Chapter 89: County Controversy: A Social Media Storm

“Impoverished county in the northwest pulling off a facade project? Which county exactly? Shouldn’t we pinpoint the name?”

The woman grew visibly excited.

Such a headline would strike a nerve with ordinary people. Once it airs, it’s bound to spark heated debate.

“Verification? Not needed! All we have to do is embellish the headline a bit and attach a short video clip. The netizens will dig up every detail of this county in half an hour.”

Sun Da waved his hands repeatedly.

He had been through this a few times and learned that directly naming names rarely has the desired effect.

The more curious the netizens were, the more thoroughly they unearthed the county’s secrets.

Soon, no one would be able to shut the discussion down! Most importantly, if things went south, they could easily wash their hands of any responsibility. After all, no names were mentioned. They could just say it was a video review error.

“Editor-in-Chief, should I notify the editorial team right away?”

“Be quick! And to be safe, once we capture that first wave of clicks and attention, we’ll immediately block the story. We want only the meaty parts—if it lingers too long, it’ll just backfire.”

“Understood!”

Within an hour, Nanjiang News—a leader in current affairs—dropped a screenshot of a short video and a bold headline on its front page.

Notably, the headline blazed with an exclamation mark and a bright background: “A Poor County in the West Spends Big on a Facade Project—At the Opening, All That Stood by Were Cleaning Aides Instead of Villagers!”

With such layout and phrasing, it was impossible not to attract attention.

Within minutes, the comment section exploded exponentially. Every refresh brought hundreds more heated comments and likes.

“A poor county pulling this kind of stunt? Wouldn’t it be better to invest that money in local infrastructure?”

“Exactly!”

“Look at that grand ancient structure—it must have cost at least a few hundred million!”

“Right, a few hundred million wasted just like that. Even if the money were handed directly to the people, it would be a better use.”

“Wait, doesn’t this building look a bit familiar?”

“It really does! It looks just like Tengwang Pavilion!”

“Exactly! These days, any place can copy ancient landmarks—we’ve seen it all before!”

“By the way, which county is this?”

“Just checked—it’s Mingsha County in Wei City, Su Province! Last year, the county’s overall GDP was under 9 billion, and that’s just the GDP, not even the fiscal revenue.”

“This news is so disheartening!”

Nanjiang News garners a wildly diverse audience. Most people had no idea about the connections between Mingsha Tourism and Xu Hao, or how this opening ceremony even came about. They were drawn by the desolate scenes in the video.

In their anger, many immediately shared the story on their social feeds and self-media platforms.

And that wasn’t all.

Netizens adding their own interpretations and commentary made it seem like the matter needed a proper explanation—or that some officials had to be removed before things could be settled.

The power of public opinion is formidable. Once it surges, it’s nearly impossible to pull back.

One hour later…

The keywords “Poor County in the West Spends Big to Create a Tourist Spot, Only Cleaning Staff at the Opening” skyrocketed to the trending list.

In fact, the buzz was so intense that it vaulted into the top ten trending searches.

After hitting the trends, other self-media and news platforms started sharing the tag, turning it into a nationwide sensation.

“Hey, isn’t that Brother Hao’s Tengwang Pavilion? How did it end up trending?”

“Exactly!”

“This Tengwang Pavilion—or guesthouse project—is an investment by Mingsha Tourism, hosted by Xu Hao. What does it even have to do with government departments?”

“These self-media guys are completely irresponsible. Have they even visited the site?”

After trending, some of Xu Hao’s fans quickly sensed something was off.

But unfortunately, their numbers were too few compared to the vast online mob. Their brief explanations were drowned out by a tide of criticisms, and they were even labeled as ‘spin doctors’.

In the end, some users even resorted to private messages to attack—leaving no room for further debate.

“Hahaha, this is hilarious!”

Aside from indignation and outcry in defense of Xu Hao by those in the know, many reveled in the misfortune as a sort of schadenfreude.

Haishi

At Tianchen Culture Headquarters in Haishi, Yang Yuan looked at the trending news on his phone and burst out laughing. “Remember when you boasted about outdoing our ancient structures? And look now—when Tengwang Pavilion officially opened, all that was left were a few cleaning ladies. Clearly, without the backing of film, TV, or historical gravitas, a newly built replica is nothing but a joke!”

“Yang Yuan, I expected Xu Hao to have plenty of backing, but his situation looks so pathetic!”

Across the desk, Liu Qing wore a look of smug satisfaction.

Once constantly overshadowed by Xu Hao, Tianchen Culture had since crushed Mingsha Tourism after the filming of ‘The Culinary Detective’ began. Now, as critics pounded on, the self-media had even pushed it into trending headlines.

It really lived up to the saying: fortunes change. By now, Xu Hao’s comeback was practically over.

“Pathetic? The worst is yet to come.”

After laughing heartily, Yang Yuan lit a cigar.

“The worst?”

“That’s right. Usually, when such a story trends, local authorities, desperate to quell the public’s anger, will force Xu Hao’s hand—and later, they might dismantle the entire All-Wood Tengwang Pavilion for various reasons.”

“So, does that mean Mingsha Tourism’s guesthouses are doomed as well?”

Liu Qing grinned broadly.

If those guesthouses couldn’t be saved, then Tianchen Culture’s desert guesthouse project in Ning’an would stand alone. Even after ‘The Culinary Detective’ cooled off in a few months, occupancy would still be good.

“Odds are high! In impoverished provinces and counties, such terms are too sensitive. Local leaders would never let this situation persist long enough to trend. Dismantling it is inevitable—it’s just a matter of when! I never expected a video-based, completely fabricated news story to gain so much traction on self-media. Anyone who’s followed survival challenges in the wild knows Tengwang Pavilion has nothing to do with poverty relief projects!”

Yang Yuan sighed in disbelief.

It was a fake news piece and yet so many viewers who knew the truth were still talking—one would have thought it would have stirred no waves at all. Amazing!

“Nowadays, self-media will share anything for clicks regardless of its veracity. As for the public… in our vast Long Kingdom, it’s only natural most people are unaware of the details over there.”

“That’s true. Even popular vloggers with tens of millions of followers go unrecognized on the street… Anyway, how’s our production progressing?”

After a pause, Yang Yuan turned and asked,

“Yang Yuan, the filming is going smoothly. We expect to wrap up in two months, and once post-production is finished, if we can get approval, the show should hit the air by November or December.”

Returning to business, Liu Qing said quickly.

“November or December? No way! That’s too late. This is the first film project since we took over Tianchen Culture, so we can’t afford delays. As you shoot, you need to contact the TV stations and advertisers immediately. For post-production approval, figure out a way to shorten the process as much as possible.”

Yang Yuan shook his head in discontent.

He wasn’t the boss of Tianchen Culture—just a worker. By year-end, he had to show results, or how would he explain it to the board?

“So, when do you expect the show to be released?”

Liu Qing hesitated before whispering,

“Three months—absolutely no later than that, meaning by the end of September at the latest.”

Yang Yuan set the timeline firmly.

“Then I’ll go coordinate immediately.”

“Got it!”

Little did they know, while Yang Yuan and Liu Qing assumed local pressures would force the dismantling of Tengwang Pavilion, a call had already been made from the head of the Construction and Housing Department in Su Province’s capital by Dong Liping.

“Leader, this isn’t what the trending news suggests. This project is an investment by a private tourism company. Not only did it not use local funds, it also generated numerous jobs and boosted local consumption.”