I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

Walker's supporters were the first to extract the "thirty-four witnesses" section.

[Aren't these 34 witnesses the ones who have recently made those anonymous revelations from Grant's camp?]

Grant's supporters quickly retaliated.

[The newspapers behind Walker accused Grant of six different things in a single week. Which newspapers in the novel are actually the ones mentioned?]

[It is suggested that both candidates first prove that they have never been to Montana.]

What about Reed?

Reed's campaign funds probably wouldn't be enough to buy newspapers.

The last sentence did not generate much discussion.

Supporters of both camps have quickly taken over the comments section.

Both sides felt that the novel was speaking for them, and they were both eager to find sentences in it that could attack their opponent.

Walker's campaign team quickly took notice of "Running for Governor".

After reviewing the information, the public opinion consultant immediately forwarded the section on "thirty-four witnesses" to the internal group.

[It can be used.]

[Grant's recent attacks have all come from anonymous sources, and this novel serves to weaken the credibility of her revelations.]

At almost the same time, Grant's campaign team reached the completely opposite conclusion.

This short story is clearly a satire of the local media behind Walker.

Prepare relevant content, emphasizing how they use the media to label candidates.

Half an hour later, both sides' support accounts began quoting "Running for Governor".

On one hand, it claims that the novel exposes the absurdity of anonymous witnesses and false accusations.

On the other hand, some argue that the novel satirizes powerful groups that control media resources and can arbitrarily convict their competitors.

The same novel was used as a weapon by both camps.

Many ordinary readers, looking at the excerpts on both sides, are momentarily unable to tell whether they have read the same article or not.

However, something truly absurd soon happened.

Forty minutes before the debate was scheduled to begin, a local media outlet that had long supported Walker published an exclusive report as planned.

[Thirty-seven former staff members have jointly accused Marian Grant of using charitable projects to funnel benefits to her campaign.]

The report claims that 37 former staff members have submitted their testimonies.

However, to protect the whistleblowers, their names, positions, and full testimonies cannot be disclosed at this time.

When the article was first published, Grant's name quickly rose to the top of the real-time trending list in Redwood State.

Before the media could follow up, an unexpected comment appeared in the comments section.

[Mark Twain was only ranked 34th back then, and you've already risen to 37th?]

Someone quickly replied below:

Are the extra three people included with the premium package?

Times have indeed progressed; even the number of witnesses has started to inflate.

Ms. Grant, please prove immediately that these thirty-seven people do not exist.

[It is noteworthy that Ms. Grant maintained a rather suspicious silence in the face of allegations from thirty-seven witnesses.]

The report's readership continues to rise rapidly.

What should have been a shocking number of "thirty-seven former staff members" suddenly turned into an extremely ridiculous one.

Many readers skipped the title and carefully searched for evidence within the article.

As a result, aside from the media's summary of the thirty-seven testimonies, they could neither see the complete record nor confirm whether these witnesses had actually worked with Grant.

Walker's campaign team quickly realized the problem.

But the report had already been pushed throughout Sequoia State, and any deletion or retraction would only raise greater suspicion.

Ten minutes before the debate was scheduled to begin, the advisor in charge of media affairs finally sent a message:

Can anyone tell me why Yu Huashi chose to publish this novel today of all days?

No one could answer that.

The gubernatorial debate officially began at 8 p.m.

Adam Walker sat on the left, his expression remaining calm.

Marian Grant sat on the right, with the article about "thirty-seven former staff members" still displayed on the screen in front of her.

Elias Reed was positioned on the very edge.

When the camera first panned across him, some viewers in the live stream comments even asked if this gray-haired man was a newly added observer to the debate committee.

Less than ten minutes into the debate, the moderator shifted the topic to the report.

"Ms. Grant, 37 former staff members claim that you used charitable projects to channel benefits to your own campaign team."

"Would you like to respond to this?"

Grant said:

"I am willing to accept any investigation based on evidence."

"But until now, I have not seen the names or positions of those thirty-seven people, nor have I seen any complete financial records."

The host followed up with:

"So you believe this accusation is false?"

Grant paused for a moment.

"I believe that until names, positions, and testimonies can be verified, the number thirty-seven is not fundamentally different from thirty-four."

The scene was silent for less than a second.

A burst of suppressed laughter quickly erupted from the audience.

The live stream comments were instantly flooded with "thirty-four witnesses".

……

……

P.S.: Thank you so much to [盘头村的幽舵] and [风起秋痕] for the generous recognition!

P.S.: I'm reminded of Newton's quote: "...I stand on the shoulders of giants." Yu Wen always remembers: This isn't his work! I've always been aware that I've benefited from the work of these great writers (Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng, Lu Xun, Hemingway, Yang Jiang, Liu Cixin, J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...). Forgive my greed, but I want to benefit from the work of even more literary giants... because I have so many classic works I want to revisit with you all... Thank you~ Thank you for your support!

ppps: On a side note... Lu Xun had another pen name, "Xunxing," and Runtu called him Brother Xun! It's clear he liked the character "Xun," hence his pen name Lu Xun. But his surname was Zhou, so why was he called Lu Xun instead of Zhou Xun?