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

The data on the page is still changing; each refresh causes the numbers to scroll up a bit.

Zhao Shuyao leaned his back completely against the chair, took his right hand off the mouse, picked up the thermos on the table, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip of warm water. The sound of him swallowing was very clear in the quiet dormitory.

He ignored the ongoing battle between the two groups of fans in the comments section. Those were just the usual fan reactions, and he, the one who raised the issue, didn't need to fuel the flames any further.

Zhao Shuyao's gaze fell on the gold-verified profile picture of the "Queen of Pop" in the upper right corner of the screen, and a relaxed smile appeared on his lips.

At eight o'clock in the morning, according to the entertainment industry's schedule, this influential figure in the music scene should have just sat down at his dressing table.

A clear picture quickly formed in Zhao Shuyao's mind.

In that circle, everyone knew about her background of dropping out of school at a young age. This was originally an untouchable taboo. The hosts on the show, her assistants, and the guests on the same stage all tacitly avoided the words "education" and "cultural background," trying their best to maintain a superficial harmony of "virtue and talent."

No one dared to touch that thin veil.

But this is precisely her most vulnerable point. She is used to using her seniority and arrogance to judge others, and she is used to establishing her superior position in front of the camera by saying "I don't really think about it."

However, this strategy no longer works today.

Zhao Shuyao rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, looking at the screen. The words he used in the video yesterday were extremely carefully chosen. There were no open insults, no vulgar language, and the entire video was presented under the guise of "cultural exchange."

"You're a singer, and a singer who didn't even graduate from junior high school. You should just stay on your stage. The cultural circle has a very high threshold. You wouldn't even be able to sit at this table if you were ranked. Even if you sing, there are plenty of people who sing better than you."

This is the straightforward subtext of what he said yesterday.

Zhao Shuyao could even predict the other party's physiological reaction the moment they saw the video. Smashing things was not in keeping with his status, but his well-maintained face would definitely show uncontrollable muscle spasms.

She couldn't argue with those county gazetteers and historical records, and she hadn't even memorized all the junior high school textbooks when it came to cultural knowledge. She could only sulk and couldn't even issue a statement to refute them, because if she responded, it would be tantamount to admitting that she had been broken down by a student in his twenties.

This is called the "pressure point technique" of a cultured person, which only targets the weak points.

Setting down his thermos, Zhao Shuyao gripped the mouse again and clicked to access his private message list.

This is the most authentic gathering place for online emotions. Unlike comment sections where people force others to take sides, every message posted here carries the sender's most personal and subjective will.

At the very front of the list are a screen full of green like icons.

"Teacher Zhao, I watched your video three times last night. It's simply a textbook for intellectuals to argue. You didn't utter a single vulgar word, yet every sentence hit the nail on the head. The word 'sarcasm' has been elevated to an art form in your hands. I've learned a lot."

Upon seeing this private message, Zhao Shuyao double-clicked the left mouse button and casually replied with a smiley face.

This isn't being sarcastic; it's being factual. Pretending to know what you don't is a desecration of knowledge, and pointing out this fact is the most basic duty of a scholar.

Continue scrolling down. Among the hundreds of private messages filled with praise, some dissenting voices soon emerged.

"Zhao, I have been following your history popularization and agree with your views in the previous episodes. However, your response to the diva last night was really too much. After all, she is an elder and a senior in the music industry. Your public use of academic qualifications to mock her is very ungentlemanly and ill-mannered. Cultured people should not only be cultured, but also know how to respect others."

This is a long post from a middle-aged user who uses a landscape photo as their profile picture.

Zhao Shuyao stopped what he was doing, stared at the passage for a few seconds, and then his fingers landed on the keyboard. He did not choose to ignore it. This kind of seemingly neutral and objective "rational and objective" attitude is actually the easiest to confuse people.

"Hello, friend." Zhao Shuyao typed a reply. "The primary prerequisite for respect is that the other party first respects objective facts. A person who is unwilling to even look at the most basic historical materials and makes defamatory comments about me in the public media based solely on subjective prejudice has already given up the right to be respected."

Press Enter to send. Then type the second paragraph.

"Furthermore, good manners do not mean giving in without any bottom line. When someone crosses professional barriers and uses her fame to trample on extremely serious academic issues, I point out that she does not have the corresponding cultural literacy. This is not mockery, but setting things right. You cannot expect someone who has been slapped on the left cheek to smile and offer the right cheek. This is not grace, it is cowardice."

After sending the message, Zhao Shuyao didn't check the other party's reaction and directly clicked to return to the list.

In the online arena, there is never a shortage of people who are overly accommodating and only care about attitude, not logic.

The roller continues downwards.

Just as I turned to the fifth page, a line of extremely eye-catching text jumped into my view.

"As expected of a rural 'phoenix man' (a man from a poor background who achieves success), what right do you have to judge an independent woman worth over 100 million? She got to where she is today through her own hard work. You, a man from the bottom, only know how to gain your pitiful self-esteem by belittling successful women. Your videos are full of discrimination against women; it's disgusting!"

Zhao Shuyao raised an eyebrow slightly and removed his finger from the roller.

This private message takes an extremely cunning angle. It completely disregards right and wrong, as well as the debate on cultural literacy, and forcibly drags the incident into a highly inflammatory area that had just begun to emerge in 2016—gender antagonism and class attacks.

"Phoenix Man" (men from humble backgrounds who achieve success), "Suppression of Independent Women", "Discrimination against Women".

Looking at these three words, Zhao Shuyao quickly recalled the social emotions behind them in his mind. He immediately realized that this was not the emotional outpouring of an ordinary netizen.

He gripped the mouse again and began consciously making random checks in his private message list.

Turn to page ten.

"I was really disappointed to see your video targeting the diva. You can't hide your jealousy of successful women at all. Do you know how difficult it is for a girl to reach the position of diva? A man like you can only hide behind the screen and engage in gender persecution."

Turn to page fifteen.

"Boycott this misogynistic blogger! All they do is bring up her lousy education. So what if she didn't go to university? She earns more money than you could in ten lifetimes! You just can't stand seeing women better than you!"

Zhao Shuyao stopped turning the pages, lifted his hands off the table, leaned back in his chair, his eyes became extremely deep, and his brain began to process the information he had just collected at high speed.

He just randomly checked about 100 negative private messages. Among them, about 10 were simply accusing him of not being respectful, while 25 were labeled with tags such as "discrimination against women", "suppression of independent women" and "phoenix man".

The percentage is 25%.

This is an extremely dangerous and absolutely abnormal ratio.

A history blogger was attacked overnight by such a dense set of the same discourse system just because he refuted a female singer's view on history. The wording, sentence structure, and angles of attack in this discourse system were almost identical.

This was definitely not a spontaneous act.

Zhao Shuyao tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, pausing after each tap.

"Quick enough," he muttered to the screen.

The opposing public relations team stepped in. Since they couldn't refute the arguments on historical scholarship or gain an advantage in cultural literacy, they decided to flip the table. They attempted to forcibly turn this academic debate into a conflict of class and gender.

They want to incite netizens who are most easily swayed by emotions to label him as "misogynistic." In the current online environment, once this label is firmly attached, all his previous academic achievements and historical popularization will be completely marginalized, and he will eventually be disgraced in the war of words.

Extremely insidious methods.

Zhao Shuyao saw through the whole scheme. This tactic of using consumerist anxiety and gender antagonism to deconstruct the opponent is the most commonly used trump card by capital groups.

Should we post a rebuttal now?

The thought flashed through my mind, but I immediately dismissed it.

If you step in now, you'll be jumping into a self-justification trap set by the other side. Once you start explaining "I don't discriminate against women," the focus of public opinion will completely shift from "the false history of the Qing Dynasty" to "whether you discriminate or not," which is exactly what the other side wants.

Zhao Shuyao's eyes were clear. He knew that such despicable tactics could not be cleared up by his own words on social media; he needed to use absolute authority to crush the perpetrator.

I've calculated the timeline, and that interview on CCTV News should be going through the review process and scheduled for broadcast in the next couple of days.

As soon as Lin Jing's interview is published, as soon as he showcases his vision of "Long Live Great Unity" and "Speaking for the People" on national media, these online trolls who attempt to smear him with clichéd public relations tactics will instantly be reduced to dust under an absolute dimensional reduction attack.

"Let the bullets fly a little longer." Zhao Shuyao decisively closed the private message interface, ignoring the meticulously calculated insults.

My gaze shifted to the time display in the lower right corner of the computer screen.

10:15 AM.

Zhao Shuyao adjusted his posture, leaning forward. There were less than two hours left until he promised to "give Teacher Ai a reply at 12 o'clock yesterday."

The diva's affair is just an appetizer; the real core figure who, waving a folding fan and waving the banner of public intellectuals, is the one who truly controls the discourse of cultural compradors.

Zhao Shuyao opened a new browser tab and brought up the thousand-word article he had posted last night.

Looking at the article filled with "big picture perspective," "historical nihilism," and "different dimensions," Zhao Shuyao shook his head.

This short teacher has really been living a life of ease for too long.

In normal circumstances, when faced with such a challenge from a rebellious student, the wisest course of action for a mature public intellectual is to ignore it, pretend not to see it, and let things cool down naturally. As long as he doesn't respond, his supporters will assume that he doesn't care.

But he actually took the initiative to speak out.

Zhao Shuyao understood his motives. His video of pulling down Yan Chong's underwear went viral too quickly, directly shaking the foundation upon which they, the cultural compradors, depended for their survival. If he didn't stand up and make a statement, his status in that circle would be damaged.

But this was precisely the worst move he made.

To use a rough, old-fashioned way of saying it, this is like trying to light a lantern in the toilet.

Since you've put your face up here, if I don't give you a good, hard time, then I'd be letting down all those thousands of words you've typed.