Chapter 77: Development Part 1
People’s Daily published an article: The internet is absolutely not a lawless place, nor a place to hide one’s identity; laws and regulations will not turn a blind eye to numerous offenders. Only by correctly using legal weapons will those who attempt to harm others through keyboards eventually suffer the consequences.
As soon as this recently published article in People’s Daily was released, it attracted the attention of countless netizens who had witnessed the rumor-mongering and cyberbullying incident, quickly topping the hot search list.
Thus, this storm finally came to an end.
In the heart of Beijing, Xie Zhenjiang and Su Houwen sat opposite each other, leisurely enjoying a cup of fragrant tea.
Xie Zhenjiang: “Did the article go out?”
Su Houwen: “Yes, it did, and it’s very popular.”
Xie Zhenjiang: “I misjudged her. I didn’t realize that little girl had such a strong temper.”
Su Houwen: “Isn’t that good? We can use this opportunity to clean up the current chaotic online environment.”
Xie Zhenjiang: “Mm. Let’s see what this new owner of Courtyard No. 10 will do next.”
After saying this, the two exchanged a smile, changed the subject, and continued their conversation, immersed in the fragrant atmosphere.
Tong Shenyi, the head of Xi Yuan Lai Food Company, quickly launched the pickled pepper rice noodles and beef tripe noodles, which received excellent reviews from the public. Therefore, Gu Wanrong pressed on, handing him the remaining recipes for snail noodles, mashed potato noodles, pork jerky, dried fruit, and dried vegetables.
During the retweet giveaway, Xi Yuan Lai Food also gained some popularity, and the prize packages included the newly launched snail noodles, mashed potato noodles, pork jerky, dried fruit, and dried vegetables.
Fu Zhen Zhu Bao’s previous designs were mostly dignified, retro, and luxurious, limiting their target audience to wealthy housewives. After Tong Shenqi and her team returned to China and reorganized Fu Zhen Zhu Bao, they immediately added a youthful line.
The jade pendant necklace in this giveaway had a more youthful design, helping Fu Zhen Zhu Bao to open up the younger market.
Tong Shenwu’s Yi Shang Entertainment was progressing smoothly. Artists were on tour and taking classes, behind-the-scenes workers were polishing scripts, and the variety show team was filming the talent show Idol 101 under Gu Wanrong’s instructions. The promised cafeteria was also officially built and opened.
Several people in the online meeting reported to Gu Wanrong one by one.
“Guangle Housekeeping is developing well, and I don’t have any special requirements,” Gu Wanrong elegantly picked up the juice that Butler Liu had just brought, took a small sip, and continued, “So, what problems are there with Xi Yuan Lai?”
Tong Shenyi, sitting opposite on the computer, immediately answered without delay, “Ms. Gu, the sales of the currently listed products are not large, so at present, the space occupied by the several food processing plants is still relatively sufficient. However, if our sales performance improves significantly in the future, the existing space may not be enough to meet the demand, and it will become cramped.”
Although he predicted future problems, Tong Shenyi’s tone was not worried or anxious.
He calmly stated the solutions he was implementing, “I have reached an agreement with the owners of several nearby plots of land to purchase their land use rights; even the most expensive one didn’t exceed the market price by more than 10%.”
Gu Wanrong didn’t think this was a big deal, and simply asked, “Are there enough funds in the account?”
“A small portion is still needed, but with the return of funds from product sales, it will be enough,” Tong Shenyi was intimately familiar with Qianyuan Group’s financial situation, and especially that of Xi Yuan Lai, which he managed. He answered without hesitation.
“No need to wait for the returned funds. I’ll transfer the money to you now. Buy the land and build the new factory early,” Gu Wanrong said lightly, then raised a concern that was more important to her, “Product reputation is still excellent from what I’ve observed, but what about expanding the market? Do you have a plan?”
“Just a moment.”
Only a few seconds after his words, Tong Shenyi quickly operated the computer, projecting the carefully prepared PPT onto the video conference and succinctly explaining the plan.
First, send sales personnel to conduct offline promotion activities; second, invite celebrities to act as brand ambassadors and produce relevant advertising commercials; third, vigorously promote carefully written advertising copy.
After listening, Gu Wanrong said, “I’ll add one more: We can find some well-reputed and high-traffic food bloggers to promote our products.”
Tong Shenyi had obviously done research in this area, and he immediately followed up, “Yes, that’s true. However, in the current domestic situation, most so-called food bloggers are mainly ‘big eaters’, and the promotional effect on our products is limited.”
At this time, among many food bloggers, foreign mukbang bloggers were in the lead. Domestic food bloggers were few and far between, and even fewer could truly make a food product go viral.
Tong Shenyi’s concerns were not unfounded, but for Gu Wanrong, with her four-year memory of the future, it wasn’t a problem.
“Easy! Aren’t there review bloggers? Invite them to do a comprehensive review of our food. In addition, there are lifestyle bloggers. We can invite them to personally experience and demonstrate how to make our products. This way, not only can we smoothly complete the promotion, but the video content will also be novel and interesting.”
Gu Wanrong proposed examples of the now-common blogger sponsored videos, which were still novel to the current internet.
Following this, Gu Wanrong seized the opportunity to further expand her ideas.
“We also have the ability to independently cultivate a group of food bloggers who are not ‘big eaters’, review bloggers focused on food appreciation, and lifestyle bloggers dedicated to recreating the scenes of ancient life. This type of content is still rare in the current domestic market and has great development potential.
So, Tong Shenwu, I’ll leave this to you?”
Without hesitation, Gu Wanrong entrusted this important task to Tong Shenwu.
After all, Gu Wanrong now had abundant capital, extensive connections, and a powerful group, so even if she occasionally had strange ideas, she had the resources and conditions to put them into practice.
Tong Shenyi and Tong Shenwu nodded after hearing Gu Wanrong’s words, accepting the task.
“By the way, how’s Idol 101 going?” After assigning a task to Tong Shenwu, Gu Wanrong naturally brought up the variety show that she invested 500 million yuan in, intending to promote Jing Xiu faster.
Tong Shenwu naturally understood the importance of this show. She replied earnestly, “All the preparatory work has been completed.
We successfully invited domestic and international mentors, and the trainees have been selected through auditions. The individual and group showcase sessions have been completed. Currently, the program team is busy preparing for the first public performance stage.”
Hearing this, Gu Wanrong nodded in satisfaction. Then she asked, “Is the first episode edited? Let’s all watch it together. If we have any ideas or suggestions, we can discuss them at any time.”
For this show, which she poured a lot of effort into, and also Yi Shang’s first large-scale self-made variety show, Gu Wanrong hoped to make it perfect.
They watched the hour-long video, and because everyone had a clear goal, they continuously fast-forwarded and skipped some unimportant parts, finishing in just half an hour.
In the silence, no one spoke first.
Gu Wanrong and Tong Shenwu exchanged a glance; they were waiting for Tong Shenyi and Tong Shenqi to express their views and opinions.
Tong Shenyi: “Not enough highlights. Although there are veteran, high-profile stars from China and abroad, their screen time is too long, resulting in fewer highlights from the trainees.”
Tong Shenqi: “Actually, if you look closely at these trainees, they’re not bad-looking. It’s just that their stage makeup and styling are really hard to compliment. Only Jing Xiu’s makeup and styling are decent.”
After both of them finished speaking, Gu Wanrong nodded approvingly, “The first episode is overall good, but there are also the two problems you mentioned.”
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