What a dramatic plot!
A divorced rural woman with a child actually beat out many popular newcomers in the entertainment industry who were heavily promoted by capital, and became a favorite of the well-known director Liang Songyun!
Although it's just a supporting role, it's definitely a great opportunity!
These online editors, skilled in Zhihu-style literature, practically wanted to portray Lang Ying as a model of rural women in the new era. What's wrong with beating up the mistress when your husband cheats? You should just kick the husband to the curb!
This young woman raised her child, became wealthy, joined film crews, earned millions a year, and experienced a complete life transformation!
It's practically a real-life version of a female protagonist's empowering story!
Looking at the tweets and short videos that Jiang Xiaoman forwarded to her, Ms. Lang Ying also fell silent.
When did she become so amazing?
And what about earning a million a year?
After taxes, the production team didn't leave her with much money. It's impossible for her to have hooked up with the famous director Liang Songyun and entered the entertainment industry where she earns millions a year, as the post claimed...
As the person involved, Lang Ying knows better than anyone else that the first person she should thank for being able to successfully complete this filming is her acting teacher. Her acting teacher knows all too well how to exploit loopholes in a performance to make someone who originally had no acting skills look convincing.
With guidance from her teacher, and given that Director Liang had very low expectations for her as an amateur, as long as she performed slightly better than the average amateur, she was considered "talented" in the eyes of the director and the rest of the crew.
Lang Ying herself didn't believe that Liang Songyun would ask her to act in a movie again. She felt that earning 300,000 yuan was purely by chance.
Unexpectedly, less than half a month after the crew left Langshan, she received a call from Director Liang's assistant—
"Sister Yingzi, Director Liang asked me to ask you. He has a friend who is also going to film in Langshan and they happen to be short of an actor. It's similar to the role you played last time. Do you want to give it a try?"
Good heavens! Are they planning to turn Langshan into some kind of film and television base?
It's obvious that Langshan wouldn't get a chance to get a film and television base. Putting aside everything else, where would they find so many suckers to invest nearly 10 billion yuan?
Jiang Xiaoman learned from Jiang Xia that it was because there was a special national anniversary next year, so the film and television industry was rushing to shoot various rural revitalization-themed films and television dramas this year. As a result, remote and backward areas like Langshan have become very popular filming locations in the industry.
After all, the country's poverty alleviation campaign has been very successful in recent years, and many impoverished mountainous areas have taken this opportunity to get rid of poverty and become rich. It is hard to find remote mountainous areas like Langshan that still retain some simple poverty. No wonder the industry rushed to follow suit as soon as they heard that Director Liang came here to film.
However, it is indeed a good thing for Langshan that film crews are willing to come here to shoot scenes.
At the very least, the arrival of the film crew will directly boost local consumption. More importantly, if the drama becomes a hit, Langshan, as a filming location, might become a nationwide sensation, just like the filming locations of previous fantasy dramas and idol dramas.
Once a place gains recognition, it becomes valuable for tourism development.
At that point, the town probably won't even need to go around soliciting investment; capital will be chasing after profits and pouring money into investing.
And this is precisely the direction that Jiang Xiaoman and her team have been striving for.
However, they are insignificant and their influence is limited, even if they have tens of millions of fans. Capital is unlikely to rush to invest in them just because a local internet celebrity has emerged.
But if a place becomes famous nationwide overnight through a hit TV series or variety show, that's a different story.
Having figured this out, Jiang Xiaoman specifically called Sun Zheyuan, wanting to ask him for help. She asked him to call the village head, Jiang Youtian, and instruct the village to make sure the film crew received them properly, preferably not like last time when the whole village went to watch a film shoot and disrupted the crew's filming schedule.
"You brat! You don't dare tell your uncle yourself, so you ask me to stand up for you?" Sun Zheyuan laughed as soon as he heard that.
That's how it is in the countryside. No matter how reasonable the younger generation's words are, if they rashly run up to their elders and point fingers, or try to teach them how to do things, they'll at best get a scolding, and if they encounter someone with a fiery temper, they might just hit them twice with a broom, and you'll have nowhere to complain.
However, Jiang Xiaoman's words do make sense. The town is now reaping the benefits of increased visibility. To say nothing of the distant past, when people from the town go to the county to handle business, their attitudes are much better once they hear that they are from Langshan.
“Okay! I was just about to come find you, so I'll talk to Uncle Arita while I'm at it.”
Sun Zheyuan hung up the phone, got on his electric scooter, and arrived at the village in no time.
Jiang Xiaoman asked him for help, and he also happened to need Jiang Xiaoman's help.
"Xiaoman, our county recently issued a document asking us to explore local intangible cultural heritage. I heard your father used to learn bamboo carving from someone?"
"Look, it's getting harder and harder to find people here who do these traditional crafts. Could you ask your dad to help us make a few samples so we can submit them?"
Chapter 197
"Brother Sun, this is way too dark!" Jiang Xiaoman immediately bristled.
"All I'm asking is for you to step in and call Uncle Youtian to talk to him. I'm doing this for the sake of the whole town's development!"
"You've done such a small thing, and you expect my dad to make a bamboo carving for you?"
"My father is so old, how many years has it been since he held a bamboo knife? No way! I won't agree!"
"Don't rush, can you ask your father's opinion first?"
Sun Zheyuan knew that Jiang Xiaoman was closest to her father, and now that he was earning money, he didn't want her father to suffer anymore. However, on the way here, he had already planned how to persuade Jiang Xiaoman—
"Didn't you always think your dad was too lonely living alone in the mountains?"
"In my opinion, bamboo carving at home is perfect for someone like your dad."
"Bamboo carving is a meticulous craft, and there's no need to rush. After finishing the farm work at home each day, I can watch TV while carving a few pieces. It's quite easy to produce one or two pieces a month."
"And don't worry, I've already found a buyer for this artwork. Our county is about to build a number of highway service stations along the provincial and county roads. The leaders above said that these stations should not only serve the drivers and tourists, but also showcase the unique cultural heritage of our county."
“I have a classmate who works at the county cultural bureau. I’ve already talked to him about it. We’re planning to explore bamboo carving as an intangible cultural heritage here, and we’ll have them purchase a batch of bamboo carvings to display at the post station as a unique cultural feature…”
“Our family isn’t short of money…” Jiang Xiaoman still didn’t want her father to work too hard.
Moreover, the guest rooms upstairs in their house will be open for business next year. He has already planned it all out. In the future, the guest rooms, the beehives in the mountains, the pigs, chickens and ducks at home, all of these are his father's work. His father also has to take care of the land at home. How can he have time to make bamboo carvings for you?
Besides, bamboo carving is hard work. You have to keep your eyes glued to the bamboo and sit for half a day at a time. Your back will be so tired that it will break.
He'd rather work harder himself and shoot more short videos than let his father, who's so old, have to suffer like that.
"It's not about money. Oh dear, I can't explain it to you. I'll go talk to your dad!"
Sun Zheyuan decided to abandon Jiang Xiaoman, this unreliable persuader.
Other fathers are fiercely protective of their children, but he's different; he protects his own father more than his own son!
Jiang Youliang is indeed skilled at bamboo carving. When he heard that these bamboo carvings would be displayed in the post station for tourists to see, and that they might even represent Langshan Town in the county's intangible cultural heritage exhibition, his eyes lit up, and his sense of collective honor as an older generation was immediately aroused.
Jiang Xiaoman understood everything when she saw her father's expression.
Alright! Go ahead and do it!
Anyway, his family doesn't expect to make much money from bamboo carving; it's just another hobby for his dad.
However, to prevent her father from injuring his hands while doing bamboo carving, Jiang Xiaoman quickly placed an order online for a complete set of professional carving tools, as well as a magnifying glass that could be worn on the head, a brighter incandescent light bulb, and the like.
"Why are you buying a lamp? That bamboo carving isn't worth much. It's not worth making it at night with a lamp on. It's such a waste! I'll just work on it for a while under the sun during the day." Jiang Youliang told him to remove the incandescent bulb.
Having completed his task, Sun Zheyuan took out the newspapers he had collected.
These were all published after the last interview team came to Langshan. Jiang Xiaoman could only find the electronic version online. Sun Zheyuan somehow managed to find all those newspapers and even prepared a copy for Jiang Xiaoman.
These things are not easy to collect. After all, you can't even find a newsstand in the city anymore, and many families don't subscribe to newspapers anymore. Printed magazines are becoming increasingly difficult to buy. It seems that Director Sun has quite a few connections to have found so many.
"Hey! When I went to the Party School for training the year before last, the person sitting next to me was a leader from the postal service." Sun Zheyuan explained, and then asked Jiang Youliang to do him a favor and bring him two bamboo carvings next month. Only with the actual pieces would he be able to submit the project application.
Jiang Xiaoman initially thought this was just another political task assigned by the town, something he could easily get by with a perfunctory effort. However, a little over a month later, Sun Zheyuan excitedly called to deliver the good news—
"Xiaoman! Quick! Tell Uncle Youliang to pack his things. I'll pick him up tomorrow morning!"
What is that?
Where do you want to take my dad?
Sun Zheyuan was so happy that it took him a long time to explain the whole story over the phone.
It turns out that last time Jiang Youliang made two bamboo carvings for Sun Zheyuan, after he took them back, he filled out a form and helped send them to the county cultural bureau.
Sun Zheyuan had never been exposed to bamboo carving art before and didn't know how to appreciate it, but he thought the two bamboo carvings Jiang Youliang gave him looked quite beautiful.
Unexpectedly, after these two works were sent to the county cultural bureau, they immediately caused a small sensation!
They thought the traditional bamboo carving techniques from Langshan had long been lost.
After all, these days, most young people in the mountains have gone to work in the city. Who would still want to learn bamboo carving from a master craftsman?
Learning this skill takes at least three to five years to master. Even if you do master it, if you don't have the talent for this field, the bamboo carvings you painstakingly create may not sell and will just become a burden.
While it's true that young people aren't keen on learning, the most devastating impact of industrial assembly lines on the cost of bamboo carving handicrafts is the other side of the coin.
For example, a bamboo carving artwork with the same pattern would need to sell for at least one or two thousand yuan to break even if it were purely hand-carved, but if it were machine-carved, the cost might be less than one hundred yuan!
Even if they double the retail price, they still have a price advantage over purely handmade carvings.
The learning process is long, there are few people who appreciate it, the industry is too niche, and it doesn't make money. In modern times, traditional bamboo carving is like an old and faded concubine in the imperial harem who has been banished to the cold palace!
etc!
At least the deposed concubines in the Cold Palace were provided with food and lodging.
If bamboo carvings can't be sold, they'll be starving!
Thinking about it this way, it's understandable that this industry would inevitably be eliminated by the tides of time, to the point that even today, it requires grassroots efforts akin to archaeology to "dig" it out from the nooks and crannies...
However, even Jiang Xiaoman's son didn't know that his father was actually a "bamboo carving craftsmanship inheritor".
It felt just like something out of a novel, where the protagonist returns home one day and is suddenly told by his father: "Son, we actually have a throne to pass on to you..."
Well! Although it's not a royal throne for them, it's still quite astonishing.
What truly surprised him was—
"Dad, when did you learn bamboo carving? How come I didn't know?"
"How could you possibly know?" Jiang Youliang rolled his eyes. "Back when I was learning the craft from my master, you were still nowhere to be found."
When Jiang Youliang was young, not many people from Langshan went out to work. Everyone's ancestors lived in the mountains and relied on the mountains for their livelihood. There were all kinds of craftsmen, such as basket weavers, blacksmiths, tofu grinders, bamboo mat makers, furniture makers, etc.
In those days, to judge whether a young man was promising and whether a woman could marry her daughter to him, it wasn't about whether he owned a house in the city (which he certainly didn't), nor how much dowry he could afford (most men couldn't afford much). What mattered most was whether the young man had any other skills besides farming.
Because skilled craftsmen were in high demand, there were many rules and regulations governing apprenticeships in those days.
Generally, those who become apprentices must first work for the master's family for two years without pay, assisting the master, which is commonly known as a test of character.
Once you pass this hurdle, your master will guide you through the basics and teach you some real skills... Jiang Youliang was honest and kind, which made him especially popular with his master. He became a disciple at the age of fourteen and started making small gadgets with his master at the age of sixteen.
Although bamboo carving is a niche industry, once you master the craft, you can get orders from wealthy families, especially local rich families who hire someone to carve a complete set of household items for their daughters' weddings or sons-in-law's weddings. Because there are many items to carve, they usually invite the craftsman to their homes, providing food and drink. Sometimes, with so many items, it can take one or two years to complete the entire set. It's truly a case of "no business for three years, but enough to live on for three years when you do."
Unfortunately, Jiang Youliang was unlucky. He learned a good skill, but before he could inherit his master's mantle, earn money to support his family, and live a good life, new-style furniture made in factories became popular.
Young people getting married want to buy European or French style furniture, complaining that the old-fashioned carving techniques are too outdated, and the price is several times that of new furniture. Who would hire several craftsmen to stay at home for several months just to make a few pieces of furniture?
Jiang Youliang lost his job as soon as he started his apprenticeship, wasting so many years of his skills, and he didn't use any of them at all!