Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 585: Liu Jing and Pan Min

There were many differing opinions on why Wen Wan was banned at the time, but one thing was certain: she was eventually unbanned later on. However, after going through a cooling-off period, her traffic and popularity were nowhere near what they used to be. Ultimately, it was because her traffic during that time was simply too massive, and her private life genuinely could not stand up to scrutiny. Logically and practically, the platform could not possibly keep her around and allow the situation to escalate endlessly.Han Qian was different, however. Since Zhou Yuwen chose to support her, he had certainly conducted a dedicated investigation beforehand. He only dared to back her because Han Qian had not had a single boyfriend up to this point.

In fact, Zhou Yuwen was right. Now that Han Qian had become an overnight sensation, she had swept across all the major short video software platforms in just three days. Even that whole Gucci Gucci Prada Prada routine was recreated by countless people, though no matter how well they imitated it, none could compare to Han Qian, the original creator.

By now, Han Qian's likes had surpassed ten million, and her follower count had broken through the eight million mark. One had to understand that currently, the internet celebrities with over eight million followers could be counted on one hand. This was exactly why Wen Wan had been so incredibly popular back then.

After Han Qian blew up, netizens discussed the situation, claiming that Zhou Yuwen's company utilized unfair clauses and was extremely strict with its internet celebrities. They assumed that now that Han Qian was famous, she would definitely leave.

Indeed, according to Zhou Yuwen's contract, going solo required paying a breach of contract penalty of fifty thousand yuan.

To others, this was considered a massive sum.

But to Han Qian, it likely amounted to nothing.

It was easy to believe that many people would be more than willing to pay this money on her behalf.

And in reality, this was exactly the case. On the very first day Han Qian went viral, media companies began trying to poach her, even offering a high price of five million yuan to build her up as a traditional star.

Regarding this, however, Han Qian didn't express any stance.

It wasn't until her follower count surpassed eight million and began to grow at a slower pace that Han Qian finally posted her second video. Her homepage now clearly indicated that she was a contracted artist under Xianlin Media.

The second video was very simple. Han Qian, still dressed as the Parking Garage Goddess, happily greeted everyone, saying, "Hi everyone, I'm Han Qian."

This second video was recorded in an interview format.

Someone asked her, "Now that everyone online says you've blown up and wants you to jump ship, what are your thoughts?"

Han Qian smiled and replied, "I won't jump ship!"

"The reason I'm popular is all thanks to President Zhou's cultivation. President Zhou is truly a boss with great vision. The greatest fortune of my life is following President Zhou!"

"Uh, Qianqian, let's stick to the facts, alright? Otherwise, everyone will think President Zhou fed you some kind of magic potion," the off-camera voice asked.

At this point, Han Qian said very seriously, "No, the fact that I could go viral really is because of President Zhou."

Han Qian then recounted how Zhou Yuwen had found her that afternoon and asked her to film a video. She explained that she had absolutely no idea how to shoot it; President Zhou had directly pulled her into the underground parking garage and taught her how to film, step by step. He had even instructed her on her makeup and styling.

"So there is absolutely no way I would leave Xianlin Media. If it weren't for Xianlin Media, I wouldn't be where I am today," Han Qian declared.

Only then did everyone suddenly understand.

However, it was still hard to accept.

Wait, such an amazing Parking Garage Goddess was actually planned out by Zhou Yuwen?

Isn't that a bit fake?

But looking at Han Qian's solemn and sincere expression, it didn't seem fake at all.

Then Zhou Yuwen was just too badass! He even grasped the essence of short videos so perfectly.

After Han Qian publicly announced she was with Xianlin Media, the company provided her with a brand-new contract promising an annual income of around ten million yuan. Once this news spread, it not only sent the entire internet into a frenzy but also caused an uproar within Zhou Yuwen's company.

The main reason was that these university students had initially joined Zhou Yuwen's company just to do some part-time work and earn three to four hundred yuan a day. Who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, the leading colleague would be making ten million yuan a year.

Being an internet celebrity was too profitable, wasn't it?

Some of the girls who had never engaged with live streaming were also stunned upon hearing they could earn ten million yuan a year.

At this point, the influencer economy truly entered the public eye.

In reality, the revenue Han Qian could generate in a year might not necessarily reach ten million yuan, but this was a grand gesture to show his sincerity and set a precedent. Zhou Yuwen's previous contracts had caused many female university students to complain, saying that Zhou Yuwen was out to swindle people. They claimed that merely signing a contract meant facing a fifty thousand yuan penalty for breaching it, and while the agreement promised packaging and promotion, after a long time, nothing was actually done.

Zhou Yuwen was now showing everyone that he hadn't swindled them. He could genuinely make them famous as internet celebrities, provided they obediently followed instructions.

After Han Qian went viral, Zhou Yuwen began implementing his company's tiered promotion system for internet celebrities. This meant that as long as they followed the company's requirements, the company would provide a certain amount of traffic support. The highest tier meant Zhou Yuwen would personally plan their content.

Currently, Zhou Yuwen had only produced one top-tier internet celebrity, Han Qian. Although everyone envied her, their admiration for Zhou Yuwen hadn't yet reached the absolute pinnacle.

But moving forward, Zhou Yuwen would continue to scout suitable candidates to venture into all types of influencer circles, such as magic trick internet celebrities, special effects influencers, gaming influencers, and voice actor influencers.

With Zhou Yuwen's knowledge of the future, he could definitely cultivate a batch of excellent internet celebrities. Of course, they might not have the massive luck of those influencers from the original timeline, but Zhou Yuwen could guarantee that the internet celebrities he trained wouldn't step on any landmines.

To be completely honest, the internet celebrities of the future were truly standing at the forefront of a trend. In reality, they were all just ordinary people. Some even had a lower moral caliber than the average person; they just had good luck. When they suddenly blew up later, they still couldn't control themselves, and in the end, didn't they all crash and burn?

Then there was a batch of beauty bloggers who actually had no real looks at all, relying entirely on beauty filters and a cutesy voice to suddenly suck in millions of followers before eventually undergoing a transformation.

Not to mention those car review bloggers.

In short, Zhou Yuwen had plenty of ways to make these people famous. This time, he didn't just want to create short video software; he also definitely wanted to build the largest MCN agency. Basically, whatever involved making money, Zhou Yuwen would do it.

After Han Qian went viral, she signed with Xianlin Media and began exclusively live-streaming and posting videos on Fun Campus. This caused a group of fans who liked Han Qian to follow her over to Fun Campus.

This gave rise to a new problem: a massive number of users who were not university students joined Fun Campus.

Was the name Fun Campus a bit outdated now?

Then it needed a new name.

They needed to separate the short video function from Fun Campus and create a dedicated short video software platform.

What should they call it?

For the sake of a name, several girls gathered in Zhou Yuwen's office to brainstorm, suggesting names like Flash Vision, Fun Broadcast, Quick Snap, and so on.

They all seemed pretty good, but they felt like they were lacking something.

The name Kuaishou was already very tacky. If they tried to follow Kuaishou's train of thought, it was bound to be tacky too.

Seeing that none of them could come up with a good name.

Zhou Yuwen drew a square box on his paper.

Then he drew a musical note inside the box.

He wrote two words.

"Douyin,"

"Record a beautiful life?"

Everyone read the words Zhou Yuwen had written out loud. They were initially stunned, and then...

Uh, hearing Douyin for the first time, they weren't quite used to it. But after mulling it over repeatedly, they felt it was seemingly much better than something like Flash Snap.

Thus, in June 2015, Douyin was officially born.

Compared to the original timeline, it was a full year early.

Douyin had just gone online and was already recruiting a large number of short video creators on the internet. Zhou Yuwen even took out two billion yuan as an incentive fund for creators. As long as someone had ideas and was willing to share themselves on Douyin, they could get money.

Not only that, but advertisements for various short videos flooded in like a tidal wave. As long as one went online, they would see an advertisement for Douyin. If Kuaishou represented the common folk, then watching Douyin's advertisements made one feel like Douyin was entirely highbrow and sophisticated, featuring high-end things like video editing, magic tricks, and surfing.

Douyin painted many worlds for people that they couldn't see in reality, making everyone helplessly infatuated with this fake world, unable to ever leave it.

The people in this world would no longer long for the summer of 2018, because with his arrival, Zhou Yuwen had brought that intoxicating 2018 forward to 2015.

As the founder of Douyin, Zhou Yuwen also registered his own Douyin account. Even before posting a single video, he already had hundreds of thousands of followers. After all, Zhou Yuwen wasn't that kind of internet celebrity; he only registered this Douyin account to boost traffic and popularity.

Douyin's early appearance brought a new landscape to the short video market. Originally, it had just been Kuaishou dominating the scene, with others like Huoshan Short Video just starting to emerge.

As the father of Douyin in the original timeline, Zhang Yiming had long been optimistic about the short video market. However, at this time, he was busy securing financing for Jinri Toutiao and had absolutely no time to focus on short videos.

In fact, while working on Jinri Toutiao, he had already seen that short videos were the future of self-media. The core of his work on Jinri Toutiao was the algorithm his team developed: when a user liked reading a certain type of article, the system would continuously push similar articles to them, thereby retaining their attention.

Zhang Yiming knew that applying this algorithm merely to articles was too superficial. If brought to life, for example, by applying it to short videos, it would absolutely hook customers firmly.

It was just that before he even began preparing, Douyin suddenly appeared out of nowhere. After swiping through just two videos, Zhang Yiming knew that Douyin's algorithm was exactly what he had envisioned.

'I have already fallen behind!'

So he could only grit his teeth, give up a massive amount of shares in ByteDance, and enter the short video market early.

And these shares in ByteDance were quietly purchased by Zhou Yuwen's overseas company.

In June, both Zhou Yuwen's short video company and his affiliated media companies began exerting their full strength. Various short videos promoting youthfulness attracted a massive number of young people.

Tao Tian and Lu Lin were extremely busy every single day.

Because she had exploded in popularity across the entire internet, Han Qian was eyed by some television programs that wanted her to participate as a guest.

Tao Tian thought this was a pretty good opportunity and wanted Han Qian to give it a try.

But Zhou Yuwen stated that emerging industries should minimize collisions with traditional television programs.

"Wait, she can go to this one."

Zhou Yuwen saw an invitation for a program called Produce 101.

He felt this program was quite good.

He told Tao Tian to contact them to see if they needed investment.

"It's not about whether they need it or not. Directly tell them that if they want our people to participate in this program, they have to accept our investment."

The Produce 101 program was backed by Toilet TV, but Zhou Yuwen's current status was nothing to scoff at either. He was now considered a red-hot figure in Jinling, and the authorities also hoped he would achieve a great career.

After all, Hangzhou had Jack Ma, and Shenzhen had Pony Ma.

Currently, Jinling had nothing.

Zhou Yuwen had the opportunity to become the representative figure of Jinling.

Even Shanghai had already begun trying to win Zhou Yuwen over.

In the future, there was a high probability that Zhou Yuwen would become the biological son of both the province and Shanghai.

Of course, this status could only be maintained for a few years.

Taking advantage of the momentum during these few years, Zhou Yuwen had to make all the money he possibly could.

In the blink of an eye, it was late June, the graduation season.

During these few days, Zhou Yuwen took a trip to Jiang Xinyi's home.

Sigh, actually, Zhou Yuwen hadn't wanted to go.

It could only be said that he had no choice but to go.

Liu Jing had invited Zhou Yuwen to her home before the new year. Wasn't Zhou Yuwen constantly busy? So he never managed to go.

Then Liu Jing wanted to ask Zhou Yuwen what exactly he was so busy with.

It just so happened that a while ago, she passed by Blue Bay.

She remembered that Zhou Yuwen lived in Blue Bay.

It should be known that from buying the house in Blue Bay to its renovation, it was Liu Jing and Jiang Xinyi who had made all the decisions.

Therefore, Liu Jing coming to Blue Bay was just like coming to her own home.

She just hadn't expected that Blue Bay at this moment...

Would actually be occupied by a strange woman.

And this woman didn't look that much younger than herself, did she?

The day was sunny with a gentle breeze.

Liu Jing wore a black hip-hugging skirt. Even though she was in her forties, she had always maintained her figure very well. Add to that her status as a wealthy Madame, able to live in comfort and ease.

The family Maybach parked in front of Zhou Yuwen's villa.

When Liu Jing got out of the car, she gave Zhou Yuwen a phone call.

It didn't connect, so she sent Zhou Yuwen a message on WeChat.

She said a friend had gifted her some Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, and she couldn't finish them all herself.

She happened to be passing by Blue Bay, so she brought some for Zhou Yuwen.

"Yuwen, are you not home? It's fine, Auntie knows the password. Auntie will just put them inside for you."

After saying this, Liu Jing walked into the villa with a bright smile.

She went to open the door with familiar ease.

As a result, halfway through opening it, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Only to reveal Pan Min, wearing a white V-neck shirt paired with a body-con pencil skirt, her hair tied up, and stepping in a pair of exquisite small lambskin high heels. Looking at Liu Jing in front of her, she asked with a blank expression, "May I ask who you are?"

The smile on Liu Jing's face froze. She looked up at the house number—that's right, it was the correct one.

But who was this woman standing before her, who so obviously had the look of a married woman?

"Excuse me, is this Zhou Yuwen's home?" Liu Jing asked thoughtfully.

Pan Min let out an ah and said, "Yes, it is."

"Please come in quickly. Are you an elder of Yuwen's? I'm sorry, Yuwen doesn't really live here much right now," Pan Min hurriedly stepped aside to let Liu Jing enter first.

Liu Jing looked several years older than Pan Min, so Pan Min naturally assumed she was an elder relative of Zhou Yuwen.

Liu Jing didn't stand on ceremony either. Maintaining an air of dignity, she entered the house. Looking around at the space that currently bore all the signs of a woman living there, she was exceedingly displeased. It had to be known that this house was originally intended for Zhou Yuwen and Jiang Xinyi to live in.

From the moment she stepped inside, Liu Jing wore an expression of distaste, sitting on the sofa and scrutinizing the place left and right.

Meanwhile, Pan Min was very polite, helping pour tea and curiously asking who Liu Jing was.

Looking at her, who appeared to be a mere worker, Liu Jing said coldly, "Yuwen is my son-in-law. And who are you?"