pjbooks Chapter 23: [Family Members]
Chapter 23: [Family Members]
"A thousand fans..."
Back home, Liu Zhuohao sat in front of his computer, the screen displaying the number "1031" in followers.
One thousand.
I have someone backing me up now!
Thinking about what happened today, Liu Zhuohao couldn't help but smile.
In his past life, he first officially started operating his own hot pot restaurant account 22 years ago, after the pandemic lockdown ended. By then, Douyin was already the dominant video platform.
He spent money to hire a local filming team, carefully designed the persona of "Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot", and gritted his teeth to invest in "Douyin Plus" for promotion.
How fast exactly? About ten days.
He remembers feeling a fleeting, almost illusory excitement as he stared at the soaring charts on the backstage the next day.
He wondered if he could also become a big hit and create a hot pot brand like "Haidilao", "Shu Da Xia", "Donglaishun"...
But in reality, after ignoring the backend data and clicking on my own video as a "passerby," I found that the comments section was filled with nothing but flowers.
— Fake data.
My viewership was entirely maintained by promotions at the time, and once the promotions stopped, the data immediately plummeted.
Those tens of thousands of fans, like footprints on the beach, disappeared without a trace when the tide receded.
He has an account with tens of thousands of followers, but when he walks around his shop, no one even recognizes him as the boss in the video.
That wave of paid marketing brought in nothing but fake data!
Now, Liu Zhuohao has been reborn back to 14, entering this field even earlier, and he has truly experienced another kind of quality of traffic.
These thousand fans are all incredibly valuable.
They are not cold numbers generated by algorithms, but living, breathing people.
The junior who comes to buy a pancake with two eggs every day, the junior girls who can come to buy pancakes as long as they can get up early to play badminton, and those who can recommend this job to their friends...
Behind these thousand fans are real, tangible people.
Even dozens of online fans who haven't actually tasted their own hand-pulled pancakes are starting to plan to come to their city to support their business during holidays!
Especially today, the bookstore owner's cautiousness made Liu Zhuohao feel that the nearby students were his source of confidence!
In hindsight, this was his most solid "base".
As long as he doesn't do anything reckless or betray this trust, they will be his strongest support.
They might even boycott the bookstore owner's business for their own sake.
This feeling, both unfamiliar and intensely warm, was like a sudden surge of warmth that unexpectedly rushed into his chest, leaving Liu Zhuohao somewhat emotional.
In his past life, even though his shop had made it onto local trending topics a few times due to "bizarre marketing" and gained brief popularity, he had never experienced this kind of protection.
The excitement of that time was just a fleeting phenomenon of consumerism; people's hearts were scattered.
Now, he felt a more solid, more visible power.
—The masses are protecting themselves.
"Please, please don't treat them as just numbers; they are living, breathing people."
Liu Zhuohao muttered to himself as he scrolled through the comments section.
He is abandoning the beliefs he formed over the past 25 years. It's no longer time to "give our family members a treat! Everyone light up your light sticks, follow us, and join the streamer for a wave of popularity..."
……
……
The warehouse, which is about ten square meters in size, contains only a refrigerator and a few empty shelves. The four walls are white and completely exposed.
"Let's meet here at four o'clock in a few days."
Liu Zhuohao looked up from his phone calendar and onto Huang Weixiong's face, then instructed, "Cleaning this warehouse is also within your job responsibilities."
Then he suddenly asked, "You're probably not my fan, are you?"
"Boss, I... I've seen your videos."
Huang Weixiong scratched his head and replied with an embarrassed smile, "I have a cousin who is your fan. He's the one who asked me to apply for the job."
"But I did watch your videos to prepare for writing that answer sheet. I watched every episode, but... they were all too long. I basically had to skip through them."
Liu Zhuohao didn't respond. He took out an action camera from his shoulder bag, spun the black body in his palm, and the lens reflected the cold white light from the overhead lamp.
"Just look and that's enough." He held the camera between the two of them. "Then you should know that every time we set up our stall, we have to live under its watchful eye."
His voice deepened, but his words were clear: "Many people are willing to pay because of the 'cleanliness' shown on camera, so they can eat with peace of mind. This is our core selling point."
"We can proceed slowly, we can even incur losses, but we absolutely cannot lose this core selling point!"
He paused, then emphasized, "Not now, and even less likely in the future!"
As he spoke, Liu Zhuohao raised his hand and pointed to the small skylight diagonally above: "During the day, this window must be kept open."
"Ventilate and keep dry; never let mold grow on the walls."
Huang Weixiong nodded obediently.
"Don't just nod," Liu Zhuohao advised. "Even a tiny bit of mold in the lens can ruin the whole thing."
"Remember, to present a clean image on camera, don't complicate things. Less stuff and shorter processes will leave no corners where dirt can hide."
"Cleanliness is one thing, but producing a clean image is another."
Liu Zhuohao used to be a food delivery driver.
In about two or three years, as food delivery becomes more widespread, just like in small cities where people get used to ordering food delivery, there will be many more businesses that rent small warehouses, don't even have storefronts, and then do food delivery.
Sometimes, customers will want to take a picture of the food pickup area.
Actually, some businesses are quite clean.
However, because there are too many items on display, piled up here and there, coupled with some stains on the tiles and floor, it is easy to leave an unclean impression, which will directly lead to customers blocking or complaining.
Seeing that he had repeatedly emphasized hygiene, Huang Weixiong's expression became even more serious.
Liu Zhuohao didn't say anything more and started pacing around the warehouse.
He would occasionally raise his camera to see how these angles would look through the lens.
The food truck has been modified, with custom-made kitchen equipment, a small freezer, and a smoke extraction system added. A second-hand motorcycle has also been welded on.
Such a large vehicle obviously cannot be chained up to the roadside overnight like an ordinary tricycle.
Besides, compared to making hand-pulled pancakes, where the ingredients can be stored at home, making street-side steak requires more ingredients and preparation, and it's not suitable to move them into residential buildings.
Therefore, Liu Zhuohao rented a warehouse specifically for storing food carts and materials.
Fortunately, after borrowing money from his parents, he still had some money to spare.
If he doesn't borrow this money, he might not have enough to do this until the end of the year.
Liu Zhuohao knew all too well how precious time was.
After briefly explaining the precautions for the warehouse, Liu Zhuohao was about to take Huang Weixiong to the wholesale market to familiarize himself with the sources of goods when his phone rang.
"...feed."
He answered the phone; it was a high school classmate.
"Boss Liu, you're such a busy man."
My classmate's voice on the phone was slightly teasing: "You refused the previous dinners, you shouldn't have refused this one. Old Chen is coming too, and there are a few teachers as well. They'll be preparing lessons soon, so they won't have a chance to have dinner together."