Chapter 40
This is the first time I've seen a merchant tear apart a web celebrity.
Crowds gathered to watch the spectacle, and quickly the hype built up.
There were even some black fans hired by the marketing department to stir up the muddy waters.
"Do you remember He Lingfeng? He used to appear on camera all the time. He's such a cute kid, I've been following him, but then I realized he was silent and reserved. It's really pitiful, he doesn't have his own parents and can only rely on this kindergarten, so he has to suffer in silence."
"Shen Wei initially exploited He Lingfeng for publicity, but after gaining popularity, she stopped featuring him. Let's save the child, I can't imagine what kind of treatment a child without popularity would receive in a web celebrity kindergarten."
After two days, the merchant finally came up with an angle that could critically hit Starry Sky Kindergarten.
The mom community is the most easily provoked.
Especially when someone uses children as a subject.
It immediately struck a nerve with the moms.
No matter whose child it was, they immediately projected themselves onto the situation.
They ranted endlessly. But some longtime fans of the kindergarten's livestream couldn't stand it anymore.
They immediately clarified online: "I've been watching since the kindergarten first started livestreaming, it's definitely not like what you're saying."
"He Lingfeng doesn't appear in the livestream because he simply doesn't want to, we should respect the children's wishes."
"Besides, when they were playing the kitchen game before, he confidently faced the camera and even gave his beloved little flower to Fu Bao. How could he possibly be bullied every day? Open your eyes to the truth, you haters!"
"Exactly, you can criticize others for suffering, but don't say the children at Starry Sky Kindergarten are suffering! That's the first thing I don't believe!"
"They ride in a 2 million yuan school bus every day, with chefs personally cooking for them. Their toys cost thousands of yuan each, and they have a huge lawn to run around on. If you call that suffering, please let me suffer like that!"
"People have accused Starry Sky Kindergarten of child abuse before, but the officials have already released data proving otherwise. Are you still mindlessly defaming them, or are you questioning the officials?"
Those haters, of course, dared not respond to that question, but they didn't accept the other side's argument either. Soon, the two sides began hurling insults at each other.
It quickly turned into an all-out war!
This issue's popularity had already overshadowed the previous clothing brand controversy. Now everyone was focused on attacking the kindergarten, asking why He Lingfeng wasn't allowed to appear.
Was there some unspeakable secret?
Some even wanted to help him "escape this fiery pit."
The speed at which this matter escalated was so rapid that Shen Wei definitely didn't believe no one was fueling it from behind the scenes.
Young Master Gu had been here for a few days. He found this kindergarten to be extraordinarily good, with a very comfortable atmosphere.
The reason Gu Qingyan was unwilling to inherit the family business was because their side was too complex, with constant power struggles between various factions, which was very tiring.
Coming here under the pretext of being an engaged partner, he gradually grew to enjoy working here.
Now that someone was trying to disrupt this place, he was furious and immediately called his elder brother: "Help me investigate what's really going on behind this."
"Got it!" His brother readily agreed.
In the previous online attack, everyone was very anxious. But this time, everyone calmly showed up in the meeting room when the incident occurred.
They weren't as flustered as before.
They had been through major storms, and the last time was even more ferocious than this one, yet they persevered. There was no reason they couldn't get through this one.
Everyone wanted to see how Shen Wei would handle it.
"For now, the best solution is to have the child come out and clarify!"
But Shen Wei disagreed.
The netizens had fallen into a delusional state, and no matter what she said, the other side wouldn't be satisfied.
Instead, they would fall into a self-proving trap, repeatedly demanding proof from them.
It would be endless. They couldn't do their normal work anymore!
"That method is viable, but unnecessary. We're a group of adults, surely we can protect one child."
Moreover, He Lingfeng was a child prodigy who had already started learning university-level courses, with a particular interest in computer science.
Just a few months ago, he was still illiterate, so his rapid progress far exceeded their understanding of geniuses.
Shen Wei wanted to protect him and prevent outside interference from affecting him.
But she never expected the haters to seize this opportunity to launch a frenzied attack.
The next day, the kindergarten's livestream went on as usual.
As soon as the livestream started, 50,000 people poured in, more than any previous livestream.
The comment section at the bottom of the screen, which used to be filled with compliments about how cute the children were or young people joking around online, was now filled with insults.
Many loyal viewers also hoped Shen Wei would explain the situation clearly.
Shen Wei only said one sentence: "This incident is not true."
She didn't say anything else.
Seeing this, the livestream haters became even more excited.
"Don't know what to say, huh? Didn't come up with a good excuse?"
"Yeah, why doesn't the kid go study with the other kids?"
"In this day and age, you're not letting the child study, what are you even thinking?"
"I used to think He Lingfeng was just cute, now I realize how pitiful he is."
Shen Wei continued the livestream as usual, but the viewers said all sorts of things, making the atmosphere very chaotic.
At that moment, someone suddenly said: "Oh, look, someone posted a statement on Xiao Moushu."
"What's that?"
Shen Wei thought that as long as the hype died down, it would be fine. But she never expected someone who supported her to finally snap.
Shen Wei didn't ask anyone from the kindergarten to issue a statement.
Unexpectedly, she saw someone defending her, which piqued her curiosity.
She then searched for Xiao Moushu on her phone, and the top trending item on Xiao Moushu was a statement posted by Su Jun.
"I've seen what's happening online, and I'm really angry. Let me tell you the truth about why He Lingfeng doesn't attend school with regular kids. It's because he has already studied elementary and middle school curricula. Would you ask a middle school student to learn 1+1=2? Would they be willing?"
"As for claims that Starry Sky Kindergarten mistreats children, I strongly disagree with that."
"It was Shen Wei who initially discovered He Lingfeng's special talents and arranged tutors for him, at 200 yuan per hour. Ask yourself, would you be willing to pay such a high price for tutoring your own child?"
He then shared screenshots of the tutoring platform's records.
The 200 yuan tutoring fee had caused a stir on their platform at the time.
He had photos with He Lingfeng and even short videos of He Lingfeng doing homework assignments.
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