Marry a female star at a bargain price

September 10th, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It was also the day of the first Rice Paddy Music Festival in Yizhou City, Yunnan Province.

The reason why such a grand event was scheduled for a day of family reunion was not a mistake, but a deliberate decision.

The reason is simple—to reduce the number of people!
That sounds really infuriating.

But on the eve of National Day, Jiang Feng released a new song after a five-year hiatus, and the new song "All the Way South" swept the music charts as soon as it was released. In addition, the song was written and composed by Lin Xiao.

These elements were brought together and copied into the keyword list of the Rice Paddy Music Festival, and then distributed as promotional posters.

The phenomenal success of the music festival was entirely predictable.

Lin Xiao, as the "instigator" of this viral sensation, gave Yizhou the opportunity to host the music festival, which was a chance for Yizhou's cultural tourism to become famous throughout the country.

The Yizhou Municipal Government must seize this opportunity.

However, Yizhou is only a prefecture-level city and does not have the capacity to handle such a large influx of visitors. It is also not confident in its ability to bear the burden of hundreds of thousands or even millions of tourists flooding into the city on the same day.

Thus, the choice lies between accepting the opportunity and avoiding the accident.

Yizhou scheduled the music festival for the Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping to alleviate the frenzy of tourists chasing after celebrities by appealing to the Chinese people's desire for family reunion.

But as it turned out, this move by Versailles had very little effect.

As soon as the music festival's ticket sales opened, 5,000 tickets sold out instantly. Traffic trends at high-speed rail stations, airports, and highway entrances all indicate that at least 300,000 people will flood into this ordinary third-tier city on the same day.

The pressure on all departments in the city is considerable.

Tourists come to travel, follow celebrities, and briefly enjoy freedom, but all the city's administrative departments have no time for such leisure; they are all fully prepared to face an unprecedented and severe test.

With all departments on high alert, the music festival finally began.

Considering it's the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, most of the tourists flocking to the music festival are there to join in the fun. If the venue is set up indoors, the seating capacity will be very limited, and most of the audience will leave empty-handed.

This is clearly not the proper attitude of a host.

Therefore, after careful consideration, the music festival was held at the largest square in the city, South Square, where a stage was set up in the center.

There's no need to set up chairs at the venue, since the people who come aren't exactly good people... oh no, I mean the people attending the music festival all have wild souls, and not many of them will sit there quietly.

Based on the area occupied by 5,000 people, a fence was set up, and a criminal police officer was stationed every ten meters to protect the scene and maintain order.

Outside the fence is the area for tourists without tickets.

Based on the square's area, these open spaces can accommodate at least 50,000 people, assuming absolute safety.

To prevent a stampede, the Yizhou municipal government deployed all its police force, and even then, it requested an additional 2,000 police officers from the province as support.

After all, apart from the music festival venue, the entire Yizhou City is a key cultural and tourism area. Police forces are needed to maintain order at various traffic checkpoints, scenic spots, and major transportation routes, otherwise dangers could occur at any time when there are crowds of people.

It can be said that Yizhou City truly united as one during this National Day holiday.

Even ordinary citizens spontaneously forwarded the message in various groups, urging everyone to stay home unless absolutely necessary and not add to the already strained transportation system.

Everyone is doing their part to help the city seize this once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity, truly leap into becoming a nationally renowned tourist city, and also to get a piece of the pie from this huge cultural and tourism market.

Fully armed, we've been waiting for this day.

Half past nine in the morning.

The Sun Guisheng family, from the north, drove from a neighboring city. What should have been a 40-minute drive took them a full hour and a half of traffic jams before they finally arrived in Yizhou.

The family set off on October 1st.

After a leisurely journey, stopping and exploring along the way, we finally arrived in Nanzhou Province on the evening of the 3rd.

They came specifically for the music festival.

The reason I chose to stay in the neighboring city instead of Yizhou is simply because it was impossible to book a room in Yizhou.

Only those dirty and messy little hotels, which might normally cost 30 or 50 yuan a night, can jump to 300 or 500 yuan during the National Day holiday, and even then, they're still marked as "sold out soon".

It's just that we've caught a good time.

Sun Guisheng wasn't unwilling to spend the money; his main concern was the cleanliness of the place with his child, plus his wife was a bit of a germaphobe and would definitely not stay in such a small hotel.

So I booked a hotel next door and planned to drive over early the next morning.

It's on my way anyway.

The plan was perfect, but even though we set off at 7 a.m., we still got stuck in a terrible traffic jam.

Fortunately, traffic police were on duty throughout the process, allowing them to arrive on time before the music festival started.

Upon entering the city, I saw many "temporary parking" signs along the way, and even many residential areas had signs posted at their entrances saying "Some parking spaces are available, and tourists from other places can park for free."

Sun Guisheng couldn't help but exclaim, "Look at those southern cities! Their service is so thorough, thoughtful, and warm-hearted. Even the citizens are so dedicated. They're so much better than us in the north!"

His wife, Zhang Qian, was facing out the window, completely ignoring him, and was still sulking.

It was his son, Sun Junchi, who chimed in: "Dad, stop reminiscing. Will we still be able to get to the music festival venue on time?"

Sun Guisheng chuckled: "We can make it! The map shows there are still 2 kilometers left. We'll find a place to park the car and walk there. We'll definitely make it in time!"

Sun Junchi chuckled excitedly.

Despite the numerous traffic jams along the way south, he had the most fun.

After all, this was the first time he had ever truly traveled since he turned 12, and he was happy even if he had to pick up bottles along the way.

Compared to the father and son's carefree attitude, the mother, Zhang Qian's, cold expression throughout seemed quite out of place.

Sun Guisheng ignored her. Since he had brought his son out, it was worth it no matter how much he was scolded when he got home.

After parking the car, the family of three walked to the square.

There's no need for navigation at all.

Because those appearing on the road at this point are tourists from all over the country, heading to attend the music festival.

Turning a corner, South Square appeared before us, teeming with people.

Even though the family of three had anticipated this situation, they were still taken aback by the sheer scale of the scene. The cacophony of sound and the enormous screen in the distance stunned them into a daze.

The music festival has already begun.

First up were several popular singers from Feihong Entertainment – ​​after all, such a large music festival couldn't possibly be carried by just Jiang Feng, Lin Xiao, and Han Xixi.

Feihong Entertainment offered to help, and its artists were all happy to do so, even leading to a scramble for them.

Everyone knew this was a golden opportunity.

This year's National Day holiday saw Yizhou, a third-tier city, stand out in terms of popularity. Although the Rice Paddy Music Festival was held for the first time, it had three big names leading the way, ensuring that any artist who took the stage would receive a huge amount of attention.

Such a wonderful opportunity, how could Fei Hong Entertainment miss it?

Naturally, he could take the initiative to make contacts with a noble spirit, arrange for both veteran and new employees in the company as a channel, and at the same time do Lin Xiao, the talented scholar, a favor. It couldn't be more enjoyable.

Now that the music festival has begun, the first to take the stage is a newly launched idol boy group under Fei Hong. They danced very dynamically and coolly on stage, eliciting screams from the female fans in the audience.

After half an hour of energetic singing and dancing, Jiang Feng, the biggest favorite of the night, finally took to the stage.

The moment he opened his mouth, he unleashed a barrage of three classic representative works in heavy metal, prompting a massive sing-along from nearly 5 audience members both inside and outside the venue.

That scene.

Even Lin Xiao and Han Xixi, who were backstage, were so shocked they couldn't close their mouths.

"A king is a king! You might not be able to match this level of prestige even if you train for another ten years!" Lin Xiao said to his wife.

Xi Xi nodded in agreement.

Then he realized something was wrong, frowned, and looked over: "If I can't catch up, how can you?"

Lin Xiao chuckled, "I can't catch up either!"

Xi Xi sighed helplessly, "Then tell me, should I not say anything to you?" Lin Xiao laughed even harder, "Because I'm not a professional singer, I don't have that KPI pressure!"

XiXi: "..."

Okay, okay, you're Schrödinger's musician, right?
……

When Jiang Feng's appearance ignited the entire audience.

Sun Guisheng, carrying his son and holding his wife's hand, went into a residential area directly facing the stage, knocked on the door, and asked the homeowner for a perfect viewing spot on the balcony.

The homeowner readily accepted the uninvited tourist from out of town and even warmly offered him snacks and drinks.

Sun Junchi, the son, was stunned. He looked at his father with admiration and asked excitedly, "Dad, how did you know we could see the performance from here? And right in front of the stage?"

Sun Guisheng smiled smugly: "What does your dad do?"

Sun Junchi said blankly, "Real estate sales!"

Sun Guisheng said proudly, "Having been in this industry for so many years, I've seen no less than a thousand houses. I can tell at a glance what kind of structure a house has and which room has the best view."

Sun Junchi was filled with admiration, feeling that his father's image at that moment was more imposing than ever before.

"Dad, how do you know that uncle will let us in?"

"Didn't you see? There are signs for free parking posted at the entrances of many residential areas."

Sun Guisheng analyzed with a smug yet serious expression, "This shows that the entire Yizhou is working hard to make this music festival a success. Once this atmosphere is established, most citizens are willing to contribute. I immediately stated that I was a tourist from out of town, so most landlords probably won't refuse me. Even if they do, it's fine; I can just find another place. Your dad has been in sales for so many years; even if I make a living with my words, can't I handle this little thing?"

Sun Junchi was shocked and speechless. The image of his father in his mind was completely shattered.

The little guy jumped up excitedly and gave his dad a big kiss on the face.

Sun Guisheng chuckled with delight.

He glanced at his wife beside him and found that she was seriously eavesdropping on their conversation, and her expression was noticeably less angry.

However, upon noticing his gaze, Zhang Qian immediately resumed her cold demeanor, gave a soft snort, and looked back at the stage directly in front of her.

In the golden autumn of October, the sun still has a scorching heat.

A gentle breeze carried the loud voices from the stage over.

Jiang Feng's image appeared on the huge screen, smiling broadly as he interacted with the audience: "I recently released a new song, did you all know?"

Tens of thousands of people shouted in unison.

"Know!"

"What's the song called?"

"Head south all the way!"

Who wrote it?

"Lin! Xiao!"

“Hmm, you really do know… I hate this person!” Jiang Feng suddenly said.

This sudden remark completely stunned the tens of thousands of people present, and their excited responses immediately crumbled.

Then Jiang Feng immediately added, "I hate anyone who is more talented than me!"

Everyone then realized that the Heavenly King was doing something abstract, and a wave of laughter immediately swept through the audience.

Jiang Feng, holding the microphone, said, "Just kidding, just kidding. My fans should know that I've written all my own songs since my debut. This is the first time I've sung someone else's song! Why am I breaking this rule? The reason is simple: because this song... is amazing!"

"The melody and lyrics are both top-notch. But that's not what touched me the most. What touched me the most was the feeling the song conveyed—that yearning for freedom and passion for life. That's the goal I've pursued all my life, and I believe it's the goal everyone pursues."

"From this perspective, when I said earlier that I dislike Lin Xiao because he's more talented than me, I wasn't joking; it was my honest opinion. This guy, he just casually writes songs in his spare time, and they're so good—he's practically a prodigy!"

The whole place burst into laughter.

The reporters, carrying cameras, noticed some words that couldn't be broadcast and frowned.

Then he smiled with relief.

He truly is a rock king; he's got personality, still so energetic even at his age!
"Okay, I'm done praising someone..."

As Jiang Feng spoke, he suddenly turned to the backstage area and said, "Mayor Lin, remember to transfer the money to me!"

The audience burst into laughter again.

Everyone here has experienced all sorts of congestion and gone through countless hardships to get here, so they all have their own grievances.

Having just heard Jiang Tianwang sing his signature songs in a medley, all my resentment has vanished.

When Jiang Tianwang told stand-up comedy, everyone burst into laughter and felt that the trip was well worth it.

The atmosphere at the scene was exceptionally good.

Everyone was hoping Jiang Feng would say a few more words, but he stopped abruptly and shouted, "Next song—'All the Way South'!"

As the shouts subsided, the prelude began.

The entire audience was stunned for half a second, then erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.

On the stage, Jiang Feng remained calm and composed.

Soon, a plaintive voice rang out.

I picked up a hoe when I was seventeen or eighteen.

He then spent many years tending to the crops.

……

The faraway places I never visited in my youth

Many years later, we arrived at the crossroads where we started.

After I finished planting the wheat, I headed south.
No one in this world can be free for me.
The wind ripples through the wheat fields, waving goodbye to the setting sun.
We walked all the way to the end of the sea.

......"

The intense and poignant tone, accompanied by Jiang Feng's penetrating voice, drifted through the entire city.

Sun Guisheng stood on the balcony, his vision blurred with tears.

He saw a lot of things.

Parents toiling in the fields, oneself struggling in poverty, the stumbles and falls on the road to adulthood, the mundane realities of marriage, and the humiliation and helplessness at work.

Over the years, he has played every role well.

Son, father, husband...

But it seems they've forgotten how to play their part properly, and forgotten who Zhang Guisheng is!
At this moment, his eyes were filled with tears.

For that "South" whose direction was unknown, for that "freedom" that had never existed before.

He knew that as the music faded and the journey ended, he would return to that mediocre, ordinary, and boring life.

So at this moment, he let his tears flow freely and his emotions run wild.

Just as I was feeling ashamed and embarrassed.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and gently wiped away his torrential tears.

He turned his head and met his wife Zhang Qian's helpless yet tender gaze.

The couple were both stunned for a moment.

Then, at the same time, a pure, boyish smile appeared on their faces… (End of Chapter)