Chapter 26: A Minor Experiment

Chapter 26: A Small Experiment

The dinner was held at the Sea Magnolia Hotel, a high-end establishment in the city known for its atmosphere, flavor, and upscale pricing. A large private room for twenty people had been reserved on the third floor. Gao Yun and Daria arrived ten minutes early.

It wasn't long before the colleagues from the Youth League Committee began to arrive.

There were twelve people in the room. Secretary Li Dapeng and Gao Yun took the seats of honor. Once everyone was present, the servers began to bring out the dishes.

The Youth League Committee was a workplace where women significantly outnumbered men. Since Gao Yun’s resignation, the only remaining men were Li Dapeng, Li Shuo, and Xiong Xin. The other seven were all married women, a mix of various styles and personalities, all of whom swept their gazes over Daria.

Everyone had heard rumors or seen the photos of the models Gao Yun used to work with, so they knew about his foreign girlfriend, but this was their first time seeing her in the flesh. They thought to themselves, "No wonder they got back together; she’s so beautiful. If I had money, I’d rekindle an old flame too."

The food came quickly, and as they ate and chatted, the atmosphere remained harmonious.

Although they worked in a government department, they were all Youth League cadres with an average age of only thirty. They were open-minded, active, and relatively uncomplicated compared to other government sectors; there was little infighting or stagnation, and everyone spoke their minds.

Li Dapeng, in particular, despite his authoritative, bureaucratic tone at work, still possessed the spirit of a young man in private. He first showered Daria with compliments—praising her beauty and her impressive Chinese—then expressed his envy for Gao Yun’s trip to Hangzhou after his resignation, and finally, with a gossip-hungry tone, asked how he and Daria had actually gotten back together.

They jumped from topic to topic, moving from the driving experience of a Ferrari to the videos Gao Yun had been filming.

"Ah Yun, that video you posted on Douyin is great," Li Dapeng said, picking up his phone and opening Gao Yun’s account to show him. "It’s got 900,000 likes!"

"You’ve broken 500,000 followers!" Xiong Xin, who was also checking the app on his phone, exclaimed. "If our committee’s account had that many, it would be incredible."

The content updated on the Municipal Youth League’s account consisted of local scenery, culture, stories of good deeds, and models of professional dedication. It was far too official, and naturally, no one wanted to watch it. After being active for a month, it had barely over a thousand followers.

Li Dapeng had been worrying about this. Seeing that Gao Yun’s videos had become a hit and that he had effectively become a minor influencer, he humbly asked for advice.

Gao Yun was honest: the content was too official and formulaic, so it was destined not to go viral.

Li Dapeng scratched his head in frustration. He knew this, but he had no choice. Where could he find enough creative ideas that were interesting yet stayed within the lines? No matter how "grounded" the Youth League tried to be or how youth-centric they aimed to act, they were still part of the Party, and they had to maintain a certain level of seriousness.

In the early days, when the account was first launched, followers had surged, earning him high praise from municipal leaders for "keeping pace with the times and the youth." They told him to keep at it and make it a hot topic for the youth of Hushi.

However, the growth had since stagnated. He was unwilling to give up, knowing that if he could make this work, it would catch the leaders' eyes and pave the way for a smooth career path.

"Ah Yun," Li Dapeng said, "you’re an influencer now. Do you have any good ideas? I’m not asking for hundreds of thousands of followers like yours—just thirty thousand! I’d be satisfied with thirty thousand!"

Gao Yun didn’t have any secret tricks; his success was purely due to the combination of food and a beautiful woman. Just as he was about to decline, he thought of the system’s "Honor" metric, and his mind stirred.

The "Outstanding Youth League Cadre" awards he had received in the past were watered down, with dozens handed out every year. Even the system’s two-hundred-yuan reward made sense for that. But what if a similar award were given to only one person? Wouldn't the prestige skyrocket?

Although the reward for a county-level honor was capped at one million, which was pocket change to him now, he could use this as a small experiment. If it worked, the implications would be significant.

With this in mind, Gao Yun spoke slowly: "Although I’ve resigned, I’m still a League member and part of the Hushi Youth League. I want this account to succeed, so I’ll definitely help."

"Great!" Li Dapeng was overjoyed. "Tell me, how should we do it?"

Gao Yun pondered for a moment. "How about this? I have a decent following now. I’ll film a collaboration video with the committee, which should help drive some traffic."

Li Dapeng had already thought of a collaboration, but he hadn't had the nerve to ask. With Gao Yun’s current following, a little exposure would easily exceed his target. But why would Gao Yun do it? He had already resigned, and with his current numbers, he could even start taking paid advertisements. Why would he waste his effort on them?

Furthermore, there was a critical issue with collaborative videos.

"What about the content? We are an official account, after all," Li Dapeng worried. Official accounts were different from personal ones; they couldn't just film anything. They had to carry a positive, educational message and couldn't be purely for entertainment.

Gao Yun was confident. "Hushi is a tourist city. We’ll film a travel vlog. Similar to what I did in Hangzhou, but not limited to food—it will include the city’s culture, history, landscapes, and local customs. How does that sound?"

Xiong Xin, who was in charge of the committee’s video account, beamed. "That works, and it counts as promoting tourism for Hushi."

Li Dapeng’s eyes lit up. "Yes, that will absolutely work!"

"But I have one request."

Li Dapeng waved his hand grandly. "As long as you’re willing to help, anything goes. Money, manpower—the eleven of us in the committee, including myself, will follow your lead."

Gao Yun smiled. "It’s nothing major. If I help get the account to over thirty thousand followers, I want the Municipal Youth League Committee to issue a special honor for me. None of that mass-produced 'Outstanding Youth League Cadre' stuff. The title doesn't matter, but it must be an honor exclusive to me—something only I receive."

Cui Qing giggled. "Why not just issue you a certificate? We can title it 'Hushi’s Number One Influencer League Member' and write, 'On this day, League Member Gao Yun helped the Hushi Douyin account gain X followers, hereby awarded for his contribution.' We’ll stamp it with the official seal. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect!"

Gao Yun agreed wholeheartedly. The title was exactly to his liking—or rather, exactly to the system's liking.

The colleagues were also delighted, and Li Dapeng laughed along. "Done! It’s simple, incredibly simple. And one won't be enough—I’ll give you several! First Influencer League Member, First Douyin Talent, First Outstanding League Member—no matter how many you want or what titles you need, I can issue them! All exclusively for you."

Afterward, they began to discuss the specific content of the shoot: which representative landmarks, delicious foods, and unique cultural aspects of Hushi to film.

As locals, they hadn't thought there was anything special about Hushi, but as they talked, they realized there were quite a few things worth filming that just needed to be organized systematically.

At the dinner table, Li Dapeng divided the work among the committee members, telling them to start gathering information on the city’s landscapes, food, and history when they got home. Each person would be responsible for a section, which would then be compiled into a script for the video.

They aimed to finish the preparations by tomorrow morning and begin filming in the afternoon.