In the studio, seven heads crowded together, all staring unblinkingly at Meng Ran’s computer.
As the user count continued to climb and user engagement stayed steady all afternoon, the group’s faces were filled with delight and nervous excitement.
Watching the numbers keep rising, Meng Ran suddenly clenched his right fist and smacked it into his left palm.
“We did it! Judging by today’s growth, user engagement, and retention, there’s absolutely no problem with keeping this project alive! We’ve even far exceeded our expectations!
Boss’s marketing plan really is incredible!”
It was everyone’s first time starting a business, so they were especially excited. The group jumped around in glee, and even Ye Xuchen, usually the most reserved of them, was grinning like an idiot.
At that moment, Gu Chuan poured cold water on their celebration.
“Don’t celebrate too early. Everyone who came today was drawn in by the buzz we created. Without a new hot topic, they’ll leave in a couple of days.
What we need to do next is keep creating hot topics to attract more and more users.”
Meng Ran nodded, deeply agreeing. “But how are we going to create hot topics from here?”
Gu Chuan said, “This success proves our method works. All we have to do now is repeat it. Didn’t I have you post a casting call on the website? For the next few days, we’ll put on little skits around campus every day.”
Knock, knock, knock!
As soon as Gu Chuan finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.
At Gu Chuan’s invitation, Ruan Tingting opened the door and came in. Looking at everyone in the studio, she asked timidly,
“Excuse me, is this where you’re hiring temporary actors?”
Gu Chuan grinned. Speak of the devil—here came a level-three talent.
“That’s right, we’re hiring temporary actors here. The main thing is…”
Gu Chuan explained the requirements to her. They didn’t expect much in the way of acting skills; they didn’t need professional actors.
Even if Ruan Tingting couldn’t act, she was a level-three talent, so he could assign her to another position.
After listening, Ruan Tingting asked the question she cared about most.
“Is the pay really settled daily? You won’t withhold my wages, will you?”
Gu Chuan and the others laughed. Meng Ran stood up and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, miss. We pay at the end of each day. We definitely won’t withhold your wages!”
When she saw Meng Ran, Ruan Tingting’s eyes widened in surprise, and the words came out before she could think.
“Isn’t your boss withholding your wages? Why are you still here?”
Meng Ran laughed. “Hey, that was just a script. Don’t take it too seriously. If the boss were really withholding my wages, would I be driving traffic to the website? Without that stunt, would you all have become Campus Network users?”
Ruan Tingting was astonished. “You can promote yourselves like that?”
When Meng Ran first heard Gu Chuan’s idea, his expression had been much like Ruan Tingting’s now. He had to admit, Boss really was a marketing genius!
Ruan Tingting, however, saw things very differently from Meng Ran. She thought that most bosses tried to promote a positive image, but their boss had gone and smeared his own reputation just to promote an employee—and didn’t seem to care at all.
Just look at what people on Campus Network were saying about him now!
It was no exaggeration to say that, on Campus Network, the boss had become so hated he’d have to sit at the dogs’ table.
Starting a business wasn’t easy! In the end, the boss had shouldered it all by himself!
It was a great idea, but it was a little rough on the boss.
The next day, during lunch break at Jin University, a man and a woman faced off on the sports field.
They were Ruan Tingting and Ning Lei. Ning Lei wore a gaudy yellow wig that covered most of his face, while Ruan Tingting held a stack of flyers in her arms.
A large crowd had gathered around them. As soon as class let out, everyone had seen the two arguing downstairs. They loved watching couples quarrel.
When Ning Lei judged that the crowd was big enough, he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Ruan Tingting by the arm.
“Tingting, listen to me. I really only see those girls as little sisters. You’re my one and only girlfriend. I even made our relationship public—what more do you want from me?”
Ruan Tingting was extremely nervous. She’d never had so many people watching her before.
Her palms were sweating, and she’d completely forgotten the lines she’d prepared.
Ning Lei frantically tried to prompt her with his eyes, but she’d forgotten every line, so he had to keep going himself.
“Sure, I have meals alone with other girls and go to the library with them, but they’re all good friends. I only see them as little sisters. Can’t you try to understand? You can’t expect to be the only person in my social circle, can you?”
Ning Lei had improvised that line, and his scumbag speech made Ruan Tingting’s chest heave with anger. Without a second thought, she slapped him.
A sharp slap rang out, and both of them froze.
That wasn’t in the script!
Still, the show had to go on.
Ning Lei was the first to recover, putting on an utterly blissful expression.
“Tingting, you smell so good. Your fragrance reached me before your slap did. If you’re still not satisfied, go ahead and hit me a few more times!”
Ruan Tingting was stunned, feeling as if goosebumps were breaking out all over her.
This guy was really going all out just for a performance. What was she supposed to do if he was kind of a pervert?
The students watching began whispering among themselves.
“Damn, why do I feel like that slap actually turned him on?”
“Don’t reward him for that, senpai!”
While everyone was still discussing the scene, Ning Lei’s alarm went off.
“Hello, Nana!”
“What? You got your period and your stomach hurts? Wait there, I’m coming to buy you brown sugar and sanitary pads!”
After answering the alarm, Ning Lei dashed off.
Someone in the crowd said, “Why does this guy remind me of a village official going door to door in a snowstorm to bring warmth to widows?”
The crowd burst into laughter, and even Ruan Tingting nearly lost her composure.
It took all her willpower to force herself to look heartbroken.
“I spent all my free time handing out flyers for a part-time job with Campus Network, just so I could buy him a birthday present. And this scumbag treated me like this! Go to hell, you scumbag!”
With that, Ruan Tingting flung her arm upward. The flyers in her hand immediately scattered through the air and fell into the crowd.
“Since that’s how it is, I’m going to post on Campus Network and expose every scummy thing you’ve done! Everyone, the flyers have the Campus Network website address and an invitation code. At eight tonight, I’ll post a journal entry on Campus Network and expose everything this scumbag has done!”
After finishing in one breath, Ruan Tingting shoved through the crowd and left, leaving behind a group of spectators who’d come for the show.
“What’s Campus Network?”
“No idea. Never heard of it.”
“I know, I know! Yesterday I was reading about their boss withholding wages on Campus Network. I didn’t expect there to be more gossip today.”
Someone had already picked up a flyer from the ground.
“Then what’s this invitation code for?”
“No idea. I didn’t need an invitation code to get on the website yesterday!”
The onlookers picked up the flyers and took them away. For a while, everyone there was talking about Campus Network.
As for the invitation code, Gu Chuan had come up with it—and it was his way of exploiting a bug.