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Zhao Jinghuan consoled herself by telling herself that the Golden Week holiday was over, and the lack of lines at stores was perfectly normal. But even so, a lingering unease lingered within her. After a few days of debating, she finally took advantage of her lunch break to make a special trip to Waikiki. After leaving her office, she headed down Haiya Lane. As she turned into the intersection, she saw a sea of people gathered in front of her. Her first thought was that the community hospital was offering free blood pressure tests again. But a few steps further, she suddenly saw a figure soar into the air, like something out of a martial arts novel. "Ah!" Zhao Jinghuan jumped, wondering if some old man had evolved again. It took a split second for her to realize, "This is it! They must be being targeted by an internet celebrity." A few steps further, Zhao Jinghuan finally saw that the people blocking the road were indeed bloggers filming videos. Almost every one of them was holding a phone stand, finding their positions and talking to the camera. "New friends in the livestream, please follow me! I'm here to show you around the hottest toy designer right now." "Ah, trendy toys. I don't know what they call them, but I heard the designer got his inspiration after a fall. Actually, if you think about it, it's a bit like Newton's story." Zhao Jinghuan eavesdropped for a while, frowning. Soon, another community worker arrived, flitting between the bloggers' cameras, trying to persuade them to leave, their faces a mixture of anxiety and resignation. Perhaps because they'd been standing there for too long, a community worker mistakenly thought Zhao Jinghuan was another blogger trying to cash in on the traffic and approached to persuade her to leave. "Go away, stop joining in the fun. That young boss hasn't been to work in days." "What young boss?" "The one who does the backflip." Zhao Jinghuan only then realized that Lu Kai hadn't been in the office for several days. She looked around at the bloggers jumping around and wondered if Lu Kai and the others had been harassed enough. Since Lu Kai hadn't come, she wondered if Sister Zou and the others were there. Zhao Jinghuan had originally wanted to ask the community staff if Zou and the others had arrived for work, but before she could speak, she realized she could just call Zou directly instead of asking her. Seeing Zhao Jinghuan standing there idly, the community staff approached, gently nudged her shoulder, and gestured for her to turn back. Zhao Jinghuan quickly explained that she wasn't a blogger. "I'm a member of Waikiki, and my picture is on the door of my studio." The community staff looked her up and down, as if barely recognizing her, and then began to complain, asking, "What have you done?"
Zhao Jinghuan consoled herself by telling herself that the Golden Week holiday was over, and that it was perfectly normal for offline stores to be empty. But even so, she felt a lingering unease. After a few days of debating, she finally took advantage of her lunch break and made a special trip to Waikiki.
After leaving the office, he walked towards Haiya Lane. As soon as he turned into the intersection, he saw a crowd of people gathered in front of him. Zhao Jinghuan's first reaction was that the community hospital was here to provide free blood pressure measurements again, but after walking a few steps forward, he suddenly saw a figure rising into the air in front of him, like something flying out of a martial arts novel.
"Ah." Zhao Jinghuan was startled, wondering which uncle had evolved again. It took him half a second to understand:
"It's over. I guess the internet celebrity came to my door and beat me up."
After walking a few steps forward, Zhao Jinghuan finally saw clearly that the people blocking the road were indeed bloggers who came to shoot videos. Almost everyone of them had a mobile phone holder in their hands, and they each found a position and spoke to the camera.
"Friends who are new to the live broadcast room, please follow me. I will take you to see the hottest trendy toy designer right now."
"Ah, trendy toys. I don't know what they're called, but I heard the designer got the inspiration after a fall. Actually, if you think about it, this is a bit like the story of Newton."
Zhao Jinghuan frowned and eavesdropped for a while. Soon, community staff came over and shuttled back and forth between the blogger's camera, trying to persuade them to leave. The expressions on their faces were anxious and helpless.
Maybe because she stood there for too long, a community worker mistakenly thought that Zhao Jinghuan was also a blogger who came to take advantage of the traffic, so he came over and persuaded her to leave.
"Let's go, don't join in the fun. The boss hasn't come to work for several days."
“What little boss?”
"The backflip one."
Zhao Jinghuan realized then that Lu Kai hadn't been at the office for several days. She looked around at the bloggers jumping around in front of her and thought to herself that Lu Kai and his team had been harassed quite a bit. Since Lu Kai hadn't come, she wondered if Zou Jie and the others were there. Zhao Jinghuan had wanted to ask the community staff if Zou Jie and the others had come to work, but before she could speak, she realized she could just call Zou Jie directly instead of asking her.
Seeing Zhao Jinghuan standing there stupidly, the community staff came over and gently pushed her shoulder, signaling her to go back quickly. Zhao Jinghuan quickly explained that she was not a blogger.
"I'm a member of Waikiki. There's even a picture of me on the studio door."
The people in the community looked her up and down, seemed to recognize her reluctantly, and then began to complain, saying that you guys have stirred up a hornet's nest, attracting such a large group of people, and each of them loves to do somersaults. We are afraid that we won't be able to take care of them and two more people will fall to their deaths.
Another community worker who was "floating" by said in a resentful tone: "Killing two people is not enough, I hope they all get fucking killed." It was obvious that he was very angry with these internet celebrities who came to make trouble.
Zhao Jinghuan apologized with embarrassment, saying that we didn't want this to happen and no one expected to attract so many people.
The community staff probably felt it was pointless to embarrass a working person. After finding out Zhao Jinghuan was going upstairs, they waved her along and asked her to follow them. The community staff led Zhao Jinghuan through the front "position" to the unit door. Then, while the bloggers, who were clamoring for freedom to film, weren't paying attention, Zhao Jinghuan slipped through the wall of people formed by the community staff and into the hallway.
It was almost 1 p.m. when Zhao Jinghuan pushed open the door to the sixth floor. The studio was empty. He hadn't been there for nearly two months, yet the interior layout remained largely unchanged. Mr. Hu Zi, who had been sitting at his workstation, had been thrown away and replaced by Lu Kailai. The only new feature was a large mechanical tally board.
Zhao Jinghuan looked at the counting board. The number on it scrolled every few seconds and had now reached more than 60,000.
Zhao Jinghuan stood in front of the "click-click" counting board for a while before she realized that the numbers on it should be the real-time updated sales of Freckles. She just didn't know where it was connected to to make such an accurate response.
Zhao Jinghuan leaned against the wall and looked behind the counter, but didn't see any network cable. Thinking it might be a wireless connection, he ignored it.
She was sitting in front of the counting board, about to call Sister Zou. Before the call went through, Sister Zou pushed the door open and came in.
Seeing Zhao Jinghuan in the room, Sister Zou was a little surprised: "They said a girl came upstairs, I thought it was Dorasi, Jinghuan, why are you here?"
Zhao Jinghuan said she was taking a lunch break and suddenly wanted to come back to check on him. Sister Zou said, "Oh!" and fanned herself with her hand, then smiled helplessly, "It's such a mess downstairs. We're like thieves trying to get in and out. It's a wonder you even managed to get in."
Zhao Jinghuan asked a somewhat unnecessary question: "Are all those people downstairs here for Lu Kai?"
Sister Zou said, "How else could they be here to see Tomato?" She said, "It's been going on for a few days now. It's all these bloggers with few followers who come here to mess things up, pretending to visit and doing somersaults. I even heard a guy rapping when I passed by yesterday. It seemed like he wrote a song for Lu Kai."
Zhao Jinghuan asked, "Does it sound good?"
Sister Zou shook her head. "I was in such a hurry to get upstairs that I didn't hear it clearly, and I couldn't find it online." She sighed. "This is a residential building. Having an office here is illegal to begin with, and now it's been so disturbing. I'm sure many of our neighbors have already gone to the community to complain."
Sister Zou put the extra hand cream on Zhao Jinghuan's hand and asked her what brought her here at this time: "Are you here to see Lu Kai?"
Zhao Jinghuan shook his head.
"Is that Dorasi?"
She also shook her head.
This isn't right, and that isn't right either. Zhao Jinghuan thought Sister Zou wouldn't be able to guess the reason for her sudden appearance, but Sister Zou stared at her for a while and suddenly said, "So you noticed it too."
"Ah, what did you find?"
Sister Zou shrugged: "Sales."
Zhao Jinghuan felt discouraged, then nodded. "I've been staking out the offline stores these past few days and asked the staff. They sold a lot during the National Day holiday, but the sales of Freckles in several stores have barely budged these past few days..." She saw Sister Zou frown slightly, then pointed to the counter on the wall and said, "But I see the sales figures here are pretty good. Am I being too concerned?"
Sister Zou said, "That's a brand."
“Ah?”
Sister Zou said that the counter was a decoration that Tomato bought on a whim. It had no internet connection function at all, and it was nonsense to talk about synchronized national sales. It was just a sign that could be set to turn over at a certain time.
It's just there to make it look good, but the numbers have absolutely no reference value.
Sister Zou looked disgusted: "You insisted on buying a mechanical one. It makes a crackling noise. It's so annoying." She walked over and unplugged the power cord. The noise disappeared, and Sister Zou was obviously calmer.
"Actually, a sales decline was to be expected. It was just one or two trending searches, which wouldn't have lasted that long. I just didn't expect it to decline so quickly," said Ms. Zou. "It might also be because we didn't have enough stock in the first wave. There were queues everywhere, so we didn't sell many in the end. Then we ran out of stock, and it became difficult to keep players excited."
Zhao Jinghuan asked her what to do now?
Sister Zou said: "I'm thinking about whether I should try to bring goods."
"Ah? Are we going to bring our own?"
Sister Zou shook her head and said, "Of course not... After Lu Kai became a trending topic, some livestreamers approached him, and distributors also introduced some. They all wanted Lu Kai to appear in their livestreams, promoting Little Freckles's products while also bringing in some traffic for them. Because it's a mutually beneficial relationship, the offers from these livestreamers can be considered quite good."
Zhao Jinghuan said it was a good idea, but Sister Zou gave her a helpless smile. Zhao Jinghuan was a little puzzled: "What's the problem?"
"Yes," Sister Zou said, "Although I haven't asked Lu Kai if he wants to participate in the live broadcast, I have a feeling he won't agree."
She walked to the window and looked downstairs. Various internet celebrities and bloggers were still trying their best to sell their skills. Sister Zou felt annoyed.
"You may not know this yet, but that day Lu Kai got into a fight with a blogger who was looking for trouble."
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