Reborn as a female internet celebrity in a county town

Chapter 238 Exploring a New Money Distribution System
After the few unimportant guys left, Lin Lang sat in a tea room with Song Zhiyuan and He Qiang.

The entire villa has a total of four bedrooms, a study, and a semi-open-air tea room.

The tea room is on the top floor and is enclosed by glass.

Once Bingning brought over the tea and a small stove, the tea room was ready.

After Bing Ning left, Lin Lang said to Song Zhiyuan, "Uncle Song, I'm sorry about dinner today."

Song Zhiyuan said with a smile, "It's nothing. I was worried that you might not be interested in Tianshui duck industry, but now I'm not worried at all."

"Uncle Song is overthinking it. I've always been very interested in the Tianshui duck industry."

Song Zhiyuan asked, "You already have Tianjin Capital and Dayu Media. What's so attractive about Tianshui Duck Industry, this insignificant little company?"

"First, Tianshui Duck Industry is a listed company, so it has the shell resources of a listed company. Second, I don't want the employees of Tianshui Duck Industry to lose their jobs. Finally, it's about providing support for my Big Fish Media."

"Hmm? What direct relationship does Tianshui Duck Industry have with Dayu Media?" Song Zhiyuan understood the first two points, but as for whether Lin Lang was just being polite, nobody knew.

Whether he's willing to say polite words or not, it at least shows that Lin Lang is willing to abide by many rules.

"Uncle Song, the monetization channels for internet celebrities are actually extremely limited, and their value isn't as high as you might imagine. People like Yan Li are exceptions, even unique! Yan Li attracted a lot of money to buy their products through social media attention, which led to the creation of Tianjin Capital. But it won't work for others. Even if Yan Li sets an example and more people try this path, I can guarantee they won't succeed!"

"Definitely not, because they don't have you."

"That's not the reason either. It's because this path involves too much luck, so much so that no one can replicate it. Therefore, in my opinion, there are only two real paths for internet celebrities!"

"Which two?"

"Traffic entry point, live streaming e-commerce! Traffic entry point is not even the main thing, because it does not have a core competitiveness. You have traffic, but others have traffic. You can't control all the internet celebrities in the world. If you really want to have a core competitiveness, you have to do live streaming e-commerce. Uncle Song, these are the core secrets of my media company. You can't leak them to me, otherwise I will have a lot more competitors."

"Haha, no, no... I think I understand a bit, but... how do you plan to take over Tianshui Duck Industry?"

"President He has 15%, Qin Dong has 20%, and the people in the provincial capital should also have about 15%. That should be enough."

After thinking for a moment, Song Zhiyuan said, "I will definitely settle accounts with Qin Dong."

Pursuing Qin Dong is Song Zhiyuan's only way to break the deadlock.

He is in a very passive situation now, and this is the only way for him to gain a voice in the county.

After all, he had been building up his momentum for a long time.

He kept his eyes on Lin Lang and sensed some hesitation on Lin Lang's side.

However, he could not compromise on this point.

Even if concessions are to be made, they should be made after a thorough investigation.

But at that point, the extent to which he can compromise is not up to him.

He'll see if others are willing to cooperate with him; if not, he'll just explode!
He Qiang, standing to the side, didn't quite understand what was being said.

How did our conversation turn from dinner to Tianshui duck industry?
He does know a little about live-streaming e-commerce...

He did not comment on whether or not Qin Dong should be punished, because... Lin Lang would decide that matter.

Although he was indeed wronged in this matter, he would definitely cooperate fully with Lin Lang's needs, and it had nothing to do with turning hostility into friendship with Qin Dong.

December is almost over, and business has been exceptionally good in the second half of the month. He never imagined that selling used cars could be so profitable.

That's not making money, that's blatant robbery.

Anything that gets involved with the internet seems to completely change its nature.

In his mind, most used cars are made by deception, especially used luxury cars, which mainly make money through after-sales service and can't even sell a few a month.

Now, things are really messed up. He hired four customer service representatives, working in two shifts, but they still can't keep up with all the messages.

At this moment, Lin Lang had already made his decision, saying, "It's acceptable to settle scores with Qin Dong."

"Does Mr. Lin have any requirements?"

Lin Lang shook his head. "Pacifying Qin Dong is a normal procedure, and I can't possibly have any special requests. Here's the thing, my father will be getting a college diploma through correspondence courses in a couple of days, and he's a retired soldier and under forty-five years old..."

Song Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment before he understood what Lin Lang meant.

"No problem, it meets all the requirements..."

"That's fine. I'll take the leverage from Qin Dong, and I'll also take the leverage from the provincial capital. We should have a result within two weeks at most."

"Okay." Song Zhiyuan nodded.

The two have reached a consensus on the matter of Tianshui duck industry.

Then, Song Zhiyuan continued, "If I may ask, is Mr. Lin returning to Tianshui for a temporary stay or...?"

"Of course I'll be a permanent resident. And this time I came back with 10 billion yuan in cash, which I plan to invest in Tianshui County."

"what!"

When Song Zhiyuan heard the figure of 10 billion, his expression changed.

What is the concept of 10 billion?
Invest 10 billion yuan in a small county?

Besides surprise, his first thought was mostly one of confusion and unease.

What does Lin Lang want to do?
Tianshui County simply doesn't have a project that can accommodate 10 billion yuan.

After so many years of development, the county town has been perfected in all aspects, but its standards have not been able to be raised.

After all, the specifications are too high, and ordinary people simply cannot afford it.

Therefore, luxury products have little market in county towns.

For example, there isn't a single 4S store for a certain brand in Tianshui County; there are only a few car dealerships that sell all kinds of cars.

While there is indeed profit margin in those lower-end industries, Lin Lang certainly wouldn't be thinking of integrating all the resources in the county, would he?

How many companies would need to be integrated?

After all, the purpose of investment is to make money, and the things that make money in a county are scattered and disorganized.

Large projects are nothing more than tourism, real estate, or some processing plants. But these are also things that others are already doing.

Xinglan Real Estate has already acquired all of these large-scale projects.

Is Lin Lang going to enter the market and compete with Xinglan Real Estate?
This is actually not too bad; at most, Lin Lang will lose money, while others will receive benefits.

The fear is that Lin Lang will take 10 billion yuan and rush into other industries, trying to integrate all sectors of the county.

That would cause a huge mess.

"Which industry does Mr. Lin want to invest in?"

He definitely needs to find out the truth about this.

"Service industry".

"Do you have a specific direction? The county can also provide some assistance."

"First, there's the logistics center in the High-tech Zone. We hope the county can talk to Xinglan Real Estate; Dayu Media wants to acquire it. Also, a new company of mine wants to acquire a plot of land near Ziyun Mountain. It might be larger, mainly for commercial operations and some real estate development..."

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiyuan felt that the former was easier to deal with.

After all, Lin Lang acquired Tianshui Duck Industry to prepare for live-streaming e-commerce. He has money now, and even if he loses money by spending hundreds of millions to acquire the logistics center, he might not lose much.

But the latter...

Acquire land?

Commercial operations and real estate development?
The area around Ziyun Mountain is mostly mountains and rivers, it's so remote, what can you do there?
Cultural tourism real estate?

Xinglan Real Estate has already fallen into this trap. Their Nanliang Town project near Ziyun Mountain will probably be very difficult to sell.

But is Lin Lang really that stupid? A guy who can navigate the financial market with ease would inevitably want to achieve greater success and reap greater benefits in the real economy than he can in the financial market.

"Mr. Lin, I'm afraid this won't be enough to hold 10 billion yuan."

"I'm afraid 10 billion won't be enough. The area I want is about ten miles in radius. In addition to hotels and shopping malls, it also needs to include entertainment, scenic spots, and so on. 10 billion is just the initial investment."

Song Zhiyuan: "..."

No, does Lin Lang even know what 10 billion means?

Tianshui County's annual GDP is only two to three hundred billion yuan.

What is he planning to do, spending 10 billion?

If Ziyun Mountain were merely a scenic area, the cost would be less than 300 million yuan, which includes various amusement facilities and renovations of various projects.

Xinglan Real Estate, along with Nanliang Town and various supporting facilities, spent a total of about one billion yuan in Ziyun Mountain.

Ten billion is enough to build ten scenic areas that big.

Xinglan Real Estate has invested more than 3 billion yuan in cultural tourism real estate, and not just in the Ziyun Mountain project.

This is already considered a small number. The major real estate companies in China have at least dozens of cultural tourism real estate projects, and some have as many as two or three hundred, with a scale often reaching billions or even hundreds of billions, or even hundreds of billions.

For example, Ocean Flower Island alone has received an investment of 160 billion yuan.

He dipped his finger in the tea in his cup and drew a circle on the coffee table, saying, "Let's assume this is the land I want. Our core project will be various entertainment facilities. The most basic entertainment facilities will be developing a mountain, setting up a proper scene with things like mountain climbing, cable cars, and rafting. These are small projects. The bigger project is that we plan to build a city there, a city solely for entertainment."

There will be opera performances, acrobatic shows, traditional magic tricks… and of course, social entertainment that young people will enjoy. Our main focus is on a large-scale, live-action experience. Uncle Song probably knows about murder mystery games or escape rooms, right? What we're aiming for is a more immersive and participatory social entertainment activity.”

Lin Lang pointed to a spot within the large circle and said, "For example, this spot is a stage in the style of a martial arts world, covering only two thousand acres. It has inns, temples, bodyguards, brothels..."

"Ahem, a brothel... that's not appropriate..."

Song Zhiyuan quickly interrupted.

Lin Lang: "This is just an example. Once you enter this city, you'll need the city's currency. If you want to make money, you can work as a waiter, a guide, or even rob someone. You can also perform on the street—singing, dancing, doing somersaults… You can even set up a special exam, grade the papers on the spot, and if you pass, you can become an official and judge cases. What do you do with the money? We can hold a beauty pageant, with beautiful women and handsome men…"

Song Zhiyuan is actually very young, only in his early forties.

He could understand what Lin Lang was saying.

In the past, when there were fewer entertainment options, people could enjoy watching even a bad TV series. But now that the threshold for entertainment has been raised, people have naturally become more discerning.

Modern entertainment tends to be more personalized and has a certain novelty factor.

Of all the scenic spots in Tianshui County, only Ziyun Mountain is somewhat challenging, though the scenery there is beautiful.

Most so-called scenic spots are unable to attract young people at all. They rely entirely on travel agencies to entice tourists to visit.

As for middle-aged people?
Middle-aged men are not interested in anything. Unmarried men only want to get a foot massage, married men only think about paying off their mortgages, and on holidays they only want to lie at home.

Middle-aged women? Those with average families are always busy, while those with good families don't like places frequented only by groups of elderly people. They prefer to visit fashionable and luxurious places or popular spots.

The Lin Lang project is very much in line with the personality of young people, and its social attributes make it even more appealing.

"Mr. Lin, your project is excellent, but I'm afraid the profit expectations are only so-so..."

"Uncle Song, the profit forecast depends on your calculations. If it's short-term monetary revenue, then it's almost impossible to make money. But what if we consider the county's GDP? Or even bigger, what about overall consumer confidence? To put it bluntly, I have almost no desire to consume in the county town. There used to be a commercial center there, where clothes and shoes were synonymous with high-end goods. Many couples had to buy their wedding clothes there; they wouldn't accept anything bought elsewhere. But now? Not many people go there at all."

There are also various restaurants where a single bighead carp can cost over 200 yuan for a pot of soup. Even in some casual eateries, a clay pot rice dish costs 38, 58, or even 88 yuan. I'm not saying they shouldn't make that kind of money, but if they sell things for such high prices, everyone's salary must be very high, right? And what about salaries? How come there are still people earning 1,000 or 2,000 yuan a month everywhere?
Low wages and high prices were the final straw that broke the camel's back for small county towns. When a city can no longer retain its people, it gradually becomes unnecessary to exist. But can China's major cities accommodate so many people?

He Qiang couldn't understand what Lin Lang was saying.

However, Song Zhiyuan understood.

Looking at this from a higher perspective, the strategic value of Lin Lang's investment becomes apparent.

Lin Lang understands marketing and owns an influencer company. He currently controls tens of millions of views across the internet, and this number will only increase in the future.

"Is this how you monetize your traffic? After all, not every internet celebrity can do live-streaming e-commerce, but every internet celebrity has traffic."

Lin Lang did not deny it, which is part of the truth.

"These are the main factors. As someone who studied finance, I have some research on the global economy. I believe that the current economic development in China is abnormal and we need to explore a new money distribution system. Otherwise, the faster we go up the mountain, the faster we will come down."

(End of this chapter)