Chapter 10.19 Wednesday, Noon

Qiao Liang put down his controller, paused the game on the large TV, and went to the door to pick up his takeout.

After moving to Jingzhou yesterday, he had officially settled in. Qiao Liang planned to gather his friends in Jingzhou for a get-together on the weekend. After all, it was a weekday, and President Pei and the others should be quite busy and wouldn't have much time.

While eating his "touching fish" takeout (slacking off at work takeout), he browsed his phone to check the messages in the fan group.

"Old Qiao, it seems like someone is swindling people using Tenda's name. Shouldn't you ask someone on the inside about what's going on?"

"Yeah, isn't this ruining Tenda's reputation?"

"The most outrageous thing is that this person even got verified on Weibo, it's too deceptive!"

Qiao Liang was taken aback.

Someone was swindling people using the Tenda Group's name? And they even got verified on Weibo?

How brazen!

Qiao Liang immediately clicked on the link sent by a fan in the group, which took him to a Weibo page.

"Tenda Ma Yang?"

"Verified as... an internal employee of the Tenda Group?"

"Hmm... there seems to be such a person."

"Where did I hear that name before?"

Qiao Liang felt that the name Ma Yang sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite recall it.

Because Old Ma's department had never had close contact with Tenda's other departments, many department heads had only heard of him but never seen him, let alone Qiao Liang.

"I remember!"

"Wasn't this the guy who invested in IOI and earned five hundred million for Tenda?"

"Is someone impersonating him? That can't be right, Weibo's verification shouldn't be wrong."

"Then what is he doing?"

Qiao Liang felt a little confused. If this was the real Ma Yang, then he would be a right-hand man of President Pei, a bonafide high-level executive of the Tenda Group.

Why does he have so few followers on his Weibo, like a fake account?

Clicking on Ma Yang's Weibo again, he found only one post from last Saturday, saying that he would randomly help people fulfill their dreams, but he hadn't posted anything since then.

It had been four days, and many people had forwarded and commented on the post, and some had even left QR codes for payment, but there seemed to be no follow-up.

That's why these people thought Ma Yang was swindling people using the Tenda Group's name, and there were many people scolding him as a liar below.

Qiao Liang was a little puzzled. That shouldn't be right, should it?

How could the dignified Director Ma go back on his word?

The person who earned five hundred million for President Pei wouldn't deceive people for a few tens of thousands of yuan, right?

Qiao Liang carefully read the forwards and comments and found that the content was very simple, nothing more than comments like "Pick me, pick me" or "Lowering the odds of winning."

"Could it be that it's because these people wrote too simply?"

Qiao Liang suddenly became interested and forwarded the post, writing about his dream in detail.

"Director Ma, hello. I am a new up-and-coming content creator who makes videos out of love, but my fans always say that my microphone is too trash. In order to give my fans a better viewing experience and to better explain Tenda games, could you please fulfill my dream and reimburse me for a professional microphone? Thank you very much!"

He also attached a QR code for payment at the end.

After forwarding the Weibo post, Qiao Liang didn't pay too much attention to it and continued to eat while browsing the group.

However, after finishing his meal and checking Weibo again, he suddenly discovered that Director Ma had replied!

Among a pile of comments like "How dare you call yourself a new up-and-coming content creator? Have you no shame?", Director Ma's comment was like a firefly in the night, so outstanding.

"Your dream is very good! But unfortunately, I can only help grassroots people with fewer than 1,000 followers fulfill their dreams! Very sorry!"

Qiao Liang was stunned. Only help grassroots people with fewer than 1,000 followers fulfill their dreams?

What a bizarre rule!

Logically, the more interaction he has with people who have more fans, the higher the buzz will be, right?

You're more like a scammer this way!

Sure enough, many of Qiao Laoshi's (Old Qiao) irritable fans had already started scolding in the comments below Ma Yang's reply.

"The scammer dares to show his face!"

"What a strange rule, is this discrimination? Can't people with more fans have dreams?"

"I meet the requirements, why aren't you paying attention to me?"

However, some people were obviously inspired by Qiao Liang's Weibo post and began to write about their dreams seriously.

"Director Ma, hello. I am a corporate slave who wants to resign because my company always has us working 996 hours a week, but I can't muster the courage due to financial pressure. I don't want money, I just hope you can help me with an internal referral so I can join Tenda. Thank you very much! Of course, if that's not easy to do, paying me money will also work."

There were some similar replies.

After Qiao Liang forwarded Ma Yang's Weibo post, many of his fans also poured in. Although the vast majority of them didn't believe it and were just observing, some still tried their luck.

Unexpectedly, after a few minutes, Ma Yang forwarded the previous comment from the "corporate slave."

"Internal referral is not possible! To join Tenda, you must pass a unified exam, this is the company's rule! But I can sponsor you some money to prepare for the exam with peace of mind and buy materials to review. I've already sent ten thousand, good luck!"

Soon, the original commenter also forwarded the Weibo post.

"It's actually real! Thank you, Director Ma! I'm going to resign and focus on preparing for the Tenda exam!"

Below was a screenshot of the receipt, of course, some key information was censored.

This Weibo post immediately attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

"Holy crap? He actually sent money?"

"Was it because the dreams weren't written in enough detail before?"

"Is this a shill? Are they singing a duet to deceive people?"

"Daddy! Please help me fulfill my dream too!"

Those who had been chasing after Ma Yang and scolding him on Weibo instantly changed their tune.

Although many people were still skeptical, even more people started writing serious comments below!

Soon, new content began to appear on Ma Yang's Weibo.

"One must not let the children suffer, wanting to have a guaranteed supply of safe milk for the children every morning is a good dream! Five thousand has already been sent, ask me for more when you're done drinking it!"

"Wanting a fully automatic heckling machine? This shows that you have artistic taste! Five hundred has already been sent, go place your order!"

"Wanting to work well, one must first have a good body? Twenty thousand has already been sent, go to a regular hospital for a comprehensive physical examination, and buy some nutritional supplements to replenish your health! I also remind everyone to pay attention to their health!"

One Weibo post after another quickly received enthusiastic responses from netizens.

"I really received it! Thank you, Director Ma, I misunderstood you before, I apologize!"

"Director Ma, you are really my benefactor, thank you!"

"Daddy! I also have a dream, please help me fulfill it too!"

Qiao Liang couldn't help but laugh and cry. These silly netizens really had no integrity.

They were scolding fiercely just now, but after finding out that he was really sending money, their attitude instantly made a 180-degree turn.

But after observing carefully, Qiao Liang discovered something unusual.

"This Director Ma's way of sending money is a bit unique."

In fact, doing giveaways on Weibo is already commonplace. There are also those who send money directly, but the number is relatively small.

In Qiao Liang's view, everyone playing like this on Weibo is ultimately for the sake of buzz.

The best way to buy buzz with money is actually through giveaways: they spread quickly, have high attention, and the entire attention span is very long.

If you send money, the attention is obviously much less than a giveaway, after all, a giveaway can give dozens or hundreds of prizes, while sending money can only be given to one person at a time; moreover, a giveaway can last for a month, while sending money ends all at once and cannot continue to create buzz.

Even if you use the method of sending money to buy buzz, most people will choose to send it to celebrities with many fans, because this way the buzz is the highest!

Director Ma, on the other hand, was the opposite.

He didn't buy a single follower, and he was sparing with his words when he posted on Weibo. He didn't even come out to defend himself when so many people were scolding him as a liar, and he waited silently for so many days before finally sending out his first sum of money.

Moreover, Director Ma seemed to have his own set of standards when choosing people.

He won't send money if the number of followers exceeds 1,000, and only sends money to small and grassroots internet users;

He won't send money if the content of the comment is too short or empty, and he doesn't care even if many netizens shamelessly call him daddy, only giving money to those with sufficient and sincere reasons;

Moreover, the reasons cannot be repeated, copying homework is not allowed;

After sending the money, no matter how grateful the other party is, Director Ma will never reply with a single word, as if they were just strangers who met by chance, helped each other, and then forgot about each other in the martial world.

Qiao Liang had seen many people spend money on Weibo to buy buzz.

But it was rare to see someone like Director Ma who spent money but didn't seem to be interested in buzz!

Qiao Liang followed for several hours and found that Director Ma had stopped forwarding Weibo posts, probably because today was over.

Before finishing, Director Ma posted one last Weibo post: "I am very happy to have helped many friends fulfill their dreams today! I will continue to help friends fulfill their dreams in the next few days, so please pay more attention. In addition, starting tomorrow, I will be live streaming gog, welcome everyone to follow my live stream!"

He had sent out more than ten thousand in one day, and the number of followers had skyrocketed from the original three digits to tens of thousands.

However, many people were obviously here with a free-riding mentality, only forwarding and commenting on Weibo posts, but not following.

Director Ma didn't seem to care about this, he didn't require everyone to follow, and he didn't have any restrictions on those who commented, just sending money directly when he saw a satisfactory reply.

As a result, he spent more than ten thousand, but only gained tens of thousands of followers, and it didn't seem to have a very good effect on spreading, which was a total loss.

Qiao Liang couldn't help but wonder, Director Ma doesn't seem to understand marketing?

The efficiency of this money spent is too low!

The key is that there is no way to identify whether these people really need money or are making up stories. Among the more than ten thousand that were sent out, some people really need money, but there must also be some who are making up stories to deceive people.

He obviously hasn't grasped the essence of President Pei's marketing spirit.

But Qiao Liang thought again, Director Ma is an investment genius after all, and he may have President Pei's guidance behind him, so there must be some deeper consideration?

Live streaming gog tomorrow, is there any special consideration?

Don't tell me, it's quite exciting.

Although Qiao Liang himself was not qualified to participate because he had too many fans, he still followed Director Ma and prepared to continue to pay attention to the progress of the situation.