told me that the boy was just writing songs as a hobby.”

"When I heard those words, my biggest regret was not recording them and then playing them back for their secretary to hear himself. Is that even human language?"

Another burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

However, this time Zheng Qiang didn't drink any more water and immediately said, "You call someone an amateur who can write songs like 'The Lone Warrior' and 'Little Apple'? At the time, I thought he was showing off to me, but later I realized that the real showing off hadn't even started yet."

"Then their secretary told me that the boy had already started his own business and developed a small game before he even enrolled in school. I believe everyone here has played it. I won't mention the name, but it was the most popular game during the period when school started."

“I asked a marketing professor at Zhejiang University, and he told me that the viral marketing case of that mini-game could be written directly into the textbook. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized that the boy really didn’t choose the wrong major. It would have been a real waste if he had gone into music!”

At this point, Zheng Qiang adjusted the height of the microphone in front of him and looked at the audience with a sincere expression.

“We outsiders only see this boy writing songs, making videos, and turning his classmates into internet celebrities. But don’t think he’s neglecting his studies. While you’re still learning from textbooks, he’s already operating a brand new internet celebrity business model.”

"I dare say that when this influencer business model first emerges, it will definitely be another classic case study that can be written into your business school textbooks."

Before picking up his thermos to drink, Zheng Qiang made a preliminary summary:
"I believe that day is not far away."

(End of this chapter)