Chapter 54: Crazy Viral Explosion: New User Growth Soars (3k Request for Follows)

“Chen Yansen, have some tea! Finding someone to help you with expense reimbursement? Easy peasy for me.”

Cao Dahua leaned back on the sofa, puffing out his chest as he boasted.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Teacher Cao.”

Chen Yansen lifted his teacup, took a small sip, and exchanged a smile with Cao Dahua.

“Next February, universities across Huian Province will hold a university student entrepreneurship competition. Are you interested in participating?”

Cao Dahua took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.

Chen Yansen immediately guessed this was Tang Qingshan’s idea—he didn’t even pause before replying: “Of course I am. What’s the prize?”

In his view, joining this student entrepreneurship contest was pure waste of time.

But since it was Tang Qingshan’s suggestion, he could just send Song Yuncheng or Zhuang Rui instead—he didn’t need to show up himself, but he’d make sure to pocket the benefits.

Cao Dahua waved a finger, wearing an exasperated “you little rascal” expression, then paused and turned serious.

“The top three prizes range from 100,000 to 500,000 yuan. Plus, the final round will invite notable alumni and Huian-born entrepreneurs, especially those holding key positions in venture capital firms.”

Here, Cao Dahua gave Chen Yansen a knowing look, lips curled in a smile, waiting for praise.

“Like Shi Yuzhu or Wang Chuanfu?”

Chen Yansen pressed.

Cao Dahua’s face stiffened, then he chuckled bitterly: “Don’t even dream of that caliber. Let me be clear—if your project wins first place, securing five million in funding won’t be a problem.”

Five million?

Who are you trying to fool?

Chen Yansen sneered inwardly. FoxTao already had 160,000 cumulative registered users, with daily active users hovering around 20,000, over 3,000 orders daily, and gross profit nearing 150,000 yuan.

Once the “0-yuan discount” feature launched and performed as expected, five million would be just his gross profit over twenty days.

“Five million? I’ll take it seriously then.”

Chen Yansen didn’t want to dampen Cao Dahua’s enthusiasm—he feigned surprise and put on a serious expression.

“Good. Drink your tea.”

Cao Dahua had fulfilled the president’s request and grinned broadly.

Chen Yansen, having achieved his goal, drained his tea and stood to take his leave.

Cao Dahua made no effort to stop him, continuing to lazily loaf around, humming a tuneless melody.

Back on the second floor, everyone was busy testing “0-yuan discount.” The room buzzed with requests: “Wenbo, help me cut one!” “Zhuang Rui, why aren’t you checking QQ? Help me cut!” “Chen Xu, lend me your Newman phone—see if the browser’s compatible.”

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, sat at his desk, and reopened Zhuang Rui’s requirements document for another read.

Damn, this kid’s deviously clever.

Zhuang Rui had split the discount progress bar into three segments: returning users, new users, and users who hadn’t placed their first order.

Simply put, returning users could cut the least—only up to 99.9%—and the remaining 0.1% required help from new users or those who hadn’t placed their first order to complete the cut.

The underlying logic was hardcoded; the value of new users, returning users, and first-time non-purchasers was all laid out in the document.

At six p.m., after thorough testing, Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei found more bugs, fixed them all, then turned their attention to Chen Yansen.

“Launch it! Song Yuncheng, send Wenbo the configured page link.”

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and called out loudly.

“Got it, Sen-ge!” Zhang Wenbo nodded, gathering Zhuang Rui, Song Yuncheng, and Chen Xu, and the four headed into the temporary meeting room 204 to finalize the launch.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Wenbo gave Chen Yansen an OK sign through the glass.

Chen Yansen clicked the campaign link—the first thing he saw was a banner reading “Get It for 0 Yuan.” Below it, prizes appeared in order: iPhone 4, Nokia 5230, Shanxing i8000, a crate of apples, milk, tissue packs, and 1,000 yuan cash.

The rules at the bottom were blunt and simple: invite new and returning users to help cut, and you could win an iPhone worth 4,999 yuan.

“@Everyone cut me one, thanks!”

Chen Yansen casually forwarded the link to dozens of QQ groups and waited for the explosion.

“Sen-ge, did your account get hacked? Is this link a virus? Don’t click it, everyone!”

“Cut you one? Are you kidding?”

“Sen-ge, I cut you one—will I really get the phone for free?”

“Chen Yansen, I cut you 39 yuan!”

“Senior, is this FoxTao’s new campaign?”

High school groups, campus card agent groups, freshman exchange groups—all erupted at once.

“It’s our project’s new campaign. Join in—it’s real and valid. Hope everyone gets their free iPhone!”

Chen Yansen replied uniformly again, wondering whether he should quit the groups now to avoid being flooded with complaints later.

This cut-and-get-free mechanism was utterly annoying.

Like when his ex called at midnight asking him to download Pinduoduo—or when a friend he hadn’t spoken to in twenty years messaged him just because he was a new user.

Chen Yansen had no other choice. With limited funds, FoxTao could only grow fast through unconventional methods.

Wang Zihao and the others were also pushing hard—spending money on trending keywords, flooding campus websites, student forums, and Tieba with campaign links, and posting under different personas on social platforms.

For example: “Brothers, I got the uncut version of Titanic—link inside”; “Seven men and a little girl—link inside”; “My ex got AIDS—should I go get tested?”

These promotional messages spread like malware across the internet.

Meanwhile, the external advertising team placed interstitial ads on Youku, Tudou, and Liu Fang, and bought marginal ad slots on the three major portals.

The ad creative featured an iPhone 4 with bold text: “Get It for 0 Yuan”—the click-through rate was sky-high.

Even as night fell completely, everyone still hunched over their computers. Chen Yansen sighed, pulled out his phone, and ordered over a thousand yuan worth of food from the Shuangqing Hotel outside campus, asking them to pack and deliver.

On the big screen, daily registered user numbers surged rapidly.

Normally, breaking 1,000 new registrations was hard—now it had already passed 10,000.

An hour later, two restaurant staff arrived by van to deliver the meal—they’d never handled such a huge order before and feared the food would get cold and upset the customers.

“Take a break! Eat!”

Chen Yansen slapped the table and shouted.

“Holy shit! Sen-ge, you’re treating us to a feast!”

“Whoa! How many dishes is this?”

“Sen-ge is generous!”

Everyone put down their mice, grinning and fawning.

“This is nothing? When sales hit ten million, we’ll go straight to the Sky Garden in the city.”

Chen Yansen spoke casually.

By now, no one doubted Chen Yansen was bragging—they all looked forward to it.

After all, the Sky Garden was the most luxurious hotel in Xucheng, with a minimum per-person spend of 800 yuan—something they’d never dared dream of before.

“Sen-ge, can we cash out?” Zhang Wenbo scratched his head, grinning.

“Yeah, Sen-ge!”

As soon as Zhang Wenbo spoke, several others chimed in.

“Cash out your head! When we hit the goal, you’ll get bonuses, raises, and a seafood feast—all of it.”

Chen Yansen cursed, snapping at Zhang Wenbo—this was meant for everyone present.

Instantly, everyone’s energy surged—they wanted to drop their chopsticks and jump back to work.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Shanghai.

Zhang Peng ran from dorm to dorm with his phone—he’d won 888 yuan cash in FoxTao’s last voting campaign and successfully withdrawn it.

His trust in FoxTao skyrocketed. In just one month, he’d placed over a dozen orders on the site, and the moment “0-yuan discount” launched, he threw himself into mobilizing friends to help him cut.

Who wouldn’t want a 4,999-yuan iPhone?

Most people wouldn’t dare ask—they’d only approach close classmates or friends.

But Zhang Peng was different—he was obsessed. He began sweeping male dorms, first telling them about the last voting campaign, then pulling out his phone to announce the free-phone event and asking if they wanted to join.

It seemed implausible, but the success rate was surprisingly high—college students had nothing but time.

After working all night, Zhang Peng’s progress bar hit 93%—just 7% left to claim his free phone. He was so excited he barely slept, and the next day he kept hunting for more cuts.

Zhang Peng wasn’t alone. When people saw the progress bar nearly empty, who’d give up a phone within reach?

The sunk cost was too high—they’d already invested so much effort, pushing them to keep cutting.

When Chen Yansen walked into Room 206, Zhuang Rui rushed over, beaming: “Sen-ge, this is insane!”

“You’re the one who’s insane!”

Chen Yansen rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

“Since the ‘0-yuan discount’ launched, in just sixteen hours, 46,000 new users registered through the campaign link—and as participation grows, the viral speed keeps accelerating.”

Zhuang Rui was so excited his brain wouldn’t shut down—he hadn’t even heard Chen Yansen’s reply, just kept rattling off numbers.

“Good. Keep going!”

Chen Yansen remained calm. In his past life, he’d spent over a decade in e-commerce, successfully launched businesses—his vision and perspective were sharp. And now, reborn, every step he took was ahead of the curve.

To him, success was expected—failure would be the surprise.

At that moment, Cao Dahua walked over with someone, smiling broadly.

Chen Yansen looked up—and was surprised to see a familiar face.

(End of Chapter)