Zhou Siyuan originally thought that he would easily get tired of this kind of dessert, but the salted egg yolk pastry was not fishy or greasy at all. Every bite was an ultimate taste experience, and he quickly finished off the remaining salted egg yolk pastry.

Zhou Siyuan leaned back in his chair, savoring the taste in his mouth with lingering enjoyment, and let out a satisfied sigh. “This salted egg yolk pastry is really delicious.”

Suddenly, a comment appeared in the live chat: 

[Is this the salted egg yolk pastry sold by the Plum Blossom Bakeshop in Jiangcheng?]

Plum Blossom Bakeshop was located in the center of Jiangcheng City, right next to Aero U. Its salted egg yolk pastries were extremely popular, and it even has an online store. While the quality of Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s salted egg yolk pastries was average, its marketing prowess has made it a nationally renowned brand after several years.

When many netizens think of buying salted egg yolk pastries, Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s salted egg yolk pastries was their first choice.

When Zhou Siyuan saw this comment, he shook his head. “It’s not the salted egg yolk pastry from Plum Blossom Bakeshop. I’ve eaten their salted egg yolk pastry before, and I didn’t think it was that good. The pastry wasn’t crispy at all; it was like dead skin. The duck salted eggs inside weren’t made with real ingredients either; they had a fishy smell. I don’t know why the head chef at Plum Blossom Bakeshop doesn’t remove the fishy smell.”

After Zhou Siyuan finished speaking, he looked at his watch and realized that it was almost lights out. So he said, “Our dormitory lights are about to go out. Everyone needs to rest. We have to get up to study tomorrow morning. See you next time.”

After saying goodbye to everyone, Zhou Siyuan ended the livestream. He was unaware that his comments had sparked a heated debate online.

[I think Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s salted egg yolk pastries are quite delicious; the host didn’t need to belittle their products.]

[I think the streamer’s point is valid. After all, everyone has different tastes. It’s perfectly normal for you to think it’s delicious while the streamer thinks it’s terrible. Don’t impose your opinions on others.]

[Plus one.]

[Plus the number of planets in the Milky Way.]

Normally, such reviews of food taste were quite common, and many people online have also given Plum Blossom Bakeshop negative reviews. 

However, Zhou Siyuan was a well-known streamer, so the news spread wider and wider, and people went to Plum Blossom Bakeshop to inquire whether their food was made with genuine ingredients.

The staff at Plum Blossom Bakeshop also routinely searched for reviews of their brand online. After seeing Zhou Siyuan’s video, they became somewhat worried. They usually ignored negative reviews from netizens, but Zhou Siyuan was a popular streamer, and mishandling the situation could easily damage Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s reputation.

Based on past experience, the staff immediately replied to the netizens: 

[Plum Blossom Bakeshop uses imported duck salted eggs¹ and imported flour. All ingredients are of high quality, so please rest assured. Plum Blossom Bakeshop has been around for three years, and our online store’s salted egg yolk pastries are the best-selling online, with a great reputation. Compared to other smaller brands, our quality is guaranteed. Plum Blossom Bakeshop owes its success to the support of our customers. We have received the feedback from this streamer and will do our best to make salted egg yolk pastries that satisfy our customers. Please always choose Plum Blossom Bakeshop.]

This response both addressed and reassured netizens, and its sincere attitude made it a commendable announcement. Many long-time customers of Plum Blossom Bakeshop were delighted.

Upon seeing this, the staff breathed a sigh of relief and began the second step—dispatching an online water army.

Many voices online have refuted Zhou Siyuan’s claims: 

[Plum Blossom Bakeshop uses only high-quality ingredients, and the taste is really good. Don’t just listen to one side of the story. This streamer must have accepted an endorsement deal…]

[Small brands shouldn’t try to piggyback on the sales of top-selling brands online; they’re probably trying to climb the ladder by discrediting Plum Blossom Bakeshop.]

[Maybe it’s not a small brand, but some kind of unlicensed or substandard brand. Maybe you should go eat at Plum Blossom Bakeshop; at least Plum Blossom Bakeshop is clean and hygienic.]

These comments convinced netizens, who found them very reasonable, and Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s online store saw another influx of customers.

The staff were overjoyed to see the shift in public opinion online. This wave of publicity not only cleared Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s name but also gave them a boost in popularity thanks to Zhou Siyuan. The resulting buzz was incredibly satisfying.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

The next day, Zhou Siyuan saw the online discussions.

Many of Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s online supporters claimed that Zhou Siyuan accepted a promotional offer and that the salted egg yolk pastry he ate during the livestream was from an unregistered brand, and that this unregistered brand was trying to market itself by piggybacking on Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s success.

Zhou Siyuan: “???”

This was absolutely an undeserved disaster!

In fact, many normal netizens didn’t believe the online trolls’ claims at all. After all, Zhou Siyuan never mentioned the brand of the salted egg yolk pastry he ate. Which business would be willing to do such promotion? Isn’t that charity?

However, the online water army that Plum Blossom Bakeshop employed was too powerful. Not only could they turn black into white, but they could also use multiple accounts to push their own comments to the top, causing actual netizens’ words to sink to the bottom and affecting the perception of many uninformed people.

Zhou Siyuan saw many posts that were obviously from paid trolls and felt a bit of a headache. He understood marketing tactics quite well and felt that he was being used by Plum Blossom Bakeshop to gain popularity.

Unwilling to accept this insult, he went directly to his Weibo account and posted: 

[Thanks for the invitation. Originally, I didn’t want to mention the brand of this salted egg yolk pastry, since you can’t buy it anyway, but now I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided to tell you where I bought it. You’ll never guess, right? I bought it at the school cafeteria. @PlumBlossomBakeshop.]

The staff at Plum Blossom Bakeshop: “???”

Netizens: ???

Zhou Siyuan knew to strike at the heart of the matter, so he contacted his friend Xu Changle from the computer science department and released evidence of Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s online water army: 

[The IP addresses of these accounts are shown in the image. Now, I have a pop quiz for everyone: what are their identities?]

Zhou Siyuan’s fans were overjoyed and left numerous comments below: 

[This is all thanks to the power of water.]

[Ooh, a vast ocean, you are all made of water.]

[I am lacking the element of water in my holistic Five Elements².]

Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s marketing department was exceptionally good; this was the first time they’ve been exposed for having paid online trolls.

Looking at the evidence on the computer, the staff couldn’t help but exclaim, “Those people clearly said that the IPs of the online trolls were protected and that ordinary people couldn’t find them at all. Who is the genius who dug up all these online trolls?”

The staff members then thought that Zhou Siyuan was a student at a prestigious national university and must know countless high-achieving students. They immediately deflated.

They knew they couldn’t beat Zhou Siyuan no matter what, because what Zhou Siyuan was eating wasn’t the salted egg yolk pastry sold in the market, but something made in the university cafeteria!

Based on this alone, Zhou Siyuan could completely clear himself of any suspicion of accepting promotional offers.

The staff quickly issued a statement to make amends, and began to argue that these online troll accounts had nothing to do with them.

However, many netizens did not believe it.

[Plum Blossom Bakeshop: You’re taking the promotion! 

Zhou Siyuan: I bought these salted egg yolk pastries at the school cafeteria.]

[Plum Blossom Bakeshop: You’re doing paid marketing! 

Zhou Siyuan: This is evidence that you’re hiring online trolls.]

[Hahaha, what do you mean by asking for a hammer and letting it hit your foot? Tactical lean back jpg.]

[I often see people recommending this dessert shop on Douban and Zhihu³, but the ones I bought were always awful, and I felt so bad about wasting my money. Now their marketing has finally backfired, hahaha, so happy!]

[Am I the only one who wants to eat the same salted egg yolk pastry that Zhou Siyuan ate? It looks so delicious!]

[Of course you’re not the only one; foodie Zhou Siyuan certified it as delicious, and many people want to try it, but it’s bought from the university cafeteria!]

[The furthest distance in the world is the distance between me and the university cafeteria.]

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

T/N: The paid online trolls are called ‘water army’, that’s why the netizens were saying things like ‘ooh, an ocean full of water’.

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Here are the scheduled posting for this story per Patreon Tier:
… Devoted 2nd Male Lead
Chapter 38.3 — Salted Egg Yolk Pastry Trends on Social Media
Chapter 39.1 — Salted Egg Yolk Pastry
Chapter 39.2 — Salted Egg Yolk Pastry
Chapter 39.3 — Salted Egg Yolk Pastry
Chapter 40.1 — Come Work for Me
Chapter 40.2 — Come Work for Me
… Awakened Villainess
Chapter 40.3 — Come Work for Me
Chapter 41.1 — Bluebird Delivery
Chapter 41.2 — Bluebird Delivery
Chapter 42.1 — Internal Competition in the Teaching Profession
Chapter 42.2 — Internal Competition in the Teaching Profession
Chapter 43.1 — Goldfish-Tail Wontons
… Unattainable White Moonlight
Chapter 43.2 — Goldfish-Tail Wontons
Chapter 44.1 — Chancellor is Terrified
Chapter 44.2 — Chancellor is Terrified
Chapter 45.1 — From Traitor to Lackey
Chapter 45.2 — From Traitor to Lackey
Chapter 45.3 — From Traitor to Lackey

FOOTNOTE:

1. It’s funny to see ‘imported salted duck eggs’ in a Chinese novel because where else would there be high-quality salted duck eggs? Taiwan? This probably meant imported from a different part of China since the story is based in a city center. ↩︎
2. Five Elements: Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth. It is a conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including a person’s health. Lacking in one or two elements or being overpowered by another element leads to certain health issues. ↩︎
3. Douban and Zhihu are text-heavy, community platforms in China, similar to Reddit, Quora or Goodreads. ↩︎