Chapter 26 - 25: The Impact of Public Opinion

Chapter 26: Chapter 25: The Impact of Public Opinion

Thanks to the guidance of marketing accounts and a group of people with ulterior motives, the peculiar situation with the Arrow Tower and the astronomical telescope blew up online overnight, spreading rapidly across various short-video platforms.

Hu Xia was busy dealing with matters related to the grapes and wasn’t paying attention to the internet, which meant she couldn’t stop the spread of misinformation right away.

Around noon, Hu Xia’s phone rang. She had just turned down a close girlfriend’s request to buy some grapes from her.

"Sis! Sis! This is bad! You need to get online! Someone is cyberbullying you—they’ve dug up all your personal info and are threatening to report our family’s factory!" Hu Zhiming said in a rush.

"Cyberbullying? Hold on, let me take a look."

Hu Xia knew that posting the video would lead to questions and a loss of followers, but she had never anticipated being cyberbullied.

This was all part of her plan. She figured that however many fans and however much traffic she lost now, she would gain back several times over once the truth of the matter came out.

She just hadn’t expected someone to fan the flames and frantically use the incident to chase clout.

After carefully reviewing the situation online, her expression darkened. They weren’t just exposing her personal information; they were insulting her family. That was going too far.

"Zhiming, have our family’s lawyer start collecting and documenting all the illegal posts online. They don’t have much going on right now anyway, so let’s give them something to do. We don’t want their skills getting rusty."

"Haha, Sis, I was thinking the same thing! I already called Uncle Wang. They’re collecting evidence online as we speak."

If it weren’t for the flood of malicious reports against their family’s factory, Hu Zhiming wouldn’t give a damn about these online morons.

He always thought it was awesome watching other people do this. Now, it was his turn.

"Good. Especially those marketing accounts leading the charge. Tell Uncle Wang to do his best to get them thrown in jail. And if he can’t, make sure they have to pay until it hurts."

Hu Xia looked at the prominent Weibo influencer who went by "Professor Guan Jian." ’This guy seems a little clever,’ she thought. After posting about it once, he stopped participating in the discussion.

But if she couldn’t get him, she could get his account taken down.

A quick glance at his feed was all it took for her to realize the guy was a fraud. ’What kind of university physics professor spends all day glued to the internet? Does he really think their job is that easy?’

Then there were the less-than-brilliant marketing accounts and the people sending her abusive private messages. ’These people really aren’t too bright,’ she mused. ’They’re just handing me the evidence themselves.’

While she was dealing with the cyberbullying, Lin Feng in Lin Xian Village was handling the fallout from the news of his grapes’ effects. A crowd of people had shown up first thing in the morning, nearly blocking the village road with their cars.

Ma Dehua stood beside Lin Feng, looking at the wealthy and influential crowd, and felt a headache coming on.

"Xiaofeng, do your grapes really have those effects?"

"Uncle Ma, they definitely do. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly how significant the effects are myself. But after my parents ate them, their health definitely improved."

Hearing Lin Feng’s answer, Ma Dehua was surprised. He had assumed it was just an exaggerated rumor, but it turned out to be true.

"So it’s actually real. And the vines really can’t be transplanted?" Ma Dehua asked in a low voice.

Lin Feng looked at the crowd and lowered his head. "There’s no way. Even if there were, I couldn’t do it now. I signed a contract that prohibits me from selling the vines to anyone else for two years. The penalty for breaking it is enormous."

Just then, the crowd seemed to have reached a consensus. Two middle-aged men with an imposing air walked over.

"Hello, I’m Zhang Yong, the owner of the Wuyuan County Department Store. This is Qin Zhifeng, the owner of Yimin Technology."

"A pleasure to meet you. I’m Lin Feng, and this is Ma Dehua, the mayor of Mountain Ridge Town. I already know why you’re here.

The Jade Grapes are completely sold out. Even the next harvest has already been claimed by the group of seniors who were here yesterday."

Zhang Yong said, "We’re aware of that. We came today mainly to discuss the possibility of expanding the scale of your grape cultivation."

Through various channels, these people had already confirmed the benefits of eating the Jade Grapes yesterday. They had even found out all about the changes in Zhou Zhenhai’s family.

That was why a whole group of them had dropped everything and rushed to this little mountain village first thing in the morning.

If there weren’t enough grapes to go around, then they had to find a way to expand cultivation. They were willing to fund the expansion, as long as Lin Feng agreed to sell the grapes to them.

"Gentlemen, you may not be aware, but this is a special variety of grape. It’s impossible to expand the cultivation area. Besides, I’ve signed a contract that forbids me from selling the vines to anyone for the next two years."

Qin Zhifeng said, "Boss Lin, perhaps you’ve misunderstood. We’re not asking you to sell the vines. We want to partner with you to expand the cultivation. We’ll provide the capital; all we want are the grapes."

Lin Feng was exasperated. ’I knew no one would believe me,’ he thought.

"Gentlemen, if it were really possible to expand cultivation, why would I turn down the chance to make money? If you don’t believe me, you can have someone come here and run a test. I’ll even provide the vines for free, but the experiment must be conducted here in the vicinity of the village."

Hearing Lin Feng’s sincere offer, the two men hesitated. They were businessmen themselves; they knew no one would refuse an opportunity to make money.

Besides, if someone else could take his vines and successfully grow them, Lin Feng would essentially be handing over a golden opportunity to them.

"Wait here. We’ll go discuss this."

When the others heard the news, they were skeptical. However, when they learned that Lin Feng was willing to let them conduct experiments right there in the village, they began to find his claim more credible.

In the end, they conferred and decided to invite a professional professor of agriculture to conduct the experiment and, while they were at it, to investigate what was so special about these grapes.

After seeing the group off, Lin Feng finally had some peace and quiet. He hoped that once they spread the word, no one else would show up with the same idea.

"Hello?"

"Lin Feng, I’m getting cyberbullied. I’m seeing a lot of people online saying they’re going to dig up your information. They’re planning to doxx you."

"What? Doxx me? Are these people insane?"

"They are a little crazy. Some people on the internet just aren’t right in the head. Anyway, a physics professor from Hua University contacted me. He wants to conduct a study on the phenomenon. Are you okay with that?"

Lin Feng said quickly, "Of course I agree! This is the perfect chance to prove we’re not engaging in false advertising or just trying to chase clout."

Hu Xia wasn’t afraid of being doxxed, and Lin Feng wasn’t afraid for himself either, but he worried about his family getting dragged into it. It was best to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

As soon as Liu Wen received the message from Hu Xia, he immediately notified his professor, Niu Yaozu.

He had seen the posts online, but he was inclined to believe Hu Xia. Besides, even if it were a hoax, no one would be stupid enough to fake a video that looked so unbelievable.

"Tomorrow happens to be Saturday. Let’s go take a look together."

Niu Yaozu hadn’t paid any attention to the online discourse. Just as Hu Xia had suspected, as a university professor, he was too busy with his work every day to have time to follow internet drama.

As long as it didn’t directly involve them, they would never actively seek out such information.

"Professor, the online backlash is pretty intense right now. Do you think this will affect you?"

"Intense backlash? Let me take a look."

He took out his phone and searched for information online. As he read some of the comments, his brow furrowed.

"What is wrong with these people online? Accusing someone of fraud without even conducting an on-site investigation. Shouldn’t a field inspection be the first step for something like this?"

"Professor, that’s just how the internet is. These people make money from traffic; they don’t care whether something is true or not. Professor, are we still going?"

"We’re going! In fact, this is exactly why we have to go. Wait a moment. I’m going to notify the university’s publicity department. This time, we’re going to do this with a bit of fanfare."

As a physics professor, he was obviously intelligent; he just didn’t want to waste brain cells on such matters.

Given the current online climate, a low-key investigation was out of the question. So, he would make it a high-profile one. It would be good publicity for the university, too.