As soon as the city of Ningnan announced its intention to select a city mascot from the Xihong Zoo, netizens online erupted in excitement.
After all, it was the first time a city had chosen an animal as its mascot and spokesperson.
Not long after the announcement, Xihong Zoo simultaneously opened its online voting channel.
They also released photos and videos of the animals participating in the vote.
There was the majestic lion king, the nurturing Mother Flower, the adorable Pallas's cat, and newly born bear cubs and white tiger cubs.
Basically, all the animals in Xihong Zoo were included.
Even the staff, the Paw Patrol and the group of little monkeys, were no exception.
With over a hundred options, the release of these choices immediately caused a sensation online.
"Wow, my favorite Mother Flower is here, but I feel like Mother Flower is on shaky ground this time, as other animals are also very popular."
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter, I can already predict this vote will be very interesting."
"Anyway, the animal I support won't be chosen, so I'll just vote for a monkey."
"That makes sense, if you don't know what to vote for, just pick a monkey."
"I refuse! I'm voting for the Paw Patrol."
"I'm from Ningnan, please be humane, I don't want a monkey to be our Ningnan mascot."
"Exactly, you outsiders, don't just watch the fun and stir up trouble."
"Everyone vote for the little tiger, I want people to think of Ningnan when they hear about tigers in the future, not a monkey when they hear about Ningnan."
"Is no one voting for the elephant? I think elephants are great, wasn't Changxi historically called Xiang County?"
"But that elephant doesn't have much popularity."
"Shi Di Fu, it has to be Shi Di Fu, I'll have my whole family vote for Shi Di Fu."
"Golden eagle! Why is no one voting for the golden eagle? A big bird is super cool!"
"Pallas's cat, Pallas's cat is also good."
"Is no one speaking up for my pig? Isn't my pig an animal too?"
"Hahaha, pig has no chance, I'm voting for the Senior Brother."
...
Within just half a morning of the event launching, over a million people had participated in the vote.
And this was just the beginning. As time went on, this event, originally meant to select a mascot for Ningnan City, gradually evolved into an event spanning the entire Dragon Country.
Douyin, Blog, Tieba, and all major social media platforms saw campaign messages.
Especially those from Ningnan who were living elsewhere, they were desperate to mobilize every connection they could.
One of the funniest incidents was when a netizen commented on the blog of a certain first-tier male star.
The original blog post was promoting his latest single, but after this netizen's comment, the nature of the post completely changed.
"We are all Brother Gege's fans, please vote for the Lion King. If you have the chance, come to Ningnan, and I'll treat you to luosifen. Lion City is super cool, isn't it?"
As soon as this comment was posted, it immediately sparked the imagination of some netizens.
The comments that originally supported Brother Gege immediately changed to:
"Don't listen to him, he's just a tourist in Ningnan. We love monkeys the most, everyone vote for the monkey."
"I'm from Ningnan and I can testify, his pronunciation of luosifen is not standard, so he's not a real Ningnan person. Everyone vote for the big tiger!"
"Please give Brother Gege some face and vote for Shi Di Fu."
"If you love Brother Gege, vote for Mother Flower, please."
"You vote, I vote, Pig Pig will debut tomorrow. Having a pig as a mascot is super cool!"
"You don't vote, I don't vote, when will Brother Eagle rise to prominence? We can't just not vote for Brother Eagle because he's unpopular."
"Please buff the tiger in the next patch, and fix the issue of damage loss after switching forms. Oops, wrong place."
"I think the crocodile could use some buffs. The crocodile is a bit weak in the early game and easily gets solo killed by the goose in the river."
...
As the number of derailed comments increased, people completely forgot the original content of the blog post.
Releasing a new song? What new song?
And this first-tier male star was clearly not an isolated case.
When the number of participants exceeded ten million, campaign armies could be seen in almost every place where netizens gathered.
This move completely bewildered celebrities who were preparing to make big moves.
Releasing new songs, receiving awards, and creating CP pairings could no longer generate any reaction from netizens.
However, some were clever. Seeing that they couldn't compete, some celebrities immediately joined the fray.
Before long, these celebrities posted blogs campaigning for the animals.
This strategy was indeed effective, and the previously sluggish popularity instantly surged.
Seeing this, celebrities who hadn't caught the trend quickly followed suit.
Soon, the vote for Ningnan City's mascot was flooding the internet.
Such a grand occasion was probably something even the Ningnan City Civilization Creation Office had not anticipated.
As evening approached that day, the number of participants had already exceeded fifty million.
Xihong Zoo's official website had crashed several times. If it weren't for the official personnel sent to maintain it, it probably wouldn't have been repaired by now.
By this point, the rankings of mascot votes were also beginning to widen the gap.
The top ten were generally "veteran employees" of Xihong Zoo, with one animal being an exception.
When Yang Lin saw the results, a smile of "as expected" appeared on his face.
【1. Shi Di Fu (Chimpanzee) 8,450,600 votes】
【2. Monkey King (Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey) 7,904,500 votes】
【3. Li Hei (Albino Black Bear) 7,803,700 votes】
【4. Da Mi (Mutant Bengal Tiger) 6,450,000 votes】
【5. Qiu Qiu Yuan Yuan (Pallas's Cat) 5,400,000 votes】
【6. Li Hua (Siberian Tiger) 3,200,000 votes】
【7. Lion King (African Lion) 2,800,000 votes】
【8. Li Shuang Ying (Golden Eagle) 1,500,000 votes】
【9. Li Xiao Pang (Mugger Crocodile) 1,300,000 votes】
【10. Li Bao (Leopard Cat) 980,000 votes】
...
However, one thing that Yang Lin didn't expect was that the normally most popular little bear, little tiger, and little Pallas's cat only ranked third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
Their popularity had been top-3 in the entire zoo during this period.
What surprised him even more was that the top two spots were taken by two monkeys.
One of them was the newly added Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, Li Kong.
Although this little fellow had garnered considerable popularity when the park opened, it couldn't compare to the "veteran employees."
Its rise to prominence this time, as a dark horse breaking into the top three, was likely thanks to the netizens from outside the city.
This felt a bit like getting rained on yourself and then tearing up someone else's umbrella.
Of course, Yang Lin knew that this was by no means the final result, as there were still two days left until voting closed.
And indeed, things unfolded as he had predicted, with a shocking reversal happening the very next day.
Yunnan snub-nosed monkey Li Kong had "collapsed."