MMB Chapter 231 The Only Guardian Medal
Chapter 231 The Only Guardian Medal
As Lu Ran finished speaking
A chorus of envious gasps erupted from the audience.
In their view, this was an olive branch extended to him by Lu Ran.
Given that Lu Ran extended an invitation to him under the scrutiny of so many media outlets, the terms of the offer must be quite attractive.
Lu Xiao stood there, her lips moved, but she couldn't say anything for a long time.
Lu Ran waited for her for two minutes, then asked, "So? Interested?"
Lu Xiao took a deep breath and then slowly shook her head.
"Mr. Lu," his voice trembled slightly, but was firm, "thank you for your kindness. I... I feel I am not capable enough."
The audience fell silent.
Lu Xiao continued, "I'm just an ordinary programmer. I'm okay at coding, but I can't do anything else. I like TUTU, I like this community, and I like everyone in it. But if I joined a company, it probably wouldn't feel the same way."
"I want to continue being the group leader, to continue raising rabbits, stealing vegetables, and playing games with everyone. I don't want to become... become someone working in a company."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Lu Ran with some nervousness.
Upon hearing Lu Xiao's words, Lu Ran suddenly realized that he had been making assumptions.
It's true that their own fans genuinely like TUTU, but if they join the company, the feeling will be different.
When a hobby becomes a job, the passion fades.
"Okay." Lu Ran nodded in understanding. "Then you can continue to be your circle leader. But—" He paused, "You rejected me once, you can't reject me a second time."
He turned around, took a box from a staff member, walked off the stage, and personally handed it to Lu Xiao.
Inside the box was a gold medal, larger and more exquisite than the one on the screen, with a line of small print engraved on the back: "[To the Rabbit Guardian - You are the earliest guardian of this home]".
"This medal is unique," Lu Ran said. "You can come to TUTU anytime you want. If you don't want to come, just stay in that circle. No matter where you are, you'll always be one of us at TUTU."
Lu Xiao held the medal, her eyes red-rimmed.
Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and the orange banners waved wildly.
After the press conference ended, Lu Ran returned backstage and found Shen Yuege leaning against the wall, looking at him with a half-smile.
"Who taught you this emotional manipulation trick?" she asked.
"Self-taught." Lu Ran took the water she handed him and gulped down a large mouthful.
"That Lu Xiao," Shen Yuege said, "did you know him before?"
"I don't know him." Lu Ran put down his water bottle. "But when he said he didn't want to become one of the people in the company, I suddenly understood him a little."
Shen Yuege raised an eyebrow: "Understand what?"
"I understand that some people like something simply because they like it. They don't want to get involved in all that other stuff." Lu Ran leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "What we product developers fear most is this pure liking being consumed."
Shen Yuege looked at Lu Ran, smiled, and naturally took his arm.
"Let's go home. I'm hungry."
Aren't you going back to the company?
"I'm not going back today." Shen Yuege smiled. "I'll stay with you."
The two walked out of the theater, and it was already dark outside.
The neon lights of Shanghai began to illuminate the city, and the office buildings in the distance were brightly lit.
Lu Ran suddenly remembered something, took out his phone and glanced at it.
TUTU backend, daily active users: 19,234,567.
It has increased by more than one million compared to before the press conference.
He smiled and put his phone away.
The real show is just beginning.
...
Three days after the press conference, TUTU's daily active users surpassed its previous peak.
Lu Ran stared at the string of numbers on the backend data panel; it had already exceeded 2000 million.
Daily active users: 23,847,892
Twenty-three million.
It is three million more than the peak value before WeChat launched.
"Mr. Lu," the maintenance guy's voice had gone from excited to numb, "our servers are full again."
"Then add it."
"I added more, but it's still full."
"Then add more."
"If we add more, next month's budget will have to double."
Lu Ran lightly slapped him on the head: "Can't you understand human language? Double it if you want. We're rich now anyway."
This is not bragging.
After the press conference, GG merchants swarmed back like sharks smelling blood.
Xiaomi phones, Genki Forest, and Perfect Diary—those three companies that ran away the fastest back then are now the fastest to come back, and they're offering prices that are 10% higher than before.
Lu Ran certainly had no reason to refuse; a fool wouldn't make money when he could.
"Mr. Lu, we were blind to what we were doing before..." This time, the tone on the phone was as sincere as could be.
Lu Ran didn't make things difficult for them; he signed what needed to be signed and accepted what needed to be accepted.
In business, there's no need to be at odds with money.
What truly surprised him was the reaction of those small and medium-sized brands.
A restaurant selling snail rice noodles immediately offered to sponsor TUTU's "late-night vegetable stealing" time slot, arguing that "eating snail rice noodles and stealing vegetables are two of life's greatest pleasures."
A cat food company wants to collaborate with "Rabbit Pets" magazine, arguing that "cats and rabbits don't get along, but they are both furry."
The most outrageous one was from an electric toothbrush seller who said they wanted to invite Lin Weiwei to brush her teeth live on TUTU, because "Weiwei's teeth are so white, I want everyone to see how she brushes them."
Lu Ran was very pleased after reading through these letters of intent for cooperation.
It seems that everyone has discovered the potential of their TUTU, but the only drawback is that there is no brand with a significant influence.
Most of our current partners are small and medium-sized enterprises, but there are still a lot of them.
"Brother Zhou," he turned to Zhou Mingzhe, "have we... gotten a little too heated?"
Zhou Mingzhe pursed his lips and said, "There's no low heat, right? It should be medium heat now. When are we going to turn up the heat to reduce the sauce?"
"Well, Zhou, you've become so funny these past few days. Have you taken a fancy to some girl and are you working on your emotional intelligence?"
"No way!" Zhou Mingzhe blushed. "Let's get down to business."
"Take a look at the data of those celebrity accounts." Zhou Mingzhe pulled up a panel. "Lin Weiwei gained five million followers in three days. Zhang Xincheng has four million followers. Li Yixin from Xinghua posted a video last night teaching a rabbit to dance, and the views immediately exceeded twenty million. Lin Weiwei also posted a similar rabbit dance video afterward."
"These fans weren't bought by us; the artist brought them himself. They came, and they brought TUTU along too. It's called—what's it called again?"
"It's called the fan effect," Lu Ran replied.
"Yes, the fan effect," Zhou Mingzhe said. "Weibo rose to prominence based on this. Now that we have it, what are we afraid of?"
Lu Ran nodded, but something still felt off.
He opened Weibo, wanting to see what was happening there.
The top trending topic: #LinWeiwei teaches rabbits to dance#
Clicking on it leads to a screenshot of Li Yixin's video, captioned: "Watched it on TUTU, Weiwei is so cute!"
A chorus of wails erupted below:
"Why on TUTU? Doesn't Weibo deserve Vivi?"
"I've already downloaded TUTU, ladies, let's go!"
What is TUTU? Please provide a link!
The more Lu Ran looked at it, the more subtle it seemed.
The comments section on Weibo is full of people saying TUTU is doomed.
This scene...it's kind of surreal.
He scrolled through the list again and found that it wasn't just Lin Weiwei. Zhang Xincheng, Chen Kaiwen, Li Yixin, Wang Chengcheng—every artist who joined TUTU had people recommending TUTU under their Weibo posts.
Weibo staff probably noticed the problem and started deleting and controlling comments.
But fans have plenty of ways to keep promoting it, using homophones, abbreviations, and emojis.
What does "TT" mean? It means "secretly," not "TUTU."
What is "That Rabbit"? It's the movie "That Rabbit," not "TUTU."
What is a "rabbit farm"? It's a breeding base in my hometown, definitely not a TUTU (a type of scooter).
Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the various creative ways people were promoting their products.
The power of fans should not be underestimated.
...