What does it feel like to suddenly become popular?
Most people would feel a brief moment of confusion.
Wen Ying was quite confused.
Although some young adult literature writers already had popularity rivalling celebrities, they had multiple works to their name and years of established fame. How could she, a newcomer who had just published her first book, compete with them?
So this popularity must be fake, right?
It is illusory.
It is a coincidence caused by a collision of many factors.
It is the popularity of Li Mengjiao and Yun Chen, and the buzz around The Princess’s New Clothes. This heat was temporarily boosting Wen Ying’s attention. Only when the tide recedes would it be clear how many true readers Wen Ying had!
It took Wen Ying just over an hour to go from confusion to clarity. She dissected her mindset and sent a long message in the form of a short essay to Xie Qian.
At that moment, Xie Qian was browsing the web, moving from forums to Wen Ying’s blog.
You could guess with your toes that Hamster would be floating on air. Xie Qian’s urge to hand out test papers was stirring, and he had even picked out a paper for Wen Ying. But then Wen Ying sent her “little essay” just in time.
Huh, was Hamster this clear-headed?
Xie Qian was slightly surprised, and a tiny bit disappointed, his test paper didn’t get sent out!
This fleeting disappointment passed quickly. Xie Qian firmly believed Hamster’s learning path was full of temptations, and the test paper might be delayed but would never not be sent.
If Wen Ying got too full of herself, Xie Qian would be unhappy.
But being overly self-deprecating made Xie Qian equally uncomfortable.
“No matter whose fans they are or viewers of the TV series, some of them will gradually shift their interest, while others will stay, as long as you keep creating good work.”
Popularity is fleeting, but work is king!
Sustained high attention isn’t impossible. If she wasn’t satisfied with her current achievements and wrote something even better than Teen Idol, not only would old readers stay, but new ones would keep coming.
Xie Qian was the truly clear-headed one.
Wen Ying was fed a bowl of motivational soup by her idol and felt fulfilled.
A blog is a fascinating platform. Initially, the most famous people attract attention, but not every celebrity can run a blog well. Beyond fame, the content of the posts must be engaging. Wen Ying was currently ranked 12th. If she neglected it, her ranking would soon drop.
But if she managed it carefully, her ranking could rise!
Some celebrities, though invited to join the blog platform, hadn’t realised what an important battlefield for popularity it was and didn’t take it seriously.
Wen Ying knew!
The great writer Wen wasn’t naive, nor did she believe in pies falling from the sky. Whether for fame or profit, relying on illusory luck without effort, well, that deserved poverty and obscurity.
Wen Ying immediately wrote a blog post, blurring the background and characters, sharing her daily life at school.
Though only a few hundred words, it was witty and engaging, making for enjoyable reading.
People visit celebrity blogs not to hear official statements but to see what celebrities are like in their daily lives.
This curiosity stems from a universal human desire to peek into others’ lives and an interest in lifestyles they don’t understand.
Formal, official-toned celebrity blogs slowly faded into obscurity, while those catering to readers’ curiosity stood out.
Sure enough, within half an hour of Wen Ying’s new post, the views were impressive. Many netizens were amused by her shared daily life, and some left comments saying Wen Ying was just like her writing, warm and interesting.
A beautiful face is commonplace, but a fascinating soul not yet 18 years old!
Netizens didn’t know what Wen Ying looked like, but that didn’t stop them from liking her.
“Being Xiaoyu’s classmate must be so lucky!”
“Jealous and envious.”
“Upstairs, Xiaoyu’s classmate is Li Mengjiao!”
“So what kind of magical school is Rongcheng Provincial Key School?”
Rongcheng Provincial Key School, naturally, is an impressive school. In the past, its reputation was confined to Sichuan Province, known for its high university admission rates and awards in various competitions. Last year and this year were special, last year produced a talent show star, Li Mengjiao, and this year, a bestselling author.
The discussion under the post was lively, and the blog platform’s traffic data monitors were delighted.
Spending 400,000 to sign Wen Ying was absolutely worth it.
What the blog wanted was bloggers like Wen Ying, popular and willing to keep their popularity on the platform.
In comparison, some high-priced celebrity signings who only posted a dry greeting to fans were a bit too perfunctory.
Not just Wen Ying, Li Mengjiao, Yun Chen, and Zhang Yangning, who was signed as an afterthought, were all actively engaging on the blog.
Li Mengjiao’s posting schedule was almost in sync with Wen Ying’s. While Wen Ying’s style was light and humorous, Li Mengjiao’s posts exuded “I’m the queen, shining with confidence,” a bit childish and comical to outsiders, but her fans loved it.
Yun Chen updated his blog most frequently. Under Yuan Fenghui’s guidance, each of his posts came with a high-quality photo.
Carefully edited portraits were disguised as casually shot lifestyle photos, each one handsome, front-facing, side profile, at the gym, in a café. The angles and settings varied, but the handsomeness was consistent.
Yuan Fenghui’s move was ruthless, breaking down the defences of countless appearance-obsessed fans, driving them to lose their minds over the photos.
Did the content of Yun Chen’s posts matter? As long as he kept being handsome, that was enough!
Zhang Yangning took a cool route, and Yuan Fenghui amplified this trait. Her posts focused on topics like music creation, which might not gain huge popularity immediately but would attract loyal fans over time.
The blog platform dubbed the four of them “The Four Prodigies.”
The Four Prodigies’ performances justified their signing fees, and the platform was very satisfied. A manager even stated openly in a meeting that they should give The Four Prodigies more recommendation slots. The blog was directly linked to the portal site, with an entry point on the portal’s homepage. To boost a few prominent bloggers, all it took was tilting the recommendation slots. With the portal’s own traffic and influence, a single post could reach potential readers among global Chinese audiences.
Just one appearance on the portal’s homepage could boost a post’s views to tens of thousands.
For those with particularly good data feedback, it could reach millions!
In 2005, many hadn’t yet realised the influence of a platform with massive built-in traffic. The traffic recommendations casually given to The Four Prodigies now would later be resources many celebrities would pay for.
The Four Prodigies didn’t spend a penny and even earned the platform’s signing fees.
Yuan Fenghui still thought the portal’s offer was a bit low.
Next year, they’d definitely make the portal pay more!
