The sweetest in the entertainment industry

Chapter 649 Influence

“I’m old, and so is our plum tree. Even though its fruit isn’t as big as the newer varieties, it tastes exceptionally good and is incredibly sweet. Plus, I haven’t sprayed any pesticides on it.”

The old man was thin and frail, but his white hair was surprisingly thick. Seeing that he was hunched over and panting as he walked, Gu Lanxi quickly asked her bodyguard to carry him on his back.

When the group arrived at the field, they saw several tall plum trees growing on a slope. Standing on the embankment and looking down the mountain, they could even see the clouds and mist in the mountains.

The plums at the foot of the mountain were already ripe by now, but the ones on the mountain were only just ripening.

“This land is difficult to walk on, and weeding is not easy every year, let alone spraying pesticides. You can pick them directly and eat them without worry!”

Once they reached the tree, the old man casually plucked a branch, picked two berries, and handed them to Gu Lanxi, his smile remarkably simple and honest.

“A boss came up the mountain to buy them, offering only four cents, saying he'd pick them for me. I'd rather leave them for the villagers to eat! But our village is too poor; all the young people have left, and the old are too old, the young too young. We can't possibly eat them all. Every household has planted quite a few of these fruit trees, in front of and behind their houses, in the fields…”

The old man was quite talkative. He put his hands on his hips and waved down the mountain: "I'm a reasonable old man. I can't let you help me for nothing. Once you sell these plums, I'll give you five hundred yuan!"

In the live stream, the fans were amused by the toothless old man.

Gu Lanxi said she wouldn't accept any money, considering it a charity donation, and naturally wouldn't take any. She waved her hands repeatedly in refusal, saying, "I've already told the people online that I won't charge any money, and I'll even ship it to the buyers for free. I mean what I say!"

However, the old man did not approve of her approach: "You have to charge me. I also have a mobile phone and have read online that big stars like you who promote products should receive a share of the profits. I appreciate your good deed, but if you don't charge me, you won't come next year, and our plums will rot on the ground. If you charge me, we can spend the same amount of money next year to hire someone else to help us sell our products."

Families as miserable as the old woman who sold the old hen are, after all, a minority.

Although the village is located in the mountains, many villagers have children who work or settle down elsewhere.

The elderly person also hopes to earn some money.

Although the road is now repaired, making it easier to transport goods to town to sell, they are all getting old and farming is already a struggle. For most of them, who have been honest all their lives, going out to sell goods is not an easy task.

Gu Lanxi never expected to hear such wise words in the mountain village. Even though the old man had a heavy accent, everyone still understood him.

“Your consideration is very reasonable. It’s not very convenient for me to sell all these things here piecemeal by myself. How about this, I’ll contact the village committee later to see if we can compile a list of what each household wants to sell, and I can come and sell them for you once a year. The commission will be based on the market price. As for this year, we agreed not to charge any money, so we won’t charge any money. You can contact me if you have anything you want to sell. Even if I have to leave, I will arrange for someone else to come and take my place.”

Because they are unwilling to earn money through unethical means, Hesheng's livestreaming hosts have consistently charged relatively low commissions. As a result, many top hosts, after gaining popularity, would rather pay breach of contract fees to terminate their contracts and leave.

Gu Lanxi didn't say that these people were wrong. She was looking for long-term, stable development, but the internet celebrity scene is like a new wave pushing out the old, and it's easy for them to become outdated. Everyone has their own interests, and wanting to earn more money is understandable.

Fortunately, she has resources and is good at cultivating new talent, so the company is never short of fresh blood. And after those big internet celebrities left, few of them harbored resentment towards her. Over the years, Hesheng has maintained a very good reputation.

Gu Lanxi made herself very clear in front of the live stream audience.

We're doing charity work this year; we'll do it normally from now on.

In order to cater to market demand, the company originally intended to enter the market for local mountain products. Now, by chance, it has made a good start.

That evening, Gu Lanxi led her people down the mountain and stayed at a small inn in town. She had just taken a shower and was fanning herself as she went downstairs to wait for the kitchen to stew chicken when she saw the town officials who had accompanied her to inspect the charity project earlier, wiping their sweat and leading a few more people in.

The group was quite reserved, and everyone was drenched in sweat in the sweltering heat.

Gu Lanxi hurriedly called for someone to scoop out the watermelon that was frozen in the well and cut one up.

Once the two watermelons had turned into a huge pile of rinds, the group had become more familiar with each other and their initial awkwardness had subsided. They wiped their mouths and got down to business.

“Our area is mountainous and densely forested, and many places have good things, but we lack online traffic and don't know how to promote them. No matter how good our products are, we can't sell them. You came here to do charity work and repaired roads for us, which was already very kind of you. We shouldn't have troubled you, but your suggestion was really great. We thought, there are 105 villages like this in our county. Whether we graze one sheep or a whole flock of sheep, it's all the same…”

Gu Lanxi silently did the math.

Even if the streamer doesn't have her level of traffic, she can still sell at least a thousand orders by arranging for a top streamer to come over with a single link in the live stream.

Agricultural products are sold in orders of five or ten kilograms each, resulting in thousands or even tens of thousands of kilograms being sold at once. A small village simply cannot supply that much. People who are constantly watching the live stream will inevitably lose interest if they can't buy anything. Furthermore, fewer viewers in the live stream mean less traffic, which is detrimental to sales.

If we can integrate resources, we can ship all the goods after they are sold through the live stream, and it will be easier to coordinate human and material resources...

With the development of the times, the government has taken the lead in establishing rural cooperatives, integrating resources, and finding online influencers to promote products. This has long become a standard combination of measures for rural revitalization. The only difference is whether the commissions asked by different online influencers are high or low.

Hesheng is very experienced in this area, and Gu Lanxi is also very skilled at doing these things.

The reason she hadn't planned to expand on a large scale here before was mainly because her industrial layout hadn't yet extended to this area.

If they want a long-term partnership, following Hesheng's model, she would need to set up a warehousing center here, arrange logistics, and recruit employees...

This means that Heshengde is expanding its operations again.

This was no small matter for her.

Comparatively speaking, for her, it was just a simple matter of starting a live stream to help the elderly people in that small mountain village sell some agricultural products.

I only intended to do some charity work, but it turned into a big business deal in the blink of an eye.

Previously, Zhong Zhihong and his team would go out to negotiate such business, and it often took a long time to reach an agreement. This was the first time she, as the boss, had to step in.

I never expected that something I did casually would lead to someone coming to me.

Gu Lanxi couldn't help but sigh; they were after her online popularity.

“I don’t plan to do live-streaming sales long-term. I’m just helping out today. My company does have many live streamers, but their traffic is far less than mine. Even if I arranged for them to come, they wouldn’t sell as fast as I do. Besides, for them, this is just a job, and the commission is based on the market price.”

She's the boss, and doing this occasionally won't break market rules. She also has money to invest, so she can just consider it a charity event. But her livestreamers need to eat.

Once those villagers have enjoyed something better, they might not be so willing to accept it when someone else comes along.

After a long silence, the group of people smiled and said, "These problems can all be solved. We trust your character and feel that cooperating with you is very reliable. We just didn't have the means to cooperate before. Now we have the opportunity to talk to you face to face, which is a good opportunity for us."

After careful consideration, Gu Lanxi finally nodded: "Then I'll have someone come over and discuss the details with you?"

She always focused on the big picture, leaving the specifics to others. They were all very reasonable people, and everyone was already quite satisfied to have gotten in touch with her. They readily agreed.

The matter was perfectly resolved, and the old hen was cooked.

Gu Lanxi rubbed her hands together, video chatting with her child while drinking soup from her bowl. Before she could finish the soup, people from the neighboring county arrived...

When top influencers climb to the top, surrounded by luxury, it's truly remarkable that they can still look down at the earth beneath their feet and lend a helping hand to those struggling to make ends meet.

In reality, many top celebrities, fearing it will affect their commercial value, gradually make the content posted on their official accounts less relatable.

In private, he is no longer so unrestrained in his dress and behavior.

Gu Lanxi is truly unique.

She acts spontaneously, yet she is able to take responsibility for her words and actions.

I really like her.

But such people don't exist in reality.

Hey ~