This top-tier academic genius

Lin Yan took out his keys and opened the door to his home. The three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, about 100 square meters, was bright and spacious, with a simple yet elegant decor.

The sizzling sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen, and the aroma wafted out through the crack in the door, whetting one's appetite.

Seemingly hearing the door open, Wang Lanyin, who was busy at the stove, turned around: "Yanyan is back? Wash your hands quickly, the food will be ready soon, and your dad will be back soon too."

"Okay, Mom."

Lin Yan responded, put down his schoolbag, changed into a loose set of home clothes, quickly washed his hands, and just finished wiping his face when he heard the sound of a key turning at the door.

Dad, Lin Muyuan, is back.

"dad."

"Um."

Lin Muyuan took off his coat and hung it on the hanger. His tone was calm, but he couldn't hide the gentleness in his eyes.

The Lin family's economic conditions were not extremely wealthy, but they were still quite well-off.

Lin Muyuan works in a public institution. Although it's a leisurely department, he's a real section chief with stable benefits. Wang Lanyin works in a subdistrict office. Her job is easy, and she has plenty of free time.

Compared to Chen Bin's family's chain supermarket business, the Lin family's business is not as good, but it is not as good as the best, but it is not as bad as the worst either, enough for the family of three to live comfortably.

Before long, the food was served, and the three of them sat around the table.

The Lin family of three share striking similarities: they are all good-looking, have great modeling skills, and are incredibly quiet.

The dining table was so quiet that only the soft clinking of bowls and chopsticks could be heard. After several minutes of silence, Lin Muyuan slowly spoke, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible concern: "How are you adjusting to school this new semester?"

"fine."

Lin Yan simply replied with three words, picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, and the dining table fell silent again.

After a while, Wang Lanyin put a piece of pork rib into Lin Yan's bowl and said softly, "Son, eat more to nourish your body. Studying hard in your senior year of high school is tiring."

"Okay, Mom."

There were no unnecessary pleasantries, no endless admonitions; after a simple conversation, there was another quiet chewing sound.

This is how the Lin family gets along: ordinary, yet full of subtle warmth.

A dozen minutes later, Lin Yan put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and said firmly, "Mom and Dad, I'm full. I'm going back to my room to study."

After saying that, without waiting for their response, he turned and went into his room, closing the door behind him.

Lin Muyuan and Wang Lanyin exchanged a glance, a look of disbelief flashing in their eyes, which was then replaced by intense joy.

Ever since Lin Yan returned from Shanghai after being fired from her contract, she has become self-destructive and idle all day long. She either stays in her room playing on her phone or goes out to have fun with Chen Bin. She doesn't even mention her studies. The couple is worried but doesn't know how to persuade her.

Now that their son has taken the initiative to say he wants to study, it is undoubtedly a sign that he has turned over a new leaf, so how could they not be overjoyed?

"This child has finally come to her senses," Wang Lanyin said softly, her eyes slightly moist.

Lin Muyuan nodded, a rare smile appearing on his lips: "Take it slow. As long as he's willing to learn, it's never too late."

On the other side, after returning to his room, Lin Yan did not immediately open his math textbook, but instead took out his phone and opened Huibo.

Huibo is a social platform, very similar to Weibo.

His Huibo account is called [Lin Yan], which is officially verified. However, the former "Member of Time Boys" label has long been removed by the company, leaving only a bare verification mark.

The account's latest post is from five months ago, which was the preview for the live stream where his persona collapsed.

[Tonight at 8:30 PM, Yan Yan will be live-streaming her studies. Everyone, come and support her! (๑>؂<๑） [Livestream Link]]

The post included a list of related accounts tagged, including the official Time Boys group account, fan club, and fan site...

Looking back now, all that remains is a sense of irony.

This post initially garnered tens of thousands of likes, but now the top comments are all negative and sarcastic, with not a single one from fans.

@AngryOldBro: Fuck you, I'm leaving the group! (Image: jpg)

@TimeFanDisengagementStation: Our Time Boys group doesn't have a liar like you! Your "academic genius" persona has collapsed, you can't afford to lose face, get out of here!!!

@TonightWeFightTigers: Hahahaha, another clown who's made a fool of himself! It's not scary to be uncultured, but it's ridiculous to pretend to be a scholar when you're uncultured.

@A Little Bit Happy: You can't even solve a quadratic equation, yet you dare to call yourself a top student? [Disdain]

@I'mJustAPasserby: It's okay if you can't do the questions, as long as you can create a persona, that's fine. The entertainment industry is full of tricks.

@Lu Ze Fan Club: Please stop trying to piggyback on the "academic superstar" label! Stop trying to create this persona. Our Lu Ze is the real academic superstar, ranking in the top three of his grade in the college entrance exam mock test!

Seeing the screen full of mockery, Lin Yan remained calm and unmoved.

He clearly remembers that this account once had tens of thousands of followers, but now the number of followers has dwindled to less than three thousand, most of whom are haters and zombie fans, and the number of real followers is probably less than a thousand.

After all, no one would support a minor artist who has just gained some fame but has already suffered a setback and been abandoned by their company.

Lin Yan glanced at her phone; it was 7:47 PM.

Without hesitation, he edited a new post with no extra text, just a simple sentence: "Live learning session tonight from 8 PM to 11 PM."

After clicking "post," he exited Huibo, stopped paying attention to subsequent comments, poured himself a glass of warm water, placed his phone on the upper right corner of his desk, adjusted the camera angle to ensure he could clearly see himself and the textbook on the desk, then opened Douyin, created a live stream, entered the title "[High School Senior Live Stream: Practicing Problems]", and clicked "Start Live Stream." He then completely put down his phone, picked up his high school senior math textbook, and began to study it attentively.

He had already seen the section on "Equations of Lines and Circles," and with his talent for "Mathematical Factors (Beginner)," he understood the concepts effortlessly.

Moreover, Lin Yan had a strong premonition that once he fully mastered all the knowledge points of high school mathematics, his mathematical level would definitely make a qualitative leap.

In the Douyin live stream room, within the first minute after Lin Yan started her live stream, a viewer with the ID "Xiao Hui Jia You" entered the live stream room.

【Xiao Hui, keep going!】My real name is Xiao Hui, and I am also a senior high school student. I saw the title of the live stream "Senior High School Students Live Streaming Practice Questions" and clicked in out of curiosity.

As soon as she entered the live stream room, she was amazed by the boy in the camera.

With his handsome features and clean-cut demeanor, he looks so dashing when he's engrossed in reading.

"So handsome, and he still needs to do math problems? With looks like that, wouldn't it be better for him to go into the entertainment industry?" Xiao Hui muttered to herself, then casually sent a comment: [What a cool math textbook! [winking emoji] The streamer is so good-looking!]

But she waited for a long time and still didn't get a response from the streamer.

Lin Yan, as seen on camera, didn't even glance at his phone. He remained quiet throughout, either reading a book or marking important points on the pages with a pen. He would occasionally take a sip of water, making no unnecessary movements, as if the viewers and comments in the live stream had nothing to do with him.

Meanwhile, Lin Yan's comment section on Huibo was completely exploding.

His "live-stream learning" post was barely published when it was targeted by haters, and the comment section was instantly flooded with new messages, with mockery rising and falling.

@StarsLostInTheEyes: ? ? ? Wasn't he supposed to have completely disappeared from the scene after retiring? How come he's back? And even doing live-streamed lessons?

@TonightWeFightTigers: I can't believe this. Here we go again, pretending to be a genius on livestream? Have some shame! [knocking emoji] Wasn't your last blunder embarrassing enough?

@I'mJustAPasserby: Got it, got it, they're starting to play the victim and create a persona again. We need a grumpy bro right now. @GrumpyBro

@GrumpyOldBro: Here I come! @I'mJustAPasserby [Fuck you, can you just quit the internet? Don't come out and disgust people!]

@独嗳の汢枫: Hey hot-tempered bro! Go to his livestream and yell at him, don't let him keep up the act!

@TonightI'll check out the live stream first, see what tricks this kid's up to this time, hehe.

@YanYanIsStillHere: Great! I can finally see my YanYan again! [Happy] No matter what others say, I believe in you!

@A Little Bit Happy: Is the person upstairs a brainless fan? They're a fan of this kind of fraudster who's completely messed up? Have they never seen a real academic genius before?

@孤裑卟孤心: Laughed, watch me go to his live stream and throw him a question to teach him a lesson [funny], let him know what real learning is!

In the live stream, Xiao Hui was still wondering why the streamer wasn't saying anything when, in the next second, the number of viewers in the live stream suddenly surged.

Originally, she was the only one, but in just one minute, hundreds of people flooded in, and the barrage of comments instantly became dense.

"What's going on? Why are so many people here all of a sudden?" Xiao Hui was completely bewildered, staring at the rapidly scrolling comments on the screen.

[It really is Lin Yan?! This kid actually dares to do a live stream?!]

[Trying to pull off the "academic genius" persona again? Are you kidding me? You had no shame after your last disastrous failure.]

[Oh ho, you're still using a senior high school math textbook? You're really putting on an act! [laughing emoji]]

Did you solve that quadratic equation last time? Don't fail again!

[Have you even gone to school yet? You dare to do live-streamed practice problems? You probably can't even recognize all the words in your textbook!]

Stop pretending! Look up and speak properly. Is this part of a script prepared by the team?

[Someone come here, give him a middle school level math problem to teach him a lesson. [Funny]]

【Yanyan, which company have you signed with now?】

[Can you solve the quadratic equation x²−5x+6=0? My ten-year-old nephew can do it, don't be stuck again, hahaha]

[The comment upstairs is ruthless, but I like it! Let's see how he acts!]

The barrage of comments was full of mockery and ridicule. Occasionally, one or two people would defend Lin Yan, but they were instantly drowned out by the wave of haters.

Xiao Hui and a few other bystanders were completely bewildered, filled with questions: Who exactly is this streamer? Why are so many people criticizing him?

To her even greater surprise, the number of viewers in the live stream continued to increase, exceeding two hundred in just over ten minutes, and still rising.

But Lin Yan, in front of the camera, seemed to have completely forgotten that he was live streaming. He didn't look up at his phone once in a while. Except for occasionally taking a sip of water, turning pages of his book, or making notes, he focused on his textbook the whole time. His expression was calm and his eyes were serious. He didn't even frown. It was as if all the noise outside had nothing to do with him.

Time passed by, and half an hour later, the number of viewers in the live stream had soared to nearly five hundred.

After the haters had been criticizing for a while, they realized that Lin Yan didn't respond at all. He neither argued nor pretended, but just studied quietly. Gradually, the comments started to change. There were fewer sarcastic remarks and more doubts.

[Something's not right, guys. This doesn't seem like he's just putting on a show or trying to create a persona. Is he genuinely studying?]

Judging from the surroundings, this must be his home. There are no staff members, no scripts, just him quietly reading a book.

【Seriously, Ah Yan? Are you serious? You're not going to maintain this persona anymore?】

[Impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible! It must be a team arrangement! Where are the staff? Show yourselves! Urgent!]

[Hey upstairs, I know you're in a hurry, but hold on a minute. [Funny face]]

[A prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold. No matter what he did before, as long as he is willing to study hard, he is a good kid. Let's support him!]

[Mommy fans are so relieved! Yan Yan has finally figured it out; studying hard is more important than anything else!]

Is it possible that he genuinely wants to start over and focus on the college entrance exam?

The comments gradually split into two camps: one camp continued to mock, thinking that Lin Yan was still just putting on an act; the other camp began to waver, thinking that he was serious this time.

On Huibo, a new hot comment appeared under Lin Yan's personal account. It was from the same person who had previously led the mockery, "[Angry Older Brother]": "Brothers, breaking news! This kid wasn't putting on a persona. He was just quietly reading, without looking up the whole time. He wasn't putting on a show."

Immediately following this popular comment was another popular comment from 【Love Lu Ze 365 Days】: "Sisters, don't believe the person upstairs! He's definitely faking it too well. Watch me go to his live stream and expose him, making him completely reveal his true colors!"

Soon, a large number of people flooded into the live stream room.