The moment I opened the short video app, the first image caught my eye.
I saw a cute girl in her twenties sitting at a desk, holding a brush and smiling at the camera.
[Everyone’s joining in on the fusion of Chinese and Western painting techniques, and of course I can’t miss out on such a fun event. Check out this painting of mine...]
[Look here! The competition for fusion between Chinese and Western painting is about to start, Xiao Hong I’ve also entered. Let’s get started...]
[I signed up not too early or too late, and although I haven’t been studying painting for long, I’m familiar with the Chinese and Western styles. Let me show you...]
Veteran netizens instantly felt that something was off.
"What’s going on here?"
"Is today some sort of special day? Why is everyone painting?"
"I scrolled through ten videos, and eight of them are about competing in some Chinese and Western elements of painting. Is this some new gimmick by the platform?"
"I’ve got a weird sense of déjà vu to the global cold noodles competition. Is this the 2.0 upgrade version? emmmmm~"
"I’m baffled. I opened up the video and was even more confused. Can someone tell me if I’ve forgotten about some important event?"
"I feel like I’ve missed out on a major show, but I just can’t figure out what it is..."
As time passed, more and more netizens started to notice.
On the app, there were edited videos of painting everywhere!
And after browsing through one clip after another, many art students became more and more intrigued and spurred on by this trend, they too felt the urge to create a painting.
"Although I don’t know why, there’s this exhilarating feeling. As an art student, how can I not be part of this?"
"Exactly, exactly! It got me wanting to paint too. Let’s do this, brothers!"
"Let’s go, let’s go! I love to join the fun. Some people clearly can’t paint at all, watch me own them!"
Thus, even netizens who knew nothing about giving and taking were caught up in the enthusiasm and joined the painting ranks.
When Tang Shu got off the plane and arrived in Shan Province, he received a high-decibel call from Shen Yan.
"Boss, something big has happened!"
"Calm down first. Am I trending again?"
Shen Yan, who now works in the IT department at Starshine Media, would only reach out if it related to the internet.
Once Tang Shu heard his clamoring voice, he almost guessed the situation correctly.
There was a moment of silence on the phone, followed by perplexity.
"It’s incredible, boss, you really are trending!"
"...So, when you initially called, you didn’t know I was trending?"
Shen Yan explained the situation clearly in just a few words.
The reason he called was because he saw a surge in followers for the account ’give and take’, and the clicks on several live drawing videos on the short video app were also skyrocketing.
"Believe me, boss, just a moment ago you weren’t trending yet!"
Inside the airport, Tang Shu gestured to Su Xiaochi, who was waiting nearby, to wait a moment, and he took a few steps to a less crowded area.
"How much has the ’give and take’ account grown in followers?"
"It started growing slowly since last night, but the initial rise wasn’t this quick. The spike started this morning and as of now, it has already reached 12 million followers!"
The follower count for ’give and take’ had previously broken through the 10 million mark and had been hovering around 10 million. Now, unexpectedly, there were an additional two million plus new followers.