noveldepot Chapter 52: The First Battle – It's a Flop!!
Chapter 52: The First Battle – It's a Flop!!
At 9:50 p.m., the autumn night was as dark as ink, with only the campus streetlights casting circles of dim yellow light.
At this moment, dozens or even hundreds of college students have gathered under each dormitory building that displays posters.
They gathered in small groups, craning their necks, whispering to each other, the faint glow of their phone screens merging together in the darkness, all waiting to witness the arrival of the countdown poster '0'.
On the dormitory building, curious heads peeked out from almost every balcony, all staring at the spot where the poster was hanging.
9:55pm.
In the Jiaotong University Science and Technology Park, most offices were already dark, but the lights in Room 401 were still as bright as day.
The atmosphere in the office was tense; you could hear a pin drop.
Apart from Hao Pengxiang, who went back early to finish the design drawings, all team members, including Geng Zhi, Song Qing, Huang Haitang, and Shu Beibei, were on duty.
Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the website backend data on Song Qing's computer screen, waiting for the decisive moment at ten o'clock.
……
Jiaotong University campus, downstairs from dormitory building No. 5 in the East District.
"Here it comes!"
A low murmur rippled through the crowd.
Under the watchful eyes of hundreds, three outsourced workers wearing bright yellow reflective vests walked steadily to the dormitory building, carrying a rolled-up, brand-new, huge poster.
There were no unnecessary movements; setting up the ladder, climbing up, unfastening the fasteners on the old poster, rolling it up and putting it away—the movements were so practiced that it seemed as if they had rehearsed them countless times.
Then, the new poster, which represented the final answer, was slowly fixed, unfolded, and flattened.
All eyes instantly focused on the new poster.
In the center of the poster, a large number '0' stands out, below which is the iconic cartoon elephant logo and a slogan that strikes a chord with the viewer.
"Let the excellent you no longer be excellent in solitude." Someone followed up and read it out.
Below that is the official website address of Jiaotong University Matchmaker, which is the full pinyin of "Jiaotong University Matchmaker" plus a dot.com suffix.
"Website address! It's the website address!"
"Jiaotong University matchmaker in full spelling! Just as expected!"
"Write this down quickly!"
The whispers instantly turned into an excited cacophony.
Many people immediately took out their phones and started taking notes or typing directly.
On the balcony of the fifth floor of a dormitory building in the School of Foreign Languages, Wang Qinqin, wearing a coat and glasses, immediately recognized the website address.
She silently recited the instructions, then turned and rushed back to her dormitory, sat down at her computer, and quickly typed in the address.
The page unfolds smoothly.
The design is clean and simple, without any redundant information, featuring only the warm elephant logo and the heartfelt slogan: "Let the excellent you no longer be excellent alone."
Wang Qinqin's heart skipped a beat.
These words, like a precise bullet, struck her hidden feelings of loneliness and isolation that she had experienced while studying diligently in the "Nun's Nunnery" department for many years.
The curiosity she had accumulated over the past few days combined with the resonance she felt at that moment made her click without hesitation, directly clicking the most eye-catching button in the center of the page—the entrance to the "Singles' Day · No Disturbance" event introduction.
The page redirects, and the event details are clearly displayed:
This is an exclusive encounter for NCTU alumni, titled "If You Are the One," scheduled for the afternoon of November 11th on the Huashi University campus. The page specifically notes that registration requires verification of your NCTU email address and student ID number, and your student ID card will be strictly checked offline.
She carefully read the event introduction and read it aloud softly:
"A specially invited PhD in psychology will provide full guidance, focusing on 'mind matching' and in-depth interactive games... Limited to 64 seats for the first time... Only open to third-year and above students of National Chiao Tung University... Registration fee is 50% off, only NT$64, early bird price as low as NT$48, including exquisite tea and refreshments..."
As she read, Wang Qinqin felt her heartbeat quicken.
The mouse in her hand seemed to have its own will, and she clicked "I want to register" again.
In addition to the usual personal information, photo upload, and mate preference information, the registration page also includes a "preliminary assessment of mental compatibility".
"There's a psychological test too?" Wang Qinqin's eyes lit up instead of finding it troublesome.
For many girls, taking these kinds of self-exploration tests is fun and has a sense of ritual.
Without hesitation, she clicked on it and started working on it seriously.
……
In office 401, time ticked by.
"Junior, they're here! The pageviews are jumping!" Song Qing suddenly broke the silence, shouting excitedly, "10...20...50...it's broken 100! Holy crap, this traffic curve is climbing pretty fast!"
A suppressed cheer and a sigh of relief suddenly filled the office.
Li Haipeng turned around happily and gave Yang Mingxia, who was equally nervous beside him, a high five.
However, five minutes passed.
The official website has received over 400 visits, but the number representing the registration for the "If You Are the One" event still stubbornly displays a glaring "0".
"Huh? It's been five minutes... why hasn't anyone signed up yet?" Sun Xiaowen, who was waiting to have user data extracted for matching, was the first to get restless, her tone somewhat anxious.
"Yeah, Song Qing, is there a bug? The registration data isn't showing up." Huang Haitang couldn't help but ask.
"Impossible! You and your junior have tested and verified it repeatedly!" Song Qing immediately retorted, but his hands were still quickly checking the backend logs.
"Could it be... that the early bird price of 48 Dragon Coins is still too high for students?" Shu Beibei guessed.
The atmosphere in the office seemed to have been doused with cold water, instantly plummeting from its previous high point of excitement to a tense one.
The marketing posts from Jiaotong University's matchmaking service garnered significant public attention and brought in a huge amount of website traffic, but this was not the team's primary objective.
What the team truly desires is a substantial number of registrations, a bustling scene where the place is overflowing and people have to wait in line!
Reality seemed to have dealt them a heavy blow.
"I only prepared 20 internal guests to fill in as emergency replacements," Shu Beibei said with a hint of disappointment. "If the actual number of applicants is less than 44, then we won't be able to gather the 64 people we planned for the event..."
"Don't worry, there are still several days," Huang Haitang reassured him, trying to sound cheerful. "At worst, we can mobilize the 'Qi Family Army' and other acquaintances, sending a dozen or twenty of our own people to hold things together..."
Sun Xiaowen didn't say anything, but walked to Song Qing's computer again and pressed the F5 refresh key herself.
Backend data update: Website visits: 512. Number of successful registrations: 0.
Her heart sank; she couldn't be sure whether it was a technical glitch or the market's cold, hard reaction.
"Junior Brother Geng..." Sun Xiaowen's voice revealed obvious nervousness.
At this moment, everyone's eyes turned to Geng Zhi, who had remained silent and calm.
"Senior, please calm down." Geng Zhi smiled and said in a steady tone, "Our event rules are quite demanding, and users need time to read and understand them."
"Moreover, a psychological quiz has been added, as well as a pre-matching process that authorizes us to select partners based on their criteria. These all require users to think and weigh their options, so it will naturally be slower."
"That's true. Just my psychological test questions alone would take me three or four minutes to complete seriously..." Sun Xiaowen breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, but her eyes still kept glancing at the screen.
Sun Xiaowen, who was standing behind him, also excitedly clenched her fist lightly at the first moment.
"Li Dongping from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Wang Qinqin from the School of Foreign Languages, and..."
Song Qing read out the information of the applicants one by one. With each one he read out, the tension in the office dissipated a little, and was replaced by a gradually spreading joy.
"Quick! Junior Song, send me this batch of registration data first, and I'll immediately input it into the pre-matching model!" Sun Xiaowen said urgently, her face regaining its luster.
"Right away!" Song Qing's fingers flew across the keyboard.
Just 40 minutes after registration opened, the number of registered users for "If You Are the One" exceeded 100, it was a complete frenzy!