Chapter 25: Even If I Have to Crawl, I Will Reach Him

The producer, who had been silent until now, whispered, "Mr. Xiao, the lyrics are indeed excellent, but we simply cannot get in touch with Lin Qianfan."

Xiao Peng glared at him. "Can't get in touch? What are you people even being paid for?"

"We’ve sent him emails and called him repeatedly, but there’s been no response," the producer tried to explain.

"Bullshit! I think you haven't been trying at all!" Xiao Peng barked. "Starting tomorrow, Ning Yuanzhou, someone else will take your seat! You're finished!"

Ning Yuanzhou’s face paled, and he scrambled to his feet. "Mr. Xiao, please give me one more chance! I will definitely get hold of Lin Qianfan!"

Xiao Peng grabbed a stack of files from the table and slammed them down in front of the supervisor. "Go crawl to him and beg if you have to, though I doubt he’ll even spare you a glance."

Ning Yuanzhou’s face turned beet red. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Mr. Xiao, if we really can't reach Lin Qianfan, maybe... maybe we should try writing the melody ourselves..."

"Shut your mouth!" Xiao Peng slammed his hand on the table, making everyone in the conference room flinch. "Write it yourselves? What did that last song you wrote turn out like? You were torn to shreds for it!"

His gaze turned icy, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Do you think you can outdo the production team at Lanxing Studio? Can you replicate the effect of 'Jiangnan'?"

Ning Yuanzhou didn't dare to speak.

Xiao Peng pointed a finger at him. "Let me tell you, getting Lin Qianfan to write the melody is my bottom line. Either you reach him, or you pack your bags and get out."

"Mr. Xiao, please," Ning Yuanzhou pleaded through gritted teeth. "I will get in touch with Lin Qianfan!"

"This is your last chance," Xiao Peng said coldly. "If you don't reach him within three days, get out."

Meanwhile, Lin Qianfan’s official account promotion was nearing its end. Thanks to the recent marketing, almost every student at the school had an account, and links to the novels were being shared in every class group chat.

"Wow, this new novel is so good!"
"I know, right? The 'chasing the wife through a crematorium' trope is just addictive!"
"I read three chapters in one sitting yesterday; I couldn't stop!"

Furthermore, students from other schools began registering accounts, and some even started submitting their own work.

"I heard this account is huge, and you can actually make money from submissions. Is that true?"
"It’s true! My classmate earned ten yuan from a submission last time!"

This popularity caught the attention of some jealous rivals. In the Student Council of the Third Middle School, a boy looked at his phone and frowned. "Look at this account. It’s so popular—shouldn't we start one too?"

A person nearby leaned in to look. "Start an official account? Can you actually make money from this?"

"Of course! They pay for submissions, which means their operation is quite mature."
"We have plenty of students here who are good at liberal arts. We should definitely try it."
"That sounds like a plan," another agreed. "Should we reach out to their operations team and ask for some tips?"
"Why not just copy them?" someone suggested dismissively.
"Copy them? Do you think you can outdo them? They’ve already established a mature system. Is there any point in copying them now?"
"Let’s just give it a go. There’s nothing to lose."

After some discussion, they decided to try and imitate Lin Qianfan’s account to create a similar platform.

At that moment, in his classroom, Lin Qianfan was directing his roommates in updating the account.

"Qianfan, isn't this new feature too complex? Are you sure it'll work?" Yongpan looked at the computer screen, looking puzzled.

"It has to work," Lin Qianfan said, pointing at the screen. "Friend-to-friend chat is a basic feature, and link sharing is an expansion. Once these two are set up, our user retention will be much stronger."

"But the code for this chat function... it's a bit of a headache," Yongpan said, looking up at him.

"It has to be done, even if it's a headache," Lin Qianfan said firmly. "Our competitors have already set their sights on us. If we don't update our features, we’ll be overtaken sooner or later."

"Fine. Tell me what to do, and I'll change it," Yongpan sighed and went back to typing code.

"By the way, Lin," Dawei spoke up. "I heard from some students at other schools that they’re starting similar accounts too."

"They're quick, but it doesn't matter. Our advantage is our content and our features; they can't copy those," Lin Qianfan said, rubbing his chin.

Dawei frowned, unable to help himself. "But Qianfan, our data has really dropped quite a bit."

"Just today, I saw the backend numbers. Daily active users are down by over three hundred, and that’s just the morning count."

Yongpan turned around and added, "Some people are making noise, saying the new accounts at other schools are better, have more features, and pay more for submissions."

"You have to come up with a plan, right? We can’t just rely on 'trusting our gut'."

Lin Qianfan kept his eyes on the screen, listening, his expression shifting slightly, but he didn't answer immediately.

Dawei continued, "Look, the volume of submissions has dropped off a cliff these past few days. A few days ago, we were getting dozens; now, it’s only a few a day."

Yongpan sighed and leaned back in his chair. "We worked so hard, only for someone else to swoop in and reap the rewards. It's infuriating."

Lin Qianfan shook his head slightly, took his hands off the desk, and turned to look at them.

"This is perfectly normal. We’re making money, our profile is growing, and others are jealous and want a slice of the pie. Isn't that just how society works?"

Yongpan frowned. "So you think there’s nothing we can do? Just let them steal our traffic?"

Lin Qianfan chuckled and sat up straight. "What can they actually steal? Our model is already proven. Whether it's the content or the features, we are half a step ahead of them."

"Even if they imitate us, can they do it exactly like us? And even if they could, how long can they keep it up?"

Dawei was silent for a moment before muttering, "But the drop in our data is real..."

Lin Qianfan waved a hand. "Let it drop. It’s no big deal. The important thing is that we know how to pull those numbers back, and perhaps even push them higher than before."

Yongpan looked at him. "You have a plan?"

Lin Qianfan pointed to the computer screen. "The plan has been ready for a while; the timing just wasn't right."

"We’ll upgrade the content and raise the barrier to entry. They want to compete on low prices? We’ll use high-quality content to win the users back."

"High-quality content?" Dawei frowned. "That takes time, doesn't it? This isn't the moment for slow, meticulous work."

Lin Qianfan scanned them. "Quality isn't about being slow; it’s about being deliberate. You guys focus on the features; I’ll handle the content myself."

Yongpan nodded, seemingly beginning to understand. "When can this feature go live?"

Lin Qianfan checked the time. "At most, we have two days. It has to go live."