amaotonovel Chapter 1529 Premieres on First Day
Chapter 1529 Premieres on First Day
Chapter 1529 Premieres on First Day
The next day, even until almost the end of the workday, Wang Rong was still nowhere to be seen.
Qin Hao sat in his office, looking at the sunset outside the window, thinking that he probably wouldn't come.
He'd seen plenty of girls in nightclubs. They'd talk a good game, but when it came to actually leaving, they couldn't bear to give up the quick money they made. Besides, while his offers were decent, they weren't necessarily as attractive as those in nightclubs.
He shook his head, preparing to pack his things and leave work.
There was a gentle knock on the office door, followed by a slightly hurried "Mr. Qin, I'm sorry I'm late."
Qin Hao looked up and was instantly stunned.
Standing at the door was Wang Rong, but she was completely different from how she appeared at the bar last night. She had shed her heavy makeup, wearing only a light layer of foundation, revealing delicate features and a clean, fresh look. She wore a brand-new light gray business suit, clearly bought in a hurry and slightly loose-fitting, but it couldn't hide her reserved yet earnest demeanor—the very image of a newbie just starting out in the workplace.
Qin Hao stood up, looked her up and down, and smiled, "I thought you weren't coming."
Wang Rong blushed, lowered her head somewhat embarrassed, and nervously clutched the hem of her dress. Her voice was tinged with apology and awkwardness: "I'm so sorry, Mr. Qin. I got off work too late at the bar last night and drank quite a bit. I didn't wake up until 3 p.m. this afternoon. After waking up, I rushed to the mall to buy a decent outfit and rushed here..." As she spoke, she subconsciously tugged at the hem of her dress, clearly concerned about her slightly ill-fitting business attire.
"It's alright." Qin Hao waved his hand, gestured for you to come, and said in a gentle tone, "The fact that you came proves that I didn't misjudge you. Come on, let me show you around the work environment and introduce you to your colleagues."
Wang Rong nodded quickly and followed Qin Hao's footsteps, but she felt increasingly guilty. She hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said softly, "Mr. Qin, there's something I forgot to tell you yesterday... I didn't go to university. I started working after graduating from high school. I don't have much education, and I've never done any live streaming-related work before. I'm afraid I won't do well."
Qin Hao paused, turned to look at her, his eyes firm and without a trace of disdain: "For me, academic qualifications have never been a necessity; ability is. When you introduced that bottle of wine yesterday, you were clear, organized, and highlighted the key points, doing a better job than many so-called graduates from prestigious universities. I trust my judgment; you are the person I've been looking for."
A simple sentence, yet it flowed into Wang Rong's heart like a warm current. From childhood, she had been looked down upon because of her lack of education and connections. Working in nightclubs, she endured countless cold stares and grievances. Never before had anyone believed in her so steadfastly, so wholeheartedly. Her eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded firmly, her voice trembling with emotion: "President Qin, please rest assured, I will definitely work hard and won't let you down."
Qin Hao smiled and said nothing more, continuing to show Wang Rong the company. He first showed her the open-plan office area and introduced the operations director, technical support, and copywriter: "This is Director Li, who has five years of e-commerce operations experience. He will be mainly responsible for your live streaming operations from now on; this is Xiao Zhang, our technician, who will be responsible for live streaming equipment debugging and short video editing; this is Xiao Chen, the copywriter, who will be responsible for writing your live streaming scripts and short video copy."
Wang Rong greeted them one by one, a reserved smile on her face. She discreetly observed her colleagues and noticed that they were all dressed in smart business attire and spoke politely. Later, during casual conversation, she learned that most of these colleagues were graduates of prestigious universities, and some even had many years of work experience at major internet companies.
Looking at this startup, which was well-organized and full of vitality, Wang Rong felt even more fortunate to have come and became even more determined to do a good job.
After touring the office area, live broadcast room, and meeting room, Qin Hao led Wang Rong back to his office and poured her a cup of hot coffee: "Sit down, how are you feeling? Are you settling in?"
Wang Rong took the coffee, holding the cup with both hands, feeling its warmth, and a sincere smile appeared on her face: "It's great, President Qin. I never thought that someone like me would have the opportunity to work in such a reputable and excellent company. Before, I spent every day in nightclubs in a daze, but now, seeing everyone working so hard, I feel like I have a future."
Qin Hao was amused. He could tell that Wang Rong's words were meant to flatter him, but they also demonstrated her emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills.
"Since you think it's pretty good, when can you start work?"
Wang Rong gave a slightly embarrassed laugh: "Um... Mr. Qin, can I come back to work in three days? I used to work at night and sleep during the day in the nightclub, so my sleep schedule was completely upside down. I need to adjust my schedule, otherwise I'm worried that I'll fall asleep at work and it will affect my work."
Qin Hao chuckled and waved his hand, "Okay, no problem. But you don't need to worry too much, our live streams are mostly at night, which fits your schedule perfectly."
"Really?" Wang Rong's eyes lit up, and a look of surprise appeared on her face. "That's great! I'm used to working the night shift. I'm more energetic the later it gets, so it definitely won't interfere with my work."
After seeing Wang Rong off, Qin Hao breathed a sigh of relief. At least the trip to the nightclub wasn't a waste; he'd found a promising livestreamer.
However, none of the other three girls who passed the interview at the bar on the same day as Wang Rong came to the company.
One of the girls called Qin Hao, sounding somewhat apologetic, saying that something had happened at home and she had to go back to her hometown, so she couldn't come to the company for the time being.
Qin Hao didn't ask any further questions, but simply said politely, "It's alright, we can cooperate again in the future."
It wasn't until a few days later, when Wang Rong officially started working, that Qin Hao learned the truth from her. It turned out that the girl who had called her had originally planned to quit her nightclub job and come work for the company.
But when she told her roommate about it, the girl kept pouring cold water on her, saying things like, "A base salary of five thousand yuan is too low. You'll work yourself to death and it won't even be enough to eat. You might as well work at a nightclub and entertain more customers. You can earn several thousand a day." She also said, "Those small companies look like they could go bankrupt at any time. If you lose your job, you'll lose your nightclub job too. It's not worth it."
And so, after much persuasion from her roommate, the girl finally gave up her idea of leaving the nightclub and continued to work there.
Qin Hao remained silent after listening. Everyone has their own choices. He felt it was a rare opportunity to get out of poverty, and maybe the other person would even think it was a waste of her time to "make money." Since the other person didn't appreciate it, there was no need for him to force it. Anyway, there were other suitable live streamers besides this one; he could just spend some more time looking in nightclubs.
So, after Wang Rong officially started working, Qin Hao continued to use his evenings to scout for suitable live streamers in various nightclubs. His efforts paid off; a week after Wang Rong started working, he recruited two more girls willing to "go ashore"—one named Li Na, who had previously worked in cosmetics sales and possessed excellent speaking skills, adept at explaining beauty products; the other named Zhang Qi, lively and outgoing, loved to travel, and had visited many places, making her perfect for cultivating a travel expert persona.
At this point, Xingyao Media's behind-the-scenes team and livestreaming team are all in place. The next step is the most crucial one—creating an account, accumulating followers, and preparing for subsequent livestreaming e-commerce.
In 2015, China's short video platforms were still in their infancy, rife with chaos but also full of opportunities. At that time, Douyin had not yet been launched, and Tencent's Weishi, leveraging Tencent's powerful traffic advantage, adopted an operational strategy of "using celebrities to attract ordinary users," attracting a large number of users in the early stages and gaining a certain advantage. However, due to the severe homogenization of content, it did not form strong user stickiness.
Conversely, emerging players like Miaopai, Meipai, Kuaishou, Weipai, and Papaqi have entered this arena, each vying for market share with their unique positioning, resulting in a fiercely competitive industry.
Qin Hao devised a clear strategy for launching the three anchors based on their individual characteristics: Wang Rong was positioned as a "housewife," focusing on sharing down-to-earth and practical home goods; Li Na was positioned as a "beauty guru," focusing on explaining and recommending beauty and skincare products; and Zhang Qi took the route of a "travel guru," sharing travel guides from various places and recommending must-have travel items.
Once the strategy was finalized, the entire company mobilized. Copywriter Chen was responsible for writing short video scripts and WeChat official account articles, tech expert Zhang was responsible for shooting and editing short videos, and the operations team was responsible for publishing this content on various short video platforms such as Miaopai, Meipai, and Kuaishou, as well as the company's WeChat official account, attracting followers and accumulating initial traffic through high-quality content.
This was a long period of nurturing the account, and also a period of burning through cash. For the first two months, the company had no income whatsoever; all the funds were invested in content creation, platform promotion, and staff salaries. An ordinary startup would probably have collapsed long ago, but Liu Mengyao was wealthy and didn't care at all about the speed at which money was being burned. She would only occasionally come to the company to check on the progress and never urged Qin Hao to monetize the account.
The investment over these two months paid off. Since most users were still exploring short videos at that time, there wasn't much high-quality content available. As long as the content was of good quality and had a clear positioning, it would receive natural promotion from the platform. In just two months, all three streamers successfully surpassed 50 followers across all platforms. Among them, Wang Rong's "housewife" persona was the most relatable, and her content was the most practical; her follower count soared to over 70, making her the account with the most followers among the three.
While the company was focused on cultivating its online presence and building its fanbase over the past two months, Qin Hao didn't forget about his stock market strategy. "Teli A" experienced a period of explosive growth during this time.
Since July 9, without any major positive news, the stock price of Terui A has soared from 9.98 yuan, with a rapid momentum. In just one month, it reached its first rebound peak on August 13, with the highest price settling at 51.99 yuan, an increase of 426% in the period. It became the most "demon" stock in the stock market at that time, attracting the attention of countless investors.
Just when everyone thought that Terui A would continue to soar, its stock price suddenly turned downwards, plummeting from a high of 49.99 yuan on August 14 to 19.26 yuan on September 7, a drop of 61%. Countless investors who bought at the high were trapped and lamented their losses.
Just when the outside world thought that Terui A's "magic" had completely dissipated and its stock price would plummet, on September 8, Terui A's stock price started to rise again, recovering all lost ground and re-entering an upward channel.
Qin Hao constantly engaged in day trading, buying low and selling high. In just two months, his initial investment in the stock market multiplied 18 times. After deducting the 600 million yuan needed to invest in Xingyao Media, he still had 500 million yuan in cash on hand.
But Qin Hao didn't withdraw his money from the stock market. He knew this wasn't the end. Terui A would experience an even more frenzied surge before the end of the year, with the stock price peaking above 100 yuan. That would be when the major players would completely reap the profits, and the stock price would crash. He planned to continue using Terui A's high volatility for day trading to earn even more money.
When Qin Hao successfully transferred 600 million yuan in cash into the company's corporate account and completed the shareholding procedures, Liu Mengyao looked at the transfer record with a shocked expression, and even suspected that Qin Hao might be a rich second-generation heir hiding his identity.
"Qin Hao, you wouldn't happen to be an illegitimate child of some wealthy family, deliberately coming out to experience life, would you?"
Qin Hao smiled, feigning mystery: "If you think so, then it is."
After the joke, Liu Mengyao's smile faded, her expression hardened, and she said seriously, "To be honest, the company has been open for three months and we've been burning through cash without a single penny of revenue. It's not that I'm stingy or impatient; I just want to test whether your business logic of live-streaming e-commerce is viable. We can't just keep burning through cash like this indefinitely, can we?"
Qin Hao knew in his heart that Liu Mengyao was telling the truth. In the internet industry, the hardest thing has never been acquiring traffic—as long as you're willing to burn money, even renting bicycles can generate hundreds of millions of daily active users.
But how to monetize that traffic is the most crucial and difficult problem. Old-school forums like Tianya spent over a decade accumulating a massive user base, yet consistently failed to find a suitable monetization strategy, ultimately relying on selling advertising pages to barely survive. It's understandable that Liu Mengyao wants to quickly validate her monetization strategy.
Qin Hao pondered for a moment and nodded: "Then let's start next week and let them try live-streaming e-commerce."
This answer surprised Liu Mengyao. She had originally thought Qin Hao would object, and had even prepared a whole speech to persuade him to agree to cash in the money as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, Qin Hao agreed so readily.
"You agreed so readily?" Liu Mengyao raised an eyebrow, somewhat incredulous.
"Don't forget, I'm the company's second-largest shareholder. What's being burned now is my money," Qin Hao said with a smile. "Besides, the account nurturing over the past two months has been quite effective. We have enough followers, so it's time to try monetizing it."
Liu Mengyao smiled, her eyes full of admiration. Then she winked at Qin Hao, her tone slightly coquettish: "I knew it! We're really compatible. Qin Hao, don't you ever consider dating me?"
Qin Hao rolled his eyes helplessly: "Here we go again."
Seeing this, Liu Mengyao huffed and tossed her ponytail, then snorted, "Hmph, I'm ignoring you. I'll come back next week, and I'm leaving!"
After saying that, she picked up her bag, turned around and left, looking both charming and arrogant.
Qin Hao watched her retreating figure and shook his head helplessly. This young lady really lived a carefree and unrestrained life, but unfortunately, he had never had the habit of living off a woman.
A week goes by in a blink of an eye.
Qin Hao chose neither Weishi, which had the largest user base at the time, nor Kuaishou, but rather Mogujie, which was relatively smaller.
Qin Hao had his own considerations for choosing Mogujie: Although Weishi and Kuaishou had large traffic, their platform rules were complicated, and many cooperation conditions could not be agreed upon in a short time. Moreover, there were many streamers on the platforms, and the competition was fierce, making it difficult to stand out in the first live broadcast. As a latecomer, Mogujie was not as competitive as Taobao and JD.com in the e-commerce field. Facing the pressure from many e-commerce platforms, it urgently needed to find a new way to break through, and live streaming e-commerce was one of the core strategies formulated by Mogujie.
Both sides got what they wanted, so it was a perfect match.
Furthermore, Qin Hao didn't have Li Na and Zhang Qi do a joint live stream; instead, he chose to have Wang Rong test the waters solo first. At this time, live-streaming e-commerce was still in its exploratory stage, with no mature experience to draw upon, so various problems were bound to arise.
If three streamers broadcast together, and fans don't accept this business model, or if other unexpected events occur, the company will suddenly be put on the defensive and suffer a complete defeat.
Let Wang Rong do live streams alone first. This will not only spread the risk but also allow her to accumulate experience. Li Na and Zhang Qi can be gradually added later.
On the day of the live stream, the entire company was in a flurry of activity from the moment they arrived at work at nine o'clock in the morning. The operations team was busy setting up the live stream equipment, coordinating with Mogujie's official channels, and preparing the live stream script; the copywriting team was busy checking product information and preparing interactive scripts; the technical team was busy testing the network and adjusting the camera; and Wang Rong was in the dressing room putting on makeup, familiarizing herself with the products, and rehearsing the live stream process, her face full of tension.
Seeing this, Qin Hao took a glass of warm water and went into the dressing room, handing it to Wang Rong: "There's no need to be so nervous. It's not like you're going to the Bird's Nest to hold a concert. There are only a few of us from our company here, and the fans in the live broadcast room are all people who like you. What's there to be afraid of? Just like when you introduced that bottle of wine at the bar, relax and just perform normally."
Wang Rong took the water glass, took a sip of hot water, and the warm water slid down her throat, relaxing her tense nerves a little. She took a deep breath, looked at herself in the mirror, and whispered to herself, "Yes, Wang Rong, you can do it."
Time passed slowly, and finally it was 7:30 pm.
At Qin Hao's command, the live stream officially began. Wang Rong sat in front of the camera, still a little nervous, but following the rehearsed procedure, she slowly began reading the live stream script: "Good evening, everyone, I'm Wang Rong. This is my first live stream, and I'll be introducing a super practical rice cooker..."
With Wang Rong's livestream officially launched, Mogujie officially began driving traffic to the livestream as agreed. Of course, this traffic had to be purchased, but such investment was necessary to ensure a successful debut.
Within just a few minutes, the number of viewers in the live stream exceeded five thousand. Wang Rong gradually got into the swing of things, no longer nervous. She skillfully demonstrated how to operate the rice cooker while explaining in detail the product's advantages, functions, and usage scenarios. Her tone was friendly and natural, as if she were chatting with a friend, fully demonstrating her sales talent.
The fans in the live stream were very engaged, with comments constantly scrolling across the screen. Some asked about the price, some about the size, and some expressed concerns about the quality. Wang Rong patiently answered each question, creating a highly interactive and increasingly lively atmosphere in the live stream.
Just as the fans' anticipation reached its peak, Wang Rong, following the pre-arranged strategy, unveiled a "surprise bonus": "Family members, thank you for your support! This rice cooker usually sells for 199 yuan in the mall, but today in my live stream, it's an exclusive special price of only 9.9 yuan, with free shipping!"
The moment the words were spoken, the live stream chat exploded with excitement.
"9.9 yuan? Really?"
"It's so cheap, it's not a defective product, is it?"
"Host, hurry up and upload the link, I want to grab it!"
Wang Rong smiled as she looked at the scrolling comments on the screen and raised her voice: "Family members, there are only 100 spots available. I negotiated with the manufacturer for a long time to get this price. It's a complete loss to gain publicity, just to thank everyone for their support. Once they're gone, they're gone! Okay, three, two, one, here's the link!"
As soon as the link went live, fans in the live stream went on a buying frenzy. In less than a minute, backend data showed that all one hundred rice cookers were sold out, and even the remaining stock was gone.
Although this was just a money-losing promotional item designed to attract fans and create a lively atmosphere in the live stream, without actually making any money, this scene still excited everyone present.
Liu Mengyao was so excited that she rushed over and gave Qin Hao a big bear hug: "Qin Hao, I knew you were a genius!"
Qin Hao gently pushed her away, his face not as optimistic as Liu Mengyao's. He knew that taking advantage of a bargain was human nature; the 9.9 yuan rice cooker was just a bargain for the fans, it didn't prove anything. The real test was the next item—a kitchen knife set priced at 129 yuan, that was the real product to test its monetization potential.
Fortunately, Wang Rong did not disappoint Qin Hao. After the promotional item sold out, she immediately switched to other products and began explaining kitchen knife sets. She maintained her friendly and natural tone, explaining in detail the materials, sharpness, and usage scenarios of the knives, and even demonstrated cutting vegetables and meat on the spot, allowing fans to see the advantages of the products directly.
Perhaps it was the benefits of the promotional items that made fans trust the live stream, or perhaps it was because Wang Rong's explanation was so convincing that, within just three minutes, the backend data showed that the kitchen knife set sold over 300 pieces, with sales exceeding 30 yuan.
Seeing the excellent results of the live stream—high fan engagement and conversion rates far exceeding expectations—Mogujie's official team quickly increased its traffic-driving efforts, featuring the live stream on the platform's homepage. In less than half an hour, the number of users in the live stream exceeded 20,000, the number of comments increased dramatically, and orders poured in.
Wang Rong maintained a high level of enthusiasm throughout the entire live stream, explaining the products, interacting with fans, answering their questions, and guiding them to place orders. From 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM, a full three hours of live streaming, she didn't rest for a single minute. Her voice became hoarse, but she remained full of passion.
At the end of the live stream, the number of viewers in the live stream peaked at 3.2. Back-end data showed that the total sales of the live stream exceeded three million! This achievement not only exceeded Liu Mengyao's expectations, but also exceeded the expectations of Mogujie's official team.
"Phew—finally the broadcast is over." Wang Rong turned off the live stream camera and slumped into her chair, rubbing her hoarse throat, her face full of exhaustion: "My throat is burning, I've never been this tired before."
But she had barely sat down when she was startled awake by a burst of enthusiastic applause. Led by Qin Hao, all the company employees surrounded her, clapping warmly with admiration and congratulations in their eyes. There were no superfluous words, no flowery praise, but this applause was more powerful than any words, causing Wang Rong's tears to flow uncontrollably.
Never before in her life had she felt respected and recognized like this. She knew that her choice was right; leaving the nightclub and joining Xingyao Media was the best decision she had ever made.
Looking at Wang Rong, whose face was streaked with tears, Qin Hao smiled with relief. He raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and announced loudly, "Everyone has worked hard tonight! President Liu has ordered a big meal and is treating everyone to a late-night snack so you can relax!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Mengyao immediately retorted, "Hey, why didn't you discuss it with me before making this decision for me? Why should I be the one to treat?"
Qin Hao smiled and shrugged: "There's nothing I can do, you're the big boss of our company."
Upon hearing this, the employees present couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.