Entertainment Era: Starting with Teaching Sister Meng to Sing

This was the day after Wang Xiaozhou's live stream ended, and at this point, the people at the Chang'an Tourism Office had not yet realized that anything was wrong.

I just noticed that there were more people during the morning rush hour today.

Let's go back and check the ticket sales again. Hmm, today's performance was good. The ticket sales for all the major attractions in the city have met the target. The bonus should be paid, and we can have a hot pot dinner tonight.

Compared to the tourism office, the local railway and airport in Chang'an were probably the first to sense something was wrong. They were surprised to find that the number of tourists this summer seemed to be much higher than in previous years, and tourists from all over the country had almost filled Chang'an Station!

Both the train station and the airport, due to the massive flow of people, have arranged for employees who were on vacation to return to work overtime, but even so, they are still struggling to cope.

But they never expected that this would be their most relaxing day.

The next day, the exit of Chang'an Railway Station was almost paralyzed, with nearly half of the passengers disembarking from every train that arrived at the station.

That night, all the hotels in the city were fully booked, and taxis were in short supply. Everything in Chang'an was bustling with activity, especially Uncle Zhang's small restaurant.

These past few days, he's been so busy flipping the wok that he hasn't smiled at all. His face has completely lost its desire to make money; all he has left is the expectation of simply surviving.

"Dad, let's hold it in a little longer. Two more tables have come in outside, and now the line stretches all the way across the street."

Aunt Zhang leaned over the kitchen doorway and spoke cautiously to Uncle Zhang.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang threw down his ladle: "No way, I can't finish cooking this, I simply can't finish! I've been holding this in for two hours, if I wait any longer it'll dry out completely, I need to go to the toilet!"

......

Aunt Zhang looked at the customers in her small shop with a worried expression. It wasn't that she didn't want to do business, but she was just out of ingredients. She had been cooking here since she opened in the morning, and now it was past 10 p.m., and there was still a line outside. She really couldn't cook everything!

Let's rewind the timeline to the morning of the day after Wang Xiaozhou finished his live stream.

The group gathered at the hotel entrance. Wenye filmed some preview footage for everyone and asked Wang Xiaozhou if they had a next destination.

Wang Xiaozhou, of course, didn't. He got in the car and set off, going wherever the road took him.

Chang'an is not far from Sichuan and Chongqing. Wang Xiaozhou plans to try hot pot and spicy girls another time. He drove directly through Sichuan and Chongqing on the highway and arrived in Guishan.

Looking at the time, it wasn't even noon when they reached Guishan border. Wang Xiaozhou thought for a moment in the car, then suddenly had another idea:

"Hey everyone, let's not just rush on our way. Let's get off the highway and drive. We can just stay overnight wherever we end up, and make sure we get to Yunzhen by tomorrow night."

Wenye's voice sounded hesitant: "Should we get off the highway at Guishan? That's a bit dangerous. There are so many mountain roads here, and the mountains are big and high. If you're not a skilled driver, it's easy to run into trouble."

Bad driving skills?

Do you even know what master-level driving skills are?!

Wang Xiaozhou waved his hand and said, "It's a good opportunity to shoot some footage. We'll exit at the next highway exit. Don't worry, I'll be the lead car."

Since Wang Xiaozhou said so, Wenye had no choice but to obey. The group exited the highway at the next exit and took the national highway to continue their journey.

Now everyone truly realized just how treacherous the mountain road was.

I didn't notice it when we were on the highway because there were guardrails on both sides of the road and the road was wide. Even on the mountain road, you couldn't see much.

But the national highway is different. It's a narrow road where only one car can pass at a time, and if you look out, you can see a sheer cliff. Several novice drivers stopped their cars on the side and let the more experienced drivers take over.

The same group of people were still in Wang Xiaozhou's car: Mao Xiaotong, Meng Ziyi, and a photographer.

These three women weren't worried about Wang Xiaozhou's driving skills at all. After all, they hadn't been afraid at all riding in his car for so many days, whether on the highway or in the city. He always changed lanes and overtook other vehicles steadily and without any fear.

Furthermore, in mountainous areas, only those who can drive are afraid; those who can't drive don't care at all.

Therefore, Wang Xiaozhou will still drive this car himself.

As the lead vehicle, we encountered many beautiful sights along the way.

For example, while passing through a village, they saw a large patch of yellow flowers. They didn't know what kind they were, but they were very happy to encounter such a scene on their journey.

The girls came down to take pictures, and the boys were very accommodating in doing so. The blond guy even picked a flower, which was quite unusual for him, and it was unclear who he was going to give it to.

Seeing this, Wang Xiaozhou quietly walked up to him and whispered, "What do you mean? Is this for Cui Fangfang? Are you two still in contact?"

Wang Xiaozhou didn't know how to evaluate Cui Fangfang, a fish-raising expert. In short, he neither responded nor refused, and occasionally contacted Huang Mao to give people a glimmer of hope.

If she used this method on someone else, Wang Xiaozhou might even give her a thumbs up and call her a master.

But the fish-raising master fished his own brother like a fish, which made Wang Xiaozhou quite unhappy.

The blond-haired man nodded and then shook his head: "As for contact, ever since I filmed the short drama and movie with you, she's been contacting me more frequently."

"What do you want?"

Wang Xiaozhou was asking a question he already knew the answer to. A woman like Cui Fangfang is definitely materialistic. What could she possibly do by contacting Huang Mao? She'd just keep him hooked for now.

The blond-haired man remained silent for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something but actually saying nothing: "Maybe he wants to get to know you."

Wang Xiaozhou gave a forced smile: "You've really set your sights on her, and you're not planning to change later?"

Huang Mao hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "Her family took her to Yunzhen to play. I don't know if I should meet her, and even if I do, I don't know what decision to make."

Wang Xiaozhou, with a breath stuck in his chest, asked with some emotion, "Do you know why Cui Fangfang kept stringing you along? It's because your mother is one of the highest earners in the county."

"After learning that you were making a video with me, why was Cui Fangfang so eager to contact you? Because you yourself are very likely to become one of the people who make the most money."

Huang Mao knew this, of course, so he didn't dare to speak when questioned by Wang Xiaozhou.

Seeing Huang Mao's behavior, how could Wang Xiaozhou not know what he was thinking? He smiled and asked, "..."

"Tell me what you're really thinking. If we're not going to live a serious life, how about we just have some fun?"

The blond-haired guy's eyes lit up: "Can we play?"

Wang Xiaozhou laughed and asked, "Does that mean you want to play?"

The blond-haired man nodded vigorously: "Tell me quickly, how do we play? What do I have to do?"

Wang Xiaozhou held up a finger and shook it: "You don't need to do anything. When she contacts you again, just say that I've been really worried these days. I want to shoot a new movie, but I haven't been able to finalize the female lead. Once this news gets out, she'll naturally know what to do."

"Just tell her you can't find a female lead for your new movie?"

The blond-haired man seemed a little confused, but Wang Xiaozhou nodded: "It'll be a lot of fun."

Seeing that the female guests on the other side had already finished taking photos, Wang Xiaozhou smiled and patted the blond-haired guy on the shoulder: "After this battle, you'll be the blond-haired playboy!"

The blond-haired man nodded vigorously: "I'm willing!"

The group set off again, but the planned trip to Yunzhen the next day was no longer possible. They encountered so many beautiful sights along the way that everyone was in high spirits. They even got out of the car to try what the elementary school students had to eat when they passed by a rural primary school.

After traveling for almost two days, the group still hadn't left Guishan. Finally, Wang Xiaozhou received a call from an unknown number, and when he answered, he found out it was Xia Fanxing calling.

"When are you going to record the second episode? Is Yunzhen still going? The staff from the tourism office have already called me and said they want to reimburse all your travel expenses. They asked if you could arrive earlier."

"Why should we be reimbursed for our expenses?"

Wang Xiaozhou's tone was full of doubt, while the voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat helpless.

"You guys have had so much fun these past few days, you really think this trip is a vacation. Chang'an is already overcrowded because of you guys, and tourism offices in various places are eyeing you, wanting to add a stop to your variety show to attract more tourists."

"Is Chang'an overcrowded?"

Wang Xiaozhou was genuinely unaware of this. The key point was that Uncle Zhang from Chang'an was a very considerate person. Despite exhausting himself, he didn't call Wang Xiaozhou to complain at all, which led to the delay in receiving the information.

"What does Yunzhen mean by just covering our travel expenses and that's it?"

"If that's the case, we can change our destination now, and I believe the snow region will welcome us."

Once he understood the crux of the matter, Wang Xiaozhou immediately changed his attitude.

Xia Fanxing, looking like she'd known all along, said, "I'm starting to suspect you planned this all along. The reason you haven't gone to Yunzhen's livestream yet is just to swindle him. Tell me what you want, money?"

Wang Xiaozhou grinned mischievously, "They definitely won't be able to come up with much money, but they can't just sit idly by and do nothing since I've brought them so much traffic. Contact them and tell them that we're going to Yunzhen to do a live stream, and the relevant local departments must cooperate with us and allow us to open or contract out a certain scenic spot."

The sudden news gave Wang Xiaozhou a lot of ideas; perhaps he could pull off something big with Yun Zhen this time.

Xia Fanxing was still a little surprised: "Is that all the simple requirements?"

"It's that simple."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Fanxing immediately contacted Yunzhen's staff.

Wang Xiaozhou immediately arranged for people to set off, taking the highway directly, hoping to arrive in Yunzhen before dark today.

I believe that if they're not out of their mind, they'll definitely agree to my request. So I need to start preparing today, and tomorrow I'll do a live stream to warm up the hype. I'll try to come up with a big surprise over the next three days; that's what makes the game more interesting.

I heard that we're leaving Guishan today, and the people in the team seem quite disappointed. Everyone was too relaxed on this trip; nobody treated it like a job. Everyone was just having fun and having a blast.

Now that Wang Xiaozhou has said he's going to start working, everyone is still getting used to it.

On the highway, Xu Min managed to hitch a ride with Wang Xiaozhou and his group. In front of Meng Ziyi and Mao Xiaotong, Xu Min didn't dare to strike up a conversation, but sat in the back seat and asked curiously:

"I overheard your phone call. Such a great money-making opportunity, why don't you ask Yunzhen for the money? What's the point of getting them to cooperate with our filming?"

Wang Xiaozhou smiled and said, "An organization like theirs, even if they asked for money, how much could you possibly get? They might be poorer than you personally. Getting them to cooperate with the filming is already quite good. At least the quality of our program is guaranteed. Once the number of viewers increases, the money will naturally be plentiful."

Xu Min, seemingly understanding but not quite, whispered to Wang Xiaozhou with a hint of admiration, "You're really amazing, you know everything. When I was your age, I was just watching anime all day and playing around like an idiot."

Upon hearing this, Meng Ziyi and Mao Xiaotong both frowned. To put it bluntly, they smelled a hint of green tea.

Both girls could see it, and Wang Xiaozhou certainly could too, but he definitely wouldn't say it, since that scoundrel of a man just loves that kind of thing.

"Is he that great? I don't think so. I was a star when I was his age."

Meng Ziyi replied with a smile.

Xu Min, of course, wouldn't refute her. She smiled and said, "You are all very capable people. Someone like me, who is almost forty years old and still a second-tier actor, of course I envy him, and of course, that includes you too."

Mao Xiaotong squinted: "Envy others is useless; you should work hard yourself. Did you work hard today?"

Saying the most hurtful things in a joking tone seems to be a skill every woman possesses.

But Xu Min was clearly very skilled; she didn't feel hurt at all and said to Wang Xiaozhou with a smile, "I heard there's a really good grilled fish place in the Yunzhen Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon service area. Can we make it there today? Should we try it?"

Wang Xiaozhou glanced at Xu Min sideways. He knew there was a good grilled fish restaurant in the Dali Temple service area, but that was a place he had discovered while traveling around after he was disheartened in his previous life. He didn't realize that Xu Min's taste was quite similar to his own.

"Okay, but Meng Ziyi doesn't eat fish. You guys can eat at the service area, and we'll go to another restaurant."

"snort."

Meng Ziyi raised her chin and looked at Mao Xiaotong with a smug expression.

These two girls never considered Xu Min a rival; they both knew that the other was the biggest threat to them.

However, Mao Xiaotong didn't seem to mind. She chuckled softly in the car, "We were filming in Shanghai the other day. You love eating fish, don't you? You and Ziyi go over first, and I'll get a fish from the shop and bring it over to eat with you."

Wang Xiaozhou inexplicably recalled a saying from his past life: women generally control men by making them unhappy, while "green tea" women generally control men by making them happy.

This statement applies perfectly to Mao Xiaotong. Regardless of whether she's a "green tea" or not, Wang Xiaozhou is definitely enjoying himself right now.

The car stopped at the service area, and the group split into two groups. Xu Min took everyone to eat fish, while Wang Xiaozhou and Meng Ziyi went to another restaurant to wait for Mao Xiaotong to bring the food over.

Just then, a staff member at the service area noticed this place, his eyes lit up, and he immediately went over to greet them:

"Hello, is this Brother Xiao Zhou?"

At first, Wang Xiaozhou thought it was a fan who wanted to take a photo, so he smiled and nodded: "Hello."

Unexpectedly, after receiving Wang Xiaozhou's response, the other side seemed quite excited:

"Brother Xiaozhou, if I may ask, are you here at Dali Temple to film a TV show?"

Wang Xiaozhou replied nonchalantly, "No, I was just passing by."

The other person's expression immediately turned anxious: "Brother Xiaozhou, our Dali Temple area is perfect for your filming. It's a tourist city with beautiful scenery. Could you consider filming here?"

Wang Xiaozhou raised an eyebrow: "Filming here?"

The visitor nodded repeatedly: "Yes, our tourism office can cover all your filming expenses here. As long as you are willing to stay at Dali Temple to film, we are willing to fully cooperate with anything."

"Are you from the tourism bureau?"

Hearing the people talking, Wang Xiaozhou realized he had misunderstood. This guy wasn't a fan of any service area, but a staff member of the tourism office.

"Yes, we couldn't reach you by phone. We've been waiting for you here for days."

Wang Xiaozhou narrowed his eyes, instantly recalling what Xu Min had just said about how delicious the grilled fish was:

"Why are you waiting for me here? Who told you you could wait for me here?"

The person bowed slightly: "No one said we could wait for you here, but didn't you mention on the show that your next stop was Yunzhen? Knowing you were on a road trip, the tourism offices of all the cities and prefectures in Yunzhen had people waiting at the service areas just to wait for you."

"oh..."

Wang Xiaozhou then realized he had misunderstood, and after a brief silence, he smiled and said:

"What's your name?"

"Zhang Kui, the Kui of Li Kui."

Zhang Kui's self-introduction amused Wang Xiaozhou. Perhaps he had encountered too many illiterate people, as they all knew to include the names of famous people when they said their names.

"The name sounds nice, but we won't be filming the show here. Maybe we'll have a chance to stay for a few days if we pass by Dali Temple on our way back."

Wang Xiaozhou's refusal was a polite way of saying no. Zhang Kui looked somewhat disappointed. If he could keep Wang Xiaozhou at Dali Temple to film a program together, he wouldn't have to worry about his performance this year, and might even be promoted to a higher official position.

Despite being refused, Zhang Kui still smiled and said goodbye to Wang Xiaozhou, even telling the service staff at the service area that he would pay the bill for the table.

Before Wang Xiaozhou could refuse, Zhang Kui's figure had already disappeared.

Mao Xiaotong, who came in later, asked who that person was and what he did.

Mencius said sourly, "I wanted to invite Boss Wang to stay at Dali Temple to spend money, but Boss Wang didn't agree. He even paid the bill. If he had agreed, who knows what kind of treatment he would have received."

Mencius Yi is now feeling quite threatened.

Back in the county town, when she was in school, she only felt lucky to have found such a capable boyfriend.

But after she actually got together with Wang Xiaozhou and entered the workforce, she realized that her boyfriend was too capable. The downside of being too capable was that he was too attractive to others, like Mao Xiaotong in front of her.

Mao Xiaotong put down the takeout grilled fish, rested her chin on her hand, and waited for Wang Xiaozhou to serve her rice, while smiling as she said:

"Xiao Zhou's popularity is soaring. During our last live broadcast finale, there were over 400,000 viewers. That song, 'The People of Chang'an,' stayed on the hot song chart for several days and is still at number one. Of course, they want to capitalize on this popularity."

Now, Mao Xiaotong no longer hides her admiration for Wang Xiaozhou in front of Meng Ziyi, and her favorability towards him is soaring, completely different from before.

Meng Ziyi could also sense Mao Xiaotong's change, and without giving Wang Xiaozhou a chance to reply, she interrupted and asked:

"The Dali Temple invited you, but you're not interested. So where shall we go next? The city of romantic encounters?"

Wang Xiaozhou shook his head and said, "That's no fun. Let's play something no one else has seen before. Jingli, the world's jade gambling city, what do you all think?"