Chapter 89. Reality Show

     After the Lantern Festival, the temperature gradually warmed up. Although there was still a late spring cold, it did not affect the Xingzhou Island, where the temperature difference during the day does not exceed 5℃ throughout the year.

     Director Fu’s new drama has been scheduled to be broadcast on Friday night, March 4, so this Lantern Festival, the drama also took advantage of the hot search on Xingzhou Island and released the trailer.

     The first scene of the trailer is a magnificent, mysterious, fantasy-filled, dangerous and mysterious underwater world.

     Netizens were stunned, as if they saw the scenery of Pandora in “Avatar”. When they praised the special effects, the official blog of the TV series said: “This is not a special effect, it is a real scenery!”

     In addition to the trailer, the official blog also released a lot of filming footage, as well as Zhou Qunfang diving happily above the coral reef, surrounded by a group of colorful tropical fish.

     Netizens remembered the debate last year about the glowing diving spot on Xingzhou Island. At that time, there was no evidence to prove that Xingzhou Island was fake, and most netizens on the Internet did not have the opportunity to experience diving. Gradually, there were fewer discussions.

     This preview and highlights reminded them of the August full of shock, doubt and dream, and aroused their interest in the diving project of Xingzhou Island.

     There is also a scene in the trailer where the male protagonist uses his ability to make the female protagonist happy, presenting a visual feast comparable to special effects. Sharp-eyed netizens recognized that it was the “sea fire” wonder of Xingzhou Island at night. Although they have seen many videos posted by netizens on the Internet, it is the first time to see the real “sea fire” in a TV series.

     Netizens shouted: “Start broadcasting soon, I want to watch it!”

     “I declare that this is the most romantic and beautiful TV series this year!”

 

…

 

     Zhou Qunfang also promoted the new drama by posting V blogs and participating in interviews as agreed. Every time this happens, netizens remember her identity as a “Xingzhou Island annual ticket member” and have to come to absorb her European energy.

     The publicity and promotion of this drama is good, and the attention is getting higher and higher. Even Xingzhou Island, where the average daily number of tourists and hotel occupancy rates have slightly decreased after the Lantern Festival, has ushered in a tourism boom again.

     Thanks to this drama and Xingzhou Island, Youshi, a small third- and fourth-tier city, has gradually become known to more people, and the municipal government has also taken the opportunity to promote Youshi’s tourism image. In the past, Yuhai Park and the open-pit mine were often given priority in publicity, but now Xingzhou Island is given priority.

     Xingzhou Island has become the new signboard of Youshi’s tourism brand.

     Many advertisers have set their sponsorship targets on the tourist line from Biwan Station to Baoren Port Wharf. If advertisements can be placed on this line, the effect may also be very ideal.

     So the opening progress of this line has been accelerated again. All stakeholders have signed an agreement with the municipal government, and the route has been thoroughly planned. It will be officially put into operation on March 10.

     According to the planned route, the tourist bus will depart from Biwan Station, stop at the Eight Scenic Spots of Biwan, the Former Residence of Lady Xian, the Bell and Drum Tower, and a real estate project of a large real estate developer who invested and sponsored the establishment of this route. The final destination is Baoren Port Wharf.

     Because it is a tourist bus, the time of the first and last bus is different from that of ordinary buses. The earliest bus is at 6:30 and the last bus is at 20:30. There is a 40-minute trip, with a total of 22 trips.

     As for the route from Biwan Station to Liantou Port, it has not been put into operation because the ticket waiting hall of Xingzhou Island has not been built.

     However, Xingzhou Island has successfully passed the approval of relevant departments to open a factory to produce cultural and creative products, and can officially build the factory.

     Although the factory is not big, it can provide 20 to 30 jobs. In addition, it is a factory of Xingzhou Island, and the government of Biwan District has also actively recommended many factory buildings that can be used as factories.

     Zhang Yaode, who was preparing for the election of village chief, learned the news and took the initiative to contact Vice President Qi, saying: “There is a processing plant for processing snail meat in our village, but it was closed because of poor economic benefits and lack of some qualifications. But the processing plant remained…”

     Xingzhou Island wanted to build the factory not far from the dock, but the surrounding land was either industrial warehouses or agricultural, forestry, and tourism land that were restricted from building factories. And if you rent an industrial warehouse, the cost is not low.

     Potou Village where Zhang Yaode is located is only two kilometers away from Baoren Port Wharf, and the transportation is quite convenient, which is worth considering.

     Vice President Qi has visited it. This snail meat processing plant covers an area of 1 mu and is next to the coastal tourism highway planned and built by the government. When the road is built, the transportation here will be more convenient.

     And this factory obtained some permits when it was built, so if Xingzhou Island rents it, there is no need to worry about violations of regulations.

     Zhang Yaode also said that the rent can be cheaper, but the condition is that Xingzhou Island must provide half of the jobs to villagers in the village.

     Vice President Qi said: “We want to produce cultural and creative products. We must be dexterous, careful, and have relevant skills. How many people in the village meet the requirements?”

     “We can learn, and our requirements are not high. As long as half of the positions are available, even if they are miscellaneous jobs, it will be fine!”

     Zhang Yaode wants these positions not for the elderly in the village, but for the young people.

     Although Youshi is the city with the largest population loss in Lingnan Province, and many young people have flowed into the Pearl River Delta, there are still some young people in the village.

     They are tired of fishing and are afraid of dying at sea. Let them find a proper job. In the environment of Biwan District, most of the jobs that can be provided are insecure and unstable.

     Take Zhang Yaode’s niece as an example. She graduated from Youshi University. After graduation, she wanted to find a suitable job and ended up going to a company opened by a relative. Then, not to mention 996, the salary was low and there was no five insurances and one housing fund. Want to buy social insurance? Yes, the part paid by the company must also be deducted from the salary.

     If you ask for leave for something, your relatives will complain to your parents. If you want to resign, you can’t find a better job than this…

     This vicious cycle has made the young people in the village less and less willing to work, and they all choose to stay at home and rely on their parents.

     But Xingzhou Island is different. Everyone knows that Xingzhou Island is now in a stage of vigorous development. 90% of the employees on the island are from Youshi, and 60% of the 90% are from the local area. According to them, Xingzhou Island has good welfare benefits. As long as you don’t make mistakes or violate the company’s rules and regulations, there is basically no risk of being fired.

     So since the development of Xingzhou Island, very few employees who have joined the company want to resign.

     If this factory is branded with the mark of Xingzhou Island, wouldn’t it be equivalent to an iron rice bowl?

     The factory is located near the village. The young people in the village eat and live at home, and they also get paid. They will definitely not run away, right?

     Zhang Yaode is so active in promoting this matter, but in fact he has selfish motives. If he can do this well, there will definitely be many people in the village who vote for him.

     Vice President Qi was undecided, so he asked Li Yaolin, who said: “It can be considered. After all, if a factory cannot provide jobs for the local area, it will not be welcomed. And some positions with high craftsmanship requirements can be arranged by craftsmen recruited from Yangshi, and other positions with low technical requirements can be trained first…”

     So the matter of renting a snail meat processing factory was initially negotiated.

     Of course, the factory on Xingzhou Island will not be named after the factory. Li Yaolin named it “Xingzhou Island Cultural and Creative Park”. The little mermaid said that she didn’t expect that she, who was bad at naming, could come up with a good name one day.

 

……

 

     On March 4, the new drama “Mermaid Love Song” starring Zhou Qunfang and directed by Fu was broadcast on the prime time of Blueberry TV at 7 pm. 

     Compared to the short footage of more than ten seconds in the trailer, the drama obviously has more footage about Xingzhou Island, including diving spots, snorkeling areas, white sand beaches, “sea fire”, and “Haizi” – not the scene where the dugong appeared in the photo taken by Director Fu, but it was replaced by other footage to better fit the story.

     The official blog also released the original footage, and everyone knew that Director Fu encountered “Haizi” on the day of filming. Netizens praised the crew for their good luck, encountering “Haizi” and “sea fire”.

     However, the scene of “sea fire” will obviously appear after the male and female protagonists have a deeper bond, and everyone can only appreciate the scenery of Xingzhou Island that seems to have been beautiful.

     In a residential building in a first-tier city, a middle-aged woman who was watching TV after dinner said, “This special effect is great!”

     The girl who was cleaning up the dishes looked up and said, “Mom, this is not a special effect, this is a real scene.”

     “Where is the real scene so beautiful?”

     “Xingzhou Island, there are behind-the-scenes footage on the Internet, these are all real scenes.”

     The man next to the middle-aged woman asked, “Is the mermaid’s palace real?”

     “This… is fake.”

     “This place is pretty.”

     The girl came out of the kitchen, approached her parents, and said, “Dad, Mom, I’ll take you there for a trip!”

     “Do you want to go abroad?” In the middle-aged woman’s impression, only foreign islands can be so beautiful.

     “No, it’s in Youshi, Lingnan Province. Our city happens to have a flight to that place. It only takes an hour by car. The journey is not too long, and mom doesn’t have to worry about motion sickness…”

     The middle-aged woman was a little tempted and glanced at the man next to her. The latter nodded: “Then go!”

 

…

 

     This scene has been played out in many families, and the “popularity” of Xingzhou Island has been rising.

      Li Yaolin has figured out why Xingzhou Island has been frequently searched and appeared in the news before, but its popularity has always been stuck at 30%. Because there are many netizens in China, but the information on the Internet is huge, and netizens cannot access all the information. Therefore, if other publicity channels are not developed, then the scope of its popularity will be limited.

     For this reason, when the producer of Lychee TV came to her to discuss cooperation, she did not refuse it outright like she did when she refused the Taozi TV variety show.

     “Our reality show is mainly for entertainment, and we applied for it with the purpose of promoting the ‘Beibu Gulf’. It is initially scheduled to have 12 episodes in one season, and we will go to six cities for filming. We want to choose Guidao as the first stop…” The producer of Lizhi TV talked freely.

     He fully listened to the experience of Director Fu and Chairman Chang, and learned the lessons of Taozi TV. He did not dare to have the arrogant idea of “I will promote Xingzhou Island for you, you have to give me benefits and provide convenience for the program team during the filming process.”

     Li Yaolin read the other party’s plan and felt that with the current conditions of Xingzhou Island, it would not be a problem to provide a venue for the program team to shoot, and the impact on the operation would not be great, so she agreed.

     At the same time, the producer also contacted those popular stars.

     Song Ruqing’s agent found her and said, “There is a variety show that wants to find you recently.”

     Song Ruqing, who was originally depressed, suddenly became energetic: “What variety show?”

     “It’s a reality show hosted by Lychee TV…”

     Song Ruqing was a little disappointed after listening to it. After all, Lychee TV is not a well-known TV station. As expected, she should have gone back to ask the island owner for the postcard. She was really suffering for her face!

     Looking back now, she regretted it very much. When she knew that the girl she thought was a fan was the mysterious owner of Xingzhou Island, her mood was so complicated, like a roller coaster, ups and downs.

     In the end, for the sake of face, she didn’t go back to find the other party.

     The agent said again: “I heard that the other party also found Zhou Qunfang.”

     Song Ruqing hurriedly asked: “Did she agree?”

     “We are still discussing, but she is very interested. This time, Lychee TV is very generous and gives a lot. If you don’t have some connection with Xingzhou Island, they may not find you. In addition, this variety show is to promote Beibu Gulf, and it has some official tasks. If you can take it, it will also be good for image building.”

     Song Ruqing was confused: “Ah? What does it have to do with Xingzhou Island?”

     “The first stop of their variety show is Xingzhou Island. Xingzhou Island has agreed to provide a filming location. Isn’t it that you and Zhou Qunfang have traveled to Xingzhou Island? They think your image is very consistent with the requirements of their reality show, so they thought of looking for you.”

     Song Ruqing: “…”

     I felt that I was extremely unlucky before, but after hearing this, it seems that I am not so unlucky?