CHAPTER 5:  Persona Collapse: 5%

◎ Shipping everything will only hurt you. ◎

The cat vs. frog war was a full-blown spectacle.

Quite a few tourists filmed the entire thing on the sidelines. Qin Yangyang hadn’t paid it any attention at the time, but before her shift even ended, the video of her battling the cat had already gone viral.

In the video, a frog mascot with a lotus leaf on its head went toe-to-toe with several cats for what felt like three hundred rounds. The scene was absolute chaos.

[Hahahahaha I’m dying. First time seeing a frog and cats fight like this. Neither side giving in!]

[That’s the frog from Dreamland Amusement Park, right? So cute!]

[No way, the frog at that park is hideous. My daughter cried twice just walking past it. Totally different from the one in the video.]

[Where can I buy that costume? Drop the link!]

[Please mass-produce it! Might be a bit childish for kids, but for an adult like me? Perfect.]

…

Everyone was cracking up at the scene—until a gentle breeze blew through and knocked off the frog headgear, revealing Qin Yangyang underneath.

Instantly, the mood shifted.

[Holy crap! That silly frog is actually this pretty?!]

[Unreal!]

This moment doubled the video’s popularity, pushing it straight to the top of the trending chart.

—

After inspecting the amusement park, Ji Jingxiu had returned to the office.

When he saw the trending video blowing up online, his expression turned stormy.

Of course, his face always looked cold, so his assistant didn’t notice anything off. He was still excitedly reporting:

“This video was uploaded just three hours ago and already has over ten million views. The numbers are still climbing. It’s outperforming any of the trending topics we paid for before.”

Dreamland Amusement Park had been open for two years, with LK Group pouring in tons of money and effort. They’d paid for several rounds of sponsored trending topics, each one costing a fortune—but the exposure was still lacking.

Who would’ve thought that a single video of Qin Yangyang would outshine all the previous advertisements combined?

Ji Jingxiu frowned but said nothing.

The assistant pulled up a few data graphs and continued,
“Since the video went live, search volume for Dreamland Amusement Park has spiked by 1,500%. Ticket sales have doubled. We’ve even gotten tons of calls asking if that frog was from our park.”

The buzz that little frog costume had generated far exceeded everyone’s expectations. In one giant leap, it helped the park hit its quarterly performance target.

Everyone was thrilled.

Ji Jingxiu stared at the data on the screen, but all he could think about was the moment earlier that afternoon—when Qin Yangyang’s frog head had fallen off in the park.

It was hard to bear.

He scrolled down and spotted a photo.

It must’ve been taken by a tourist.

In the photo, Qin Yangyang was wearing her round, pudgy mascot costume, holding out a glowing frog lantern. Opposite her, Ji Jingxiu stood under a black umbrella, dressed in a sharp suit and a dark trench coat. His entire presence was cold and imposing as he looked down at the frog mascot with a stern gaze.

Two completely opposite aesthetics—yet somehow perfectly in sync within the same frame.

And that photo, second only to the cat-frog fight, had sparked the most engagement. It even attracted a wave of CP (couple pairing) fans.

[Ever since I saw the face under the frog head, I’m shipping them so hard!]

[Who can relate? That vibe—indulging your chaos with that kind of gaze—he’s totally in love!]

Ji Jingxiu’s expression turned to ice.

…
Shipping everything will only hurt you.

The video’s popularity showed no signs of slowing. The lotus-leaf frog had become an internet sensation, with people across the web asking where it came from.

As Ji Jingxiu scrolled through the comments, something occurred to him. He suddenly asked,
“Have we finalized the mascot for Dreamland Amusement Park?”

A good mascot could significantly boost brand awareness and traffic.

But with so many theme parks both domestic and overseas, each with its own quirky mascots, creating something both unique and beloved was incredibly difficult.

That’s why, two years after opening, Dreamland Amusement Park still hadn’t settled on one.

The assistant replied,
“We were just about to open submissions to the public. The planning’s still in the works.”

Ji Jingxiu paused, reopened the earlier photo, and pointed at it.
“No need. Use this.”

In the picture, a frog baby with a lotus leaf on its head tilted its head cutely, holding a glowing frog lantern. It was so ugly it was adorable.

The assistant’s eyes lit up.

Now that the lotus-leaf frog had exploded in popularity and was tied to the park, it really was the perfect mascot.

“But who designed this costume? I don’t recall seeing it before at the park. Can we even find the designer?”

Hearing this, Ji Jingxiu looked at the person in the photo again.

“I know who it is.”

—

By dusk, Qin Yangyang was already home from work.

When she left the park, she casually brought the cat with her.

Originally, the park planned to send the cat to a rescue shelter. But it was too aggressive—refusing to let anyone near. In its struggle, it almost scratched one of her coworkers.

This cat, a notorious stray that had roamed the park for years, was a total rebel—never submitting to anyone.

With no better options, Qin Yangyang had no choice but to take it home.

The moment Ji Jingxiu stepped through the door, he was hit head-on by the cat’s menacing aura.

After being haunted all day by nightmares of the cat-frog brawl, his face turned as black as thunder.

“Why is it here?”

“I adopted it. Its name is Zhaocai now. It’s very clean and doesn’t have any fleas.”

While explaining, Qin Yangyang gently stroked Zhaocai’s ears with affection.

It had earned her over two million yuan the moment it showed up—truly living up to its name.

As soon as she got home today, she gave Zhaocai a thorough bath, did deworming, and it did look much cleaner now. But the solid muscles all over its body still showed it wasn’t one to be messed with.

Right now, Zhaocai was sitting beside an oil painting, licking its own butt. Its posture and expression were both extremely unsightly. Ji Jingxiu felt that the painting, worth eight figures, had been downgraded to seven figures by its mere presence.

One zero gone, just like that.

Zhaocai first gave Ji Jingxiu a vicious glare, flexed its ridiculously large biceps, and then trotted over to Qin Yangyang, rolling around to act cute, rubbing its head against her fingers in a submissive, flirty manner while letting out two soft, high-pitched meows.

Qin Yangyang chuckled and immediately tossed it a fish snack.

The whole routine flowed smoothly, like second nature.

Ji Jingxiu instantly had the urge to throw it out.

But remembering the amusement park mascot project, he suppressed the impulse. Instead, he expressionlessly walked over and pulled up a photo of the lotus leaf frog costume from the trending searches.

“Did you design this mascot character?”

Qin Yangyang nodded.

“Sort of.”

Although she had modified it from the original Frog Princess concept, it had already become a completely different creation.

“This mascot fits the Dream Amusement Park’s style perfectly, and the publicity effect has far exceeded expectations. The company has decided to adopt it as the park’s official mascot.”

Qin Yangyang paused in the middle of stroking the cat.

She had seen it trending, but she didn’t expect Dream Amusement Park to actually want to buy the design rights.

“When do you need the design draft?”

“As soon as possible.”

But Qin Yangyang didn’t move. Instead, she looked at him seriously. “How fast I work depends entirely on how much you’re paying.”

“?”

Qin Yangyang: “You’re not planning to get it for free, are you?”

Her bluntness caught Ji Jingxiu off guard. He hadn’t expected Qin Yangyang to talk about money right from the start—it wasn’t what he had imagined.

On the way back, he had speculated she might raise some inappropriate requests, but he didn’t expect her to be this direct.

“Is money all you care about?”

Qin Yangyang nodded without hesitation.

“Yes.”

“…”

Ji Jingxiu wasn’t sure how to feel—pleased or dismayed—as he said, “The company’s original plan was to offer three million for the mascot design, plus 20% commission on all merchandise sales.”

Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, Qin Yangyang lunged forward and grabbed his hand.

“Deal!”

Her eyes lit up, her smile beaming like she was walking on sunshine, shoulder to shoulder with the sun.

“You prepare the contract. We sign tomorrow—payment on the spot, design on delivery. Oh, and I have one more request: Zhaocai has to live here from now on.”

She pointed at the cat in her arms.

Ji Jingxiu’s expression remained neutral.

“Fine.”

Qin Yangyang smiled with satisfaction and handed Zhaocai over to him.

“Watch him for me. I’m going to draw the design.”

Then, as if afraid he might change his mind, she rubbed her hands together excitedly and quickly headed upstairs.

Ji Jingxiu watched her leave with joy written all over her face, then sat down on the sofa, exchanging stares with the cat sitting opposite him.

The moment Qin Yangyang was out of sight, the cat instantly dropped its act, glaring at Ji Jingxiu with an expression full of disdain—nothing remotely cute about it.

But since they’d be living under the same roof for a while, Ji Jingxiu straightened his face slightly and said,

“We need to set a few ground rules.”

Zhaocai couldn’t care less how many rules he set—instead, it responded with a powerful paw swipe straight to his face.

Ji Jingxiu’s expression instantly darkened beyond recognition.

—

Qin Yangyang’s mood at this moment couldn’t be described as merely happy—it was pure elation and surprise.

She never imagined that a lotus leaf frog she casually made during her lunch break in just half an hour would actually fetch a seven-figure price!

If things had been like this in her past life, she wouldn’t have died penniless.

As soon as she got upstairs, Qin Yangyang opened her phone to check the trending topics.

The video of her wrestling with the cat was still trending. The top comment was asking about the frog mascot, and the replies had already hit over five thousand, almost all praising it.

In her past life, she was a half-baked design student who never got any decent gigs. The biggest job she ever did was a promotional poster—200 yuan tops—and she was constantly getting PUA’d by clients: “This isn’t right,” “That doesn’t work,” until she started doubting her life choices.

Now, she opened the trending page and was instantly overwhelmed by a sea of compliments.

Her design had actually been recognized.

Qin Yangyang felt like she was floating on air. She carefully read through each comment, gathered everyone’s suggestions, and then finally picked up her pen to start drafting the official design.

The lotus leaf frog’s details were still fresh in her mind, so it wasn’t hard to draw. The only interruption was the constant sound of her system’s money transfer notifications.

[Detected Ji Jingxiu’s persona collapse. Reward: 5,000 yuan. Successfully transferred to designated account!]
[Detected Ji Jingxiu’s persona collapse. Reward: 5,000 yuan. Successfully transferred to designated account!]
[Detected Ji Jingxiu’s persona collapse. Reward: 5,000 yuan. Successfully transferred to designated account!]

Not a huge amount each time, but very frequent.

Right now, Ji Jingxiu was downstairs with Zhaocai. She had no idea what the cat was doing to him, but clearly it was working.

As she drew, she watched her account balance slowly rise.

Zhaocai, you really are my treasure.

—

Although the payment for the design was coming from the CEO, three million wasn’t something she’d accept lightly.

Qin Yangyang poured real effort into her work.

Based on the original design, she made small changes to the mascot using the feedback from netizens—filling in the gaps, polishing the details, and optimizing the entire look.

It wasn’t until late into the night that she finally completed several finalized drafts.

The completed lotus-leaf frog looked even cuter than before, with a more vivid and amusing expression.

After putting away the blueprint, Qin Yangyang reopened her software.

Her trending post had dropped a few spots, but the view count was still climbing.

The comments had shifted from “Where can I buy this?” to “Who’s the designer?” The discussion was still going strong.

One comment stood out in particular:

[I absolutely love this frog! Keep up the great work, creator! Hope to see more of your designs in the future!]

That one short sentence struck a chord in Qin Yangyang’s heart.

Feeling a little tempted, she registered an account under the same pseudonym she had used in her previous life for poster design, and reposted the video:

[I’m Feng He, the designer of the lotus-leaf frog. Thank you all for your love and support.]

The moment she posted it, several comments popped up immediately in the backend.

[Holy crap! The creator’s here!]

[Sis, your frog design is adorable! How did you come up with it?]

Qin Yangyang replied: [After scaring three little kids into crying, the idea just came to me.]

[Pfft! I shouldn’t laugh, but hahaha…]

Qin Yangyang: I’m telling the truth. Those three kids can vouch for it.

Very quickly, news that the lotus-leaf frog’s designer had surfaced spread like wildfire, and countless netizens followed the trail to her Weibo.

In just half an hour, her follower count multiplied several times over.

Watching the flood of notifications from her backend, Qin Yangyang’s heart felt full—this was the first time she had a thought that wasn’t about money.

What if… she fulfilled the dream she never achieved in her past life, here?