72 Luodu

The two chatted on WeChat until very late. Ye Zhenzhen drifted off to sleep in the early hours of the morning, and naturally woke up late the next day.

As soon as I opened the window, a blast of cold air blew away all my drowsiness.

Ji Tiantian combed her hair and was about to set out the meal when Ye Zhenzhen waved her hand to stop her.

"It's kind of boring for just the two of us to eat. Let's go next door and mooch a meal."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left, but the black leopard lying by the bed immediately followed. Ji Tiantian had no choice but to go out and notify the kitchen.

When they arrived at Gu Tingshen's courtyard, the father and son were already up, staring at each other in front of the mirror.

Gu Tingshen transmigrated into the body of a poor scholar, and had no maids or servants to attend to him.

The clothes are fine, I figured I'd put them on.

Hair, however, is a big problem.

Despite his skillful hands and cleverness, the CEO managed to neatly comb Gu Sinan's hair, but he was powerless to do anything about his own mess of real and fake hair.

After sending Gu Sinan out to play with the black leopard, Ye Zhenzhen stepped forward, took the comb, and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. "Sigh, how could you go out if I didn't come?"

"If you hadn't come, I would have just gone out with my hair down like this." Gu Tingshen sat upright, seemingly unperturbed by his long hair.

"Oh, so I came all this way for nothing." Upon hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen shoved the comb into his hand, turned around, and said, "Just go out like this, all disheveled!"

But his hand was being held tightly, and he couldn't break free. He frowned and said in a harsh voice, "Let go of me! I'm going to eat!"

"Just kidding," Gu Tingshen smiled at his reflection in the mirror, then placed the comb back in her palm. "Brother, please help me tie up this messy hair."

“It’s not impossible,” Ye Zhenzhen said, becoming increasingly arrogant, raising her chin. “Come on, beg me?”

A strand of hair fell beside Gu Tingshen's face, softening his sharp features. At this moment, the corner of his eye lifted upwards, making him appear even more alluring.

A look of amazement flashed in Ye Zhenzhen's eyes. She swallowed hard, and for some reason, she thought of the male fox spirit in Chinese mythological stories.

She was still in a daze when she saw the man beckon to her with his finger.

She lowered her head as if possessed, and heard the man's deep voice say in her ear, "Zhenzhen, please."

The rustling sound at the end of her sentence seemed to have hooks, scratching at her heart. Ye Zhenzhen shuddered, her ears instantly burning.

She jumped to her feet, and when she met the man's leisurely gaze in the mirror, Ye Zhenzhen felt even more ashamed and indignant.

However, since she had started this herself, she could only glare at him resentfully and focus on dealing with his hair.

However, her face reflected in the mirror was as pink as peach petals, and her peach blossom eyes were filled with water. Her glare was not dangerous, but rather seemed like a coquettish act, which made people's hearts soften.

Gu Tingshen thought, "This must be the pleasure of the boudoir that the ancients spoke of."

Next time I can try drawing her eyebrows...

---

After breakfast, everyone was free to do as they pleased. Ye Zhenzhen and Gu Tingshen wandered around the city, wanting to explore just how big this ancient city of Luodu really was.

As I walked along, I came across a jewelry store.

Thinking of the grand lantern festival a few days ago, she became interested and stepped inside.

The shop's decor was meticulous, featuring a full set of wooden furniture with antique carvings. However, the merchandise was poorly made, clearly sourced from a small commodity market, and most customers only glanced around before leaving.

"Shopkeeper, this shop is quite large and located in a busy area. Why don't you stock up on more goods and run the business properly?"

Disappointed and feeling it was a real pity, Ye Zhenzhen couldn't help but ask the owner behind the counter.

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper looked helpless: "To my shame, due to my poor management, this family business, passed down through generations, is on the verge of collapse. Forget about buying goods, even feeding my wife and children is a problem. I'm currently thinking of selling this shop..."

"Sigh, what a pity." Ye Zhenzhen shook her head and turned to leave.

Fengming's traditional craft series is a perfect fit for this place. It would be really interesting to open a shop here, have a few staff dressed in traditional costumes, and let customers experience the craft...

After wandering around the entire street, she realized that yesterday's lantern festival was an exceptional event, probably specially arranged by Jiang Wei for the program crew to film. The shops she visited today were just empty shells, completely different from her imagined time-travel journey.

“These buildings were built with great care,” Gu Tingshen said gently, seeing her dejected appearance. “It’s just that completely restoring an ancient city would be too expensive and probably beyond our capabilities.”

"They invited our program team here, definitely to increase our visibility and attract tourists. I heard that this ancient city was rebuilt according to the capital of a certain dynasty, and it is grand in scale, rationally laid out, and the architecture is quite ingenious."

It would be such a waste if, after such a great initial foundation, it ended up being just another generic food street or small commodity market.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed, clearly showing her deep regret. "Many ancient cultural streets in China, apart from the ancient-style architecture, are completely filled with modern shops inside. They lack uniqueness and are highly homogenized, which can easily cause tourists to feel aesthetically fatigued."

As they walked and talked, Ye Zhenzhen became completely absorbed in her worries about the future development of this ancient city.

Gu Sinan followed behind the two with her short legs, listening quietly and calmly.

Seeing that their enthusiasm for sightseeing had completely vanished, Gu Tingshen simply pulled them into a teahouse.

The waiter led them upstairs to the second floor, past a screen, and the group sat down in a private room by the window.

Gu Tingshen poured tea for everyone and said with a smile, "Young Master Ye comes from a wealthy family. If you have any properties that catch your eye, you are welcome to take them over and run them. You could also ask the local officials for a meeting and offer some advice. That would be doing your best."

Ye Zhenzhen's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Exactly! Since they're going to develop it anyway, we can just use a different development method!

---

Chen Jing, her hair a mess, was pulled from the office by her secretary, Xiao Lin. She was initially bewildered when she was shoved into an SUV, then flew into a rage. "I was on the phone with President Li! I finally managed to get an appointment with this money-maker, what am I going to do if he gets away?!"

Luodu's initial investment was too large, already draining her savings. If she couldn't attract more investment, not only would this ancient city, which had consumed so much of her effort, be abandoned, but her company would go bankrupt, and all her employees would have to go home and starve!

"Mr. Li is in foreign trade, he has no interest in us at all, what kind of god of wealth is he!" The secretary, driving the car, was even more excited than her. "The real goddess of wealth is waiting for you in Luodu!"

---

After making up her mind, Ye Zhenzhen first called Director Jiang over to the camera, and then shared her idea with the other guests. Before long, everyone had gathered in the teahouse.

The waiter moved them to a larger private room to make it easier to discuss their business.

Chen Jing, dressed in a black down jacket and sporting a neat short haircut, paused for only a moment upon seeing so many people after coming upstairs. Then, she put on a cheerful smile and greeted everyone in a generous manner.

She and Jiang Wei are acquainted; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to bring in the team for this currently popular program.

The other guests were also familiar faces on screen; she had done her research beforehand and they were not strangers to her.

After sitting down again, Chen Jing turned to the family of three dressed in ancient costumes, their appearance exquisite beyond compare, and asked in a serious tone, "I heard you want to invest in Luodu?"

The Luodu development project was like a money-devouring beast, having drained all her savings. In order to keep Luodu afloat, she begged and pleaded, finally managing to get in touch with "Let's Go Traveling," and gritted her teeth to use her last funds to organize yesterday's lantern festival.

They were hoping the show would gain popularity and attract tourists and investment. They never expected that people would rush to invest money even before the show aired.

And it's a large conglomerate like the Ye Group! Even if the Ye Group doesn't get involved, the resources that CEO Ye has are far beyond what someone of her size can compare to!

Her mind was filled with only one thought: "Luo Du is saved!!"

After a brief encounter, Ye Zhenzhen discovered that although this person's name was Chen Jing, he was actually very decisive and had nothing to do with Shen Jing.

However, she always held career women in high esteem.

She was just lucky; her assets were inherited from her ancestors. The man in front of her, however, was a truly capable and visionary entrepreneur.

“Specific investments will be discussed with you later,” Ye Zhenzhen said with a sincere smile. “Today, I wanted to talk to you about Luodu’s future plans. Yesterday’s lantern festival was a great experience for me; it felt like I had truly traveled back to the Lantern Festival in ancient times. It was completely different from other ancient cultural streets in China, and it was very refreshing.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Jing immediately sat up straight. "You're right. When we first built Luodu, our idea was to let tourists immerse themselves in ancient life. But it's easier said than done. A lantern festival, not counting the scenery and props, just hiring people costs a lot. It's too difficult to keep a city running."

“If it's all funded by investors, it's really too difficult, it's practically a bottomless pit,” Ye Zhenzhen said with a smile that crinkled her eyes. “But what if we let tourists act as NPCs? Just like playing a city-building game, tourists can choose a profession, like working as a yamen runner or clerk in the government office, applying to be a chef or waiter in a restaurant, or even paying to take over a shop and run it themselves. Players who like farming can even apply to settle down and cultivate the land…”

“In this way, just like in an online game, the official only needs to issue tasks!” Chen Jing instantly grasped the wonder of this gameplay. “There’s no need to hire a large number of NPCs. As long as we set up a management team and establish the government office, it can operate like a real city!”

"This sounds fun! Does it have a general system? I'll find a piece of land, build a military camp, and pay for it myself, as long as I can become a general!" Liu Wei got excited as soon as he heard this. My dream of becoming a general might come true!

Everyone immediately became interested and started brainstorming.

"Should we sell the house? I've got my eye on this courtyard in the Zhou family mansion," Zhou Haitao said to Lan Nuo, stroking his fake beard. "I'll bring my parents over to live with us later, and we can also get together with our friends."

"The houses and shops are only for rent, not for sale. This land is state-owned." Chen Jing's secretary said with a careful smile.

“We can also add a currency system, just like exchanging game currency. You can exchange copper coins in the city, and use paper money for large transactions, since there was also Jiaozi in ancient times,” Ye Zhenzhen added after thinking for a moment.

"Oh, then can I form a theatrical troupe?" Wang Liqing said thoughtfully, "It would give the children more opportunities to perform on stage."

"Hehe, Sister Liqing, now that your opera troupe is set up, can our Taoyao kids come? They've at least studied opera before." Ye Zhenzhen thought of the trainees in her own company; this was a rare opportunity for them to hone their skills.

The company has limited resources, and there aren't usually many stages for them, but it's much easier in Luodu. Actors can hone their acting skills by becoming NPCs, and idols can perform live with opera troupes. I'm a genius!

"I want to buy that jewelry store. I've even thought of a name for it: Fengmingxuan!" Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, she felt even more confident in her idea. She tugged at Gu Tingshen's sleeve and said, "This time it's the Lantern Festival, but we can also hold events for other traditional festivals, like the ancients celebrating Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival... Isn't that super interesting?"

Gu Tingshen gazed at her bright smile, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.

He nodded with a smile, handed her a cup of tea, and waited for her to drink it down before slowly saying, "Then I'll open an inn. Travelers from all over the country will need a place to stay."

"We still need to find professionals to handle many details. We'll borrow a few experts in cultural tourism development from the old man later. Fengmingxuan will be open for business soon, as the goods and staff are already in place. The most urgent task is promotion!" Ye Zhenzhen finally remembered the forgotten director in the corner. "Director Jiang, do you think we should quickly edit out an episode to promote Luodu?"

“That’s not difficult. We’ve already shot quite a bit of footage; two episodes should be enough.” Jiang Wei revealed a sly smile. “However, would President Chen be interested in personally filming a promotional video for Luodu?”

Chen Jing: ? ? ?