Chapter 103 - Extra 8: That Weibo ID Affair

Chapter 103 - Extra 8: That Weibo ID Affair

The verified Weibo account ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’ was on the hot search list recently. Though most of the people searching for this particular Weibo ID was Ke MuZi’s fans.

Through it was surprising to find that this grassrootsV account actually had 8 million fans on Weibo. Many bored netizens tried analyzing the account’s followers and realized with great shock that the account’s followers were all live accounts. In an era where even the most popular stars only had 5.6 million real fans while the rest were zombie accounts, this ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’ can be considered a top Weibo celebrity.

What’s more, this ID wasn’t a marketing account. It’s been passed around that after the account became popular, several marketing accounts reached out to the owner and tried to sign them in. However, the blogger seemed to be quite rich. There was a time where the blogger had been so annoyed with all the solicitations they were receiving that they directly posted a pinned comment that read-

‘I already have plenty of money. I’m not selling this account, so you all can just scram.’

As a result, this person had been dubbed ‘The First Person to Show Off His Wealth in Weibo’ for a while. The account had been criticized by a lot of sour people, but of course, it also attracted plenty of fans.

As for how this account came to be, no one could tell.

It seems that this Weibo account first gained traction back during Rong City’s No.12 High School scandal. The story about the school’s fraudulent vice-principal had been one of the top ten hot searches of that year. However, there were many other bloggers involved in the incident at the time, and ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’ had primarily focused on mocking the vice-principal, rather than providing evidence.

After that, the blogger began to post funny one-liners and sarcastic quips. Every time he did this, it would lead to viral memes or trends that would inevitably become that year’s most talked-about subject. Gradually, more and more people started following this Weibo ID. But as the account grew larger, the unknown blogger behind this account became more and more low-key. The blogger never posted any sponsored advertisements, and they never participated in any online celebrity events either. So far, their identity was a complete mystery.

The more mysterious the blogger was, the more curious the netizens would be. What’s more, despite this account’s talents, its blogger never considered cashing in. Nobody even knew what this mysterious person looked like.

The profile picture? Of course, it was nothing but a random drawing.

Honestly, Zheng PingQing himself didn’t expect his account’s immense popularity.

Back then, he had spent a small sum of money and bought this verified account simply to ridicule and roast Huo PingChuan and his son. Zheng PingQing had predicted that after taking over this Weibo ID, the account would gradually become one of the countless anonymous accounts on the website. After all, he didn’t rely on this to eat, and he couldn’t be bothered to try and properly manage his Weibo account or anything like that.

As the marketing industry began to evolve, marketing accounts and social media celebrities began to pop up. Popular accounts became the new hot marketing tactic, and in this new era of countless internet stars, many gladly sold their Weibo accounts that had hundreds of thousands of fans for good money.

So when Zheng PingQing first noticed the slow rise of his followers, he didn’t think much of it. Accounts that had a few hundred thousand followers wasn’t anything noteworthy.

But to Zheng PingQing’s surprise, his account began to reach the hot search list more and more often. It became popular, then famous, then prominent, until…it became an incredibly huge hit. The account became the first amongst the grassroots to become a huge online celebrity, and he even won a title- ‘One of the Top Trendsetters in the Internet Age.’

Zheng PingQing: “…”

It wasn’t like he could directly post on Weibo that he wasn't making waves, he was just the porter.

Speaking of the popularity of his account, it really was just an accident, ah.

After the Huo PingChuan incident, Zheng PingQing simply used the Weibo ID as a personal account. When he was in a good mood, he would post something casually. If he wasn’t in the mood, then he might not even post anything for half a month.

The problem was, some of his casual comments often contained sayings or memes from his previous life, which would only become popular years later. Zheng PingQing’s original intentions weren’t to play tricks, ah. For him and Lin Qian, those sayings were nothing but everyday expressions. They can’t even remember which buzzwords became popular at which year.

After his unexpected stardom….many of these buzzwords and memes became popular. One casual remark would be reposted and forwarded hundreds and thousands of times and would even be in top trending lists.

At this point, he had been in Weibo’s yearly trending lists so many times that Zheng PingQing doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Once, when he and Lin Qian were in the middle of a date, he accidentally took a photo of a cloud, and it reminded him of a very terrible meme.

So he posted the photo with the caption: “Everything is fleeting.”

When he and Lin Qian first saw this crude, unpopular meme X years ago, they both almost fell over from laughing so hard.

Now, when Zheng PingQing posted it…it went viral.

One person commented: ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’, you’re a creator just brimming with talent, ah.

Zheng PingQing: “….”

Liang Qian: “…”

In any case, no matter what he posted, it would become a trend. Gradually, even Zheng PingQing couldn’t control the situation, and he became the first major internet celebrity on Weibo.

What’s more, he doesn’t do advertisements or participate in any online fights, nor did he open a TaoBao store and started selling merchandise. It can be said that in the entire Weibo platform, he had the most Buddha-like personality. This culminated in perpetual goodwill from passersby and netizens.

Who would’ve thought that this account would one day be on the top trending lists because of online drama?

Speaking of this…Zheng PingQing expressed that he didn’t want to talk about it.

To netizens, his Weibo was a celebrity account, but to Zheng PingQing, it was nothing more than a personal account. Therefore, when Lin Qian started his business, he would occasionally forward some news or product information about Shuttle Technology. During this period, some people thought that he had finally agreed to advertise things. Later, it was proved that ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’ was nothing more than a fan of Shuttle Technology.

….well, to be more exact, Zheng PingQing was a fanboy of Lin Qian, the boss of Shuttle Technology.

Because of Zheng PingQing’s Weibo, Shuttle Technology became popular in the early stages of its business. It was something any small start-up that had no money to spare for marketing, was envious of. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that Zheng PingQing’s Weibo contributed considerably to Shuttle Technology’s eventual rise in the tech industry. But that’s another story.

Anyway, with Shuttle Technology’s growing fame, the company’s two founders Lin Qian and Ke MuZi, also entered the spotlight. The handsome Lin Qian’s growing popularity wasn’t anything unusual. In fact, it could almost be expected.

What was a surprise, however, was that along with Lin Qian’s fame, the ‘Lin Qian and Ke MuZi CP’ also gained traction.

With the rapid growth of social media and the emergence of WeChat, media as a whole also matured. 'Rotten' culture began to sweep through the entire platform.

And Lin Qian and Ke MuZi, in the eyes of these rotten women, was the classic CP template.

Two young men met and studied at the same university together. One was a business genius, while the other was a technology maniac. They co-founded their first company together and eventually became one of the industry’s first-tier companies.

In addition to their excellent appearances (though Ke MuZi often looked like he was moments away from dropping dead), they frequently made public appearances together, making the netizens’ imaginations run wild.

One only has technology and computers in his heart, the other helps him achieve his dreams and presents his achievements to the world.

↑ The subject above had already repeatedly appeared in tens of thousands of fan content on the web, causing a lot of singing and crying.

The popularity of the CP also helped push up Shuttle Technolgy’s value. Investors couldn’t help but snicker under their blankets whenever they read pop culture news at night.

But not everyone was happy to see this CP become popular.

To everyone’s surprise, the first one to stand up against this CP was the most low-key and peaceful superstar in Weibo: ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’

At first, blogger QianQian only expressed their dissatisfaction with the CP from time to time. Their comments would include but were not limited to:

‘Unworthy, Ke MuZi isn’t worthy of Lin Qian, ah. Lin Qian is much more handsome.’

‘Ke MuZi’s straight-guy smell is so strong it can be smelt in outer space, alright? He and Lin Qian, a CP? Don’t even think about it.’

&#k2018;According to my observations, Lin Qian already be in a happy relationship. He already has a lover, so Ke MuZi has no chance.’

&#k2018;Ke MuZi fans, get out of my blog, or I’ll go and beat Ke Muzi up.’

The &#k2018;Buddha’ of Weibo, because of this CP, was gradually exposing their violent and irritable side.

Later, some netizens analyzed his posts and came to a conclusion- this person was Lin Qian's poison.

This can also be seen from their Weibo ID. According to some netizens, the ‘Sending’ in ‘Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep’ is in reference to Lin Qian and that his Weibo ID actually means that the owner wanted Lin Qian to sleep with them. Of course, some netizens objected to this conclusion. After all, the Weibo account had this ID long before Lin Qian even entered the public eye.

For a time, these disputes were constantly popping on the web.

The reason for blogger QianQian’s sudden online drama was because of a madam that recently entered the Lin Qian-Ke MuZi CP circles. This madam turned out to be a well-known veteran in the fanfiction scene and was famous for her high output, good writing, and humongous brain holes. As soon as this madam showed up, well, the situation was done for. 'KeLin' quickly engulfed the madam’s friend group, and eventually, KeLin helped create the first domestic doujinshi circle in China.

Zheng PingQing was very upset.

So very childishly, he went to do battle with the madam.

Even his battle method was like that of a primary student. Zheng PingQing actually started to comment on the madam’s posts one by one using his personal Weibo account.

‘Total fabrication. Lin Qian doesn’t like the lunar new year. It’s the actual new year's day that he finds breathtaking.’

‘Cough, Ke MuZi is a total slag, alright? Unlike normal people, he has 18 computers.’

‘It’s not Lin Qian who puts Ke MuZi to sleep every day, it’s his programmers. What’s more, the programmer who puts the slag Ke MuZi to sleep changes every day.’

‘The reason Lin Qian and Ke MuZi were in low spirits during that conference was because Lin Qian slept with his partner the night before, and Ke MuZi was on his computer the entire night. It wasn’t because they slept together!’

‘Lady, you’re totally off the mark.’

‘Once again, you’re wrong.’

‘Ke MuZi is no good! He’s totally a scum through and through. He bought another computer, ah. It seems that Xiao Yin is going to fall out of favor.’

‘Ke MuZi doesn’t even wash his face before going to bed. A total slob!’

While Zheng PingQing mocked this madam, he also ridiculed Ke MuZi. In the end, he splashed Ke MuZi with so much dirty water that Ke MuZi’s fans finally grew angry and stooped down to Zheng PingQing’s primary student tactics, formally starting the war.

‘So laughable. This blogger wants to sleep with Lin Qian but doesn’t have the power. He’s just jealous, ah.’

‘I can smell the sour stench of envy across the computer screen.’

‘Blogger, wake up and quickly move bricks. Even if Boss Ke isn’t sleeping with Boss Lin, that doesn’t mean you have a chance, ah.’

‘My cute CP is the best pairing in the world. Lin Qian and Ke MuZi are the perfect match! Just go and die from anger, ah.’

‘@Ke MuZi Boss Ke, this evil person is slandering you, ah. Quickly prosecute him, we’ll testify for you!’

‘I ask this PO to formally apologize to Boss Ke. Otherwise, we won’t let this go!’

‘This PO said that Boss Ke has 19 computers and doesn’t wash his face before going to bed. He says it as if he had seen it with his own eyes!!!’

‘Haha, Boss Ke’s face is so white and glossy, ah. He certainly washes his face and puts on moisturizer!!! This PO’s jealousy is so unbecoming and ugly.’

Ke MuZi’s fans, the madam’s fans, as well as countless KeLin fans all worked together to bring this talented trendsetter up to the hot search list once more. But this time, it was because of a scandal.

The sudden rise in the trending list shocked the No.12 tutoring syndicate. After the emergence of WeChat, they created a WeChat group of their own, so naturally, someone forwarded the details of the drama to the group chat.

Dong MingEn: @Zheng PingQing Boss, look. This QianQian blogger is so funny, ah. I went around and watched them comment. They seem to be a hardcore fan of Boss Lin.He licks Boss Lin material every day.

Lou XingGuang: What’s a ‘weifen‘?

Xu Yao: I think it means they only love Ah Qian?

Jiang TingJun: Poor guy. They probably don’t know that Ah Qian already has Boss Zheng.

Zhou Daota: Really poor. They’re being scolded like this for clarifying Boss Lin’s love life.

Gou XinDou: Poor guy, his love is meaningless.

Fu YiFei: Poor guy +1

Pan QiBo: Poor guy +1

Zheng PingQing: Poor my ass, that’s me.

The group:……………………………………………………？？？？？？？

Zheng PingQing didn’t care much about his online drama reaching the hot search list. He said those things to create waves anyway. Internet harassment was a trivial matter to him. The most important thing was…

“Post something to clarify the situation right now, or Xiao Fen will meet a very violent death.” Zheng PingQing put a hand on Ke MuZi’s new computer and threatened.

Ke MuZi hurriedly shouted: “Don’t be impulsive! Xiao Jin is innocent!”

Zheng PingQing paused. “Xiao Jin? Isn’t this Xiao Fen?”

Ke MuZi replied: “It's rose gold, not pink.”

Zheng PingQing: “… you’re a straight man, ah. How can you tell colors so well?”

Ke MuZi took out his cellphone and said: “I’ll post a statement right now, alright? Please move your hand away from Xiao Jin.”

Zheng PingQing: “…okay.”

All the programmers in the office: “…”

Boss Ke's life gate is really easy to find, ah.

So while Weibo was currently in the middle of a chaotic war, one of the protagonists, Ke MuZi, the mysterious otaku that hadn’t posted anything in ten thousand years, finally sent several posts in succession.

@Ke MuZi: I really am a slag. I have 18 computers.

@Ke MuZi: every day, a different programmer will send me to sleep.

@Ke MuZi: Today, I bought my nineteenth computer, Xiao Jin. My love for my eighteenth computer, Xiao Yin, has slightly decreased.

@Ke MuZi: I’m straight. So straight that my straight-guy smell can be smelt in outer space. My numerous plaid shirts can attest to it, ah.

@Ke MuZi: I also don’t wash my face before going to bed. I don’t have the time.

After Ke MuZi’s successive posts, the netizens who had been busy scolding Zheng PingQing to death: ………………………………？？？？？？？

Netizens: ‘Boss Ke, have you been kidnapped? Blink twice if you are.’

However, some QianQian fans came out to ridicule the person. They said: ‘This ‘blink twice’ became popular because of QianQian, ah. You Ke fans aren’t qualified to use the term!’

Netizens: Boss Ke is suddenly saying that programmers send him to sleep and insisting that he’s a straight man….he definitely got kidnapped!

Some netizens began to speculate on whether Ke MuZi’s account had been stolen. After all, Ke MuZi isn’t usually active in Weibo. Thinking that the account had likely been stolen, everyone began to curse QianQian, shouting that they were a shameless person who used despicable means to get ahead.

But soon, Ke MuZi began posting again.

@Ke MuZi: [photo]

In the photo was Ke MuZi, wearing a wrinkled plaid shirt. He was sitting in front of a specially customized L-shaped table, with a row of laptops in different colors on it.

Ke MuZi’s hands were stretched as if he was embracing the laptops.

His face was as pale as ever, and it looked very much like a water slide.

Netizens are guessing that Ke MuZi’s face might not be wet, but just greasy.

Netizens:……………………………………………

Ke fans:………………………………………………

The programmers on Weibo: ‘FML!!! XX laptop!!!! And that one??? This configuration!!! Isn’t this my dream setup??? Does Shuttle Technology need more employees????’

Netizen: You wake up quickly, ah. If you go to Shuttle Technology, you may have to send Ke MuZi to bed!!

The programmers on Weibo: For this equipment, I’ll gladly sleep next to Ke MuZi!!!

Netizens: ………………？？？？？

Because of the photo, Ke MuZi’s equipment unexpectedly attracted the attention of major programmers in the industry. In fact, this incident would lead to these veteran programmers to advertise Shuttle Technology to other people. However, that’s another story.

Right now, Lin Qian, who was browsing Weibo, saw the situation and went: “….”

The drama with QianQian was still on the hot search list. Because of Ke MuZi’s posts, the situation hadn’t dropped but even increased. Of course, the conversation around this wasn’t entirely dark in tone anymore.

Everyone was beginning to speculate about the identity of blogger QianQian and why they knew so much about Ke MuZi.

According to Ke MuZi’s posts, this blogger probably had a close relationship with Ke MuZi. Otherwise, Ke MuZi wouldn’t have come out and spoken on their behalf.

Those with humongous brain holes even began to form ideas about a QianQian-Ke MuZi CP. Otherwise, why would Ke MuZi come out and speak on their behalf, ah????

However, this argument was quickly overturned. According to blogger QianQian’s previous posts, he was undoubtedly a huge fan of Lin Qian. Moreover, it’s apparent that he really hated Ke MuZi because of Lin Qian.

So some people came to the conclusion that maybe Ke MuZi secretly fell in love with blogger QianQian, but the blogger liked Lin Qian. Lin Qian hadn’t made a sound yet, but according to the rules of drama, there was a high possibility that Lin Qian liked Ke MuZi.

Emmmm, its the classic case of a love triangle.

“I decided to buy a water army and make them speculate on Ke MuZi and Shao SiJia’s relationship.” Zheng PingQing indignantly told his boyfriend. “That way, Ke MuZi will be killed the moment Shao SiJia comes back.”

Lin Qian: “…”

“These people online have horrible eyesight, ah.” Zheng PingQing angrily complained.

Lin Qian looked at his lover funny, then went to hug him. Putting his head on Zheng PingQing’s shoulder, he said: “As long as I have good eyesight, what does the rest matter?”

Zheng PingQing didn’t actually care what other people say about him online. He just wanted to take the opportunity to scold Ke MuZi.

“Alright.” Lin Qian suddenly said.

Zheng PingQing: “?”

Lin Qian turned on his cellphone and let Zheng PingQing see what he was doing. Zheng PingQing watched as Lin Qian logged on to the verified account that Zheng PingQing had bought for him.

Back then, in order to match the verified account Zheng PingQing bought for himself, he bought one for Lin Qian too. But Lin Qian never actually used it after the first few days.

Over the years, the number of fans following Lin Qian’s account had left. The last post Lin Qian had done was a scathing remark about the Rong City No. 12 incident with the vice-principal a few years ago.

It was an account with practically no sense of existence. Still, as the account of the man stuck in the middle of the dispute between the co-founder of Shuttle Technology and Weibo’s first internet celebrity, his following post held great weight.

@Subtle Fragrance Floats and Drifts, Inviting Dusk @Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep just make it public, Qing. [photo]

The photo shows Lin Qian embracing a man, his face against the other’s neck. The angle of the picture shows that it was a selfie taken by Lin Qian himself. While Lin Qian’s face could be seen, people could only see the back of the other man’s head.

Of course, it was a very handsome head.

Zheng PingQing chuckled and quickly forwarded the post.

@Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep I’ve made it public, Qian. // @Subtle Fragrance Floats and Drifts, Inviting Dusk @Oblique Shadows Sending Me to a Light Sleep just make it public, Qing. [photo]

Weibo promptly exploded.

Although a lot of people shipped Lin Qian and Ke MuZi, everyone knew it amounted to nothing more than fanciful daydreams. No one in their wildest dreams ever expected Lin Qian to actually come out of the closet so publicly.

And their lover was…

It turned out that 'sending me to a light sleep' literally meant 'sleeping together'...

The netizens were in utter chaos.

At the same time, the KeLin fandom also collapsed.

‘It’s falling, my stocks are plunging way down to the limit, ah.’

‘Are you sure that’s the absolute limit?? Clearly, the company will get delisted altogether!!!!’

‘The most tragic thing on earth is when your CP evaporates and you feel it slipping from your hands…’

‘Terrible, so miserable.’

‘No, don’t despair, sisters! Boss Ke X his computers is still viable. We can still have moe!!!’

‘Moe my ass. With nineteen computers, what kind of abomination do you think we’ll have to come up with!?”

The co-founders of Shuttle Technology stayed at the hot search list for several days, with its popularity seeming to have no sign of decreasing.

Because of its prominent place on Weibo, the alumni of No. 12 High School also heard about it.

Classmate 1: Have you seen the latest trending topic? Lin Qian came out of the closet!!!

Classmate 2: OMG! OMG!

Classmate 3: Ah, ah, ah, I was still waiting for Ah Qian to marry me!!! I don’t accept this!!

Classmate 4: I don’t accept this +1! I don’t agree with this marriage!

Classmate 5: Calm down a little, ah.

Classmate 18: So, at the end, who’s Ah Qian’s lover, ah?

Classmate 19: Qing…it can’t be the Qing I’m thinking of…can it?

Classmate 20:…

Classmate 21:…

Classmate 22:…

Classmate 35: No way…

Classmate 36: So during high school…

Classmate 37: Shocked.jpg

Classmate 38: Frightened.gif

Zheng PingQing: It’s definitely that Qing you’re thinking of.

All the alumni: ………………………………Boss Zheng 囧

Zheng PingQing: What, still not saying their blessings?

Zheng PingQing: Hurry up and say them, ba. Don’t let me say it again.

All the alumni: ………………………………

Gou XinDou: I wish for Boss Zheng and Boss Lin to have a long and happy life together, may you have marital bliss!

Dong MingEn: Damn it! Once again, I’ve been beaten by the bean in being the first to bootlick!!!!

All the alumni: ………………………………

The author has something to say:

After much thought, I still wanted to write an entire chapter explaining that Weibo ID, so I did.

Oh, dear lord, the translator notes on this one.

This was so funny, ah. Zheng PingQing, omfg. You’re so petty XD

I can only imagine the smug face Lin Qian had as he hugged his boyfriend and posted it for all to see.

Also, I didn’t realize that reincarnators could have this sort of problem. Popular culture and slang that hadn’t existed yet, making them seem totally incomprehensible to people of that era.