ryethenovel Chapter 76 [I am a small stall owner still learning how to deal with malice]
Chapter 76 [I am a small stall owner still learning how to deal with malice]
Chapter 76 [I'm a small stall owner still learning how to deal with malice]
"What you're doing is too conspicuous; you're likely to offend people terribly."
His cousin observed his expression and, seeing that he was just listening, continued to lower his voice, with a hint of sincerity: "And think about it, the regulatory authorities have already intervened, and the process is underway."
"If you have evidence but don't hand it over to them for assistance in the investigation, instead you expose it online first—this will make things difficult for the people in charge of handling this matter, and it will easily make people think that they failed to act in the early stages, forcing you to expose it online."
"The interpersonal relationships involved are very delicate; if you don't handle it well, you'll please neither side."
Follow the rules.
As Liu Zhuohao listened, those three words suddenly popped into his mind.
Hearing my cousin's words, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
He could almost see the faces some people would wear after things escalated, and the classic, indignant conclusion—don't make matters worse.
Once labeled as "causing trouble," all subsequent explanations become weak and powerless, because "we must be right."
From this perspective, my cousin has become a professional lawyer who is well-versed in this field and whose way of thinking is completely "institutionalized".
"I've already released the teaser video," Liu Zhuohao said casually, his gaze sweeping over the hotel's gleaming marble floor before rising to look at his cousin, his eyes unwavering. "Offend people? What's there to be afraid of? Everything has two sides, Yue-ge."
On the one hand, it might offend some people lurking in the shadows who are very particular about "rules."
"And the other side?"
A slight smile played on his lips, and his tone became subtle. "This deterrent power has been revealed."
"Let's talk about it again—"
He became even more certain, "Judging from the behavior of those comrades from the regulatory bureau yesterday, the people who want to get me are not very capable."
"At least we couldn't get involved with that powerful connection. If things really blow up and a storm breaks out, everyone will be looking for an easy target."
"Who do you think will be the easy target?" He paused, the answer obvious, "It's definitely not me."
After all, the oars that stir up the waves are in his hands.
"A teaser video?" My cousin caught the word, his brow furrowing slightly. "You have a teaser video?"
"Yes, it's the main footage of the random event we filmed in the second episode," Liu Zhuohao explained. "This afternoon, once the data for this event video goes up and it gains popularity, we'll upload the carefully edited rights protection video."
This is the strategy he developed after communicating with the station manager.
Or rather, hint.
The website administrator stated frankly that purely rights-protection content is too sensitive, and the website will not actively promote it.
But what about a "project video" that already has a successful data foundation and showcases positive content? That's a different story.
Popularity can be leveraged, and traffic can be redirected.
My cousin looked helpless. He sighed and asked the most practical question: "Have you considered the consequences of doing this? All the customers will leave."
"Just tell me, how's your customer traffic at your stall after last night's inspection?"
Liu Zhuohao's smile faded slightly, but he remained calm: "More than half of it dropped directly."
His tone didn't betray frustration; it was more like he was stating an observation: "I had all the necessary documents, and I had regular customers supporting me, but by the time we finished cleaning up and actually opened for business, customer traffic had plummeted by half!"
"No, saying it was cut in half is being too kind."
He recalled the scene from last night, noting that the line was shorter than ever before.
"A while ago, due to various events, the queues were so long that they filled the entire sidewalk. Last night, well, from the time I opened my stall until I closed early at around 9 p.m., the end of the queue never disappeared from my sight."
"Because it's so short, you can see the end at a glance."
He didn't even need Cheng Bing and Yang Boran to frequently carry dishes to other nearby stalls to serve customers who needed extra seating, as they had done before.
Even if he showed all his credentials, most potential customers still chose to wait and see and stay away until the food test results were available.
"Just last night." Liu Zhuohao smirked, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice. "I bet all the other stalls on the street were full by then. When I left, they all had smiles on their faces, like they'd just found money."
It truly is a case of one whale fall bringing forth life to all things.
The customers who came because of his fame were diverted to stalls all over the street because of this incident.
He was the one who brought popularity to the whole street; he ate the meat while everyone else drank the soup.
Last night, I think I only ate one piece of meat; the rest was shared by the others.
"You'll see—"
My cousin replied, his face full of the heavy feeling of "I knew this would happen," adding, "If you really offend someone, they'll come to check on you every now and then, and even if nothing happens, they'll cause you trouble."
"You think that once things are clarified, the guests will come back? You're being naive."
"The truth is, every time something like this happens, you lose some of your customers. Even if they come back after things are clarified, only a portion of them will return. Most people will still harbor resentment."
He became earnest: "The ancients said that the common people cannot fight against officials," and this is especially true in business.
"Some relationships need to be maintained, and some troubles need to be avoided. You should never deliberately stir up trouble and cause problems for others."
In his cousin's eyes, he was undoubtedly stubborn at that moment, the kind of headstrong young man who wouldn't turn back until he hit a wall.
However, there were some things Liu Zhuohao couldn't say too clearly, even to his cousin who had once helped him.
If he were just a steak vendor, like in his previous life, he would most likely choose to swallow his anger, suffer in silence, and still have to smile apologetically on the surface.
He had experienced that kind of frustration too many times and knew that "keeping the peace" was often the lowest-cost option.
But now, everything is different.
Besides being a restaurateur, he is also a rising internet celebrity. In fact, it could be said that being an internet celebrity is his core identity now and in the future.
In an era where traffic reigns supreme, such excellent material, which inherently possesses multiple explosive elements such as conflict, reversal, rights protection, and compliance, and naturally occupies the moral high ground, is simply a rare and precious gift.
Avoiding trouble, shirking trouble?
No, Liu Zhuohao was actually hoping for trouble to come to him!
He had been preparing all the necessary documents meticulously, and he and all his employees had developed the habit of always wearing cameras on their heads while working. He had been eagerly awaiting the start of this show.
From the day he decided to go into the food service industry, he was already mentally prepared to be reported, whether he was running a breakfast stall, a night market stall, or opening a store in the future.
There will always be people who report you; that's just how this industry is, or rather, that's how every industry is.
Unless there's no business, they're always under pressure, kicking away those who try to pull them down by grabbing their shoes, and then stubbornly climbing back up.
Views: 351587.
Likes: 113189.
Coin: 171105.
Number of favorites: 9093.
Number of comments: 9181.
Number of bullet comments: 131001.
In order to accurately direct traffic, Liu Zhuohao sent a message to Zhuang Zicong to remind him to upload the video immediately after it was reported yesterday afternoon.
In less than twelve hours, the data had already exploded.
It wasn't just that the website gave it a featured spot; the deeper reason is that the first video left a deep impression on the site's users, based on its video quality.
So when the title "#StreetFood##RandomChallenge#LimitedTimeEvent Phase 2 Starts—M3+ Beginner Short Ribs" appeared on the homepage rankings, countless viewers who had left their mark on the first video clicked on it almost instinctively.
Sometimes, streaming is just about giving someone a chance to get noticed.
But whether people will actually click in and watch the video is another matter entirely.
"My first video took about one night to make —"
The following afternoon, just before setting up their stall, Liu Zhuohao, along with his visiting cousin, was browsing the backend data in their rented room. He turned to Li Zekai beside him, somewhat confused, "I think we looked at the data around closing time, right?"
"right!"
Li Zekai nodded, his tone filled with the excitement of reminiscing, "It was right there at the stall, on your old phone. Ah Wei even complained that your phone was too slow, and it wouldn't respond when he opened an app."
"Things are different now—"
Not only are the account data better, but the team is also gradually expanding, with two new members joining.
"I remember it had over 80,000 views back then." Liu Zhuohao turned his gaze back and explained to his cousin, "When I checked again the next morning, the video had already climbed up the charts. I can't remember exactly if it was in the top 50 or something, but the views more than doubled, and other data also surged."
"After staying on the charts for several days, it slowly accumulated over 800,000 views. Based on the combined data, it finally came in third on the overall chart."
He tapped the steeper data curve of the second episode on the screen: "This episode is even more impressive, with at least 350,000 views in just one night."
"Besides the number of favorites, likes, coins, comments, and bullet comments have all exceeded 100,000, which is much stronger than the first episode."
Cousin Liu Zhuoyue's gaze lingered on the fluctuating numbers, unable to hide his curiosity: "Then—what about the number of followers? How much has it increased?"
For him, who usually deals with legal documents and case files, this data logic of the Internet was indeed an unfamiliar territory.
"I glanced at it before uploading yesterday, and it was over 53,000, 53814." Liu Zhuohao switched pages and pointed to the follower count. "Now it's over 71,400, and you see, every time I refresh, the number jumps up a few times."
"This shows that a large number of people are watching right now. If they get hooked and interested, they'll naturally click to follow."
Looking at the follower count that jumped almost every time he pressed F5 to refresh the browser page, his cousin subconsciously calculated, "That means nearly 20,000 people decided to continue following you in just one night?"
Liu Zhuohao nodded: "Yes."
My cousin smacked his lips.
He doesn't understand data, but what does 20,000 people mean?
A high school with all its students gathered together would probably have only one or two thousand people.
Twenty thousand people, equivalent to the total number of students in ten schools.
"I hadn't thought about it much before, I had no idea how hard it was to build up a fanbase." My cousin said thoughtfully. "I saw that your first video got hundreds of thousands of views, but you only had 30,000 or 40,000 fans, and I thought it was too few. Now that I think about what tens of thousands of fans means, it feels completely different."
Liu Zhuohao replied, "That's right. There's a nurturing stage for bloggers. It's not like one video goes viral and all the fans come at once. You have to rely on a series of content, like hooks, to hook the audience one by one and slowly turn them into loyal fans."
At least, that's how it is now, 14 years ago.
He paused, then added, "But there are also periods of fatigue."
"Like the random challenge series I'm doing now, the data explodes in the first few episodes because of its novelty. But once the audience gets tired of it, even if you switch to more expensive beef, as long as the format remains the same, the growth will plateau."
"Because expectations are raised, the sense of urgency about 'what will the next episode be like' diminishes."
His tone was pragmatic: "But if we keep doing this series, it shouldn't be a problem to gain at least 100,000 to 200,000 more followers."
"but----"
"This is too slow!"
Tens of thousands of followers are not enough to negotiate higher prices and have sufficient bargaining power between the website and suppliers.
To achieve a significant leap in popularity in a short period of time, you need a "benefactor"!
His voice was not quiet in the small room with only a few people.
Neither his cousin, Li Zekai, nor Cheng Bing and Yang Boran uttered a word; they all understood the meaning behind those words.
On the computer screen, Liu Zhuohao switched back to the interface.
A video is slowly uploading—titled "About My Business Being Too Good, So I Was Reported by a Competitor (Suspected)".
"Hello everyone, I am Liu Zhuohao."
The video is set in a rented apartment, with Liu Zhuohao sitting at a computer desk. The camera is positioned on the table to his left, filmed from a "self-narrating" perspective.
He was from the same angle as when he introduced himself in the first episode.
"About who I am as a blogger, why I dropped out of school at such a young age to set up a stall, why my business is so successful, and why I have so many followers —"
He explained softly, "You can learn about all these reasons by browsing my other videos. I usually edit these parts and put them at the beginning. If you're not interested in the food segment later on, you can just watch the beginning."
"Of course, if any of my fans are willing to help, they can also introduce me in the comments section. Thank you very much."
Liu Zhuohao picked up the camera and faced it directly, then formally cupped his hands in greeting.
"Now, let's get down to business."
He was facing the camera, saying, "This video might be a little different from the previous ones. It's a bit heavy. The theme is about how I was maliciously reported by someone who is suspected to be a competitor because my business was doing too well."
After he finished speaking, a dull sound effect suddenly came from the video, and several frames of the filter showed black and white images.
Furthermore, four bright red characters appeared in the center of the video: "Malicious Reporting".
The next scene shows footage of the vendor setting up a stall.
"To ensure that customers don't have to worry about food safety while dining, my staff and I wear action cameras while we're setting up our stall."
"But here—"
"You can take a look at these materials we filmed while we were setting up our stall."
Liu Zhuohao's voice acts as narration, explaining the unblurred faces in the footage—some were elderly men, some were elderly women, some were disheveled young men, and some were women wearing masks—
"queue."
The person in the video is moving at 10x speed, dawdling around in front of the stall.
"Intentionally arguing with other customers."
The people in line shouted insults at those behind them, such as "Can't afford good food," "So rude," and "You're such a jerk."
even----
"And coordination."
While they were arguing, some people in the crowd were also participating, but these actions were exposed when the footage was magnified and the audio was extracted.
After the footage ended, Liu Zhuohao reappeared in the video, looking at the camera with a serious expression. "This was a premeditated and malicious provocation!"
'
"We don't know who's behind this, but we've made a bold guess: it might be someone in the same industry. Of course, this is just a guess."
"Videos like these can actually last for several hours. Even if played at 10x speed, it could take an hour to watch all the evidence we have. Based on the time we've discovered so far, this behavior has been going on for about half a month, but it may actually be longer."
As he spoke, his tone grew even heavier, "And yesterday afternoon..."
"We've been reported!"
The scene changed again, and the footage was brought up.
The video shows everything from the regulatory officials getting out of the car to Liu Zhuohao cooperating throughout the process, and then calling his cousin to confirm whether the procedure was compliant—nothing was omitted.
"The staff at the regulatory bureau were very fair and impartial. Because I presented complete documents, they didn't make things difficult for me. They even told me that everything I had was in order."
"Logically speaking, I should have chosen to trust the officials at the regulatory bureau and submitted the evidence to them, but the key point is—"
The material did not stop after the regulators left; it continued.
"They're really putting on a good show! Who knows if their ID is fake!"
"Yeah, just making a phone call and putting on an act, right? A lawyer? Who are you trying to fool!"
"Boss, you've got some connections! The inspectors were so polite to you, they even waited for you when I called!"
"Are you trying to pull a charade? Who will you hold responsible if something goes wrong with the food?"
These sounds were extracted, amplified, and played twice in the video.
The faces of all passersby were blurred.
Liu Zhuohao reappeared, leaning back in his chair. His face was no longer as composed as when he faced law enforcement; instead, it was tinged with deep weariness and confusion.
"Yes, even though I produced all the documents that could prove my innocence, and even though the law enforcement process was open and transparent, some people still refused to let me go."
"background?"
He repeated the word, his smile somewhat bitter. "Those who have seen my previous videos probably know that I am just an ordinary person who got into university but didn't want to burden my family too much. I wanted to earn some tuition fees myself, and then I found out that I could make a living by setting up a stall, so I continued to do it."
"I really don't understand why I have to face all this just because my business is doing a little better?"
"My cooperation with the inspection in accordance with the law has been interpreted by some as me having connections" or "acting out a charade." The lawful conduct of law enforcement officers has been reduced to polite flattery.
He looked directly into the camera, his eyes filled with genuine confusion: "Then what do I have to do to prove my innocence? I don't know."
"The reality is, my customer traffic dropped by more than half last night!"
He presented a brutal figure.
"So, besides wanting everyone to know what happened, I also really wanted to ask for help."
"My cousin is a lawyer, but he is also a recent graduate who has just been hired. He can only offer advice on legal procedures. When it comes to this kind of malicious competition and slander hidden in the shadows, he and I are both inexperienced."
"Have any of you encountered similar situations before, or do you have any good suggestions? If you'd like, please leave a comment below. I will read every single one carefully."
"Right now, it seems I have no better option than to wait for the test results."
He sat up straight, faced the camera, and solemnly said, "No matter what the outcome, I will give everyone an explanation. Once the final result is out, I will release another video to explain everything."
"Thank you for reading this far. I am Liu Zhuohao, a small stall owner who is still learning how to deal with malicious behavior."
The video ends here, the screen goes black, and white text appears.
"The innocent will remain innocent, and the guilty will remain guilty, but sometimes you have to work hard to polish your own reputation."
Please stay tuned for updates on this incident.