Chapter 39: Understand The Lawyer’s Letter

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Zhu Fangcai was feeling really good today.

He normally just criticized people all day. He did not expect to be number one on trending.

Although University of Jin Ling and the [Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology] editorial department released a response indicating that the theses did not have any problems, the public was unconvinced due to the conflict of interest.

University of Jin Ling had no other options. They even sent a lawyer’s letter to Zhu Fangcai!

In the lawyer’s letter, University of Jin Ling righteously conveyed that the theses had no problems at all. Not only did University of Jin Ling asked for him to immediately withdraw the article, but they also requested for an apology. Otherwise, University of Jin Ling would maintain the right to sue.

In addition, it was posted on the official University of Jin Ling’s Weibo account. It presented the response from the [Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology] review board, which proved the academic value of the theses. This finally talked some sense into the netizens, making them wonder if they were lied to.

However, “Big Mouth” was not afraid.

Who cares about your marketing tactics?

Who cares about your lawyer’s letter!

This isn’t my first time someone threatened to sue me.

This would continue to make him trending!

He had gained four hundred thousand followers over the past two days, making him passed 3 million followers! His ad revenue had increased substantially. He just had to roast this lawyer a bit and he could surpass 4 million followers!

historical

Therefore, Zhu Fangcai did not respond to Lawyer Zhang’s letter at all. Not only that, he immediately opened up Weibo on his computer and started to write his second blog post.

In other words, his words of battle!

[The Embarrassing Angry Hypocrite: Speaking From a Lawyer’s Letter]

Zhu Fangcai looked at the title in satisfaction and continued to tap on the keyboard. He followed his template and started to fill in the words.

“University of Jin Ling gave a reply that there is no problem with the theses. They’re very bureaucratic and official.”

“I’ve thought about it. Even if the theses had no problems, what gives an undergraduate student the right to publish nine SCI theses in a month?! Who can even proved that he wrote them himself? He must have plagiarized or had a ghostwriter!”

“... The university found out about a fake student and did not even investigate the student. Instead, they tried to seal the mouth of the author through a lawyer’s letter. This type of approach disappointed every single citizen that cares about education! This student must have come from a privileged background!”

“I’ll say I’m sorry if I offended some big celebrity. But I’ll not apologize for this! Why should I apologize for something I’m incomparably correct on? I’m a science researcher. I think that writing nine theses within a month is impossible. I’m also an education commentator and I think I and the public have the right to remain suspicious!”

“I’ll apologize if I get to confront the person named Lu and make him answer all my suspicions, but is he going to do it?”

When Zhu Fangcai typed in “named Lu”, he paused for a second. His eyes turned and he had a sinister smile on his face. He pressed delete on the keyboard and typed in “a student named Zhou” instead.

Not only am I going to expose his last name, I’m exposing this Zhou’s first name as well!

Press send!

Zhu Fangcai pressed send, crossed his legs, and put his feet up.

Very soon after, likes and comments started to come through.

[Astonishing, he’s a first year!]

[I guess this nutty undergraduate student is named Lu Zhou! This story is finally solved.]

[I feel sorrow for our education system...]

[Support Teacher Zhu! Fight against academic fraud! (fist) (first)]

[If this was in country X, the police would arrest this kind of academic fraud...]

[What were the people thinking when they said that the theses had no problems. University of Jin Ling is obviously helping their own student for the sake of their reputation. But this student is in so much trouble, he’s over. (smile)]

[...]

Hahahaha!

Zhu Fangcai looked at the increasing search numbers and was in ecstasy.

At this moment, the phone on his desk started to ring.

He cleared his throat and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. Zhu, this is University of Jin Ling’s Academic Affairs Office...”

“Wow, impressive, you guys found my phone number? Let me tell you something, I’m not a student of yours. Skip the bullsh*t and get straight to the point,” said Zhu Fangcai as he took out a cigarette, placed it in his mouth, and lighted it.

Zhu Fangcai’s arrogant attitude shocked the teacher from the telephone. However, she restrained herself and said, “Then I’ll get straight to the point. Your unwarranted accusation has caused problems for our student. I hope you can treat this situation seriously and issue an apology.”

Zhu Fangcai laughed, flicked the ashes, and replied, “Problems? I don’t think there are any problems. You can obviously question my words, but you guys cannot take away my freedom of speech!”

“You!” The teacher was furious at Zhu Fangcai’s attitude, but she stopped after one word.

One could never overestimated the shamelessness of a scum. If he recorded the conversation and edited it, tomorrow’s headline could be “university threatens a reporter.”

The furious teacher did not speak, so Zhu Fangcai put his phone in his other hand and continued, “It’s fine, let’s not waste our time. I can apologize, but there are two things you have to prove to me. One, that the theses aren’t fake and are of value! I’m warning you, I want proof from a higher authority and not from you guys. Second, that he actually wrote those theses! If you guys cannot prove these two points, then I’ll continue to support my opinion! I’ll fight for the integrity of the academic world!”

Once Zhu Fangcai finished speaking, he hung up the call instantly.

...

Lu Zhou felt like he became a panda. He did not know who leaked his WeChat but a lot of people had been adding him.

[Master, help write my thesis!]

[I want to ask about SCI, is it easy to pass?]

[Help write my theses, we can discuss the price.]

I guess some people can still recognize real talent.

Although their way of supporting me is pretty weird...

Of course, there were also a lot of people insulting him. They were probably Mr. Zhu’s overly feverish fans.

Lu Zhou was used to it by this point. These people just used the same lines of insults repetitively. It was completely meaningless.

As for his family, they did not use weibo so they would never see this article. It did not affect his personal life much either and he still went to Han Meng Qi’s place nonchalantly and tutored her in maths yesterday.

No one on the street knew that he was Lu Zhou. There were not that many people inside the school due to the school holidays.

At this moment, Lu Zhou suddenly noticed that Chen Yushan sent him a message.

[Chen Yushan: I haven’t seen you in the library recently, are you okay?]

[Chen Yushan: That person is so evil! You worked so hard writing...]

[Chen Yushan: How about... I’ll buy you dinner tonight?]

Lu Zhou felt warm that someone cared for him so much. His fingers touched his phone and typed: [Another day. I still have to do an interview for Jin Ling Daily and I don’t know when I’ll finish.]

[Chen Yushan: You’re going on the newspaper???]

[Lu Zhou: It’s not because of something good though...]

Lu Zhou waited for a bit and Chen Yushan sent two messages.

[I believe in you!]

[You got this!]

What?

Lu Zhou laughed and then looked at the time on his phone.

It’s about time!

Lu Zhou arrived in the classroom. In addition to Dean Lu, a couple of other leaders from the mathematical department were also present.

As they had seen Lu Zhou’s theses, the professors’ impression of him was good. Lu Zhou said hi to them and they even smiled at him.

Their own student was in the right, obviously they had to unite against the outside world.

The Jin Ling Daily reporter was preparing for the interview. Dean Lu took this time and dragged Lu Zhou aside to ask, “Are you ready? The reporter will tell you that you only have to answer the questions you know.”

“I know,” said Lu Zhou as he nodded.

Dean Lu did not say much. He patted his shoulders and said, “Then go ahead.”

The interview began.

Lu Zhou sat on a chair in the classroom while he faced a camera and microphone. He was surprised to find himself calmer than expected.

The female reporter with a ponytail smiled at him. When she received the signal to begin, she said with the tone of a reporter, “Hello, I’m the reporter from Jin Ling Daily. Can I ask how you wrote nine SCI theses within a month?”

This question was expected.

Lu Zhou thought and said, “Actually, I didn’t feel like it was too difficult. The nine theses were all related to the application of artificial intelligence, which is a relatively new field. I feel like my work wasn’t very difficult. Also, I researched for quite a while before and I only started to write recently...”

The reporter chick nodded her head and looked at him in support. She continued to ask the second question, “Do you have anything to say regarding Mr. Zhu’s question of your theses’ value?”

“I think the proposition that my theses have no value is a false accusation. He doesn’t know anything about computer science. Can he even understand my theses? Did he even check my calculations? He had probably never even read them or he can’t even understand them...” said Lu Zhou impatiently.

“I think Mr. Zhu wouldn’t be happy hearing this as he’s a self proclaimed scientific writer,” said the reporter as she laughed. She then continued to say, “But a first year... Or a soon to be second year student publishing in nine SCI theses within a month is a bit ridiculous. This is why the public is questioning you. Furthermore, Mr. Zhu brought up that the theses could be plagiarized or that it wasn’t written by you...”

“Those are completely baseless accusations,” shrugged Lu Zhou. He tried to maintain his cool, “I’ve written every single thesis in the library. I can ask the school for security tapes if you wish.”

“There’s no need for security tapes. You mentioned that you have also submitted a mathematics thesis, right?” The reporter sharply picked up on Lu Zhou’s words and wanted to expand further on it.

Lu Zhou could not hide it. He would rather say it himself first before someone else digs it up and attacks him with it.

Lu Zhou nodded and admitted, “Yes, other than computer science theses, I have submitted two theses in the [ International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics] journal. One of them was during the time I wrote the nine theses. So, actually I wrote ten theses within a month.”

The reporter heard him and her eyes lit up. Dean Lu’s face went blue. He looked at Lu Zhou intensely, hoping to convince him not to continue speaking about this topic.

However, Lu Zhou purposely did not look at Dean Lu.

Since others had chosen a high-key profile for Lu Zhou, there was no use for him staying low-key. He had to stay high-key in order to fight back.

After all, this isn’t a simple debate. It is difficult for me to disprove the accusations. If I said that the academic reviewers can prove the value of my theses, they can jump out and doubt the authenticity of the academic reviewers. They will suspect that the journal and school are covering me for their own reputation.

Maybe the public can critically think for themselves...

Never mind, it’s impossible.

The overwhelming public opinion would defeat him, regardless of the truth.

Therefore, Lu Zhou had already decided.

He could not be a normal person. A genius was abnormal.

If you want to paint me as an academic cancer, then I will paint myself as a genius!

The reporter nodded her head. She was about to ask the next question when loud knocking sounds suddenly came from outside the classroom.

The reporter was interrupted. Dean Lu frowned but the teacher that came in spoke with a joyful tone.

“Dean Lu! Our school received a “Thank You” letter from New York University. The recipient is Lu Zhou!”