Super Zoo

"Interesting," Suming watched his computer screen, his eyes whirling around.

It was tough on Zhou Jin, a guy nearing fifty years old, with no more than a middle school education, actually knowing to utilize the internet to drum up support.

"But, if it's just that, it's still far from enough," Suming said, grinning mischievously as he stroked his chin.

Clang! The door was pushed open heavily from the outside.

"Who's that, barging into the leader's office without knocking?!" Suming rolled his eyes.

"Knock your head!" Nangong Yan stomped in wearing her high boots, saying as she did and actually knocked on Suming's forehead quite painfully.

"Ouch!" Suming clutched his forehead, wincing in pain, "Are you sick?! I'm a leader here, dare to lay hands on me again, and believe it or not, I will deal with you on the spot!"

"You think you can? Bring it on!" Nangong Yan stood with her hands on her hips and her chest out, tilting her chin up in a challenging manner.

"Forget it, it's not a good look during the day," Suming said as he went over to close the office door. "What brings you here?"

Suming felt quite frustrated. In the past months, he had changed a lot, and so had Nangong Yan. Even though she used to be a stubborn miss, she was quite shy when it came to matters between men and women and used to try to be gentle around him; but now, she was completely the bossy CEO type, resorting to the violence approach... This wasn't a good development.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"What brings you here all of a sudden?"

"Have you been on Yangchuan forums lately? The internet is going crazy over the issue of hormones in food," Nangong Yan said with an unusually serious tone, staring at Suming, "Your fish grow so fast, you haven't been using hormones, have you!"

"How could I! Big sister, you forgot, I eat them myself!" Suming said.

That reminded Nangong Yan. She sometimes visited Whisperwind Pavilion, claiming to help Suming cook and do chores, but in reality, she came to mooch food and drink. It was mostly Suming who cooked, while she laid on a little rocking chair on the Fengshui Pavilion platform, holding a cat and sunbathing like a landlord's wife. Some of those meals had indeed been fish.

"Hmph, you've got some conscience at least! I'm telling you, if you dare to make unscrupulous money, I'll have nothing to do with you in the future!" Nangong Yan grumbled, then sat down on the sofa opposite Suming.

"Big sister, am I that kind of person? Obviously not!" The weather was freezing, and Nangong Yan's little face was as red as a persimmon. Suming poured her a cup of hot tea and asked, "What's the rush? What made you come running here?"

Nangong Yan wrapped her hands around the cup of tea to warm them and sniffled twice before saying, "The hormone issue has been making a lot of noise lately. The TV station might make a special program on it, and they want me to host it. I came today to get things straight first, in case there's a problem with your fish..."

"Hehe, after all, you still care about me," Suming said with a chuckling smile. She had come all the way in the cold just to give him a heads up, telling him that the TV station was starting to pay attention to the hormone issue. Yangchuan City TV Station was the mouthpiece of Yangchuan City Government, and the station's involvement meant the government's shadow loomed in the background.

"Give me a break!" Nangong Yan snorted. "Well, since your fish are fine, I should accept it then."

"No, don't! You really shouldn't!" Suming quickly shook his head. "You mustn't take on that program!"

Nangong Yan found it very strange and opened her eyes wide in confusion, "Why? Don't you know that these kind of social issue programs are very popular? In the TV station, there are several female hosts like me who all want to present this special program. Everyone's been fighting over it behind the scenes. Others are dying for the chance, so why won't you let me do it?"

Nangong Yan also had her regular job to do, and in the TV station's competitive environment, it was common for hosts to engage in overt and covert battles. She had been rising quickly lately, which inevitably drew the envy of some other hosts. The programs most likely to yield success and fame were those covering social issues and entertainment. Like the previous food programs, one might work on them forever without gaining recognition, but with these hot-topic programs, just a few episodes might make you an overnight sensation. So, naturally, there was competition among the hosts.

"Not letting you do the program is for your own good." Suming hummed with a cold laugh, "This isn't as simple as it looks on the surface. Better steer clear for now. Who knows, getting involved might just bring bad luck to whoever touches it."

Hearing Suming say this, Nangong Yan took his face in her hands, studying him for a while and pouting, "Fess up, are you the one messing things up behind the scenes!" Your next read awaits at empire

"Hehehe, all I'll say is, bad people won't come to a good end." Suming grinned, "Come on, give me a kiss first."

"Stop it." Nangong Yan dodged swiftly and tapped Suming on the forehead before speaking seriously again, "But right now, the station only has this plan and might not necessarily go through with the program. We'll have to see the ultimate impact of the issue. You know how the internet is nowadays, with new news popping up every few days, this might just cool down after a while."

"That won't do!" Suming spoke earnestly, "How could we pass up such a big social event? It's sure to happen!"

"Cut it out, you're not the station manager to be so sure," Nangong Yan said.

Suming laughed, "Although I'm not your station manager, I can assure you that this matter won't just end here. Just wait and see, it's going to get bigger and bigger."

...

While Suming and Nangong Yan were goofing around in the office, there was also a bustling scene of activity in the small villa of Huating Fisheries Company.

The villa's first-floor hall looked like an internet café, with seven or eight computers set up. Cables stretched across the floor like a dense spider web, as a bald man and his gang were all focused on their computers online.

In just a couple of days, a group of thugs had been trained by Zhou Jin to act as a cyber troop. They scoured the internet for all sorts of posts about food hormones, spreading them on Yangchuan forums, and creating numerous sock puppet accounts to comment and add fuel to the fire.

It wasn't just them; Zhou Jin also mobilized some other friends from society and, on the bald man's suggestion, secretly hired some professional cyber troops to make a big noise. This rapidly turned the hormone issue into a hot topic within just a few days.

The strategy of creating momentum was actually inspired by Suming, which Zhou Jin picked up from him.

As the saying goes, 'Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.' Zhou Jin and all other grassroots heroes, who may not have had much formal education, were well-versed in epics like the 'Three Kingdoms' and 'Water Margin' and drew many strategic and tactical inspirations from them.

Zhou Jin had carefully studied Suming and found that the key component in all of Suming's recent successes: creating momentum. Before doing anything, Suming would first use the internet, television, and other media to build up 'momentum' to the fullest, then strike like lightning, achieving maximum impact.

Thus, in Zhou Jin's plan, creating momentum was a focus of substantial effort.

"Very good, but this is far from enough!" Zhou Jin stood on the second-floor corridor, like a hero, full of vigour, and gestured vigorously towards the floor below!