OFR – Chapter 248 Negative impact

Mu Bai casually skimmed through the chaotic mess of comments and realized that Qian Yiwen’s novel, “The Never-Setting Love of Childhood Sweethearts”, had become unexpectedly popular.

As a result, it had attracted a flood of haters. Even fans of some top-tier authors who had been overshadowed by Qian Yiwen’s rising fame were stirring up trouble.

[Haha, this book overshadowing Sister Nuan? I don’t buy it! It’s just another cliché, trashy romance novel!]

[Exactly! Just another pumper. Only has a few hundred thousand library saves—how could it possibly skyrocket into the top three of the monthly ticket rankings? Every book in the top three has millions of saves! Even on Qidian, it has over 100,000!]

[Come on, how can you fans be like this? If you don’t like the book, fine, but why insult the author like that? Seriously.]

[Hehehe, no comment. If people want to waste money on pumping votes, let them. You defenders of hers don’t even know—the silver alliance on her last book, “The Domineering CEO’s Proud Affection”, was confirmed to be fake. A notorious vote-pumper like her? There’s no reasoning with that.]

[Wow, really? But I heard that “Little Mu” who gave the silver alliance is a real-life friend of the author. It wasn’t fake.]

[You believe that? A real-life friend casually throwing in 10,000 yuan? You think he’s made of money? Maybe the author just paid him to fake the donation. I can’t believe there are still brain-dead fans defending her. Pathetic!]

[Exactly. The female fiction category isn’t like the male one. Where would you find so many filthy-rich readers? And that “Little Mu” is a guy. Think about it—why would a man spend 10,000 yuan to read a female-centered CEO romance novel unless there was another reason? These stories revolve around women being emotionally tortured by the male lead or falling for childhood sweethearts and secret lovers. What guy would tolerate that? Trash! Use your brain!]

[Exactly. I think that silver alliance donation wasn’t faked—it’s just that the author and the donor probably have some sort of “unspeakable relationship,” if you know what I mean. Tsk. Didn’t think the online author scene had gotten this dark, but where there are people, there’s drama.]

[Sigh, nowadays authors will do anything for fame and money.]

Mu Bai had originally just come to check out how Qian Yiwen’s new book was doing and show her some support. He hadn’t planned on getting involved in the chaos of the comment section.

But as he read through the comments, he kept seeing mentions of the silver alliance donation he had given last time.

Upon closer inspection, Mu Bai realized that while his donation might have brought Qian Yiwen some attention, it seemed to have caused more misunderstandings.

Comments like “the silver alliance was faked” or “there’s something shady going on between the donor and the author” popped up repeatedly.

That made him frown slightly.

To be honest, Qian Yiwen had never complained to him about any of this. She must have been quietly enduring it all on her own.

Or maybe, as an online author, she had already grown used to being misunderstood and having her reputation manipulated, so she didn’t take it to heart.

Still, after reading these comments, Mu Bai felt that no matter what, he should help her out.

After all, these misunderstandings were partly related to him, and she had once helped him complete the task of unlocking online coins and public displays of affection.

He had come here to support her new book anyway—if he could help clear up the misunderstanding, that would be ideal.

Mu Bai understood the saying, “A tree that stands out in the forest will be the first to be toppled by the wind.” And he realized this principle was playing out perfectly in Qian Yiwen’s case.

Her book was doing well and stealing the spotlight—naturally, that would invite conflict and manipulation.

Every circle is the same: where there are people, there’s politics, and backroom scheming is inevitable.

With that in mind, Mu Bai chuckled softly and casually opened the reward page for “The Never-Setting Love of Childhood Sweethearts.”

He understood the principle of “standing out invites attack,” but he also knew the deeper truth behind it—

It’s just that the tree isn’t strong and thick enough… yet.

At the same time, several top authors competing with Qian Yiwen’s new book on the rankings—be it the trending chart, bestseller list, or recommendation board—were rallying their fans for votes and subscriptions.

Their efforts weren’t just about the rankings—it was also about future IP adaptation potential.

A standout ranking on the trending chart often directly affects the chance of a successful IP deal.

So many top authors were pulling out all the stops to get their fans to push them up the leaderboard.

However, Qian Yiwen’s new book had performed too well this month.

It launched at midnight and instantly earned over a thousand monthly votes, topping the entire female fiction category on Yuewen and strongly overshadowing many veteran platinum authors—some of whom were in the middle of negotiating key IP licensing deals.

Naturally, these authors didn’t want to see a newcomer squeeze them out.

So while they urged their fans to vote, they also subtly implied in their author notes that the newcomer had been inflating numbers, without directly naming names.

This was the main reason so many readers had rushed into Qian Yiwen’s comment section to stir the pot.

These platinum-level authors had huge, loyal fanbases, so when they started leading the narrative, Qian Yiwen’s comment section quickly became a disaster zone.

Attacks labeling her a vote-pumper and criticizing her writing discouraged many would-be readers.

After all, Qian Yiwen wasn’t a well-known name.

For many readers who check reviews before reading, a flood of negative comments would make them hesitate—or even just close the book altogether.

That negative influence was exactly what those orchestrating the smear campaign wanted.

Now, looking at the reviews, it was all bad. Even Qian Yiwen’s loyal fans were mostly silent, unable to defend her.

Because the comments accusing her of vote-pumping sounded plausible, no one could come up with a solid rebuttal.

After all, that “Little Mu” who once made the silver alliance donation hadn’t shown up again.

And his fan level was only a million, meaning he hadn’t even subscribed to the book—clear signs of a likely fake donation, which left Qian Yiwen’s supporters with no way to fight back.

So even readers who genuinely liked “The Never-Setting Love of Childhood Sweethearts” could only sigh and stay silent in the face of these harsh accusations.

However, just as Qian Yiwen’s many fans could only sigh helplessly, unable to defend her, letting the trolls and haters lead the narrative—

A dazzling donation notification suddenly lit up the book page.

At the same time, a server-wide notification was pushed through the entire QQ Reading app!