I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Chapter 176 Anyway, it's all good news, that's all.

Seeing that Shen Kang wasn't a fan of the pairing, and the fight didn't break out, Xu Mengting was somewhat disheartened. Now, having been called over by Shen Kang, she was a little confused as to why he had summoned her.

"What? Didn't I also agree to write something for your Beiming Community?"

"It's about writing."

Shen Kang said, "Yin Zhiqian just showed me your online novel, and I think it's pretty good. So I think you should just start writing serials on Beiming Community. Anyway, you're not getting a contract or any money from writing online novels on other websites, but I can pay you royalties if you write serials here."

He needed a customized serialized story. And based on the articles Yin Zhiqian had just shown him, he felt that Xu Mengting was the most suitable person to write the serialized story.

"Serialized?"

Xu Mengting was taken aback. "What kind of serialization?"

"You're free to do as you please. I only have one requirement: this serialized story must be a love story, and the male and female protagonists must meet because of a secondhand transaction," Shen Kang said. "After they meet, you can develop their emotional journey yourself, but it would be best if it included the element of a secondhand transaction."

Xu Mengting was just a nobody who wrote online novels out of hobby; she had never even signed a contract, let alone knew anything about commissioned works. Hearing Shen Kang's request, she only felt a headache coming on.

"Revolving around secondhand transactions? How do I write that?"

She was quite happy when Shen Kang mentioned "love stories," thinking it was exactly her forte. But she hadn't expected Shen Kang to have such a strange request, and for a moment, she was at a loss for words.

Shen Kang gave an example: "Let's say the female protagonist has a crush on a male god who is a musician. To create opportunities and have things to talk about with him, she decides to learn music, starting with the guitar, and wants to buy a second-hand guitar. Meanwhile, the male protagonist happens to be getting rid of a guitar. This guitar carries some sad memories for him, so he wants to sell it. The male protagonist's guitar happens to be sold to the female protagonist, and the two meet for the first time during the offline transaction."

Xu Mengting was listening intently when it suddenly stopped, and couldn't help but ask, "What happened next?"

Shen Kang sighed, "I just came up with something on the spot, how was I supposed to know what to write next? What to write next is your problem!"

"oh oh."

Xu Mengting nodded haphazardly, then thought for a moment, a little embarrassed, "Why don't you write it yourself? Actually, I'm a terrible writer, I probably don't have much talent for it, and I'm afraid it won't turn out well. Otherwise, my writing wouldn't be so unpopular online—"

She became increasingly disheartened as she spoke, and her voice grew softer and softer.

As Xu Mengting spoke, she recalled that when she applied to join the literary society, the president of the society thought her writing was not good enough.

She was still unconvinced at the time, and later went online to write articles to prove herself. However, after writing two stories of tens of thousands of words each, she didn't even get a contract and had very few readers, which made her more and more discouraged. She felt that she was really not good enough and needed to work harder.

If it were just writing the kind of stuff Shen Kang just showed her, like the other members of the Singles Association, she could manage. But if it were writing a romance serial, she wouldn't have much confidence, especially since it was paid for.

Shen Kang, however, had a different opinion: "Actually, I think your writing is alright, but it feels a bit too rational and rigid. Of course, I don't know much about writing, this is just my personal opinion."

He did think Xu Mengting's writing was good, but it was too bland.

"reason?"

Xu Mengting thought for a moment and then said, "Tell me more details?"

Shen Kang didn't know how to articulate that personal feeling, so he simply gave an example: "For instance, in the story I just mentioned, if you were to write the scene of the male and female protagonists' first meeting, how would you write the specific details of their encounter?"

Xu Mengting thought seriously for a while and said, "I think I'll write that the female lead is pretty and comes from a working-class family, and the male lead—"

He's handsome, from a middle-class family. Their first meeting involved a small accident, but they still had a good first impression of each other.

Shen Kang snapped his fingers. "This is what I mean by rationality." In my personal opinion, you should be putting yourself in the female lead's shoes.

Since that's the case, why not be so rational and just write whatever comes to mind in my dreams? Make sure the male lead is incredibly handsome, the kind that's absolutely stunning, even more handsome than me!

Xu Mengting looked him up and down, hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "You seem to be just average-looking. I don't need to be exceptionally handsome to be more handsome than you."

"—That's because you don't know how to appreciate it."

Shen Kang decided not to argue with her. "Anyway, that's the gist of it. As for the plot of their first meeting, don't make a good first impression. Just let this incredibly handsome male lead fall head over heels in love with the female lead! Anyway, it's the central idea I just mentioned. Write whatever comes to mind, don't be so rational."

He genuinely didn't know how to write; he just copied from those similar Dongbai serialized short videos he'd watched in his later years: in those videos, a super beautiful female boss fell in love with me at first sight, a super beautiful bridesmaid fell in love with me at first sight, a super beautiful sister-in-law fell in love with me at first sight —

It's basically just filming wherever you dream about something. It's mindless, but really fun and quite captivating. I watch it for a while every time I come across it.

Xu Mengting opened her mouth, then strongly questioned, "This is too fake!"

Shen Kang countered, "So, if you put yourself in the female lead's shoes, wouldn't you enjoy it?"

Xu Mengting thought for a moment, "It's fun, but it's illogical and I can't relate to it."

"How to get the reader to empathize is your job. Anyway, you're quite rational. I believe you can build it well."

In this regard.

Shen Kang concluded by saying, "First, write down whatever comes to mind in your dream, bringing out the story. Then, use your reason to guide the story, constructing plausibility and creating a sense of immersion. In my personal opinion, you can try writing it this way."

Write down whatever comes to mind, then let reason guide you — Xu Mengting seemed lost in thought, remaining silent for a long time.

Shen Kang was patient and waited there, but before he received a reply from Xu Mengting, his own phone rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Qian Jun, whom he had promoted to deputy store manager of Jiahe Laundry.

This is quite rare.

Shen Kang answered the phone, "Feed?"

Qian Jun's voice came through the receiver, sounding very anxious, "Manager, a student lost his bracelet, and someone else found it and took his clothes! Now the student is in the store, demanding we compensate him for his clothes, saying they're very expensive and asking for 800 yuan!"

Ten minutes later, Shen Kang walked into the laundry room and saw that the store was still operating normally.

An unfamiliar boy was sitting behind the counter at the clothing counter, holding a cup of Bo Ya Jue Xian in his hand. Qian Jun was sitting next to him, talking to him.

Shen Kang went inside.

Seeing Shen Kang arrive, Qian Jun quickly came over, leaned close, and whispered, "It's this guy who asked for eight hundred!"

Qian Jun looked somewhat flustered.

This is understandable. Since Jiahe Laundry opened, some customers have lost their wristbands, but those customers always rush to the laundry as soon as they realize they've lost theirs. After reviewing the security footage according to procedure, the laundry returns the clothes to them and cancels the corresponding lost wristband.

This young man was the first customer at Jiahe Laundry to have his clothes stolen by someone else.

Qian Jun didn't know if he would have to pay the money, especially since the boy was asking for 800! If it was going to be on his head, it would really hurt, so it's no wonder Qian Jun was anxious.

"Did you buy the milk tea?" Shen Kang asked in a low voice.

Qian Jun hummed in agreement.

Shen Kang didn't say anything more to Qian Jun. Instead, he walked up to the boy and apologized, "Excuse me, I'm the manager of this store. Please wait a moment while I check the security footage. If there are no problems, we will compensate you for your losses."

The boy seemed indifferent, saying, "Whatever."

So Shen Kang went to check the surveillance footage, with Qian Jun beside him.

Qian Jun had already reviewed the information and memorized the specific times, so he immediately located those times: at 10:26 AM today, the boy came to deliver his laundry; at 2:11 PM today, a strange boy entered the store and took the boy's clothes using the bracelet; at 2:25 PM today, the boy entered the store, reported that his bracelet was lost, and then the store clerk discovered that the clothes had already been taken.

"No problem, just pay me back."

After reading it, Shen Kang said this. Then he glanced at Qian Jun, smiled, and said, "Don't worry, I set up this whole process, and if anything goes wrong, it's my responsibility. You won't have to pay for it. The store will cover the cost."

Qian Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Kang then called the boy over and compared the clothes on the surveillance footage with him.

"This long-sleeved shirt is Adidas, I bought it for 270. These pants are also Adidas, they cost 320 —" The boy pointed to the screen and listed the prices of the clothes one by one.

Finally, adding them all together, we have 880.

"I don't need the 80 yuan. Consider it my bad luck. You can just compensate me with 800 yuan," the boy said generously.

Shen Kang looked at him and said, "This was our mistake. How can you bear this 80 yuan loss yourself? Not only can you not pay less, but according to our company's regulations, you must pay double the amount to express our company's apology."

Tell them we will compensate you 1760 yuan.

"what?"

The boy froze, then his eyes flashed with ecstasy and disbelief. "Really? You're not kidding me?"

"Why would I lie to you? The company is doing this so that you won't have a bad impression of our company and the laundry chain. I wonder if you're satisfied?"

"Satisfied, absolutely satisfied!" the boy exclaimed repeatedly. "Your service is so attentive, I'll definitely come again next time!"

Shen Kang smiled with satisfaction. "Good. Customer satisfaction is our company's highest goal. Now, student, please show me your student ID and national ID. According to our company's financial regulations, such large, non-routine expenses require detailed information for reimbursement."

The boy paused, then hesitated: "Do I need a student ID and a national ID card?"

Shen Kang explained, "That's right. If there are no documents, how can we prove the authenticity of this expenditure?"

For example, if I were to arbitrarily say that a customer can withdraw over a thousand yuan from the store's account if they lose clothes in our store, wouldn't this store become my personal ATM? Therefore, this is how the financial system is stipulated.

The boy thought for a moment, then said, "Don't you have security cameras?"

Shen Kang smiled: "The surveillance footage can only serve as corroborating evidence. It's the same principle; if I just randomly find two people outside to put on this show, I can easily take money from the store, right? So, some paperwork is still necessary. When we compensate you, classmate, we will also provide formal receipts. These are all necessary procedures and financial regulations of our company."

The boy thought for a moment and finally took out his student ID and national ID card.

Shen Kang simply registered the information, wrote a "compensation statement," had the boy sign it, and even gave him a receipt. Everything seemed very formal.

Of course, the 1760 yuan was given to the boy named Zhao Jiayuan on the spot.

After receiving the money, Zhao Jiayuan left happily.

After Zhao Jiayuan left, Qian Jun cursed, "Damn it, what bad luck!"

Shen Kang smiled and said, "That's a good thing!"

"Huh?" Qian Jun was stunned, unable to understand how this had turned into a good thing.

"Stop what you're doing and play on the computer for a while," Shen Kang said, instructing Qian Jun to minimize the monitoring software on the surveillance computer and then open a webpage.

Under his direction, Qian Jun opened the Beiming Community and registered an account called "Jiahe Laundry Room".

"Go to the square and post about someone fraudulently claiming clothes today. Take a clear screenshot of the CCTV footage of that person, and put it in your post. Offer a reward of 1,000 yuan for their information."

Shen Kang was directing Qian Jun.

He was just complaining that the Beiming Community didn't have enough content, and this was like someone handing him a pillow just when he was about to fall asleep.

Now, Shen Kang was actually hoping that the person who fraudulently claimed the clothes would be recognized later: if the users of the Beiming Community didn't recognize this person, they might bring their friends and classmates to identify him for a thousand yuan. If they brought in a few more, and then a few more, wouldn't that be a viral effect? ​​As long as even a portion of them knew about the Beiming Community and became users, the money would be well spent.

He was giving instructions when his phone rang again. He picked it up and saw that it was Ye Jintong calling.

"What is it?"

"Boss, someone on the Yangbei forum is posting negative things about your house and laundry room, and it's getting trending really fast!"