novelraw Chapter 123: People Will Do Anything for a Bite to Eat
Chapter 123: People Will Do Anything for a Bite to Eat
To understand this incredible incident, we have to go back to a long, long time ago, to when Jiang Qiuqiu livestreamed herself making Spicy Boiled Pork Slices.
It was during that stream that the conversation in her fan circle—which was usually limited to discussing the food’s taste, the next day’s menu, what would be for sale in the shop, and who was eternally unlucky versus who was the ultimate lucky one—suddenly went off-topic.
An anonymous user posted a highly inflammatory, dramatic, and manipulative post in the fan circle. Soon after, hashtags like #GuideToMaximizingYourChancesOfSnaggingBraisedPork# and #StealYourParentsAndGrandparentsTerminalsToFollowJuju# quickly started trending.
Like a butterfly flapping its wings, this small action triggered a massive chain reaction, sparking a society-wide conversation.
It drew in traffic in the hundreds of millions and captured the attention of the mainstream media. The company hadn’t done any marketing, so Meimei assumed it was all a coincidence. She never imagined that a hidden puppet master was pulling all the strings.
And a young one, at that.
"It turns out a student from Federation University was behind all of this!"
"Can you believe it?"
Jiang Qiuqiu had felt that things were going a little too smoothly and suspected something was up, but she never expected the truth to be—
"A student? One of my fans?"
"That’s right." Meimei nodded. "And do you know how I found out?"
"What happened?" Jiang Qiuqiu’s curiosity was piqued.
Meimei felt there were so many ridiculous things about this situation she didn’t even know where to begin. "You know how I was recruiting moderators for your fan circle? Well, yesterday I was going through the applications and came across a resume from this university student named Wanxing."
Her resume clearly laid out the cause, process, and result of the entire incident, complete with a summary.
The entire plan, from start to finish, was incredibly intricate, filled with data forecasts, information trajectory models, and analyses of public opinion trends. And that’s not even mentioning her thought process, her grasp of the public’s mindset, her control over the timing of public discourse, her targeting of societal hot-button issues, and her final move of submitting a story to Federation News to solidify the outcome. All these strategies were perfectly interlinked.
This university student was a true mastermind, with a mind full of countless intricate schemes.
A maneuver this brilliant and subtle, one that drew in such massive traffic, would have been enough to make her instantly famous in the industry. But she was holding this incredible bargaining chip—and all she wanted was to be a fan circle moderator!
"I really never expected to have such a hardcore fan."
"She’s incredible."
"With a resume like this, she could walk right into our company’s operations department."
Jiang Qiuqiu was also taken aback. ’After all that, she just... wants to be a moderator?’
"So, Sister Mingmei, did you accept her application?"
"Of course. I couldn’t let talent like that slip away, so I hired her. I contacted her yesterday. Guess what the first thing she asked was after I added her as a contact?"
Jiang Qiuqiu thought for a moment, then asked quietly, "If her application to be a moderator was approved?"
"Nope. She asked me if the rumors were true—that fan circle moderators get weekly food perks."
"I told her it was true. Then she asked me how many times a week, roughly what time each week, whether the food perk was a fixed menu item, and whether it would be something made during the weekly livestream or a random dish you might make on a whim that hasn’t appeared on stream before."
Meimei sighed. "It just goes to show you, people will do anything for a good meal."
She’d caused a tidal wave, all for the simple pleasure of a steady meal.
"This university student sounds interesting."
"Mhm, we chatted for a bit. She’s very satisfied with the perks and said she’ll give 120 percent to managing the circle, treating it like a serious job."
"Finally, she asked me to pass on a message to you."
"Oh? What was it?"
Meimei recalled the student’s tone from the day before and said, "Your cooking is delicious. It’s brought a lot of joy into my life."
Jiang Qiuqiu’s gaze slowly softened, and a wide smile spread across her face.
’It was her honor to be able to bring everyone happiness.’
-
Under the tree far, far from the main gate, Mo Si noticed Juju suddenly swinging high up on the swing. A moment later, she jumped off and ran into the house, a cheerful spring in her step.
Soon after, a sweet fragrance filled the air.
’She seems to be very happy all of a sudden.’
Without even realizing it, Mo Si found himself smiling too.
The slight curve of his lips, combined with his round, gentle eyes, was enough to wash away all the seriousness from the lower half of his face.