Huayu: Don't force me to be a master

Fang Yanhong is the moderator of the emotional section of Tianya.cn.

Her job was incredibly boring; all she did was browse posts.

It's already 11 p.m. and she's still working overtime.

Fang Yanhong yawned, her fingers unconsciously sliding across the mouse.

This is what the night shift is like on Tianya's relationship forum—during the day it's all serious requests for help, like "What to do if my husband cheats" or "How to deal with a difficult mother-in-law";

At night, the tone shifts to "Have I fallen in love with someone I shouldn't?" and "I can't sleep at night thinking about my ex-girlfriend, please scold me to wake me up..."

To put it bluntly, they're all just bored.

She was about to shut down her computer and leave work when she caught a glimpse of a new post out of the corner of her eye:

My mom wants to sever our mother-son relationship, what should I do? Urgent, waiting for help online!

Fang Yanhong's fingers paused.

This title... has something to it.

As a relationship forum moderator with three years of experience, she knows all too well how to create clickbait headlines.

However, the phrase "severing the mother-son relationship" is generally not something anyone dares to use casually.

She clicked on the link and opened the post.

"I am a member of the crew. I am filming 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' at the Dafosi Temple in Xinchang."

"The Buddha is benevolent and lowers his head; the monks are polite and kind."

"But why would such a TV series that slanders Buddhism be filmed in a solemn and dignified place like the Great Buddha Temple?"

"Could it be for venue rental fees?"

"Would even Buddha bow down for five pecks of rice?"

"My mother is a devout Buddhist, and now she wants to sever our mother-son relationship. What should I do?"

"Also, why is Shaolin Temple always portrayed as a den of iniquity in Jin Yong's novels? Xuanci, Murong Bo, Xiao Yuanshan, Cheng Kun, Yuanzhen... oh, and also Kumārajīva, Yin Zhiping, Zhao Zhijing... does Mr. Jin have a grudge against domestic religions?"

Fang Yanhong paused for three seconds after reading it.

Then she did what a moderator should do—she glanced at the posting time: 23:07.

IP address displayed: Shaoxing, Zhejiang.

She glanced at the number of replies again: 0.

In other words, the post had only been out for a few minutes and no one had seen it yet.

Fang Yanhong leaned back in her chair, staring at the screen.

This post is interesting.

As a moderator of an emotional forum, she has seen all kinds of heartbreaking stories: those who have been abused at home, those who have been cheated on, and those who have been kicked out of their homes by their parents.

But this is truly the first time someone has ever been "cut off by their own mother because of filming."

And... she frowned, feeling that something was off.

The first half of the post talked about the film crew and Buddha, but the second half suddenly veered towards Jin Yong, ending with the question, "Does Mr. Jin have a grudge against domestic religions?"

Those two commas seemed like a deliberate pause, or perhaps a moment of unspoken words.

She recalled what her editor-in-chief had said: "Genuine emotional appeals are chaotic, trivial, and incoherent. Those that are too well-organized are probably just paid posts."

But this post... well, it is indeed well-organized;

While it's chaotic, the "Buddha bending over" scene does indeed have a certain emotional element.

Fang Yanhong hesitated for a moment, her finger hovering over the "delete" button.

Clicking it will make this post disappear from her world; she'll continue reading "What to do if your husband cheats" tomorrow.

Don't press it...

She clicked on the poster's ID: "Working People Don't Want to Work". Registered: Today. Number of Posts: 1.

New vest.

Fang Yanhong removed her finger from the "Delete" button.

She has been a moderator for three years and has learned one thing: some posts that you think are asking for help are actually bombs.

But only bombs generate traffic.

It's 11 p.m. now, and the traffic for the emotional section is at its lowest.

If this post goes viral, when the editor asks "What were the highlights last night?" at work tomorrow, she can say, "I've got my eye on a hot topic."

Fang Yanhong took a deep breath and made a decision.

She did not delete the post.

She did not reply.

She did one thing—

Feature the post and then pin it to the top.

Meanwhile, Qian Lang in Xinchang was completely bewildered!

Because, there's only this one post.

He started thinking about the weather forecast.

[Slightly affects Zhang Jizhong's fate, gaining 20 Fate Values; Very slightly affects Jin Yong's fate, gaining 10 Fate Values; Slightly affects Liu Yifei's fate, gaining 50 Fate Values...]

The system played for a full minute, and he gained over 5000 Destiny Points, meaning he now has over 6000 Destiny Points!

"Damn, that's amazing?"

Qian Lang muttered a sentence to himself.

He originally just wanted to post something to test the waters, and if it didn't work in a few days, he would continue to stir things up.

This is truly unexpected.

Now it's all good, I have the Destiny Value.

He was just waiting to see what would happen.

He guessed that something big was going to happen to the "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" production team this time!

As for how to use the Fate Value, he still needs to figure that out.

The next day, Qian Lang continued to work diligently!

However, online, that post was already taking off.

When Qian Lang returned to the hotel at noon, the post on Tianya had already received over 50,000 views and had even been pinned by the moderator.

By evening, the post had been forwarded to the Xici Hutong forum!

Meanwhile, the discussions among netizens were quite varied.

[Buddhist temples? Which temple doesn't charge an entrance fee these days? It's standard practice.]

[Buddha takes money, and the monks in the temple are all fake; everyone just accepts it.]

To be honest, my maternal grandmother was also a Buddhist. One year, when the village put on an opera called "Mulian Saves His Mother," she wouldn't let anyone go, saying that "actors dressed as bodhisattvas shorten one's lifespan." The older generation is really superstitious about this.

[Jin Yong was originally a bondservant, so it's not surprising that he would do something like this.]

This was only one day later.

And then the next day...

The Shaoxing Evening News published a short news article of 300 words.

[“Rumors circulating online that the ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’ crew filmed at the Dafosi Temple have sparked controversy, with some believers expressing their ‘unacceptability’”]

As for the third day!

Ha ha!

Qian Lang arrived at the film set early in the morning and immediately sensed that something was off.

"Qian Lang, something's happened. The film crew seems to have gotten into big trouble."

As soon as Jiang Xin saw Qian Lang, she pulled him aside and started talking.

"What's the trouble?"

"Have you been online these past few days? A member of the crew posted something online, saying... This post has gone viral. Producer Zhang must be in a real bind. I heard he received a lot of calls from the media last night."

"Really? That's really..."

"Hey, what are you two talking about again?"

Just then, Liu Tao suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Qian Lang found it rather amusing.

He sensed that Liu Tao's feelings for him were becoming increasingly complicated.

The three of them then discussed the matter together.

And they are just a microcosm of the entire production crew.

Furthermore, the more gossip is spread, the more outrageous it becomes.

That evening, rumors spread that the eighteen Arhats of Shaolin Temple had descended the mountain to cause trouble for Zhang Jizhong.

After all, the TV series was filmed at Dafosi Temple, but it actually depicted events related to Shaolin Temple.

In short, everything started to fall into chaos.