Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

One week later, in Jakarta.

The first plenary meeting of Star Holdings' Southeast Asia division was held in an executive suite on the top floor of the Sofitel Hotel, overlooking the entire city.

"President Gu, I still think this plan is too risky."

The one who spoke was the COO of Starry Sky Holdings, a veteran who had followed Gu Ming all the way from Hegang. His brows were furrowed.

"In three months, five top influencers with millions of followers were cultivated from scratch in Jakarta? This does not conform to the rules of content creation."

As soon as he finished speaking, a man in an Armani suit immediately chimed in on the video conference screen.

He is David Chen, with the Charging Bull statue of Wall Street in the background.

He tried to mask his doubts with a polite and professional tone.

"Gu, I understand your ambition. However, the Indonesian market is more complex than you think. Users here have their own cultural habits and religious beliefs. The old-fashioned, novelty-driven approaches used in China may not work here and could even cause public relations problems."

"Our advice from Pacific Capital is to spend six months conducting market research first, and then try to acquire one or two local MCNs, taking it one step at a time."

In the conference room, people kept echoing each other.

Some people say the risk is too great.

Some people say the time was too short.

Others mentioned cultural barriers.

These words, which sounded correct, kept ringing in Gu Ming's ears.

He remained silent, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the flow of cars below consisting of motorcycles and old Toyotas.

His face was expressionless.

law?

He thought to himself, "I'm here to redefine the rules."

Market research?

My mind is a precise market research report for the future.

By the time you finish your research, it will be too late.

These so-called elites can only sail ships, but they can't even read nautical charts, and they will never understand the significance of building a fast ship and rushing into a storm before it arrives.

"Are you done talking?"

Gu Ming turned around and his gaze swept over everyone.

The room fell silent.

"I'm not discussing this with you."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable tone.

"I am giving you instructions."

"Marketing department, within 24 hours, obtain all videos from all Indonesian social media platforms that have received over 100,000 likes over the past three years. Use Algorithm 2.0 for semantic analysis, sentiment modeling, and tag classification. I need a localized guide to creating viral content."

"Administration Department, go to the slums in the west of the city and find a large enough, three-story or higher empty house with a yard to rent. Yes, the slums."

"Legal Department, register the company immediately, and get all the necessary qualifications completed within a week."

"As for you, David," Gu Ming looked at the man on the screen and smiled, "your task is simple."

"Pay."

"Then, watch."

After saying that, he picked up his car keys and walked towards the door.

"Mr. Gu, where are you going?" the COO asked instinctively.

"Go recruit students."

Without turning his head, Gu Ming threw down three words and disappeared out the door.

The people in the room stared at each other, their minds blank.

……

Over the next three days, Gu Ming transformed from a group chairman in command to a tireless frontline talent scout.

He rented a beat-up Toyota Avanza and plunged straight into the chaotic, real heart of Jakarta, such as the slums of Tanjung Priok, the bird market in Pramudga, and the wholesale market in Tanah Abang.

He carefully observed everything around him.

He saw a young man selling fried chicken on the street, sweating profusely as he fished chicken pieces out of the oil and loudly called out his wares in a unique rhythm. His movements and calls were perfectly timed to a rhythmic beat, attracting passersby not to buy chicken, but to watch his personal show.

A natural sense of rhythm.

A girl in a faded school uniform lingered at the entrance of a vocational school, her eyes timid. When a stray cat rubbed against her trouser leg, she crouched down, her eyes filled with pity.

The perfect trigger for protectiveness.

A shirtless teenager was dancing Popping on the street, blasting upbeat funk music from a beat-up Bluetooth speaker, oblivious to the people around him. His movements weren't professional, even a bit rough, but they were full of longing for freedom and passion.

Anger, resentment, and wildness. The Indonesian version of Chen Mo.

He also saw a talkative girl helping her mother attract customers at a food stall (Warung), and a driver on a green Go-Jek motorcycle who was always gossiping about the city.

They're the ones.

Gu Ming walked directly up to them and handed them a business card and an envelope.

The envelope contained five million Indonesian Rupiahs, equivalent to several months' income for them.

"My name is Gu Ming, and I'm the owner of a media company."

"I'm giving you a chance to be seen by millions of people. Just one month."

"This is a deposit. If it succeeds, you get a hundred times that amount. If it fails, you don't have to pay it back."

"This is the address. I'll be waiting for you at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

His words were simple, direct, and tempting.

No one refused.

……

The Starry Sky Military Academy in Jakarta, a popular spot for online influencers, is more rudimentary than anyone imagines.

It was that rented three-story building on the edge of the slum. The walls were still covered in mold, and the air was thick with a damp smell.

The first floor was converted into a studio and classroom. A whiteboard, several DJI Osmo Pockets, and a live streaming stand with ring lights that was airlifted from China were all the belongings.

Five ordinary people from the lower classes, selected by the group, stood together nervously, looking at the young Chinese boss in front of them.

Welcome to the Stars.

Gu Ming opened the laptop in front of him, and the screen displayed data charts generated by Algorithm 2.0.

"I don't care what you did before. From today onwards, you only have one identity: actors."

"What you're going to portray is yourself, but magnified 1000 times."

He pointed at the fried chicken vendor, Iqbal.

"You, Iqbal. Your defining characteristic is rhythm. From tomorrow on, you won't be selling fried chicken, you'll be selling happiness. Your hawking will be a song, your wok-flipping will be a dance."

He pointed to the shy female student, Siti.

"You, Siti. Your defining characteristic is gentleness. You don't need to speak; just look in front of the camera, care for stray animals, feed them, and sing. You need to make every man who sees your videos want to marry you."

He gave each person a clear persona.

Then, he slammed a script with only a few lines on the table.

"This is your first work. The protagonist, Iqbal."

"The idea is simple. Just fry a serving of chicken using your signature hawking voice. I'll film the scene myself."

"Remember, look at the camera like you're looking at the girl you want to marry. Give me all your passion."

At this moment, Gu Ming doesn't seem like a chairman worth hundreds of billions.

He was like a strict director, like Gu Ming returning to his rented room in Hegang, the ambitious young man he once was.

Half a day later, the first video was completed.

The video was uploaded to TikTok and Instagram Reels, tagged with "#JktFoodBang" and "#GorenganViral".

In a 30-second video.

Iqbal, shirtless and covered in sweat, flashed a bright white smile at the camera, loudly hawking his wares in his unique way.

The iron ladle and oil pan in his hands transformed into percussion instruments, perfectly timed to the drumbeats of the background music. The Indonesian hit song "Sakitnya Tuh Disini," chosen by Gu Ming, was remixed, with the drumbeats amplified, pounding into the hearts of every audience member.

At the end of the video, a golden and crispy chicken nugget is shoved in front of the camera.

Authentic, raw, and full of cheap joy.

Upload and publish.

In the operations room, everyone was gathered around the computers, staring at the data on the screens.

One minute, 103 views.

Ten minutes, 2700 views.

One hour, 9 views.

The data climbed steadily, but without any remarkable progress. Several senior executives on the StarChina team wore expressions that said, "Just as I expected."

Gu Ming leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

He is waiting.

Once the algorithm completes the first round of user profile matching.

The sparks he lit were blown into the meadow.

At 11 p.m., Jakarta’s nightlife is just beginning.

The data is taking off.

The number of views jumped from hundreds of thousands to three million, five million, and ten million.

Likes, comments, and shares flooded in.

"Which market is this guy from? I'll go there tomorrow."

"That hawking cry is addictive; I've listened to it thirty times."

"This is the true voice of Indonesia, much better than K-POP."

"Whose account is this? Starry Sky Entertainment? Never heard of it, is it a new MCN?"

The domestic MCN (Multi-Channel Network) industry was shaken.

They stared in disbelief at the account that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, at the terrifying growth curve of its followers, feeling as if their worldview had been turned upside down.

It took them several years and a lot of money and resources to barely create a social media influencer with a million followers.

And this Star Entertainment only used a video costing less than 100 yuan and took less than a day to create.

That's how it was done.

three days later.

Iqbal's account "AyamGoyang" (Swinging Chicken) has surpassed 200 million followers.

His fried chicken stand was packed with people, and the police had to be called in to maintain order, making headlines in Jakarta's social news.

He became incredibly famous and became a top celebrity in Jakarta.

Another meeting was held in the executive suite.

This time, no one raised any questions.

Everyone looked at Gu Ming with admiration.

David Chen, in particular, was so excited in the video that his face turned red.

"Gu, how did you do that? It's a miracle. The Pacific Capital board has decided to invest an additional fifty million US dollars, no, a hundred million."

A miracle?

Gu Ming thought to himself, this is not a miracle, this is science.

It is an industrialized production line that can be replicated and exported to create blockbuster products.

Just then, Chen Mo's encrypted message flashed across Gu Ming's phone screen.

[The boss, a short drama platform in Southeast Asia called Flash Short, contacted Iqbal through the back-end system, offering ten times the signing fee to poach him.]

The fish has taken the bait.

It was faster than I expected.

Gu Ming turned off his phone.

As he watched the excited team members in the video, he was thinking about something else.

We won the first shot in this battle.

But we still lack a general who can control the situation.

Someone who can standardize and streamline this military academy model and then replicate it throughout Southeast Asia.

late at night.

Gu Ming connected to a video call from China.

Wang Min's face appeared on the screen.

Behind her was the backdrop of Xingchen Holdings' domestic live-streaming base, bustling and lively.

But her face no longer showed the restlessness of someone in the world of fame and fortune, nor the confusion she had on the night of the celebration banquet.

She clearly already knew about everything that happened in Jakarta.

"Brother Gu."

"I saw it."

"That fried chicken guy was me back then."

She took a deep breath.

"Let me through."

"I know what they need, I know how to talk to them, and I know how to turn them into an army."

"Brother Gu, let me give it a try."

Her gaze was fixed on Gu Ming on the screen, and she said, word by word:

"I want to prove that I, Wang Min, am more than just an internet celebrity."