Chapter 234: Wrong Reasoning, Correct Conclusion
When Pei Qian saw the message Hu Xiao sent, he fell silent.
What a question—it struck straight to the soul.
He hadn't expected Feihuang Studio to come up with this kind of show.
At first, Pei Qian thought Feihuang Studio was going to do something like TestV—a serious tech review channel with the occasional skit, a blend of product testing and short video entertainment.
But it turned out he was completely wrong!
Feihuang Studio had flipped the formula—the "short video" became the true centerpiece, while the "product review" part was so watered down it practically disappeared.
This way, no matter whether the product featured in the video was an ad or not, the audience wouldn't feel any resistance.
Even those "I've used this product, it's great, highly recommend it." comments—the ones posted by hired bots—ended up being mistaken for a running joke!
From now on, no matter what kind of sponsorship Feihuang Studio sneaks into the show, as long as they keep up the same quality, the viewers won't mind. They can "cash in" as boldly as they please!
Of course, there was one downside.
The range of products they could actually advertise was tiny.
Take this first episode's "portable washing machine," for instance—it was already a bizarre, borderline nonsensical gadget.
If they tried this same video format with a serious product—say, a smartphone, a camera, or a computer—it would completely fall flat.
In other words, A Day in the Life of a Great Inventor could only work with the strangest, most absurd gadgets possible. Anything remotely normal simply wouldn't do!
That limitation would make monetization… rather difficult.
Still, Pei Qian had to admit: Huang Sibo had clearly remembered his instructions—always prioritize content quality and reputation above all else.
Pei Qian rubbed his temples.
It wasn't about the one thousand yuan he'd secretly spent out of his own pocket—that money wasn't much. What bothered him was that it had completely backfired.
Instead of stirring up trouble, the identical comments actually became a meme. They boosted Feihuang Studio's popularity instead, and no one even realized that a paid comment campaign had taken place!
Quietly they came, quietly they went—and just like that, His thousand-yuan "private fund" had evaporated into thin air.
He stared at Hu Xiao's soul-piercing question in the chat and felt speechless.
'You're asking which side I'm on?'
'I was about to ask you the same thing!'
'What kind of useless water army did you hire? I want a refund!'
But then again…
The phrase those bots were spamming was the one he himself had asked them to use.
"Oh. Right. Never mind then."
. . .
Meanwhile, on the other end, Hu Xiao waited for "Hardcore Review" to reply, but the chat stayed silent.
The longer it stayed that way, the less confident he felt.
At first, he'd thought "Hardcore Review" was just some guy who wanted to hire bots to mess with a competitor.
But now... things didn't seem so simple.
Feihuang Studio and "Hardcore Review"—the timing of their moves was too perfect.
Why had "Hardcore Review" insisted the bots post just that one strange, simple line instead of bad-mouthing the product?
And why had Feihuang Studio suddenly released a new video right after "Hardcore Review" hired those bots—even though they hadn't uploaded anything for over a month?
And the result? The video and that exact comment created the perfect viral storm, even spawning a whole new meme!
Could all that really be a coincidence?
Not impossible, sure—but incredibly unlikely.
To line up that many coincidences, to time it so perfectly, to manufacture hype so precisely—even turning it into a meme? There was no way it happened by accident.
No, the only reasonable explanation was…
It had all been planned in advance!
Feihuang Studio and "Hardcore Review" must know each other—maybe they were even the same group!
They'd spent just a thousand yuan to buy a small wave of bots, deliberately created a viral in-joke, and rode it all the way to fame!
Now that Hu Xiao thought about it—Feihuang Studio hadn't released any videos in ages. Their traffic had long since cooled down.
And yet suddenly… they were trending again.
This time, Feihuang Studio had launched a brand-new show—and all it took was a thousand-yuan comment-bot campaign to spark a viral meme and send the video's popularity soaring.
That level of marketing prowess was nothing short of godlike!
Thinking back on Hardcore Review—that small, obscure account that blew up simply by smashing phones in the crudest way possible—Hu Xiao became more and more convinced that whoever ran it was no ordinary person.
On the surface he looked like a clown, but somehow, everything he did went viral.
Was all of this… part of a larger plan?
The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
He reread the message he'd just sent:
"Bro… which side are you even on?"
Now that he looked again, that line sounded accusatory—almost like he was picking a fight. That was way too rude!
…
Pei Qian, meanwhile, still hadn't figured out what to reply.
Sure, he wanted to ask for a refund, but this didn't seem to be the water army operator's fault.
He hesitated, then began typing:
"This is a misunderstanding, I didn't expect—"
But halfway through, he noticed something.
The previous message from Hu Xiao—the one asking "which side are you on?"—had just been retracted.
A new message popped up instead:
"Bro, your marketing technique is seriously next-level! Respect!"
Pei Qian: ???
He felt dizzy.
What was he even talking about?
Before Pei Qian could type a reply, a soft "ding" sounded—he'd received a transfer notification.
One thousand yuan.
"Bro, we're both in the review business. I won't take your money this time—let's call it friendship. If you ever need help again, just say the word. We're brothers now!"
Pei Qian: ???
He still didn't quite understand what was happening, but seeing his lost one-thousand-yuan "private fund" miraculously return to his account filled him with sudden joy.
Not bad. This 'Little Fox Reviews' guy actually has some integrity!
If he ever needed to hire bots again, he could definitely go to him.
Pei Qian thought for a moment, then replied:
"This cooperation was a pleasure. Looking forward to working together again."
Hu Xiao instantly replied:
"Of course!"
And at that moment, Hu Xiao felt secretly relieved.
The Hardcore Review uploader hadn't denied anything, hadn't tried to explain—he'd simply said "happy cooperation."
That confirmed it!
It had all been orchestrated by Hardcore Review!
Which meant Feihuang Studio and Hardcore Review must be tightly connected—maybe even the same company.
That was valuable intel.
After all, the digital-review scene wasn't that big. The market pie was growing, sure, but not as fast as people imagined.
Every new "player" entering this small pond had to be watched carefully. Who knew when a new face might turn out to be competition?
Thankfully, for now, both Feihuang Studio and Hardcore Review seemed to be taking very different routes from his Little Fox Reviews.
Still, Hu Xiao found himself unable to sleep that night. Something told him this peaceful little niche of his might soon face unpredictable change.
…
Pei Qian, of course, had no idea that Hu Xiao was now drowning in stress—nor that through one wrong assumption and a chain of faulty logic, the man had somehow reached a perfectly correct conclusion.
President Pei's mind was already on other things.
Adding more difficulty for Feihuang Studio seemed impossible now.
Their current formula was nearly flawless—though, naturally, that meant monetizing it would be painfully hard.
So, Pei Qian decided to leave them alone for the moment.
Aside from updating Hardcore Review, he also needed to keep an eye on Turn Back Before It's Too Late.
The demo would be ready in a couple of days, and Pei Qian planned to play it himself, test the difficulty, and make sure all the "pain-inducing" mechanics were in place.
From now on, he'd need to suffer through the game daily to ensure that when it officially launched, it could scare away as many players as possible.
"Sigh… being a boss is so exhausting."
Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh. Running a company was truly back-breaking work.
<+>
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