Chapter 78 - 77: Short Online Videos

Chapter 78: Chapter 77: Short Online Videos

Inside the training room, Kong Wei was putting what he just learned into practice, coaching his mother and sister on how to act according to a sob story template from some online guide.

Meanwhile, his father was memorizing a sob story he’d hired someone to write, trying to make their family look as pathetic as possible to win sympathy.

According to the people who wrote it, as long as they could get the brainless people online to believe them, it wouldn’t matter how the other side refuted it. Those idiotic contrarians would argue to the bitter end. It was a very effective tactic.

Public trust in official organizations was low these days. The more they got involved, the more contrarians would join the fray, and the more buzz it would generate.

These guys who wrote sob stories already had a well-established process: first, play the victim to gain attention and sympathy, then filter the netizens.

If they saw things weren’t going their way, they’d post an ambiguous apology letter and continue playing pitiful.

In any case, even if they were eventually exposed, they wouldn’t lose anything from this whole routine.

"Come on, Dad, you stand here. You two, stand behind him."

After a moment’s thought, he spent two thousand yuan to buy traffic for the livestream.

"The stream’s on! It’s on! Where’s the beautiful Youyou? I want to see the beautiful Youyou!"

"Class Leader, you old geezer, get out of the way! I want to see the pretty girl!"

Kong Lin said with a grief-stricken expression, "Everyone, I have to apologize to you all. You won’t be able to see Youyou anymore.

My Colorful Silk Dance troupe is gone, too. A few days ago, at the invitation of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, I went to perform in Lin Xian Village.

But what happened? They poached every single member of our troupe, leaving us as an empty shell.

I built this troupe from scratch. I taught every one of them personally. I never thought they would all leave me one day."

After speaking, he covered his face with his sleeve and started to cry. This time, the tears were real—he was thinking about having no money in the future.

The mother and daughter behind him came forward, took Kong Lin’s arm, and began to console him.

Kong Wei walked up and said, "Dad, it’s okay. If it’s gone, it’s gone. Worst case, we’ll just rebuild."

"Rebuild? Easier said than done. A skilled Colorful Silk Dance performer needs five years of practice, starting from childhood."

"Dad, if that’s the case, then our family’s Colorful Silk Dance troupe will just have to shut down. I guess this will be our last livestream for everyone."

Seeing that the drama was already stirring in the bullet comments, Kong Wei held up a cue card for his father, prompting him to talk about the hardships of founding the Colorful Silk Dance troupe.

On his end, Kong Wei painfully sent money to some marketing accounts, paying them to share the video and expand its reach.

The video quickly went viral, as their account already had a considerable number of followers.

In Lin Xian Village, Hu Xia was quickly alerted by netizens that someone was stirring up drama about the village, telling her to take a look.

When she found the video and watched the Kong family’s performance, all she could say was that they really knew how to create online hype.

After a moment of thought, she started her own livestream. ’It’s better to squash this disgusting nonsense completely.’

"First!"

"Sister Hu is streaming again! You don’t stream as actively as you used to."

"Sister Hu, people online are saying the air quality in Lin Xian Village has improved. Is that true?"

"..."

Hu Xia looked at the bullet comments and said, "I’m streaming less because Boss Lin has given me too much work. Next time you guys visit, you can confront him directly.

The change in the air is real. Many tourists who have visited recently have experienced it firsthand.

We don’t know the reason for it yet, so if you’re thinking of visiting Lin Xian Village, it’s best to come and experience it now. We don’t know when this change might disappear.

Also, Lin Xian Village is currently holding a Bow and Arrow competition. If you make it onto the leaderboard, you’ll not only win prizes but also qualify for our quarterly and annual tournaments.

And if you win a prize in those two tournaments, there’s a mysterious grand prize waiting for you."

The number of viewers in her stream had reached 600,000, and a wave of people, stirred up by the online video, had poured in to fill the comments with curses.

"A solemn reminder to those of you posting abusive comments: the apology letter from the last person who did this hasn’t even expired yet.

Alright, I’m streaming today because someone just sent me a message that people are stirring up drama about Lin Xian Village online.

I just watched that video, and all I can say is that family really knows how to play games. To think they have the nerve to post a video complaining.

And you netizens actually feel sorry for them? Do you know how much the Qin Youyou you’re all talking about was paid for a single performance with their troupe?

500!

Oh, and by the way, their relationship with all their employees is contractual, just like with delivery drivers. No base salary, no social security.

Also, out of all the money you guys donated during their livestreams, Qin Youyou only received one or two thousand a month, and sometimes, nothing at all.

Here’s a tip for all of you: go look up the company behind that account, as well as the company they use to take jobs.

Okay, I don’t want to talk any more about this trashy family. I’ll take you all to see the new troupe’s training."

Just as she arrived at the training grounds, she received a call from Qin Youyou. She must have seen the video online, too.

"Xiaxia, about the situation online... do you need us to come forward and testify?"

"They’re just a family of buffoons. Don’t worry about them. Just focus on preparing for your work performances."

"Okay. If you need us to come forward, just call me. I’ve also collected a lot of evidence about things from the past."

Hu Xia said in surprise, "You collected evidence? That’s great! Wait for my signal. I’ll have you expose them, and then you can post the evidence."

...

Because of Hu Xia’s livestream, the issue blew up, and netizens began to gather information.

This time, after her warning, no one dared to curse at Hu Xia. They were afraid she’d get them sent to jail.

However, a large number of posts slandering Lin Xian Village still appeared online. Clearly, a new force had joined the fray.

This new force was the group of pharmaceutical companies plotting to get their hands on Lin Feng’s medicinal formulas. Seeing the public outcry against Lin Xian Village online, they began to fan the flames.

’Might as well give it a shot,’ they thought. ’It doesn’t cost much, and it might just work.’

If they could ruin Lin Xian Village’s reputation and stop Lin Feng from making money, he would naturally look for a way to cash in on the formulas he held.

When the Wuyuan County Bureau of Culture and Tourism saw the online information, they realized they had been dragged into it and that Lin Xian Village was being slandered, so they immediately issued a public statement clarifying the situation.

This announcement was the fuse. Some netizens who didn’t know the full story and were just planning to watch how things unfolded didn’t even wait for an investigation and immediately started taking the Kong family’s side.

The netizens argued endlessly. Kong Wei seized this opportunity to start building up his account by playing the victim, preparing to sell products via livestream.

Meanwhile, in Jiangcheng City, Brother Wang was looking for Kong Wei when one of his underlings came in holding a phone.

"Boss, Boss, I found the guy you’re looking for!"

"Where? Where is he? When I catch that son of a bitch, I’m gonna smash his balls into scrambled eggs!"

"Boss, look, the guy’s livestreaming right now. His family is in Wuyuan County."

Brother Wang took the phone. Watching Kong Wei on the stream, he was seeing red. This guy was completely disrespecting him.

"Let’s go! We’re going after him!"

"Boss, he’s livestreaming. A ton of people are watching online. If we go after him now, we can’t make a move."

Brother Wang thought about it. That was true. A lot of big shots had been taken down by the internet.

"So what do you suggest we do? I won’t be satisfied until we teach this guy a harsh lesson."

"Boss, since he’s done this kind of thing, he’s probably done it a lot. We could try to find some evidence and get him thrown in the slammer for a few days."

"Are you fucking stupid?! Reporting him would be like reporting one of our own."

"Boss, we can go to our rivals. I heard Ying Tou’s younger brother knows how to hack."

Brother Wang’s eyes lit up. "Call Ying Tou. Tell him to bring his brother over, too."