It's important to understand that Jiang Xiaoman's videos are only disseminated through his personal video account, yet they still generate such a huge and lasting buzz. How much more so when their TV station has so many more promotional channels than Jiang Xiaoman?
This is absolutely a must-order item!
However, after calming down, Jiang Chuan thought about it and felt that perhaps he could try a different approach—
Why didn't he combine these two ideas together?
The first project focused on the theme of rural revitalization, while skillfully incorporating stories of local villagers who naturally generate controversy.
Once this show is over, while the audience is still eager for more, immediately start a second show, and single out the supporting characters whose stories weren't fully explained in the first show, and start a new show!
Who says only top-tier celebrities can drive a show's popularity?
As long as there's buzz and viewers are motivated to participate, even a group of ordinary people can create a long-lasting and successful show.
Jiang Chuan wished he could grab Jiang Xiaoman immediately and have a long talk with him all night long.
Unfortunately, Mr. Jiang had to go to the tea factory to handle some business the next day, so Jiang Chuan could only reluctantly say that once the program was officially approved, he would bring the entire creative team over and hoped that Jiang Xiaoman could also participate in the scriptwriting process.
Wouldn't this be perfect for him to sneak in his own agenda? Jiang Xiaoman readily agreed.
Jiang Chuan took the identity information and card numbers of the four people.
Jiang Xiaoman and the others thought that this "agricultural mentor" was responsible for helping the guests adapt to life in the village and teaching them how to raise pigs and grow vegetables. The producer asked for their bank account number, which was probably for some kind of subsidy.
To their surprise, when they saw the amount of the announcement fee listed in the contract during the formal signing, all four of them were stunned.
Because they have to follow the entire twelve-episode program, and with an appearance fee of 30,000 yuan per episode, each of them can earn as much as 360,000 yuan in appearance fees!
No wonder young people these days are all scrambling to get into the entertainment industry!
This industry is too easy to make money in, isn't it?
Moreover, according to the program schedule, the recording time for each episode is about a week, which means that the weekly salary for this "farmer assistance mentor" role is as high as 30,000 yuan!
Even though Jiang Xiaoman is now a top influencer with tens of millions of followers, she couldn't help but shed tears of envy when she saw such a high salary.
No wonder Director Liang strongly encouraged Sister Yingzi to try her luck in the entertainment industry. If she succeeds, even if she only plays a minor supporting role, she can still earn a lot of money in a year.
After the contract was signed, the show did not start recording immediately. The production team directly brought in three construction teams to renovate the old house of villager Jiang Youzhi, according to the script, and turned it into the guests' "entrepreneurial dream factory".
Then they found a very secluded wasteland on the mountainside, brought in a lot of prefabricated houses, and installed air conditioners, water heaters, toilets and the like, to serve as the staff dormitory area for the program crew for the next six months.
The walls surrounding the dormitory area were also densely covered with artificial turf and vines to disguise the area, so that even if the camera accidentally panned across it, viewers would think it was a forest and avoid any continuity errors in post-production.
There was also a props team that gathered everyday items for the guests, such as oxcarts, baskets, and vegetable baskets. They also went to town to buy rice, flour, and cooking oil, and decorated the old house into a farmhouse courtyard that was almost identical to the one in Langshan.
There were no artsy pergolas, no pet cats or dogs, no guitars or guzheng, only free-range chickens roaming the ground, three black pigs squealing loudly in the pigsty in the backyard, and a large pile of unthreshed corn in the yard—this would be the staple food for the guests and the black pigs for the next six months.
The guests ate finely sifted cornmeal.
The black pigs ate the corn scraps left over from the sieve.
If you want to improve your life and eat fragrant white rice, you have no choice but to rely on your own hard work...
What's even more baffling is that, because it's a public service program that J Province TV is preparing to compete for awards next year, which, to put it simply, is particularly suitable for giving newcomers in the entertainment industry with unstable foundations a chance to shine, after the news of the program's establishment came out, many rising stars actually took the initiative to use their connections to apply!
Seeing how popular this pancake was, J Province TV station naturally wanted to give it priority to their own favorite child/daughter!
Thus, Wei Sheng, who was already part of the official staff, once again transformed into royalty and made a surprise appearance as a guest!
Netizens: ...
Good heavens! No wonder people online are saying "the end of the universe is the system".
The phrase "within the establishment" is more reliable than any sugar daddy!
Jiang Xiaoman and the others originally thought that Jiang Cancan could also take the opportunity to go back to the village to stay for a while, but they later heard from Director Jiang that there was an age limit for the guests recruited for the program. After all, they were there to help revitalize the local countryside, so they should at least be of working age, right?
Jiang Cancan herself is still a child, so her age is a major obstacle.
The final list of regular guests for the program included five people: Wei Sheng, the "crown prince" of the system; Manyue, a popular young actress who was signed and promoted by J Province TV in the past two years; Tian Sijia, an actress and beautiful host who is known as the most savvy investor in the entertainment industry; a young actor, Song Yi; and a middle-aged actress, Dai Yonghui.
Since it was related to Langshan's upcoming external publicity, Jiang Xiaoman even went to Jiang Xia, an "insider," to inquire about the backgrounds of these guests. After listening to the gossip provided by Jiang Xia, she couldn't help but admire producer Jiang Chuan!
This person often jokes that they "don't know how to make money," but they're really good at finding "rich people" from the vast sea of people!
The talented actress Dai Yonghui needs no introduction; she has been in the industry for nearly thirty years. Her husband is also a well-known actor. The couple is famous in the industry for their ability to make money, and their net worth is certainly over one billion yuan.
The popular young actress Manyue comes from a well-off family. I heard that her mother is the founder of a well-known domestic catering chain. Even the canteen of J Province TV station is contracted by her family. Because of this relationship, she can be considered half a family member.
The young actor Song Yi is even more remarkable. His father is one of the founders of a famous real estate development company in the south. In recent years, he has also reportedly invested in the pharmaceutical industry and made a fortune. Song Yi is a typical example of someone who "would rather go home and inherit billions of dollars if he didn't act well"—a true prince!
In contrast, the public opinion surrounding the beautiful host Tian Sijia is quite polarized. It is said that her rise to wealth is inseparable from the strong support of a certain married tycoon! Well, that's quite intriguing.
Some netizens believe that as long as money is earned through one's own abilities, how one earns it is their own business.
Some netizens felt that Tian Sijia was obviously selling her body to exchange for resources. Although she did not actually break up someone's family, a mistress is a mistress, and there is no way to deny it!
Logically speaking, a program with such positive energy should not invite such controversial guests.
However, according to Jiang Chuan's private conversation with Jiang Xiaoman, this older woman and her "male confidant" are truly innocent! She came on the show to find a place where the public wouldn't be too opposed to clear her name…
As for what exactly happened, Jiang Chuan refused to divulge any information, fearing that other paparazzi would find out about it and expose such a sensational storyline beforehand, which would mean they had invited this guest for nothing.
The producer carefully selected these few from a large pool of applicants; everyone knows what his intentions were.
The popularity that celebrities bring is secondary; what Jiang Chuan values most are the resources and connections these people have, either personally or through their families.
In business, especially in agriculture where the return on investment is long, if you don't have some wealth or connections, you should give up as soon as possible!
To succeed in this industry, you either need to be exceptionally hardworking and able to start from scratch like Jiang Xiaoman.
Either they have a large enough family fortune and extensive connections to continuously fund the project with their assets and resources, allowing it to generate profits from the very beginning, which would make the show more interesting.
Otherwise, if the project fails while they're working on it, that's one thing, but if they lose all the savings of the ordinary people who started the business together, wouldn't netizens be furious with them?
Director Jiang was shrewd and calculating, but Langshan Village unexpectedly benefited from his success.
With so many powerful and well-connected investors suddenly appearing, how could they not rise to prominence by clinging to such a golden thigh?
Chapter 225
Considering the program's impact, Jiang Xiaoman, Lang Ying, and others discussed it and decided to suspend the expansion plans of several cooperatives—expansion would have to wait until the big investors arrived.
It wasn't that they necessarily wanted to take advantage of the production team and guests, but Jiang Xiaoman was worried that if they did the cooperative expansion in advance, the production team wouldn't have any highlights to film when the guests arrived.
Just like the martial arts movies he watched when he was a child, a great hero like Qiao Feng would definitely appear at the most crucial moment, instead of being a background character who just stands there as a background figure from the beginning. What would the audience be excited about if that happened?
Besides, well, these small-scale, solo self-media outlets can't compare to those big stars with tens of millions of followers.
I've heard that some celebrities with strong fan bases can sell out a slow-selling agricultural product just by posting a Weibo post or a short video. What an enticing level of influence that is!
However, it takes at least a few months for a program to go from project initiation to sponsorship. The production team suggested that it would be best to choose September, which is the autumn harvest season. Local specialties such as wild tea, golden chrysanthemum, and local honey from Langshan are all in season. The crops in the fields, the fruits and vegetables in the gardens, and the wildflowers and wild fruits all over the mountains are all free materials... and the filming effect will be very good.
The production crew hasn't arrived yet, but life goes on. Summer is the most profitable season for the people of Langshan. The reason is simple: the humid and warm summer is when the yield of various wild mushrooms on the mountain is at its highest!
When Chinese people think of a province known for its abundant mushrooms, Y province immediately comes to mind. However, Jiang Xiaoman's hometown also produces a variety of wild mushrooms. It's just that the local mountain people are more timid than the people of Y province, who are willing to risk "testing poison" for delicious food. The locals only pick the mushrooms they recognize each year. Moreover, they eat very little of them themselves, selling most of them for profit.
In previous years, the local people in Langshan would take the mushrooms they picked to the town to sell to mushroom vendors. Sometimes, if they arrived late, the vendors would have already left, so they would have to take them home and eat them themselves.
After all, there's too much rain this season, so the food can't be dried in the sun. It would be a shame to let it rot if we didn't eat it.
But this year is different.
Lang Ying and her team's food factory purchases a large amount of wild mushrooms every day. The wild mushroom sauce they make is said to be very popular online. Most importantly, the food factory keeps its purchasing point open from morning till night. For those who live far away, they can even carry the mushrooms to the purchasing point in Laoshan Aozi to sell.
During this season, wild mushrooms are almost everywhere on Langshan Mountain. Usually, you can find new ones even if you finish picking mushrooms on one mountain today. As long as you are diligent and carry a basket up the mountain, you will not return empty-handed.
If you're lucky enough to find expensive porcini mushrooms, termite mushrooms, or bamboo fungus, you can sometimes earn several hundred yuan a day.
Jiang Xiaoman and Shan Yan both got busy.
Shan Yan and his apprentices set up purchasing points in the village and in the old mountain valley. They did not buy cheap mushrooms, but only mushrooms like termite mushrooms and porcini mushrooms that could fetch a good price.
The main reason is that Shan Yan has a group of old customers, those who run restaurants and private kitchens, who make a fortune during the wild mushroom season. They need old mountain folk like Shan Yan to supply them with authentic wild mushrooms.
Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Yu were also busy. While Lang Ying was busy with production, he and Jiang Yu took over the food factory's sales channels. The two livestreamers shed their previous laziness and went live almost every night.
Besides live-streaming e-commerce, Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Yu also shoot videos during the day.
Since his series of melodramatic family drama videos became a huge success, Xiaoman has finally mastered the secret to generating buzz. So, while all the other new self-media creators in the village were filming themselves picking mushrooms on the mountain, Xiaoman took a different approach and started filming the people picking mushrooms.
He discovered a few days ago that students who lived far from the school used to walk to school on their own, as long as it wasn't windy or rainy.
Recently, many parents have started sending their children to school.
It wasn't that the parents suddenly had a surge of responsibility; rather, it was because dropping their children off at the village gate would allow them to sell the wild mushrooms they had picked the day before, then return the same way, picking more mushrooms along the way, and making the round trip again the next day…
Jiang Xiaoman is going to photograph the family of Lang Zihan, Da Niu's classmate, today.
Lang Zihan's name was chosen by her mother, and it has a strong characteristic of her generation. You can tell at a glance that her mother was also a loyal reader of romance novels.
At 7:30 in the morning, Jiang Xiaoman hurriedly grabbed two large steamed buns filled with wild mushrooms and cured meat. Just as she ran to the school gate, she saw Lang Zihan's father carrying a basket on his back, taking his daughter inside.
That was close! I almost missed it!
"Guochang, what time did you get up this morning?" Jiang Xiaoman asked breathlessly as she turned on the camera.
"We live far away, so we get up at 5:30 in the morning," Lang Guochang said apologetically as he called out to Xiaoman.
Jiang Xiaoman was speechless.
Yes, although Lang Guochang is already a father of two, he is two years younger than him.
Lang Guochang got married early. His eldest daughter is already in the second grade of elementary school, and he also has a young son who was just born a few months ago.
This year, Lang Guochang didn't go out to work because his wife was about to give birth. He originally planned to go out again after his wife gave birth, but he was lucky. The village was hiring everywhere this year, and he could earn money by picking tea and mushrooms in the mountains. So he simply gave up the idea of going out to work. Unexpectedly, after a few months, he calculated that his family's income was more than what he had saved by working outside!
The couple is now full of energy. His wife started picking tea leaves near their home after giving birth, and he takes his youngest son with him. He also takes his eldest daughter to school every day and sells and picks mushrooms on the way. Not counting their income from farming, the couple has earned more than 10,000 yuan this month from these two sources alone!
You know, when you go out to work, you have to bear the costs of food, lodging and transportation. Here, wild mushrooms all over the mountains are free, and wild tea trees have no cost. If they are lucky, sometimes the couple can earn several hundred yuan a day.
“Brother Xiaoman, my wife and I have agreed that once we harvest the corn and potatoes this year, we’d like to join the cooperative next year and grow chrysanthemum and honeysuckle tea with you.”
"Sure, but there are regulations from above that prohibit the encroachment on farmland used for grain production," Jiang Xiaoman cautioned.
"Don't worry, the hillside where my family grows corn and potatoes was reclaimed by my parents, not the land allocated to individual households in our village. If we relied solely on the allocated land, we would starve to death," Lang Guochang said with a simple smile.
Jiang Xiaoman followed behind him, watching him go to Lang Ying's food factory first, empty the wild mushrooms from his basket and woven bag, and wait in line to be weighed.
The food factory mainly buys wild mushrooms for making sauces. They don't classify them; all varieties are mixed together. The uniform purchase price is eight yuan per kilogram, which sounds cheaper than selling them at a street stall. But the food factory doesn't need to classify them; they'll take any non-toxic edible mushrooms!
Lang Guochang now goes into the mountains to pick mushrooms during the day, and sorts them himself when he comes back at night. He sells the expensive wild mushrooms to the other side of the mountain, and sells the cheaper "general goods" to food factories. These "general goods" have a high yield, and he sold more than 300 yuan worth of the ones he picked today.