Chapter 94 [How could it possibly get better without us?]
Chapter 94 [How could it possibly get better without us?]
Chapter 94 [How could it possibly get better without us?]
Upon hearing the words "encouraging young people to return to their hometowns to start businesses," Wang Zhenxing's initially kind eyes brightened noticeably, and his tone became even more enthusiastic: "Oh? Is that so!"
"That's a great idea!"
"Just ordinary? Boss Liu's resume is anything but ordinary."
He put down his teacup, got up and returned to his desk, pulled a form from a stack of documents, walked back and handed it to Liu Zhuohao: "Look, our bureau, in conjunction with other departments, will be holding a training course to enhance the entrepreneurial abilities of young people at the business incubator in about a month."
"The course content is quite practical, including policy interpretation, market analysis, basic financial management, and business plan writing."
"Upon completing the course and passing the assessment, a certificate of completion will be issued. This certificate can be helpful in applying for more specific subsidies or even entering an incubator."
Liu Zhuohao took the form; it was a training registration form.
"You can fill it out now, or take it back, fill it out completely, and then bring it back to me." Wang Zhenxing sat down again and continued making tea. "Once you've filled it out, hand it to me, and I'll submit it to the higher-ups for you all."
"Thank you so much, Section Chief Wang," Liu Zhuohao said, then carefully steered the conversation to the main point, "Um—I have another favor to ask."
"If I attend the training or during the preparation of materials and application process, would it be convenient for you or another teacher to appear on camera during the video recording to say a few words of encouragement or introduce the policies?"
"Of course, it just needs to be very brief. I figured it's just a promotional case study, and it wouldn't be very convincing if only a young person like me was rambling on in the video!"
He tried very hard to get other people on his ship, regardless of their industry.
This small city is very humane.
Let alone following the proper procedures, even when it comes to surgery at a hospital, you have to give the doctor a red envelope to ensure they do their best during the procedure.
"By leveraging the fame gained from appearing on television, in videos, and trending on social media, the more people one can associate with, the easier it will be for one to get things done and the less likely one will be held hostage."
"You look good on camera!"
Mentioning this, Wang Zhenxing's smile faded slightly, revealing obvious hesitation and weighing of options. "When do you plan to film this video? When will you release it?"
Upon seeing the other person's expression, Liu Zhuohao immediately understood.
He answered almost without hesitation, his tone firm: "Section Chief Wang, rest assured, we will definitely wait until things have been accomplished and there are clear results before releasing the complete video as a case study."
"At the very least, the store must be successfully opened, the business must be on the right track, the reputation and profits must be stable, and it must be something we can truly present before we compile it into a complete case study."
He smiled, showing great tact: "If we rush into promotion before anything has even started and there's no sign of it, what if we mess it up? Wouldn't that tarnish the reputation of our city's entrepreneurship policy? I understand that."
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhenxing's initial hesitation vanished, replaced by a relieved smile and approving eyes: "Yes, yes, yes! Boss Liu truly lives up to his reputation as someone who's been on the news and appeared on camera with leaders; his awareness is truly high!"
That's a very insightful perspective!
He personally poured Liu Zhuohao a full cup of tea, his tone much more approachable: "To create a positive example, it has to be a success, with tangible, visible results. Reporting it will make everyone proud and give us more confidence in the publicity!"
"Your approach is spot on! Come, have some tea, let's talk slowly. I'll help you outline what materials you need to prepare—"
Stepping out of the somewhat old office building of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the evening breeze already carried a noticeable chill.
Liu Zhuohao stood on the steps and let out a long sigh of relief.
The folder in his hand contained the application materials list that Section Chief Wang had compiled for him and the training registration form. The complicated process was put down on paper in just a few pages.
With someone helping to manage things, it's naturally easy.
Without anyone to help me, just these few documents will take me several days to process.
This preferential loan is important, but not that important.
With the funds Liu Zhuohao currently has, it's definitely enough to open a store.
However, if there is no business for a month or two afterward, or if other unexpected situations arise, a sufficient amount of working capital will be needed to cover the costs.
It's like going back in time; if you were to start a breakfast stall or a street-side steak shop, you would first have to estimate the amount of capital required to cover the risks.
However, compared to the business of setting up a stall in the past, the amount of money needed to open a store now is too large, and it can no longer be obtained by borrowing money.
Liu Zhuohao's phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a message from Chen Min. She said that she hadn't thought things through that morning and shouldn't have taken them out for a stroll. She invited him to take Crow and Fat Cat to that famous raw marinated food restaurant that evening. She said the private room had already been booked and the food would be absolutely fresh.
Liu Zhuohao glanced at it, paused his finger on the screen for a moment, succinctly rejected the request, and then locked the screen.
He has already achieved his goals, so there is no longer any need for socializing.
When they got home, Huang Weixiong and the others hadn't returned yet, and the house was very quiet.
He turned on his computer and logged into the Bilibili backend.
The data changed faster than he had imagined. When he showed it to Section Chief Wang at the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in the morning, it had 230,000 followers. Now, the number in the backend has jumped to 240157.
Just last night at the dinner party, the number was still just over 220,000.
Nearly 20,000 new followers in one day.
This data is quite normal over 25 years, as long as some hot topics are hyped up and handled properly.
In 14, it was definitely outstanding.
However, these data can only prove that you are a blogger who can produce high-quality videos and a qualified employee. If you want to make progress, it is not just about videos.
"Boss Liu, I heard you're opening a shop?"
"Are you still running your stall business?"
Will you continue making videos featuring randomly selected lucky customers?
Liu Zhuohao glanced at his phone; it was a message from the website administrator.
To be precise, it was sent over in the afternoon.
He saw the message in the afternoon, but did not reply.
Now, Liu Zhuohao was not in a hurry to reply either. Instead, he took some clothes, took a shower, dried his hair, and then came into the house, turned on his computer, and prepared to reply to the message.
"Sorry, station manager. This afternoon I spoke with the leader in charge of entrepreneurship policies at the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and inquired about the local support details for youth entrepreneurship. I just saw the news."
The message was sent and received a reply almost instantly.
"I heard from Crow and the others that you're quite a celebrity in your area now." The stationmaster's words, even through the screen, conveyed a sense of inquiry.
"We've discussed the profit-sharing plan for the trial operation you mentioned before internally, and it's acceptable. Let's complete the contract process as soon as possible so we can start preparations."
"I think you really need this start-up capital right now, right? Opening a store doesn't cost a lot."
"But will you be able to manage the video aspect as well?"
He typed very quickly, sending messages one after another.
Liu Zhuohao placed his hands on the keyboard, his gaze calm.
"It's a small place with a limited population, so even minor incidents spread easily, and there's no such thing as a celebrity."
"Regarding the contract, I will urge the supplier and also ask the station to expedite the process."
"Regarding videos, my stall will reopen next week, and I plan to film the third episode of the random challenge," but in terms of viewership, it's unlikely to replicate the popularity of the first two episodes, as viewers will eventually experience viewer fatigue.
His statement was very objective; he was neither deliberately modest nor exaggerated.
The station manager quickly replied, "Of course."
"Where are you going to find so many sensational topics to film? Unless they're made up."
"But fabricated content becomes a complex mix of traffic-generating elements, which our site will never allow. You will eventually have to return to the label of food blogger."
Liu Zhuohao raised an eyebrow. "Making it up?"
In the next decade, how many so-called true accounts are actually carefully crafted scripts?
In an era where traffic is king, the line between truth and falsehood will become increasingly blurred.
The website's current firm stance is simply because it's still small and can still appeal to sentimentality.
Whether their attitude will change when they are truly driven by capital and KPIs is hard to say.
Liu Zhuohao didn't dwell on the issue, simply replying, "Understood, I know my video's positioning."
After closing the chat window with the site administrator, Liu Zhuohao's gaze fell on the small pink badge below the video title:
It reached number 1 on the overall site rankings.
Again.
But no matter which time it is, the theme is the same: protecting one's rights.
A room with the curtains drawn and only the light from a computer screen shining through.
The rapid, forceful clatter of the keyboard seemed to be pouring all the resentment into the keys.
The cold light from the screen illuminated a young face that appeared somewhat pale due to long hours of staying up late and emotional tension.
The man wore black-rimmed glasses, and in front of him were four or five interfaces, including a video page on Bilibili, a post editing box on Baidu Tieba, and a QQ group management window.
The focus of all the pages subtly points to the same video—"The Follow-up to My Rights Protection After Being Reported for Setting Up a Street Vendor."
"Top of the list again?! What is the site administrator doing? How come this video, which has absolutely nothing to do with anime, gets the most views on the entire site?" He quickly posted in a small, obscure forum, with a title full of arrogance.
"Ever since the boss left, this site has become increasingly awful! All sorts of freaks and monsters can dominate the rankings!"
"A million views in just a few days?"
"Did the most popular MC series back then really see this kind of price increase?"
"If this data isn't inflated, I'll eat my keyboard! And why is this kind of stuff, which has nothing to do with anime, appearing on Bilibili? I urge everyone to report it, to prevent these kinds of videos from becoming more and more common —"
In the post, while questioning the authenticity of the video data, he called on long-time users who "stay true to their original aspirations" to boycott and report the video.
After posting, the man received a message on QQ.
In a quiet group chat called "Big Boss Supporters Club", someone shared a video link, which was the same video he had called for opposition just a second ago!
"Look! This seems to be the first lifestyle content creator on the site to be endorsed by official news, right? That's quite a big deal!"
The person who shared the post left a comment with a touch of emotion.
Upon seeing the message, the bespectacled man gripped the mouse tightly, as if his most sensitive nerve had been touched.
He did not hesitate to use administrator privileges.
The message "Look! This looks like ————" has been retracted by the administrator.
Member "Coolie Fear" has been banned from speaking for 10 minutes.
Immediately afterwards, he posted an announcement in the group.
"@All members, we reiterate the group rules: This group is for discussing only content and works related to the Boss, and sharing is prohibited."
When discussing other content creators and topics unrelated to the main account, please consciously maintain a clean and healthy environment within the group.
After the announcement was released, only a handful of familiar IDs quickly replied with "Support" and "Received".
After that, there were no more messages in the group chat with thousands of people.
Many more group members remained silent, their profile pictures grayed out, as if they no longer cared about this once passionate community.
This deathly silence was more irritating and filled the bespectacled man with a vague sense of panic than direct opposition.
He switched back to his browser, clicked on the video that had enraged him, scrolled to the comments section, and placed his hands back on the keyboard.
"Trying to attract attention!"
"Does this person really think they're something special just because they're on the local news? What does this have to do with anime? This completely goes against the original purpose of Bilibili!"
"These figures are ridiculously fake. How could there be such a high number of coins being inserted? We suggest a thorough investigation!"
"This station is beyond saving; its original aspirations have long since been abandoned!"
He left several aggressive negative reviews and repeatedly reported the video, citing reasons ranging from "irrelevant content" to "suspected data fraud."
After doing all this, he leaned back in his chair, his chest rising and falling slightly, staring at the video cover on the screen that still firmly held the top spot, his eyes gloomy.
After typing furiously for several minutes, the man finally stopped, muttering, "The boss and a lot of others have left. This little website is definitely doomed."
This isn't just his opinion; many fans in his fan groups share this view.
The blogger I follow has left this website.
Therefore, this website should decline rapidly.
Only in this way can one prove how important the bloggers they follow are to the website.
It's like someone thinking about how much their classmates will miss them after transferring schools, or whether their colleagues will have nothing to talk about after leaving a job, or whether their ex-partner is unhappy after a divorce.
They can't possibly get better and better just because they've left us, right?
The website can't possibly become more and more popular without the boss, can it?
"How could it possibly become more and more popular?!"
The man stared at the computer screen, looking at the group chat.
Since the leader left Bilibili in July, the atmosphere in the group has changed from righteous indignation at the beginning to widespread lamentation. Everyone has joined together to bombard the videos on the ranking list and flood the screen with messages saying that Bilibili is doomed.
Now fewer and fewer people are chatting.
For nearly three months after leaving Bilibili, Da Dangjia still posted videos on websites like Youku.
But the audience is getting smaller and smaller.
"It can't possibly get better and better without us, right?"
The thought kept popping up uncontrollably, causing him a sharp, stinging pain.
Frustrated, he closed the webpage, opened the early game commentary videos saved on his hard drive—videos of the Boss's gameplay that were somewhat crudely made but full of passion—and huddled in his chair to watch them.
Only in this nostalgic spiritual fortress that he built with his own hands could he temporarily escape the rapidly changing world outside, a world that seemed to no longer need him.
He already knew the outcome.
Time always moves forward.
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