Chapter 56: Permanent Ban!

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Douyin Headquarters.
Operations Supervisor’s Office.
Qian Kun held a teacup, gently blowing at the tea leaves floating inside before taking a sip.
Then, he turned his attention to the operational data from Douyin’s platform the previous day.
As the operations supervisor, his job was to monitor the streamers and the platform daily, checking for anyone who might negatively impact the platform or attract adverse feedback, coordinating closely with the public relations department.
Glancing over the data, one particular set caught his eye.
A major streamer named Wang Yang had shown remarkable performance during his live broadcasts, with popularity peaking at over five million viewers—rivaling a top streamer on another major platform.
Watching the numbers, a smile involuntarily crept to his lips.
The data revealed that Wang Yang’s streams on the nights of the day before yesterday and yesterday had driven a significant influx of external traffic to Douyin. Some indicators even showed that several users downloaded Douyin specifically to watch Wang Yang’s live room immediately.
Though he didn’t yet know what Wang Yang was streaming or how he had attracted such traffic, he planned to investigate soon to confirm that this streamer wasn’t engaging in any questionable activities but was conducting legitimate broadcasts with genuine popularity.
If that was the case, he would report to his superiors and propose providing Wang Yang with additional traffic support to further amplify his influence and generate another wave of traffic for Douyin.
This was standard practice for them at Douyin.
Just as he was daydreaming about the future and securing this month’s bonus, a sudden door opening startled him.
Bang!
“Supervisor, something bad has happened. One of our platform’s top streamers—”
Qian Kun was stunned, jumping up with a shout, “What?”
His mind momentarily froze.
He could understand if the police showed up during a live stream—sometimes streams that appeared to be selling courses or recruiting for companies were actually fronts for fraud rings, prompting police raids.

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“What’s going on? What was this streamer selling on the broadcast?” Qian Kun immediately asked.
His assistant swallowed hard.
“What?!” Qian Kun nearly jumped out of his seat, eyes wide and mouth agape, utterly dumbfounded.
Is this some kind of joke?
“Are you sure?” Qian Kun asked again.
The assistant hurried to clarify, “No, supervisor, it seems he was selling models—three hundred million per unit. He’s already sold two units…”
“Quick, send me the streamer’s name and a screenshot of the live broadcast!” Without hesitation, Qian Kun sat down at his computer. He needed to review the footage immediately to confirm the situation and then report it to the relevant authorities.
“Supervisor, I’ve sent it to you. Please take a look.”
As the assistant spoke, Qian Kun finally saw the video. Upon recognizing the streamer’s name, he froze, then blurted out,
“Wang Yang?”
...
At Douyin Headquarters, in the conference room.
Operations Supervisor Qian Kun, the Director of Risk Control, the Head of Public Relations, and other department leaders sat along both sides of the long table.
The Deputy General Manager of Douyin occupied the seat at the head of the table.
Qian Kun pointed to the screen showing the footage and summarized the situation. “This is roughly how it happened.”
He then sat back, watching the reactions of those present.
The Director of Risk Control spoke first: “I recommend we immediately ban his live room to prevent further damage. I just checked the data—Wang Yang’s stream still holds around a million viewers. That’s not good for our platform.”
The Public Relations Head agreed, “Yes, since Wang Yang’s stream was shut down, our PR team has found a lot of buzz online about him.”

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“Based on what we know so far, I believe the best course of action is to temporarily ban Wang Yang’s live room and issue a public announcement, distancing the platform from him as soon as possible.”
Qian Kun raised his hand, frowning. “I have a different view. What if Wang Yang selling these models is part of a planned stunt to generate buzz? If we ban him now and sever ties, won’t we lose a significant amount of that momentum?”
The PR Head immediately countered, “Supervisor Qian, the problem is that if we don’t quickly distance ourselves and allow this to continue, sure, this time Wang Yang’s stunt might be harmless—but what about next time? What if someone like Li Yang involves the authorities? If this goes on, Douyin could be sanctioned first!”
“Exactly,” said the Director of Risk Control. “If something serious happens, Douyin will bear greater responsibility. The officials will come after us first, accusing us of condoning such behavior. The consequences would be severe.”
The room fell silent as all eyes turned toward the Deputy General Manager at the head of the table.
Adjusting his thin-framed gold-rimmed glasses, the Deputy General Manager cast a cold glance around the room.
He had already made up his mind. Although Douyin desperately needed traffic in this era where traffic rules all, and Wang Yang’s intent to seize scarce traffic wasn’t wrong, his methods were. Worse, they risked dragging Douyin down with him.
Most importantly, the Deputy General Manager realized that Wang Yang’s model sales were a deliberate publicity stunt to boost his own popularity. Perhaps Wang Yang himself didn’t anticipate that this would attract official attention—or maybe he did, and was using the situation to generate even more buzz.
That was quite possible—indeed, very likely.
If Douyin allowed Wang Yang’s actions to continue unchecked, it would eventually suffer a major blow.
Many competitors were watching closely, ready to create rival platforms the moment Douyin faltered.
Lost in thought, the Deputy General Manager looked up. “Permanently ban Wang Yang’s live room and issue an announcement. State that the reason is Wang Yang’s sale of models, which caused negative influence… mention it briefly but do not go into detail. Understood?”
(End of chapter)