Chapter 71. Lost

     After the cooperation was confirmed, the official website of Xingzhou Island updated the notice that Wenhua Travel Agency is the only cooperative travel agency of Xingzhou Island, and added transportation routes.

     The reason for the special update is not only the request of Wenhua Travel Agency, but also because there are travel agencies outside that cheat tourists in the name of Xingzhou Island, using traditional routines such as “ticket cabin reservation”, “50% discount boat fishing” and “Xingzhou Island surrounding product dealers” to deceive tourists. Its nature is similar to that of scalpers, but it is named as a travel agency. Tourists often cannot distinguish which travel agencies are legally qualified and which are fake.

     Wenhua Travel Agency is very famous, and its brand can be seen everywhere in Yóushì. Tourists only need to recognize it and will not be easily deceived.

     Netizens also discussed this in the forum:

 

     1L: “I just heard a while ago that Xingzhou Island wanted the city transportation to operate a tourist line. I didn’t expect it to be so fast and there is a through train!”

     2L: “This is not a city transportation bus, it’s a travel agency bus!”

     3L: “Is there any difference? I checked it out. It only takes 40 minutes from the high-speed rail terminal to Baoren Port Terminal, and the ticket price is 20 yuan; it only takes half an hour from Biwan Station to the terminal, and the ticket price is 15 yuan. Isn’t this price cheaper than taking an online car-hailing service?!”

     2L replied to 3L: “Aren’t you afraid that you will go shopping before getting on the bus? Dog head.Jpg”

     3L replied to 2L: “If the travel agency forces consumption, you can call to report it. I believe my mother will make the decision for us!”

     4L: “Who is your mother, 3L?”

     3L replied to 4L: “Why are you swearing? Get lost!”

  【4L has been banned. 】

     5L: “I think what 4L means is, why would your mother make the decision for us, is she some kind of leader?”

     3L replied to 5L: “My mother? The island owner! Although she hasn’t recognized me yet, I am her biological son without any blood relationship!”

     6L: “Fuck, get out, where did you come from, you bastard, that’s my mother!”

  【6L has been muted. 】

     7L: “Do you have to quarrel and make trouble? This is a matter concerning consumer rights, stop it.”

     3L replied to 7L: “No, it’s internal information. All local travel agencies have received informal notices. If tourists going to Xingzhou Island need through-train services but don’t want to be tied to consumption, local travel agencies must not use various methods to coerce and induce tourists, because if Xingzhou Island receives a complaint call, it is very likely to cancel the cooperation with the travel agency.”

     8L: “Hearing this, I instantly felt that Xingzhou Island, which made Wenhua Travel Agency treat it so cautiously, is awesome! And 3L revealed so much, could he be from Xingzhou Island?”

     9L: “It’s impossible. Local people know that the first thing to do when joining Xingzhou Island is to sign a confidentiality agreement, so the family members of the employees there can’t pry any information about the identity of the island owner from their mouths. Ahem, I am an employee friend, and I almost broke up with him because of this matter…”

     10L: “Is this off topic? If this is true, then the through bus service of this travel agency is still very cost-effective.”

     11L: “Yes, nowadays you can’t afford to take online taxis without coupons. I took a taxi from the high-speed rail station to Xingzhou Island before, and it cost me 78 yuan!”

     12L: “The ride is also more than 40 yuan.”

     13L: “But after a look, it seems that the through bus does not have a fixed departure time.”

 

     In response, the travel agency responded that because they do not have a local agency at Biwan Station, tourists who need local services at Biwan Station need to contact the local agency one day in advance, and a special car will be arranged to pick them up at that time.

     There are also many types of through trains departing from the high-speed rail terminal with a large passenger flow. One type goes to Yuhai Park and Romantic Sea House first, and then to Baoren Port Wharf. This type of train can often gather a car in an hour, and even if it does not gather enough, it will be dispatched on time.

     One type goes directly to Baoren Port Wharf, and arranges a passenger car with about 20 people. Given the current popularity of Xingzhou Island, it is not difficult to gather 20 people. The fastest car can be dispatched in half an hour, and the slowest one will not exceed an hour.

     Of course, in order to avoid tourists missing flights, travel agencies recommend that it is best to contact the local travel agency online or by phone now, so that the local travel agency can make arrangements in advance.

     Netizens are happy, but real estate developers are a little depressed. The transportation problem of tourists in Xingzhou Island has been solved, so what should we do?

     The Former Residence of Madam Xian is also puzzled. It is said that a tourism business circle has been formed, so why is Xingzhou Island sneaking ahead?

     The scenic spot also cooperates with travel agencies, but there are not many tourists traveling independently, and many of them are tourists traveling in groups. Their scenic spot is often one of the many attractions that the group wants to visit. The tour guide brings them here to check in, burn incense, read about the life of Mrs. Xian, and then leave.

     Its fame and popularity cannot be compared with Xingzhou Island.

…

     Li Yaolin has no time to care whether the real estate developers are depressed or not. After the transportation convenience is improved, she thinks about the “postal and telecommunications services” again.

     Although Xingzhou Island has commemorative tickets, they are not issued by the post office, and there are no postcards commonly seen on the market.

     Generally, there are two types of postcards in scenic spots. One is self-printed by merchants, which requires buying stamps at the post office before mailing; the other is a postage postcard issued in cooperation with the post office.

     Now is the Internet age, all the scenery and messages can be sent to people who want to share through mobile phone software. Postcards are gradually not valued from “the carrier of cultural inheritance and emotional communication”. Even if many people receive postcards, they will only put them in the corner to accumulate dust, so Li Yaolin is a little uncertain about whether to issue postcards.

     Zheng Xuan and Lin Qitong were in favor of launching postcards. The former thought it was also a way to promote the cultural brand of Xingzhou Island, while the latter had a more lively idea.

     Lin Qitong said: “Isn’t there a ring whose marketing strategy is ‘only one can be customized in a lifetime’? We can do the same. We can only buy one in a lifetime, so the value of the postcard is not reflected!”

     Li Yaolin: “…”

     Zheng Xuan: “…”

     Are you sure you want to copy homework so blatantly?

     Speaking of how to make postcards more valuable, Lin Qitong said with some resentment: “By the way, the first edition tickets of our Xingzhou Island have now been sold for more than 300 yuan each. Unfortunately, there were no tickets when I first came here, and I didn’t catch up with the first edition tickets later!”

     Zheng Xuan said: “I know that Liang Ying, a part-time worker in our department, has a lot of first edition tickets. She said that everyone threw the tickets as garbage at the beginning, and she collected dozens of them. She didn’t expect them to be so valuable now.”

     The purpose of issuing the first edition tickets was just to leave them for tourists as a souvenir. Unlike now, the identity of tourists can be determined by numbers in the background, so the collection value is high.

     Nowadays, only one out of ten tickets can be saved. Liang Ying alone has accumulated dozens of them. If this gets out, I’m afraid many people will come to her to buy them.

     Lin Qitong is about to call Liang Ying: “I’ll buy one from her before it’s too expensive!”

     Zheng Xuan ignored Lin Qitong and said to Li Yaolin: “Postcards are cheap to make and not easy to lose money. You can give it a try. In addition, I think the seven-tube idea is not completely unreasonable. There is no limit on the purchase of postcards, but some special commemorative tickets can be designed and limited…”

     Li Yaolin nodded: “Okay, I’ll ask Vice President Qi to talk to the post office about cooperation in this regard.”

     She paused, looked through the window at the newly built lighthouse on the top of the mountain, and asked: “What do you think the first floor of the lighthouse is suitable for?”

     “What can it be used for? Store miscellaneous items?” Lin Qitong said. 

     Zheng Xuan said: “Open up the layout a little bit. Although not everyone can go up to the lighthouse, the lobby on the first floor can still be open to tourists! I think it would be a good idea to make a showroom. At present, we don’t have a showroom dedicated to promoting and displaying our Xingzhou Island culture. We can make the development of Xingzhou Island into a cultural wall and display it in the showroom.”

     Lin Qitong asked: “Shouldn’t the showroom be placed in a place like the reception hall where there are many tourists coming in and out and it is convenient for tourists to see it?”

     “How many tourists will stop to watch when passing by those places? And there are more people there. If everyone stops to watch, won’t it cause congestion? The room on the first floor of the lighthouse is very suitable. There is no need to put any display cabinets. Just design four cultural walls to show the development process of Xingzhou Island.

     “Aren’t many people very interested in the development history of Xingzhou Island? They can see it in the showroom. And we can contact photographers who have taken rare animals, buy photos from them, hang them on the wall, and enhance the cultural brand image of Xingzhou Island. Also, ask if there are any travel magazines in stock, and send a few here so that tourists can have a look…”

     Li Yaolin and Lin Qitong were dumbfounded and applauded: “Brother Xuan, awesome!”

     It must be said that Zheng Xuan’s mind works really fast after she focused on her career!

     “Brother Xuan, then this showroom…” Li Yaolin said.

     Zheng Xuan waved her hand: “The showroom must be under the jurisdiction of the publicity department. “

     Lin Qitong: “…”

     Don’t add to our workload with just a few words, sisters!

     Although Lin Qitong was wailing in her heart, the task eventually fell on the head of the publicity and promotion project team. As the head of the team, Lin Qitong was assigned by Manager Song to do this.

     That night, the lighthouse of Xingzhou Island lit up for the first time.

 

……

 

     In the vast ocean, on the dark sea, a fishing boat was shaking violently and rising and falling in the dark night.

     The wind was strong and the rain was heavy, the waves were also very fast, and occasionally there was a ferocious white light in the night sky. For the old fishermen with many years of experience, this was a sign of an approaching storm.

     “Is it not fixed yet? What went wrong?” The captain grabbed the railing on the boat and smashed the window anxiously. The man inside was already sweating anxiously.

     He said: “It should be a problem with the signal receiver. “

     The captain’s face was livid.

     An hour ago, it started to rain and the wind and waves started to get bigger. The captain was used to it and didn’t take it seriously. As a result, the AIS anti-collision radar on the ship failed soon.

     Small fishing boats like theirs didn’t have high-end radars installed. They only had anti-collision radars to avoid running aground or colliding with other ships. But it failed when they encountered a storm!

     You should know that ships encountering storms at sea may not necessarily capsize, but it is difficult for the crew to control its sailing direction. Once it is carried to a place with reefs by wind and waves, or encounters other ships, it is possible to be smashed to pieces.

     The wind and waves are getting bigger and bigger, and the tilt angle of the hull is getting more and more exaggerated, as if the ship is in danger of capsizing at any time.

     The crew said to the captain: “The storm is coming, let’s hurry back!”

     Another crew member said: “It’s too late, we have to unload some fish to reduce the weight, otherwise we can’t outrun the storm!”

     The captain made a prompt decision: “Unload! “

     Although this unloading will lose money, it is better than losing one’s life!

     The crew quickly unloaded some of the fish they had salvaged, and the captain also increased the speed of the boat to avoid being swept into the increasingly strong wind.

     However, it was night and a storm was coming. The boat was dizzy. After the fishing boat got rid of the storm, they encountered fog again…

     “Still no signal on the phone?” The captain cursed. 

     They had been unlucky for several lifetimes. They encountered all kinds of bad weather!

    Just now, in order to get rid of the storm, they had used up all the fuel they could use, and they didn’t know if the remaining supplies would be enough for them to find the direction to return and return to the other side.

     At this time, the crew suddenly shouted excitedly: “Lights, there are lights over there! “

     Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a beam of orange light flickering on the sea shrouded in fog. It was bright but not dazzling, and it guided them in the fog.

     The captain was shocked and drove the boat to the place where there was light.

     They sailed from night to dawn, sailing for more than five hours, but still hadn’t seen land.

     Just when they began to wonder whether this beam of light was a supernatural phenomenon or a “mirage”, their mobile phones finally had a signal!

     Dozens of missed calls popped up one after another, and various messages almost crashed the phone. All this seemed to tell them how worrying their situation was on the night they lost contact.

     They contacted their families and learned that the storm they encountered was caused by the Pacific Ocean. The family contacted them immediately after seeing the news, but found that they had lost contact! 

     The Maritime Affairs Office received a call for help and immediately dispatched a rescue team, but they did not expect that they would contact them before they could find them. 

     More than an hour later, the rescue ship of the Maritime Affairs Office met their fishing boat and brought them back. The captain and others were scared because they were still 20 nautical miles away from the coast when they met the rescue ship, and the fuel on the ship was just enough for them to sail back to the fishing port. 

     If they had circled a few more times at sea, their boat would have run out of power. When mentioning the light that guided them back home, the search and rescue personnel of the Maritime Affairs Office looked at each other and said, 

     “According to the direction you pointed, it was probably the light from the lighthouse on Xingzhou Island.” 

     The captain and others were a little confused: “The light on Xingzhou Island? When was the lighthouse on Xingzhou Island built?” 

     “It was built not long ago and was put into use yesterday. “

     “But we saw this beam of light at a distance of fifty or sixty nautical miles…” The captain calculated that his fishing boat had a speed of 10 knots, which means that if it was going at full speed, it could only travel 10 nautical miles per hour. After five hours, it was still 20 nautical miles away from the coast, which means that their ship was more than 70 nautical miles away from the coast.

     In a very good environment, the general lighthouse can only illuminate a range of about 20 nautical miles. How can the lighthouse on Xingzhou Island illuminate so far?

     And the magical thing is that when their mobile phones have a signal, the beam of light disappears…