Chapter 10 Buying Fans
Fan? After watching too many police and gangster movies, Zhou Yang thought he had walked into a shady shop. He even took out his phone and clicked on the police officer's number.
As soon as the boss saw Zhou Yang's expression, he knew he had misunderstood. "What are you thinking? I mean fans! Fans! If you don't have fans during your livestream, it's going to be hard to sign a contract!"
“Don’t fans increase on their own?”
"Hey, I can tell you've never livestreamed before. How naive." The silly boss dragged a chair for him to sit on, looking like he was planning a long chat. "You know that livestreaming platforms now require bloggers to sign contracts, right? If you don't sign, you only get 5% of the fan tips, which is ridiculous. What do platforms look for in contracts? They look at the number of fans! How can newcomers gain followers without recommendations and exposure?"
"Do you still take on this kind of business?"
"Oh, you don't understand. Business is tough right now. There are more people doing livestreaming, and even more selling livestreaming equipment. Look, there are almost ten stores next to me. I look simple, so few people come into my store. Of course, I have to do something else."
He looks simple, but he is not a simple person in his life, Zhou Yang thought.
The silly boss took a bottle of water from the counter, gulped down half of it, and started selling again: "Besides the follower-growing business, there are other things. For example, if you have haters, they will help you flood your screen with insults; or you can hire people to give you gifts to create the illusion that your live broadcast room is booming. Of course, this comes at a different price, and you have to pay for the gifts yourself."
Looking at Zhou Yang's expression as if he had discovered a new world, the boss patted him on the shoulder with an expression that said, "You are still too young, learn more."
"How about it, brother? Since you're my first customer today, I'll give you a 12% discount. Five hundred fans is two thousand yuan, so 1,760 yuan with an 18% discount. I'll round off the price to 1,700 yuan, so I'll give you 1,700 yuan. Don't worry, they're all active fans who can post simple comments."
“…”
Zhou Yang resisted the temptation, but after the boss's repeated requests, he still left a phone number.
When Zhou Yang returned home with a box of live broadcast equipment, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon, which meant it was time for him to cook.
His landlord, Mr. Lin, who suffers from social anxiety, was wearing headphones and holding a tablet in the living room, probably playing games.
Zhou Yang suddenly felt a sense of crisis. His social anxiety symptoms had finally shown signs of improvement, but if he continued to indulge in games, he might be back to the pre-liberation era.
Thinking of this, he shouted: "Brother Lin, come and help me!"
Lin Qiyuan was in a meeting. His teeth were almost healed. He changed his medicine in the afternoon, and this medicine made his throat burn, so he couldn't speak. While others were talking, he only typed a few words in between.
He had just typed, "Is the contract for acquiring Tomato Video ready?" when Zhou Yang's voice rang out in the kitchen. This voice was transmitted through the screen to the ears of senior employees of Longcheng Film and Television who were in a meeting. The marketing manager, account manager, and purchasing manager, who were about to perform in front of the boss, all fell silent.
Almost instantly, the WeChat group named "I'm so happy without a boss" became active.
Wang Ermazi: Fuck, did you hear that? Did you hear that? There’s a man in the boss’s house.
[Flying Red Hare Little Lü Bu: This man even needs his boss to help him]
[As beautiful as the moon and flowers: Could it be a male nanny? ]
[Female Zhuge Mulan: Be bold, what if she is a man’s wife?]
[The most handsome little idiot: Thousands of girls in the company fainted in the toilet]
[I am xx's uncle: Am I the only one curious whether the boss will help out?]
[Little Fairy: I’m more curious about the guy who’s speaking because he has a nice voice.]
[The most handsome little idiot: @Secretary Li, when did a handsome boy come to the boss's house?]
[The most powerful Secretary Li: What handsome boy? ]
[Female Zhuge Mulan: Isn't he a handsome boy? How ugly is he?]
[The most awesome Secretary Li: Ever since my boss started working from home due to a toothache, I haven't been to his house anymore. Your Secretary Li has fallen out of favor. /Crying.jpg]
[I am xx’s uncle: I’m still curious whether the boss will help out]
[The most powerful Secretary Li: Old rules, go to 1, not 0]
[Beauty of the Moon: Hahaha, what the hell is 01? I suspect you are hinting at the boss, but I have no evidence. I choose 0.]
[Wang Ermazi: I choose 1, the boss is obviously so aggressive]
[Flying Red Hare Little Lü Bu: Ma Zi, you are dirty, I choose 0]
【……】
In just one minute, the WeChat group received over 99 messages. Sun Zi, head of the data department, used his professional expertise to compile statistics for everyone.
[Look at my 72 transformations: 1 has 15 votes, 0 has 16 votes]
As soon as the results came out, everyone held their breath and listened quietly to the sound coming from the computer.
Five seconds later, instead of hearing the boss' voice, everyone received a message.
Lin Qiyuan: Today's meeting ends here and will continue tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
The group exploded again.
[Female Zhuge Mulan: So, who wins?]
Wang Ermazi: Of course it's 1. The boss even ended the meeting.
[Beauty of the Moon: Who knows, maybe the boss is going to twist that person's head off.]
Sun Zi made the final decision.
[Watch me transform into 72 different things: Draw! Everyone goes back to their own homes and finds their own mothers]
Zhou Yang saw Lin Qiyuan come in and handed him a handful of greens: "Brother Lin, I've picked the greens, you go wash them."
Wash vegetables?
Lin Qiyuan looked at him steadily for a while, and after making sure that the other party was serious and not joking, he picked up the green vegetables and went to the sink to turn on the faucet.
Zhou Yang concentrated on picking out the shrimp threads, occasionally looking up at Lin Qiyuan washing the vegetables, nodding with satisfaction: "Yeah, wash it like this. The vegetable stems are covered in mud, so wash them twice more."
This is crazy, is this an order to me?
Lin Qiyuan moved the corners of his mouth, endured it again and again, and finally took out a plate from the cupboard and put the washed vegetables on it.
In less than an hour, the delicious mantis shrimp and senbei, together with fresh vegetables and mushrooms, are cooked into a pot of fragrant and rich porridge.
Zhou Yang thought about it and then forced himself to sit at the same table with Lin Qiyuan to eat, but there was a bit of distance between them.
This is a safe distance, and people with social anxiety should not be forced.
After dinner, Lin Qiyuan changed his medicine and went to bed early.
Zhou Yang washed and put away the pots and pans, went to the inner room on the second floor, took a shower, and moved out all the live broadcast equipment that cost him more than a thousand yuan.
The installation was not a problem for him, and it took him only half an hour to get everything ready. He opened the account he had registered in advance and gave himself a domineering nickname - Red Boy, the Devil of the World.
He took a deep breath, turned on all the equipment, glanced at the live broadcast screen, and began to draw on the software.
When it comes to his major, he is very good at operation and programming. Ten minutes later, he created a beautiful game scene.
After finishing the painting, Zhou Yang stopped and looked over. The live broadcast interface showed: There is 1 person watching this live broadcast.
One person? He clicked on the viewer’s profile picture and found that the name was “Little Nezha, the Devil of the World”.
Himself.
“…”
Zhou Yang didn't give up and decided to change the content of his live broadcast. It was said that game anchors were still quite popular, so he decided to start a game first.
He opened the time-travel kaleidoscope, which has been very popular in China recently.
After playing seriously for a while and giving away five heads, he looked at the page again: 3 people were watching this live broadcast.
Fortunately, there is progress, Zhou Yang thought happily.
He glanced at the lower left corner and was surprised to find that someone had left a message.
[Painter: The blogger is in elementary school, he's so bad at gaming]
[Xiao Mi Li: Elementary school students' reputations are being damaged, even though it's a kindergarten]
“…”
Zhou Yang angrily shut down the live broadcast.
He accidentally opened the address book on his phone and saw that the person at the top of the address book was the boss who was responsible for all the business in the afternoon. By the time he reacted, the call was already connected.
Zhou Yang, Zhou Yang, you have fallen and even started cheating.
"Hello, I'm Xiao Qu, codename 009."
“…”
"You are... speaking!"
“…”
"Are you the handsome guy who came to my store this afternoon and bought a high-definition camera, a sound card, a microphone, and two fill lights?"
“…”
Zhou Yang: “Oh.”
"Brother, don't be shy!" The other side laughed twice, with a bit of pride, "I knew you would need this kind of service! How about it? Which package do you want?"
"The one with 500 fans?" Zhou Yang felt his face getting hot and embarrassed.
"Okay! Five hundred fans, 1,700 after discount. Never mind, since this is your first time here, I'll give you the lowest price, 1,500. I think you'll come again in the future."
"Are they really active fans? Will there be recommended positions if the number of followers increases?" Zhou Yang was still not reassured.
"Of course, brother. Since you're easy to talk to, I think you'll be able to pay a 500 yuan deposit first, and then pay the balance when you're satisfied. My fans are different from other people's zombie fans. They can flatter you at any time based on your characteristics. They can make it look real, so you won't lose out!"
The two added each other on WeChat, and Zhou Yang transferred 500 yuan. He accepted it promptly and added: "Tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm, on Fanqie Video, my name is 'Little Nezha, the Devil of the World'. I'll take care of everything."
The next day, Zhou Yang got up early in the morning and cooked chicken porridge for Lin Qiyuan before going back to take a nap.
After breakfast, Lin Qiyuan drove to the company.
He hadn't been to the company for a while, and although things seemed to be in order on the surface, Lin Qiyuan was very dissatisfied with the progress of the work and urged the purchasing department to sign the acquisition contract for Tomato Short Video at 10 o'clock.
Zhou Yang slept until after eleven o'clock. After getting up, he didn't see his landlord, so he sent a WeChat message to ask. The landlord said he was not going home for dinner, so he casually made himself some food and started sitting in front of the computer.
He casually played two small games he had designed, then jotted down his ideas, organizing them into categories. By the time they were finished, it was already 2:50, and he turned on all the live streaming equipment.
Two minutes, five minutes, dozens of fans came in one after another, and many fans were speaking online, making it very lively.
In the Longcheng Film and Television conference room, Lin Qiyuan slammed the thick plan booklet on the table. "I acquired Tomato Video to make money, not for charity. What I want to see is your rectification plan."
Because he was too excited, he pulled the place where his teeth were connected to the bones, causing pain in his entire jaw. Lin Qiyuan pressed his chin calmly.
The conference room fell into silence. Everyone except Lin Qiyuan dared not breathe and pretended to be dead.
Lin Qiyuan's sharp eyes scanned the area and fixed on the head of the data department: "Grandson, you speak."
Sun Zi suspected that Mr. Lin was taking advantage of him because he always called his name first. This was the thousand and first time he wanted to change this miserable name.
"Mr. Lin, our data department has done statistics. Short videos mainly make money through advertising and anchors. Advertising has been maximized. Currently, our focus is on signing anchors."
Lin Qiyuan nodded: "Continue."
"To avoid dissatisfaction among popular streamers, the contracts and revenue sharing for popular streamers will remain unchanged. The most urgent task is to develop new streamers. Our department has discussed and concluded that to give new streamers opportunities, we will create a short-term exposure slot for newcomers. Each day, the livestream room of a registered streamer will be exposed on the homepage for five to eight hours, depending on their activity level."
"Not bad!" Lin Qiyuan rarely praised others. "So, what are you waiting for?"
Sun Zi was so overwhelmed by Lin's praise for the first time that he quickly added, "We've already started a trial run today. Starting at 2:00 PM, all new anchors will appear in the recommended section on the first page."
Lin Qiyuan pondered for a moment: "Well, what are the criteria for signing new people?"
Sun Zi sighed that Mr. Lin was worthy of being Mr. Lin and hit the nail on the head.
"It's also a continuation of the previous signing method, ranking newcomers based on their fan base and fan activity. However..." Sun Zi glanced at Lin Qiyuan and continued, "Nowadays, new anchors go to studios to buy fans, making it difficult to judge their true fan base and popularity."
"Can't clear it?"
"Today's studios are so advanced that many fans can't tell the difference between real and fake."
Lin Qiyuan snorted coldly, opened the Tomato Video APP on his phone, and opened a live broadcast from the homepage.
"Can't tell? This streamer called 'Little Nezha, the Devil of Chaos,' didn't even show his face, and a bunch of people were commenting on 'little brother is so handsome,' are they fans of X-rays?"
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