Chapter 343: The Star-Making Myth, A Mahjong Routine

The next day, it was overcast; Yan Li went to the bathroom, skipped exercise, and lay back down, silently savoring this historic moment.

Fan Xiaopang felt a bit cold and snuggled closer to him; Yan Li released Qin Lan beside him and shifted his sleeping position.

This time everything else was perfect, just the bed was too small—can't fit all of us; we'll need a bigger one later.

Hmm, even though this time I took a shortcut, Yan Li still had confidence he could replicate it.

If it can happen once, it can happen twice—and then a third time!

Fan Xiaopang had practically given up; Qin Lan was half-permissive, and even Dong Xuan, the most resistant, had her limits broken again and again.

Perhaps squeezed to the edge of the bed, Dong Xuan woke first, tugged the blanket, saw Yan Li awake, and rolled her eyes.

"Feeling proud?"

Yan Li nodded shamelessly; Dong Xuan spat at him, then started pushing further inward.

Honestly, Dong Xuan was quite loyal—she didn't touch Qin Lan, instead shoved Fan Xiaopang, which woke the latter up.

"Still looking for trouble, huh?"

Fan Xiaopang remembered last night's grudge, still annoyed; it was done, regret was useless, but the real issue was being bullied by these two shameless bastards.

"You wait."

"Come on, scared of you?"

Dong Xuan wasn't the least bit afraid; although last night Yan Li had biased the fight, once they actually clashed—without going for kills—two-on-one was still a huge advantage, finally letting her and Qin Lan vent their anger.

The two faced off, barely hiding anything; Yan Li watched intently.

It felt like the overcast sky outside had turned white!

Dong Xuan realized and covered up; Fan Xiaopang reached out and pinched; Qin Dong wasn't good, but the worst was this bastard.

Yan Li, thick-skinned and tough, didn't care at all; after a bit of commotion, he simply started indoor exercise.

The poorest was Qin Lan—she had the weakest combat ability, collapsed into deep sleep by morning, only to be forcibly woken by Yan Li to brush her teeth and wash her face.

Sihe Academy, main house

Zhang Hong called Yan Li and the others over for breakfast—more like brunch, since it was nearly ten.

"Lanlan, eat more—I see you're not hungry?"

Zhang Hong urged Qin Lan, who shot a dagger-like glance at someone without a word.

"Probably drank too much last night—appetite's off. Just nibble something, I'll recover soon."

"I see. I'll have your dad make you some light porridge later."

The New Year food was rich, inevitably greasy; Zhang Hong arranged for Old Yan to cook again. Qin Lan was about to refuse when Fan Xiaopang smiled sweetly and spoke up.

"No need to trouble Dad—she's just dehydrated. Drink more water, that's all."

Puff~

Dong Xuan nearly choked; Qin Lan's face flushed crimson, humiliated and desperate to die; Yan Li coughed lightly and changed the subject.

"Dad, Mom, did anyone come to pay New Year visits this morning?"

"A few came together—old hometown folks. I told them you weren't up, so they didn't stay long—came in, kowtowed, and left."

Yan's grandmother added: "I gave them all red envelopes."

Few knew where Yan Li's parents lived—only a few hometown brothers and trusted inner circle members, all genuine insiders; whoever came to pay respects got a red envelope.

"I turned off my phone last night; just replied to some messages. I expect many more visitors this afternoon and evening—if you're tired of it, go to the neighboring courtyard or go out."

Yan Li was used to social obligations; the others were less certain.

As for red envelopes, it's best when elders give them; Yan Li handing them out isn't bad either. The envelopes themselves aren't important—it's the sentiment they represent.

Old Yan patted his belly: "I've still got to watch the pot—I'll stay home."

Watching the pot was an excuse; in truth, he enjoyed watching others come to pay New Year visits—uncles and uncles greeting him, cigarettes offered, gifts received—it was all so prestigious.

Zhang Hong felt the same, didn't want to leave; Yan's grandmother was better, but she'd promised her grandson to hold the fort, so she couldn't abandon her post.

With the elders staying, the women couldn't leave either—they lacked the energy to go out anyway.

"Let's just stay home and play."

The mahjong table was set up again; Dong, Fan, Old Yan, and Zhang Hong played; Qin Lan had wanted to join but feared her mother-in-law would get too eager and rush over to help tidy the neighboring courtyard, so she used the time to wash yesterday's bed sheets.

Yan Li watched from the side, sent digital New Year greetings via text, and kept an eye on Weibo's status.

As Yan Li predicted, Weibo became the epicenter of Spring Festival Gala traffic, with countless netizens posting and discussing this year's CCTV Gala.

Zhao Ben Shan, Liu Qian, Zhou Jie, Zongguanxian—all remained high on trending lists, but the most terrifying was Xiao Shen Yang.

This so-called effeminate man saw his Weibo followers surge from a few thousand to nearly a million overnight.

Yes—nearly a million in one night, breaking Weibo's single-day follower-gain record.

And if you calculate from last night's midnight to this morning's midnight, the record would rise even higher—easily surpassing one million.

Keep in mind, this wasn't yet the so-called traffic era; many well-known websites couldn't even hit a million daily active users.

A personal Weibo account gaining a million followers overnight—this was a star-making myth orchestrated by Weibo, the Spring Festival Gala, and several media outlets covering it.

Yet this myth was only beginning; the Gala's peak viewership was on New Year's Eve, but there was also a period of influence fermentation and diffusion.

For at least a week, Xiao Shen Yang would be an explosive topic.

Afterward, the popularity wouldn't be so high, but with fame established, traffic would flow continuously.

Yan Li loved people who brought traffic to his platform—he was even willing to personally promote one, to secure loyalty and sustain the conversation.

【Backend is exploding—congratulations @Xiao Shen Yang for breaking Weibo's single-day follower-gain record! Overnight fame—now everyone in the world knows your name.】

After praising Xiao Shen Yang, Yan Li wasn't satisfied—he also tagged magician Liu Qian.

He too was one of this year's Gala breakout stars, just not as extreme as Xiao Shen Yang—but still wildly popular.

Although Xiao Shen Yang had few followers before, since he was from the Zhao Family Troupe, Weibo had previously invited all Zhao Family members to join and verified them.

Liu Qian, however, had even less fame—his Weibo followers were still in the hundreds, unverified; it was only after the Gala that Weibo contacted him overnight and finalized verification.

Because of this, Yan Li specifically @ed this person to boost his visibility and help Weibo better capitalize on the Spring Festival Gala traffic.

Besides the Spring Festival Gala, the largest traffic source, it was also the Spring Festival season, and many celebrities used Weibo to send New Year greetings to fans and viewers, or posted photos of their family's holiday routines, bringing considerable attention to Weibo.

Not only celebrities, but Weibo also launched activities such as "Show Off My New Year's Eve Dinner," "I'm Sending New Year Greetings from XX," and "East-West-South-North Grand Celebration."

Encouraging users to share their holiday activities greatly increased platform activity and festive atmosphere.

While celebrities and trending figures were traffic hotspots, ordinary users could not be ignored.

Companies like Sina Weike always emphasized Weibo's strategic foresight, functional diversity, and celebrity mega-strategy, and so on.

But they overlooked Weibo's one crucial advantage: its user ecosystem had always remained relatively healthy, building a relatively inclusive, harmonious, and positive environment.

This point seemed insignificant, but it was very important.

Users who had stayed on Weibo long enough grew accustomed to its relatively comfortable and friendly atmosphere; when they tried other platforms, they often developed negative impressions for various reasons and chose to leave.

Conversely, relatively ordinary netizens who had spent long periods on other platforms, upon first arriving at Weibo, quickly sensed the difference and became loyal users.

User ecosystem, user experience, alignment with user needs… these terms weren't even rare in the internet industry.

But in this era of frantic expansion and growth, many internet companies and platforms didn't care about this—they'd rather just acquire more new users than expend effort on it.

Only when the market was nearly saturated and entered the stock phase, when acquiring new users became extremely difficult, would they begin competing over service quality.

Weibo itself hadn't deeply cultivated or meticulously refined anything yet; it had merely paid slight attention and taken just two extra steps beyond others—but that was already enough.

In business competition, you don't need to be exceptionally brilliant; you just need to be better than your competitors.

As they played around, people gradually came over to pay New Year visits.

Yan Li and Old Yan, Zhang Hong, occasionally went out to greet them; Qin Lan and others would show their faces when they met acquaintances.

For Yan Li's hometown brothers, they generally followed hometown customs: upon entering the main house, they knelt and kowtowed before the ancestral altar—one kowtow each—for Yan Grandma, Old Yan, and his wife, totaling three kowtows.

Some would try to force it, but Old Yan and Zhang Hong usually avoided them.

Unless they were close relatives or direct junior family members, strangers wouldn't sit so brazenly and expect to be kowtowed to—it would seem too arrogant.

Yan Grandma was old, and all visitors were her grandsons' generation, so she didn't need to be too strict about it, but she still tried to have them kowtow toward the main house.

For those not from Yan Li's hometown, they might not have the custom of kowtowing for New Year; then they followed the visitor's custom—bowing, clasping hands in greeting, or saying auspicious phrases was fine.

The form didn't matter; sincerity and attitude were key.

Of course, some had researched Yan Li's hometown customs and came straight in, kowtowing without hesitation.

For example, Lin Jiachuan, Zhou Yi, and Zhang Songwen, the moment they entered, began kowtowing; Yan Li couldn't stop them.

"Good children, get up quickly."

Yan Grandma told the three to rise, gave each a red envelope, and Yan Li introduced them.

"Mom, do you remember? This is Jiachuan… all my college roommates, they've visited home before."

Yan Li's parents weren't visiting Beijing for the first time; as Yan Li's good friends, these three weren't strangers to the house, though visits were limited—only Zhang Hong, who ran a restaurant and had a good memory for guests, retained some recollection.

"Sit down, sit down—you're not all from Jingcheng, right? Why didn't you go home for the New Year?"

"Yi's family is in Jingcheng, Jiachuan bought a house here, his parents came too, so they're staying in Jingcheng this year; I have work, I'll return to Guangdong in a couple days," Zhang Songwen explained, though he left out another reason.

That was: the three knew Yan Li's whole family was spending the New Year in Jingcheng, so they'd agreed to come together to pay their respects.

Their journey to where they were today owed much to Yan Li's help and relied on their private friendship.

Other Yi'an artists didn't even know where Yan Li's parents spent the New Year or where their home was; they had this opportunity, so of course they wanted to show their appreciation and strengthen personal ties.

Other Yi'an artists, not knowing where Yan Li's father was spending the New Year or where his home was, naturally seized the chance to show off and strengthen personal ties.

Fan Xiaopang and the others had been in the side room and hadn't come out; hearing the commotion, they recognized familiar voices and emerged.

"Sister-in-law… sister-in-law, sister-in-law."

Lin Jiachuan, seeing Fan Xiaopang and behind her Qin Lan and Dong Xuan, gritted his teeth and called "sister-in-law" three times in a row; Zhou Yi did the same.

In most cases, they referred to Dong Xuan as "Sister Xuan" from college days; Qin Lan was sometimes called "Sister Qin," but Fan Xiaopang had always been called "sister-in-law" privately.

Yet, no matter what they called her normally, now that they'd first addressed Fan Xiaopang as "sister-in-law," if they called the other two "sister," it would be suicide.

Indeed, upon hearing the two's address, Qin Lan and Dong Xuan both showed clear approval.

Zhang Songwen, older and unable to call them "sister-in-law," escaped unscathed and simply used their names.

Fan Xiaopang naturally shifted into hostess mode: "Dad, Mom, it's almost mealtime—why not let Yi and the others stay for dinner?"

Qin Dong didn't want to be left behind, equally virtuous, chiming in with "Dad, Mom" to arrange for guests to stay.

Qin Dong, unwilling to fall behind, likewise kindly insisted with one after another "Dad and Mom" to persuade the guests to stay.

Lin Jiachuan and the others knew Yan Li was busy, didn't overstay, made excuses to leave, and Yan Li personally saw them off; at the door, Lin Jiachuan and the others all gave a thumbs-up.

Lin Jiachuan and the others knew Yan Li was busy, so they didn't stay long, made excuses to leave, and Yan Li personally saw them off; at the door, Lin Jiachuan and the others all raised their thumbs.