Ch 109: The World’s Number One Resort

Host Name: Tang Huai

Intermediate Task: Host at least 1,000 visitors from ten different countries within a month.

Task Progress: 10% (China).

Days Remaining: 27.

…

Tang Huai returned to Sora Town, freshened up quickly, and then opened the task interface. After three days of recovery, the task progress had reached 10%. This 10% consisted of visitors brought in by a Chinese tour group, a favor from a friendly connection…

He scanned through the details and then opened the Twitter app to compose a new post.

@GreatTangResort: “Sora Island is located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with beautiful scenery and a year-round temperature above 26°C. It features attractions such as Blue Sea Lake, Thrilling Racing, and Fruit Kingdom…【Image】X9.”

Tang Huai carefully crafted this message. This was the first tweet of Great Tang Resort on the international platform. In today’s entertainment-driven world, he considered starting with some eye-catching images. However, he decided against it, preferring a more official and well-rounded introduction for the resort’s debut post.

For now, the first tweet would stay simple.

It was 10 a.m., and after staying up all night, Tang Huai posted the tweet and went straight to bed. He decided to handle the rest in the afternoon.

Half an hour later, the tweet’s metrics were: 21 views, 0 comments, 0 likes.

Despite the resort’s stunning scenery, countless tweets are posted daily, and since Great Tang Resort had just registered on the platform, its tweet quickly disappeared into the masses.

…

“Thousands of shares for fruit? Oh my, China is really… just so pitiful.”

While Tang Huai was sound asleep, a woman with chestnut-colored hair and a stunning figure was looking at her files in the Seoul ACC Television Building office, making a remark as she skimmed through.

The woman was Kim Sookhyun, a 32-year-old host of the popular late-night talk show Sookhyun Midnight. The show, produced by ACC Broadcasting Company, focused on current events and celebrity gossip. Kim Sookhyun had been in the industry for eleven years, known for her bold and cutting-edge hosting style, and had a large fan base in Korea. Sookhyun Midnight was one of the most successful live talk shows in the country.

The show aired live from midnight to 1 a.m. without edits. It was now 11 p.m., and Kim Sookhyun was preparing her talking points for the night. Besides covering topics like Kwon Jiho’s wedding, election campaigns, and Korean cosmetics exports, the “China’s Blood Petition” was also a key talking point.

Despite the globalization of entertainment, there remained considerable cultural barriers between countries. As a radical commentator, Kim Sookhyun associated China with labels like “nouveau riche” and “backward.” She had often poked fun at Chinese culture in her previous shows.

Upon seeing the news about the “Blood Petition” in China, Kim Sookhyun felt a sense of validation. Poor Chinese people, getting so worked up over imported fruit… how pathetic.

“Thirty minutes to showtime. The live guests are in position. Up for some seafood noodles after the recording?” Kim Sookhyun went through her notes one last time when the door opened, and a female director with a work badge walked in. Her name was Choi, a long-time friend and colleague.

Kim Sookhyun gave an ‘OK’ gesture. After Director Choi left, she thought for a moment and circled the “Blood Petition” topic with a marker.

Each episode of Sookhyun Midnight centered around three to five topics for discussion. As a sensitive news media professional, Kim Sookhyun sensed the controversy brewing behind the “Blood Petition” in China.

Kim Sookhyun contemplated.

…

“Welcome to Sookhyun Midnight! I’m your old friend, Kim Sookhyun. Now, let’s talk about the hottest news in Korea—the wedding of Kwon Jiho and her heartthrob…” As the clock struck midnight, Kim Sookhyun made her grand entrance on the show.

The Sookhyun Midnight set is approximately 20 square meters, featuring a small, stylish orange sofa, two potted plants, and a 50-seat audience area. The overall ambiance is warm and inviting. The show is broadcast live in real-time.

“Wow!”

After the opening remarks, an exaggerated gasp was heard from the audience. Kwon Jiho, a top-tier celebrity in South Korea, starred in many popular romance dramas, attracting a large fanbase both domestically and abroad. His marriage to the daughter of a top conglomerate had stirred up heated discussions nationwide.

Kim Sookhyun used Kwon Jiho’s wedding as a starting point to quickly capture the attention of the audience both at the studio and watching on TV.

From “election campaigns” to “Korean exports,” Kim Sookhyun then commented on the past week’s major topics in South Korea, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.

“Now that we’ve covered cosmetics exports, let’s move on to something lighter. As we know, China is vast and populous, with a population of 1.3 billion, but the living standards there have always hovered around just getting enough to eat.

Here’s a screenshot taken from China’s Weibo. It’s truly shocking that a tweet about imported fruit could garner over 23 million shares! I feel for the Chinese people and hope that in ten years, they won’t be so astonished by imported fruit…”

As the studio audience was enjoying the light-hearted discussion, Kim Sookhyun suddenly changed the topic. Behind her, the big screen showed a screenshot of Li Yuan’s Weibo comments. After more than a week of fermentation, Li Yuan’s post had over 3 million shares, and the topic “A Blood Petition” had more than 20 million engagements.

The screen displayed translations in both Chinese and Korean. Although Kim Sookhyun spoke of “sympathy,” her tone and expression were filled with condescension. Compared to country bumpkins who had never seen imported fruit, the citizens of Korea were truly fortunate!

“Oh my, is this the first time Chinese people have seen imported fruit?”

“Tsk tsk, China, huh.”

After Kim Sookhyun’s remark, the audience erupted in an excited uproar. While their country might not be as large as China, their per capita happiness index was high. Despite the global village rhetoric, Korea had always quietly competed with China due to geographical and historical reasons.

Learning that Chinese citizens were so astonished by imported fruit gave them a sense of victory.

That feeling… was exhilarating!

The live broadcast of Sookhyun Midnight ended at 1 a.m.

Kim Sookhyun changed into casual wear and happily went out for noodles with the female director.

Having worked on Sookhyun Midnight for seven years, Kim Sookhyun received the “China Blood Petition” material from the production team but embellished it during the live broadcast. Based on her experience, she was confident that this episode would attract a high viewership.

Mocking China was also part of Kim Sookhyun’s hosting style.

“Korean fruits are expensive, but compared to China, we’re truly fortunate.”

“It’s hard to imagine China being so poor, making such a fuss over imported fruit…”

“I own a small orchard on the outskirts of Busan. I’m thinking of going through the export procedures to send some blessings to China. But I wonder if they can afford it.”

“Haha, as their neighbor, we’re just too kind.”

…

Kim Sookhyun, a radical host, attracted a fanbase of equally radical young people. As Sookhyun Midnight had just aired, many night owls were already discussing it on local Korean forums.

Most of them only knew about China through news media. Seeing Chinese citizens getting worked up over imported fruit instantly energized them. While their remarks might not be outright offensive, the overwhelming sense of superiority in their words was unmistakable.

This was a victory of the spirit.

And so, the discussion thread about “China’s Blood Petition” kept growing taller and taller.

…

“What the hell, idiots.”

Zhao Jiang, a Chinese international student at Seoul University in South Korea, couldn’t sleep late at night. After playing a few rounds of PUBG with his high school friends, he opened a Korean forum. He originally just wanted to browse some news casually, but when he saw the high-threaded post about “China’s Blood Petition,” he was instantly enraged.

Chinese people have never seen imported fruit? What nonsense.

Zhao Jiang’s hometown is a small county town, not even a bustling city. Yet, even at roadside fruit stands in his county, they sell imported pineapples and cherries!

He scrolled through the thread.

“Chinese people have never seen imported fruit,” “Chinese women still bind their feet,” “Chinese people all use old flip phones when they go out”… The comments in the thread became increasingly ridiculous. Zhao Jiang felt his intelligence was being insulted. Were they implying he came from some primitive society?

He felt a surge of irritation. This feeling of being treated like a fool, of having his intelligence ground into the dirt, was just unbearable!

Zhao Jiang downed a bottle of soda, trying to analyze how this thread even came about.

It seemed to have originated from the show Sookhyun Midnight? It was a popular late-night talk show. He had heard of it before, but he never found Kim Sookhyun’s overly botoxed face appealing, so he stopped watching after half an episode.

With a bit of patience, Zhao Jiang watched the latest episode of Sookhyun Midnight.

He sped through it on fast-forward mode. Ten minutes later, he finally grasped the situation. The root cause of this mess was “Great Tang Fruit”…

Zhao Jiang had been studying abroad for a year and didn’t keep up with Chinese news often. The name “Great Tang” felt familiar, but he couldn’t recall why.

With no other choice, he got up from his bed and earnestly searched for information about “Great Tang Fruit.”

Due to browsing restrictions between South Korea and China, it took him some effort to access Chinese websites. In the following half-hour, Zhao Jiang felt like he had opened the door to a whole new world.

Super beautifying apples, angelic treehouses growing on trees, a snow castle built on a mountaintop… Was this not a movie set?

“Beep beep, beep—” Just as Zhao Jiang was still in a daze, his phone buzzed with a notification. He came back to his senses and checked his messages.

“Hey, Jiang! Everyone in the group, gather up! We’re being mocked by a bunch of ignorant bumpkins; it’s so frustrating!”

The sender, labeled “Spider-Man,” was a senior at Seoul University and also a fellow Chinese international student. The “group” he mentioned was an internal chat group for Chinese students studying in Korea, with over 500 members.

Upon seeing Spider-Man’s message, Zhao Jiang quickly opened the group chat.

“Country bumpkins,” “mocking us”… He could guess why they were gathering in the group.

His interest piqued, and any sleepiness disappeared.

“Chinese people are so pitiful; they only eat instant noodles on major holidays…”

“A cup of instant noodles costs three yuan fifty, equivalent to 600 won. Who can’t afford that?”

“In China, apples are a luxury item.”

“Watermelons cost 1,000 won each. Ten times cheaper than yours, thank you.”

On the Korean forums, locals were enthusiastically discussing the supposed “dire situation of the Chinese people.” But toward the end, some rather unusual comments seemed to have infiltrated the discussion.

“In China, the most common mode of transportation is a tractor. Only the wealthy upper class travels by car… [Image]”

“This is a photo from the 1990s. [smile]”

Ten minutes later, the South Korean locals finally realized that some strange comments had infiltrated their thread.

South Korean netizens are known for their combativeness, but the Chinese international students weren’t backing down either. Thus, the debate about whether “China is really struggling” raged on for three hours, with the Chinese students narrowly taking the lead.

“‘China’s Blood Petition’ has over 20 million retweets. I think that speaks for itself.”

The South Korean participants, now fired up and frustrated by their perceived lack of strength, threw out the key issue. The whole argument had started from the “Blood Petition” topic discussed on Sookhyun Midnight. From the data shown on the program, it seemed like Chinese netizens were desperately clamoring for a particular fruit from China…

The Chinese students felt deflated. They had been explaining things to the South Koreans all night, but the locals stubbornly refused to acknowledge the distinction between “playing with memes” and reality in Chinese culture.

Despite the intense debate, some of the more rational South Koreans began to realize that China wasn’t as backward as depicted on Sookhyun Midnight. However, due to existing national tensions, they were too invested in the argument to back down now. Plus, the fact that an imported fruit caused 20 million retweets? If that wasn’t a sign of being out of touch, then what was?

And so, the debate circled back to its starting point.

The Chinese international students were collectively enraged!

“Through countless battles in the desert, Liu Gang, an international student at Seoul University, requests a shipment of Great Tang grapes!”

“Cold winds blow over the Yishui River, Zhao Shunlai, an international student at Yonsei University, joins the fight…”

“Listening to the wind and rain through the night, Wang Ruhai, an international student at Korea University, is ready for battle…”

…

The South Korean locals and Chinese international students clashed fiercely on the forum. Meanwhile, at Great Tang Resort, Tang Huai woke up from a restful sleep, then casually opened his Weibo as usual. However, when he saw that he had 999+ unread private messages, he was momentarily stunned.

Since Great Tang Resort had gained popularity, Tang Huai had left his private messages open on Weibo. At this moment, aside from the daily messages urging the resort to increase its stock, there were many messages formatted as “Ancient Poem + University Name + Name” requesting reinforcements.

The private messages all followed a similar pattern, as if coordinated and planned.

Was this… a massive display of second-hand embarrassment?

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️