Chapter 11: Unblocked
What surprised Shen Qingzhu wasn’t his follower count, but that his account had actually been unblocked across the entire Empire overnight after being banned.
Shen Qingzhu originally planned to make a new account after Teacher On A Roll was banned, because that was the consequence of most accounts posting Omega-related science and educational content.
In his previous world, Shen Qingzhu’s blog for Omega’s life and health education faced never-ending bans, investigations, lawyer warnings, and even death threats. So Shen Qingzhu always published his work anonymously. No one knew that many of the Omega educational accounts on the StarNet were all his alternate accounts.
Even though Shen Qingzhu was resigned to the result, he still tried as much as possible to avoid being banned. One method was recommending thousands of brands and products, ranging from high-end custom items to lesser-known but well-reputed smaller companies.
While he couldn’t guarantee that every product was perfect without problems, for each, he reviewed its product information, safety performance, user experience, and more before adding it to his list.
To summarize, Shen Qingzhu’s free promotions would bring a huge amount of traffic and attention to these products and brands. He knew that to capitalists and companies, profit came before everything. And because big corporations often had strong ties to their government, they could act as protection against officials who wanted to ban his account, or the lobbyists to reinstate his account.
Considering this, Shen Qingzhu intentionally told Zhujian to first publish access to the account to B- and C-class where two-thirds of the Empire’s population lived. These planets were the headquarters for the majority of companies on his list. And residents were mostly ordinary people and families with moderate means, i.e. the consumer group who spent the most.
In his initial prediction, it would be ideal if half of the 363 planets unblocked his account within a month. So imagine how stunned Shen Qingzhu was when he heard Teacher On A Roll was unblocked across the entire empire overnight.
Shen Qingzhu thought for a moment and then suddenly smiled.
In his original world, his efforts could persist not only thanks to profit-seeking capitalists, but also thanks to hidden allies. In the struggle for Omega equality, Shen Qingzhu knew he wasn’t the only one fighting. Even among the conservative elite, there were people who worked beside him in the shadows.
In this similar but unfamiliar world, Shen Qingzhu felt the same warmth and strength again, filling him with deep relief and gratitude.
But while his heart was soft and touched, his “fat bamboo shoot” woke up in the morning and started misbehaving again.
Shen Qingzhu looked down at the source of the problem and sighed wearily: “Isn’t this body malnourished?”
He lay numbly in bed for a while but it refused to calm down. He rubbed his brows: “I’m not even a lustful person though.”
Shen Qingzhu had always felt like he was more indifferent than normal people. But Alpha bodies… were just ridiculous, was all he could say.
After a moment of silent speechlessness, Shen Qingzhu accepted reality and went to the bathroom to handle the situation.
⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ୨୧ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅
An hour later, Shen Qingzhu emerged looking normal, but his expression was complicated.
He muttered under his breath: “This has to be bad for my health…”
He took out a bottle of nutrient solution and drank it. While he had the funds to buy real food, he still had to keep up his persona of ‘Qing’, a poor orphan.
He still had a month until he left the area of jurisdiction under C-07, which meant a month until he could eat good food.
Shen Qingzhu sighed.
He gulped down the nutrient solution and said optimistically: “I should make a food wishlist first.”
As he wrote, he asked Zhujian offhandedly: “Are there any messages I should handle personally?”
Zhujian: “Master, five minutes ago, someone posted your photo on StarNet.”
“Hm?” Shen Qingzhu let Zhujian project the related post.
It was tagged with the trending topic of the day: #Do Alphas Actually Wear Suppression Collars In Public?
At the top of the thread was his photo with the caption:
[@eatmyruyibang: There are!! There really are!! Let me tell you, I saw an Alpha come into my shop and buy a suppression collar for HIMSELF!! As an ALPHA!!! Can you believe it??? [Image][Image][Image]]
Shen Qingzhu immediately realized this post was from the pharmacy clerk. At least the images only revealed his neck and chin, he wasn’t worried about being recognized.
He didn’t mind his pictures being posted, this was a good example to help more Alphas feel comfortable about wearing suppression collars.
The comments section was very lively.
↳[is this really an alpha? [doubtful][curious][curious]]
↳[no way! Is there any alpha who lets someone take their picture without punching them?]
↳↳[@eatmyruyibang: this is also a point I want to praise this Alpha for! He was super gentle, super polite, and super respectful!!! He didn’t get frustrated at all when I messed up his order! And I was the one who asked to take his photo, and he actually agreed generously!! [screaming excitedly.gif]]
↳[this sounds so fake, isn’t OP just imaging her dream alpha boyfriend?]
↳↳[@eatmyruyibang: ptuey! I like B! I hated Alphas before but he changed my opinions completely!]
↳[@fishlovestoeatfish: …after seeing OP’s IP is in C-07, OP should be telling the truth. I also met the Alpha in this photo today. He is really, super super good!!! Really really gentle QAQ!! If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to ride the space elevator to go to school QAQ!]
Shen Qingzhu did a double take. The account fishlovestoeatfish was Little Yu, the beta boy.
Some random comments also showed up, “the contrast is hot”, “that collar is sexy as hell”, “that collarbone [lick][lick][lick]”.
Shen Qingzhu’s speed of scrolling quickened.
There were also comments from stuck-up Alphas, but the majority of commenters were Betas who enjoyed the drama.
After getting the gist, Shen Qingzhu clicked on the page of trending topics and dozens of them were related to his travel guide.
Even the feeds of A, S, and Central planets were full of these topics.
In part was because of the content, but also because of the 180 reversal treatment of Omega education on the StarNet.
In the next two months before the Empire’s major academies were opening, the travel guide would continue to rise in popularity.
Shen Qingzhu closed his terminal and asked Zhujian: “Did I get any private warnings or legal notices?”
Zhujian replied: “Yes, Master. 237 companies sent you legal notices demanding you remove their products from your list. However, after your account was reinstated, 211 of them sent apology letters and are now seeking collaboration opportunities. Since you haven’t replied, some of their official accounts have started publicly apologizing under your posts, and the apology thread has gone viral. Would you like to review it, Master?”
Shen Qingzhu: …..