26: Chapter 26 Lost and Found, and Heartfelt Rewards

For the first episode of "Lost and Found", Alex Su chose a target: the old "Bubblegum Paradise" ice cream shop near Venice Beach that had long since closed down.

He vaguely remembered spending all his pocket money there as a teenager just to buy a weird, bubbling, color-changing soda.

The original site was now a bright and shiny chain store selling surf gear, leaving no trace behind.

The filming process was a bit like detective work.

Carrying a lightweight camera, he chatted with elderly people sunbathing and moms walking their dogs nearby, piecing together fragments of memories about the shop.

Perception Sharpening made it easier for him to find people who carried stories on their faces.

An old grandfather spoke animatedly about the owner Jim's eccentric syrup recipe; a middle-aged mother pulled out a blurry photo on her phone of her daughter licking ice cream in front of a rainbow stool, her eyes gentle.

He also dug up a few pixelated old photos from the depths of the internet.

The best part was one evening, when he used a borrowed small projector to quietly project those old photos and self-made bubble animations onto the now clean shop window, allowing the old and new times to overlap for three minutes in the twilight, silently recording the scene with a fixed camera, along with the curious looks of a few passersby.

During editing, he spliced these warm interviews, yellowed photos, and brief light-and-shadow magic together with the current vibrant scenes of Venice Beach, set to a nostalgic yet upbeat tune.

At the end of the video, he said simply to the camera: " 'Bubblegum Paradise' is gone, but some joys and memories have remained. Is there such a 'vanished place' in your city? I'll be waiting in the comments section."

On Wednesday afternoon, the video "Lost and Found EP1: The Vanished Bubblegum Paradise" was released.

The reaction... exploded.

Not the kind of explosion where data goes crazy, but another kind, more solid and heartfelt.

The view count steadily broke through five hundred thousand, with a healthy growth rate.

The real highlight was the comments section, which simply became a large-scale "tear-jerking memory meeting":

"I'm broken! My first date with my first love was at 'Bubblegum Paradise'! Seeing the old photo made my eyes hot immediately!"

"Great job, blogger! This is what recording a city is about! The little shop that sold five-cent candy on my old street is also gone, and every time I pass by, I feel a hollow space in my heart."

"The projection part is simply amazing! It's like giving the city's memory a gentle CPR, so creative!"

"Already liked, commented, and subscribed! Requesting more! Where is the blogger going next? I know there's an old cinema in North Hollywood that carried the youth of so many people!"

"As an old guy who has lived in Los Angeles for forty years, thank you for remembering these corners in this way. This moved me more than any travel promotional video."

It wasn't just ordinary viewers; even a local non-official social media account focused on urban culture reposted it, praising it as "digital nostalgia with warmth."

The subscription count rose another notch, and more importantly, the sincere sharing and resonance in the comments section filled the channel with a rare sense of community and human touch.

Alex scrolled through these comments, feeling warm inside.

This feeling of being responded to by the viewers with genuine emotions was much more satisfying than simply watching the view count rise.

Just then, deep in his mind, the system's notification sound rang out with an unprecedented, gentle, and deep resonance, different from the crisp ding-dong of popularity growth in the past.

[Detected large-scale, high-concentration 'genuine emotional resonance' and 'deep value recognition'.]

[Source of emotion: Strong spiritual echoes generated by a large number of ordinary viewers based on shared memories and urban sentiments.]

[Judgment: Although this resonance does not come from the narrow 'core circle', its emotional purity and collective intensity touch the deep essence of 'influence' — connecting and touching people's hearts.]

['Core Influence' converting... assessing based on breadth and depth of resonance...]

[Obtained 'Core Influence': 22 points.]

[Current Core Influence: 65 points.]

[Hint: Sincere, collective 'direction of the heart' is also an important force in shaping the world. Please continue to cherish and create such connections, Host.]

Alex looked at the dark gold value on the system interface jump from 43 to 65, a full 22-point increase, which surprised even him.

Immediately, a realization surged into his heart.

So that was it!

"Core Influence" didn't only recognize so-called "professional peaks" or "elite circles."

What the system recognized was the power that could truly move hearts and trigger deep resonance.

Whether it was getting a top artist team to nod, or having thousands of ordinary people moved and sharing because of a shared memory, as long as the influence was profound and real, it could be converted into this higher-level "currency."

These 22 points were "cast" by those ordinary viewers who shared their stories and expressed gratitude in the comments section with their most sincere emotions.

This carried more weight than any cold, professional evaluation.

"That's right."

Alex smiled, feeling comfortable all over.

This "value system" of the system was very much to his liking.

Just as he was enjoying this, Sarah sent a message with a teasing tone: "Student Alex, don't you need to consider wearing a hat and sunglasses when you go out now? I just heard two middle schoolers in the supermarket arguing over the packaging of sports drinks on the shelf, saying whether the little running figure on it looked like that 'hopeless' traffic light in your video... Your influence is starting to penetrate into daily life."

Alex laughed dumbly.

A grounded video going viral brought this kind of sweet trouble, but he was happy to see it.

However, he did need to get used to this growing public recognition.

A few days later, when he went to the supermarket to choose yogurt in front of the refrigerator, he felt a gaze from behind.

A glance from the corner of his eye, and two young girls were by the shelf, their phones seemingly pointed at him, looking excited.

He didn't panic, nor did he deliberately pose, but just turned around naturally, pushing the cart to the other side, as if he had just changed his mind temporarily.

Mental Pillar let him handle it calmly, and Perception Sharpening let him notice it in advance.

Dealing with it plainly was the best way.

On campus, at the film school, Lena told him that Derek Winston had been quiet lately, but seemed to have turned his sourness into working harder (or rather, getting more pedantic) on his own "profound" short film.

Alex didn't care; it was a good thing for an opponent to grind themselves.

His deepening plan for "echo gallery" had been discussed by the professor as an excellent case study in class, which was the hard truth.

He treated these noises as background white noise and focused his attention on things that were more valuable.

The filming of "echo gallery" was nearing its end, and a few shots that required the most emotion and technique needed his full commitment.

The preliminary research for the second episode of "Lost and Found" (a vanished underground music venue in downtown) also had to be pushed forward simultaneously.

When processing work emails at night, Allison from "Harmony Bridge" sent the usual progress confirmation and precautions.

At the end of the email, she mentioned routinely: "Also, Taylor's team has some work arrangements in Los Angeles recently. If you need absolute silence or special coordination for your filming, please let us know in advance."

Alex's gaze paused for a moment on the word "Los Angeles," and then he returned to the main text of the email, starting to reply to technical questions one by one.

Work was work.

He saved all the files and turned off the computer.

The system interface appeared in his consciousness, and that dark gold "65" points existed heavily like a cornerstone that had been tempered and had higher purity.

Outside the window, the city night was gentle.

His world was colorful: there was the ultimate artistic pursuit in the editing room, surging human feelings in the comments section, small ripples on campus, relaxed exchanges among neighbors, and rigorous professional cooperation and a broader stage looming in the distance.

And connecting all of this was his constantly growing true influence—the ability to win respect in the professional field and open the hearts of countless ordinary people.

Tomorrow, he was going to downtown to look for the "fossils" of the last bit of sound that might have been left by that vanished venue.

The road was still long, but every step was taken on solid resonance, and this feeling was great.