Chapter 19: A Cunning WeChat Promotion Campaign (Please Favorite, Please Invest!)

In view of this impression, Yue Feng didn't have much desire to engage in deep conversation with Xiao Zhang.

"Hehe, the Hand Food is quite effective, if you're interested you can stop by the shop later and grab a couple of bags to try! Today I deliberately laid a heavy bait to aim for a new personal record, to see how many fish I can catch until it gets dark!"

With just one sentence, Yue Feng had blocked the words that Xiao Zhang was about to say about laying his bait. It was inappropriate to encroach on someone else's bait spot when they were trying to set a personal record.

Although Yue Feng didn't leave him any chance to speak, the routine product promotion was still necessary, so he shared some Hand Food and Rice Wine bait with Xiao Zhang for a trial.

Xiao Zhang was quite tactful. After receiving the bait, he specifically vacated the old fishing spot and, more than a meter away, used the Rice Wine bait given by Yue Feng to create a new spot. Though the fish were biting slowly at the new spot, at least he started getting some.

Yue Feng kept catching fish at his prime spot, and the live advertisement was quite effective, bringing interested anglers over to ask about the bait, which led to Yue Feng adding seven or eight new contacts on WeChat.

However, since it was Monday, there were naturally fewer people fishing by the river, and the promotional effort didn't meet Yue Feng's initial expectations.

As it neared darkness, Yue Feng fished until he could no longer see the float, then began to pack up to go home.

Starting from catching his first fish at 11:20 AM, Yue Feng had fished by the river for a full six hours until 5:30 PM.

When he pulled up the Fish Guard, even Xiao Zhang beside him was astonished.

As per the usual rules, excluding the small fish that were caught and released immediately, there were at least fifty to sixty pounds of big crucian carp left in the Fish Guard. The 35 cm diameter competition Fish Guard was packed full and then some.

Yue Feng spread out the Fish Guard filled with fish on the ground behind him and placed the bait with his store's logo next to it. He then took out his phone and snapped a picture of his catch.

March 28, from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, downstream Qinglong Lake near Wangjiazhuang at the position of a large plowshare tip, solo explosion of the Fish Guard with a big catch!

A photo of the catch with a brief description of the time, location, and general fish situation was posted to Yue Feng's Moments.

Ding! The way of thinking determines the way, congratulations you now have a new understanding of commercial advertising promotions! Reward Lottery Points +500!

The WeChat account that Yue Feng had applied for not long ago only had a few people in it, all customers of his, and as soon as he posted the explosive Fish Guard details, his Moments immediately blew up.

"Holy shit! Brutal, you caught so many! These have got to weigh at least sixty or seventy pounds!"

"Just got off work, free tonight, requesting to share the spot, applying to fish at night to take over the bait spot!"

"Is there a new badass bait out? Save a few packs for me in advance."

Seeing over a dozen comments and replies pop up in just a short time, Yue Feng had another idea.

"For the grand opening of the new store, to promote and increase store traffic and brand awareness, any angler who uses products sold by our shop and catches over 30 pounds alone, share a photo of your catch and yourself on Moments, and with 30 likes, receive a secret version of enhanced bait as a reward (300g)! In case of any cheating, all winning chances will be forfeited."

Once the separate message was posted on Moments, Yue Feng's phone was immediately inundated with calls!

Goodness, Yue Feng's demonstration of an explosive catch at the Wangjiazhuang river section with photo evidence had already made many anglers itch with anticipation, and now he had revealed that participating in the promotional activity could win a secret enhanced bait reward.

Rice Wine's bait at the store is now so impressive that the special in-house version was bound to be even more effective. Those who had bought bait from Yue Feng's store a few times and tasted the sweetness of success were immediately itching to get their hands on it.

However, Yue Feng, who was usually easy to talk to, was unusually firm this time. Want to buy it with money? Sorry, it's not for sale!

What, a high price? It's just a portion of bait. Someone is already willing to pay several times the price for high-quality fish bait, which is already nice, but how much higher can they go? Can they pay Yue Feng's ten thousand yuan rent? Definitely not!

So, it's not for sale!

The only way to get the enhanced in-house version of the secret bait was by using products from Yue Feng's shop, "Fish Guard," and sharing them on social media with likes.

It was a spur-of-the-moment idea for Yue Feng, but with some reputation to back it up, and after today's exaggerated display of "Fish Guard" catches, the sales of the bait at his store shot up dramatically.

The first batch of die-hard fans Yue Feng acquired through the bait and Rice Wine heard that there was non-purchasable bait available through a promotional event and began their first wave of the dream-chasing journey.

Take Liu Fengnian, for example, an old friend of Yue Feng's. After seeing the message on Yue Feng's social media and having his call rejected, he gritted his teeth, delegated his work for the next day, and went out fishing with a few friends.

Isn't it not for sale? I'll play by your rules, bro. I'll win that limited edition bait fair and square and see just how magical it is.

The next evening, as usual, Yue Feng was packing up his gear to return to the store when he glanced at his social media feed.

Well, he only scrolled through a few pages and saw at least five or six posts spreading advertisements for "Fish Guard"!

These seasoned anglers usually had their own undisclosed fishing spots, which in industry terms, were known as private grounds.

These places were not usually spoiled by excess fishing, and many anglers wouldn't take away large quantities of fish. The more extreme ones might even release fish caught elsewhere to increase the density in these specific waters.

But now, faced with Yue Feng's secret in-house bait, these guys were completely rocking out.

"Yue Feng? Are you there? Posted the ad and finished liking it, where do I collect the reward?" Just then, a message from Liu Fengnian popped up on WeChat.

Yue Feng grinned and typed back, "Big Brother Liu, the shop is open from 5:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night, as usual. You can come and get it anytime!"

"Is the store not open now? We just came back from fishing and haven't even eaten yet. If your store is open, we'll stop by on our way to have a look!"

"Sure, come over! I was fishing near Wangjiazhuang this afternoon and just got back!"

To prepare for the impromptu promotion he had launched the day before, Yue Feng readied ten special portions of bait, which was really just his spring crucian carp formula bait with a full dose of "Wild Fishing Companion."

However, to distinguish it, Yue Feng wrote the word "Special" beneath the bait's name on the non-sticky label with a marker pen.

After arranging the promised bait, Yue Feng looked out the door at the restaurant across the street in operation. Liu Fengnian had said that several fishing friends hadn't eaten yet. Since they had helped him out, he thought he might as well be the host and treat them to a simple meal to express his appreciation and connect with them more closely.

About ten minutes later, Liu Fengnian arrived with a few friends.