Chapter 27: This kid is a bit uncanny!

"You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is here to love you.
You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is holding a seminar."

Without even realizing it, Xue Xiaoshan found himself humming along. Even when he forced himself to stop, the melody persisted in his mind.

"Genius! Brother Tai, this move is absolutely brilliant!"

Only then did Xue Xiaoshan truly understand. Why Huo Qitai hadn't printed any flyers was because these few lines of brainwashing lyrics were far more powerful than any flyer could ever be. There was no doubt about it! Through the word-of-mouth of these children, the nursery rhyme spread through the entire residential compound much more effectively than any flyer or loudspeaker truck ever could.

"Alright! Let's pick up the pace, Xiaoshan. We'll split up. There are over thirty more compounds to cover, just follow the same method as before..."

Huo Qitai divided the lollipops and toys, and the two set off, covering the residential areas one by one according to the map. They didn't finish until five or six in the evening.

Back in the taxi, Xue Xiaoshan was brimming with excitement, yet he asked with some confusion, "Brother Tai, your strategy is brilliant for getting the word out about the Peking University top student's seminar. But what comes next? How are we going to tell these people when and where the seminar is being held? If we can't lure the target audience to the Fugui Ronghua Hotel, won't all this be in vain? If you ask me, you should have included the location and time when you wrote the brainwashing song."

"No, that wouldn't work! If we included all that, it would be too long and tongue-twisting; the kids wouldn't be able to remember it at all," Huo Qitai said confidently. "Don't worry! This is just the appetizer. The people my father is helping me find tomorrow are the real main event."

...

Near the First High School, at the Zhongtian Garden residential complex, Li Na, a student entering her final year of high school, trudged home with a heavy backpack, feeling listless as she prepared for dinner. However, the moment she stepped into the complex, she heard a chorus of youthful, high-pitched voices.

"You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is here to love you.
You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is holding a seminar..."

She furrowed her brows slightly and muttered, "What kind of crappy song is this? The lyrics are so weird! 'Peking University top student here to love you'? 'Peking University top student is holding a seminar'?"

However, she only felt a brief moment of confusion before brushing it off and heading inside to eat.

...

Near the front gate of the Second High School, there were three or four newly built residential complexes. Many investors had bought apartments specifically to renovate and rent out as single rooms to parents accompanying their children during their final year of high school. Xie Aizhen was one such mother. Her son was about to enter his final year, and his grades had been stagnant—hovering at a level where even getting into a second-tier university seemed risky. It worried her sick.

She had gotten up late that afternoon and was rushing out of the complex to the supermarket to buy groceries when she heard the strange singing of several elementary school students.

"You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is here to love you.
You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is holding a seminar..."

Xie Aizhen let out a scoff after hearing it, thinking to herself, "A Peking University top student? In our entire Jian'an City, it's considered a great achievement if even one student gets into Peking or Tsinghua University in a year. Would a top student from Peking University really come to this backwater town to hold a seminar?"

She didn't take the lyrics seriously at all, focused instead on buying quick-fix ingredients for dinner, lest her son go hungry when he returned.

...

As the "Peking University Top Student" nursery rhyme continued to spread through the compounds near the major high schools, it seemed that almost overnight, everyone had been brainwashed by the melody.

The next morning, as Li Na brushed her teeth, she couldn't help but hum along.

"You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is here to love you.
You love me, I love you! The Peking University top student is holding a seminar..."

Her mother, who was frying eggs nearby, asked in confusion, "Nana, what song are you singing? What's this about love, and a Peking University top student, and a seminar?"

Li Na realized she had been singing it. After her mother's reminder, she quickly shut her mouth and complained, "I don't even know what song it is. I heard some kids singing it on my way home yesterday. It was so annoying that it's been playing in my head all night."

...

Similar scenes played out during breakfast in hundreds of households. No one knew why, but it was as if their brains had been installed with some inescapable software; the song kept playing over and over, impossible to forget. It was like a virus; people would unconsciously start humming it, inadvertently infecting those around them.

By then, Huo Qitai had already arrived early at Er'gou Real Estate. Xue Er'gou had indeed found the people he requested right on time. Xue Xiaoshan stood at the entrance with dark circles under his eyes, looking resentful as he complained to Huo Qitai, "Brother Tai, that song you made yesterday is so annoying. It’s still playing in my head!"

He then looked at the dozen or so people his father had found—some old, some young—all looking like a "ragtag army."

"Everyone, follow me. We'll start with a complex near the Second High School. There's a performance fee of one hundred yuan per person, and if you perform well, there's a bonus."

Huo Qitai looked at these "actors" with great satisfaction. Their appearances and features were sufficiently "ordinary" and "normal." Since Er'gou Real Estate was conveniently located near the Second High School, he led the group to the nearby Zhongshan Mansion complex.

Xue Er'gou, having heard from his son the previous night about Huo Qitai's trick of teaching children to sing, felt his eyes light up. He immediately realized that this kid, Huo Qitai, was no simple character—there was something devilishly clever about him. It felt as if a door to a new world had been opened for him. Consequently, he didn't even open his shop that day, choosing instead to follow them to the entrance of Zhongshan Mansion.

"Two of you, yes! The uncle in the white shirt and the uncle in the black shirt, come here. I'll teach you; in a moment, you need to do this, this, and this..."

After teaching the specific performance plan to the two men in black and white, Huo Qitai pulled out a "seminar ticket" and placed it into the hand of the man in black.

"So mysterious. What new trick is Brother Tai playing today? What kind of play is this?" Xue Xiaoshan felt his head itching more the more he thought about it, as if his brain were about to grow.

Although his father, Xue Er'gou, hadn't heard Huo Qitai's instructions, the more he pondered, the more he began to understand. Especially when he saw Huo Qitai hand over that ticket, the answer in his mind... was about to burst forth.

It was 7:30 in the morning, the peak time for foot traffic at the entrance of the complex. People were coming out to buy groceries, dropping children off at tutoring centers, or rushing to work.

Just then, the two men in black and white began to argue loudly at the entrance.

"Give it to me! Give it back! This is the seminar ticket for the Peking University top student that I fought so hard to get!"

"No! Even if you sell it to me, I'll pay three thousand! No! I'll pay five thousand for it, how about that?"

"In your dreams! Do you know how many favors I had to call in to get this internal ticket? A student who got into Peking University is teaching study secrets and giving away a full set of top-student notes. My son is about to enter his final year; if he goes to listen, he'll improve his college entrance exam score by at least fifty points. I wouldn't sell this for any amount of money..."