E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 210: Episode 210: Working Overtime, Extra Amount, No Extra Charge

Chapter 210: Episode 210: Working Overtime, Extra Amount, No Extra Charge

Fortunately, the contract Zhou Xueyin and Bai Luoran had signed was still valid, so the newly in-charge Yuan Weicheng didn’t dare to strut too much and just stuck to the rules.

However, when it came to choosing accounts, he was particularly crafty, selecting accounts with low activity, poor stickiness, and even those that were mismatched, to present Zhou Xueyin’s content submissions to.

"Damn, is Yuan doing this on purpose? Using a male account to feature makeup products? To promote women’s clothing combinations? Is he out of his mind?" Zhou Xueyin vented at her desk, looking at the severely declining performance of the past few days.

"I asked the person coordinating with them why they would arrange it like that, guess what they said?" Song Yantong complained, "They said it was ’differentiation,’ to attract some of the peripheral fans from their accounts. They also claimed that all the traffic that could be directed from the larger accounts has been sent our way, and now it’s all about ’niche differentiation.’"

"I say to hell with niche differentiation! Playing these tricks on me... Our content is completely different from theirs; the fans we attract wouldn’t be the same demographic. Are they really that afraid of us stealing their business? So petty..." Zhou Xueyin cursed Yuan Weicheng.

"But Yinyin, our biggest account has already surpassed 500K followers. Even if we don’t rely on them for promotion, can’t we just operate independently?" Liu He asked, looking puzzled at Zhou Xueyin.

"We’re actually operating independently now. The accounts I occasionally send to you guys to share content from are just small orders we’ve taken on... The problem is, just circulating content among these few accounts easily leads to a high overlap of fans, which is not conducive to getting more orders... So even though they’re being so sneaky, we still need their promotion. When the contract expires, I can always talk to another account group..." Zhou Xueyin felt quite helpless about the situation.

After all, the other party was being paid and thus called the shots; whatever they said went. This side had to comply without complaint, or it would be a dead end.

"However... Now that Bai sister has sold the company, we don’t have to save them any face. Let’s get the generic accounts going! Those half-dead accounts that just can’t pick up traction, good, let’s transition them to general accounts and post everything! The previously reserved ’What to Eat Today’ account can be activated now!" Zhou Xueyin arranged for the forthcoming work tasks.

The street photography account managed by Sun Miao was just unbearable to look at – the pictures and content were excellent, but somehow it just didn’t attract followers. So it was directly transitioned into a gossip account about celebrity entertainment and celebrity fashion.

’What to Eat Today’ was also assigned to her to manage, and she simply needed to post four times a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an additional nighttime snack.

To increase the appeal of the content, other accounts increased their daily updates from 6 posts to 8-10, not including shared content.

Accounts that used to only post 8 times on weekends also updated their schedule to match the weekday frequency, truly achieving non-stop, 24/7 content coverage.

Since Weibo has a scheduling system, it’s just a matter of selecting the time and setting the schedule.

The content submitted to Yuan Weicheng also shifted from professional to more general entertainment topics, maximizing the appeal to potential followers!

Following Zhou Xueyin’s reforms, there was indeed a boost in follower growth, even exceeding the previous growth rates.

However, this left the team with their own struggles they could not voice...

An increase in the number of updates meant running out of fresh content, forcing them to post some old material.

Operating 24/7 year-round, even with scheduled posts, meant that if the server hiccups, the content wouldn’t go live, necessitating constant vigilance for any necessary reposts.

"Just hang in there until the contract expires next year! I promise I won’t let you all work this hard anymore!" Zhou Xueyin was aware of her team’s hardship.

Before, everyone had an hour to chat and relax after finishing their tasks for the day. But now, due to the weekend content, everyone’s schedule was stretched tight. During the 8-hour workday, there was hardly any time to rest, and sometimes they had to work overtime if the internet glitched.

Zhou Xueyin saw all this and made it crystal clear that if everyone worked hard, they aimed to achieve good data by the end of the year, which would also make for a better celebration during the New Year.

Of course, the result of their efforts was that during the Double Eleven shopping event, many Taobao stores and major brand direct sales outlets came seeking help to advertise their content through Weibo.

After Double Eleven, not only did the e-commerce businesses rake in huge profits, but Zhou Xueyin and her team earned a substantial amount too, making almost a year’s worth of earnings in November alone. Hard work always pays off in the end.

Then came the Christmas season in December, and they managed to bag their annual bonuses, various subsidies, rewards, and benefits.

It was all worth the effort over the past few months.

One day in January 2012, Zhou Xueyin drove back to her residential complex. She had just parked her car and was preparing to head home when she saw a figure sitting at the entrance of her building, both familiar and a bit alien. Wasn’t that Zhang Jingwan?

"Wanwan? Is that you?" Zhou Xueyin whispered as she asked.

"Yinyin... you’re finally back..." Zhang Jingwan lifted her head, her face stricken with grief.

"What’s wrong? It’s freezing out here. Wait, what are you doing here? Come on, let’s go up to my place and talk!" Seeing the disheveled state of Zhang Jingwan, Zhou Xueyin couldn’t bear it and took her upstairs.

After a hot shower, Zhang Jingwan sat on the sofa, sipping the hot milk that Zhou Xueyin gave her, and finally seemed to come back to life. "Thank goodness I remembered you live here! Otherwise, I would have frozen to death on the streets today! Let me tell you..."

"Why have you come back to Beijing? When did you come back? Why didn’t you contact us?" Zhou Xueyin was completely confused.

"I got divorced, thought about coming back to rely on you, but when I went to check the internet company, good lord, not only were you not there anymore, Zhongonline had moved too! I had no choice, so I just waited here, hoping... Thank goodness, you haven’t moved..." Even after such a bizarre day, Zhang Jingwan was still as frank and open-hearted as ever.

"Zhongonline moved too? Ah, wait! You got divorced!?" Zhou Xueyin finally grasped the key point, "Wasn’t he your high school classmate? Didn’t he chase you for many years? Was he not good to you?"

"Yeah! Men are animals that can disguise themselves! He was so good at pretending before we got married, but once we were married, he became a completely different person, saying that he thought my salary would be high because I worked in Beijing, but all we managed was a one-bedroom apartment!" Zhang Jingwan was angry just thinking about it.

"What’s wrong with a one-bedroom? I worked hard to earn that!" She took a sip of her milk and continued, "That WBD even wanted his name on the property deed, but I disagreed. I made sure to get a certification from the notary office that the apartment was my pre-marital property."

"You did the right thing! That’s how it should be!" Zhou Xueyin said admiringly, grateful that Wei Jingzhu wasn’t the kind of person who was blinded by money; otherwise, she wouldn’t be with him.

"But that guy was a coward, afraid of people saying he couldn’t afford a wife. Even if the apartment wasn’t in his name, he still went ahead with the marriage certificate. But after we got married, he brought his mother to live with us. My place was a one-bedroom, and that old lady had some terrible habits... Plus, after seeing the news on the internet, I was afraid of ’bringing in the spirit but being unable to send it away,’ so I went straight for a divorce..." It felt like Zhang Jingwan didn’t explain the whole process clearly.

However, Zhou Xueyin knew that when someone doesn’t want to talk about something, even if you keep asking, they still won’t say anything, so she didn’t press for details.

"You’ll stay with me tonight. Xiaojing is working overtime at the company tonight; he’ll probably stay there, so you’ll come directly to my new company to work tomorrow, okay? I’ll give you an advance on a month’s salary. No problem, right?" Zhou Xueyin said generously.

"My savior! My family! I’m not kidding, in Beijing, you’re my family!" Zhang Jingwan hugged Zhou Xueyin gratefully.

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