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

"Don't overthink that phone call." Zhao Shuyao took his hands off the keyboard, interlaced his fingers on the table, and looked through the screen directly at the light sensor. "The school has its own management difficulties. Everyone in a position should do their job. Although this way of communication is debatable, I can understand it."

The scrolling of comments slowed down a bit, and netizens were waiting for his next move.

"We just mentioned the term 'academic clique'." Zhao Shuyao's smile faded, and his expression turned solemn. "I must be frank with you all. I didn't initially intend to go too far when I suffered some injustice and was even threatened with my graduation certificate. After all, I offended them, so I had to let them vent their anger."

Pause for two seconds to let the weight of this sentence settle.

"But," Zhao Shuyao's tone turned serious, "their subsequent online humiliation of me, which even affected my parents who work as construction workers, crossed my bottom line."

He moved the mouse, and the cursor hovered over an audio file titled "Negotiation Bottom Line".

"Before releasing this content, let me first do some self-reflection." Zhao Shuyao leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands. "What you will hear in a moment is the complete recording of my negotiations in their office."

"I know that secretly recording negotiations outside the office is not a very honorable thing to do. Many people may even think that I am too cunning and a despicable person who cannot be trusted."

A moment of hesitation and blank space appeared in the comment section. Secretly recording is indeed a sensitive topic that can easily trigger a crisis of trust in interpersonal relationships.

Zhao Shuyao did not shy away from this moral flaw and faced the camera with composure.

"But everyone, let's try to put ourselves in each other's shoes." Zhao Shuyao's tone was calm, but with an unyielding sense of reality. "Look at my outfit, and then look at the person sitting across from me."

"With just a flick of their fingers, they can decide whether I pack my bags and leave or smoothly obtain both certificates. On the other side is a behemoth that can decide life and death with a single word, and I am just a poor student."

He tapped the table: "Faced with absolute power imbalance, I have no choice but to play the villain. If I hadn't kept this trump card, I would be sitting here today, letting them throw dirty water on me without even having the right to utter a word in response."

This candid confession instantly shattered the barriers of moral blackmail, and after a brief moment of reflection, the 15,000 viewers in the live stream were overwhelmed with empathy.

"Teacher Zhao's point is that you can't be too careful. I would have recorded it too!"

"If we don't record it, are we just waiting to be humiliated by them? Support Teacher Zhao!"

"Treat gentlemen with the principles of gentlemen; to deal with these shameless academic tyrants, you have to use magic to defeat magic!"

"If we hadn't secretly recorded them, who would have known that they appeared so virtuous on the surface, but were actually like this behind the scenes!"

The winds have completely turned in favor of Zhao Shuyao; this genuine wisdom in survival is far more appealing than a flawless, saintly persona.

Seeing the screen full of understanding, Zhao Shuyao nodded slightly.

On the public chat, a user with a premium fan badge typed a long string of text.

"Teacher Zhao, I really understand what you mean by academic cliques. In some organizations nowadays, no matter how well you do things, as long as you know how to get along with people and how to talk, you are considered capable. Those who work hard but are not good at talking are suppressed everywhere."

This comment was like a spark that ignited the frustrations of countless working people.

"This brother is absolutely right. That's how it is in our company. No matter how good you are at your job, when you go out for business dinners, you have to know who to face, how low to hold your glass when toasting, and what flattering things to say. If you don't know the rules, they'll make things difficult for you right away."

"More than that, we did all the work, but all the credit went to those who knew how to flatter and fawn. This world is truly frustrating."

"We have to follow their rules when studying history, and we have to act like subservient servants at work. All crows are black."

Pessimism and helplessness spread rapidly in the live broadcast room. In 2016, this workplace phenomenon based on drinking culture and interpersonal relationships was precisely the pain point that the younger generation disliked the most but was powerless to resist.

Zhao Shuyao noticed this emotional dip, sat up straight, and placed his hands on the edge of the table.

"My friend, I completely understand your frustration in this situation," Zhao Shuyao said in a clear and penetrating voice. "I believe everyone has suffered from these explicit and implicit rules, but friends, we cannot take this for granted."

His eyes shone brightly: "If the development of the whole society really depended on who the fish head faces and how low the cup is, then we would not have today's high-speed rail, nor today's aerospace engineering. It was all built up by countless truly down-to-earth people with solid backbones."

Zhao Shuyao's lips curled back into a composed smile: "We shouldn't doubt the environment we're in just because of a few isolated individuals or a few incompetent leaders."

"If people feel that the rules around them are completely corrupt and problems have arisen, the first thing we should think about is how to change them, rather than going with the flow."

He picked up the teacup and blew on it.

"We must believe that we are the true masters of this land. Have you all forgotten what the great man said?" Zhao Shuyao's voice rose. "The world belongs to you, and it also belongs to us, but ultimately it belongs to you. We are the successors, everyone."

This statement elevated the entire live stream to an unassailable level.

The comments section was silent for a moment, then erupted into a lighthearted banter.

"Hahaha, Teacher Zhao, you climbed to such a height so fast, I almost threw out my back."

"To be honest, that sounds inspiring, but Mr. Zhao, do you really believe it yourself?"

"In this day and age, capital and power have blocked all the paths, and the successor can't even afford a down payment."

Reporter Wang was on tenterhooks in the live chat window. This was a very pointed question, and a bad answer would turn it into empty slogans and toxic motivational rhetoric.

Zhao Shuyao looked at the comment asking him "Do you really believe it?" and put down his water glass.

"Of course I believe it." Zhao Shuyao said without any hesitation, his eyes clear and unwavering. "The world belongs to us. If I didn't believe in these things, I wouldn't be sitting here today, confronting those who hold resources."

He pointed to the camera: "I just want to tell everyone that when you encounter bad rules, don't always think about running away or think that it's just like that. You have to stand up and try to kick this table. As long as more people kick it, those who hide behind the rules and suck blood will not be able to sit still."

The banter on the public screen disappeared, replaced by an exhilarating feeling of being inspired by this open-mindedness. The 15,000 viewers truly felt the resilience of this young scholar.

"Alright, enough with the pep talk, let's get to the main course." Zhao Shuyao gripped the mouse. "Now, let's hear how those people on the other side set rules for me when I refused to follow the crowd."

Double-click the left mouse button to start playing the audio file.

The computer system's built-in audio was directly pushed to the live broadcast room. After a brief hissing sound, Assistant Li's highly recognizable official tone rang out.

"Zhao Shuyao, sign these documents, then post an apology statement online. Professor Yan will be very lenient, and your graduation defense can proceed as scheduled."

In the recording, Zhao Shuyao's voice was calm and composed: "Assistant Li, I don't need anyone's leniency. I only talk about historical materials. If any historical material is wrong, I will apologize. If it is not wrong, I will not sign it, and I will not issue a statement."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Assistant Li's voice suddenly rose. "You're just a student, what makes you think you can compete with others? Do you really think you're someone important just because you say a few things online to show off?"

Even after the recording reached this point, the chat in the live stream was still entertained and engaging.

"This Assistant Li is acting like a mad dog."

"Teacher Zhao is as steady as an old dog. His tone is amazing; he doesn't break down any defenses at all."

Then, the situation in the recording changed. Another deep voice, filled with the arrogance of someone in a superior position, cut in. It was Yan Jianhui's voice.

"Zhao, it's understandable that you're young and impetuous, but as a person, you need to know your place." Yan Jianhui's voice was slow and deliberate, with a condescending disdain. "You may think that just because you've studied for a few years and read a few county chronicles, you can challenge the established conclusions of academia."

Subsequently, Zhao Shuyao questioned in the recording: "Mr. Yan, everyone is equal before academia. Your father's views cannot stand up to scrutiny, so I have the right to refute them. This is not determined by position, but by facts."

As soon as this rebuttal about "equality" was made, the live chat was flooded with cheers.

"Wow! Teacher Zhao is really going head-to-head with capital!"

"That's how you should speak; that's the backbone of a scholar!"

However, the cheers didn't last long, as the progress bar in the recording slid towards the final climax.

The sound of Zhao Shuyao pushing back his chair indicated a complete breakdown in negotiations. In the recording, Assistant Li uttered furious curses.

Immediately afterwards, Yan Jianhui's voice turned completely cold, and the oppressive feeling of each word traveled through the airwaves to everyone's ears.

Then, Assistant Li's heavy breathing broke the silence.

"That's incredibly arrogant, Professor Yan! Please don't take it to heart!" Assistant Li's voice carried a frustrated and exasperated tone. "This kid is utterly unreasonable! Who does he think he is? Just an ordinary working-class kid from a poor family, who thinks he can act as a champion of truth after reading a few unofficial histories? If he can get his degree so easily, I'll change my mind!"

"Assistant Li, it's not worth getting angry with this kind of person." Yan Jianhui's voice was full of disdain. "They're all mixed up; these kinds of people always think that just because they've studied a few more years, they can transcend social classes. Do they really believe there's absolute fairness in this world?"

"If he can find a tenured job in the domestic academic community with such a bad temper, then wouldn't all the efforts and accumulation of the Yan family over three generations have become a joke?"

The efforts of three generations?

The audio abruptly stopped with a dull thud as the door slammed shut.

The right side of the live stream screen.

The barrage of comments, which was scrolling at a rate of hundreds per second, suddenly stopped abruptly.

A room with 15,000 people online simultaneously fell silent for five seconds.

There was no abuse, no rebuttal.

During that five-second silence, countless ordinary people sitting in front of their computers or holding their phones felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on their chests.

The statement, "Three generations of hard work can't compare to what you've achieved in just a few years of studying," carries an extremely blatant class arrogance, directly shattering the last shred of dignity in the hearts of ordinary people who believe that "hard work can change one's destiny."

The college students eating instant noodles in their dorm rooms stopped what they were doing; the white-collar workers who had just finished get off work on the subway clenched their teeth.

Wronged.

An extreme sense of injustice and helplessness, like a persistent carbuncle, spread along the internet cable.

Five seconds later, the suppressed emotions finally found an outlet, and the barrage of comments erupted in an almost frenzied manner.

"Why?! Why can their three generations of business management turn black into white?!"

"What does studying for over a decade really mean? Don't ordinary people like us even have the right to speak the truth?!"

"It made me tremble. This isn't an academic debate; it's blatant class bullying!"

"What are we? What are we, people from underprivileged families, anyway?!"

In the live chat window, reporter Wang's face was ashen. He looked at the barrage of comments filled with pain and anger, knowing that Yan Jianhui's words had completely escalated the personal grudge into an abyss of class antagonism.

Zhao Shuyao sat quietly in front of the screen.

Observing this torrent of emotions that was powerful enough to overturn everything, and judging that the foundation of public opinion had been thoroughly solidified, they decided to prepare for the final roundup.

"Everyone heard that." Zhao Shuyao's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear amidst the angry comments.

He picked up the yellowed copy of "Fifteen Years of Wanli" from the table and gently twirled it between his fingers.

"They think that with their three generations of cronyism, the circles they control, and the money they have, they can trample on those of us who have studied hard for more than ten years, and can arbitrarily distort the history of our nation."