He fiercely criticized the Manchu scholar clique and the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

Zhao Shuyao pulled his hands out of his hoodie pockets, took out his phone, and swiped his thumb across the screen to unlock it. He had only wanted to check the popularity of the article about the truth of the massacre of Chuan, but the moment he opened the Toutiao app, his eyes were immediately locked onto the red news push at the top of the homepage.

The headline is very eye-catching: "Yan Jianhui, son of Yan Chongnian, a leading scholar of Qing Dynasty history, formally files a lawsuit against the graduate student from Southeast University involved in the case, who faces defamation and huge compensation claims."

Moving the view downwards, the accounts of various local official media outlets have formed a matrix-style reporting structure below.

The Fengtian Morning Post, Southern Youth Daily, and even some legal weekly newspapers all followed up and reprinted the details of the indictment, and also provided an in-depth analysis with pictures and text of the article "Ex-Girlfriend's Tearful Accusation" published in the early morning.

Zhao Shuyao's brain processed the information at lightning speed. Observing the timing and uniform pace of these official media outlets' actions, he immediately concluded that the Yan family did not intend to entangle him with academic historical materials, but instead used their core network of connections to attempt a double strangulation on both the legal and moral levels.

This would deprive him of even the legitimacy to speak in his defense.

Zhao Shuyao's lips curled up slightly, showing no sign of panic. He held the edge of the phone in his right hand, flipped the screen, and steadily pushed it onto the desk, placing it directly below his mentor Zhang Jianguo's line of sight.

"Teacher, look," Zhao Shuyao said in a relaxed tone, "Mr. Yan Jianhui, as the agent, is indeed admirable in his efficiency. He not only filed the lawsuit, but also arranged the press releases from major media outlets in a very clear manner."

Zhang Jianguo lowered his head, his gaze falling on the brightly lit screen. The moment he saw the headline, the wrinkles on his face deepened. He pushed up his glasses and scanned the news word by word. His breathing gradually became heavy.

"They're really serious now!" Zhang Jianguo looked up, his eyes filled with deep helplessness and heartache. "Shuyao, now it's not just that article about a private dispute, but even the official media are making pronouncements. The academic affairs office will definitely not be able to withstand the pressure of this kind of social impact."

Zhao Shuyao put his phone away, turned off the screen, and put it back in his pocket: "Pressure is always something we put on ourselves."

Sitting there with clear eyes, he said, "They sued me, and I responded. This is the legally mandated procedure. As for the social impact, the online sentiment can change at any time."

Zhang Jianguo looked at the calm and composed student in front of him and his lips moved. He couldn't really understand the confidence Zhao Shuyao was talking about, which was based on "algorithms and traffic". In his understanding, if you made the headlines and were sued, your life was basically over.

But Zhang Jianguo was ultimately an old-fashioned scholar with integrity, and he saw in Zhao Shuyao's eyes a pure spirit that would never yield.

"That's enough." Zhang Jianguo sighed deeply, folded the printed essay on his desk, and put it in the drawer. "I'm old, and I really can't keep up with your current internet age. Since you've made up your mind, then follow your heart."

He stood up, walked to Zhao Shuyao's side, patted Zhao Shuyao's shoulder, and earnestly advised, "Whether you're not in school in the future, or you're doing that self-media thing you mentioned online..."

"Just remember one thing: don't lose sight of our original purpose in studying history because of short-term gains and attention; and don't take money that you shouldn't take."

"Don't worry." Zhao Shuyao stood up and bowed slightly. "In this life, I am the only one who will reap their rewards. No one can buy the truth in my mind with money."

After exchanging a few words about their future plans, Zhao Shuyao pushed open the office door and stepped into the afternoon sunlight.

As Zhao Shuyao strolled along the tree-lined path leading from the School of Humanities to the living area, he occasionally received strange looks from students on both sides of the road. He ignored them, took out his phone again, and opened the creator backend on Toutiao.

The message icon in the upper right corner shows "99+", so red it's almost dripping blood.

Zhao Shuyao didn't rush to look at the insults. Instead, he opened the "Earnings Center". The data on the interface loaded for a second, and then a green number jumped into his eyes: 5120.50 yuan.

This is the direct cash income he generated from just two videos and articles, plus the traffic subsidies that went viral overnight yesterday.

Seeing this number, Zhao Shuyao stopped in his tracks.

Five thousand yuan was equivalent to a month's full-time salary for an average white-collar worker in Fengtian City in 2016. He pocketed this money simply because of a cyberbullying campaign maliciously fueled by the Yan family and online trolls.

Creating hype through online trolls requires real money, and this fake traffic, bought with capital, is precisely converted into his GG revenue share after flooding his account by the platform's algorithm.

"That's what you call 'borrowing arrows with straw boats'," Zhao Shuyao murmured, shaking his head.

Lei Jun's famous saying, "If you stand at the right place at the right time, even a pig can fly," is now being demonstrated in the most direct way. If he can wash away all the filth that has been splashed on him and reverse his reputation, the value and benefits of this account will be immeasurable.

Switch to the next screen and access your private message inbox.

As expected, the screen was filled with vulgar language. Among the numerous troll accounts without profile pictures, there were also many real female accounts with high-level accounts and heavily edited selfies. Zhao Shuyao swiped his finger and randomly clicked on the top three.

The first comment, from the user "Strawberry Shattered Ice": "You scumbag dropped out of school, using a girl's hard-earned money to study your worthless books. I've already called your academic affairs office and filed a formal complaint against you. People like you deserve to be hit by a dump truck!"

The second comment, from a user named "Independent and Clear-headed Female Lead," reads: "Xiaoyu has suffered with you for so many years, and you even haggle over buying her a bag. You're so stingy, yet you have the nerve to accuse her of cheating? A low-class man like you, who can't provide emotional support or material security, deserves to be childless for life!"

The third comment, from the user "Promise in the Wind," reads: "You jerk! You post a few nonsensical articles and pretend to be a cultured person. You have the nerve to say she spent your meager living expenses? A girl using your money is doing you a favor, and instead of being grateful, you turn around and blame her. I hope you get arrested when you appear in court tomorrow!"

Zhao Shuyao looked at these private messages without any emotional fluctuation, not even a trace of anger.

His mind objectively analyzes the social and psychological phenomena behind these languages. It is now 2016, the economy is on the rise, and the benefits of mobile internet have given voice to many groups who have never been exposed to the underlying logic.

The extremely selfish consumerist concepts of "my money is mine, and your money is mine too" and "I'll take care of being beautiful, and you take care of earning money to support the family" are being packaged by some marketing accounts and become a sought-after "declaration of independence".

"These days at this point in time are so wonderful they're almost overwhelming," Zhao Shuyao thought to himself.

He knew very well that it would be pointless to try to change the trend of this environment on his own, but since he was already there, he felt he should do something for the brothers who were still working hard.

At the very least, we cannot allow this upside-down "managed living expenses" scheme to become a bargaining chip for some people to justify raising their own status, nor can we allow those hardworking men to feel like a ridiculous sycophant when they look back on their efforts years later.

Zhao Shuyao put away his phone, quickened his pace, and pushed open the door to dormitory room 304.

The dormitory was quiet. Yang Wei was not there; he had obviously gone to participate in the provincial civil service exam mock interview, which suited Zhao Shuyao perfectly.

He walked to the table, pulled out the slightly worn chair, sat down, placed his phone on the simple stand on the table, adjusted the angle to ensure that the bookshelf and the county gazettes behind him were within the edge of the frame, creating an extremely ordinary and unhurried atmosphere.

Press the record button, and the red dot on the screen starts flashing.

"Good afternoon, everyone on Toutiao." Zhao Shuyao looked straight at the camera, his posture upright, his tone calm and with a penetrating composure. "I am Zhao Shuyao, the most hated 'Scumbag in Qing Dynasty History' who is currently trending on the internet."

Without any beating around the bush, Zhao Shuyao got straight to the point.

"First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the media friends and netizens for their close attention to my private life. Regarding the long article published by that classmate 'Stolen Youth Rain,' I would like to make a few very brief historical statements here. After all, we history students believe that a single piece of evidence is not enough."

He raised his right index finger and began to disassemble the parts methodically.

"First, the article mentioned 'doing my laundry and cooking for me in a cheap rental apartment.' Unfortunately, this violates basic physical logic, as my college classmates who know me well know."

"During my senior year of college, when I was preparing for graduate school entrance exams, I lived in the male dormitory on the third floor of Building 6 on campus the entire time. I never rented a house off campus. If Xiaoyu really did wash someone's smelly socks in a rented room, that person was obviously not me."

Lowering his fingers, Zhao Shuyao's lips curled into a gentle yet deadly smile.

"Secondly, regarding the so-called 'spending her money on tutoring classes,' I've always had a good memory and read quickly, so I haven't contributed a single penny to the performance of any postgraduate entrance exam tutoring institutions. As for the source of my living expenses..."

Zhao Shuyao paused deliberately for a second, his eyes becoming somewhat intriguing.

"If you look closely at the transfer screenshots in her article, you'll notice something interesting: all the screenshots show 'she transferred money to me,' with amounts ranging from fifty to two hundred. It certainly looks like she's helping me out, right?"

"But what is the real historical context?" Zhao Shuyao spread his hands and explained in an extremely colloquial tone, "Back then, my classmate Xiaoyu told me a very profound truth: she said that boys should never keep spare money, because having money will lead them astray."

"So, every month, the 1,500 yuan living expenses that my parents deposit into my card on time will be transferred in full to her account for 'custody' on the same day it arrives."

Zhao Shuyao crossed his hands and placed them under his chin.

"This has led to the situation where, if I want to eat braised pork at the second canteen or buy a reference book, I have to submit an 'application report' to her on WeChat. Those transfer screenshots you see are actually the money I painstakingly begged back from my own living expenses every day for food."

He had complete control over the pace of the video, calmly tearing apart layer after layer of moral pretense.

"As for the final reason for the breakup, it was definitely not because I got into graduate school and abandoned her." Zhao Shuyao shook his head, "but because my fixed salary, which was 'managed' for me, simply couldn't meet her desire to buy a certain seasonal luxury handbag."

"So, on a sunny afternoon, she decisively opened the passenger door of a Porsche. This brief but very educational event is a testament to her courage."

Zhao Shuyao sat up straight, put away his smile, looked directly at the camera, and used the unique refinement of a cultured person to elevate the entire piece.

"Here, I want to take advantage of this huge surge in traffic to remind all the brothers on the internet: never trust so-called 'salary escrow' services. Once your money leaves your account and ends up in someone else's hands, it belongs to them."

"If someone takes a few dozen yuan from your money to buy you a cup of milk tea, that's a favor to you, and you should be grateful. But if you part ways in the end, you not only lose your savings, but you also have to bear the big black mark of being a 'blood-sucking phoenix man'."

"Remember, everyone, the money you earn is for your own self-confidence and dignity, for others to see, and absolutely not for using to support others without any bottom line."

"If any of you feel lost because you're too honest, feel free to message me anytime. Besides discussing history, I'm also happy to provide some basic common sense and logic."

At this point, Zhao Shuyao picked up the ceramic cup on the table, took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and prepared to unleash his final trump card.

"Finally, regarding the matter reported by major official media outlets today, Mr. Yan Jianhui, on behalf of his father, sued me for defamation."

Zhao Shuyao put down his water glass, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

"I hereby formally respond: I welcome this lawsuit and will definitely respond actively. Since you all want to put this matter under the spotlight, let's go all out."

He raised his hand, pointed at the screen, and gave the final announcement.

"Tomorrow at noon, I will start my first personal live broadcast on this Toutiao account. At that time, I will not only release the complete chat log of Xiaoyu 'managing living expenses' and admitting that she owes me 5,000 yuan; but I will also give a direct response to Professor Yan's matter."

"Let's see who is really infringing on the reputation of history. Friends, see you tomorrow at noon."