The culinary recruitment program was sponsored by Gu Corporation.
At the time, Gu Qingyan's love-struck behavior even trended on social media.
People were used to seeing love-struck girls, but a love-struck boy was a first.
Netizens found him both pitiable and endearing.
With such high online popularity, clips of the show were constantly being edited and posted online.
Some even had commentary added.
Public accounts reposted them, causing the popularity to soar.
A small online variety show that hadn't even officially launched, and was only being live-streamed, suddenly became a hit.
Within two days, Gu Corporation's stock heat increased by 2%.
This title sponsorship was truly worth it.
Even the Gu family parents' friends were telling them how clever their son's move was.
It was all part of their plan. Young people really know how to leverage the internet.
The Gu family parents smiled mysteriously without saying a word.
Only the couple knew that their son wasn't actually that calculating. He had simply fallen in love for real.
The Gu Family Older Brother approached his parents and said, "I have some important business partners who'd like to go and eat there. Could they go as food tasters?"
This business deal was quite important to them.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked his parents for this favor.
After all, as the title sponsor, surely they could enjoy some small perks.
The Gu family parents' eyes widened as they looked at each other, wondering why they hadn't thought of this before.
They immediately said, "Good idea, son."
The Gu Family Older Brother didn't understand what they meant, but he saw his parents contacting Shen Wei to arrange a visit.
Well, well, it seemed they had inadvertently given them an idea.
Shen Wei quickly agreed and thoughtfully asked if they wanted to appear on the live stream.
Usually, entrepreneurs prefer to keep a low profile and avoid public exposure.
Especially now, with such high popularity.
But the Gu family parents weren't ordinary people.
When they heard they could be on a live stream watched by over a million people, they happily agreed.
The next day, netizens discovered that there were special seats for some diners.
They were outraged: "What's this? People using connections to get in? That's too much!"
"If they can do it, why can't I?"
Just as everyone was angrily expressing their discontent, they suddenly noticed there was a placard on that table.
After zooming in frantically with two fingers, they deflated. No comparison - these were the big sponsors.
The ones who had splashed out 200 million.
The netizens who had just been righteously indignant and protesting suddenly said, "I guess I didn't want to eat there that badly after all."
"I can just have some instant noodles."
"Actually, my fried rice isn't bad."
Some Gu Corporation employees recognized their bosses: "That's our chairman and his wife. I've only seen them once from afar at the annual company party. I can't believe they came to the live stream. They must be helping our young master chase his wife."
"Big brother above, how did you see that? They clearly just wanted to eat there themselves."
"If even big shots at this level are enjoying the food so much, it must be really good."
"These rich people, what good food haven't they tried before?"
"If even they think it's good, how delicious must it be?"
"Can't compare. If it was 10,000 yuan sponsorship, I might grit my teeth and consider it. But 200 million? I'd have better luck dreaming about it."
The playful comments left by netizens were picked up by public accounts, instantly boosting the popularity again.
At the same time, many business tycoons called Shen Wei, requesting sponsorship opportunities. Preferably with two food taster seats thrown in.
Now that popularity had surged, they couldn't let Gu Corporation monopolize all the traffic. They had products too and could do some ad placements. More importantly, they wanted those two tasting spots.
Their advertising departments had been watching for days, drooling with envy.
How could Shen Wei refuse when people were offering money?
So 20 new seats were added.
Their entire program budget suddenly increased to 2 billion yuan.
This was more than enough to produce not just an online variety show, but even a studio-based one.
Lin Rui was overjoyed.
She never imagined they'd be so well-funded.
She even went to Shen Wei and said happily, "I was thinking earlier, if we ran short on money, I'd ask my dad to sponsor us a bit!"
After all, she came from a wealthy family. They would surely support her business venture.
But before she even had to use this trump card, people were already lining up to throw money at them.
These wealthy people's resources were all about connections. If you wanted them to invest, you couldn't skimp on the flattery.
Shen Wei said, "We just need to do a good job. People will see it. Sincerity is the ultimate killer move."
"That makes sense!"
Shen Wei glanced around and asked, "Where's Qin Ye?"
Qin Ye and Lin Rui were the main drivers behind this project.
Now, even Shen Wei rarely saw these two.
Every day, no one knew what they were busy with.
Lin Rui was now mainly responsible for various offline matters.
Lin Rui said, "Qin Ye went to find various master chefs around the country!"
He wanted to invite them for challenge matches, to make things more exciting.
With popularity so high now, this would be a win-win situation.
Many of the master chefs weren't local.
To persuade them, he had to visit in person.
Fortunately, Chef Chen and Liu Chef were veterans in the culinary world.
They could make introductions.
Even if they didn't know someone personally, their friends would.
At the very least, meeting with Qin Ye shouldn't be a problem.
As for whether they could reach an agreement, that would depend on his own abilities.
Shen Wei nodded, "Mm."
The two were chatting in the conference room, where a large screen was projecting what was happening in front.
Suddenly, they saw a little girl run into the frame.
Lin Rui and Shen Wei exclaimed simultaneously, "NiuNiu?"
Today, Starry Sky Kindergarten was closed, so all the children were at home.
Plus, this was a pop-up store, children wouldn't normally come here.
Seeing a child enter, both women felt their hearts jump.
Because NiuNiu had run into the cooking area.
With oil and hot pans, it was very dangerous.
Ignoring the live stream for now, Shen Wei immediately ran over, intending to bring the child back.
The netizens watching the live stream didn't know what was happening. They just saw an adorable little baby enter the frame.
"Wow, how did NiuNiu get there?"
"It's dangerous over there!"
Some people were aware of the danger, but most were just happily amused.
They thought it was some kind of Easter egg arranged by the live stream.
Then everyone witnessed a heart-stopping moment.
The child almost touched a pot of soup on the ground.
That pot had just been brought to a boil.
If the hot soup inside were to spill, it would be no laughing matter.
All the onlookers felt their hearts skip a beat.
When Shen Wei approached, her face had turned pale, but someone quick-witted had already scooped NiuNiu into their arms.
To everyone's surprise, it was Jiang Xun.
Jiang Xun had been in the back row.
When he saw NiuNiu, it was as if he reacted instinctively, immediately taking her into his arms.
NiuNiu usually loved being held.
At that moment, she hadn't realized the danger she'd just been in.
She simply thought a handsome big brother had picked her up.
Then her soft little face nestled against his neck.
Her warm breath tickled his jawline.
When Shen Wei came over, her face was still pale. She reached out, and NiuNiu naturally transferred to Shen Wei's arms.
The children at the kindergarten all adored Shen Wei.
Even Liu Chef, sitting at the judges' table, was stunned.
He immediately stood up and exclaimed, "How did you get here?!"
NiuNiu said, "This morning, I secretly got in the car with Grandpa and came here!"
Later, when Grandpa got out of the car, he didn't notice her. She stayed in the car for a while, got bored, and then got out.
She had only walked towards the bustling area, nearly causing this disaster. Liu Chef felt his heart clench with fear.
He immediately scolded her sternly, "You little rascal, I told you to stay at home obediently. Why didn't you listen?"
Liu Chef rarely showed such a severe expression. NiuNiu, who had been smiling cheerfully, was suddenly scolded by her dear grandfather. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
She looked pitifully at Liu Chef and Shen Wei.
As if filled with endless grievance.
Shen Wei usually couldn't resist when children cried or threw tantrums.
But this time, she steeled her heart and didn't comfort her.
It had been far too dangerous earlier. If Jiang Xun hadn't intervened, NiuNiu would certainly have been in danger.
Finally, the little one burst into tears, burying her face in Shen Wei's embrace, looking utterly heartbroken, as if she had been terribly wronged.
When NiuNiu's temper flared up, she insisted on finding the handsome big brother, referring to Jiang Xun who had just saved her.
Shen Wei had to patiently coax her, "The handsome big brother is in a competition. He'll come to see you later, okay?"
NiuNiu reluctantly nodded.
Shen Wei had initially wanted to keep a stern face and explain the gravity of the situation to the child, but hearing NiuNiu cry for the handsome big brother even through her tears...
She really couldn't help it.
Indeed, NiuNiu's character as a little flirt remained unshaken.
