Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn? - Chapter 138
Chapter 138: Panic at Linchuan Forum
TL: Etude
“The boss, why did you do that? They were clearly mocking us just now, and yet you’re still participating in their event?”
“Let’s not talk about this on the street. We’ll discuss it when we get back.”
Jiang Qin stopped everyone’s complaints, waved his hand, and led the 208 team back from the college supermarket to the Entrepreneurship Center.
The autumn chill was in full swing these days. With the windows open in Room 208, the temperature felt even colder than in the hallway.
Everyone returned to their workstations, ready to hear the boss’s plan for a counter-attack.
“Damn it, they copied the event we worked so hard to create, reaping the fruits of our labor, and they’re so arrogant about it. How can anyone tolerate this?
You should know, during the first campus beauty contest, many team members stayed up late preparing.
Especially Dong Wenhao, Pang Hai, and Lu Xuemei from the east campus. It was inconvenient for them to commute, so sometimes they just slept in the office to revise the drafts.
And here comes Linchuan Forum, just taking our idea and using it without any respect for the law.
Su Nai was still furious, even her movements while sitting down were more aggressive, causing the whole office to creak and groan.
The naive and passionate college students, who would even meddle in trivial matters, let alone when they’re being bullied right at their doorstep. Except for Jiang Qin, the seasoned office worker, no one could calm down quickly.
“Boss, whether it’s smashing their place or throwing paint, I’ll be the first to go!” Lu Feiyu immediately shouted, showing his teeth as soon as he sat down.
Yang Shuai, after hearing this, dismissed his idea: “Smashing the place could cause trouble. How about this, I’ll go boil some water right now and pour it over their money-making tree!”
Jiang Qin raised an eyebrow: “Good, I’ll assign you two as the leaders. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the pressure from the rear.”
Lu Feiyu’s face stiffened after hearing this: “Boss, I was just boasting a bit when I said that.”
“Me too, boss. I was just bluffing.” Yang Shuai said sheepishly, sitting back down.
“So, don’t make yourself out to be a gangster. Their event is unlikely to succeed, don’t take it too seriously.”
“Why?”
“Choosing a campus beauty and a top student are fundamentally different. Which girl is pretty is a question of everyday concern in college life, carrying a strong entertainment value, just like how boys in dorms discuss girls every night, an active behavior. But do boys in dorms discuss studies every night?”
Hearing Jiang Qin’s words, Lu Feiyu and Yang Shuai fell into thought.
Discussing studies every night in the dorm?
“Our classmate xxx, his problem-solving approach is amazing.”
“Being able to solve problems is nothing special. It’s xx, his study habits are so strong, always with a book in hand, I’m so envious.”
“Do you know xxx? That girl, she goes to the library to study every morning and only returns when the dormitory closes at night.”
“Guys, since we can’t sleep anyway, let’s have an English poetry recitation! I have a video highlight of Professor xx, lock the door, and let’s enjoy it secretly.”
“I bought a postgraduate entrance exam book yesterday, it’s so good, even with illustrations!”
“Damn, that’s just too bizarre, no human could live in such a dorm.”
“I get it, no discussion means no traffic, no controversy means no heat?”
Jiang Qin nodded, then added: “Besides, the campus beauty contest is because everyone has a different concept of beauty, which easily leads to controversy. But academic performance is measured by real exams, not by online voting, right?”
Su Nai blinked: “Can’t it be?”
Lu Xuemei seemed to understand: “Every year, each department at Linchuan University has scholarship recipients and winners of various competitions. It would be hard to convince people with just a vote for a ‘Star of Learning’.”
“So, why are they holding this contest?”
“Purely for marketing, to attract attention. But they might be overthinking it. Can studying really attract attention? What a joke.”
Su Nai paused, then opened her laptop: “But boss, there are already dozens of people signed up on the forum, and they haven’t even distributed flyers yet.”
Lu Feiyu pondered for a while before speaking: “Linchuan University has a strong academic atmosphere. Even if it doesn’t have the popularity of a campus beauty contest, this event will surely attract participants. It won’t fail, as winning awards can help with further studies and job hunting.”
Lu Xuemei also nodded: “It’s written on the website that this is Linchuan University’s first public academic competition across the entire campus. The prestige must be quite high.”
“If they don’t offer credits for it?”
“…”
“What if it’s not recognized as an official honor by Linchuan University?”
“…”
“What if nobody even knows about it when mentioned?”
“…”
Lu Feiyu was startled for a moment: “It’s impossible that they won’t even give credits, right? It sounds like a prestigious honor.”
Su Nai couldn’t help but interject: “Yeah, boss, the campus forum is founded jointly by the top four universities. They can’t possibly organize a study competition without offering credits.”
Jiang Qin sighed: “I’ve told you before, you need to learn to see the essence through the appearance. Now, let me ask you, what is the essence of this activity?”
Yang Shuai, after a long silence, confidently spoke up: “The essence is a competition.”
Jiang Qin snorted dismissively: “That’s like saying I’m handsome – obvious to anyone with eyes. Do we need you to state the obvious? Next!”
“Is it… a commercial activity?”
“Right, Xuemei got it. The real meaning of this competition is actually a commercial activity, aimed at promotion and attracting customers. If they give more credits to those who buy more milk tea, how is that different from buying credits with money? Do you think the real top students would agree to this? If this blows up, who would dare to take the responsibility?”
Lu Feiyu’s mouth twisted: “Damn, no credits and not an official honor? After all this fuss, giving it such a grand name, claiming it’s the first university-wide study competition, and the real prize is just a discount on driving lessons?”
Su Nai pursed her lips: “Then why are people still signing up?”
“Because everyone thinks like you, believing the old forum is serious and formal. Suddenly organizing a competition must mean a big honor, at least a lot of credits to be earned. As long as they mislead people on this point, attract customers, the college supermarket and driving school achieve their goals. As for the results, they don’t care, just like we don’t care who the campus beauty is.”
“Damn, they’re too wicked!”
Jiang Qin darkened his face: “I suspect you’re insulting me. Our campus beauty contest didn’t even offer half-price driving lessons.”
Lu Xuemei disagreed: “But having the title of campus beauty brings its own aura. I hear people in the cafeteria discussing the first and second campus beauties. Boys can say they brought up the campus beauty of Linchuan University. But what use is the ‘Star of Learning’? It’s just voted for, and the winner might not even have received a scholarship before. They wouldn’t dare to brag about it outside, would they?”
“Xuemei, you’re actually comforting people now. You’ve really grown up, becoming a young lady.”
“Boss, I didn’t expect you to be good at giving compliments. You used to say I was a young girl, blind to reality.” Lu Xuemei snorted coldly.
Jiang Qin immediately changed the subject, his gaze sharp as he scanned everyone’s faces: “As new-era college students, can we ignore our peers being tricked like this?”
Su Nai shook her head: “No, we must tell them the truth!”
“Right, so we need to let everyone know that this competition is nonsense, purely advertising and marketing.”
“How do we do that?”
“Since it’s deliberately ambiguous, even using a gimmick like ‘the first university-wide competition,’ we need to make them come out and admit that we have nothing to do with this, and the award might not even be recognized by the school. This competition is purely for marketing.”
“That sounds difficult. How would they ever listen to us?” Su Nai wondered.
Jiang Qin smiled slightly and opened his computer, starting a discussion thread on the official old forum.
“Shocking! It’s said that the ‘Star of Learning’ competition holds great value, with the top ten being guaranteed direct admission to graduate studies. Hurry up and register!”
After creating the post, Jiang Qin turned back to his team: “Everyone, follow my lead and reply to the post with the following content.”
“It’s impossible for direct graduate admission to be true, but insider information says this competition is definitely as prestigious as a provincial-level contest!”
“The person above must be new to the internet. Haven’t you heard that the top ten in the ‘Star of Learning’ will be an important factor influencing professors’ selection of students?”
“It’s not that exaggerated. It’s just going to heavily impact the allocation of scholarships.”
“The winners of the ‘Star of Learning’ will be interviewed by the Linchuan Youth Daily. This paper holds a lot of weight and will greatly aid in future studies and career choices.”
Jiang Qin, with a confident and elegant demeanor, imitated many people’s speech, each sentence with a different tone.
“?????”
Seeing this, although puzzled, the members of Room 208 still followed his instructions. They not only left comments but also created a post on their own forum to attract more attention.
Half an hour later, in a comprehensive office, the administrator responsible for the old forum noticed Jiang Qin’s post and panicked instantly.
“Damn, who said anything about guaranteed graduate admission?”
“And scholarships, newspaper interviews? Have these students gone mad? What kind of dreams are they having? No sane person would believe this!”
However, students unaware of the truth were extremely excited, especially those who usually struggled academically and never even dared to dream about scholarships. But now, just by gathering votes, they could potentially earn scholarships and even guarantee graduate admission – who wouldn’t be thrilled?
Consequently, countless messages questioning the authenticity of these claims crowded the forum.
The naïve yet foolish college students, under such guidance, were easily swept up in the frenzy.
The administrator felt a tingling sensation in his scalp. When they originally planned the event, they intentionally didn’t clarify these matters, aiming to ensure students’ enthusiasm for participating.
But now… the influence was growing, and the exaggerations were becoming more outrageous. If they didn’t clarify now, it could lead to serious questions later.
“Teacher Li, Teacher Li, come and see this. Someone is spreading rumors that our competition guarantees graduate admission.”
“Ah?”
Linchuan Forum, jointly founded by the top four universities, was managed at Linchuan University by this Teacher Li.
He glanced at the post’s content, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
“Quickly issue an announcement to clarify. Claims about guaranteed graduate admission are just rumors. This is merely a competition organized to foster a learning atmosphere, aimed at motivating everyone’s study enthusiasm. It has no other significance!”
“But… then won’t no one participate in the competition?”
“Even if no one participates, we must clarify. What if, after the competition ends, people demand their guaranteed graduate admission? If we don’t explain now, it’ll be too late to do so later!”
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