Qin Ran's righteous argument left Yu Shuman completely confused. To be fair, Qin Ran's "rich fan" strategy had worked quite well. Many fans of other celebrities, attracted by the frequent giveaways by this rich fan, joined Yu Shuman's supertopic group (大超) for the rewards. To level up quickly in the group, they would actively participate by posting and commenting, thus generating engagement.
As a result of these efforts, Yu Shuman's supertopic group now had a notably high number of active followers, all thanks to the meticulous operation by this rich fan account.
Some netizens had speculated that this rich fan was actually part of Yu Shuman's promotional team, but these claims were quickly shot down by others. The general consensus was that if the purpose was purely promotional, it would be more effective to invest directly in promoting Yu Shuman rather than building up a fan account.
Now, with Qin Ran mentioning the promotional aspect, Yu Shuman was even more bewildered. As an actress, her main focus was on honing her craft. All promotional activities were handled by Sister Li, and with sufficient marketing funds and the occasional viral moment, Yu Shuman's popularity had been steadily growing.
When it came to such specialized matters, Yu Shuman wasn't sure how to respond. Not wanting to wrongly accuse Qin Ran, she hesitantly let go of Qin Ran's ear and asked, "Is that really the case?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Qin Ran nodded fervently, fearing Yu Shuman might overthink it. She quickly moved to distraction tactics, showering Yu Shuman with affection. As Yu Shuman was being kissed into a daze, Qin Ran managed to guide her to the bed. Even then, a lingering doubt remained in Yu Shuman's mind—she felt like Qin Ran was deceiving her.
The next day, while shooting a commercial, Yu Shuman called Sister Li directly, cutting to the chase, "Sister Li, did you know that the rich fan in my supertopic is Qin Ran?"
Holding the phone, Sister Li thought, "Ah, is this another relationship consultation?"
Sister Li had suspected this herself. After all, how many wealthy people were there who would spend lavishly just to boost Yu Shuman's supertopic group? It was obvious that it was Qin Ran. However, as Qin Ran was the boss and had never openly admitted to it, and since the rich fan account hadn't done anything to harm Yu Shuman's reputation, Sister Li chose to pretend not to know.
Now, faced with Yu Shuman's direct question, Sister Li answered truthfully, "I suspected it, but I never confirmed it with the boss. Did you find out that the rich fan is Qin Ran?"
"Yes," Yu Shuman's voice was somewhat muffled. She went on to recount how Qin Ran had brushed her off with the excuse that it was part of the promotion strategy. Hearing this, Sister Li thought, "That cunning fox, Qin Ran, always tricking this innocent little bunny."
What kind of promotion needed such extravagant spending? And what exactly was being promoted here—just the idea that Yu Shuman had a fan who was stupidly rich? If anyone else asked this question, Sister Li would make them think twice about whether the actions of the rich fan account truly contributed to Yu Shuman's popularity and if it was a valid promotional strategy.
The answer was: it had some promotional effect, but not significant.
Even if it did bring some attention to Yu Shuman, the majority of the following was for the rich fan account itself. Since Sister Li was almost certain that this rich fan was Qin Ran, she hadn't warned them against diverting Yu Shuman's fanbase to themselves. The rich fan account was doing something unrewarding, so there was no need to intervene.
If someone else asked, Sister Li would give them the honest truth. However, this was Yu Shuman asking, and it involved their big boss. So Sister Li hesitated—should she help the innocent bunny escape the cunning fox, or assist in the ruse? Her conscience ached for a second, but then her resolve to help Qin Ran took over.
"To be fair, the rich fan account does have some effect. While industry insiders might see the promotional value as limited, it has spread your name to a certain extent. Plus, thanks to them, your supertopic group now has a lot of active fans, which saves us money on buying followers."
Sister Li's words were carefully crafted—full of vague jargon that a newcomer like Yu Shuman wouldn't fully grasp. By acknowledging the account's effect and mentioning cost-saving, it gave Yu Shuman the impression that Qin Ran wasn't lying. However, a closer look would reveal the use of words like "to a certain extent" and saving only on the cost of buying followers.
Speaking of which, just how certain was this "certain extent," and how much did it really cost to buy followers?
Sister Li believed she had mastered the art of speaking. See, hadn't she just successfully confused Yu Shuman?
Sure enough, Yu Shuman was convinced by Sister Li's words and thanked her before hanging up. Sister Li, now in on the deception, felt a sense of wicked joy. Last time she had tricked Yu Shuman, it had been quite fun—maybe this was the joy of being a mischievous villain messing with a little bunny.
If everything went smoothly, Qin Ran could get away with this. However, she forgot about one unpredictable factor: Zeng Qian, whom she had just brought into the company. On her second day at work, Zeng Qian dealt Qin Ran a heavy blow.
Zeng Qian arrived at the office early that day, her face beaming with confidence. In the morning, accompanied by her agent, she did an interview reflecting on her career and expressed gratitude for her former company while showing enthusiasm for her future with 99 Entertainment. This interview helped polish her image, portraying her as leaving her previous company on good terms. The former company could only accept this narrative; it wasn't like they could openly declare they hadn't done much for Zeng Qian.
As long as they cared about their reputation, they had to accept it.
All of this was part of her new agent's strategy. After the interview, Zeng Qian had more work lined up. Post-contract termination, she lost some endorsements, but that was fine—99 Entertainment had plenty. With her lively and adorable public image, new endorsements came flooding in, even more than what she had with her previous company.
After the interview, Zeng Qian returned to the company for lunch, planning to meet her new assistant team in the afternoon.
Curious about the company's famed cafeteria, Zeng Qian tagged along with her agent to the second floor where it was located. She had heard that 99 Entertainment's cafeteria was top-notch, both in variety and taste, and employees only ordered takeout when they wanted something different.
To her surprise, she ran into Yu Shuman there. Yu Shuman had also returned to the company for some matters and planned to go home in the afternoon to work on her thesis.
Zeng Qian, face glowing with enthusiasm, took her tray and sat down next to Yu Shuman, exclaiming "Manman" as she did so.
Yu Shuman glanced at her tray, surprised, "That's all you're eating?"
"I have to maintain my figure~"
Zeng Qian's meal was small, so after finishing it, she set her tray aside and returned with a plate of fruit. Chatting away with Yu Shuman while eating, their conversation flowed effortlessly. They talked about all sorts of topics that came to mind.
Yu Shuman suddenly remembered the issue with Qin Ran's rich fan account and brought it up, "Zeng Qian, do you know about the rich fan in my supertopic group?"
Zeng Qian, holding a small fork, speared a piece of dragon fruit, "Yeah, Manman, that fan is like a celebrity in their own right—everyone's quite envious."
After swallowing her food, Yu Shuman hesitated before asking, "If that rich fan was actually the company's doing for promotional purposes, do you think it's effective?"
"No way, the company wouldn't do something so thankless," Zeng Qian replied without much thought. She wasn't too versed in promotional tactics, but having grown up in a business-oriented family, she had some understanding of marketing strategies. Yu Shuman was taken aback, "Thankless?"
"Yeah," Zeng Qian thought back to an analysis she had seen about the rich fan account, "I remember there was a post going viral some time ago analyzing the potential returns of that rich fan account, and it completely dismissed the idea that it could be run by 99 Entertainment because the input and output were so disproportionate."
"Having such a generous rich fan is great, at least it means more real fans in the supertopic group."
Zeng Qian added with a smile but noticed that Yu Shuman didn't seem too pleased. An idea dawned on her, "That rich fan... is it by any chance Little Qin?"
Yu Shuman stood up abruptly, saying, "I'm full," and headed to the tray return area. As she left, Zeng Qian noticed that there was still food on her plate—something that didn't fit Yu Shuman's usual character of not wasting food. It seemed... Zeng Qian had guessed right.
Zeng Qian shivered. Her animal-like instincts told her that if Qin Ran found out, she would definitely face some trouble. Hastily finishing her fruit, she quickly went back to work.
Qin Ran never imagined that she would be undone by Zeng Qian. The very person she had brought into the company had thrown a wrench into her plans on her second day. In the end, Yu Shuman yanked at Qin Ran's ear, listing all her wrongdoings. Qin Ran whimpered in response, her voice filled with grievance, "I was wrong! I was wrong! Manman, wuwuwu..."
"I told you not to waste money, and not only did you waste money, you lied to me! When I asked you yesterday, you used the excuse of promoting to deceive me!"
"And Sister Li—Sister Li even helped you trick me! I was almost fooled by both of you!"
Hearing this, Qin Ran realized how wonderful Sister Li was for helping her keep the secret. But somehow, it all fell apart in the end.
Sister Li (kneeling down beside Qin Ran): it wasn't me, I didn't say anything!
Qin Ran: One purse.
Sister Li: Alright, blame me! It was all my fault!