Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapter 144 143. Past Events

Lin Xiao asked Leng Tao to sit on the back seat of the electric bike and rode towards the village committee.

On the way, we passed by a very old kiln, built with adobe bricks. The area was not very large, probably only about 100 square meters.

Maybe it's because it's been used for a long time.

The outside of the kiln was pitch black and looked very dirty, and there was a colored steel plate ceiling on top, which was leaking air everywhere.

Lin Xiao watched with great interest and stopped the car.

"Is this the kiln in Xiaguan Village with a history of hundreds of years?" he asked curiously.

"Correct!"

Leng Tao got out of the car and introduced, "It is said to have a history of a hundred years, but it must have been demolished and rebuilt several times. As far as I know, it was demolished once more than 20 years ago."

Lin Xiao nodded, parked the car, and walked around the kiln.

There was an empty lot next to it with some useless bricks piled up. Several rural youths were squatting on the bricks chatting and basking in the sun, staring at Lin Xiao with curious eyes.

Lin Xiao was used to such looks and didn't take it to heart.

"Is this kiln still burning now?" he asked.

"It's definitely not allowed to burn it openly!"

Leng Tao said truthfully, "This old-fashioned kiln has no waste gas and wastewater treatment equipment, does not meet environmental standards, and has been shut down long ago!"

"What's the reality?" Lin Xiao asked.

"In fact... the villagers who make cups, plates and bowls for their own use will definitely open a kiln secretly!"

Lin Xiao nodded, frowning as he thought about something.

At this time, a middle-aged man passed by, carrying a load of brand new porcelain. When he saw Leng Tao, he asked, "Xiao Leng, what are you doing?"

Leng Tao was about to say: "Second Uncle, this is our town..."

Lin Xiao interrupted: "Uncle, I'm Leng Tao's classmate, I came here to play with him...Are those plates and bowls in your frame?"

When Uncle Guan saw that the young man was interested, he put down his carrying pole and began to introduce it with interest.

"This was ordered by someone else. There are plates, bowls, and dishes. They were just made yesterday. I'm delivering it to them!"

"Oh...can I see it?"

"Look, look at whatever you want!"

Uncle Guan looked very interested, perhaps because it was rare to see young people interested in these things, so he specially took a few and handed them to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao took it and took a look.

These bowls and plates are the same kind that were common when I was a child. They are pure white inside and printed with patterns of roosters, the word "Fu" and so on on the outside. There are also different words engraved on the bottom of the bowls, which should be the names of different owners, so that they can be distinguished from each other.

Because banquets in rural areas often require borrowing bowls and plates from other families, if words are not engraved on the bottom of the bowls, it will be difficult to distinguish them after they are mixed together.

Therefore, the words on the bottom of the bowl are also one of the deep memories left by the original body in Lin Xiao’s mind.

"This bowl is beautifully made!" he praised.

"That's for sure. It's a craft that's been around for hundreds of years, and it was passed down from my grandfather's grandfather!"

Uncle Guan looked proud, but then he sighed, "But it's going to be lost soon!"

Lin Xiao pretended to be confused: "How could that be? Aren't there so many people buying these? You still have to deliver the goods!"

Uncle Guan smiled bitterly and said, "How much money can we make from these plates? We can't even make back the cost of opening the kiln. There are two ceramic factories in town now. The things they make are cheap and come in many styles. Everyone buys those. Who would buy things fired in our kilns?

"And the government doesn't allow burning. They check the environment every few days and say our sewage discharge doesn't meet the standards... I'm also confused. We've been burning for hundreds of years and no one has been killed by toxic gas or dirty water. How can it be said that it doesn't meet the environmental standards?"

As he spoke, he sighed again and again.

Lin Xiao smiled and changed the subject, asking, "Second Uncle, besides making cups, plates, bowls and dishes, can your kiln make anything else?"

"Other? What do you mean?"

"Just some decorative ornaments or something!"

"You mean the vase? It can be burned, so what can't be burned?"

"Besides the vase?"

"What else?"

Uncle Guan looked puzzled.

Lin Xiao gestured for a long time but didn't know how to describe it, so he found some creative ceramic ornaments from his mobile phone, such as lucky cats and dolls, and handed them to Uncle Guan, which made him frown.

"Are these also ceramics?" Uncle Guan was amazed.

"Yes, it's something young people like, and they buy it as a decoration!"

"Oh……"

Uncle Guan nodded meaningfully, "Of course it can be fired, as long as it's made of clay. But we have never done it, and it would be strange if anyone would really buy something like this after it's fired..."

Lin Xiao burst into laughter.

Without further conversation, Uncle Guan left with his shoulder pole.

Leng Tao asked Lin Xiao: "Mr. Lin, why didn't you let me say you were the deputy mayor?"

Lin Xiao glanced at him and said with a smile: "The deputy mayor is not a high-ranking official, but he sounds quite intimidating. If you tell me, will this second uncle still tell me the truth?"

Leng Tao scratched his head and felt like a spy.

"Lin Zhen, I saw you were quite interested in those porcelains just now. What do you think of the firing?"

"Well...to be honest, it's pretty average!"

Lin Xiao commented truthfully, "In fact, the quality of the dishes is pretty good, and there is no problem with daily use, but the patterns are simple and rough, the same as the ones my family used when I was a child. They are not attractive to young people, and they are not competitive compared to the dazzling array of ceramic products on the market!"

Leng Tao nodded, and it seemed that he agreed.

However, Lin Xiao changed the subject and said with a smile: "But the good thing about this rural earthen kiln is that it can be customized. I just took a quick look and each of the bowls and plates in Second Uncle's frame is different. They all look like they are handmade. Some are rounder, some are flatter, and it feels like they can't fit together perfectly. They're crooked!"

Leng Tao frowned when he heard this, not knowing whether this was a compliment or an insult.

"Lin Zhen, after seeing this, do you still think that the kilns in Xiaguan Village can be made into a special highlight of rural tourism?"

"Of course!"

Lin Xiao blurted out with a firm expression, "But we do need to plan carefully. It would be best if we could invite some professionals to bring in the latest technology. In particular, we need to change the mindset of the old masters in the village and let them know that ceramics are not just cups, plates, and bowls, but also a variety of interesting things..."

As he spoke, he patted Leng Tao on the shoulder and encouraged him with a smile: "These require young village officials with ideas like you to plan and implement them. Whether Xiaguan Village's ceramic tourism characteristics can be developed depends on you, young man!"

Leng Tao felt pressured but inexplicably excited by what he said, and nodded.

……

The two came to the village committee.

Sitting in front of Leng Tao's workstation, Lin Xiao explained his purpose: "I came here mainly to ask you to shoot a promotional short video for Chaobai Town!"

Leng Tao was stunned for a moment.

"Promotional video...from the town?"

"Don't be nervous!"

Lin Xiao smiled soothingly, "Although it's in the town, it's no different from the ones you usually shoot, and it's not a mandatory work assignment, so no one will come to inspect and judge your final shooting results. Just feel free to shoot boldly, follow your own ideas, and include some interesting scenes, attractions, and buildings in Chaobai Town!"

Leng Tao nodded: "What is the final use of this video?"

Lin Xiao said: "The town plans to open a video account and a Douyin account, and will release some promotional videos regularly in the future. I think the ones you filmed before are quite interesting. You can promote them on the town’s video account, which is also a showcase for our Chaobai Town!"

Leng Tao felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head.

Finally asked: "Lin Zhen, when do you want it?"

"Three days!"

Lin Xiao said, "I'll say hello to your secretary in a while. I won't assign you any other work for the next few days. Just go around the villages and collect more materials. The video doesn't have to be long. A few dozen seconds will do, or two or three minutes will do. It depends on your idea!"

Then he patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous, just think of yourself as a tourist who is here for vacation and collecting folk songs. Take pictures of anything you find interesting. Don't take it as a task. Only in this way can the pictures you take be interesting!"

Leng Tao nodded, already eager to try.

"Okay Lin Zhen, let me try!"

Lin Xiao chatted with him for a while before riding his electric bike back.

Arrive at the entrance of the village.

I met an old man riding a tricycle towards me. There was a fat boy sitting on the tricycle. He was gnawing on a big meat bun and eating it with relish. He looked so ecstatic, as if he owned the whole world.

Lin Xiao couldn't help but stop the car and turned his head to look for a long time.

Some childhood memories automatically emerged in my mind: I often sat on the back seat of my grandfather's bicycle to go to the market to buy fried dough sticks and sugar cakes. My grandfather pushed the bicycle in front, and I sat in the back, enjoying the delicious food.

This scene was experienced by the original body, and Lin Xiao did not feel it was real.

But perhaps the memory is old enough, and the picture is covered with a filter of time, so that even as a bystander, he has an inexplicable sense of substitution.

Lin Xiao looked at the fat boy eating the meat bun and couldn't help but smile.

It was not until the grandfather and grandson disappeared in the village that he calmed down and left the village.

……

Next two days.

Lin Xiao has been pretending to be an unemployed vagrant in the township, riding an electric bike around the villages, investigating the conditions and directions for developing tourism in each village.

It turns out that incognito visits are still very useful.

With the identity of deputy mayor, he could only hear good things and difficulties from the village director.

Finally, he stretched out his hands to ask for money.

But as an unemployed vagrant, he can easily strike up a conversation with the villagers. Although it is just casual chat, he can get a lot of interesting information and have a new understanding of the actual situation of the village.

After two days of investigation, Lin Xiao came to a conclusion.

That is the 16 administrative villages in Chaobai Town, not all of which have the potential to develop rural tourism.

He actually reached this conclusion a long time ago.

However, the results of the actual investigation were far more severe than he had expected. There were only four or five villages that could truly develop tourism, and the rest had no scenery, no industry, and no location.

It's one of those cookie-cutter little villages in the southern provinces that can't even produce any distinctive agricultural products.

If you want to develop tourism, you can, but you can only do it purely by spending money.

What is created is nothing more than a purely commercial rural tourist attraction, which has nothing to do with the original characteristics of the village and may even seriously interfere with the lives of the villagers.

This was not what Lin Xiao wanted to see, so he rejected the possibility of developing tourism in these villages from the bottom of his heart.

Fortunately, there are still four or five villages that can be developed.

If planned well, it can form a scale effect and support short-distance and weekend trips for surrounding tourists.

Especially the Laoya Mountain and hot springs in Shangguancun, the scenery is very beautiful. Although it is not a Class A scenic spot, it is original and much better than those over-commercialized mountains and waters.

If it is developed well, you can spend a whole day just on this mountain.

If the idea is bolder, a hot spring resort hotel can be built at this hot spring, and then a high-end experience tour can be developed based on Lin Xiao’s preset rural short tour.

The total revenue from this series of investments, infrastructure and tourism is an astronomical figure, which will definitely have a very significant positive impact on the GDP data of Chaobai Town.

Lin Xiao went to Laoyashan on Thursday afternoon.

Because the distance was quite far, he drove there. When he got there, he just walked around the foot of the mountain and left. It was already dark when he returned to the town.

He is in charge of the class tonight.

After dinner, he sent a WeChat message to Han Xixi, and she quickly replied saying that she was already in the hotel. He then made a video call directly.

The two of them had been in contact via WeChat these days, and had said very few words in total, so when they suddenly heard each other's voices and saw each other's faces, they were actually a little uncomfortable.

"The official competition is tomorrow, and you can rest so early today? Don't you need to intensify rehearsals?" Lin Xiao asked.

On the other end, Han Xixi said in a gentle tone: "Other singers ask for it because they are all covers, and they have to keep adjusting it in order to sing in their own style. But I am singing a new song this time, and Brother Cao has already completed the overall arrangement, so we can just use it for rehearsal, so it saves trouble!"

Lin Xiao nodded, having forgotten about this.

Han Xixi hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help asking: "Brother, why did you think of writing such a song?"

Lin Xiao grinned.

He didn't answer but asked: "Why, you don't like this song?"

Han Xixi was actually anxious, and quickly said: "I like it, I like it very much, this song is very, very, very special!"

Lin Xiao frowned, feeling that Xixi had not finished speaking.

"Special what?"

“Special…special!”

"..."

Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment before he realized that what she meant was that this song was very special!
He burst into laughter.

"It's just a love song, what's so special about it?"

“Just a love song?”

Han Xixi frowned and said seriously, "I don't think so! I think this song expresses the vastness of life, the broad-mindedness of life, and the calmness of time..."

Han Xixi said a series of parallel sentences.

However, the more Lin Xiao listened, the more his brows furrowed. He thought to himself, I wrote this song purely for confession, how come this little girl could hear so many inexplicable things in it?

How could she know that I was confessing to her?!

His face turned serious.

Han Xixi didn't notice at all, immersed in joy, and asked: "Brother, can you come to see my performance tomorrow? I can ask Sister Hui to get you a ticket for the audience, so you can watch the show live!"

Lin Xiaowei said in embarrassment: "Xixi, I'm a little tired from running this week, and I want to take a break on the weekend... I'll watch it on my phone at home. It's a live broadcast anyway, so it's the same whether you're there or on your phone!"

Han Xixi was a little disappointed.

"Are you unhappy?" Lin Xiao asked, deciding to compromise.

However, Xixi quickly laughed: "No, it's my fault. I always make you run around. You're already very tired at work every day! Then you should have a good rest at home~"

This reaction surprised Lin Xiao a little.

"Are you really not angry?"

"Why are you angry?" Han Xixi was puzzled.

"Ha ha!"

Lin Xiao smiled, but was stumped by the question.

I wanted to say that other people’s girlfriends are all very troublesome and need to be coaxed, but why is my girlfriend so reasonable?

He had been feeling a little tired these days and wanted to rest on the weekend, but now he suddenly felt full of energy and wanted to go see his wife.

"I'm going to see your performance tomorrow!" he said.

"Ah? Aren't you tired?" Xixi was surprised.

"You think it's tiring to find a wife? In our village, you'll be single for the rest of your life!"

He was very serious and Xixi giggled at the amusement.

Finally, she said seriously, "Brother, you should have a good rest at home. My performance will end at eleven or twelve o'clock tomorrow, and I have to continue recording the "Happy Saturday" program on Saturday, which will take another whole day. I have to go back to Haicheng on Sunday. If you come, I can't accompany you, I will feel guilty! You should have a good rest at home, and I will come back to see you when I am done with this busy period, okay?"

Lin Xiao was stunned after hearing this and felt that his wife worked harder than him.

But think about it, they are both doing what they love, so they are doing well and should not complain anymore.

So I agreed to Xixi's arrangement.

The two chatted for a long time until Lin Xiao yawned, and then the other party reluctantly hung up the phone.

……

The next morning.

The first meeting of the Chaobai Town Tourism Development Task Force was officially held.

This special task force was established after a team meeting on Monday. Qin Zhenggang is the team leader, Lin Xiao is the executive deputy team leader, Tu Hui and Jia Minglu are deputy team leaders, and the party secretaries of 16 villages are team members. The special task force office is located in the Economic Development Office.

It can be seen at a glance from the appointment document that the person who is actually taking the lead is Lin Xiao, and Qin Zhenggang is only listed as the team leader because he is the mayor.

Not hanging him up is equivalent to saying that he disagrees with this matter, which is not feasible.

All 16 village party secretaries came to today's group meeting. Those who are college student village officials also brought their village officials with them to report on the tourism project planning plans of each village one by one.

Because it is just a preliminary plan.

Therefore, the villages were not required to prepare in detail, and they were not even required to submit written manuscripts.

Because Lin Xiao knew that even if it was handed in, it would definitely be pieced together from the Internet and would not be of much significance.

Today's report was verbal and more like a chat.

Although the form is simple.

But the party secretaries of each village all have ideas. Even the villages that did not have the foundation for tourism development after Lin Xiao's investigation had come up with ideas such as rose gardens and picking gardens.

Although it is very cliché, it still has value as a supplement to the town's tourism projects.

After all, it can give tourists one more choice.

However, what Lin Xiao paid close attention to were Shangguan Village, Xiaguan Village, and Jiajia Village, the villages that he paid particular attention to.

Among them, the ceramic creative tour of Xiaguan Village, the ancient village transformation of Jiajia Village, and the farm stay around the lake in Dengjia Village all hit the mark precisely with his ideas.

This is not a guessing game or official jargon.

But Lin Xiao knew clearly that it would be impossible to develop rural tourism in the whole town by himself waving a whip and urging everyone to do it.

What he wants is that every village has ideas and enthusiasm, so that this matter can have the foundation and possibility of success.

And today's meeting.

Lin Xiao got the desired effect, except that he was not very satisfied with the reporting direction of Shangguancun.

There is no doubt that Shangguancun’s most distinctive tourist resource is Laoya Mountain.

However, the topic reported by the village party secretary of Shangguan Village was bamboo forest ecological tourism, and he planned to turn a small bamboo forest on the village’s private mountain into a tourist attraction.

Lin Xiao was confused by what he heard.

I wanted to ask the question directly at the meeting, but I felt that this was unusual, so I held back and didn't say anything.

After the meeting, he stayed with Guan Aiming, the village chief of Shangguan Village, and asked him about his doubts.

Guan Aiming, however, looked hesitant and evasive, and ultimately did not come up with any useful answers.

Lin Xiao became more and more curious.

During the lunch break at noon, he called his classmate Jia Kai and told him about the situation.

"Laoya Mountain... Oh, I remember now, it's the one with the hot springs, right?" Jia Kai suddenly understood.

"Correct!"

Lin Xiao was puzzled. "In theory, this place has mountains, water and hot springs, which is a very unique geographical condition. But why hasn't the county thought of developing tourism here? Not to mention the county, the village director didn't even play the Old Duck Mountain card at the meeting today. I'm confused and the more I think about it, the more wrong it seems!"

Jia Kai laughed dryly twice, and his tone became strange.

"You really don't know?"

"I do not know!"

"Have you ever heard of the name Guan Zhenshan?"

"Guan Zhenshan..."

Lin Xiao chewed on these three words, and felt that they sounded very familiar. "I think I've heard them before!"

Jia Kai lowered his voice and said, "Don't pretend. You must have heard that in the past 20 years in Anyang County, no one is more famous than him. Although he was just a village director of Shangguan Village, he dared to build a private villa on Laoya Mountain, enclosed the hot springs, and then made all kinds of money and sex transactions, making it like a pool of wine and meat..."

After hearing this, Lin Xiao had an impression.

"When I was a kid, I heard a nursery rhyme called 'King of Hell, brave, drinks blood, eats meat, has a black heart'... is that about him?"

"It's not him!"

Jia Kai spoke with indignation and excitement, gritting his teeth and saying, "Back then, this case implicated many powerful people in Yizhou. It can be said that it caused a sensation throughout the province. It was only because the Internet was not well developed at that time, otherwise our Anyang County would definitely be famous throughout the country."

Lin Xiao suddenly understood.

"So what was Guan Zhenshan's final verdict?"

"Don't you know? It encountered a severe crackdown and finally collapsed!"

"..."

Lin Xiao was silent for a moment, thinking to himself that he had such a good appetite that he even ate bullets!

Jia Kai continued, "After you said such a thing, who would dare to touch this Old Duck Mountain? Don't you think it's unlucky? Not only do you people in the town dare not touch it, but the county also dare not touch it. Everyone tacitly treats this mountain as if it doesn't exist!"

Lin Xiao understood.

I thought of many possibilities, but I never expected it to be this way... This is really difficult!
……

In the afternoon, Leng Tao handed in his homework.

A video of more than 40 seconds was sent to Lin Xiao’s mobile phone.

He clicked on it and saw that the first clip of the video was fields of blooming rapeseed flowers. The bright yellow picture instantly brightened his mood.

Lin Xiao was in a good mood and felt that he had found the right person!
At the end of the video, several characteristic buildings and scenery of Chaobai Town are displayed in turn, including kilns, ancient villages, Chestnut Mountain, azaleas, reservoirs, etc., which are even more comprehensive than what Lin Xiao knows.

He couldn't help but be amazed.

And one advantage of video is that it can avoid some real-life problems through lens adjustment and only show the most beautiful side.

The overall look is very deceptive.

After reading it once, Lin Xiao immediately gave Leng Tao several likes, and then sent a voice message to express his sincere affirmation.

Leng Tao quickly replied: "Thank you Lin Zhen... But this is the first time I've shot such a long video, I don't know what music to match it with, and it's a bit dry now!"

Lin Xiao didn't notice it.

Watching it again, I found that it only had some light music as the accompaniment, and I wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't said it.

After thinking about it, he came up with an idea.

"I thought of a song that would be perfect as background music."

"You tell me, I'll add it right away!"

"I can't add it now...I can do it tomorrow!"

"???"

Leng Tao was confused, thinking, what kind of song is this famous? And it won't be released until tomorrow? !

(End of this chapter)