I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

If any random student had said these things, Xu Dexin would have been skeptical, but he knew about the Beiming Community. Hearing that the boy in front of him was the owner of the Beiming Community, he took it seriously.

Xu Dexin showed clear interest in what Shen Kang was saying, and inquired about the details, including the program flow, program time, and compensation.

Shen Kang then told him this information.

In terms of time, "If You Are the One" is scheduled to start at 8 pm every Tuesday and Thursday, with each episode lasting one to two hours.

This time-based positioning is based on the daily routines of university students.

Many college students go out on weekends, so weekends aren't ideal. Mondays are also a good time, as the weekend has just ended and students might not be feeling their best. Friday nights are essentially the start of the weekend. Therefore, Tuesday and Thursday nights are more suitable, as these are the times when most college students are likely to be in their dorm rooms watching TV online.

Regarding compensation, Shen Kang and his team naturally had a plan in place, since they couldn't expect the guests to help for free.

According to the current remuneration standards for university teachers, the appearance fee for participating in similar programs is 150 to 500 yuan per episode, depending on the teacher's rank, honors, etc.

Some well-known scholars charge even higher appearance fees, which can reach over 1000 per episode.

Shen Kang offered Xu Dexin a price of 350 per issue.

Xu Dexin was fairly satisfied with the number.

Moreover, participating in this program offers more than just monetary compensation.

Xu Dexin astutely discovered another value of the program—this program, made by a student named Shen Kang, was practically a large-scale social experiment in college.

What are the psychological games played by the college students participating in the program regarding secondhand goods transactions? What are their social preferences and strategic maneuvering? How many categories of college students can be divided into? What are the psychological states of each category participating in the program? ...

These are all experimental materials.

As a guest, I can collect a lot of first-hand experimental data.

The most ingenious part is that in this social experiment, you not only don't need to spend money, but you can also make money.

Perhaps, I could even publish a high-quality paper based on this social experiment, making another breakthrough in academia, thus gaining both fame and fortune...

"Teacher Xu, what do you think?" Shen Kang asked finally.

Hearing this, Xu Dexin had a better idea of ​​what to do. He nodded and expressed his initial intention: "It sounds like a very meaningful program, and I personally would be quite willing to be a guest on it... Please wait here for a moment, I'll make a phone call first."

Shen Kang nodded. "No problem."

He then sat down at the table next to him, in the front row.

While the two of them were chatting, all the students in the administrative management class had left, and the classroom was empty.

Xu Dexin left the classroom without taking his things, walked a few steps away from the classroom, and then took out his phone to make a call.

Once the call connected, Xu Dexin began: "Hey, Director Zhang, how's the discussion going over there?... Well, I have another new program coming up."

On the other end of the phone, Director Zhang listened to the words coming through the receiver, pondered for a moment, smiled slightly, and thought to himself, "This Teacher Xu is even playing these kinds of tricks now."

What a coincidence! Just when things were at a stalemate here, a program approached Xu Dexin from the other side. It's probably just a fabrication to create a sense of urgency and put pressure on them.

So, Director Zhang calmly asked, "A new program? What program?"

On the other end of the phone, Xu Dexin thought for a moment and said, "This involves other people's trade secrets, and it's not convenient to talk about it without their permission."

On the other end of the phone, Director Zhang felt even more certain. "I see... Ms. Xu, I've been urging you on your behalf, but as you know, it's not up to me alone... Compared to those two competitors, your advantages aren't that obvious..."

After making the call, Xu Dexin hung up but didn't immediately put his phone away. Instead, he held it for a while, pondered for a long time, and finally shook his head before returning to the classroom.

After entering the classroom, Xu Dexin looked at Shen Kang and said, "Shen Kang, I'd like to be a guest on your show."

After reaching an agreement with Xu Dexin, the two parties could not sign a contract immediately: according to the school rules of Yang University of Science and Technology, if teachers on campus want to accept commercial appearances outside their job duties, they need to report to the school and also need the cooperation of the corresponding unit, namely Beiming Community, to provide relevant materials, so it will take a few more days to do this.

However, since the intention has already been made, this is just a matter of going through the motions.

Shen Kang also asked Xu Dexin if he had any guest recommendations, since their show needed two guests.

Xu Dexin is confirmed, but we still need a female guest.

Xu Dexin himself was from the School of Psychology and knew the relevant teachers, so he recommended two female teachers.

……

The next day, in the afternoon

Inside room 211 of the startup base, several student employees were working, including Shen Kang.

The hype hadn't died down yet, and Shen Kang was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt today. He was sitting at his workstation, counting something on his fingers and muttering to himself.

Just as I was calculating, Ye Jintong walked in from the door, looking listless, and plopped down at her workstation.

Shen Kang temporarily stopped his spatial arithmetic and looked over. "How about we discuss it?"

Ye Jintong didn't answer, but glanced at him and asked instead, "How's it going on your end?"

"The guests and the host are all booked."

Shen Kang visited the two female teachers recommended by Xu Dexin yesterday, and the talks went smoothly. He reached an agreement with one of them, named Lan Lan.

As for the host, Shen Kang was found through the Broadcasting and Hosting Association of Yangon University of Science and Technology.

He contacted the Broadcasting and Hosting Association and expressed his interest. They were quite interested, especially after learning that hosting the program would earn them 100 yuan per episode. This morning, they urgently convened the members of the Broadcasting and Hosting Association for a group interview with Shen Kang.

From this group interview, Shen Kang also found the most outstanding candidate, a boy named Jin Bo.

Hearing that Shen Kang had already settled things, Ye Jintong was a little annoyed, and then complained, "That shop is so difficult to negotiate with. I've been there three times already. The first two times they wouldn't agree no matter what I said, and this time they just wouldn't see us, saying they had something to do and told me to wait a while. I waited for an hour, but they still didn't show up, so I came back..."

Ye Jintong was referring to the matter of securing sponsorships.

While Shen Kang was busy arranging for guests and hosts, Ye Jintong and Ji Chunfu, the two project managers for "If You Are the One," were also busy seeking sponsorships.

After all, the cost of dating shows like "If You Are the One" is not low:

The combined fees for guests and hosts amount to 800 yuan per episode. With two episodes per week, the monthly salaries for the core staff alone amount to 6,400 yuan.

Furthermore, the dating show "If You Are the One" mentioned on the Beiming Community that there is a "mystery reward" for those who participate.

According to Shen Kang and his team's discussion, providing an extra reward for each couple who "successfully paired up" would be even more effective.

As for how to determine this extra reward, the three of them discussed it and reached an agreement—the Beiming Community would fund the meal for the boy and girl who had "successfully paired up" at "Zhongtanghui".

This proposal was initially put forward by Yip Kam Tong.

When Ye Jintong made the suggestion, she stood in front of Shen Kang and Ji Chunfu, enthusiastically describing the scene.

"Zhong Tang Hui is the most upscale restaurant in the university town of Beilu District. It's incredibly classy! If a boyfriend takes his girlfriend to Zhong Tang Hui for a meal on her birthday or Valentine's Day, it's considered top-tier treatment, and she'll talk about it for ages afterwards. One of the girls in my dorm next door was like that. Her boyfriend took her there for her birthday, and she talked about it for ages afterward. We're all sick of hearing it."

"Just imagine, if every couple who 'pairs up' on our dating show could get a free meal at Zhongtanghui, wow, they would be absolutely thrilled! And there would definitely be even more people joining our show!"

"And this also serves our social purposes."

"Think about it, you met on the show and developed feelings for each other. And your first offline meeting is in the elegant environment of Zhongtanghui—it's definitely a fantastic first date! Whether from our website's perspective or the user's perspective, this reward is excellent..."

Shen Kang and Ji Chunfu were persuaded by her and agreed.

However, it wouldn't matter if only the three of them agreed.

Zhongtanghui is the most expensive restaurant in the university town of Beilu District. These days, a meal for two can easily cost several hundred yuan.

At the very least, if one couple "holds hands" in a single episode, that's several hundred yuan. If we calculate at five hundred, that's four thousand yuan a month.

What if there are two or more couples "holding hands" in one episode? Wouldn't that cost tens of thousands a month?

The cost is too high.

So after setting this extra reward, their first task was to secure sponsorship from Zhongtanghui, and through a "GG" (Golden Goose) arrangement, get Zhongtanghui to provide these meals for free.

Ye Jintong has been mainly focused on this matter these past two days.

……

After complaining about how difficult Zhongtanghui was to deal with, Ye Jintong backed down: "Boss, how about we change the reward? Let's not go with Zhongtanghui anymore, let's find a less expensive restaurant and have them provide the food, that should be easier to negotiate."

This is a compromise.

Just as Shen Kang was about to speak, Ji Chunfu also entered through the door, looking equally troubled.

Shen Kang decided to leave Ye Jintong's matter aside for the time being and looked at Ji Chunfu, asking, "Chunfu, how's the situation?"

Like Yip Kam Tong, Ji Chun Fu has also been trying to get sponsorship from GG these past few days.

However, Yip Kam Tong's main focus is on Zhong Tang Hui, which is used to cover the cost of the "mystery reward".

Ji Chunfu's main target was other GG merchants, which were used to cover the expenses of fixed personnel.

Therefore, Ji Chunfu did not visit Zhongtanghui, but rather other businesses in the University Town.

"It's not easy to talk about."

Ji Chunfu shook his head and explained the difficulties: "They all felt it wasn't worth it..."

According to the discussion among Shen Kang, Ye Jintong, Ji Chunfu, and Ma Liang, the independent segment of "If You Are the One" can be canceled, but the number of canceled slots should not be too many, at most three, otherwise it will affect the program's effect and be a loss.

One of the three slots will be reserved for the provider of the mystery reward, namely Zhongtanghui.

In other words, only two GG slots are available for sale.

If we want to use these two gig slots to cover fixed staff expenses, then we need a gig fee of over 800 yuan per period. On average, the gig fee for one gig slot is 400 yuan per period.

"...Each episode of our show is only two hours or less, which is 16 hours or less of GG per month, but it costs more than 3200 yuan for GG."

Ji Chunfu shook his head again as he said this, "They think it's too much of a bargain. One boss said that at this price, you could play GG on the Yangbei Forum for a whole month, which is 720 hours."

After listening to both of them, Shen Kang thought for a moment, then stood up. "Let's go, I'll handle this myself!"

Ye Jintong and Ji Chunfu exchanged a glance, both filled with anticipation—they had great confidence in Shen Kang's abilities. With Shen Kang personally taking charge, success was highly likely!

So they all quickly got up and followed, ready to learn.

half an hour later

Three people walked out of the commercial street, near the entrance of Zhongtanghui, looking dejected.

"Boss, I had such high hopes for you. Don't even bother, you can't even relieve yourself properly!" Ye Jintong complained directly to Shen Kang, who was in the middle of the three.

Shen Kang was very dissatisfied. "What are you talking about? It's definitely not difficult for me to relieve myself! As for why the deal wasn't reached here, it can only be said that there was a discrepancy between the two parties' expectations for the project."

Ji Chunfu, standing to the side with his head drooping, didn't quite understand what this meant at first, and couldn't help but ask, "Jintong, what does 'a discrepancy exists between the two parties' expectations for the project' mean?"

Ye Jintong translated: "It means that we are very optimistic about the 'If You Are the One' project, believing that it will bring high future returns. Zhongtanghui will definitely not lose money and will make a huge profit by sponsoring the show. However, Zhongtanghui is not so optimistic about 'If You Are the One,' believing that if they play games on the show, the revenue from the games will not cover the investment, and they will lose money."

Shen Kang nodded approvingly: "The translation is good."

Ye Jintong rolled her eyes, then said listlessly, "So boss, what do we do next? How about we change the mystery reward, like I told you?"

Shen Kang stroked his chin, looked up at the sun, and said, "No rush. It's quite hot, let's have some cold drinks to cool down first."

Ye Jintong and Ji Chunfu, who had been listless, suddenly perked up.

Ji Chunfu was more practical: "I'll just have a grape popsicle."

Ye Jintong was greedy: "I'll have a Häagen-Dazs."

Shen Kang didn't care what he ate: "Then I'll just have a Häagen-Dazs."

Ye Jintong was a little surprised. "Boss, have you changed your mind? I thought you would scold me and make me change to something cheaper when I ordered Häagen-Dazs."

Shen Kang looked at her strangely, "Why would I scold you? It's not like I'm paying. If you're paying, you can eat whatever you want."

"..." Ye Jintong was speechless. "I thought you were treating, going to split the bill?"

Shen Kang chuckled, "Look at what you're saying, how could we split the bill? You're in charge of Zhongtanghui, and we're here with you today to help you with your work. Shouldn't it be your treat?"

"...Just kill me." Ye Jintong, lacking any ladylike manners, squatted down on the ground. "Anyway, I'm not asking for help."

Shen Kang complained, "So stingy."

Ji Chunfu nodded in agreement—anyway, as long as it wasn't him paying, it didn't matter whether Shen Kang or Ye Jintong was paying.

After a brief struggle, Ye Jintong was eventually outnumbered and reluctantly agreed to treat everyone, but with some restrictions.

"Raisin popsicles are too expensive, they cost 3 yuan each!"

Ye Jintong glared fiercely at Ji Chunfu, then at Shen Kang. "I can treat you, one small pudding each!"

Shen Kang thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed, "Alright, Little Pudding it is, it's better than nothing."

Ji Chunfu was easy to talk to and agreed.

Zhongtanghui is located on a commercial street lined with shops on both sides. Cars drive by from time to time, and many students walk back and forth on the sidewalks, making it a lively place.

There is a dedicated cold drink shop about 20 meters away on the left side of Zhongtanghui.

The three of them walked over.

The sudden surge in popularity these past two days has boosted business at this cold drink shop, with quite a few customers. There were six or seven people in the shop, and they all looked like students.

The cold drink shop wasn't very big, and there wasn't a place to sit inside. With so many people blocking the entrance, it was a bit crowded, so Shen Kang and Ji Chunfu decided not to go in and join the fun, and waited by the roadside instead.

Ye Jintong squeezed in by herself, and after a while, she emerged from the crowd, took out three small puddings, and reluctantly distributed them to the two of them.

The three of them squatted down by the door and started eating.

There were also trees along the roadside of the commercial street. The place where they squatted was next to a big tree. The leaves had almost all fallen off, but the branches were lush and could still cast some shade, barely enough to block out the sun. The brilliant sunlight, divided by the branches, spread out on the three of them like zebra crossings.

I miss Qiuzhu a little.

Ye Jintong took a bite of the pudding and said somewhat vaguely, "If she were here, Shen Kang, you would definitely be willing to treat me to a meal and pay the bill."

She was still upset that she had to spend money to treat everyone for no reason, so she stopped calling him "boss" and started calling him Shen Kang by his full name.

Shen Kang didn't bite; he was slowly sucking on it.

He grew up in an orphanage. When he was a child, he was poor and rarely had a popsicle. He wouldn't bite into it directly but would slowly suck on it. This habit has remained with him ever since, even after his rebirth.

Hearing Ye Jintong's nonsense, he also spoke up: "What nonsense are you talking about? If she were here, we wouldn't have to pay; she'd be treating."

"..." Ye Jintong chewed on the ice cubes in her mouth and gave Shen Kang the middle finger.

The three of them squatted there, eating and chatting, while a pair of eyes watched them from the side, in front of the cold drink shop.