Chapter 176 - 118: Robbing Li Yuan Farm?

Chapter 176: Chapter 118: Robbing Li Yuan Farm?

"The internet is a fantastic channel for promoting specialty and agricultural products these days. We already have a booth set up by the Bamboo Maze to promote local specialties, don’t we? You City’s agricultural products are quite popular with tourists, so I’m thinking we should continue using livestreamers to support our farmers and get the word out about what You City has to offer."

"This time, we plan to use the Bureau of Agriculture’s own account for long-term livestreams and create a dedicated account for our specialty products. We’re hoping President Zhang will agree to let us broadcast from here at the Bamboo Maze. And maybe, occasionally, we could ask your farm’s models to help shoot a video. They’re incredibly popular, after all!"

"Director Wei, that’s no problem at all. I’ll have someone coordinate with your Bureau of Agriculture!" As he spoke, Zhang Lin dialed Lin Muxue’s number. Once it connected, he said, "Muxue, come to my office for a moment."

The Bureau of Agriculture had provided a great deal of support for the farm’s development, and Director Wei Yuan genuinely wanted to get things done and promote You City’s agricultural products. Zhang Lin had no reason not to support him.

You could call it mutual cooperation and mutual benefit, or you could call it "you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours." It was a cycle of returning favors.

Lin Muxue soon entered the office and greeted Zhang Lin, "President Zhang!"

"Muxue, have a seat." After inviting Lin Muxue to sit down, Zhang Lin made the introductions. "Muxue, this is Director Wei from the Bureau of Agriculture and Miss Lin. Director Wei, this is Lin Muxue, an old classmate of mine and our Director of Online Operations."

"Director Lin is all the rage on the internet today," Wei Yuan said, rising to his feet and shaking Lin Muxue’s hand.

This surprised Lin Muxue. After all, being a bureau director was a significant position, even in a smaller city.

Yet here he was, taking the initiative to shake her hand and being so cordial.

She knew, of course, that it wasn’t because of her own status. He was showing respect to President Zhang; she was perfectly clear on that.

It had been the same with the director of the tourism bureau, and now here was the director of the agriculture bureau. She even knew that Zhong Miaoying’s father was a director as well.

’Isn’t there that internet meme about "small-town tycoons"? I guess my boss really is one, huh?’

After the introductions, Zhang Lin explained the situation to Lin Muxue and then instructed her, "Muxue, I need you to follow up on the Bureau of Agriculture’s plan and coordinate with them."

"I’ll take care of it. Whenever the Bureau of Agriculture needs anything, I’ll coordinate with them immediately," Lin Muxue promptly replied.

She was no fool, of course. Since her promotion to Director of Projects, she had learned about the farm’s land contracts. She knew the Bureau of Agriculture had provided a lot of support, including waiving the first year’s rent on much of the land. Since their current request wouldn’t negatively impact the farm, they absolutely had to cooperate fully and support them.

That was the only way to ensure their support in the future.

With the business settled, a cheerful Director Wei sat down to brew tea with Zhang Lin, while Lin Muxue took Lin Mengxi to the operations department to sort out the details.

By the time the two women returned to the office, Director Wei was ready to leave. He said his goodbyes and departed with Miss Lin.

Time passed, but the online hype surrounding Li Yuan Farm only grew, reaching a fever pitch thanks to trending topics like the Black Bear Spirit’s fruit stand, the complete path through the Bamboo Maze being revealed, and the farm’s beautiful director. Naturally, this intense popularity led to a rapid increase in followers.

The goal Lin Muxue had set—to surpass eight million followers in three days—was successfully achieved on the third day.

That being the case, the farm had to make good on its promise.

When Zhang Lin arrived at the farm early in the morning, a new video had already been posted on Li Yuan Farm’s account.

The video announced an event where lucky tourists could win a map of the complete path through the Bamboo Maze. Furthermore, an 800,000-yuan prize pool was allocated for the maze. Until the funds ran out, any tourist who completed the maze—even with the help of the map—would receive a 2,000-yuan reward.

The Bamboo Maze had been so difficult that not a single tourist had managed to complete it, so the prize money had remained untouched.

Now, with a map of the complete path, completing the maze would be a sure thing. That 2,000 yuan was practically in the bag!

Li Yuan Farm’s latest event was a massive hit with the public. It was basically a chance for everyone to win free money.

Many tourists who had already planned to visit Li Yuan Farm in small groups with their friends were now determined to cash in, as was evident from the video’s comment section:

"There are 11 of us, we all booked tickets yesterday. If we get the map, we’re guaranteed to walk away with 22,000 yuan!"

"I’m going with two friends. If we get the map, we can have fun at Li Yuan Farm on their own dime."

"Haha, that’s 8,000 yuan for our group of four!"

"..."

The young couple, Chen Hui and Lin Long, had the exact same idea.

"I wonder how you become one of the ’lucky tourists’?" Chen Hui asked curiously as soon as she got out of the car.

"The Li Yuan Farm video didn’t say," Lin Long replied, shaking his head. "Let’s go get our tickets first!"

Chen Hui nodded.

The couple reached the service center. As Lin Long queued at the ticket counter to collect their tickets, he was surprised to see a notice on the counter.

"Scan the QR code on each ticket for one chance to become a lucky winner and receive the complete map of the Bamboo Maze!"

Lin Long’s face filled with surprise. ’So that’s how you become a lucky tourist,’ he thought. ’It’s like a lottery.’

Just then, he saw tourists at the other windows shaking their heads in disappointment:

"Scanned four tickets and got nothing!"

"There are seven of us here. That’s fourteen tickets for the Flower Sea and the maze, and we didn’t win a single one!"

"..."

Clearly, the odds of winning weren’t very high.

He immediately pulled out his booking’s QR code to get their tickets. Between him and his girlfriend, they had two tickets each—one for the Flower Sea and one for the Bamboo Maze. That meant four tickets in total, giving them four chances to win.