Chapter 77: Going All Out?

Chapter 77: Going All Out?

While Director Zhao of the Tourism Bureau was diligently searching for traditional bamboo crafts masters for Liyuan Farm, the second live-streaming event organized by the Agriculture Bureau for Liyuan Farm was about to begin.

Wei Yuan, having learned from the previous experience, prepared 200,000 pounds of Fuyong plums and 200,000 pounds of blueberries this time.

However, he was shocked to find that the number of viewers in Liyuan Farm's live-streaming room stabilized at over 50,000.

This stability didn't mean only 50,000 people were watching; rather, people were constantly joining and leaving. This surge in viewership was due to the popularity of the Bamboo Forest Maze.

An awkward situation then arose: the Agriculture Bureau had sold out of the Fuyong plums and blueberries again.

Clearly, they still lacked experience in this area.

Zhang Lin thought about reminding the Agriculture Bureau to prepare more next time, as the sales from the live stream would also benefit him.

According to their agreement, the fruit farmers would supply the fruits to Liyuan Farm at their purchase price, and Liyuan Farm would sell them at a markup. Although the live stream was organized by the Agriculture Bureau, the profit from the markup belonged to Liyuan Farm, while the credit for the initiative went to the Agriculture Bureau.

The live stream of blueberries and Fuyong plums that evening would bring Liyuan Farm at least 2 million yuan in profit. However, the money would be settled after the Agriculture Bureau's event was over, as it was currently in their public account.

With the fruits sold out, the streamer, Lin Mengxi, found herself in an awkward position. The chat was flooded with questions about the Bamboo Forest Maze, and she could only awkwardly chat about it with the viewers.

Fu Yao, who was assisting her, continued to urge the viewers to follow the stream: "Everyone, please follow us!"

She had never played the Bamboo Forest Maze herself, as she was busy with school during the day.

While Zhang Lin was watching the live stream in the lounge, he saw Zhao Lin enter and approach him to report, "Boss, there's a producer from the 'Super Brain' show outside who wants to meet you!"

"???" Zhang Lin was surprised.

He had already dealt with the 'Super Brain' contestants coming to play his Bamboo Forest Maze, but he hadn't expected the show's production team to show up as well. Was it really necessary?

After some thought, he understood.

The 'Super Brain' show had been running for a long time and was quite famous, but its ratings had always been low. It was in a similar position to a music show where a middle-aged singer had consistently ranked low but couldn't be eliminated, causing frustration and agony.

Today, thanks to the Bamboo Forest Maze's popularity, 'Super Brain' had made it to two major trending topics. The show's producers were likely pleased with this sudden surge in attention.

Rumors had it that their new season was about to start, and this was the perfect opportunity for promotion.

No one was a fool.

"Zhao Lin, bring them in," Zhang Lin instructed.

"Sure, boss!" Zhao Lin nodded and left, returning a moment later with a middle-aged man. She led him past the live-streaming area to Zhang Lin. "Mr. Chu, this is our farm's owner, Mr. Zhang."

Chu Heng looked at Zhang Lin with surprise. "Mr. Zhang, I'm Chu Heng, the producer of 'Super Brain.' I didn't expect you to be so young."

"Mr. Chu, please have a seat!" Zhang Lin smiled and invited him to sit down.

Chu Heng sat down and got straight to the point. "I believe you can guess why I'm here."

"The Bamboo Forest Maze?"

"Yes. Since 'Super Brain' contestants are participating in your Bamboo Forest Maze, we'd like to produce a special live-streaming episode and collaborate with Liyuan Farm."

"Mr. Chu, please go on."

"We've already contacted 10 of the previous season's champions, runners-up, and third-place winners to form a 'Super Brain' elite team. They will participate in the Bamboo Forest Maze challenge tomorrow, and we will live-stream the event, following each contestant. Additionally, we will pay 1 million yuan for the venue."

"Since Mr. Chu is being so sincere, I naturally agree!" Zhang Lin didn't refuse the proposal.

Firstly, this would further boost the Bamboo Forest Maze's popularity. Secondly, those who had visited the maze and even the curious audience would be eager to see what it's like inside.

Many visitors had entered the maze but couldn't figure out what was happening inside.

Now, through the 'Super Brain' live stream, the audience could finally get a better look.

Lastly, the 1 million yuan was a profit he couldn't pass up.

As for the show, they would gain a significant amount of traffic and a perfect opportunity to promote their new season.

With the current traffic, they’re definitely making a profit.

"Mr. Zhang, shall we sign the contract now?"

"Sure!"

Zhang Lin took the contract from Chu Heng and quickly reviewed it. The terms were straightforward, so he didn't need a lawyer to look it over. He signed his name without hesitation.

After the contract was signed, Chu Heng said, "Mr. Zhang, the money will be in your account by tomorrow morning. However, you'll need to stay up tonight to edit a promotional video for the farm. We'll add each other on WeChat, and I'll send you the videos of the participants so you can include them in the edit."

Once the details were settled, Chu Heng hurried off to arrange the live stream for the next day.

Zhang Lin left the service center and headed to the prefabricated office. This meant he had to work overtime to edit a promotional teaser for the ten "Brainiest Minds" contestants who would be live streaming their challenge the next day.

He had to do his part to earn the million yuan.

Fortunately, he had already filmed a few videos of the bamboo maze, which he could use as the opening. Then, he just needed to edit in the introductions of the "Brainiest Minds" contestants.

The main focus of the promotional video was to introduce these contestants.

Having a background in the internet, editing was a minor task for him.

However, after he finished editing the video and uploaded it to the Liyuan Farm Douyin account, Zhang Lin realized that the farm was now generating 800,000 yuan per day. This kind of workload shouldn't be handled by him alone, especially with over 3 million followers on the farm’s social media.

It was time to find a specialized operations team.

Promoting a tourist attraction and managing social media content were crucial. Otherwise, other attractions wouldn't be posting several videos a day.

He had been slacking off, barely managing to post one video a day.

Therefore, finding a professional operations team was essential. They would need photographers, editors, planners, and managers to meet the farm’s growing promotional needs.

Especially for the Bamboo Culture Garden, which was a county-level project, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

The workload in this area would only increase in the future.

However, he lacked the necessary connections in the operations and promotion field.

No problem, he could reach out to his alumni network, especially the elite alumni group.

He had once fortuitously joined an elite alumni group, where his previous salary made him feel embarrassed to even mention it.

Coincidentally, a senior alumna who specialized in online operations had recently lost her job.

It wasn't due to her lack of ability, but rather her boss's incompetence. She had managed the online operations for a celebrity, handling the studio’s social media accounts. The celebrity, who was on the cusp of becoming a first-tier star after a hit TV series, made a controversial comment about a martyr, leading to a public backlash and the end of her career.

As a result, the senior alumna and her entire team were out of a job.

If he could recruit this senior alumna and her team, he could entrust all the farm’s operations to her, freeing him from worry about this department in the future.

However, many alumni in the group had already extended job offers to her, including a senior alumnus who offered her a monthly salary of 35,000 yuan plus bonuses and her team members 15,000 to 20,000 yuan plus bonuses, but she declined.

The reason was that the senior alumnus's company was too small, and the position of operations director didn't offer the salary she deserved. There were also rumors about her being attractive and single, which drew attention from many men.

Naturally, he had no ulterior motives; he simply recognized her exceptional skills.

If not for the celebrity's ill-timed comment, the TV series could have propelled her to first-tier status.

Zhang Lin opened the elite alumni group and directly @ed Lin Muxue, then sent a message:

"Senior Sister Lin Muxue, I have an offer for you.

Operations Team Leader: Monthly salary of 35,000 yuan + bonuses

Team Members: Monthly salary of 15,000 to 20,000 yuan + bonuses

Location: Ming City, You County, Fujian Province.

Company: Liyuan Farm!"

In this elite alumni group, many had tried to recruit Lin Muxue, but none had succeeded. Therefore, her future plans were a topic of great interest.

With her capabilities and attractiveness, everyone wanted to invite her, but no one had managed to do so. They were all curious to see who would ultimately succeed in recruiting her.

Zhang Lin's sudden invitation to Lin Muxue immediately caught the attention of the other elite alumni in the group.

"Who is Zhang Lin?"

"Never heard of him before!"

"He's never been active in the group!"

"Many of us couldn't get her to join, and now a small county company is trying to get her attention?"

“

  “Muxue, your junior sister, definitely won’t go work in some small county. That’s a bit naive, don’t you think?”

  “His company is called Liyuan Farm!”

  “Liyuan Farm, the one that’s all over the internet?”

  “Can’t be a coincidence, right?”

  “…”

  Suddenly, the tone in the group chat shifted, and everyone started sending incredulous emojis.

  Liyuan Farm had been making waves recently, and they had all seen its videos. Today, the farm’s events, including the Super Brain competition and the Bamboo Forest Maze, had even trended on the internet.

  They hadn’t expected that someone from their group chat would actually be connected to Liyuan Farm.

  Moreover, the person who could offer such a high salary to recruit Lin Muxue could only be the boss himself. After all, regular employees wouldn’t have that kind of authority.

  This was a hidden powerhouse!

  And they weren’t wrong.

  Liyuan Farm was now limiting ticket sales, and anyone who followed the farm knew that only 5,000 tickets for the Flower Sea and 5,000 tickets for the Bamboo Forest Maze were available each day.

  Each ticket cost 50 yuan, so that alone generated 500,000 yuan per day. Add in other revenue streams, and the daily earnings of Liyuan Farm were staggering.

  Many in the group chat talked about starting their own businesses, but how many could actually make 500,000 yuan a day? Only those three powerhouses.

  As soon as Zhang Lin finished his message in the group chat, he received an add request from none other than Lin Muxue.

  He quickly accepted it and saw her message: “Senior Brother or Junior Brother? What’s your position at Liyuan Farm?”

  Zhang Lin replied, “Senior Sister Lin, you can just call me Zhang Lin. Liyuan Farm is mine.”

  “Can we chat privately on Liyuan Farm’s audio chat?” Lin Muxue asked.

  Zhang Lin understood her meaning and replied, “OK!”

  A moment later, he received a message from Lin Muxue on Liyuan Farm’s audio chat platform. He checked her profile to confirm her identity and then sent her an invitation to join the farm.

  She responded, “OK, I’ll head to You City tomorrow to discuss things with you, Junior Brother. Remember to pick me up.”

  “Sure, looking forward to it, Senior Sister!” Zhang Lin replied with a smile.

  It seemed that Liyuan Farm was quite appealing to her.

  After they settled everything, Zhang Lin saw Lin Muxue post in the alumni group: “I’ve agreed to go to You City with Junior Brother Zhang. Hope everything goes well!”

  This set off a frenzy in the elite alumni group, and everyone started talking about Liyuan Farm:

  “Just watched another Liyuan Farm video. The boss really built this farm in such a short time, amazing!”

  “Today’s Liyuan Farm live stream, the products sold out so fast, the hosts were embarrassed.”

  “@Zhang Lin, boss, can you share how you built Liyuan Farm? Truly impressive!”

  “Didn’t expect Liyuan Farm to be founded by one of our alumni, so impressive!”

  Zhang Lin read these messages and understood what it meant to be carried by a crowd. Initially, they had mocked him for daring to invite Lin Muxue from a small county company, but now, because it was Liyuan Farm, they were all praising him.

  As a famous actor once said: “Once you succeed, everyone around you is good and speaks sweetly.”

  Zhang Lin also noticed a long list of add requests in his backend, all from alumni in the group chat.

  He ignored them; there was no need to add them, as it would just lead to more pointless chatter.

  Putting away his phone, he left the prefabricated office and headed home.

  As he stepped out, he heard Bai Long’s neighing. It was in the newly built stable, seemingly greeting him.

  He went over and petted its head, and Bai Long obligingly leaned in.

  Then, Zhang Lin got on his scooter and headed home.

  Meanwhile, online, the edited video of the Super Brain team organizing the ultimate squad to live-stream their attempt at the Bamboo Forest Maze went viral.

  The trending topic today made everyone aware of how impressive Liyuan Farm’s Bamboo Forest Maze was. Even Super Brain contestants couldn’t pass it, and they needed a team to participate.

  Now, the Super Brain team was getting involved, organizing a squad of ten champions and runners-up to live-stream their challenge.

  Was this really going to be a grand event?

  If even this ultimate squad couldn’t conquer Liyuan Farm’s Bamboo Forest Maze, it would truly be legendary.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end