Back at the studio, Ruan Tingting looked anxiously at Ning Lei.
“Brother Ning, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I…”
Ning Lei waved it off. “It’s fine. We did it for the sake of the performance, and the response has been much better than we expected.”
Gu Chuan spoke up. “It’s fine. We’ll count what happened to Ning Lei as a work-related injury and compensate him for it!”
Ning Lei said, “Boss, I love you! I’ll work like an ox or a horse for you!”
Gu Chuan replied, “Get lost. I need oxen and horses, not your love!”
Gu Chuan took out sixty yuan and handed it to Ruan Tingting.
“This is your pay for today. There still aren’t many users who signed up with your invitation code, so we’ll tally them all together tomorrow night. If there’s nothing else, go write the little post for tonight and the script for tomorrow!”
They had agreed on this beforehand: Ruan Tingting would write her personal invitation code on the promotional flyers she handed out, and she would receive a commission for every user who registered with it.
Ruan Tingting was thrilled to receive her pay. Even though they had agreed in advance that her wages wouldn’t be delayed, she still felt a little uneasy. She had already imagined several different ways collecting her pay might go wrong.
She hadn’t expected the Boss to pay her so promptly, especially since she hadn’t even finished her work for the day.
This Boss really was a pretty nice guy.
But when she thought of the little post and tomorrow’s script, Ruan Tingting’s expression grew a little complicated.
Seeing her hesitate, Gu Chuan asked directly, “What’s wrong? What do you want to say?”
“Boss, doesn’t what we’re doing seem a bit like we’re deceiving people? What if we get found out?”
Gu Chuan smiled. “You can’t call it deception when it’s business! It’s just a marketing tactic. We can attract users, but whether they stay depends on what our website is like.
“If users like our website and find what they’re looking for here, very few will remember why they joined in the first place. And no one will care whether those little skits were real or not.
“Just go ahead with it. I have plans for what comes next!”
At eight that evening, Ruan Tingting posted the little essay she had written in advance from her own account.
The group crowded around Meng Ran’s computer again. Registrations had been increasing since the afternoon, and user activity was now at its peak.
Quite a few people had already figured out how things worked on their own and started posting logs and updates on the Campus Network.
At this point, the website had plenty of readers but few posters. Every post got considerable exposure, and people were eager to comment, making the sense of interaction especially strong.
Over the next two days, Ruan Tingting performed in two skits a day. She was either being harassed by a scummy ex-boyfriend or being pursued by a scummy guy.
For those two days, Ruan Tingting was either arguing or on her way to argue. If she used to be somewhat timid and eager to please, now she was the confrontational type.
She was getting experienced at arguing.
Over those two days, Ruan Tingting became a minor sensation on the Campus Network. Students at Jin University called her a magnet for scummy men, saying she’d gone and stirred up a whole den of them.
Of course, after she performed little skits in a different style every day for two days, plenty of people began to catch on and realize they might be scripted.
In just a few days, the Campus Network community had begun to take shape.
Thanks to the frequent promotion over the past few days, many people had gotten into the habit of logging onto the Campus Network before and after going online. They posted any interesting news or gossip there, while others came specifically to watch the drama unfold.
The Campus Network was thriving, but it still wasn’t enough!
After three days of little skits, Gu Chuan called a halt to them.
When she heard there would be no more skits starting tomorrow, Ruan Tingting felt a little wistful.
She had been happy working here over the past few days. She earned sixty yuan a day as a temporary actress, and the money she made from users signing up with her invitation code was even more than her wages. Boss Gu Chuan was also easygoing and pleasant to work with, nothing like people outside said he was.
She couldn’t help asking, “Boss, haven’t our promotions been working pretty well these past few days? Why stop?”
The others also seemed a little puzzled.
Gu Chuan shook his head. “Our promotions have worked well these past few days because our approach was novel and users found it fresh.
“But users aren’t stupid. Plenty of people have already figured it out. If we keep performing like this, we’ll get little in return besides irritating everyone. It’s not worth it.
“We’ve built up the anticipation. Now it’s time to start promoting the site properly!”
That evening, both Ruan Tingting’s and Meng Ran’s accounts posted updates.
Ruan Tingting【Hi, everyone. I’m Ruan Tingting. That’s right—the Ruan Tingting who’s been famous these past few days for stirring up a den of scummy men.
First, I want to apologize to everyone. I’m actually a staff member at the Campus Network. What happened over the past few days was the website’s promotional strategy, and we hoped it would add a little variety to everyone’s campus life.
I don’t know if you enjoyed watching, but I sure enjoyed letting them have it.
Our Campus Network is a student entrepreneurship project supported by Jin University. There’s no capital behind our project team, nor do we have substantial funding. All we have is a sincere heart. Our campus network is dedicated to…】
It was a long post, simple and sincere.
The online world back then wasn’t nearly as hostile as it would be in later years. Once most people learned it was marketing, they simply laughed it off.
After all, didn’t everything need a bit of advertising?
The Campus Network’s advertising was just a little unusual. They’d gotten a laugh out of it, too.
There were plenty of comments beneath Ruan Tingting’s post.
【Haha, I knew it. How could someone be so unlucky as to run into that many scummy men?】
【You came up with a marketing plan like this? I have to say, you people are really something!】
【Student entrepreneurship? And at Jin University? So this website was made by our own schoolmates? You’ve got my support! Count me in!】
Of course, some people criticized Ruan Tingting, but there weren’t many, and other comments quickly pushed them out of sight.
Meng Ran also posted a clarification similar to Ruan Tingting’s. The wording was much the same, mainly clarifying that the Campus Network hadn’t withheld his wages and that it had all been for promotion.
But the tone of the comments section was completely different from Ruan Tingting’s.
【Bro, are you being threatened by the Black-Hearted Boss? If you are, just post a period.】
【Why even post? Judging by this, the Black-Hearted Boss has probably taken over your account. I saw another post saying the owner of this website is a college student starting a business. If he didn’t have money behind him, would he dare get into internet entrepreneurship? How many capitalists aren’t unscrupulous?】
【Not necessarily, right? He’s clarified it himself, and you still don’t believe him. So what do you think the truth is? Don’t be so cynical. It was just ordinary marketing.】
【You’re just too naive. What you see isn’t necessarily the truth. The public’s understanding of capitalists is just the tip of the iceberg…】
The discussion began to go off track with that comment. It went from unscrupulous capitalists in Jin City to the situation across the country, then to the global situation, and eventually to Jews controlling the lifeblood of the world economy and a plan to exterminate humanity.
All sorts of know-it-alls came out of the woodwork, sharing real stories about their relatives and friends, every aunt, uncle, and cousin. The more they talked, the more ridiculous it got. By the end, the discussion had gone completely off track, and no one cared whether Meng Ran had actually been paid.
What Gu Chuan didn’t know was that after this incident, the image of him as a Black-Hearted Boss would take root in the hearts of wage earners. For years—even decades—to come, he wouldn’t be able to shake the title of unscrupulous capitalist.
What he would regret most later was this self-deprecating publicity stunt at the very beginning of his business venture.