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"Mark your calendar, there's a big day coming!"
“在日歷上做個記號，大日子就要到了！”
On Jan. 9, with the dream of $2,000 stimulus checks not yet deflated, the Southern California real estate broker Kevin Paffrath uploaded a video to his "Meet Kevin" YouTube channel, updating viewers on the status of the stimulus.
1月9日，由于2000美元刺激計劃支票的夢想還沒有落空，南加州房地產經紀人凱文·帕夫拉斯在他的YouTube頻道Meet Kevin上上傳了一段視頻，向觀眾更新介紹刺激計劃的現狀。
Sitting before an array of glowing LED screens and pop-culture paraphernalia (a star from the Super Mario games, Thor's hammer from the Marvel movies),
帕夫拉斯坐在一排發光的LED屏幕和流行文化用品（超級馬里奧游戲中的明星，漫威電影中的雷神之錘）前，
Paffrath, a wiry white man in his late 20s with a close-cropped beard, leaned into the lights and greeted his viewers.
這個瘦削的白人男子，將近30歲，留著小胡子。他在燈光下俯身向觀眾致意。
Using the earnest eye contact of a veteran YouTuber, he ran through a summary of the situation: the interests at play in Congress, the details of proposed bills, the tangled qualifications for relief.
以一名經驗豐富的Youtube用戶那種真誠的眼神，他概述了當時的情況：在國會發揮作用的利益、提議法案的細節、錯綜復雜的救濟資格。
Out of focus, over his shoulder, the monitors reminded us to visit his "Meet Kevin School" and sign up for courses to "Master Stocks";
視線模糊后，顯示屏上會提醒我們去他的Meet Kevin School報名Master Stocks課程；
at the end of the video, we are invited to "#BecomeMore" through investing, to subscribe to his channel and, of course, to smash that "like" button.
在視頻的最后，我們被邀請通過投資"#BecomeMore"，訂閱他的頻道，當然了還有點贊。
This video would be just one of dozens about potential stimulus packages posted that day, even that evening — many of them from finance influencers like Paffrath, whose pitches normally involve real estate, stocks or airline points.
這段視頻只是當天甚至當晚發布的幾十個關于潛在刺激計劃的視頻之一，其中很多都是像帕夫拉斯這樣的金融名人發布的，他們的宣傳內容通常涉及房地產、股票或航司積分等。
A year ago, they were promising to share their proprietary secrets for achieving wealth, staging monologues in the drivers' seats of luxury cars and poolside on cruise ships.
一年前，在豪車的座位上和游輪的泳池邊上獨白，他們承諾分享自己的財富秘訣。
Brian Kim, a Chicago accountant, had previously been explaining tax preparation, including how high-earners could reduce their obligations;
芝加哥會計師布萊恩·金此前一直就如何準備稅收釋疑，包括高收入者如何減少他們的債務；
Ramy Wahby once raised a complimentary glass of Champagne from a first-class airplane seat and offered to explain how he used airline rewards to get there.
雷米·瓦爾比曾從頭等艙座位上拿起一杯免費的香檳，解釋了他是如何利用航空公司的獎勵做到的。
Now all that had changed. The thumbnails on their channels may have kept their usual style — buffoonish facial expressions, glaring yellow text — but it was videos about stimulus checks that came to dominate their feeds.
現在一切都變了。他們頻道上的縮略圖可能保持了他們一貫的風格——滑稽的面部表情，炫目的黃色文本——但在他們的訂閱中占據主導地位的仍是有關刺激計劃的視頻。
They vied for the role of soothsayer before a rapt audience with a seemingly insatiable demand for information about when the government would offer financial relief.
他們在一群全神貫注的觀眾面前爭奪占卜師的角色，這些觀眾似乎貪得無厭地想知道政府何時會提供財政援助。
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