Chapter 19: Entering the Game

Qin Qing didn’t really manage her account much. Each time she posted, that was it. At most, she’d just tap away the red dots indicating new comments and likes. She didn’t even like to read comments. She shared simply because she wanted to share, not treating it as a profession.

So, she didn’t care when she posted, what she posted, or what feedback people had after she posted.

It was purely for documenting her life and making herself happy.

Recently, she hadn’t discovered any new food check-in spots, so she focused on Baiyun Temple’s cafeteria, since Daoist Wutun’s dishes were different every day. Each time she tried something new, she would post about it to share and praise. Occasionally, she would also post daily interactions between Mumu and her two new friends, Chaichai and Feifei (Mumu: Not friends).

She didn’t know that her account, due to its almost 100% accuracy in recommending food, hadn’t seen any division or deviation in dish reviews based on different diner preferences. As fans started to check in based on her pictures and provide feedback in the comment section, her traffic gradually increased.

Especially when Baiyun Temple’s dishes were in short supply and the new menu for the Huaiyang cuisine restaurant “Yawei Jiangnan” hadn’t been launched, diners were craving but couldn’t get their hands on the food… Under the “hunger marketing” effect, viral spread ensued, and Qin Qing’s local followers skyrocketed…

Baiyun Temple.

After the temple closed for the night, the various guest-reception Daoists were reporting to the abbot and the supervisor.

The one in charge of the main hall said: “Recently, the temple’s incense offerings have improved significantly. The consumption of incense and candles has doubled compared to last month, and there are many more young people among the pilgrims.”

The one in charge of cultural and creative products said: “Sales of cultural and creative products have also increased by 60% compared to last month. Many people in the guestbook suggested making the two cats raised by Uncle Wuyong into cultural and creative products; they want to buy them.”

The one in charge of the convenience store said: “My overall turnover has increased. Roasted sausages aren’t selling well; several times I’ve heard pilgrims say they want to save room for the cafeteria. Beverage sales, however, are good, and they even suggested we set up a beverage vending machine in the cafeteria so they don’t have to buy from the convenience store and carry them over.”

Daoist Wutun’s apprentice said: “Master’s dishes sell exceptionally well. Every day they come out, they’re basically snatched up instantly. I don’t know how these pilgrims distinguish which dishes are Master’s. Now I can only implement purchase limits. Master often makes dishes that he himself doesn’t get to eat, and he’s so annoyed he doesn’t want to cook anymore. But the pilgrims’ demand is too high, so he doesn’t dare to truly stop.”

This was still a young Daoist. He assisted Wutun in managing the Dining Hall, and the recent enthusiasm for the Dining Hall left him bewildered: “Once, a female pilgrim came to me with a pile of Fortune Cards, saying she had spent a lot at the temple and now just wanted to eat a dish made by Master. I saw she was young, and her faith was so devout. She was teary-eyed and pitiful when she asked me, so I made an exception during the purchase limit and gave her two portions of Master’s dishes. As a result, many people came with Fortune Cards to exchange for dishes with the volunteers after that.”

Fortune Cards were a benefit for devotees at Baiyun Temple. One usually had to donate a certain amount of merit or spend a certain amount at the cultural and creative shop and convenience store to obtain them.

The young Daoist in charge of the temple’s network and publicity explained to the young Daoist: “The number of followers on all our temple’s platforms has increased significantly. I’ve checked the data, and most of them are local IPs. Recently, our temple has been very popular online, showing a trend of becoming an internet-famous temple.”

“I analyzed it, and currently, visitors to our temple fall into four categories. The first type are devotees, and the second type are pure tourists who treat our temple as a scenic spot for check-ins. These two types have always existed. The increase is in the latter two types who come specifically for something. The third type comes for the culinary skills of our Dining Hall’s Senior Daoist Wutun, and the fourth type comes for the two cats raised by Uncle Wuyong.”

“The source of these latter two types of visitors is someone sharing our cafeteria and the two cats online. Later, somehow, netizens spread it themselves, and some rumors emerged, saying that Senior Daoist Wutun’s vegetarian meals are a form of hunger marketing by our temple. Others said that if you can’t get them, it’s because your consumption level isn’t high enough, just like a luxury goods counter where you need to ‘match’ purchases before you can redeem the vegetarian meals.”

The young Daoist didn’t know what “matching” meant at first either, only finding out after looking it up, which left him speechless. And hunger marketing? He was in charge of publicity; how could he not know about such a plan?

He also explained what “matching” meant to the older Daoists, and then said to Daoist Wutun’s apprentice: “Someone using Fortune Cards to get dishes probably believed the ‘matching’ claim. You opened the door for that young girl, which solidified this rumor.”

The young Daoist was shocked and bewildered. He was just an ordinary young Daoist following his master in cultivation. Why did he have to deal with such complex matters? People down the mountain… people down the mountain were too strange.

After discussing the cafeteria, they talked about the cats. Speaking of the cats, the young Daoist also sighed: “To be honest, these two cats have now become internet-famous cats, much more famous than our temple. Many self-media creators and photographers specializing in cute pets specifically take high-speed trains and planes to photograph them. Our temple’s exposure in other provinces is entirely thanks to them.”

“Some people call them our temple’s guardian Divine Beast. After knowing their names, the phrase ‘Baiyun Temple’s guardian Divine Beast are Feifei and Chaichai’ somehow spread and became ‘Baiyun Temple’s waste materials,’ eventually simplified to ‘Baiyun Temple waste.’ Now this has become a topic online. Many netizens from other regions jokingly say, ‘Let’s go to Baiyun Temple to see the waste materials.'”

“Some actually came; I’ve seen their photos with the two cats. Some who couldn’t come even tipped our official account, specifically leaving messages saying it was for buying cat food and wet food for the two ‘waste materials,’ and asking us to do live streams featuring them. Abbot, what do you think?”

Abbot Daoist Wuxiang chuckled: “The cats are raised by Wuyong; go discuss it with him.”

Supervisor Daoist Wuwang was particularly displeased. He couldn’t understand why two fat cats that didn’t even catch mice and lived off the temple’s food were so adored and popular. People even came from all over the country with cameras and selfie sticks. What couldn’t they do with that spare money?

How could people who liked cats even outnumber the temple’s devotees?

This was unscientific!

Was his preaching no longer professional? No, it was very professional!

Was the Patriarch no longer majestic? No, very majestic!

Not listening to Daoist lectures, not bowing to the Patriarch, just chasing cats—it showed how superficial people are nowadays!

After self-reflection, the temple was fine, the Daoists were fine, and the Patriarch was also fine. The problem was those two cats, and the junior brother who was always with the cats.

Wuwang said to Daoist Wuxiang: “Abbot Senior Brother, you need to rein in that Wuyong. Look at the names he gave those two cats; they’re dragging down the temple’s reputation. What will people think of us? It sounds like our entire temple is full of ‘waste materials.'”

“Hahahaha…” Wuxiang laughed heartily, “Junior Brother, you’re so old and still so pedantic. If they say we are ‘waste materials,’ are we really ‘waste materials’? If they say we are pillars, does that make us pillars? Don’t be so hot-tempered at your age. I think ‘waste materials’ are quite good; ‘waste materials’ can earn more money than old Daoists, hahahaha.”

“Senior Brother, how can you boost the morale of cat-lovers and diminish the prestige of our Daoist sect!” Wuwang was incredulous that his senior brother had such an attitude. In a fit of pique, he stood up and left, flicking his sleeves.

“Don’t mind him,” Abbot Wuxiang said slowly, stroking his beard. The old Daoist had a good mindset. He said to Daoist Wutun’s apprentice: “Go back and tell your master too, let him guide others more in the Dining Hall, instead of working so hard himself. He’s already plump, and being around the stove all summer, he might get heatstroke… If the volunteers are hard to teach, let your senior brother in charge of the network post a recruitment ad. Recruit a few chefs from down the mountain, and your master can then free himself.”

“Yes, Senior Daoist.”

—

Yawei Jiangnan.

The lobby manager once again approached the executive chef: “Master, several people asked about soy sauce fried rice again today. Do you think we should update the menu ahead of schedule?”

The executive chef glanced at him: “Doesn’t printing the menu take time? Doesn’t the ingredient budget need approval? There are rules for a reason; you can’t just rush me.”

The manager sighed: “Alas, then I’ll just have to put up a standee at the entrance, listing the new launch times to avoid constant questions. Master, you can’t stand us up; the new dishes must be launched by early next month.”

“Do you need to tell me that?” The chef was impatient; he only loved to eat, not to bother with these trivial matters.

The manager sighed: “I heard that the person who ordered last time was a famous food critic in the industry. Her sharing only briefly mentioned our dishes, and in such a short time, our restaurant’s rating has moved up several places on various food ranking lists, with some even directly reaching first place. You haven’t seen how many people are queuing. This is data that couldn’t be boosted even with paid reviewers before.”

“The boss even wanted to thank her, but unfortunately couldn’t get in touch. No one knows what kind of luck that Yang kid had; a large part of that sharing was about his two dishes.”

—

Next to Wuning District Police Station, Luxury Beef Noodles restaurant.

The proprietress whispered to her husband in the back kitchen: “You say, how can the power of the internet be so great? Our noodle shop has been open for more than ten years, and business has never been as good as it is now, so good that my back aches and I can’t get up in the morning.”

The boss was busy kneading dough: “If it’s too much, let’s hire two more people to share the load.”

“That won’t do. What if this is just a temporary boom? Our son said that many internet-famous shops only have good business for a while. If customer traffic decreases later, should we keep the hired people or let them go?”

The couple were honest people and couldn’t do such a thing. After discussing, they decided to manage it themselves. If it was really too much, they would let their son and relatives’ children help during the summer vacation.

Thinking of something, the proprietress found it amusing: “Let me tell you, today when I went out to buy groceries, I met two young girls at the intersection asking me for directions to ‘Sense of Security Beef Noodle Restaurant.’ I thought, I know all the restaurants around here, where is there such a strange name as ‘Sense of Security’?”

“Guess what? I chatted with them for a long time before I realized that’s what everyone online calls our shop now. They said it’s because it’s at the Police Station entrance, so eating there gives you a sense of security. If everyone online calls it that, should we just change our shop name or add a small sign saying we are ‘Sense of Security Beef Noodles’? Otherwise, if others use it, we’ll lose out.”

The boss, kneading dough, said with a slight gasp: “Wait for our son to come back and ask him. He knows more about online stuff than we do.”

“Okay, I agree.”

The proprietress felt that the current business was like a dream. Oh, she hadn’t even dared to dream this big. Just a small noodle shop, and people were queuing before it even opened in the morning. They cooked several large pots of beef every day, and they would sell out before noon. They could close the shop in the afternoon and rest. Good heavens, she remembered that before, they only cooked one pot of beef a day, and it might not even sell out by 9 PM.

She even once found scalpers in the queue, selling the queue numbers she issued for several times their value.

Chopping cilantro until her shoulders ached and sagged, her heart, however, was bubbling with joy.

If business could always be this good, then perhaps one day she and her husband could save enough money to buy this storefront, without having to constantly cater to the landlord’s whims and worry about sudden rent increases.

When the family had money, she wouldn’t force her daughter to obediently go to college. If she wanted to study acting or music, she would let her. No more arguments; their relationship had already been strained by them. Anyway, with the family as a safety net, it wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t find a job after graduating; her parents would be there for her.

If her son wanted to go into professional e-sports, she would let him. What’s the big deal? The coach who visited their home said that e-sports is also a sport and can bring glory to the country! Maybe she could even become a champion’s mother.

Seeing her husband shaking his wrist when he had a moment, she thought, maybe they should hire a few people after all…

She didn’t know why, but despite being so tired every day now, she slept soundly at night, and her heart felt full.

It seemed that no matter which path she chose, she could see light.

—

Qin Qing had no idea that her food exploration and sharing activities had brought about such a huge long-tail effect. When she received the System Panel notification, she was still bewildered.

[Indirectly helped others’ mood index improve, with the number of people whose mood score increased by ≥10 points reaching 10,000, rewarding 10 Experience Points.]

What had she done recently? Nothing at all.

She had just told Liang Jinguo that the cafeteria at Jinsheng International was terrible. Could Liang Jinguo be so receptive to advice that he would immediately renovate the cafeteria to benefit the employees based on her suggestion?

Does Jinsheng International have tens of thousands of employees?

Never mind, gaining Experience Points is a good thing.

[Level 4 (36/80)]

It’s just that the experience bar for leveling up is increasing so slowly.

After leaving the Jinsheng International building, Liang Jian originally wanted to drive her back, but she declined.

Qin Qing planned to go shopping at a nearby mall to buy some jade or something for Old Comrade Qin at home, so he wouldn’t keep looking at her with such a mournful gaze recently.

Shopping alone was more comfortable.

However, after looking around the mall, she didn’t find anything she liked.

It was expensive and not good-looking. She originally had the 100,000 thank-you fee from Chen Daguang, which she thought was more than enough… However, she might need to re-evaluate the value of the jade bracelet Chen Daguang gave her.

Anyway, in the mall, she didn’t see anything of better quality.

Even if it wasn’t good-looking, a tiny ring or pendant cost tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand.

Returning empty-handed, Qin Qing wandered on the pedestrian street, considering buying something else to appease Old Qin if not jade.

Then she heard a slightly familiar voice, exceptionally loud.

“That Qin… what’s-her-name Qin…”

Qin Qing turned her head sensitively and saw an oily head sticking out of the driver’s window of an SUV, smiling and waving at her: “Get in, get in.”

Among the people Qin Qing had met, only one person’s hair could be that greasy: Lin Feng, the unkempt captain of the Wuning District Criminal Police Detachment.

Ah… she really didn’t want to get into his car.