26: The story behind the morning sun

He turned his head to look at the cardboard box beside the desk, which had the four large characters “Morning Sunshine” printed on it.

If he could get an endorsement from this brand, wouldn't that mean a double harvest of money and a backer?

He had to try. Even if the success rate was only 0.0001%, it was still infinitely better than not trying at all!

Tomorrow, the program team would be assessing strength, which perfectly aligned with the image of a sports brand. Their company would spend money on advertising, so they would surely want to understand the advertising effect, and might even arrange for people to watch the live broadcast. So tomorrow would be a very good platform for him to showcase himself.

A person doesn’t fight an unprepared battle; he should first check their company’s information!

Chen Fang sat back down at his desk, opened his browser on his laptop, and searched for “Morning Sunshine.”

After half an hour of scrolling, his heart grew increasingly melancholic.

He only knew that this brand had changed its name, formerly called “Dawn,” and now called “Morning Sunshine,” but he didn’t know the story behind it.

After reading this news, all he could say was… novels were ultimately conservative.

It turned out that 25 years ago, a corrupt official’s relative ran a sportswear brand. Because Dawn occupied a large market share, it affected their profits. And since Dawn’s headquarters were in that city, they set their sights on Dawn with ill intentions.

They used both soft and hard tactics: the soft tactic was a honey trap to dig a pit, and the hard tactic was to collude with other powerful “tigers,” beating and imprisoning the boss’s relatives and friends, even causing a pregnant woman to miscarry and a relative to commit suicide. After a series of actions that covered the sky with one hand, they brutally swallowed an enterprise worth billions. The culprits indulged in lavish spending, debauchery, and committed all sorts of evil deeds. And Dawn quickly faded out of the public eye.

Later, 10 years ago, when Chen Fang was in elementary school, this corrupt official and related personnel were investigated for other matters, and this incident was then exposed by the victimized entrepreneur.

Countless netizens were enraged and expressed their support for their family to restart their business.

It was then that netizens discovered that a domestic brand was precisely created by the son of Dawn’s boss, named Morning Sunshine, symbolizing that they had emerged from the darkness and welcomed the morning light. The name change was not because they didn’t want to use the original name, but because the original name was taken, and they had no choice but to change it.

Suddenly, the public overwhelmingly expressed support for Morning Sunshine.

Morning Sunshine itself was also a conscientious brand. At that time, several down jackets were exposed for having no down, while their down jackets only had more, not less.

Gaining sympathy and positive market reviews, the high-level management seized this momentum and soared, returning to their peak after another ten years.

After reading this news, Chen Fang felt a heavy stone weighing on his heart.

How should he put it?

When money speaks, truth falls silent. When power speaks, even money retreats three paces.

To be wealthy without a backer, or to be poor with a beautiful wife, has always been a taboo that invites covetousness since ancient times.

Alas! He probably also committed this mistake—no backer, yet taking resources.

Chen Fang looked up, took a deep breath, and pulled his thoughts back.

He needed a backer; he needed connections.

If he could become the spokesperson for Morning Sunshine after clarifying the rumors, he would have some connections.

But he couldn’t clarify it yet; he could only perform well tomorrow.

Chen Fang stared at the news on the computer screen.

This could be considered sharing the same plight, right?

Perhaps, it wouldn’t care about his past?

【This system has no emotions. Please do not attempt to use domineering CEO quotes to launch a mental attack on this system.】

“…”

Who was talking to it?

Oh, right, this reminded him that he should be able to draw a lottery now.

Chen Fang turned on the screen, and his eyes instantly lit up.

There were actually 320,400 negative emotional points?! It increased by 200,000 in one day?

Hiss—what to do, he felt so itchy to draw.

Please, all the gods, whether you are effective or not, please bless him!

“System, let’s have 10 draws first! Skip the ‘thank you for participating,’ just tell me the results.”

【Congratulations, Host, you have received an Advanced Body Attribute Point Card * 1.】

“Uh, that’s it?”

【Thank you for participating * 9.】

“…”

His luck was so bad today?! He would first check what this item was, and then do another 10 draws later.

Chen Fang clicked on the attribute point card, and a pop-up dialog box on the screen introduced it:

【After clicking to use, you can add 30 attribute points to any body attribute.】

Chen Fang’s eyes lit up.

He had misunderstood the system just now. Wasn’t this exactly what he needed? Relying on the gods before the draw was truly hardcore.

He quickly clicked open his personal information panel.

The information panel included four parts: Basic Information, Physical Fitness, Skills, and Special Attributes.

Basic Information was just his name and such, nothing interesting to look at.

Chen Fang clicked on the second section, “Physical Fitness,” and rows of data popped up on the screen.

【Strength: 87 / 100】

【Endurance: 91 / 100】

【Speed: 89 / 100】

【Balance: 63 / 100】

【Agility: 70 / 100】

【Flexibility: 69 / 100】

…

【Note: Taking strength as an example, 60 is the average level for the age group, 80 is athlete level, 90 is excellent athlete level. 100 is the human limit.】

Chen Fang stroked his chin. Strength, endurance, and speed had been increased by 30 before, so their values were very high.

He needed to practice strength tomorrow. He had checked online that while a corpse driving tested strength when taking on disciples, he also tested a person’s balance.

To perform well tomorrow and attract the attention of Morning Sunshine, he should add it to his balance.

After clicking to use, 【Balance: 63 / 100】 on the screen instantly changed to 【Balance: 93 / 100】.

Chen Fang closed his eyes, stood still, and felt as if he were a rock, standing firmly on the ground. He opened his eyes and lifted one foot; after 10 seconds, there was not a single wobble.

Wow, as steady as a rock!

Perfect for walking on a tightrope.

Chen Fang sat down, satisfied.

He thought to himself, “Another 10 draws! Skip the ‘thank you for participating.’”

【Congratulations, Host, you have received the “ghost blows out the light” Grand Gift Pack!】

Then the system fell silent again.

Grand Gift Pack?

Chen Fang clicked it open and saw that it contained character settings, outlines, main text, and other content. Clicking 【Extract】 would directly embed it into his mind.

This was also good.

“ghost blows out the light” was about the protagonist group exploring ancient tombs; it wasn’t exactly a horror novel, but for some timid people, it could send chills down their spine. It could both earn money and accumulate negative emotional points.

His parents were teachers at the College of Literature, and the corpse driving theme of “the adventures” was his own idea, so presenting this novel wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

However, how to publish it was a problem.

His mother had just researched the current online literature market of this world at the beginning of the year, and he had also heard his mother’s introduction.

From the current market environment, it was not suitable to directly publish “ghost blows out the light” on a website.

In his previous world, online literature flourished with a hundred flowers blooming. But in this world, perhaps because people were too suppressed in reality, the online literature market placed great emphasis on social hot emotions. For example, during the New Year, writing a novel against forced marriage, or when someone encountered unfair treatment, writing a novel to help the public vent their anger. This genre was very popular.

Other types of novels were relatively weaker, and tomb-raiding novels were even niche works, with no breakout hit to date.

Moreover, online literature in this world emphasized gimmicks, and sometimes gimmicks were even more important than content.

For example, to attract new users, websites would create book promotion videos with explosive openings, grabbing social emotions in a single sentence. If a book could attract attention and bring new users to the website, the website would give it a higher recommendation slot.

This didn’t mean that authors in this world didn’t innovate, but rather that the mainstream market demand was like this. The social environment determined reader demand and also the needs of the online literature market.

The theme and opening of “ghost blows out the light” did not quite meet these requirements, making it difficult to break through in a fixed market. Therefore, he had to find another platform.

Furthermore, regarding copyright issues, some websites would directly require authors to hand over their copyrights to the website. This was “ghost blows out the light”! If the copyright was directly taken away, wouldn’t it be a huge loss?

It wasn’t impossible to publish it; choosing a website that didn’t take away copyright and whose recommendation mechanism valued content would still work. It was just that initial exposure would be a problem.

It would be best to participate in a competition and gain exposure through it. If he lost the competition, it wouldn’t be too late to publish it online then.

Failing that, he could also find an opportunity to tell it to everyone on a variety show.

He would keep an eye out for any competitions recently. Or, he could ask his parents when he returned home after the variety show ended.

Regardless, getting “ghost blows out the light” in ten draws was a huge gain.

Chen Fang closed the grand gift pack and yawned. He washed up, ready to sleep!