My heart is fluttering.
But even a fool could tell how fierce the competition would be for such a flagship program that a provincial TV station had invested heavily in!
Believe it or not, once Director Jiang releases this news, countless wealthy towns across the country will be willing to spend money to invite the program crew over.
As for Langshan Town... it's impossible for them to spend money. They didn't even have money to give out for the Dragon Boat Festival. Each person only received a box of locally produced zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
"Don't worry! Do you think the TV station doesn't know what conditions our town has?" Jiang Xiaoman rolled her eyes at Director Sun over the phone. "They won't ask the town for money. It's just that I heard this variety show is going to be filmed for a long time, so they might need to borrow some venues from the local area to build some temporary buildings, and also solve the staff's food and lodging problems. They need the town's assistance."
"However, we won't let the local government help for nothing. Director Jiang said that Langshan Town will be included in the program's acknowledgments section..."
"Wait a minute! I need to go and report to the Party Secretary!" Sun Zheyuan suddenly hung up the phone.
Upon hearing that a TV station wanted to film a variety show in their town and didn't even need sponsorship fees (this is the key point!), Lu Yongming, the Party Secretary of Langshan Town, immediately stood up: Let's go! Call Lao Kong, let's go right now!
These days, who doesn't know the saying, "It's better to sing well than to do well"?
No matter how good your political achievements are, if you don't open up publicity channels and can't be found on the internet, all your work will be in vain!
Lu Yongming was originally thinking that since the town's financial situation had improved a bit this year, should he hire a young man like Jiang Xiaoman who knew about new media promotion to boost the town's external publicity?
Unexpectedly, a wonderful surprise has arrived!
They hadn't even posted any recruitment information yet, and Jiang Xiaoman had already brought in a giant in the field of public relations for them!
There is also a hierarchy of contempt among media outlets. For example, top-tier TV stations look down on near-top-tier stations like J Province TV, while in small towns like Langshan Town, where even a public WeChat account can't be run, J Province TV is like an unapproachable royal princess!
Now, Your Highness is condescending to propose a marriage alliance with them?
Regardless of whether it will work out or not, we must do everything we can to get this done!
That's a near-top-tier TV station that has produced several hit variety shows!
When Lu Yongming and his group arrived at Langshan Village, Jiang Xiaoman was preparing to go to Lang Ying's house with Jiang Chuan and others. When Jiang Chuan heard that Lu Yongming was the top leader of the town, he immediately became respectful and took a few steps forward to shake Lu Yongming's hand: "Secretary Lu, I didn't expect the town to attach so much importance to rural revitalization. It's already past working hours, and you still troubled the leaders to come and guide our work. Thank you so much!"
Wow! Listen to the art of speaking these days!
Jiang Xiaoman wished she could immediately take out paper and pen and copy down this passage.
After the official greetings were finished, the two sides met up, and Lu Yongming and the others parked their car in front of Jiang Xiaoman's house and walked into the village together.
This year, Langshan Village is noticeably more lively than in previous years. Many people who used to work outside have stayed at home, busy making beehives, picking mushrooms, gathering wild tea, and digging wild vegetables. Some of the more resourceful ones have also followed the example of Jiang Xiaoman and others, digging for wild vegetables in the mountains while filming their own videos. Although they haven't become hugely popular, they have gained tens of thousands of followers by riding on the popularity of big accounts like Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Yu. With a little more effort, they will be able to start their own distribution and sales of mountain products.
It was evening, but the village was bustling with activity. Large bamboo trays were displayed in the courtyards and on the walls of every household, drying potato chips and sweet potato vines.
"Xiaoman, these are all products from your cooperative, right?" Lu Yongming pointed to the local specialties drying in front of each household.
"Hehe~ Last year, our fans said they wanted to try our potato chips, as well as the pickled vegetables made from sweet potato vines and pickled peppers. It just so happens that the new potatoes are all harvested this year, but they don't sell for much at the market, so I meddled and taught the villagers how to slice the new potatoes and dry them into potato chips. That way, they can sell for a little more money than fresh potatoes," Jiang Xiaoman said modestly.
"How can you call this meddling? You're doing a good deed for the village!" Lu Yongming praised him, then remarked, "I really hope that Langshan Town can have more people like you who are willing to meddle in other people's business."
In recent years, there have been many successful entrepreneurs in Langshan, but the first thing these people do after making money is to take the money they earned from their hometown and buy houses in big cities to settle down, as if staying there for even a second longer would make them unable to wash away the muddy smell of their peasant origins.
These business owners aren't entirely without contribution to the local economy, but they generally prefer to hire their relatives and friends first. One person leads a group, and they continue until the industry becomes unsustainable, or until they've grown big enough to set up factories in the city. Only then will they move their entire families, sometimes even taking their relatives with them, away from the mountains...
Some people choose to flee their hometown, while others choose to return to its embrace.
Lu Yongming couldn't say for sure who was right and who was wrong, but what he admired most was Jiang Xiaoman, a passionate and promising young man who was striving for the rise of his hometown.
Jiang Xiaoman's "meddling" is precisely his most valuable and admirable quality.
When we arrived at Lang Ying's house, we could smell the sweet aroma of boiled corn from afar.
"Sister Yingzi, are you cooking sweet corn or glutinous corn tonight?" Jiang Xiaoman sniffed, feeling hungry again.
The first harvest of corn this season is the most delicious. Whether you break it off and boil it, peel off the kernels with a knife, coat them in batter and fry them, or grind them in a stone mill to make corn porridge, they are so fresh that you'll want to swallow your tongue!
Upon entering, there was an introduction. When Lang Ying heard that the visitor was actually the top official in their town, she immediately became reserved.
Although she has even acted in movies, she really doesn't know the top official in their town.
Less than two minutes after they sat down, Shan Yan and Jiang Yu arrived, bringing their three daughters with them.
This year, many men from the village who worked outside have returned, including some bachelors. Although they are all from the village, Shan Yan has been traveling outside for many years and has heard of all sorts of things.
Years ago, a tragedy occurred in their old mountain valley. A married woman brought her young daughter back to the mountains for a wedding banquet. She thought there was no danger in her own village, so she let her daughter go out to play with the other children in the village.
Who knew that once he went, he would never be found again... At the time, the villagers suspected that the child might have been carried away by a wolf after being separated from his family, but Shan Yan carefully observed that there were no traces of a wolf dragging him near the village.
Moreover, the dogs kept by the villagers are very clever. If a wild wolf really enters the village, not a single dog in the village will remain silent.
Finally, at Shan Yan's insistence, the woman called the police. Two days later, the police found the little girl's body in the cellar of an old widower's backyard in the village; her body was so badly mutilated that she was unrecognizable...
Even now, when Shan Yan thinks back to that scene, just imagining his own three precious daughters makes him want to tear that old beast to pieces!
Because of this, he has recently been instructing Jiang Yu that when he goes out on business, if the children are at home, at least one adult should be there to watch them, or he should simply take the three girls with him when he goes out to work. He must never leave the three girls alone at home.
Fortunately, Lang Ying's eldest daughter, second daughter, and the Shan Chaji sisters got along well. The two older girls led the three younger girls, sitting in a row holding boiled corn and watching cartoons. They were much more well-behaved and sensible than the boys.
Since both families had children, everyone stopped being polite and exchanging pleasantries. Jiang Chuan directly explained his plans to the town leaders.
Simply put, the production team will transform the entire Langshan Village into a large-scale rural entrepreneurship challenge map according to the needs of the script.
Although the official program script has not yet been released, the station's current intention is to develop this program into an inspirational entrepreneurship variety show that truly helps rural revitalization.
Based on the "character card" they draw, the guests will start from a point that matches the character's identity and economic situation, and try to improve their lives and start businesses to get rich in the huge real-world map of Langshan Village.
Of course, Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Baichuan, these "agricultural mentors," acted as NPCs during this period, responsible for providing necessary technical support. The village and town also provided support in terms of venues and materials.
“We have conducted a comprehensive survey of the sources of income for the local villagers in Langshan. In addition to farming, raising pigs, raising chickens, and beekeeping, there are also income sources such as bamboo weaving, bamboo carving, tea frying, tea picking, mushroom picking, and wild vegetable digging. There are some sites that we cannot set up, so we need the leaders to help arrange them…” Jiang Chuan explained.
"Well... digging for wild vegetables and picking mushrooms, we can just go to the mountains, right? I wonder how we can help set up the venue?" None of the leaders present had experience in producing variety shows, so Deputy Mayor Kong asked humbly.
"Oh, no need to set up outdoors. We're mainly talking about the village. I heard that illegal construction in rural areas is being strictly regulated now, but for the sake of the program, we'll definitely need to set up some temporary structures. We'll need the town's help to get approval."
"Oh, no problem! Anything else?"
"Also, some of our guests may bring their own RVs, and the production crew will be staying here for several months. I'm afraid the village doesn't have enough vacant houses to rent to us. We plan to transport a batch of mobile prefabricated houses to build a temporary dormitory area. We hope the village can help solve the site problem."
...
After some back and forth, Jiang Chuan, representing the program team, negotiated the general details of the cooperation with the town. They also agreed that once the program was officially launched, both parties would sign a detailed sponsorship cooperation agreement. Then, the town leaders hurriedly returned home.
Don't assume that township and village officials have it easy; sometimes they have it even worse than factory workers.
If you work in a factory and have a long night shift the night before, you can usually sleep until after 10 a.m. the next day before going to work.
It's different in town. Even if you work overtime until two or three in the morning, burning the midnight oil to write materials, you still have to obediently sign in and clock in at 8:30 the next day... Who can you complain to?
Chapter 224
While Director Jiang was communicating with the town leaders, Jiang Xiaoman listened quietly. But as soon as the leaders left, the kid immediately perked up!
His biggest wish has always been to bring more fans to the village and create a large enough audience base. Now that the opportunity has been presented to him, wouldn't it be a pity if he didn't seize it?
Anyway, as Director Jiang said, the program script hasn't been finalized yet, which is the perfect opportunity to sneak in some personal agenda!
"Director Jiang, I have a small, albeit immature, suggestion, but I'm not sure if I should say it..." Jiang Xiaoman rummaged through Lang Ying's brazier for a roasted sweet potato, placed it on a tissue, and handed it to Jiang Chuan, looking as sleazy as a treacherous minister about to offer a scheme. *cough*
"What suggestion? Tell me." Jiang Chuan happened to have nothing else to do.
"That's right. During my time back in my hometown starting a business, what impressed me most was that the rural revitalization cause is not only about making people's wallets fuller, but also about raising their awareness and mindset. As the saying goes, poverty alleviation starts with empowering people's minds, which refers to both their intelligence and their ambition."
"In previous years, the country made great efforts to win the battle against poverty, but look at how many of the impoverished mountain villages that were finally lifted out of poverty have fallen back into poverty in recent years?"
"To put it bluntly, simply solving the problem of feeding farmers is only the first step in rural revitalization. The road ahead is not so simple."
“Take me for example. Shan Yan and I could have set up a company and owned it all ourselves. That way, we could have worked hard while we were young, and when we got old, the business would belong entirely to our family. So why should we share the shares with the village collective and the villagers?”
"We want to gain the support of the village collective and the villagers. In fact, we think that a single tree cannot make a forest. If we want to develop the village's collective economy, it is not enough to rely on just a few of us. We must get more thoughtful and conscious villagers to join us!"
"That's how it is in the countryside. No matter how much you talk, people won't easily believe you and take out their only savings to start a business. But if a trusted relative or friend makes a fortune in this industry, guess what?"
"Now we don't need to go around advertising; people are coming to us asking for cooperation!"
"So I thought that the idea of having celebrities come to the mountains to deeply participate in rural revitalization was very good, but it wasn't enough!"
"I suggest that the production team could do what our cooperative does, pairing individual celebrities with villagers who want to start businesses and get rich, forming teams or mini cooperatives. This would allow the guests to better integrate into the villagers' lives and make the show more interesting..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Chuan couldn't help but sit up straight.
Wow! Isn't this exactly the kind of conflict that variety shows need?
In an instant, countless trending topics that could spark heated debates among netizens flashed through Jiang Chuan's mind!
Wow, that's impressive! No wonder they managed to become a top influencer with millions of followers without any team or company support...
Jiang Chuan had been brainstorming with the creative team about how to create highlights and conflicts in the show. But after all the ideas they came up with, it turned out that it was Jiang Xiaoman, an outsider who had never done variety shows before, who came up with the most amazing idea!
There's absolutely no trace of hype involved!
What could be more compelling than the conflict between outside entrepreneurs and local villagers?
Moreover, thinking about it more deeply, as Jiang Xiaoman said, poverty alleviation starts with empowering people's minds (will). Presumably, the celebrities invited by the program team would also be happy to use their connections to bring more financial or technical support to the villagers they are cooperating with. After all, it doesn't cost them their own money, and they can also establish a positive image of helping farmers through public welfare on the show.
Most importantly, this way, the screenwriters don't have to rack their brains to fabricate the conflicts and contradictions between each group. Just the integration and conflicts between the celebrities and local villagers after they form teams can be edited into countless conflicts and topics that are easy to arrange for trending searches...
Jiang Xiaoman, you are truly a genius at making variety shows!
Jiang Chuan glanced at Jiang Xiaoman with regret.
If this guy hadn't started his own business and become a top-tier internet celebrity with millions of followers, he would definitely have tried to get his hands on such a talent!
"Please elaborate further..." Jiang Chuan couldn't help but pull a chair next to Jiang Xiaoman.
Taking the opportunity, Jiang Xiaoman took out her phone and sent Jiang Chuan several video links.
"Director Jiang, please take a look at these videos first. When I was filming these videos, I just wanted to change up my style. I didn't expect that these casually filmed videos would have such a huge number of views and comments. I still have a stable income from these videos on several video platforms."
What Jiang Xiaoman showed Jiang Chuan was the series of melodramatic rural short videos that he had previously filmed for Lang Ying, Shan Ying, and others.
The videos weren't long, and Jiang Chuan finished watching them in just half an hour. After watching them, he wanted Jiang Xiaoman even more, sob sob o(╥﹏╥)o
Why would someone with such outstanding (program planning) talent return to his hometown to start a business?
What's even more frightening is that after watching these videos, Jiang Chuan no longer wants to make the rural revitalization-themed variety show he had previously planned.
He now prefers to make variety shows featuring rural women!
Just think, even he, a grown man, couldn't help but feel itchy fingers when he saw Shan Ying's husband's "daily laziness," and wanted to immediately open his personal social media platform to thoroughly and relentlessly criticize this grown-up baby! Not to mention the female audience that variety shows desperately want...
Who wouldn't get fired up after watching this?
By then, they probably won't even need to spend money to buy trending topics; the sheer volume of organic buzz from each episode will be terrifying enough.