A song from Chengdu revived a closed-down pub.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Haiyang became preoccupied.

His concerns were not unfounded.

The cultural and tourism bureaus of the three northeastern provinces, upon seeing the song, almost simultaneously uttered the same sentiment: "Isn't this written for us?"

After listening to the song, cultural and tourism officials from various provinces held a video conference overnight to discuss how to capitalize on the trend.

This is what Zhou Haiyang fears most.

He would rather pay to buy out the song than let someone else reap the benefits.

But he knew in his heart that Su Fan had not received any money from the beginning, so how could he possibly block authorization applications from other regions?

That night, the more he thought about it, the less he could sleep.

There are reasons for excitement, and there are reasons for worry.

The exciting thing is that the traffic has finally arrived.

The concern is that we can't handle this wave of traffic, or rather, we can't handle it all.

He stayed up until dawn before he finally managed to doze off for a short while.

He woke up before the alarm clock went off, his eyes were red, but his mind was unusually clear.

He got up, washed his face, put on his coat, and instead of going to work, drove straight to Old Sun's house at the Forestry Bureau.

Sun Yaozhong had just gotten up when he heard someone banging on the door.

He opened the door and saw Zhou Haiyang standing there.

"Old Sun, you have to help me!"

Sun Yaozhong looked him up and down, then suddenly said, "What? You got arrested for soliciting prostitution? Need me to bail you out?"

"Get lost!" Zhou Haiyang said. "I don't have time for jokes. Do you have any ginseng? Wild ginseng, preferably!"

"Are you still asleep? Coming here so early in the morning to spout nonsense, wild ginseng? All I have here are big radishes, do you want some?"

Zhou Haiyang panicked: "It's serious, really! I need it urgently! Tell me the truth, do you have it or not?"

Seeing his expression, Sun Yaozhong knew he wasn't joking, so he dropped his playful grin: "Where would I get such a thing? Wild ginseng? Even forest ginseng, the good quality ones have all been pre-ordered, you won't get any."

He paused, then suddenly remembered something and continued, "However, someone does have some."

Zhou Haiyang's eyes lit up: "Who?"

"Old Hu Wu".

Zhou Haiyang's face immediately darkened.

He knew about Hu Laowu's affair, and he also knew that even when provincial leaders intervened, they couldn't get that ginseng from him.

Sun Yaozhong asked, "Tell me first, what do you need that thing for? If it's wild ginseng, I do have a decent one here, the pure wild kind, but forget about it. It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that I really can't."

"Give me yours first."

Sun Yaozhong then asked, "You still haven't said what you're going to do?"

So Zhou Haiyang told him about Su Fan.

After listening, Sun Yaozhong remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "They've helped you so much, you really should show your appreciation. Just wait."

He turned and went into the house, and a little while later he came out carrying a mahogany box.

Upon opening the lid, a ginseng root lay inside, its roots intact and its rhizome plump; its appearance was indeed quite good.

"This is forest ginseng, it can't compare to wild ginseng, but I've been raising it for several years. I was originally planning to make my own wine." He handed the box to Zhou Haiyang and continued, "You can take it and use it first. Later I'll go to your old man's place and pick out a treasure, then we'll be even."

Zhou Haiyang took the box and replied, "Okay, but don't blame me if my father doesn't agree."

Sun Yaozhong snorted: "Your old man is the most law-abiding. If you take my things, he will definitely give me a treasure of similar value. I know that."

……

Zhou Haiyang went directly to the hotel where Su Fan was staying.

Su Fan hadn't gotten out of bed yet when he heard a knock on the door.

He muttered, "Hey Xu, you were working so hard last night, how were you even able to get up?"

The door opened, and then he saw Zhou Haiyang.

Su Fan quickly said, "Director Zhou, what brings you here?"

Zhou Haiyang handed the rosewood box in his hand to him and said crisply, "Here you go. I know you've been looking for this. Although it's not purely wild, it's not bad in quality. You can use it for now."

Su Fan glanced down at the box but didn't take it: "Boss, there's no need to go to such trouble. I was just saying it casually."

"You've helped me a lot, so I have to show my appreciation, otherwise it'll seem like we're taking advantage of you."

Seeing this, Su Fan stopped refusing: "Director Zhou, thank you, then I won't stand on ceremony!"

Zhou Haiyang added, "Wild ginseng is hard to find now, and those that are in other people's hands won't sell easily."

"Director Zhou, you're talking about Hu Laowu, aren't you?"

How did you know?

"Is this any secret? If you ask around here, eight out of ten people will know that Hu Laowu has a ginseng."

Zhou Haiyang nodded: "That's true. However, Hu Laowu has some connections with my old man. I'll have my old man ask him if he's willing to help."

"Then I'll trouble you, Director Zhou."

Zhou Haiyang said, "But let's make this clear first, this wild ginseng is a gift from me, but as for Hu Laowu's ginseng, if he's willing to sell it, you'll have to pay for it yourself. I can't afford it."

"That's natural."

With the ginseng matter settled, Zhou Haiyang suddenly said, "I came to see you about something else. What do you think about other provinces using your song for promotional purposes?"

Su Fan knew that Zhou Haiyang was ostensibly asking for his opinion, but in reality, he was concerned about other provinces obtaining authorization.

Although he didn't receive any money for this song, Zhou Haiyang still hopes that Harbin can exclusively enjoy this wave of benefits.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have come so early in the morning to deliver ginseng.

But Zhou Haiyang was too embarrassed to say directly, "Could you restrict authorization to other regions?"

Saying this would seem petty and disrespectful to his creative freedom.

Su Fan thought for a moment and said, "Director Zhou, I don't think it would be bad for Harbin if other provinces used this song for publicity. On the contrary, it would be quite beneficial."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Su Fan analyzed, "The more popular the song, the more people will know about it, and the more people will want to come to Northeast China. Harbin is the gateway to Northeast China. For most people coming to Northeast China, Harbin is their first stop. When people come, they will have to eat, stay overnight, and do some sightseeing in Harbin, right? Other provinces are using this song for promotion, which is actually increasing the popularity of the word 'Northeast China.' When the popularity increases, the entire Northeast region will benefit. As the representative city of Northeast China, Harbin will only benefit more, not less."

Zhou Haiyang began to think along Su Fan's lines of thought.

Indeed, the effect achieved by this three-province collaboration is much better than the effect of a single city promoting itself.

Furthermore, for tourists, their destination is never a city, but a piece of land.

This can be seen from the comments section.

Netizens keep calling it "Northeast China," but rarely mention Harbin.

The collaboration among the three provinces may sound like sharing the pie with others, but in reality, the pie will only get bigger and bigger.

Harbin is the face of Northeast China. When tourists arrive, the first thing they do is set foot on Harbin soil, the first meal they have is Harbin's iron pot stew, and the first night they stay in a Harbin hotel.

How could Harbin possibly lose out on this surge in traffic?

Besides, aren't all the heads of the cultural and tourism bureaus in Jilin and Liaoning provinces shrewd and calculating?

They've been itching to get a piece of the pie for ages. Instead of letting them reach out and grab it themselves, we should just invite them to sit down and eat with us.

It looks good on the surface and is also affordable on the inside.

Having figured this out, Zhou Haiyang said, "I understand. I'll go and discuss it with them later."