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

After receiving "official certification," the "spirited young woman" became an absolute sensation.

As they walked down the busiest pedestrian street in the county, passersby no longer avoided them; instead, some greeted them kindly.

"Hey, isn't that our city's image ambassador?"

"It's them. I saw them on my phone. They're even thinner than in the video."

Several young students even blushed and leaned closer, whispering, "..."

"Sister, can I take a picture with you?"

Wang Min, Liu Liu, and Zhang Hong had never experienced this kind of treatment before.

With official verification, their number of followers easily surpassed 150,000.

The three girls huddled on the sofa, vying to send voice messages to Gu Ming, their voices brimming with excitement.

"Bro! We're famous! We're really famous!"

"Someone just asked us to take a picture with them! My legs went weak!"

"Brother, we'll listen to you from now on! You're like a god!"

This is completely different from the euphoria that followed when it first became popular.

They now fully understand that they owe their current success entirely to the man sitting in the office.

Gu Ming stared at the constant stream of messages popping up on his phone and calmly replied with only one sentence:

"The hype is temporary, so stay calm. The next step is to turn that traffic into real reputation and value."

He was already planning the subsequent product placements and how to solidify their tough-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside persona through positive collaborations.

While the three sisters were celebrating, the atmosphere was completely different in a WeChat group for teachers on the other side of the county.

Li Li and Sun Xiao returned from the street dejectedly, without saying a word.

However, other teachers in the group had already forwarded the article from "Hegang Online" and were discussing it enthusiastically.

"My God, have these young delinquents really become brand ambassadors?"

"The person behind this is incredibly skilled; they've turned lead into gold!"

"I heard it's that 'Starry Sky Media,' and the boss is called Gu Ming."

Li Li felt uneasy as she read these discussions.

At this moment, a young female teacher named Zhao Na sent her a private message.

Zhao Na was a member of her and Sun Xiao's small circle. She had previously asked someone to contact Gu Ming, but she hadn't even received a friend request.

Zhao Na sent a disdainful emoji:

"Lily, look at how smug those young girls are. I don't believe that Gu Ming is that amazing; he's just lucky, he stumbled upon some incredible stroke of luck."

Li Li felt regretful, but she was unwilling to admit that she had misjudged the situation, so she could only bite the bullet and agree.

"Exactly, they became famous because they had no moral bottom line and played the victim online to gain sympathy."

"Right!"

Zhao Na immediately replied:

"I can do that too! What does he know about operations? Isn't it just about creating conflict and stories? Today I'll show him what a real positive persona is!"

Although Li Li felt it was inappropriate, she could only watch silently since she had already spoken.

She even harbored a sliver of hope that if Zhao Na succeeded, wouldn't that prove that Gu Ming wasn't anything special?

Zhao Na acted immediately.

She believes she has grasped the essence, which is to create conflict and shape a persona.

So she put on light makeup that made her look tired, and recorded a video in front of her phone camera.

In the video, she is sitting at her desk with a stack of homework books in front of her, and the camera focuses on a close-up of several bright red crosses on the homework books.

She first let out a long sigh, then spoke to the camera in a tone of grievance and helplessness:

"It's so tiring. Kids these days are so hard to manage. I prepare lessons until late at night every day and try my best to teach them, but they just don't listen. If I'm too harsh, I'm afraid of hurting their fragile self-esteem; if I'm too gentle, it has no effect at all."

She rubbed her eyes and continued:

"What's even harder is communicating with parents. Some parents simply don't cooperate and even feel that we teachers are targeting their children. Being a teacher really is a job that requires a lot of conscience, and we're also often the ones who get bullied. I just hope everyone can be more understanding..."

Throughout the video, she played the role of a wronged yet responsible teacher, hoping to evoke empathy and compassion from the audience.

After the video was posted, Zhao Na kept an eye on her phone, refreshing it every few seconds.

The result was completely different from what she had expected.

An hour after the video was released, it barely reached a thousand views, with only a dozen or so likes, and the comments section was even worse.

"Is it appropriate for a teacher to publicly complain about their students and parents online? What about their professional ethics?"

"You seem to be radiating negativity. If my child were in your class, I'd be worried sick."

"This acting is so fake, it reeks of a 'green tea' type. Is she desperate for fame?"

"I can practically smell the sour grapes through the screen. Are they jealous that 'young, trendy girl' is popular?"

Zhao Na tried to imitate the conflict, but ended up making a mess of things.

From the audience's perspective, she wasn't creating any conflict at all; she was just a teacher with no professional ethics spreading negative energy.

Zhao Na turned pale and sent a screenshot of the dismal result to Li Li, hoping for some words of comfort.

"Lily, why is this happening? Why can they do it, but I can't?"

Li Li stared at the awkward comment section, at the sharp and sarcasm, unable to type a single word.

The last shred of hope in her heart vanished.

While the teachers were agonizing over their failures, Gu Ming was completely unaware of it.

At the entrance of his "Star Media" building, a deep engine sound came from afar, and a white Porsche came to a steady stop.

The car door opened, and a young girl wearing a Chanel suit stepped out.

She had an arrogant air about her. She glanced at the somewhat shabby sign, frowned, and then pushed open the door and went inside.

"You're Gu Ming?"

The girl got straight to the point, her voice cold and authoritative.

Gu Ming looked up from his computer and sized up the uninvited guest in front of him.

"I am."

"My name is Shen An'an."

The girl pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, casually placing a Hermès handbag on the table. "You're the one who made those 'energetic girls' famous?"

"it's me."

"very good."

Shen An'an nodded, her eyes scrutinizing. "I want you to make me ten times more famous than them. Money is no object."

After seeing the new customer off, Gu Ming rubbed his temples.

When I got home in the evening, my mother, Meng Xiaoyan, had already prepared dinner.

Why are you so late today?

Meng Xiaoyan handed him a glass of warm water.

"A new client came to the company, and we chatted for a while."

Gu Ming took a sip of water and answered casually.

Meng Xiaoyan said "Oh," and seemingly casually brought up another matter.

"Son, I ran into Li Li's mom at the supermarket this afternoon."

Gu Ming paused for a moment while holding the water glass.

Meng Xiaoyan didn't notice his expression and continued speaking:

"She chatted with me for a long time, saying that Li Li seemed to be in a bad mood lately and wasn't focused on her work. She also subtly asked me if my company was still hiring."

"She said she wanted you to help out when you had time, to give Li Li some advice on how to build up the account... What do you think about this?"