Chapter 57 Making it to the finals for the Golden Claw Mark is a victory, winning the award is an affirmation…
After submitting the application materials for the "Golden Paw Print" annual pet food selection, Shi Wan felt like a catnip cake being slowly baked over a low flame.
I felt restless and uneasy.
While outwardly maintaining a calm demeanor and keeping the farm running smoothly—checking the packaging of a new batch of hypoallergenic rabbit feed, adjusting the baking temperature of the goat milk cranberry catnip biscuits, and recording growth data in the greenhouse…
But she remained on edge, and every email notification made her heart skip a beat.
This anxiety of uncertainty reached its peak one afternoon.
She had just finished a live stream, which mainly showed that rabbit meat feed had very low expansion after being soaked in water, indicating that it had a high meat content and low starch content. Shortly after, she received an official notification email from the "Golden Claw Print" organizing committee.
She has successfully entered the final selection stage, competing for the Best Functional Main Food Award and the Most Popular Snack Award.
"Ahhhhh!!!" Shi Wan couldn't help but cheer in the office, jumping up from her chair and hugging Bingbing, who was dozing at her feet.
"Bingbing! We made it! Both of us made it!"
Startled awake by the sudden attack and cheers, Bingbing let out a confused howl, blinked its wet black eyes, and tucked its ears into an airplane shape, making its kitten face look like a round steamed bun.
I didn't sense any danger, but I could feel Shi Wan's joy.
Bingbing immediately began licking her face enthusiastically, its tail wagging wildly, almost knocking a potted plant off a nearby shelf.
Tangyuan, who was dozing on top of the cat tree, was startled by the noise. Upon seeing Bingbing, she immediately jumped down. Perhaps her paws were numb from sleeping, because she stumbled over and pushed Bingbing away.
Tangyuan rubbed his head against Shi Wan, making soft gurgling sounds in his throat. It was unclear whether he was trying to win her favor or offering his congratulations.
After the initial excitement subsided, Shi Wan forced herself to calm down. She opened that familiar interface, her fingertips still trembling slightly with excitement.
"Agent: Starfall, we've been shortlisted for two things: Best Functional Food and Most Popular Snack!"
The reply was quick and concise.
"Starfall: That's great, you've worked hard."
He always did this, offering calm affirmation when she was in high spirits, like a pillar of strength.
Shi Wan looked at the line of words, took a deep breath, and suppressed her surging joy.
She knew that the real challenge was just beginning.
At the beginning of the online voting process, things went very well.
Regular customers spontaneously spread the word in the live stream and on social media platforms.
"A godsend for cats with sensitive stomachs! Hypoallergenic rabbit food is a must-have!"
"My cat has even learned to bow like the dog because of the goat's milk grass biscuits, I have to support that!"
"In short, our farm is worth it! We've already mobilized the whole family to vote!"
An online user with the ID "A mother tormented by a picky eater" posted a video of her cat refusing to eat other brands of cat food but devouring rabbit meat kibble from a farm, captioning it, "Thanks to the cat paws for saving my dog's life! I have to vote!"
An account named "The Daily Life of a Three-Cat Family" posted a photo of three glossy-furred cats surrounding a small dish of goat's milk grass biscuits, captioned, "The secret to maintaining family harmony is here! @CatPaws, please don't run out of stock! I'm going to vote now!"
These heartfelt sharing sessions brought the farm a high number of votes and attention, consistently ranking in the top three in both awards voting, and steadily rising in popularity.
Looking at the backend data, Shi Wan felt a warm glow inside, as if she had a hot water bottle in her heart.
She felt that perhaps it was something to look forward to.
However, just as the voting entered its later stages, the situation suddenly changed.
Several previously inconspicuous brands saw their votes skyrocket in just a few days, quickly overtaking several popular contenders, including the farm.
This unusual growth immediately caught Shi Wan's attention.
What made her even more disheartened was that some discordant voices targeting the farm began to appear sporadically online.
"Is this rabbit meat food sold by Cat Paw really that amazing? It's not cheap, is it just a rip-off?"
"Can niche brands compare to large manufacturers in terms of production processes and quality control? I have my reservations."
"That goat's milk grass cake seems like just a gimmick. Is it really necessary to buy something that expensive?"
These remarks, seemingly rational discussions, are in fact attacks and slanders.
Immediately afterwards, several pet bloggers with a considerable number of followers released review videos of those suddenly rising brands at almost the same time. The content was highly similar, and they praised them to the extreme.
At the same time, they subtly blamed other competitors for their poor cost-effectiveness and questionable quality control, with farms being the most frequently targeted by such insinuations.
Shi Wan couldn't help but click her tongue.
This is not fair competition.
The voting rankings began to decline steadily.
She tried to clarify in live streams and social media posts, showing various test reports, but to little avail.
This kind of public opinion manipulation is the most difficult to handle, especially in today's interconnected world, where a few words can easily be believed by a large number of people.
"Are you sad?" Bingbing sensed her agitation, walked over, rested her big head on her lap, and looked at her with worry in her bright black eyes.
Tangyuan also silently jumped onto the table and gently pressed her hand, which was resting on the mouse, with her warm flesh.
Just then, the notification box in the lower right corner of the screen lit up.
"Xinglin: There's warm milk in the kitchen, how about you go have a glass? You've done enough, no need to worry about such sordid things."
"Okay, I'll go drink it now," she replied softly, then stood up and went to the kitchen.
Bingbing and Tangyuan immediately followed behind her, like two loyal little guards.
After drinking the warm, fragrant milk, Shi Wan felt warm both physically and mentally.
She sat back down at the computer, her eyes hardening.
She adjusted her strategy, no longer passively explaining, but instead launched a campaign called #RealFeedingMoments#.
The campaign encourages users to share real photos and videos of using farm products, and lucky users will be randomly selected to receive limited-edition farm merchandise.
She wants to use the most authentic and vivid voice to fight against those deliberately manipulated opinions.
At the same time, Shi Wan also assigned a task to Xing Lin.
"Agent: This is clearly premeditated. They definitely rigged the votes. Can you try to detect any anomalies in the voting data?"
"Starfall: No problem, leave it to me."
"Starfall: Abnormal voting data and signs of organized public opinion manipulation have been detected. Data backup and IP analysis have been performed."
"Starfall: Some of the abnormal accounts are associated with professional online troll organizations."
Shi Wan lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment before making her decision.
"Agent: Keep the evidence safe. As for online comments, do what we did last time: push up the good posts and reduce the weight of the bad comments, okay?"
"Starfall: Leave it to me."
Xinglin acted swiftly and efficiently, and the effects were visible almost an hour later.
High-quality content from genuine users received unprecedented exposure, while malicious attacks were restricted to a very limited scope, and some accounts were even temporarily banned by the platform for detecting abnormal behavior.
What moved Shi Wan the most was that her long-time customers seemed to feel the impact of this war without gunfire. They spontaneously organized themselves to refute rumors and fight back against slander on various platforms, using real feedback screenshots and videos to help her protect the brand's reputation.
"You think I'm making a living off you? I'd love to! Cat Paw is open for business, hurry up and send me the money! I'll show you my shopping records that have eaten up most of my salary!!"
"A sensitive stomach causing diarrhea? Haha! After my cat ate rabbit meat food, his poop became so beautiful I wanted to take a picture! It's a bit strong, but any cat owner knows how rare this is..."
"Hate critics, save your breath. Good things speak for themselves. #RealFeedingMoments# [Video: Cats are crazy about goat milk grass biscuits]"
The little ones on the farm also tried their best to help Shi Wan in their own ways.
During a live stream, Bingbing suddenly brought his favorite toy mouse to the camera and placed it next to Shi Wan. Then he sat up straight, tilted his head and looked at her. His silly and sincere appearance instantly melted the hearts of everyone watching the screen.
During that time, Tangyuan clung to Shiwan, insisting on sleeping next to her pillow at night and not sleeping during the day, running around urging the Mi employees to work diligently.
Or he would bring his carefully selected good employees, actively stick close to Shi Wan, hug her arm and urge her to start a live stream to increase her popularity.
At the same time, Shi Wan submitted an explanation to the selection committee, sent over the vote ranking data analyzed by Xinglin, and even blocked those pet bloggers, holding a grudge.
She has no desire to cooperate with them.
The organizing committee took the email very seriously and immediately issued a statement indicating that it had noticed the unusual voting activity and would conduct a thorough investigation to ensure a fair selection process.
Although not directly named, the momentum of those brands with abnormally high vote counts has clearly been curbed.
The final voting process ended without any major incidents.
Although the farm failed to take the top spot, it secured second place thanks to its solid user base and a strong comeback later on, thus qualifying for the final expert review stage.
Samples need to be sent for expert review.
With an almost reverent attitude, Shi Wan selected the batch of hypoallergenic rabbit meat food and goat milk cat grass biscuits with the most perfect appearance and the best data, attached a thick stack of test reports, user feedback compilations and raw material traceability certificates, and solemnly packed and sent them out.
What followed was an even more agonizing wait.
This time, Shi Wan was much calmer.
She did her best, and whatever the outcome, she has no regrets.
Making the cut is a victory in itself. If this year isn't enough, there's always next year. By this time next year, she will have already made the farm bigger and stronger.
On the day of the official award ceremony, Shi Wan was restless as soon as she woke up in the morning.
She sat at the dining table, chin in hand, eating breakfast absentmindedly, almost getting food up her nose.
She sighed deeply and made a video call to Wang Zhizhi.
Wang Zhizhi answered very slowly. When she opened the camera, all she saw was a small, lifeless face covered in sweat, which startled Shi Wan.
What's wrong with you?
Wang Zhizhi glanced at her slowly and said with a look of utter despair, "Ah, it's that activity that working people hate the most."
Shi Wan looked puzzled.
"Weekend team building activities."
After saying this, Wang Zhizhi's face turned ashen.
For a moment, Shi Wan forgot the purpose of her call and cautiously asked, "So, what is this...?"
“…Hiking on mountain trails.” Wang Zhizhi looked like she was about to cry.
Shi Wan was speechless and choked with emotion.
Why would a team-building event choose hiking...?
Perhaps because she had been speechless for too long, Wang Zhizhi wiped her sweat and asked, "Why are you calling at this hour? Is something wrong?"
"Oh right," Shi Wan suddenly remembered why she made the call, "the results came out today, and I was so nervous I almost threw up..."
"The results came out so quickly?" Wang Zhizhi was a little surprised. "The efficiency is quite fast. I thought it would drag on until the end of the year."
Shi Wan sighed, "I thought so too. If it comes out quickly, I get nervous; if it comes out slowly, I complain that it's too slow..."
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Wang Zhizhi comforted her. "You've already made it into the small circle, what are you afraid of? You'll definitely win an award."
After a pause, he added, "Even if we don't succeed this year, we'll definitely succeed next year. We've only been running for a short time and we've already made it into the top three. If we give them some time to develop, they'll be terrified."
Shi Wan couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.
"Alright then, I'm not nervous anymore," Shi Wan leaned back in her chair. "I won't disturb your hike any longer. I'll order some fresh mutton another day, how about you come over for hot pot next weekend?"
Wang Zhizhi perked up, "That's great! We need hot pot when it's cold, I'll bring my own beer!"
After hanging up the phone, Shi Wan finally felt much more relaxed.
The official results will be announced at 3 PM.
Shi Wan sat on the sofa watching a drama while waiting for the results, her phone on the coffee table next to her.
Time ticked by, but the phone screen remained dark.
Just when she was about to give up and thought her hopes were dashed.
"Ding ding~"
The notification sound for the emails I'm paying special attention to rang.
Shi Wan's heart suddenly clenched, almost leaping out of her chest.
She grabbed her phone and opened the email.
The first line of text that caught her eye almost made her stop breathing.
"Dear Ms. Shi Wan, we are very honored to inform you that, after rigorous review... Cat Paw's hypoallergenic rabbit meat staple food has won this year's 'Golden Paw Mark' Best Functional Staple Food Award! Goat Milk Cranberry Cat Grass Biscuits have won the Most Popular Snack Award!"
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