Chapter 356: Muffled Gunshots

Jiang Zhenghong and Yuan Youqin had to return to work, so they left Linchuan the same afternoon by car to Jizhou.

However, relatives in Linchuan haven’t been idle, calling to check in one by one.

“Lin Dewai called, wanted Jiang Qin to ask about work for Lingling.”

“Don’t bother him, he’s been busy enough these days. Right after dropping us off, he went back to the office. He doesn’t have time for this. Besides, Lingling is not even a close relative. Jiang Qin would rather take Nanshu out for a walk.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhenghong nodded but decided to bring it up with his son over the weekend.

Yet, in the two days they were there, they hadn’t seen their son attend any classes. Does it really matter whether it’s the weekend?

Yuan Youqin doesn’t like how stingy the Linchuan relatives are, but she wasn’t wrong—Jiang Qin really was busy these following days.

On October 10th, Zhihu’s registered users surged past five million, growing steadily due to its popularity and precise niche targeting. The main reason, though, was that Zhihu’s core community features had been established.

Anime, games, celebrity fandoms, technology, beauty, comedy, series, novels, relationships, social issues, silly videos.

After a year-long layout, Zhihu’s community has enriched enough to satisfy all university students’ daily entertainment needs.

Furthermore, the Million Blogger Initiative brought a wave of “users as content contributors,” establishing version 1.0 of the self-media field and gradually leading new internet community trends.

Huihuizi who loves sweets, ordinary young master Cao, “Hello Weekend”, Miaomiao like smoke, Gossip Sister, Beauty Sister, “I Just Love Watching Cartoons”…

Hundreds of creators from universities nationwide shined brightly, elevating Zhihu’s freshness and fun to unimaginable heights.

2009 was indeed a year of explosive growth in the internet industry, but many companies new to the internet were blindly finding their way, not deeply contemplating development direction or audience niche.

At this stage, Zhihu was truly leading the pack with strong momentum.

College students new to the wonders of the internet world were hooked, neglecting sleep and meals.

Additionally, with the update to the student recommendation system, most university students in unadvertised areas also became Zhihu users, influenced by their older classmates.

It’s unclear who suggested it, but suddenly, during a random period, people began calling themselves “Zhi-friends.”

“Are you a Zhi-friend?”

“Oh my, what a coincidence, you too?”

Thus, a special small community reliant on the Zhihu forum spontaneously emerged among university students.

Dong Wenhao summarized some of Zhihu’s hot topics every month for Jiang Qin to control content direction and guide future discussions.

When Jiang Qin saw the popularity of the “Zhi-friends” topic, he raised an eyebrow and pondered in his office chair for nearly ten minutes.

Dong Wenhao didn’t know what the boss was thinking, standing by until he heard Jiang Qin suddenly say, “Help me make a call to Tan Qing and Shengshi Advertising Factory.”

Two days later, posters for the “Zhi-friends Offline Gathering” entered university towns nationwide.

Everyone gathered to sing karaoke, watch movies, chat, and brag, with all expenses covered by group-buy at various university town stations. Additionally, each attendee received a custom “Zhi-friend” T-shirt and exclusive badge.

All the Zhi-friends had to do was post photos of the gathering on their social media.

This was actually all covered by the station staff, and many who attended posted dozens of social media updates.

“Went to the Zhi-friends offline gathering organized by Zhihu today. Zhi-friends are so fun and well-spoken…”

“The Zhi-friend T-shirt from Zhihu is pretty, and it even came with a badge. I’m wearing it tomorrow to see how many Zhi-friends I can meet.”

“Thanks to Zhihu, I’ve always been socially awkward, only daring to express myself online, but I didn’t expect online friends could step into real life.”

“OMG, my crush is also a Zhi-friend, and he’s such a goofball!”

“Met my ex at the Zhi-friends gathering, realized she still understands me best. No wonder we had such great online interactions.”

Tan Qing was a bit stunned when he got the task, wondering why the boss was being so generous, inviting thousands of unfamiliar college students for fun.

It wasn’t long after the gathering ended that the technical team found the forum’s registration graph skyrocketing like never before, to the extent that the server space Jiang Qin funded was severely challenged.

By late October, Zhihu’s registered users neared eight million, with daily page views reaching 90 million.

With official promotion, the term “Zhi-friends” resonated throughout the forum and became a popular buzzword among college students.

On October 18th, an art school in Kyoto planned a public exhibition and contacted Dong Wenhao.

The same day, a professor specializing in university lectures got in touch with Wei Lanlan.

On October 19th, a cosplaying event in Kyoto…

That same day, a month-long cultural exhibition festival…

Various fast-moving consumer brands, sports goods companies, educational institutions, job sites, travel agencies, and investment agencies also made frequent calls, hoping to collaborate with Zhihu.

How much did Jiang Qin earn in advertisement fees during this time? Unknown, but a lot.

However, these achievements were just bonuses for Jiang Qin; what truly satisfied him were Zhihu’s user base and stickiness.

2009 was indeed the best time to enter the internet industry, but only a few could explode in growth like Zhihu did, which began to gain renown and gradually attracted public attention.

“Zhihu’s founder has deep insights into the internet. He understands user preferences, and that’s critical.”

“If you study the website, you can see its basic framework was well established from the start, meaning Zhihu is already what its founder originally envisioned.”

“Don’t think this was simple. In fact, setting priorities right from the beginning is quite difficult.”

“Why? Because the popularity of online trends is uncontrollable and unpredictable, yet now, one person is guiding these trends with his ideas.”

“Can you imagine a farmer deciding before planting exactly when it will rain or not?”

“Yes, this site’s monetization is poor, worryingly so, but if he stays focused in this field, it will surely lead the collegiate social sphere in the future.”

In late October, cold air swept in, temperatures dropped nationwide, but the heat of internet topics remained undiminished.

With Zhihu breaking into the public eye like bamboo through the ceiling, an internet expert also posted his views on Zhihu in the startup section of the headlines.

Other related newspapers also had reports about the Zhihu website.

Some articles reposted Zhihu content, analyzing why the site is popular among college students, and citing it in lists of college entrepreneurial projects.

Some, from unknown sources, clearly outlined Zhihu’s history up to now, surprising even Jiang Qin, who wondered if it was real or fake.

However, some believed it unlikely for a sophomore to create such a site, possibly just a publicity stunt.

Due to its popularity and Zhihu’s rising prominence, many media outlets wanted to interview Jiang Qin.

Ideally, they preferred face-to-face interviews, but phone interviews would suffice if he was too busy.

Jiang Qin had previously been cautious about making money, avoiding interviews due to security concerns, but this time he was actively responding to interview requests.

It’s now the end of October. The weather is getting colder, and soon 2009 will give way to 2010.

At this juncture, Jiang Qin aims to use Zhihu to capture public attention and lay the groundwork for promoting group-buying.

“Jiang, what was your purpose in creating Zhihu?”

“It was to give college students a free space to talk and make the act of making friends simpler.”

“Does Zhihu now meet your expectations?”

“It not only meets my expectations, but I believe it has even surpassed what I originally imagined.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I decided the framework, I built the platform, but the fantastic content and the hot topics are all completed by the ‘Zhifriends’ together. Sometimes I’m really amazed at how endlessly talented today’s college students are.”

“What’s the future direction of Zhihu? Can you share some insights?”

“I hope Zhihu can make college life more diverse and making friends broader. That’s what Zhihu has always aimed for and will continue to uphold as our original intention and direction.”

Just before Frost’s Descent, everyone in Room 208 gathered in the office, watching the prime news interview with Jiang Qin, emitting sounds of approval.

You wouldn’t believe it, the boss looks pretty good in a suit on camera, must have bribed the makeup artist.

Meanwhile, under Zhang Boqing’s orders, these interview clips began playing on loop in the cafeteria.

The ordinary year of 2009 seemed to be filled with Jiang Qin’s name in Linchuan University, but those paying attention noticed some shifts beginning to occur.

Earlier this year, anyone mentioning Jiang Qin would say he started group-buy, but by year’s end, they referred to him as the founder of Zhihu.

At the same time, Wei Lanlan — group-buy business — Zhihu’s premier marketing — Linchuan local brands — they were also busy.

Kaduoji had already established the persona ‘Hot Pot Companion’ and ‘Cool Herbal Tea’ and was now airing TV ads. Meanwhile, Kang Mailang, following the ‘upgraded big pack at a discount’ path, gradually took over the college student market.

Many brand owners don’t really value the student demographic, seeing them as having low spending power. That’s why the first shot at capturing the market, while stunningly powerful, was as quiet as if a silencer was used.

However, some links in the supply chain not at the end point began to slowly reveal their significance.

“Brother Wang, I’m here with the delivery again.”

“Xiao Li, next time bring more packs of the upgraded Kang Mailang, fewer of the other brands, and change all instant noodles to Kang Mailang’s one-and-a-half bowl with egg.”

“Oh, okay…”

Busy with deliveries, Xiao Li whipped out his notepad, hastily noting down the campus convenience store owner’s demands—now adept at his job as previous requests from supermarkets and retail stores had trained him well.

In addition, Xitian, Helilao, Qing Flower Pepper Grilled Fish, and Burger King are all putting their backs into opening stores around the university towns and then starting joint marketing.

Ordering milk tea gives you discount coupons for the other three establishments; choosing hot pot or grilled fish gets you a taste of Xitian’s lemon tea, Kang Mailang iced red tea, and Kaduoji.

They’ve also launched a membership card called ‘Xihanheqing’ in every university town shopping district—a shared card for all four stores with periodic freebie events.

A senior recalls that when these four stores first opened, the whole street was queuing, so packed that it frustrated other business owners, especially Xitian’s rose taro dessert, which sold insanely well, even leading to students becoming scalpers, selling queue spots.