Chapter 30: Douyin Internet Celebrity

Su Huan grabbed Qin Yun by the arm and asked, puzzled, "Why are you running around? Can't you just sit still?"

Qin Yun smiled: "I wanted to see how many bird species I could photograph today at Xixi Wetland."

"What's so interesting about that?" Su Huan frowned, then sternly said, "Sit still and let's chat."

Qin Yun saw a yellow wagtail land by the lake, then flap its wings and fly off, silently sighing in regret.

He put down his camera and sat heavily on the folding chair: "Go on, what do you want to talk about?"

Su Huan gave him a sidelong glance before speaking slowly: "You really plan to become a self-media creator? I looked into a few MCN agencies these past two days—nine out of ten internet celebrities are just content fillers for platforms; very few actually make money."

"Not necessarily," Qin Yun shook his head. "It's just a direction for now."

"You'd better think this through," Su Huan leaned back, pursed her lips, and gazed at the few birds flying toward the lake. "The era of making money just from views is over. If you can't land good ads, filming videos alone won't earn much—so many accounts with followers are slowly shifting toward live-streamed sales."

Qin Yun glanced at her in surprise, curious why she'd gone out of her way to research this, but he'd studied it too, so he wasn't concerned. This path in self-media is indeed hard right now, but if you find the right niche, it can be easier than others.

"Some internet celebrities earn more than stars—like Li Jiaqi, Dong Yuhui… but they're rare exceptions. Especially for Douyin video creators: even with massive followers, if you can't maintain freshness, you'll be quickly abandoned."

"I know," Qin Yun picked up his camera, aimed it at a approaching sandpiper, and snapped the shutter. "In this industry, what ultimately matters is sustained content vitality, the ability to self-iterate with the times, and personal brand credibility. If you keep these three core elements, you build an irreplaceable barrier."

"Good that you understand."

Su Huan's mind churned with thoughts. Since meeting Qin Yun in Hebei, she hadn't been calm at all—especially after learning he was divorced, something long dead in her heart began stirring again.

At night, she'd slapped herself more than once, yet the feeling only grew stronger.

She'd secretly liked him in college, but that was ancient history, blown away by time. She shouldn't have felt anything further upon seeing him again. Yet the truth was maddening—these past few days, all she could think of was his face.

"Sigh… frustrating…"

Qin Yun suddenly spotted a small bird with a long beak and reddish-brown feathers, perched at the edge of a tree branch, dipping its beak into the water.

"Ruddy Turnstone!"

He immediately raised his camera, zoomed in, and snapped the shutter. Instantly, the system panel displayed the fifth bird species—only five more to complete the task.

"Watercock, Ruddy Turnstone, Sandpiper, Great Egret, White-cheeked Duck…"

Xixi Wetland had rich birdlife—indeed, only places with good ecology attract animals.

As Qin Yun bent to check his camera, Su Huan suddenly screamed: "Watch out!"

Before she finished, a loud "plop" echoed, then nearby, people scrambled and shrieked toward the lake.

"Qin Yun, a child fell into the lake!"

Qin Yun froze, then tossed his camera aside and sprinted toward the lake. Though he started later, his closer proximity meant he reached the shore first. There, he immediately saw a child sinking beneath the water, flailing wildly.

Without hesitation, he dove in, grabbed the girl's arm, and pulled her up, pulling her into his arms.

Immediately, loud "waa-waa" sobs erupted as the girl clung desperately to Qin Yun's neck.

Qin Yun swam back, felt solid ground beneath his feet, and rushed ashore.

"An'an!"

The child's mother turned pale with fear, rushing over. Seeing her mother, the girl collapsed into her arms, sobbing loudly—clearly terrified.

Others arrived soon after. One middle-aged man was the same person who'd chatted with them earlier; the rest, adults and children alike, were clearly several families out for a picnic.

"Brother, thank you."

The child's father checked him over thoroughly, confirmed he was unharmed, then expressed his gratitude to Qin Yun.

Qin Yun shook his head, glanced at the still-crying child, and smiled: "As long as the kid's safe, that's all that matters."

The middle-aged man slapped Qin Yun's shoulder hard and told his wife: "There's clothes in my bag—let the young man change. Don't catch a cold."

"Right, right! Gao Ren, I'll get it—I brought some too," the child's father finally realized.

Soon after, the child's father brought over a T-shirt. Qin Yun didn't refuse—he stripped off his wet top, wiped himself briefly with tissues, and slipped the shirt on.

Beside him, Su Huan's face flushed red at the sight of Qin Yun undressing, especially at the definition of his muscles—her heartbeat quickened.

"When did he get so fit?"

Qin Yun naturally didn't know The idea within. He changed clothes; his pants were beyond repair, so he'd just have to make do. They introduced themselves and got to know each other briefly.

The middle-aged man was Gao Ren; the child's father was Wu Shaohua; the child was Wu Xiaoluo, nicknamed An'an. The other family's man was Chen Xu—a Douyin internet celebrity, with only three to four hundred thousand followers, but still a solid presence.

A creator with this follower count could already earn a living from short videos.

Seeing a real internet celebrity, Qin Yun grew interested and expressed his own desire to make short videos.

Chen Xu chuckled: "Qin Ge, what niche are you planning? Short videos are tough now—I've run my account for nearly three years to build up this many followers."

"I plan to travel, wander the world, and film interesting moments along the way," Qin Yun replied honestly.

Hearing this, Chen Xu shook his head: "Your niche is too crowded, with high sunk costs. Sure, Douyin's full of videos with millions of likes and endless ads—but that's surface-level. Every viral video isn't luck; it's the result of countless concepts tested, endless takes filmed, and hours of editing."

Qin Yun nodded in agreement. Clearly, Chen Xu mistook him for an ordinary travel vlogger—understandable, since everything worth filming in travel has already been filmed.

Chen Xu's throat was dry from talking; he took a sip of his drink. Seeing Qin Yun still eager, he opened his phone and showed him his homepage.

To Qin Yun's surprise, though Chen Xu looked rough, he was an emotional content creator—specifically one sharing family dramas: mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, things like that. It stunned him.

Chen Xu continued: "Douyin has so many niches now, it's nearly impossible to create a new one. If you want to be a travel vlogger, you're stuck with travel guides, accommodation reviews, travel logs, product recommendations—how hard is it to stand out?"

"So in the end, no matter the niche, content is key. Great content makes people ignore everything else."

Qin Yun nodded: "I've learned something."

What he said made sense—it was exactly The idea within.

"The grilled meat's ready," Gao Ren's wife began serving grilled meat to everyone's bowls. Qin Yun and Su Huan now stood by their table.

Somehow, An'an's mother told her something; An'an picked up a piece of grilled meat with chopsticks and ran over to Qin Yun: "Uncle Qin, eat grilled meat."

Qin Yun laughed, reached out, and patted the girl's head—still damp, but mostly dried by her mother. "Thanks, An'an. Uncle won't be polite then."

He swallowed the piece of grilled meat An'an had given him.

The families gathered, ate, drank, chatted—relaxed and pleasant. Qin Yun savored this comfort.

"Dad, Dad, what kind of bird is that?"

Gao Ren's son—the same little boy from the start—was named Gao Tu, nicknamed Zhuangzhuang. Thin as a stick, completely opposite his nickname. And clearly, Gao Ren had gotten his son late in life.

At that moment, Zhuangzhuang pointed at a bird on the shore and asked curiously.

Gao Ren looked over, shook his head: "Daddy doesn't know. Maybe it's some kind of egret? Look, its belly is all white."

"No way, egrets have really long necks." Zhuangzhuang was clearly not so easy to fool, which made Gao Ren lose a bit of face.

Qin Yun laughed heartily and beckoned: "Zhuangzhuang, give Uncle the roasted meat in your bowl, and Uncle will tell you what bird that is, okay?"

Zhuangzhuang thought for a moment, then carried the bowl over: "Okay, Uncle, all the meat in my bowl is for you, you tell me."

Qin Yun casually raised the camera and pressed the shutter, then said: "That bird is called a Long-billed Stint (jian heng). They're known as the little spirits of the wetlands, very alert — any little disturbance and they just 'whoosh' fly away."

Zhuangzhuang nodded: "Thanks, Uncle, you really know a lot, way more impressive than my dad."

Gao Ren rubbed his nose, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"But your dad is really strong, look how burly he is."

Zhuangzhuang turned and glanced at Gao Ren, then immediately nodded: "Mm-hmm, my dad's strength is boundless."

"Brother Qin, you even know about birds?"

Wu Shaohua saw that Qin Yun answered off the top of his head — it didn't look like something he'd just picked up on the spot.

Qin Yun smiled and nodded: "I'm fairly interested in animals and plants, so I usually do some research on them."

Chen Xu nearby, his mouth stuffed full of roasted meat, lit up at these words, swallowed it whole: "That's one of your selling points right there. If you can rattle off the habits of animals and plants that ordinary people don't recognize, your videos will have a highlight that other videos don't."

Wu Shaohua said: "But if people want to know these things, they could just watch science videos, right? Using this alone as a selling point isn't really enough."

Chen Xu nodded: "Mm, so you have to combine it with the video, weave this knowledge in perfectly so that people pick it up without realizing it, and get that impression: wow, this blogger is really knowledgeable. Once you have that impression, you gradually deepen the viewer's sense of identification, and over time, maybe it'll take off."

Qin Yun summed it up: "To put it bluntly, the core logic behind a blogger blowing up is — be badass!"

"Hahahaha… the words are rough but the logic isn't wrong, that's exactly the reasoning."

Qin Yun nodded thoughtfully.

Before they knew it, it was past noon, the sun blazing down fiercely, and Qin Yun said his goodbyes.

"Big Brother Gao, Brother Chen, Brother Wu, two sisters-in-law, and An'an and Zhuangzhuang — Uncle and Auntie have to go now, bye-bye!"

"Bye, Uncle!"

Pulling the cart, Qin Yun and Su Huan returned the way they came. But just as they reached Fudi, Qin Yun suddenly said: "Su Huan, here's the key, I need to go to the bathroom, wait for me in the car."

Having said that, without waiting for Su Huan's reaction, he immediately ran off and vanished.

Su Huan: "……"