A song from Chengdu revived a closed-down pub.

The door opened, and an old man stood in the doorway. It was none other than Ye Beichen.

"Uncle Ye, you've arrived. Please come in."

Ye Beichen entered the house.

Xu Wenshan poured them tea, then tactfully withdrew.

Only two elderly people remained in the study.

Ye Beichen said, "It seems that Master Zhang is unwilling to see us. It seems that the fate he mentioned has not yet arrived."

Xu Shuhan picked up his teacup and said unhurriedly, "Who can say for sure about fate?"

Ye Beichen sighed: "I really want to see Master Zhang again, but he told me not to go to him unless I had to. Otherwise, if I had known he was at Longhu Mountain, I would definitely have gone there."

"Who can argue with that? But let's listen to the Taoist priest."

Ye Beichen leaned back in his chair and suddenly said, "If it weren't for his grand-disciple, we wouldn't even know which mountain the Taoist priest was on. Speaking of which, we should thank that Su Fan."

Xu Shuhan paused slightly, holding his teacup, but quickly masked his reaction, displaying a perfectly timed expression of confusion: "Oh? Why thank someone named Su Fan?"

Ye Beichen didn't notice his strangeness and continued talking to himself: "I looked at that kid's information. He first promoted Sichuan Province's culture and tourism, making Sichuan Province popular. Later, he helped Jiangxi Province write a song and gave it to Zhang Daoren's grand-disciple to sing. Jiangxi Province's culture and tourism made a brilliant move. Su Fan's version didn't become popular, but Huixin's version did. Jiangxi Province had a good eye to find Huixin to sing it."

Xu Shuhan knew that Ye Beichen meant that the song "Little Fairy" became popular because Jiangxi Province found the right person to sing it, and Su Fan was just someone who provided the song.

So Xu Shuhan followed up on his words, saying, "Yes, someone who can oversee the culture and tourism of a province must have a unique perspective."

The two elderly people drank tea and chatted about the past, neither of them mentioning the young man named Su Fan again.

……

Su Fan was unaware of what had happened at Longhu Mountain and in Kyoto.

He was sitting in the office of the Qin Province Culture and Tourism Bureau, opposite Wei Zhiran and next to Pan Lei.

Wei Zhirang flipped through the proposal regarding the Mawei Post Station Company + Farmers.

Pan Lei sat next to him, his hands on his knees, his back ramrod straight.

Su Fan relaxed, leaning back in his chair and drinking tea from a disposable paper cup.

About twenty minutes later, Wei Zhirang said, "That's good, you've thought of everything very thoroughly, taking all aspects into account. However, I have a few questions to ask."

Pan Lei quickly chimed in, "Director Wei, Xiao Fan wrote all the proposals. I brought him along specifically. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask him."

Wei Zhirang laughed, then suddenly said something that Pan Lei hadn't expected: "Xiao Fan, I didn't know you had such abilities. Why don't you take the civil service exam and work for the Culture and Tourism Bureau?"

Su Fan laughed and said, "Director Wei, please don't tease me. My knowledge is nothing compared to yours."

Wei Zhirang waved his hand: "Young man, humility is a good thing, but sometimes, you also need to show your talent."

After saying that, he pointed to the plan and said, "It's a good idea for your village to set up a shareholding company. However, this involves the issue of funding. Do you have enough funds? If needed, I can help you contact outside companies. There are quite a few cultural tourism investment companies that have money on hand and are looking for projects."

Upon hearing this, Pan Lei's eyes lit up immediately: "That's great..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Fan interrupted, "Thank you for your help, Director Wei. However, we will take care of the funding issue."

Pan Lei's words caught in his throat. He turned to look at Su Fan, his mouth agape, as if to say, "Are you crazy, kid?"

Wei Zhirang became interested: "Tell me, what are your plans?"

"Fundraising".

Wei Zhirang stared at Su Fan for two seconds, then suddenly laughed: "You kid, you really dare to think big."

Su Fan said, "This money doesn't go into anyone's pocket; it goes into the village, and the villagers can see the benefits."

Wei Zhirang didn't deny it, but instead asked, "Even if everyone in your village contributed money, it would still be far short of the budget for your plan, wouldn't it?"

Su Fan nodded: "Indeed, but we can talk to the bank. There should be corresponding policy support for loans to Lijiapo, whether for the village or individuals."

Wei Zhirang said, "The government does have loan policies for farmers, but those are for developing animal husbandry and agriculture. There is no precedent for your tourism project."

Su Fan said directly, "Director Wei, I remember that banks also have performance evaluations. Everyone wants to do stable business and get the loans they lend back, that's their duty. But if you want to achieve results, someone has to explore new directions. If no one is willing to be the first to try something new, how can you make progress?"

He paused, looked into Wei Zhirang's eyes, and added, "Besides, our project isn't something we're doing for nothing. We have the existing customer base of Mawei Post Station, the support of the company + farmer model, and the backing of the Provincial Bureau of Culture and Tourism. Before the bank releases the loan, they will conduct an evaluation. If the evaluation is successful, it means the project can succeed. If it's unsuccessful, it means we're not ready yet, so we'll prepare again."

Wei Zhirang nodded after listening: "You make a good point. Here's what we'll do: I'll arrange the meeting with the bank. Once it's arranged, I'll let you know. Bring your proposal with you then, and we'll do a more detailed financial calculation. That way, it will look more intuitive and be more convincing."

"no problem."

Su Fan readily agreed verbally, but inwardly he slapped himself twice: "I was just bored out of my mind. Wouldn't it be better to compose music, write songs, or write novels than to worry about this? Well, now it's all on my shoulders again."

At this point, Wei Zhirang pointed to a section of the plan and said, "We can talk about the loan later when your plan is finalized. Next, let's discuss the private domain issue. You plan to develop your own app in addition to utilizing existing media platforms. Is that necessary?"

Su Fan first asked a question: "Director Wei, you've used those platforms, so you should know how they operate."

Wei Zhirang didn't speak, but his expression said it all.

Su Fan continued, "The traffic belongs to the platform, the data belongs to the platform, and the users belong to the platform. Today you spend money to buy a recommendation spot, and your traffic goes up. Tomorrow you don't spend money, and your traffic drops. This isn't doing business; it's working for the platform."

Wei Zhirang said, "What you said makes sense, but out of so many platforms on the market, only one or two will survive. How can you guarantee that your platform will definitely succeed?"

"This is related to our operating model. We can make the decision ourselves. Of course, we don't rule out connecting with mature platforms on the market. We are just making a backup plan."