Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapter 320, Section 321: To practice this skill, one must first castrate oneself.
Work on Monday.

Because he had to record a show over the weekend, Lin Xiao had a lot of work to finish, so he left home early Monday morning around 6 a.m., wanting to get to work as soon as possible.

I arrived at work at just seven o'clock.

He thought he would definitely be the first, and even thought to himself that he should award himself a model worker medal.

When they drove to the courtyard of the Xingguang Town government, they found two cars parked in the middle of the courtyard and seven or eight electric vehicles parked in the shed on the west side.

This was practically the only vehicle owned by all the town's officials.

Apart from him, the town mayor, only the deputy mayor Dong Jianhui and another young cadre living in the county have cars. Other cadres either live in the town and commute by electric scooter or live in the dormitory and walk.

The entire hospital has only about three cars and fourteen or fifteen electric vehicles.

But now, they're almost all in the yard.

Lin Xiao was utterly shocked. He checked the time on his watch, his phone, and the car's display several times to make sure it was just past seven in the morning.

He was in a daze.

After parking the car, I went upstairs with some questions in my mind. Just then, I ran into Deputy Mayor Ge Tao coming out of his office. His hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was yawning widely.

Before he could even close his yawning mouth, he had already lit a cigarette in his hand.

"Old Ge, what you've done..."

"Lin Zhen? Why are you here so early? It's only seven o'clock!" Ge Tao exclaimed in surprise.

Lin Xiao nodded: "I had work last Friday... Why are you here so early?"

Old Ge took a drag of his cigarette, then let out a big yawn, spraying thick smoke all over Lin Xiao's face.

"Holy crap! You're launching a biological attack?!" Lin Xiao waved his hands frantically.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, Mayor, I'm so sorry!"

Old Ge waved his hand to disperse the smoke and took two steps back.

He then laughed and said, "It's not that I arrived early, I stayed at the office all night!"

Lin Xiao had already guessed it, but he hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the problem.

"Were you on duty last night?" he asked.

"no."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"It's not just me, all the cadres are working overtime together!"

"what?!"

Lin Xiao was shocked. He opened his mouth wide and couldn't speak for a long time.

He knew nothing about this, and no one had told him about it.

The key point is... he's the town mayor, the most powerful person in the town.

It's not that he's trying to put on airs.

Instead, it was because all the town's officials were working overtime that there must have been some particularly urgent and important work to be done. However, he, as the town mayor, had no idea what this important work was, and naturally did not participate in the overtime work.

This is really weird.

Of course, Lin Xiao didn't suspect that the officials were deliberately keeping it from him, the town mayor.

Having spent these days with the brothers, he absolutely trusts them, so his first reaction is curiosity.

"Working overtime? All night long?"

"of course not!"

"What I said..."

"It's two nights, oh, and two more days on the weekend, starting from Saturday morning!"

"!!!"

Lin Xiao almost choked on his breath; he was going to suffocate from Lao Ge's heavy breathing sooner or later.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you done smoking? Hurry up and put it out!" he said irritably.

"It's over, it's over!"

Ge Tao took a deep drag, half a cigarette went straight to his butt, and then threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out.

Lin Xiao hurriedly asked, "What's going on? Everyone's been working overtime for two days and two nights straight. What serious incident happened? Why didn't you tell me?"

Ge Tao waved his hand: "Mayor, don't get excited, it's nothing serious... well, it is a big deal, but it's a good thing!"

Lin Xiao was increasingly confused.

Ge Tao hurriedly said, "Isn't it that time you went on a variety show and advertised honey root tea on the show? I didn't even know about that joke at first. It was only when Lao Yan called me early Saturday morning that I found out."

"As soon as I found out, wow, the whole of Xingguang Town was in an uproar. The online stores of the three shops selling honey root tea in town were almost overwhelmed with orders. After I learned the whole story, I felt that this was a golden opportunity for Xingguang Town to promote the development of its agricultural and sideline products economy, and we absolutely couldn't let it go."

“I know about the situation of these three shops. To put it bluntly, they are just small workshops. They simply don’t have the capacity or manpower to handle such a huge amount of attention. After discussing it with Lao Dong and Lao Jiang, we felt that this matter must be treated with caution, so without your consent, we directly called on all the staff to work overtime!”

When Ge Tao talked about how busy he had been these past two days, his tired face immediately lit up.

He recounted in one breath how all the town's cadres had divided their tasks and worked together over the past two days, working tirelessly through the night.

Finally, he sighed and said, "Thanks to the joint efforts of all the cadres, the market for honey-root tea in our town has remained generally stable. The tea-picking teams in each village are operating smoothly under the supervision of the village directors. The shops in the town have also reached agreements to purchase tea from the countryside at a 20% increase from the original purchase price, ensuring that farmers do not suffer losses."

"As for inventory, quality, logistics, and customer service, our cadres are in full control of the entire process. We will never turn a good thing into a bad thing. We not only want merchants and villagers to make money, but also want customers to be satisfied and at ease. Only in this way can we truly build up the brand of honey root tea and firmly grasp this economic growth point."

"In that case, it won't be a waste of your time to advertise our town's local specialties on such a big platform!"

As Ge Tao spoke, his eyes were filled with admiration and gratitude as he looked at Lin Xiao.

After hearing the whole story, Lin Xiao finally understood.

The reason for the advertisement for honey root tea on the show was that it was part of the first recording ten days ago, but the show only aired last Friday night.

Lin Xiao had long forgotten about this incident.

In the past two days, he knew that after the first episode aired, he and his wife dominated the trending topics on the internet, causing a sensation and a barrage of insults.

But precisely because there are so many trending topics on social media.

So much so that the small ripples caused by the honey root tea were not even worthy of being mentioned in online discussions; the netizens who noticed it simply went online to find similar products.

Therefore, Lin Xiao knew nothing about this matter.

Now that he has heard the whole story, he thinks it makes perfect sense, since he had already anticipated this situation when he was advertising.

He wasn't particularly surprised by it.

What truly shocked him now was the reaction of the entire town's officials.

"Just for this... you worked overtime for two whole days?" Lin Xiao was incredulous.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, of course we must seize it!"

Ge Tao said seriously and excitedly, "Xingguang Town itself doesn't have much industry, and its economic data has been at the bottom of Mashan County for many years. Now that we finally have a decent industry, of course we have to go all out. Let alone working two extra days, we can work twenty extra days without any problem!"

Lin Xiao nodded, quite moved.

He had no doubt about the sincerity of Lao Ge's words and was deeply moved by the efforts of all the town's cadres over the past two days and two nights.

As the town mayor, he was genuinely gratified to see his subordinates working so diligently and taking responsibility; he even felt a little like crying.

To tell the truth.

He was able to ignore the online backlash that followed the first episode because he knew what he was doing and what he wanted.

But just because he knows it doesn't mean those around him can understand.

Take the town's officials, for example.

His relationship with everyone was that of superior and subordinate; he was the mayor of Xingguang Town and the leader of all the cadres.

But this leader doesn't care about his job. Instead, he goes on variety shows to make big money... Given this appearance, any normal person would think the wrong thing. It would be good enough if they didn't hate him to the bone and write a joint letter to report him to their superiors.

However, all the town's officials chose to give him their complete trust.

This is already quite remarkable.

What's even more commendable is that several deputy mayors dared to take responsibility and, like him, devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the economic development of the town.

He was forging ahead, and by chance, he created a development opportunity.

Without any prior notice, the deputy mayors were able to catch up and firmly grasp the rope thrown by the mayor, leading all the town's cadres and residents onto this fast track of development.

Such tacit understanding, such trust, such cooperation.

Lin Xiao never imagined this!

When he was in Chaobai Town, as a member of the leadership team, he was ostracized and even framed by other team members.

So he subconsciously thought that it would be the same wherever he went, even after he was promoted from deputy mayor to mayor.

Unexpectedly, he has now encountered such a down-to-earth and united team.

Lin Xiao was deeply moved; he hadn't felt this close to tears in a long time.

He then inquired about the honey root tea industry chain.

Having learned that the entire process, from upstream harvesting to midstream production and downstream express delivery, has been streamlined, all that remains is to arrange shipments step by step.

Lin Xiao nodded and patted Lao Ge on the shoulder: "Brother, you've all worked hard these past two days, go back and get some rest!"

Ge Tao tilted his head: "Rest? Mayor, it's Monday, just the start of the workday!"

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes: "So what if it's Monday? I said I'd rest, so I'll rest! What, does the mayor's word not count?"

Ge Tao immediately chuckled.

"It works, it works, how could it not work!"

"Then listen to me, everyone go back to sleep. If you have the energy in the afternoon, come in the afternoon; if you don't, keep sleeping and we'll talk about it tomorrow!"

"But... if everyone leaves, there will be no one left in the unit!"

"I'm not human!" Lin Xiao said, hands on his hips.

"I...I didn't mean that..."

In his haste, Old Ge lit another cigarette before calmly saying, "Aren't you the town mayor?"

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "The town mayor also started from the level one staff member! Don't worry, I'll just sit in the duty room today. I'll receive the people and handle the work. You guys just need to sleep! I can handle it all day. If you guys wear yourselves out, I'll really have a hard time when there's no one to do the work!"

Hearing Lin Xiao say this, Ge Tao reluctantly agreed.

However, in the end, he still left two young cadres behind and set up cots in the office to catch up on sleep.

If anything happens, we can get up immediately. We can't just leave the town mayor alone at the office; that would be like Zhuge Liang playing the empty city stratagem!

Lin Xiao couldn't persuade Lao Ge otherwise, so he agreed.

A few minutes later, the cadres, looking tired but chatting and laughing, left work as the Monday sun rose in the height of summer.

Lin Xiao saw this scene through his office window, and his heart was filled with even more emotion and reflection.

At that moment, some of his convictions wavered.

to be frank.

When he advertised honey root tea on the show "Longing for Married Life," he had already foreseen all the possible directions and outcomes... except, of course, the reactions of all the town's officials.

The plot is not hard to predict; in fact, it's almost a certainty.

First, let's talk about advertising.

He took out the honey root tea, not just at a random time, but in a very deliberate choice of an important setting: when he was chatting with the three female guests.

At that time, the initial group dinner of the three groups of guests had just ended.

It was only after this initial meeting that everyone became a little more familiar with each other, and the atmosphere of chatting over tea after the meal was much better than the tense and rather awkward lunch.

When making a TV show, the key is to maintain a good balance between tension and relaxation.

The conflict between the male host and music mogul Jiang Feng during lunchtime was the biggest highlight of the first episode, and the production team naturally chose to preserve it in its original form.

But conflict alone is certainly not enough.

After all, "Rebirth" is positioned as a slow-paced lifestyle variety show. If it only has conflicts and disputes, it would be just like those drama shows that focus on creating trouble.

Therefore, after the conflict ends, there must be a harmonious scene to conclude it and neutralize the explosive atmosphere of this major incident.

Therefore, the tea time after lunch naturally took on this important task.

Lin Xiao seized the opportunity and took out the honey root tea he had prepared.

While demonstrating the host's hospitality, he also used his own sense of humor to make the three women laugh heartily, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.

This kind of visuals and atmosphere was like a godsend for the production team – perfect for ending the first episode.

Lin Xiao was certain that this segment would be preserved in its entirety and would never be cut.

However, this does not mean that the packaging of Migen Tea will necessarily appear in the camera lens.

After all, the production team has plenty of tools, including scissors and erasers, to erase any footage they don't like or need.

This is also a common practice in variety shows when handling footage of non-sponsored brands!
Lin Xiao had spent half his life in the entertainment industry in his previous life, so he was quite knowledgeable about these things.

But he still took out the honey root tea directly, without even saying hello to the director, Rutgerdan.

It was because he was certain that Director Lu would give him that face.

Because he single-handedly delivered a huge hit to the first episode, and then thoughtfully concluded the episode with a heartwarming scene.

Their control over the program's pacing and the audience's emotions has reached an unparalleled level.

Director Rutger can simply sit back and reap the benefits.

The tour guide had just been taken to the top of the mountain and was still catching his breath when tissues were handed to him.

Even the most hard-hearted woman would waver at this offer. How could she not give top model Lin Xiao face and tacitly allow him to earn her exorbitant contract fees and then advertise on her show?

Of course, another important reason why honey root tea was permitted by Rutgers is that it is not a brand at all, but only an agricultural product.

If it really has a sign and logo.

No matter how well Lin Xiao performs on the show, Director Lu will never give him special treatment.

Because this is not a matter of personal favors.

Brands that didn't pay advertising fees are appearing on camera without a care in the world, which should make those sponsors and title sponsors who spent a lot of money furious.

This is not only an industry rule, but also a legal provision.

No one can overstep the bounds.

Lin Xiao understood, which is why he specifically chose honey root tea as a backdoor option instead of other branded local specialties.

He knew that only this could persuade the road guide to open the floodgates and release the water...

Oh no, it means open the door and let people in!
If honey root tea can appear openly in the main film, it's only natural that it will be noticed by the audience, searched online, and cause a surge in sales, which will then benefit all the villagers.

After all, the popularity of "Rebirth" is undeniable, and the audience of this program is notoriously boring, mindless, and fond of riding on trends.

It's no wonder this tea is selling out like crazy!
Lin Xiao had guessed everything, except that all the town's officials would be involved.

Of course, he had anticipated that such a small packet of tea, which hadn't even left Xingguang Town, would be completely overwhelmed by such a massive online buzz.

But he still chose to do it.

It's not about finding fault with tea merchants and ordinary people, but rather there are other considerations.

This brings us to the issue of governing philosophy.

When someone is the leader, leading a team to build a business, they can generally be divided into two factions: radicals and conservatives.

The radicals are those who constantly pursue development and business, creating endless opportunities to help the local economy develop rapidly.

The conservatives, on the other hand, focus on building on existing achievements, leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and proceeding cautiously. They do not seek to double their performance, but rather to avoid making mistakes.

Neither of these two ideas is good or bad.

In other words, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

We also need to consider the local conditions to determine which approach is more suitable and can better promote local economic development.

Lin Xiao is undoubtedly a radical.

He also believes that Starlight Town is only suitable for radicalism, and can only be radical.

It's difficult to elaborate on why he thinks this way.

To make it easier to understand, let's take a martial arts sect as an example.

For example, imagine a martial arts world where the strong prey on the weak, with many large and small martial arts sects.

These sects have been fighting and killing each other for years to gain a foothold in the martial arts world, and it's never-ending.

During this struggle.

Some sects were wiped out and disappeared without a trace from the martial arts world.

Some sects grew powerful and became the most powerful overlords in the martial arts world, dominating the entire martial arts community.

But as the saying goes, fortunes change every thirty years, and the emperor's throne rotates every year until it's my turn.

The martial arts world will always be there, but the strongest sect changes every few decades; no one can sit firmly in the position of hegemon forever.

This is also normal.

There is a sect called Yanhuang Sect, which has dominated the martial arts world for hundreds of years. It has always been superior in strength and looked down on the entire martial arts world.

However, in the last two or three hundred years, the sect's strength declined rapidly due to the emergence of a useless leader, and its position as the leader of the martial arts world was subsequently usurped by other sects.

That’s all.

After other sects became powerful, they launched wave after wave of joint attacks in order to seize the secret manuals and treasures of the Yanhuang Sect, with only one goal—to annihilate the sect.

Fortunately, although the Yanhuang Sect's strength declined rapidly, it still had a deep foundation and survived the joint attack by various sects.

However, after this incident...

The once powerful Yanhuang Sect, which once dominated the entire martial arts world, has now become a small and insignificant sect with little strength.

Fortunately, the Yanhuang Clan is inherently unwilling to admit defeat.

After internal purges and the removal of the incompetent sect leader, the sect selected a new leader with strength, prestige, and vision, vowing to lead the Yanhuang Sect back to the pinnacle of the martial arts world.

Then came decades of hard work and diligent practice.

During this period, the position of the martial arts hegemon kept changing. Yanhuang Sect paid attention to the situation in the martial arts world while focusing on improving its strength, aiming to make a fortune in silence.

Although the previous massacre had severely damaged the Yanhuang Sect's strength.

Fortunately, the Yanhuang Sect had plenty of martial arts manuals, and its disciples were all exceptionally talented. After decades of development, the sect's strength rapidly increased. Before other sects were even on guard, the Yanhuang Sect had already recovered its formidable strength, capable of challenging the dominant force in the martial arts world.

Whether the selection will be successful remains to be seen.

Looking back at the revival of the Yanhuang Sect, let's briefly evaluate whether the sect's decades of vigorous growth followed a radical or conservative approach.
The answer is undoubtedly the absolutely radical approach.

It's so radical it's practically sparking!

However, this radicalism is based on conservatism.

There are three foundations to conservatism.

First, the sect leader is strong enough. Not only is he strong, but he is also constantly practicing secret techniques and improving his cultivation, which makes the entire sect willing to submit to him and thus unite the whole sect.

Secondly, this sect has enough talented and intelligent people. Whether it's swords, spears, halberds, fists, or light footwork, as long as the sect has the secret manuals, they can select top talents to practice them, and they won't stop until they can dominate the martial arts world.

Third, this sect has a solid foundation. Although it almost suffered annihilation and lost a large number of martial arts manuals, its lineage was not broken. All the disciples firmly believed that the Yanhuang Sect should be the overlord of the martial arts world.

With these three foundations in place, even if the Yanhuang Sect is temporarily mired in difficulties, it can quickly rise again and restore its former glory.

What the sect leader needs to do is to keep practicing martial arts, mastering every martial arts manual in his family to the highest level, and constantly thinking about new moves and new martial arts techniques.

Whenever he figured out a new skill, he would immediately pass it on to the elders, who would then select suitable people to pass it on to.

They don't need to consider whether to accept their fate and quietly remain a third-rate sect, so as to avoid another catastrophe.

Not long after the massacre of their entire clan, they led their few remaining disciples to a neighboring sect and helped them defeat the elite troops sent by the martial arts overlord.

This is no longer just radical, it's outrageous!
Let's get back to Lin Xiao.

As the mayor of Starlight Town, he knew that Starlight Town's conditions were similar to those of the Yanhuang Clan, which had just suffered a massacre decades ago.

Even Starlight Town is far inferior to Yanhuang Sect.

After all, no matter how much the Yanhuang Sect declined, it had at least once been glorious and left behind many martial arts manuals.

However, Xingguang Town lacks transportation, resources, and talent.

radical?
How can you be so aggressive? Are you trying to compete with someone's supercar in a three-wheeled vehicle?

The best course of action for Lin Xiao is to follow the same path as his predecessors: honestly choose a conservative approach, lead his team well, ensure the well-being of the people, avoid any disasters or accidents, and dutifully complete his full term.

Here, being without fault is considered a merit.

But he didn't want that.

He always remembered that he went to the countryside to fulfill his ideals and realize his value, not to just drift through life.

Of course, Lin Xiao wasn't the kind of person who was overly ambitious. Even though this place clearly lacked the potential for radical development, he still insisted on charging forward recklessly.

He has been in Xingguang Town for more than three months.

After a thorough investigation, he concluded that the town had great development potential, with promising prospects in tourism, health resorts, and specialty agriculture.

Of course, the purpose of developing the economy is still for the benefit of people.

He wanted to improve the lives of the local villagers, to ensure that those who had to leave their homes could have enough to eat at home, and to give the left-behind children in the village a good education and a normal childhood.

Lin Xiao hadn't shared these thoughts with anyone, because he himself felt they were a bit extravagant.

it's fine.

Who told him to be so capable, have such a reputation, and be so shrewd!

Starlight Town lacks the conditions and environment for radicalism, but Mayor Lin Xiao does!

He hyped himself up, created buzz, and dragged the attention of the entire internet to this remote mountain town.

Once people have seen this far, even with inconvenient roads, incomplete facilities, and weak industries, all sorts of opportunities will still flock to them.

That's what you call radical!
The reason for his radical approach was that Lin Xiao was unsure how long he could stay there.

If we take a conservative approach and slowly attract investment, bringing in a project worth five million a year would be considered a great success.

It will be a long time before Starlight Town truly develops.

Lin Xiao knew he couldn't stay here for long.

If, like in Chaobai Town, one is transferred away after less than two years, then all the previous efforts will have been wasted.

Therefore, he had no choice but to take an unconventional approach.

He is now essentially the powerful sect leader who, in order to strengthen the Starlight Sect, practiced an evil technique that requires self-castration before practicing.

This technique is very evil and violates the code of the martial arts world.

But since he had obtained the secret manual, he figured he might as well practice it. Sure enough, he mastered the skill in just a few days and became a top martial arts master... Although he was severely criticized by the righteous sects, it didn't matter. What mattered was that the Starlight Sect became famous in the martial arts world.

Now comes the problem.

Starlight Sect has become famous, but how can we ensure that our disciples can absorb this fame and quickly catch up with the sect's status?
The three elders' idea was: to work tirelessly and lead their disciples in training day and night!
Sect Leader Lin was very certain of their loyalty to the sect.

But as the leader of the radical faction, he believed that doing so was too inefficient and too mentally and physically exhausting.

How can three elders possibly teach so many disciples?

Moreover, now that Starlight Sect has a well-established reputation, knowledgeable people from all walks of life in the martial arts world will immediately come to challenge them, and in an endless stream.

Each time someone comes, the elders have to provide guidance overnight to deal with them.

Before the Starlight Gate could grow strong, the elders were already exhausted!
This is why Sect Leader Lin was frantically practicing the secret manual but didn't choose to consult with the three elders.

He believed that the most radical yet effective method was to let his disciples face the challenges coming from all over the martial arts world.

Of course, this challenge will inevitably have winners and losers.

Moreover, considering that the disciples within the sect are relatively weak in cultivation, they will definitely win more often than they lose.

But none of that matters.

The key point is that this crazy challenge will be a period of rapid growth for the disciples within the sect, and it will also inspire those disciples who have achieved their learning and left the sect to return and strengthen the sect's power.

This process will be very painful, and may even involve bloodshed and sacrifice.

But if they can get through this, Starlight Sect will gain a group of exceptionally talented disciples.

These disciples can not only become a vital force for the sect's growth, but also quickly lead the Starlight Sect to achieve a leapfrog development in the bloody and turbulent martial arts world, and stand in the position of a powerful force.

By then, even if Sect Leader Lin is now being scorned by the entire martial arts world, it will all be worth it.

Lin Xiao chose this radical path, envisioning a somewhat tragic one for himself.

Unexpectedly, when he chose to remain silent and bear all of this, the three elders castrated themselves without saying a word, and even led all the disciples to wield their swords!

Lin Xiao had already picked up the embroidery needle, but upon seeing this scene, he instantly felt that even the saliva on his face tasted sweet.

What's the difference between radical and conservative?

It doesn't matter!
The foundation of Starlight Gate was built by brothers who fought and carried it together, and that's enough!
(End of this chapter)