Gangster heir? Please call me a legitimate entrepreneur.

Two days later, late at night.

In the programming development room on the 18th floor of the Sihai Building, the sound of keyboards clattering was as dense as a downpour hitting sheet metal.

It was stuffy and hot inside, and even turning the air conditioner to its lowest setting didn't help.

Empty Red Bull cans and crumpled draft paper were scattered all over the floor.

Zhang Ming sported a freshly shaved buzz cut.

His eyes were bloodshot, with blood vessels running through the whites of his eyes, as he stared intently at lines of dark blue code on the screen.

He picked up the coffee cup beside him, took a big gulp, and his face scrunched up from the bitterness.

"It's done!"

Zhang Ming slammed his hand on the table, nearly knocking over the instant noodle bucket next to him.

His voice cracked with excitement as he turned to look at Su Ye sitting in the back.

"Brother Su! The underlying algorithm is working! The initial version of the app is packaged and ready to launch!"

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, his fingers still trembling on the keyboard.

"But...but, Brother Su, what do we do about this cold start? We haven't bought any users, we haven't spent any money on advertising, this app won't even make a splash in the app store."

Su Ye leaned back on the sofa.

He slowly unscrewed the thermos and blew on the goji berries on the surface of the water.

The heat dampened his gold-rimmed glasses, so he took them off and wiped them with the corner of his shirt.

"Buying user traffic?"

Su Ye chuckled, put his glasses back on, and a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.

"That's a money-burning game played by those big internet companies. Sihai Group focuses on practical work."

He stood up, walked behind Zhang Ming, and patted his thin shoulder.

"Generate a QR code for the installation package. Leave the rest to our security team."

Two o'clock in the morning.

The lobby on the first floor of Sihai Building was brightly lit.

Hundreds of muscular, burly men, dressed in matching black suits.

They stood in several neat square formations, completely silent.

The air was filled with the mixed smells of sweat and cheap cologne.

Lei Hu stood at the very front.

The bald head reflected the light from the overhead lamp, and the scars on his face twitched slightly with excitement.

He was holding a stack of A4 papers that had just come out of the printer and were still warm.

The paper was printed with large black and white QR codes.

"Brothers!"

Lei Hu roared in his hoarse voice, the echo reverberating throughout the hall.

"You guys have been memorizing C++ for the past two weeks, you must be feeling really stifled!"

A group of burly men below shivered in unison.

Er Lengzi scratched the back of his head and muttered under his breath, "You bet. I get a headache looking at that code more than reading gibberish. I've even lost a few clumps of hair."

Sanpang chimed in, "Tiger, is there a battle going to happen today? I've polished my big iron hammer!"

Lei Hu slapped Sanpang on the back of the head, making a crisp "smack" sound.

"What kind of war is this! Brother Su said we're a legitimate company, we won't fight!"

He held up the stack of A4 papers with QR codes printed on them and swung them around in the air, making a rustling sound.

"See this thing?"

Lei Hu stared with eyes as big as copper bells.

"This is our Sihai Group's new business! The Sihai Short Video App!"

"Brother Su has given a strict order. Before dawn today, every corner of Longhai City must have this thing plastered on it!"

He handed out the papers, tapping his stubby fingers in the air.

"I've covered all three sides of the cargo compartments of Jisuda Logistics' two thousand green trucks with stickers!"

"Those internet cafes, bathhouses, and KTVs that we used to manage."

Lei Hu grinned, revealing a few yellowed, stained teeth.

"Our QR code must be on computer desktops, massage bed heads, and even behind toilet doors!"

A commotion broke out within the formation.

They're experts at this!

They used to do this when they posted those "debt collector" posters! It's practically a perfect match for their profession!

"Brother Tiger, what if someone doesn't sweep?" Er Lengzi asked naively as he took a stack of papers.

Lei Hu touched his bald head, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"They won't sweep? Try reasoning with them!"

He lowered his voice and chuckled coldly.

"Go to an internet cafe. Stand at the counter. Tell the owner that before using the computers, you must scan the QR code to register and download the Sihai Short Video app. Don't download it? Unplug the internet cable and confiscate the keyboard!"

"Go to the bathhouse. Promote this to the big bosses who come for foot massages. If they don't scan the QR code, register, and like this post, today Sanpang will give them a foot massage with his sandpaper-like hands!"

The burly men below burst into laughter, creating a lively atmosphere as if it were Chinese New Year.

After being tormented by C++ for half a month, I finally found an outlet for my frustration.

"action!"

Lei Hu gave the order.

Hundreds of thugs in suits poured out of the Sihai Building like a tide.

They jumped into Jinbei vans and disappeared into the night of Longhai City.

Early the next morning.

Longhai City is in an uproar.

Old Li, carrying a bowl of freshly cooked tofu pudding, strolled to the crossroads.

Just as I was about to cross the road, a fast, green refrigerated truck roared past.

On the side of the carriage, a huge QR code poster, two meters square, glared so brightly it blinded his presbyopia.

There was also a line of yellow text on a red background printed on it.

Scan the QR code to see what's happening in your city, download the Sihai short video app, and get a 50-cent egg voucher upon registration!

In an internet cafe.

A few high school students who skipped class had just turned on their computers, ready to start a game.

I just gripped the greasy mouse.

Behind the bar, a burly man in a black suit with a tiger tattooed on his arm walked over.

He slapped the monitor.

"Little brother."

The burly man smiled and pointed to the red app icon on the desktop.

"Open it first, register an account. Watch a couple of videos, then start playing the game."

The high school student was so frightened that he kept swallowing hard and could barely hold the mouse.

"B-Big brother, my phone's out of memory..."

The burly man's face twitched.

He casually reached behind his waist and pulled out a pair of large black pliers specifically for cutting network cables.

I tossed it in my hand.

"No memory? Want me to clean it up for you? Like, delete those hundreds of gigabytes of your study materials?"

"Down! I'll download right now!" The high school student was almost in tears, frantically scanning the QR code with his phone.

The rest area of ​​the bathhouse.

Several beer-bellied bosses were lying on the sofa, wearing face masks and waiting for technicians.

The door opened.

The person who came in wasn't a young woman in a technician's uniform.

Instead, it was Er Lengzi and San Pang.

Sanpang was holding a wooden basin filled with hot water, with a few slices of ginger floating on the surface for sterilization.

He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Gentlemen, my brother and I will be serving you today."

The bosses were so startled that they dropped their face masks on the floor and instinctively pulled their legs back.

"No, no, no! What are you doing? We're not going to press it anymore!"

Er Lengzi pulled a crumpled QR code out of his pocket.

It was shoved right in the boss's face.

"You don't have to press the button. Just scan the QR code and register for Sihai Short Video."

He scratched his head sheepishly.

"Brother Su said we need daily active users. If you don't register, we'll lose our performance bonus this month and will have to come here every day to give you back massages."

The bosses nervously pulled out their latest iPhones, even pressing the wrong verification code three times.

"Note: Registration is complete. Sir, could you please take that bowl of ginger water away? The smell is too strong."

The entire city of Longhai.

From the middle-aged women selling jianbing (Chinese crepes) on the street to the white-collar workers wearing bodycon skirts in office buildings.

They were all swept up by this sudden storm of "physical ground promotion".

Dare you not download it?

The guys from Sihai Group, all smiles and seemingly kind, will stand next to you and enthusiastically explain how great the app is until you click the install button.

Lei Hu even caught several unemployed thugs with dyed yellow hair on the street.

Lei Hu personally took a marker and drew a crooked QR code on Huang Mao's vest.

"Go! Go wander around the train station square! Whoever scans your QR code and follows you, I'll give them a pack of cigarettes!"

With a bitter face, Huang Mao circled around the square in the cold wind, looking like a walking GG sign.

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Sihai Building Programming Studio.

Zhang Ming stared at the large data monitoring screen in the background.

The red line on the screen representing the number of daily active users.

Like it had taken an aphrodisiac, it shot upwards at an incredibly steep angle.

"One hundred thousand...three hundred thousand...eight hundred thousand..."

Zhang Ming's voice trembled like a leaf, and he gripped his messy hair tightly with both hands.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and leaned closer to the screen.

"It's...it's broken one million!"

Zhang Ming screamed and jumped up from his chair.

"Brother Su! Just one day! In just one day! Longhai City only has a few million permanent residents, and we've already broken a million daily active users!"

He was so excited that tears were about to fall, and he turned around to hug Su Ye's leg.

Su Ye, holding the thermos, slightly turned her body to avoid Zhang Ming's greasy hand.

He lowered his head and took a sip of water.

The eyes behind the glasses were calm and indifferent, as if this was just a trivial matter.

"This is just the beginning."

Su Ye put down the cup.

"Traffic generated through on-the-ground promotions cannot retain users."

He turned to look at Zhang Ming, his tone carrying an undeniable forcefulness.

"Your algorithm model needs to kick in. I want these millions of users to see what they want to see most in this app. I want to keep them glued to their screens."

Shen Qinghan stood by the door, holding the takeout box that had just been delivered.

She looked at the numbers flashing on the big screen and felt a chill run down her spine.

This is hardly an internet product development company.

This is clearly using the power of organized crime to forcibly hijack the traffic of an entire city!

She quietly took out her encrypted phone, her fingertips flying across the keys.

[Chief. Daily active users have surpassed one million. They used extremely aggressive offline methods to promote the app. But I couldn't find any trace of funds flowing out. This app... is full of square dancing and funny videos.]

After sending the text message, Shen Qinghan bit her lower lip.

What exactly is Su Ye up to?

Spend 1 billion yuan and mobilize the entire company's resources.

Just so the entire city of Longhai could watch this idiot break bricks with his bare hands online?!