I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 812 Clouds hang over the Qinling Mountains, where is my home? Snow blankets the Blue Pass, my horse cannot move forward.

"Why not? Our Douyin has the strongest video genes and massive traffic, why can't we do it?!" Fang Qingye retorted with a smile.

Chen Ziqing was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at Fang Qingye. After a long while, she murmured, "Douyin is going to get into e-commerce? Then... how are Taobao and JD.com supposed to survive?"

"Hehe..." Fang Qingye smiled without saying a word, but calmly picked up a piece of tender tofu and put it in her mouth.

“Hey... Mr. Fang, how about I go with you to Tianhan for poverty alleviation?” Chen Ziqing’s eyes suddenly lit up as she suggested with a smile.

"What, you've suddenly become interested in poverty alleviation work?"

"To be honest, I'm more interested in what you call 'live-streaming e-commerce'!"

……

……

Fang Qingye took a direct flight to Xi'an the next day at noon. At that time, the Xi'an-Hanzhong High-Speed ​​Railway had not yet opened. To get to the Tianhan area, one either had to take the traditional railway, which took seven or eight hours, or take a bus via the Xi'an-Hanzhong Expressway, which also took nearly four hours.

The ByteDance team arrived in Xi'an the night before, so Fang Qingye arranged to meet them early the next morning to depart.

They stayed at the Shaanxi Bin Quesheng International Hotel. At 10 p.m., Fang Qingye met with the five-person team sent by ByteDance in the hotel's conference room.

They're all so young, they're all born in the 90s!
The team was led by Zhang Nan, Vice President of Product—who is also one of the key planners of many core product features on the Douyin main site. The accompanying team included product operations, marketing, content planning, and technical support personnel, making for a lean and efficient group.

Zhang Nan, born in 1990 in Changchun, is the leader of the group and one of the few post-90s executives at Douyin. With her neat, short, ear-length hair, baby face, and backpack, she looks like a college student at first glance. When she met Fang Qingye at the hotel, she couldn't help but secretly observe him with curiosity.

"Zhang Nan, what's wrong? It's not like it's the first time we've met. Weren't we in a meeting at the company yesterday morning?" Fang Qingye asked half-jokingly.

"Chairman Fang, I was wondering how you suddenly came up with the idea of ​​'live-streaming e-commerce'?" Zhang Nan answered truthfully.

"What, you think it's not feasible?" Fang Qingye asked in return.

"It's not that it's impossible, it's just that the idea is too far-fetched!" Zhang Nan said excitedly. "If this path can be followed, our Douyin profit model will no longer rely solely on advertising, but will instead enter the vast field of e-commerce! The prospects are immeasurable!"

"So, do you think we can succeed this time?" Fang Qingye continued to press.

"With Chairman Fang personally directing and planning, we are sure to succeed!"

"Ah……"

"Then we'll have to rely on you all this time," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

The next morning at nine o'clock, the group of seven boarded a bus bound for the Tianhan area at the South Bus Station.

At this time, the Guanzhong Plain still presented a scene of late winter. The poplar trees stood bare by the roadside, and the remaining snow in the wheat fields intertwined with the exposed yellow earth to create a mottled landscape. In the distance, the Zhongnan Mountains were hidden in a thin mist, with only the bluish-gray ridgeline visible.

The bus began its ascent over the Qinling Mountains, winding its way up the mountainside. The higher it climbed, the lower the temperature became. Outside the window, unmelted snow and swirling clouds were visible.

Fang Qingye couldn't help but recall that well-known line of poetry:

Where is my home when clouds hang low over the Qinling Mountains? My horse cannot move forward as snow blocks the Blue Pass.

The bus stopped for ten minutes at the Qinling service area before continuing its journey. This is said to be the highest point of the trip, after which it's all downhill.

About an hour later, the bus finally drove out of the Qinling Mountains and entered the Tianhan area. In that instant, it felt as if we had stepped into spring.

The rapeseed flowers bloom all over the mountains, their bright yellow stretching from the foot of the mountain to the horizon, with a faint fragrance floating in the air.

Fang Qingye was admiring the beautiful scenery, which was even more beautiful than that of Jiangnan, when she suddenly noticed that Zhang Nan, who was sitting next to her, was pale.

"What's wrong? Are you carsick?" Fang Qingye asked with concern.

"Hmm... I've never climbed so many mountains or walked such difficult roads in my entire life," Zhang Nan muttered weakly.

Zhang Nan's hometown is Changchun, a flat plain where you can drive for half a day without seeing a hill.

Before Fang Qingye could respond, a man in his fifties sitting to her right, speaking with a local accent, picked up the conversation:

“Girl, this road is nothing! You haven’t walked the ancient road from back then.”

He chuckled, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow from smoking: "Back in the day, when Zhuge Liang launched his seven expeditions to Qishan, that was truly arduous! Horses had to pull themselves uphill by their tails, and grain carts would overturn into ravines without a sound. Now, this highway is flat and smooth; you could drive across it with your eyes closed!"

The people around laughed when they heard this.

The bus traveled for more than an hour through the basin before finally arriving at our destination—Tianhan City. We had heard that there was the ancient Baohe Plank Road outside the city and the ancient Hantai Terrace inside, a place where Liu Bang once stationed his troops.

Fang Qingye and her delegation arrived in the city and checked into the pre-arranged Hongye Hotel. They were received by Liu Shiping, Deputy Secretary-General of the Municipal Government, who was also the person in charge of the Jinghai poverty alleviation delegation's coordination efforts in Tianhan.

"I'm sorry, Secretary-General Liu, I'm late," Fang Qingye apologized.

The Jinghai delegation arrived the day before. According to the itinerary, a city-wide briefing and counterpart cooperation joint meeting were held this morning, and the afternoon's arrangements included a visit to the Tianhan City Planning Museum and key enterprises.

Liu Shiping chuckled and said, "Chairman Fang, I heard from your Mayor Wu that you are a very busy person... You're not too late, you have a meeting in the morning and the tour is in the afternoon."

"Regarding ByteDance's plans to conduct live-streaming e-commerce for poverty alleviation..." Fang Qingye got to the point.

"We've already looked into it, and we've tentatively arranged for you to go to Machang Town in Yangzhou. That area is famous for its black rice, a specialty of Yangzhou, and it's unique there!" Liu Shiping explained. "If we can open up sales channels through live-streaming e-commerce, it will bring tangible benefits to the local people!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. If this method works, I've heard that the Tianhan area is also rich in tea, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and citrus fruits, which can all be promoted and sold using this model!"

The two exchanged opinions on the specific implementation plan and finally decided that Zhang Nan would lead the team to Yangzhou immediately after lunch to carry out preliminary preparations, while Fang Qingye would join the inspection team to participate in the afternoon's visit.

In the afternoon, Fang Qingye accompanied the delegation to the Tianhan City Planning Exhibition Hall. Under the lights, a huge sand table outlined the city's future blueprint: a three-dimensional transportation network along the "one river, two banks," industrial parks with different functions, and an eco-city surrounded by green waters... The guide passionately described the grand development plan, and Fang Qingye listened attentively.

He thought to himself: It's a pity that the temperature in the Tianhan region isn't low enough and the power resources aren't abundant enough; otherwise, perhaps we could consider setting up some of Ele.me's or Douyin's computing centers here in the future. Of course, this involves strategic planning for the company, and it's not something that can be decided on a whim.

They then visited several local businesses.

The industries in the Tianhan area are quite distinctive, mainly military industry, especially aviation manufacturing enterprises, with many small factories providing supporting equipment. In addition, there are also medicinal materials and agricultural product processing enterprises.

That evening, when Fang Qingye returned to the hotel, Zhang Nan and his team had already returned to the city from Yangzhou. After dinner, Fang Qingye was about to go to the conference room to listen to Zhang Nan's report when she heard a knock on the door.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see that it was reporter Chen Ziqing again.

(End of this chapter)