Huayu 2005: Chat groups are full of real celebrities

Liu Yifei was somewhat lost in thought when Shu Chang, who was standing next to her, chimed in with a smile:

"Sure, Mr. Jiang."

"You've already secured the mobile contract, so you should at least reserve a role for me in the musical, right?"

Jiang Bei glanced at her and smiled:

"What a coincidence, there really is one."

"The second female lead, the female lead's best friend and classmate, has quite a few scenes, which is quite suitable for you."

Shu Chang's eyes lit up immediately:

"real?"

"certainly."

Jiang Bei leaned back and casually gestured with his chin towards Liu Yifei:

"The lead and second lead actresses for 'Hanna' have been decided today."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei's inexplicable unease dissipated considerably.

But before she could even be happy for two seconds, she suddenly realized:

"Wait, what's the female lead's name again?"

Jiang Bei said, "Hannah."

Liu Yifei's face immediately fell.

"...What's that name?"

"Neither rustic nor foreign."

"I do not want."

Jiang Bei laughed:

"What's the rush? Hannah is just a stage name."

"She has a dual identity and two names in the show. Her stage name is Hannah, and you can decide her real name."

Liu Yifei was somewhat satisfied then, and thought for a moment with her arms crossed:

"Then let's call her Miki (xi)."

"My real name is Misaki."

Jiang Bei tasted it once and nodded, "Okay."

Upon seeing this, Shu Chang immediately raised his hand as well:

"Then I'll get up myself too!"

"My name is Changchang!"

Jiangbei: "..."

Ruan Fei: "..."

Cui Hao: "..."

The room fell silent for a moment, then Cui Hao burst out laughing:

"Singing? Teacher Shu, are you playing the second female lead, or are you preparing to run for art and literature representative at kindergarten?"

Shu Chang glared at him immediately:

"What do you know? This is called cute!"

Jiang Bei stroked his chin, feigning contemplation:

"A name isn't a problem."

"But... what's in it for me?"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes at him.

"I knew it, you can't stop talking about anything but good things."

As she spoke, she casually placed a boxed lunch on the table in front of Jiang Bei.

"Here you are."

"This is the benefit I'm giving you."

Jiang Bei glanced down at the lunchbox, then looked up at her, and couldn't help but laugh: "That's it?"

Liu Yifei raised her chin, speaking with righteous indignation:

"What, not enough?"

"Take it or leave it."

Her seemingly fierce yet charmingly naive demeanor immediately amused everyone in the room.

Ruan Fei laughed so hard he slapped the table.

Shu Chang also covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

Even Jiang Bei couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The shock and excitement from the eight million project just now completely settled into reality amidst the laughter and merriment.

Jiang Bei tossed his phone onto the table and raised his hand to quell the tension:

"Let's eat first, and talk while we eat."

He casually opened the huge fried rice from the Chang'an Noodle Shop, took two bowls, divided it into two smaller portions, and handed them to Liu Yifei and Shu Chang. He then pushed the remaining two boxed meals to Ruan Fei and Cui Hao.

As for himself, he picked up the bucket of braised beef noodles from the corner of the table, tore open the packaging, and plugged in the electric kettle to boil water.

Then, he casually explained the task assignments:

"We've divided up the work today, so everyone needs to get moving."

He first looked at Cui Hao:

"You're in charge of the cover song website."

"Find out all the illegal content and borderline promotional material in the comments section, private messages, and on the works page. Take screenshots, archive them, and hand them over to Guo Jian tomorrow."

Cui Hao nodded immediately: "Don't worry, I'll turn it upside down tonight."

Jiang Bei then looked at Ruan Fei: "The second thing is the company."

"China Mobile requires a three-year operating entity."

"The subsequent contracts, accounting, and tax filing all require someone knowledgeable."

"Go contact alumni of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, find a reliable person, preferably someone who has experience in company registration, finance and taxation, and shell company acquisition, someone you know well and who keeps quiet."

Ruan Fei patted his chest: "Leave this job to me. I'll bring the person over tomorrow."

At this point, he seemed to suddenly remember something:

"By the way, those three brothers who left with us before are still asking today when the new project will start."

Jiang Bei raised his eyes:

"That's a good question."

"Starting tomorrow, they will officially join the group."

You take charge of the technical aspects; the other three will be under your command.

Ruan Fei's eyes lit up immediately: "Really open?"

"nonsense."

Jiang Bei laughed and cursed, then picked up the previously printed "Outline Design of PhD Program" and threw it directly in front of Ruan Fei.

"Let's go through it once tonight, and officially start work tomorrow."

As soon as the document was opened, Ruan Fei only scanned two pages before the relaxation on his face slowly disappeared.

He flipped through a few more pages, and the chopsticks in his hand fell to the table with a clatter.

Cui Hao was eating with his head down when he saw this expression and laughed:

"Seriously? What makes you think that way?"

Ruan Fei remained silent, staring at the document with an increasingly strange look in his eyes.

Cui Hao also joined in.

Then, the next second, he stopped talking.

The only sounds in the room were the bubbling of the electric kettle boiling water and the soft rustling of pages turning.

After a long pause, Cui Hao first gasped:

"Holy crap!"

Jiang Bei leaned back in his chair and slowly blew on the steaming hot noodles. "What's wrong?"

Cui Hao stared at the screen, his voice slightly unsteady:

"This...isn't a forum, nor a blog?"

Jiang Bei raised an eyebrow: "Who told you I was going to create a forum or blog?"

Ruan Fei then raised his head, his eyes changing:

"Sixth Brother, what exactly is this?"

Jiang Bei took a sip of instant noodle soup, speaking casually:

"To create a website where people can speak anytime."

"To be more precise, it's about letting everyone just throw whatever they want to say online, like sending a text message."

Ruan Fei and Cui Hao exchanged a glance.

Because at the very top of the first page of the "Outline Design for PhD Recommendation" is a very eye-catching rule—

Maximum of 140 characters per post.

Below is a note added by Jiangbei himself:

It's not writing an article, it's posting a status update.

Ruan Fei was completely dumbfounded:

"140 characters?"

"What can you possibly write with just these few words?"

"What are users after?"

Jiang Bei said calmly:

"To save trouble."

"The problem with forums and blogs isn't that the content is bad, it's that it's too cumbersome."

"Users don't want to write an essay every day, but they have something to say every day."

"If I'm in a good mood, I'll post something; if I see the news, I'll rant; if I'm a fan of a celebrity, I'll wail; if I'm heartbroken, I'll be melodramatic."

"What I want to do is reduce the cost of 'posting content' to about the same level as sending a text message."

In short, Ruan Fei's mind went blank for a moment.

He looked down at the document again.

Followers, followers, timeline, reposts, comments, @mentions, private messages.

And then there's more—

Celebrity verification, trending topics, official accounts, and ranking mechanisms.

Cui Hao became increasingly alarmed as he looked at the document:

"This is practically tearing the blog apart..."

"You've combined forums, blogs, chat rooms, and contact lists into one thing."

Jiang Bei snapped his fingers: "Almost there."

Ruan Fei had already seen the sketch of the relationship chain, and his back began to tingle.

In the forum era, people went looking for posts.

In the blog era, people would click on the homepage.

But the logic behind Jiangbei's system is completely reversed—

Once you follow someone, every word they say will automatically appear before your eyes.

It's not that people seek out content, but rather that content seeks out people.

Ruan Fei suddenly looked up, his voice changing:

"Sixth Brother, this isn't community building."

"You're building a self-sustaining propagation system."