She became a heartthrob among internet celebrities.

After its update and redesign, Douyin now features a dedicated text and image section in addition to its video section. To encourage users to utilize this new section, the platform has introduced a reward system: users can earn rewards after reaching a certain number of reads and shares. As a result, many users are writing short stories and posting corny jokes in their own sections.

Of course, this also gives marketing accounts some opportunities to develop. A promotional article can be charged based on word count and writing quality. If you want to write something ambiguous, that's fine too.

That day, Jiang Lai habitually scrolled through her phone before bed and was bombarded with messages from the administrators of her own live stream.

Blue: Is Alai there? Honey!! Are you there? It's a little past ten o'clock, you're not already asleep, are you?

Blue: Something terrible has happened!!! Come quick!!!

Blue: I'm going to call you!!!

Blue: Sisters!! There's a big problem!!

Blue: I'm so anxious, please reply to me!

Jiang Lai quickly typed back: I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush!

Blue: ? What kind of time is this to be making memes?

Blue: You think I'm the emperor but the eunuch is so anxious?

Jiang Lai: What?! Tell me! What serious thing happened?

Blue: It can't be explained in a sentence or two

Blue: [Link]

Blue: Take a look at this first!

Jiang Lai: I'll look at it right away! You need to hold off for a bit!

Blue: (Smiling) I'm so angry!

Jiang Lai sent a cat making a heart shape emoji, then opened the link Blue forwarded to her. Clicking on it led to an article posted by a user named "Call Me Brother Wu".

What are those highly educated online celebrities doing?

"As everyone has noticed in Douyin's recent updates, the official platform has also launched a ranking of streamer traffic and popularity. Among them, Brother Wu discovered a very interesting phenomenon: many internet celebrities have established a persona of being highly educated."

"Most people have an obsession with academic qualifications, which is undeniable. No matter who you are, as long as you are labeled as a member of a higher education institution, you will always attract a group of people to worship and blindly believe in you."

"Didn't you see that a couple of years ago, a freelance musician from a well-known music academy in country A, boasting about his prestigious school background, promoted his independent music online and offered free classes, but in reality, he was a salesman who would try to sell you this and that as soon as you joined the group..."

"It is undeniable that young KOLs with higher education levels always have more followers online. We try to learn something from them, draw strength from them, and aspire to become better people like them. But in this era where traffic reigns supreme and profit is paramount, how can we know whether they are just trying to make a quick buck by wearing the halo of prestigious universities?"

"The above images are screenshots from live streams by some highly educated internet celebrities. Do they match our public's imagination and expectations of students from prestigious universities? Admittedly, some of them are genuinely conveying correct viewpoints and ideas to society, but we can also see that some of them are just attention-seeking clowns. You call them students from prestigious universities? Don't embarrass your universities! I bet the principal would want to expel them overnight."

"Brother Wu, I've observed that those highly educated internet celebrities mainly fall into a few categories. The first type teaches you how to arrange your daily life, how to get into a prestigious university in one summer vacation, and how to pass the CET-4 and CET-6 exams with ease. In their videos, you can see what colleges are like at 4 o'clock."

"Another type is those who have already graduated. They use the knowledge they gained in school to analyze problems they encounter in their daily work and life, and have a serious discussion about them. These people are boring, but they are also the most serious."

"Another type is current students. Unlike the first type, they don't talk about study secrets, and their videos are rarely completely related to school. However, in their daily live streams and updates, they will occasionally mention their school. That's the clever thing about it."

"They used their prestigious university background to rack their brains to figure out how to attract fans and gain more traffic, and they promoted a not-so-positive set of values..."

Jiang Lai read the entire article, word for word and picture included, and then silently typed "6". Impressive, this article is quite well written.

This is assuming you don't see a screenshot of your own account in it.

Jiang Lai's account was clearly portrayed as a typical example. In this article, she was depicted as someone who wore the halo of a prestigious university but did not act in accordance with the standards expected of a student from such a university. She racked her brains to gain followers, guided them to send gifts, and took on business deals while still in school, "with only money in her eyes."

The tags used in the articles are very attractive to traffic, resulting in a considerable number of reads and shares, as well as many comments.

Jiang Lai looked at everyone's comments:

—I've wanted to say this for a long time: worshipping academic qualifications is completely unreliable. How can you be sure that person isn't a scoundrel behind the scenes?

—Even highly educated people can be beasts! Have you all forgotten about the case a couple of years ago where a university professor sexually harassed a female student?

—Well written! (Thumbs up)

—Some people shouldn't be allowed to read so many books.

If someone's only selling point is their academic qualifications, then they're not a very good person to begin with.

—The fact that they were able to get into prestigious universities shows that they are all intelligent; it's just that some of them lack a sense of social responsibility. We have high expectations for these high-achieving students and hope they can set a good example.

—I've wanted to say this for a long time: most of these people on Douyin who flaunt their high education are no good, especially the women. They're always spouting nonsense about women needing to read more and have their own careers.

—A definite endorsement of Xiaoxiaosu; she monetizes her prestigious university degree.

—What's with this voice-over host? A freshman at Beijing University? Why aren't they studying?

—These days everyone is so materialistic, who cares about studying if they can make money?

—I know this streamer; she basically doesn't have any valuable video content…

The comments section below was buzzing with discussion, and besides Jiang Lai, several other streamers were singled out for criticism.

After Jiang Lai finished reading, she sent a message to Blue.

Jiang Lai: I've finished watching it, lol

Blue: You've finished reading it, right? Why aren't you in a hurry yet??

Blue: Do you know how popular this article is on Douyin right now?

Blue: A lot of people are cursing.

Jiang Lai: Who are you insulting? The author of the article?

Blue: Are you stupid? Of course you're criticizing those streamers in the article!! You're here too!!!

Jiang Lai: Oh

Jiang Lai: It's a minor issue; it'll fade away after a while.

Blue: I don't think this is a small problem. Have you been avoiding Douyin lately? Go check out the videos you posted!

Jiang Lai: Okay, don't be angry, I'll go right away!

As soon as Jiang Lai opened Douyin, she found that her private messages, mentions, and comments were about to explode.

—Look at this from the Imperial University of Beijing? Is this all?

—Even the students at Imperial University are nothing special, not as good as me, xx.

—It's hilarious. Besides lullabies and dubbed dramas, there's absolutely no valuable content.

—And the older brother tipped me hundreds of thousands of yuan in one night, that's really easy money! Could it be that there's some kind of deal between him and the older brother?

—That voice is nice, but I wonder what they look like (evil grin)

—Clothing review? Is this a commercial advertisement?

—Still chasing celebrities, seems like a brainless fan.

—The dance video isn't very proper either. What good student would dress like that and dance like that?

Goodness, this group even has archaeologists involved.

Jiang Lai clicked in to look at the latest comments and found that although the IP addresses were different, the wording was almost the same, making it hard not to think of them as paid trolls.

"Am I blocking someone's way?" Jiang Lai was also a little confused. She then went to the videos of other bloggers, and found that their situations were similar to hers.

"We can't all incur public wrath, can we?" Jiang Lai had some doubts about the matter, but she didn't think too much about it. In the internet age, whoever takes things seriously loses. These people will only cause trouble for a while and won't cause any real harm.

001: "Do you need my help?"

Jiang Lai: "What, you little good-for-nothing, you're finally willing to do something?"

001: "You deserve to be scolded for that mouth of yours!!"

Jiang Lai: "Relax, it's a small problem, you don't need to help, Brother Tong."

001: "Whatever, it's rare for me to be kind like this."

Jiang Lai: "I love you!"

The manager was still sending her messages on WeChat.

Blue: What are you planning to do about it?

Jiang Lai: Let's not do anything for now, let's see how it goes.

Jiang Lai ignored and did not respond to the inexplicable attack on Ming. In fact, because she commented on the original post, a considerable amount of the criticism that was originally directed at other streamers was redirected to her.

This matter is slowly gaining traction and showing signs of going viral.

It was Saturday again, Jiang Lai's usual live stream time. Her roommates weren't in the dorm, so she started her live stream.

Aside from her original fans, many casual viewers appeared in the live stream this time.

—Hey, so these are students from Imperial Capital University. Why aren't they showing their faces yet?

—Just a passerby, here for sightseeing

—I just want to see how thick-skinned the streamer is.

What a waste of such a good school!

—Wait, isn't this over yet? Our anchor didn't say anything, so why are there still mad dogs attacking us?

—Is this the same streamer who gave Wu Ge's post a 6? That's pretty impressive.

—Seriously? Is this some incompetent troll from a marketing account coming here in a fit of rage? Do you think our streamer is even paying attention to you?

Sisters, don't argue with dogs.

—Why do I see dogs barking as soon as I enter my wife's live stream?

Jiang Lai said to the fans in the live broadcast room: "Everyone, please be patient! The admin will block those few who are jumping around the most, and then everyone else can do whatever they want. Today's live broadcast content is still reading for everyone. As requested by everyone before, today's reading is English articles related to the CET-4 and CET-6 exams."

Shen Yi put on his headphones and watched Jiang Lai's live stream in his dorm room.

He didn't tell Jiang Lai his account number, but silently followed her. Today, he happened to be free and saw Jiang Lai's live stream. He stayed in the live stream room, but he didn't expect the atmosphere in the live stream room to be not very good.

What happened? He stared at the comments in the live stream and finally got a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Jiang Lai calmly continued her live stream, and because the administrators were blocking and reporting people, the atmosphere in the live stream became much more harmonious.

Shen Yi listened to Jiang Lai's live stream while his hands kept typing on the computer keyboard.

"Alright! That's all for today's live stream. It's about time, everyone get some rest! Grey Grey~"

Shen Yi originally wanted to send a message to Jiang Lai, but after thinking about it, he decided not to and left the live stream.

After the broadcast ended, Jiang Lai went straight to wash up and rest.