Chapter 396 - 301: Xiaorui, Are You Jealous?

Xue Rui didn’t hang any signs, just posted a QR code for downloading the app in front of the Xigua stand.

Attracting a crowd wasn’t a problem at all. In a place swarming with new students, there was no need to hang a banner; the fresh, juicy Xiguas sitting there were a living advertisement.

Students had been baking under the hot sun, so getting even a sip of water was a luxury, let alone finding a Xigua stand set up in a corner, its canopy provided by the school.

"How much are the Xiguas?" a student in a military training uniform asked.

"We don’t sell Xiguas." Xue Rui waved his hand, pointing to the QR code in front of him. "Hey, miss, just download the app, register an account, and post a selfie. I’ll give you a Xigua for it."

The female student looked at Xue Rui doubtfully. "A whole Xigua isn’t cheap. All I have to do is post a photo?"

Xue Rui nodded seriously. "Absolutely. No catch. It’s just like posting a status on QQ—a caption with a photo is all you need."

’Xiguas were actually dirt cheap, wholesaling for next to nothing. But on campus, it was a different story. The campus fruit stands were basically committing legal robbery; marking things up four or five times the original price was standard practice...’

"All-Purpose Campus?" someone else said, having also scanned the code and seen the app’s name.

Xue Rui smiled and nodded. He hadn’t chosen a name like "Confession Wall," since he was building a comprehensive service platform. The term "All-Purpose" was quite popular at the time, thanks to the precedent set by "WiFi Master Key."

WiFi Master Key didn’t actually have any hacking abilities. Its main purpose was to trick users into downloading and registering, then secretly upload information about the WiFi networks they connected to. As long as enough people downloaded the app, the pool of shared WiFi passwords would become vast enough to make it a truly "all-purpose" tool.

His app was similar. He didn’t have a lot of information on different universities, which were closed social circles. But as long as enough students from a single school joined, there would always be upperclassmen willing to share information with the newcomers.

"Huh? It’s asking me to select a school," the female student mumbled, looking at her phone.

Overall, the registration process was very simple, and the interface was clean and concise. Tapping the "plus" icon at the bottom allowed you to instantly create a post in the "Plaza" section.

The student held up her phone, puckered her lips at the camera, and snapped a cute selfie before posting it.

She showed her phone to Xue Rui, still a bit skeptical.

Xue Rui decisively grabbed a huge Xigua and handed it to her, making the student and her companion grin from ear to ear.

’Students these days are so wonderfully naive,’ Xue Rui thought. ’I didn’t even have to explain; they just went and posted their photos on their own.’

’For one, they’re confident in their looks. For another, students right now don’t have their guard up. They aren’t as concerned about the privacy of their photos. Ten years from now, this wouldn’t be nearly so easy.’

"Want me to cut that for you?" Lin Ruoxi, wearing sunglasses, asked the student.

"Cut it open," she said.

The student who got the Xigua wasn’t stingy. After having some herself, she shared the rest with the students around her.

Because of this, more and more people started joining in on the "post a selfie for a free Xigua" event.

Of course, it was mostly girls who were confident in their looks, as they had figured out during the registration process that their photos would be visible to other students at the same school.

Those who were more average-looking just quietly downloaded the app, but Xue Rui still generously gave them a slice of Xigua.

Just then, Secretary Li strolled over on his patrol. He found many students gathered in the shade by Xue Rui’s stand, eating Xigua and chatting.

"Mm, not bad," he said, nodding. He noted that Xue Rui had placed a trash can nearby for the Xigua rinds, keeping the field clean.

When Xue Rui saw Secretary Li approaching, he announced to the crowd, "Oh, by the way, if you find something that’s been lost, you can post it in the ’Lost and Found’ section. We’ll give you a free Xigua for that, too."

"Really? Do we have to turn the item in here?" someone asked, confused.

"No, you can just give it to your drill instructor or a teacher. We’re just responsible for helping share the information. The main thing is to make things more convenient for everyone."

"That’s pretty cool. I’ll download it too..."

Secretary Li’s eyes fell on the gleaming Xigua knife in Lin Ruoxi’s hand, and his brow immediately furrowed. "Keep that knife secure."

Xue Rui quickly moved behind Lin Ruoxi and showed the chain on the knife to Director Li. He had, of course, already thought of this and had specially chained the knife to the cooler.

Secretary Li nodded, satisfied. Xue Rui was very thorough.

Back in his office, while opening a pack of cigarettes, he had leafed through the documents Xue Rui had submitted. He thought the young man was full of ideas and that the platform he was creating could genuinely be convenient for the students.

"Have some Xigua, Secretary." Xue Rui said, about to cut a slice for Secretary Li.

"No, no, I’m just looking." Secretary Li waved his hand and turned to leave the crowd.

...

When the students gathered again, a new topic of conversation had emerged in the crowd: "Which girl is the cutest?"

During a break, Xue Rui checked the admin dashboard on Lin Ruoxi’s laptop. The other schools where he had launched the Xigua promotion had also received a flood of photos, mostly from good-looking guys and girls.

Of course, there were also some people with a mystifying level of confidence in their looks, like his roommate Zhao Chaojie...

But none of that mattered. More importantly, in the work group chat he had created just yesterday, someone said they were running out of Xiguas.

He called Yu Minlan and asked her to wholesale some more Xiguas and have someone deliver them.

’It didn’t matter if some people skimmed a few Xiguas for themselves. Such losses were unavoidable. All that mattered was that he achieved his objective.’

Freshmen posting selfies would attract the upperclassmen. Some of those single dogs were just waiting for the first crop of "fresh meat" at the start of the semester. Now, with new students proactively uploading their photos to All-Purpose Campus, the app was as bustling as a farmer’s market.