「The next morning.」
Lin Feng’s classes weren’t until the afternoon, but he still couldn’t sleep in. He was woken up bright and early by a phone call.
The school principal was on the other end.
Lin Feng couldn’t vent his morning grumpiness and was forced to listen to the principal’s persuasion for half an hour. He finally gave in and agreed to do the speech when he couldn’t take it anymore.
Lin Feng had no idea what he was supposed to talk about.
He searched online and watched other people’s videos, but ultimately decided to try a different approach.
If he couldn’t give a speech, he could let the students ask him questions.
That way, he wouldn’t have to rack his brain for a script.
Lin Feng wasn’t worried about someone asking deliberately difficult questions. He was confident he could handle them.
But sometimes, things change faster than you can plan for them.
The moment Lin Feng sat down at the speaker’s podium and explained how the session would work, a male student immediately raised his hand.
He was extremely excited, as if he had been waiting for a long time, eager to ask a question.
Usually, when the school organized events like this, the Q&A session was saved for the end, and most of the time, no students would ask anything.
So when Lin Feng suddenly proposed turning the entire speech into a Q&A, the school administrators were quite worried.
What if no one asks a question? Wouldn’t that be awkward?
Therefore, the administrators were very pleased to see this student so eagerly raise his hand.
A microphone was passed to him. The student took it, lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, and then asked a question that would make the administrators regret giving him the microphone—or rather, regret letting him attend the event at all.
"Excuse me, Lin Feng. You’re well aware that the term ’influencer’ has become a derogatory word in many people’s eyes. So why did you take control of Douhu Entertainment?"
"Am I to believe that you’re just like those evil capitalists, with a filthy heart, exploiting influencers for profit without a care for the consequences?"
The moment he spoke, the entire auditorium fell deathly silent.
No one had expected him to ask such a question.
It was too late to take the microphone back now. Doing so would only make Lin Feng look like he had a guilty conscience, which would be an indirect admission of the accusation.
And the school administration would be accused of bullying a student.
Besides, with cameras recording everything, they wouldn’t dare do anything in public.
The administrators looked at Lin Feng, troubled and unsure of what to do.
Lin Feng nodded, signaling that he could handle it. He then gave a light cough and leaned into the microphone.
"That’s an excellent question, and a truly unexpected one. If I weren’t so brilliantly smart, you might have actually stumped me."
The students in the audience couldn’t help but chuckle at his witty response.
The tense atmosphere instantly lightened, but the question still needed to be answered.
He had dug this hole for himself; he had to be the one to fill it.
A smirk played on Lin Feng’s lips. He looked the student in the eye and said casually,
"Since you’ve asked me a question, it’s only fair that I ask you one in return."
"You said the word ’influencer’ has become a derogatory term. Who, exactly, defined it as such?"
"If you’re claiming it’s the internet, then where’s your evidence?"
If it wasn’t the internet, then it was just the student’s own opinion.
What was his intention, questioning Lin Feng based on what he *thought* was a "derogatory term"?
The student had clearly come prepared and wasn’t intimidated by Lin Feng’s words. He gripped the microphone tightly and said coldly,
"I assume you use the internet, Lin Feng?"
"Anyone who uses the internet couldn’t possibly be unaware of this."
"Or are you admitting that you live under a rock and pay no attention to what’s happening online?"
For a famous figure like Lin Feng, claiming he didn’t use the internet and knew nothing would be like trying to fool a child.
"And so what if I do?"
Lin Feng chuckled.
"My dear classmate, have you heard the saying, ’You are not the fish, so how can you know its joy?’"
"You’re not me. How could you know that I can’t use my own power to change this perception?"
After all, the term "influencer" had only been in the public eye for a few short years. Reshaping it into a positive image wouldn’t be too difficult for the current Lin Feng.
He now controlled the largest influencer-creation company in the country.
He shrugged and said innocently,
"From the look on your face, I can tell you don’t believe me."
"But this isn’t something that can be done overnight. I can’t prove it to you right here and now."
"So, just focus on your studies, and then wait and see. I will use my actions to prove to everyone that I, Lin Feng, can do it."
As for why he wasn’t proving it to *this* student...
Lin Feng couldn’t even be bothered to look at him. The boy was just a pawn, not even worthy of having Lin Feng prove anything to him personally.
Provoked by Lin Feng, the student flew into a rage out of humiliation. He forgot the lines he had been coached on, his mind went blank, and he blurted out the first thing he could think of.
"So what?"
"You’re still exploiting these influencers for traffic and attention, exploiting them to make money! You capitalists are all..."
"Hold it!"
This time, Lin Feng cut him off before he could finish.
"Classmate, you used the word ’exploit.’ It sounds harsh, but you’re not entirely wrong. It’s just that sometimes, ’to use’ or ’to utilize’ isn’t a negative term."
"After all, even when you go out to buy a flatbread, aren’t you also being utilized?"
A street vendor utilizes a student’s appetite to make money. An employee utilizes their boss’s resources to earn a living.
And those influencers and Lin Feng had a relationship of mutual utilization.
Lin Feng utilized them to make money, but weren’t they also utilizing the platform and funding provided by Douhu to gain attention and make money for themselves?
From time immemorial, every industry has been built on utilization.
The logic wasn’t hard to follow, but the student was too naive and couldn’t grasp it in the heat of the moment.
He had spoken impulsively, without thinking.
Seeing the student stunned into silence by his question, Lin Feng raised a hand.
"Alright, one question has been answered. We should give other students a chance."
"Does anyone else have a question?"
"As I said, I’ll answer anything I can."
"Oh, right."
"On one condition: no questions about my private love life. Especially don’t ask what kind of girls I like. I already have a girlfriend, and I can’t make her angry."
After this exchange, the students were completely drawn into the atmosphere.
They were first shocked by the male student’s words, then immediately impressed by Lin Feng’s intellect and quick thinking.
Now, all that was left was pure admiration.
No girl could dislike a sharp-witted man, especially one as young and intelligent as Lin Feng.
Hearing Lin Feng’s final remark, they all let out a collective, good-natured laugh.
Soon, students began raising their hands one after another, eager to speak with Lin Feng.
The atmosphere had suddenly turned lively.
The student who asked the first question sat down, trembling. He had taken someone’s money and completely botched the job.
When the speech was over, there would be people looking for him.
Not just the person who paid him, but the school administration as well.
To say such things on this occasion was simply courting death. The end of the speech would be his "execution."
The speech was originally scheduled for two hours.
But because the students were so enthusiastic and Lin Feng answered every question,
the event was extended for another hour before it finally ended.
Even then, students were still persistently raising their hands, wanting to ask more questions.
They found Lin Feng to be an incredibly interesting person and were eager to learn more about him.
Finally, after Lin Feng had finished his third bottle of water, a school administrator couldn’t watch any longer.
"Everyone, my apologies."
"Our event has already run an hour over time."
The administrator sighed helplessly.
"I know you’re all excited, but Student Lin Feng needs to rest. It’s been three hours. He’s been talking for so long, his throat must be dry."
At this, Lin Feng played along with the administrator’s words, sticking his tongue out to lick his lips.
Seeing this, the students’ hearts went out to him. It had indeed been a long time, and they had been listening for just as long. With a sense of regret, they began to exit the auditorium in an orderly fashion under the school’s direction.
The student who asked the first question left with the crowd.
After leaving the auditorium, without waiting for the school to find him, he turned and headed straight for the school gates. After a series of twists and turns, he ducked into an internet cafe.
Back at the school, the administrators formally apologized to Lin Feng.
They never expected that the very first question would be so rude.
"It’s alright."
Lin Feng waved his hand dismissively.
"I can understand his perspective. If I were in his shoes, young and impetuous, I probably would have done the same. It’s understandable."
He thought for a moment, then said with a smile,
"By the way, please don’t give him a hard time. It’s not a big deal. I’m sure he regrets it by now, so there’s no need to pursue the matter."
Lin Feng didn’t say this because he was some naive saint.
Rather, he estimated it wouldn’t be long before the school posted a video of the speech online.
Even if the school didn’t, some student would.
Once it was online, that student would inevitably become a target for public criticism.
At that point, he would naturally learn what it meant to have misspoken.
People always have to pay the price for their mistakes.
Since Lin Feng, the target of the incident, had said he wouldn’t press the issue, the school administrators couldn’t say much more.
They promised they wouldn’t give the student a hard time and then cheerfully offered to take Lin Feng out for a meal.

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