True and False Daughter 23
After dinner, He Chunxi curled up on the sofa with her laptop, scrolling through comments.
“Oh, the platform is terrified, huh? I just came across a snide comment about your dad, and I was about to curse them out, but when I clicked on it, I got a notice that the comment didn’t exist.”
Shang Xi was chatting with her parents, and when she heard He Chunxi’s words, she chimed in, “I heard several of the platform’s top executives were taken away by the police for questioning this morning. The rest must be on edge, right? My dad said all the social media teams are working overtime today... Even the chairman is personally taking shifts on moderation, not just the IT team.”
He Chunxi snorted, “Serves them right! Isn’t it just the boss joining the assembly line, tightening screws? Why should we feel bad for him?”
Shang Xi laughed. “You chose this path, so even if you have to crawl, you’re seeing it through.”
He Chunxi kept scrolling. Five minutes later, she carried her laptop over to her dad. “Dad, Channel One released a short video and deliberately didn’t show your face. The commenters are all speculating you must look hideous.”
Right then, Qin Jingzhou was also chatting with relatives and friends. The interview video had just gone live, especially that line, “I hope my alma mater keeps the banner up, for at least a month.” The president and secretary of Capital University, Lao Qin and Xiao Qin, colleagues familiar with the original host, and a handful of researchers and graduate students he’d recently been working with, were all sending him photos of the university gate and the Life Sciences School's main entrance. The huge red-and-white banners were really eye-catching.
Hearing his daughter’s complaint, he put down his phone. “What’s the matter? Feeding your vanity?”
He Chunxi’s little face was brimming with pride. “That’s right! Dad, I want to brag about you! Everyone else shows off their boyfriends, so I want to show off my dad!”
Qin Jingzhou chuckled. “So go ahead.”
Shang Xi’s face twitched. “Chunxi, am I not worth bragging about a little?”
He Chunxi was already nestled beside her dad, holding up her phone for a selfie. Hearing her childhood friend’s jealous tone, she replied matter-of-factly, “You haven’t even passed Dad’s grad school exam yet.” Then she flashed a dazzling smile at the camera.
She carefully checked the selfie, zoomed in, and felt satisfied. After showing it to her dad for approval, she uploaded it to her social media.
To maximize the reach, she even commented a string of ellipses under Channel One’s post, along with the fresh new selfie of her and her dad.
Then she settled against her dad’s shoulder and waited for the buzz to brew.
It didn’t even take five minutes for her phone to live up to expectations—it black-screened and crashed. Before it did, she caught a few scattered comments, the very first one: I can only say one thing, wow, hubby!
He Chunxi recognized that user—they were one of her anti-fans! She got a bit mad, switched to her laptop to keep watching comments, but hadn’t even started clapping back at the “looks over brains” crowd when the platform decided to preemptively self-destruct.
He Chunxi was even more furious. “So it doesn’t crash when people bash Dad, doesn’t crash when he wins the science prize, doesn’t crash when execs get thrown in jail, doesn’t crash when they post official notices about banning slander accounts, didn’t crash when Channel One posted the short video but the moment I post one selfie, it crashes... I really doubt that’s a coincidence!”
Actually... the platform’s server blowout wasn’t a coincidence, but it definitely wasn’t ordered by the board or upper management either.
From the front end to the servers, there’d been sky-high traffic all day. When his precious daughter suddenly dropped a bombshell of fresh content, the servers simply gave up.
The original host, after all, looked like a “male idol.” When Qin Jingzhou first transmigrated, he’d been in a coma on a hospital bed for two years, skin-and-bones, and unrecognizable. But as his body recovered under the effect of his spirit, his looks quickly returned to their peak. No one around him immediately sensed his renewed charm, mostly because of Jin Li and the center-of-attention system. Once Jin Li suffered backlash and the system’s charm and suggestion abilities basically failed, even his biological daughter Du Jiaying and Gao Wen began sneaking glances at him.
But the only platform to completely crash was the number-one social media app. The servers on other platforms, though under enormous pressure, mostly held up. Media staff who had quick reflexes and had been monitoring the He family immediately copied He Chunxi’s selfie and posted it to their outlets’ official accounts elsewhere.
Even the usually staid official platform had its account “Professor He: Outspoken and Gorgeous” shoot to number one trending. Qin Jingzhou saw this on the tablet Gao Wen handed him, and he burst out laughing. “The netizens are so refreshingly superficial.”
Then he even paused, muttering to his system, “Absolutely ridiculous!”
Because in the past few days, netizens had swung from condemnation to silence, and some had even admitted they’d been fooled again. Many sincerely apologized, but whether public opinion slammed or praised, insulted or honored him, the amount of Fate’s Son energy he carried barely fluctuated.
That’s the protection of Nation’s Fortune for you. As long as you don’t betray the nation, nothing much can shake you.
But with just one photo uploaded by his precious daughter, within barely half an hour, a massive amount of Fate’s Son energy—mostly public goodwill—came rushing in, like a tidal wave.
His adorable little system could feel it too. “Honestly, Brother Zhou, you’ve saved several worlds before and never had this much effect.”
Qin Jingzhou shrugged, “My achievements in those worlds weren’t as well known and, more importantly, those worlds didn’t have the population, especially the elite quantity and quality of Hua Country.”
The system went silent for a moment, then spoke up again. “It’s mainly because the World Will here adores you! I asked her, and she secretly gave you a multiplier.”
Makes sense, too. The World Will’s true wish was to erase the center-of-attention system that siphoned endless fortune. If not for Qin Jingzhou, the center-of-attention system would have drained away all the world’s elites via Jin Li.
Now, not only did Qin Jingzhou sabotage Jin Li and the center-of-attention system’s plans, he also elevated the entire world by a notch. The World Will, both surprised and grateful, had given her reward early.
Qin Jingzhou sincerely praised, “Heaven truly knows what she’s doing.” He would repay World Will’s appreciation.
Gao Wen suddenly raised the tablet. “Boss, the production team got hauled back by management. The show’s two major investors both asked me if the show will keep filming.”
Qin Jingzhou looked at his precious daughter, “Should we keep filming?”
He Chunxi grinned, her teeth flashing. “We started it, we should finish it. As long as the team doesn’t do anything crazy again... Can we fire Jin Li?”
Shang Xi jumped in, “Honestly, even if you asked her, she wouldn’t come back again.”
He Chunxi grew curious. “Why’s that?”
Shang Xi had plenty of Heir Apparent friends, and his buddy Ji Chun was connected everywhere. “Didn’t Jin Li hit her head and end up in the hospital yesterday? Her parents rushed back from overseas to help smooth things over, and Du Jiahui even stopped by the hospital to see her…”
Gao Wen added, “The Jin family has already returned to Capital City.”
He Chunxi considered, “I doubt she’ll give up that easily... Even if people around you are waking up, she still has a bunch of hopelessly loyal fans.”
Qin Jingzhou nodded in approval. “Exactly.”
The center-of-attention system might not grasp the big picture, but that level of Fate’s Son energy would never escape its notice.
Qin Jingzhou figured, with the amount of energy he now possessed, there’s no way the system would let go. Even if Jin Li wanted to keep a low profile, the system would force her back into the fray.
Qin Jingzhou stood under the exhaust vent and lit a cigarette. “If the mountain won’t come to me, then I’ll go to the mountain.”
He Chunxi’s eyes sparkled wide. “Strike while the iron’s hot?”
Qin Jingzhou laughed. “My daughter gets me.”
At that, Gao Wen immediately began checking flights.
The next morning, they all returned to Capital City—left their luggage at the hotel, since they’d be back soon enough.
But as soon as they got off the plane, Senior Brother Qin whisked Qin Jingzhou away to attend a small celebration banquet with a group of academicians and experts.
Qin Jingzhou had been mentally prepared ever since the Huaguo Science & Technology Prize announced its winners and saw his name topping the list.
At the event, after greeting everyone and sitting beside Academician Qin, the room raised their glasses to him, offering congratulations with beaming smiles.
Every academician and expert present had taken his intelligence potion.
After about a month to digest its effects, these experts truly felt its wonder. For them, nothing was scarier than their minds going dull. This potion restored the brains of people in their fifties, sixties, even seventies, to that perfect balance of capacity and experience of someone in their thirties or forties.
Only their minds had grown younger—not their bodies—but even so, with the intelligence potion and the public version that followed, it was enough for these academics to feel deeply indebted.
Sure enough, after the toasts, a black-rimmed-glasses-wearing expert spoke up. “I’ve suspended Jin Corp’s patent license.”
Next, Qin Jingzhou listened with a smile as academician after expert told him personally that they’d cut ties with the directors and conglomerates responsible for slandering him, ending several major technology and patent cooperations.
Whether through skill cards or metaphysical means, not a single one of the big shots or Heir Apparents Jin Li roped in managed to escape.
Qin Jingzhou thanked each of them. Some had lost quite a bit from this, and he took note, vowing, “I’ll find a way to repay you.”
The gathering ended on a celebratory note.
As Qin Jingzhou said his farewells in the parking lot, Jin Li suddenly appeared. She stopped about ten meters from him, glaring. “I will never let you go.”
There were fewer than twenty academicians and experts present, and all of them stared, because with their newly transformed spirit power, they could almost see an indescribably grotesque, multi-tentacled octopus raise one limb and pierce straight through Jin Li’s crown, with the other tentacles spreading out and lunging at Professor He.
Everyone was stunned.
Jin Li and BT001 were famous, and many had considered making them main research subjects for the future—but the thing they saw was much more vicious than they’d imagined!
All were in shock, then heard Professor He, his voice as calm as ever: “Steady your minds! Focus all your strength between your eyebrows and fire at that thing!”
They obeyed, and sure enough, they saw what seemed like a semi-tangible point of light launch itself at the writhing BT001.
And, of course, the brightest one came from Professor He.
Most of the points struck BT001. Then... BT001 let out a screech, and with a splat, fell off the back of Jin Li’s head and lay motionless on the ground.
Jin Li’s body trembled and collapsed on the ground as well.
Everyone: ...
Qin Jingzhou looked at the pitch-black emergency exit behind Jin Li. “It got away.”
His adorable system wasn’t surprised. “The cunning rabbit has three burrows. But self-fission is damaging, too.”
Academician Qin spoke up, glancing at the “octopus” quickly shrinking on the ground, then at Qin Jingzhou. “So, how do we... pick it up?”
Qin Jingzhou was thoroughly sincere. “I only know that move I just used. I have no idea how to pick this thing up.”
Academician Qin fell silent for a while, then sighed. “Looks like everyone needs to brainstorm...”