Amidst much online discussion, the marketing campaign by Plum Blossom Bakeshop backfired, and the hashtags #Jiangcheng Aero U cafeteria salted egg yolk pastry# quickly climbed to the top of the trending topics list.

After seeing the online comments, the staff at Plum Blossom Bakeshop were so angry that they developed blisters on their lips and were terrified that it would affect their business performance.

Just then, the phone rang. It was the boss calling. 

“Are you out of your mind? Everyone online is mocking Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s marketing. Why didn’t you just ignore Zhou Siyuan from the start?”

The staff member felt wronged. “Salted egg yolk pastries have been very popular in recent years. Some livestreamers have said that our salted egg yolk pastries are not tasty. We also used the method of hiring online trolls, but instead of making the reputation worse, we became popular by taking advantage of the livestreamer’s traffic.”

The boss was in a real bind. He knew that what the staff said was true, but he hadn’t expected to run into such a tough nut to crack, someone who had actually uncovered solid evidence of them hiring online trolls. He’d heard that the university had a strong and upright reputation, and today’s observation proved it was true.

The boss sighed. “We have to come up with a solution. Our Plum Blossom Bakeshop has grown bigger through marketing and almost entirely depends on online public opinion. We can’t let people continue to ridicule Plum Blossom Bakeshop, otherwise Plum Blossom Bakeshop will be doomed.”

The staff member nodded in agreement and then hung up the phone.

He racked his brains but couldn’t come up with a good solution. 

Then, an article he found online caught his attention.

‘Jiangcheng Aero U ranks first on the National Universities’ Cafeteria Blacklist.’

The staff frowned upon seeing the photos of the bizarre dishes, but at the same time, he felt increasingly pleased.

The cafeteria at Zhou Siyuan’s university was so bad, how could it possibly serve anything good? The staff suspected that Zhou Siyuan hadn’t actually bought the salted egg yolk pastries from the school cafeteria but rather fabricated a lie to quell online criticism and clear himself of any suspicion of accepting promotional offers.

Even if Zhou Siyuan wasn’t lying, it didn’t matter, because netizens were like weasels in a melon patch—their energy was limited. If something else could attract their attention, they’ll be distracted, and the melon patch could be picked safely.

The staff chuckled, feeling that he had found a glimmer of hope, and then bought a trending topic about Aero U cafeterias’ ‘dark cuisine.’

Every year at the start of the school year, Aero U’s cafeterias trended on social media, leaving many people astonished. The internet has a short memory; many netizens, after seeing this trending topic, were suddenly reminded of the fear they once felt when bombarded by photos of disastrous culinary creations.

As these three terms happened to be very close together, many netizens, just as the staff had anticipated, made the connection.

[My younger brother studies at the Aero U. He says that being able to eat normal meals every day is already a luxury, so how could an Aero U cafeteria possibly have salted egg yolk pastries like these? If they did, he would have told me long ago.]

[I think Zhou Siyuan is lying; these salted egg yolk pastries couldn’t possibly have been made in an Aero U cafeteria.]

[After seeing the photos of food from Aero U’s cafeterias, I’m sorry, I really wanted to laugh, haha. I feel sorry for the students at Aero U.]

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Zhou Siyuan had been studying in the library all day and hadn’t touched his phone, so he hadn’t seen that public opinion had suddenly reversed again.

However, the publicity department of the university saw this trending topic.

Photographer Zhang was editing a promotional video for the Eighth Cafeteria when he suddenly heard a colleague talking about something that happened online. 

“I heard that the cursed food at Aero U’s cafeterias are trending on social media again.”

Photographer Zhang laughed heartily. “This is something that trends on social media every year; I’m used to it.”

His colleague shook his head. “It seems this involves a student from our school. They’re arguing about the salted egg yolk pastries from the Eighth cafeteria.”

Photographer Zhang was filled with immense curiosity. After editing the last bit of footage, he took out his phone to watch the drama unfold.

After seeing these trending topics, he was extremely unhappy. “The salted egg yolk pastry from Plum Blossom Bakeshop is incredibly hard and has a very fishy smell. Its quality is so poor, yet it loves to do marketing and doesn’t even admit to the bad reviews.

“Dare to bully our school’s students? Do you really think you can use online trolls to distort the truth?

“Although I didn’t manage to get the salted egg yolk pastry from the Eighth Cafeteria, judging from its pastry quality, I’m definitely voting for the Eighth Cafeteria with both my hands and feet.”

The staff in the publicity department were indignant when they heard about this, so they reported it to their leader, Director Li.

Director Li: “…”

Why does the name of the Eighth Cafeteria always seem to echo in my ears?!

Can this world ever get any better?!

After silently grumbling to himself for a while, Minister Li composed himself and began to seriously consider how to handle the matter.

He soon came up with the answer.

… …

The staff in Plum Blossom Bakeshop’s marketing department were very happy and whispered among themselves.

“The public opinion on the internet has now turned around.”

“Even if Zhou Siyuan didn’t lie, so what? We’ve diverted all the netizens’ attention to the university cafeteria. Negative talk about Plum Blossom Bakeshop will soon fade from the netizens’ view. This is a case of shifting the blame.”

Suddenly, a staff member exclaimed, “Holy crap, we’re doomed! Come quick!”

The others were bewildered and walked up to him blankly. “Why are you making such a fuss?”

“Aside from being a big streamer, Zhou Siyuan is just an ordinary student and definitely doesn’t have any powerful connections. He’ll probably suffer in silence like the other streamers we dealt with before, and he won’t dare to comment on the taste of our desserts.”

“Could it be that Zhou Siyuan has powerful connections? That’s impossible!”

However, the staff pointed to the information posted on the official Weibo account of the university, their faces filled with horror, as if they had seen some enormous creature.

[Jiangcheng University of Aeronautics: Our school’s cafeterias used to have many shortcomings, but they have undergone a huge transformation. The video attached to this Weibo post is a promotional video for our newly opened Eighth Cafeteria. I believe you will have a new impression of the university’s cafeterias after watching the video.]

[Jiangcheng University of Aeronautics: Our university takes the recent online public opinion very seriously and resolutely opposes all slander and rumor-mongering against our students. Our Legal Affairs Office has notarized and archived the relevant evidence and will soon send a lawyer’s letter to [Name of Institution/Organization].]

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

Was the university really taking such a tough stance?

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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