Chapter - 5182

Elaine was shocked to see that her $2,000 advertising budget had been spent in less than two minutes. She cursed under her breath, "Is this money or what? Two grand gone just like that? Unbelievable!"

What she didn't realize, however, was that the faster the advertising budget was spent, the higher the ad exposure would be. The logic of TikTok is based on algorithms that promote high-quality content with high click-through rates and completion rates. Such high-quality content can attract more and more traffic. As long as the conversion performance of Elaine's video remained high, the system would continue to promote it.

Sometimes, internet celebrities with tens of millions of fans may post a video that gets only a few thousand likes. On the other hand, there are often videos posted by people with only a few thousand fans that receive over a million likes, making them the most popular videos in the world. These are internet sensations, and they gain popularity because of their high-quality content and excellent data performance. The platform actively pushes these videos to tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of new users. Elaine's video had an outrageously high click-through rate and completion rate. Within no time, the number of viewers had surged to hundreds of thousands, with waves of likes, favorites, and comments following suit.

Soon, Elaine was awestruck by the sheer volume of comments pouring in. She couldn't believe that the number of likes and comments on her video had quickly surpassed 10,000!

Although she had been on TikTok for a long time, none of her previous posts garnered more than 10 likes. Seeing so many likes and comments now, she felt like it wasn't quite real. It was as if a slot machine at a casino had suddenly hit the jackpot and the amount kept rolling up, giving her the illusion of being in a dream. Surprisingly, it was all real. The content of Elaine's video was incredibly explosive and of an extremely bad nature, causing ordinary people to feel a sense of righteous indignation upon watching it. It was this incendiary nature of the video that had caused its data to skyrocket!

In no time, the number of views had crossed the one million mark, and within five minutes, it had climbed to two million. According to TikTok's background algorithm, this video was currently the best-performing one on the entire platform. Even if a big internet celebrity with tens of millions of fans were to publish a work, it may not be as popular as Elaine's work at all!

As a result, that night, the traffic on the entire platform tilted crazily towards Elaine's video.

At this very moment, a legion of netizens furiously pounded their keyboards, unleashing their wrath upon Hannah through the glowing screens of their mobile phones. Among them were those who had once tuned into her live broadcasts, and even some of her most devoted fans.

But what could possibly have stirred up such intense animosity? It seemed that the truth about Hannah's business had finally come to light. You see, people had been flocking to her live broadcast room, eager to purchase the products she was hawking. But why? Well, many of them had been moved by the pitiful image she presented - a woman who was tough and hard working, embodying the virtues of old.

Yet, unbeknownst to her followers, Hannah was raking in a fortune every time someone spent just $100 in her broadcast room. While her fans may not have been familiar with the ins and outs of live streaming, they were starting to feel like they had been taken for a ride. The buyers had all assumed that their $100 purchase would net Hannah a measly one or two dollars - after all, she was just a hardworking woman trying to scrape together enough money to cover her family's medical expenses and her mother-in-law's living costs. That was all they thought they were contributing to.

But little did they know that Hannah was raking in a small fortune with each and every weekday broadcast, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from her devoted viewers. To add insult to injury, it soon became clear that this was all part of a calculated performance - Hannah had directed and acted in every single one of these broadcasts. The realization left her fans feeling both infuriated and foolish.

The woman in the video was nothing like the Hannah her fans had come to know and love. She was cruel and abusive towards her paralyzed husband and son, showing them not an ounce of respect.Even her elderly mother-in-law wasn't safe from her sharp tongue and harsh treatment. It was a shocking sight - this woman who had seemed to embody some semblance of traditional virtues was in fact rotten to the core. To make matters worse, she spoke with a brazen arrogance, hurling insults and curses at her very own fans.

The backlash was immediate and intense. Scores of people flocked to Hannah's latest video, leaving scathing comments and even reporting her to official accounts.

The netizens were outraged - they couldn't believe that such a brazen woman lived in their very own city. Before long, the video had gone viral, spreading like wildfire across various channels. WeChat Moments and WeChat groups were particularly abuzz with the news.

At that moment, Hannah was lounging in the lap of luxury at a five-star hotel. She had called ahead to the housekeeper, requesting that a bath be drawn for her and filled with imported bath salts and a flurry of fresh rose petals. Eager to indulge herself, she slipped out of her clothes and settled into the comforting warmth of the jacuzzi.

After her bath, Hannah had scheduled an essential oil massage at the hotel spa. She lay back on the massage table, closing her eyes and losing herself in the sensation of the skilled hands kneading away the stresses of her day. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, cocooned in a blanket of fragrant oils. It was her favorite way to unwind and recharge after a long day.

As a VIP guest of the hotel, Hannah didn't give a second thought to the mess she made in her room. She knew that no matter how dirty she left it, the housekeeping staff would come in and make everything spick-and-span again by the time she returned. It was just one of the many reasons why she had grown so fond of staying in hotels lately.

At that moment, she lay in the bathtub with her eyes closed, her mobile phone resting on a stone platform next to her. As a bona fide internet celebrity, Hannah received countless private messages, comments, and likes from her fans on TikTok every day. But she had long since disabled the push notifications - she simply couldn't keep up with the constant stream of attention.

Little did she know that tens of thousands of people were attacking and insulting her in all sorts of creative ways, the digital equivalent of torches and pitchforks. But for now, she remained blissfully unaware, cocooned in her bubble of luxury and indulgence.

…

Christopher and Harold, both paralyzed and bedridden, were unable to access the internet - they couldn't hold a phone with both hands, after all. Meanwhile, the elderly Wilson had retired to bed early, exhausted from caring for the two men. Wendy was still at work, buried in meetings, and had yet to inform Hannah about the latest online firestorm.

As for Elaine, she was positively giddy with excitement over the countless views and likes flooding in on her latest video. It had already racked up several million views, but her fanbase had barely budged - only a few thousand new followers had joined the ranks. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment at the lackluster growth.

Ten minutes had passed, and the scandal continued to spread like wildfire. Elaine's video had already surpassed 10 million views, prompting news outlets to scramble and publish stories about the incident. Article after article flooded the internet, their headlines screaming in bold typeface:

"Internet Celebrities Selling False Sympathy for Profit: Live Broadcasts Marred by Fraud and Deceit, While Public Pays the Price!"

"Live-Stream Scandals: Shady Tactics and Dirty Tricks Lead to the Downfall of Another Internet Celebrity!"

The public was in an uproar, and the story showed no signs of slowing down. It seemed that Hannah's days of profiting off her viewers' goodwill were finally over. Hannah stirred when her phone began buzzing incessantly, alerting her to a flurry of notifications. She picked it up, glancing at the sea of messages flooding her screen. Another internet celebrity had fallen from grace, it seemed.

But little did she know, the person who had tumbled from the pedestal of fame was none other than herself. Blissfully unaware of the unfolding drama, Hannah smirked to herself. "I wonder who's the unlucky schmuck this time," she mused. "If they were half as careful as I am, they could keep up the charade for three, five years even. Even if they did get exposed, what's the big deal? I've already made more money than I could spend in a lifetime. When the time comes, I'll just disappear to some far-flung country where no one knows me and live a good life with my passport."

Hannah couldn't help but sneer to herself, her mind working overtime. "Once my live streams have been stable for another couple of months, I'll start my own internet celebrity agency," she thought. "I'll cultivate a whole army of anchors just like me and use my account to siphon off their profits. That way, I'll be able to absorb even more money than I am now. Once I've made a few hundred million, I'm outta here - straight to Europe or the States. I won't be taking any of these losers with me, that's for sure! That would be more than enough to live a life of luxury and excess!"

Hannah's mind was awash with the possibility of untold riches - she could practically taste the decadence that lay ahead. A life of endless luxury and lavish spending, basking in the glow of her own immeasurable wealth.

But at that moment, she clicked on a tweet, eager to see who had been the latest victim of internet exposure. The video that played after she clicked on the link seemed innocuous enough at first, but as it began to play, she froze in horror.

Suddenly, her own voice filled the room, blasting out from the phone's speaker. "Damn, this cheap wig is way too hot!" she heard herself say. It was a snippet from the same video that had already set the internet ablaze, and now it was coming back to haunt her.