I am a Big Player
Chapter 428 - 422, The Carnival of Public Opinion ( - Seven) -1

Chapter 428: 422, The Carnival of Public Opinion (Chapter Seven) -1

Ren He’s situation was spreading through news broadcasts, while Liu Yinghai’s misfortune was circulating within media circles, with a general consensus that when a certain newspaper’s reporters went to interview Liu Yinghai, they ended up being vomited on with a face full of excrement, leaving all three of them scarred psychologically.

The story was told with such certainty that everyone believed it without a doubt and dared not to interview him any longer, and since all the useful information had already been gathered, there was no point in rehashing the same old story.

The most important thing about news is timing; whoever publishes first owns the news, and others are just riding on the heat.

Now, in the writings of those unscrupulous tabloid reporters, Ren He had become someone who had led Liu Yinghai on and then abandoned him...

Just when tabloid news began to wildly spread rumors of Ren He having an illicit relationship with Liu Yinghai, suddenly, a multitude of strange IDs and comments began to flood the internet, with nearly all the comments related to Ren He.

At first, the comments were speculative, guessing that Ren He might be the "Crown Prince" of some conglomerate or might have some sort of background identity.

These opinions just appeared and grabbed the attention of the audience from a unique gossip perspective; these were matters that the media had never reported on, and they also relished in prying into such affairs.

When everyone’s attention was captivated, the whole direction of public opinion began to deviate towards something bizarre...

Ren He must be a scientist!

Ren He must be an advocate for celibacy!

Ren He used to make a living by picking through trash!

Ren He’s first pot of gold was from winning a lottery ticket, specifically the one from the 20050101 draw!

For each of these assertions, there were people adding to and agreeing with them, and there would even be individuals who suddenly came out with detailed yet strange viewpoints to substantiate them...

But by this time, everyone still found it amusing; when it was said that Ren He picked through trash, the entire rags-to-riches narrative was written out so convincingly...

At this moment, everyone had started to laugh, treating these assertions as a joke and no longer seriously; after all, Ren He couldn’t have experienced every imaginable life story, right?

Anyone with a brain would understand this was all nonsensical talk.

Gradually, netizens also began to join in spontaneously, creating their own punchlines and recounting amusing anecdotes about Ren He.

But everyone knew this was false.

In the end, there were people who claimed Ren He was a deity, an alien, a fairy, a knight—everything imaginable... yet curiously, no one believed it!

Then, when they saw the newspapers and media claiming that Ren He had those sorts of peculiar tastes, their first reaction was... has the newspaper started to spout nonsense too? This is the least logical version I’ve ever seen; even the ones I made up are better than this!

The tabloid reporters, seeing the online public opinion, were fuming with anger; who the hell is setting this narrative, can’t we have fun anymore!? You’re all making things up; what we’re reporting is the truth!

But no one believed them...

This is what we paid for, the news, but why did it not even make a splash and instead got us ridiculed!? Who the hell is leading this narrative, I need them to come forward!

And at this point, the Red Scarf Online Troops, who had successfully set the narrative, began to retire victoriously; now, even without their instigation, the public would continue this entertainment on their own because it was just too amusing.

Among these pieces of information, some were true, some were false, but now truth and falsity didn’t matter anymore; what mattered most was having a great time!

Eventually, a phrase suddenly emerged online that set everyone off... everyone has their own unique Ren He inside them...

At that moment, Ren He simply opened a Weibo account; it coincided with the time when Weibo finally allowed open registration and commenting, and Ren He suddenly showed up on Weibo posting a status: "I heard... everyone has their own unique version of me?"

When everyone saw this Weibo post, they were instantly in stitches; the innocent tone was just too much!

As the behind-the-scenes Qinghe Faction boss, and now turned into a joke by everyone, Ren He didn’t seem angry at all, instead joining in the jest with others.

On that very day alone, Weibo’s registered users surged by 6.3 million, while Ren He’s followers quickly reached 4.9 million, temporarily even surpassing Yang Xi and Knight, solidifying this event as a nationwide carnival and incidentally boosting Weibo’s popularity...

Those 6.3 million weren’t just the registration count for one day; Ren He believed it wouldn’t be long before reaching the level of his previous life, and that time wasn’t far away.

The ecstatic Qinghe boss in charge of Weibo had never imagined that the boss’s personal appearance would have a greater impact than any celebrity endorsement.

This is precisely the charm of the internet; in his previous life, internet celebrities could become overnight sensations because of a video clip or a phrase—the reasons for their fame couldn’t be simpler, which is why so many people aspired to be internet celebrities...

But internet celebrities vary in terms of status; those of high caliber create content with their intelligence, perhaps even making a living from it in this content-driven era.

However, those of a lower tier just leave behind a generic face...

For this operation, hiring the Red Scarf Online Troops wasn’t cheap for Ren He—it cost a full million. Although Li Muxi approved of him, he couldn’t allow her to suffer a loss; there must be mutual consideration between people, as earning money was indeed not as easy for her as it was for him.

But the effect indeed satisfied Ren He; at this point, the Red Scarf were no longer mindlessly spamming posts, but employing deeper-strategy tactics.

Had it not been for the convincing narrative set at the start, the frenzy of public opinion wouldn’t have come this swiftly, nor would the wave of momentum have built up so high.

At this stage, unless someone with conclusive proof came out and claimed he was a Knight, no one would believe it.

And Ren He would have more breathing space to respond.

It’s not that the threat had completely passed, but now he was equipped with a protective shield of sorts; as long as this shield remained intact, he was safe.

When Ren He came home in the evening, Mrs. Ren asked him what all this was about on the internet and why everyone was joking about him. Ren He replied it was nothing, just people messing around online.

Mrs. Ren was still not entirely comfortable with this kind of internet rhythm...

Only after some time did Ren He gradually come to realize the most significant benefit of this event.

While everyone was busy frying up all sorts of stories about Ren He, and the shameless tabloids were ridiculed, journalists too realized that Ren He seemed to lack newsworthy material, making it somewhat unrewarding to pursue him further.

Not that they stopped investigating, but they decided to put that on hold and redirected their focus on other celebrities, like the love story between Yang Xi and Knight or their interactions on Weibo.

Anyway, it was better than paying attention to Ren He...

...

Thanks for the rewards. Delivering 7 updates, that’s it for today, I’m exhausted. I hope everyone will cast their monthly votes for me.

Good night, everyone.