Chapter 221: A Very New Kind of Friendship

Popularity is like riding a bicycle. It never stops until it reaches the peak. You just need to keep the handlebars steady, control the direction, and you’ll definitely get the result you want.

This is the essence of internet marketing.

But keeping the handlebars steady also requires skill. It’s all about balancing and distributing force evenly.

“How’s the competition going?”

Su Nai pulled up the backend and said “The gap is gradually widening. Zhang Zixuan is currently first at University of Technology while Sheng Jia is first at Normal University. But in terms of votes, Sheng Jia has much less popularity than Zhang Zixuan.”

Jiang Qin nodded “Keep observing. Spend less time watching video sites and more looking at the data backend.”

“I wasn’t watching!”

“Bullshit. Then how did my favorites disappear? Did those foot fetish videos walk away by themselves?”

Su Nai was fuming. She stared at the computer, huffing and not speaking.

The popularity of the campus belle competition usually peaks in the final week before the finals. By then, the vote gap has widened a lot. To improve ranking, you have to give chase. Playing it safe won’t cut it at all.

So over a dozen campus belles from the two universities personally took the stage, sharing daily photos to rack up points, at least twice a day.

With the advantage of an ample bosom, Zhang Zixuan from University of Technology was in her element. She even successfully won over quite a few students from Normal University.

Although Linchuan University and University of Science and Technology had no voting rights, they also participated enthusiastically.

They had to look at the campus belle daily share posts several times a day, leaving comments like “Nothing to say, thank the Internet.”

But Zhang Zixuan’s soaring popularity incurred the wrath of Normal University.

Losing votes to Linchuan University isn’t embarrassing. Losing to University of Science and Technology also isn’t embarrassing. But losing to University of Technology which only has 30% female students – that’s very embarrassing.

Before the competition started, Normal University people mocked University of Technology every day, saying picking from cripples for a general.

Well now, the general from the cripples is more formidable than you. What will you do?

So Normal University mobilized nearly everyone to vote. After two days, they finally pushed campus belle Sheng Jia’s votes up in hot pursuit of Zhang Zixuan.

“Boss, Normal University’s offensive is fierce. Sheng Jia is about to surpass Zhang Zixuan.”

“How much is the difference?”

“Fifty votes.”

“Add two hundred votes for Zhang Zixuan. Let her maintain the lead to stimulate Normal University’s competitiveness.”

Jiang Qin spoke expressionlessly. In a few words, he manipulated the atmosphere at the two universities, driving Normal University boys crazy chasing the numbers.

A day later, the tide began to turn.

“Boss, the gap is too big. Normal University people feel they can’t catch up. The voting pace is slackening.”

“How much behind?”

“Sheng Jia is 520 votes behind Zhang Zixuan.”

“Add 800 votes for Sheng Jia to overtake Zhang Zixuan. Give University of Technology some stimulation too while at it.”

Jiang Qin orchestrated the behind-the-scenes through the phone. He easily flipped the clouds and rain, swapping the attacking and defending sides. He casually fed the little rich girl a fat, juicy piece of beef brisket and slurped his chopsticks.

The dispute intensified.

And to rank up, the daily photos the campus belles released later became more and more revealing.

The boys from the four universities sincerely thanked the vigorous development of the internet for the first time from the bottom of their hearts.

“Something urgent. Let’s leave it here for today.”

“Nothing to say. Thank the internet!”

“I, Li Dazhuang from Linchuan University, am watching with my real name!”

“Please, show more, sister. I’m a 2009 college entrance exam student. I swear I must get into University of Technology this year!”

“Since the campus belle competition started, my physical condition has worsened.”

“Show more. I’m not being lewd. I just fucking want to know my limits!”

“You demon, let me cultivate with you today!”

Two days later, the popularity had nearly peaked. The growth of new users began to slow. Upon receiving this feedback, Jiang Qin immediately called Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing back to start laying out the full promotion of group-buy.

Of course, how to do fast and effective promotion is also a profound topic.

Take Linchuan University’s group-buy promotion for example. It leveraged Linchuan’s first snow of the year, emphasizing the convenience in extreme weather.

University of Science and Technology’s promotion used the New Year’s sale, grabbing a large batch of users with discounts.

But what promotion theme should University of Technology and Normal University use?

There were no good holidays now, nor any times when going out was inconvenient. If you want to do cross-platform traffic redirection, you need something eye-catching, right?

For this, the people in Room 208 racked their brains. Finally, Jiang Qin said something that woke them from their dream.

“Spend some money. Try getting senior sister Zhang Zixuan as the group-buy spokesperson. Make a person-shaped billboard or something.”

“?”

The day after the person-shaped billboard was made, group-buy’s new user registrations suddenly surged. Room 208 was so shocked their eyes went wide.

Fuck, these people are so real. They just like this kind of eye-catching stuff, huh?

“Sister Su Nai, have group-buy’s registrations gone up?”

On Friday morning, Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing rushed back from University of Technology and Normal University respectively. They took a look at the detailed growth chart.

After pulling up the backend, Su Nai said with a solemn face “It’s like riding a rocket. User numbers are rising in a straight line.”

Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing exchanged a glance “One billboard has such a strong effect. Boss really has the market figured out thoroughly.”

“Let’s go order a few more billboards. Devour both universities’ markets this week.”

“I think it’s doable.”

Wei Lanlan was brimming with passion. But when she turned around, she found Jiang Qin wasn’t there “Hey, where did boss go?”

“He said he can’t take it anymore. He’s leaving the rest to us. He needs to take a break.” Su Nai pushed up her glasses.

“How many days?”

“About three days.”

Jiang Qin had been running around outside since school started. He cleared the track, removed stumbling blocks, found a umbrella, and took control of the overall situation. He was severely mentally drained and exhausted in body and mind.

Seeing the bullet already out of the barrel, heading towards the set target, he directly slept in.

On Wednesday morning, a spring rain fell, densely and persistently weaving into threads, bringing coolness and freshness, making the whole campus misty as if soaked in a thin fog.

The competing blooming flowers and the new green leaves were all washed of their dust by this spring rain, looking tender and lush.

At this time, Jiang Qin was sitting in the dim dorm, using his computer to log into his private minor account. He posted on the forum seeking help, asking the alumni if good friends could kiss.

If yes, please give a reason of at least 300 words to convince me.

After posting, Jiang Qin crossed his legs, flicking the small ornaments on the table with a clack.

Baidu is all lies. The answers it gives are unreliable.

It’s like when your body feels a bit unwell. You search on Baidu and the mildest is cancer. It even thoughtfully recommends you a Putian-system hospital.

To get real and effective answers, you still have to look at the responses from real users on the forum.

But the campus belle competition was too popular, causing other topic posts to get little attention. So the forum users’ response speed was slow. After waiting for a long time, no replies appeared.

Jiang Qin also didn’t wait idly. He called the three others in the dorm to come down and play cards.

Outside the window, the spring rain continued, gently tapping the window lattices. Even the occasional thunder was unusually gentle, unlike other seasons’ bluster. The four people in the room played cards and chatted idly in the dimness. The atmosphere couldn’t be more relaxed.

“Old Jiang, you were so busy the past two days you didn’t even have time to put on underpants. How come you’re suddenly free now?”

“Earned too much. Counted money until my hand cramped. Taking a couple days to recover.” Jiang Qin said lightly.

Cao Guangyu was splashed in the face. He gritted his back molars tight. He really feared his buddy having a hard time, but also feared his buddy driving a Range Rover.

“Brother Jiang, I’m out of smokes. You got any?” Ren Ziqiang shook his empty cigarette pack.

Jiang Qin fished out half a pack of Chunghwa from his coat pocket and tossed it over “Smoke less. Watch out for lung cancer.”

“You don’t smoke, right? Why do you carry Chunghwa on you?”

“Doing business, having a pack of smokes on hand makes things convenient. This pack accidentally got crushed. Can’t take it out. Your gain.”

Ren Ziqiang was thrilled to bits. He sorted his cards with one hand and lit up with the other.

Cao Guangyu glanced over, thinking he also didn’t smoke, but carrying a pack of Chunghwa seemed to have a lot of style. Not only did it make one look mature, it also made one look very worldly. He could learn from it.

“Old Ren, did you pass the make-up exam?” Zhou Chao played three Queens of Spades.

Ren Ziqiang puffed out a cloud of smoke “Passed. And failing this time gave me a new life plan.”

“What plan?”

“I decided to have a passionate romance.”

Cao Guangyu raised his eyes “After failing, your gain is to be a simp again?”

Ren Ziqiang’s face darkened “Not being a simp. Having a romance. Think about it. I don’t date, don’t have any bad habits besides smoking, but still failed. Isn’t that too much of a loss? Might as well date someone and then fail. At least I enjoyed it.”

After hearing this, Zhou Chao laughed “But last semester you didn’t date not for studying. It’s because you couldn’t find anyone.”

“Anyway, this time I must stand up and become the third person in the dorm to have a girlfriend.”

“Old Ren, pass me the smokes.” Jiang Qin suddenly beckoned.

“?”

Jiang Qin took back the cigarettes “If you want to smoke, go buy your own.”

Ren Ziqiang “…”

After playing cards for over an hour, the light rain outside still hadn’t stopped. The four also didn’t plan to go out to eat. They directly ordered delivery on the group-buy app.

While waiting for the food, Jiang Qin returned to the computer and checked on his post.

Sure enough, over a dozen replies were already listed in the comment section.

“Good friends can’t kiss. Brother, I advise you to calm down.”

“I suspect you’re trying a very new kind of friendship. But I want to tell you it’s unreasonable. Hurry and give up your filthy thoughts.”

“Good friends want to kiss too? Hilarious.”

“Good friends can hold hands. Hugging is barely okay. But kissing is absolutely not okay.”

“Are you a pervert? The other person takes you as a friend, but you actually want to smooch their little mouth? Drag him out and break his dog legs!”

“I am an upright gentleman. I don’t think it’s okay.”

Jiang Qin’s face darkened. He clicked into their homepages one by one. He found these few “upright gentlemen” commenters were just shouting in the campus belle daily photo posts earlier “Show a few more! Love it!”

For fucks sake you can all mess around but the moment I share a kiss with my good friend it’s not allowed what kind of bullshit law is this?

My computer fan broke it sounds like a damn tractor taking it for repairs now typing on my phone is killing me please give monthly votes!!!