Chapter 78: Building a Hotel and Residential Community
Han Yunshang spoke first: "I think we should find a reliable workshop and send them some of our usual and everyday designs to make."
During this period, she bought a lot of ready-made clothes from well-known workshops and workshops that claimed to be reviving Hanfu. Although most of them were indeed very ordinary and could not be called exquisite at all, they were purely relying on the various rich fabrics provided by modern industry to make them look good. The details and workmanship were completely unacceptable, not to mention the style.
However, there are a few that are quite good and acceptable.
"However, these companies usually only do pre-sales, so they might not have the capacity to take our orders," Han Yunshang said, also feeling troubled.
They couldn't find ordinary garment factories; they had to find factories that could get high-end fabrics and do hand embroidery. So they had to go to places like Suzhou and Hangzhou to find garment factories that specialize in Hanfu.
Han Yushang nodded: "We can have the purchasing department ask."
Li Niang had a sudden inspiration and offered an idea: "Perhaps we could ask around at places that make wedding dresses. I went to the county a while ago and saw that they rented wedding dresses, including some antique-style ones, and some of the more expensive ones were hand-embroidered."
Han Yushang gave her an approving look and noted the information down.
The other embroiderers and weavers also chimed in, saying, "There aren't enough people. Could we recruit a few more?"
"Apprentices are fine too."
“Yes, apprentice!” Wang Xiuniang, always quick-witted, brightened up. “It would be such a pity if my exquisite gold-embroidered skills couldn’t be passed down. Han Shanggong, isn’t your peacock feather embroidery also like that?”
Isn't that what the system was worried about, which is why it summoned them into the cards?
In ancient times, these women would never easily pass on their unique skills to outsiders in order to ensure their own survival. But times have changed. Passing them on can bring fame and fortune, and also better protect the craft.
Everyone has come to terms with it.
Han Yushang smiled wryly: "I'm afraid even if we were willing to teach, not many people would be willing to learn what we do. The children need to go to school, and the older folks need to earn money to support their families..."
You can't earn much during your apprenticeship.
"Let's give it a try," the embroiderers all said. "Maybe someone will be willing. Perhaps we can hire someone with experience, so you can learn while you work."
Han Yushang pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's feasible. I'll talk to Director Su about it."
On the other side, the woodworking workshop.
"Many people have asked if we can offer some courses for adults, in addition to these parent-child courses for children," Xiang Erlang said to Master Li, while Xiang Sanniang was busy shaving flowers next to her.
Xiang Erlang and Master Li are the teachers on duty at the woodworking workshop today.
After testing the boundaries of his activities, Xiang Erlang was depressed for several days after returning. Then he figured it out and began to work hard to improve his skills, hoping to gain greater freedom one day.
He is a young man who is good at communicating with outsiders and is also familiar with various modern electronic devices and office supplies. Therefore, everyone loves to have him take turns being a teacher at the woodworking workshop, where he gets along very well with the children.
Master Li was there to oversee things, in case something tricky happened that Erlang couldn't handle.
As for Xiang San Niang, she was still in the stage of diligently practicing the basics. Her father left her with her brother, Xiang Er Lang, to teach her. So, wherever Xiang Er Lang went, she followed.
Xiang Erlang continued, "They all want introductory woodworking courses related to mortise and tenon joints, instead of the current courses that only teach children to make small toys. After completing the introductory woodworking course, they want to make something themselves, like a box or a stool."
Master Li's expression was quite varied. He couldn't understand why anyone would be willing to spend money and sacrifice their weekend to learn this.
Xiang Erlang: "...They say it's very stress-relieving. Besides, have you forgotten about Emperor Tianqi?"
Emperors all enjoyed carpentry!
Master Li gave a complicated look and nodded: "...Okay, I understand."
Xiang San Niang raised her head and said, "I saw a lot of comments on the video platform, many of which seemed to be left by colleagues. They all hoped that we would open an advanced training course, and they were willing to attend the class."
Xiang Erlang turned around and nodded, meaning that she should focus on her work and not get distracted. Xiang Sanniang gave him a funny face.
Master Li: "I need to discuss this thoroughly with the village head and the others."
This is equivalent to taking on an apprentice.
However, he felt that the village head and the others would most likely agree. Many things were different in this era than before.
......
Long queues formed in Qinghe Ancient Town, all for buying traditional Chinese medicine packets?
Is the "miracle doctor in the scenic area" a publicity stunt or just a publicity stunt?
"It really works! Locals in Qinghe City are raving about the amazing effects of these traditional Chinese medicine packets."
"Spending thousands of yuan to hire people to queue just to buy a Chinese herbal medicine packet originally priced at fifty yuan."
What exactly do those supposedly miraculous Chinese herbal medicine packets contain? We consulted a professional to reveal the secrets.
Lu Xiaoqi looked at the news headlines from various verified media accounts and self-media marketing accounts on her phone and couldn't help but sigh, Guanmaitang was really popular! Whether it was official media or marketing accounts, they all reported on the long queues at Guanmaitang over the weekend.
Some news media outlets even interviewed the people in line:
"Auntie, do you really think this is useful?"
The aunt looked at the reporter with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot: "It works! If it didn't, do you think we'd stand in line for so long if we had nothing better to do? We're not stupid, are we?"
Some people think the ancient town officials hired shills, while others think the ancient town is using scarcity marketing.
Netizens were arguing fiercely, while savvy individuals had already lined up or had someone place an order. Lu Xiaoqi seriously doubted whether every delivery rider in Anping County now had an annual pass to Qinghe Ancient Town.
"Annual pass sales are indeed very good!" the sales director said with a beaming smile. "Our annual pass users currently account for more than 30%, and in addition to local customers, nearly one-fifth of them are customers from surrounding cities and provincial capitals."
Lu Xiaoqi tapped the table: "Isn't it bad if there are too many annual card users?"
Everyone else looked over, clearly very interested in the matter.
"It depends on the situation," the sales director explained. "Generally speaking, maintaining a rate between 20% and 30% is a healthy ratio. If it exceeds that, then we need to make up for the ticket revenue from other sources, such as secondary spending after entering the scenic area, catering, and other things. In this regard, our scenic area's tourists have a very strong desire for secondary spending."
Individual expenses in Qinghe Ancient Town are not high; neither games nor restaurants are subject to the "tourist attraction prices" that people often complain about. Perhaps because of the good quality and reasonable prices, people are willing to spend money there.
Many annual cardholders even come specifically to make purchases.
For example, VR experiences, Song Sao Fish Restaurant, Guanmai Hall, etc.
"One of our current problems is that our customer base is relatively homogeneous, mainly consisting of tourists from Qinghe City and surrounding areas. However, we should know that tourists from afar have the strongest spending power," said the sales director.
Chen Yingying smiled and said, "Well, since we're already here, right?"
Everyone laughed.
That makes sense.
"Understood, expand the advertising reach further." She now has ample advertising funds; it's enough to cover several major first-tier cities. Lu Xiaoqi smiled: "It seems that Guanmaitang's recent online sensation has truly given us another free advertisement."
Publicity Director: "That's the magic of traffic! Otherwise, why would everyone go to such lengths to generate buzz?"
He also remarked that his scenic area was a natural magnet for online traffic, and that the Guanmaitang incident had generated such a huge news story even without hiring online promoters, saving them a lot of advertising costs!
Moreover, the staff in the scenic area all have a considerable number of followers online, and some are even big internet celebrities with millions of followers, making promotion much more effective.
The PR director always felt a little too comfortable, yet also a little ashamed, sitting in his position, even though he hadn't made any earth-shattering contributions...
He turned his gaze to Lu Xiaoqi, filled with admiration.
Although the boss is young, she thinks ahead. How did she come up with the idea of opening an MCN agency before opening her own business and supporting so many influencer accounts?
A visionary!
Moreover, she actually managed to find so many talented people for Qinghe Ancient Town!
Lu Xiaoqi felt a chill run down her spine from his eager gaze and subtly took a half-step back.
"There's another issue we need to pay attention to," Song Meina said, flipping through the feedback from frontline service staff. "Among the people queuing at Guanmaitang these past two days, many are resellers and scalpers. Shouldn't we also take some measures to regulate them?"
The sales director frowned: "Isn't this difficult to manage? It's perfectly reasonable for best-selling products to be sold through personal shoppers. Just like Disney and Sam's Club, they've supported a large number of personal shoppers, not to mention those who used to buy luxury goods from overseas."
The CFO nodded: "Anyway, they're just queuing and paying normally. And it's not just resellers; many tourists also queue multiple times because their families need the items, and we have purchase limits. They've come all this way, we can't let them not be able to buy anything, right? Even if we're making a profit, they've still queued for an hour or two, haven't they?"
Sometimes you have to admit that money should be earned by people like them who aren't afraid of hard work.
For operators, it's not like a hospital or railway station, where they don't have public service responsibilities. As long as there aren't a lot of complaints and grievances, whose money isn't money?
“That’s true…” Song Meina frowned, “but if scalpers are too arrogant, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among tourists.”
The publicity director firmly opposed anything that could damage the image of the ancient town and sided with Song Meina: "We still need to do something about it, otherwise they might go further and further astray."
Lu Xiaoqi asked her, "How's the situation these past two days? Have any tourists who couldn't buy anything complained?"
Song Meina shook her head: "Not yet. Guanmaitang was open until 10 p.m. yesterday, and the goods were almost sold out. In the afternoon, they started to discourage tourists who were behind them from leaving."
Although there were no complaints or grievances, most of the frontline service staff were in her department. If any issues or disputes arose, she would have to step in to handle them. Therefore, Song Meina chose to expose this potential problem in advance to avoid being blamed later.
"Scalpers who hoard goods and resell them at high prices certainly need to be controlled," said Chen Yingying, a master of diplomacy. "But I don't think it's necessary or possible to prohibit those who normally help with purchasing."
Lu Xiaoqi chimed in, "Okay, let's observe first. If anyone goes too far, like hoarding large quantities of goods and then selling them online at high prices, we can cancel their annual membership and blacklist their ID. We can also limit each person's purchases to three times."
For ordinary tourists, queuing three times is enough, and each queue takes more than an hour, so three queues would take up an entire afternoon. For personal shoppers, this allows them to make a small profit without hindering the purchases of regular tourists.
Ultimately, the problem stems from insufficient current production. Once production increases, everything will be resolved.
"Oh, right," she remembered, "we must crack down on scalpers at the Guanmai Hall for registration and medical appointments. This kind of behavior that prevents people from seeking medical treatment normally must not be allowed."
"Understood."
After the routine meeting, the CFO and Chen Yingying stayed behind.
......
Su Jun didn't arrive at the office building until the afternoon.
Just a few days ago, he got a new job—promoted from the boss's special assistant to the director of the workshop, in charge of the entire workshop in Zone 5. Zone 5 has been integrated into the workshop, and half of the artisans there were summoned from ancient times, making him the most suitable person to communicate with them.
Moreover, he was familiar with this job, which was similar to the role he played in the Northern Song Dynasty.
He was supposed to attend the regular meeting as per the rules, but He Jiangren called him away in the morning, saying there was a technical problem that needed to be solved, and he stayed there until the afternoon.
Only then did he have time to look at some of the problems and requests that came from the workshops in Zone 5.
The assistant in the production department is a college graduate who hasn't been around for long. He hasn't yet learned the ways of the seasoned professionals in the workplace. The reports he submits are all concise and to the point, with simple tables that clearly state the facts.
Su Jun likes this way of doing things.
He picked up the documents and prepared to go to Lu Xiaoqi's office—since being promoted to director, Su Jun had had his own office and had moved out of Lu Xiaoqi's office.
He had been working on things in Zone 7 these past few days and rarely came to the office. When he came in today, he felt that something was wrong with everything and then he inexplicably became a little sullen.
After sitting for a while, I found myself laughing at myself, and only then did I calm down and deal with the pile of documents that had been piling up.
After knocking on the door and hearing the familiar "Come in," Su Jun pushed the door open and saw Lu Xiaoqi nestled in a large executive chair, a long finger biscuit dangling from her mouth, looking at documents in a very unladylike manner.
Upon seeing it was him, Lu Xiaoqi quickly put her legs down from the table, pretended to tidy her appearance, and chuckled, "How is it, Director Su? Are you satisfied with the office?"
"Satisfied." Su Jun nodded, adding, "At least I don't have to hear snoring anymore."
Lu Xiaoqi: "...That wasn't snoring, it was just slightly heavier breathing, thank you."
A hint of a smile flashed in Su Jun's eyes.
Lu Xiaoqi looked at him, raised her eyebrows, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Has this guy finally returned to normal? Before, his attitude was so aloof... Ah, no, Lu Xiaoqi changed the adjective in her mind. This adjective was too ambiguous. It should be that his attitude was sarcastic and unpredictable, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Now it's all right.
She suddenly felt much brighter.
Su Jun placed the file on her desk: "These are some suggestions collected from Zone 5. I've marked some of the better ones; you can take a look."
Lu Xiaoqi flipped through it: "Hmm... we can throw it to them for discussion during the meeting on Monday."
She stood up from her chair: "You've come at the perfect time. Come on, let's go see a place together."
She then tried to pull him out the door.
It was Saturday, and not many people were working overtime in the office building. Su Jun followed behind her, a slight smile playing on his lips. He quickly realized it and coughed lightly to suppress it.
Lu Xiaoqi took him to the other side of the lake outside the ancient town.
The main entrance of Qinghe Ancient Town is now quite bustling. In addition to the police station, fire station, and bus stop, there are many more shops, offering everything from accommodation to dining. It looks even more lively than the commercial district in the county center.
But the other side of the lake is quite the opposite.
From the roads to the buildings, everything exudes an air of dilapidation and age.
“There aren’t many residents here anymore. Many have moved to the county center, and this garment factory closed down a long time ago.” Lu Xiaoqi pointed to the places along the roadside. Following her direction, there was a school. “The school is also going to relocate. The new campus has been built for a long time.”
Su Jun had his hands in the pockets of his down jacket. It was just an ordinary down jacket, but he made it look like a luxury brand.
"It's because this place is too remote, it can't develop." He saw the fatal weakness here at a glance.
Lu Xiaoqi nodded approvingly.
This area is more like an enclave separated by Qinghe Ancient Town. If you go through the ancient town in a straight line, it's not far from the bustling areas of the county, but if you go around Qinghe Ancient Town, it's much farther. In addition, Qinghe Ancient Town has been abandoned for several years, so this place has become increasingly deserted.
She took her hand out of the pocket of her fluffy coat, circled the large area, and said with a gleam in her eyes, "I plan to buy this whole area and build a hotel and a residential complex."
Su Jun asked in confusion, "The residential area?"
He knew about the hotel; it had been discussed at a previous meeting. But what about the residential complex?
"Of course it's for employees, it's like company-built housing?" Lu Xiaoqi felt a bit cold and put her hands back in her pockets. "Didn't I say I wanted to turn Zone 4 into a neighborhood where people could immerse themselves in ancient life?"
Su Jun nodded: "I remember."
Lu Xiaoqi sighed, "But now I feel that my previous ideas were a bit immature..."
The idea is good, but the details need to be discussed.
In her original plan, Zone 4 was to be entirely inhabited by the ancient staff she had summoned, creating an authentic ancient living atmosphere. However, many problems have now been discovered in its implementation.
First of all, there is a high probability that there won't be enough rooms; in fact, they are already a bit crowded now.
Furthermore, the employees living there need to wear ancient costumes and engage in the livelihoods of ancient people, such as selling tofu, weaving, and blacksmithing, completely replicating life in an ancient town. However, the ancient NPCs summoned now all have their own jobs and cannot stay in Zone 4 from morning till night.
Furthermore, if Zone 4 is designed purely as an antique-style residential area, will residents have to change into ancient costumes when they go home? That would be adding unnecessary burdens to them.
“We might need some professional actors,” Su Jun pondered. “For example, selling tofu or oil, as you mentioned… it’s hard to find people to do those kinds of things. Even if they have free time, they might not be able to act well.”
Everyone has work to do; only a few older women are free.
Lu Xiaoqi sighed: "So, I was too naive before."
She didn't want to abandon the idea, but many details and implementation aspects did need to be carefully considered.
"So I want to build a residential area..." Lu Xiaoqi returned to the main topic. Her face was red from the cold, like a snowball smudged with rouge. The white breath she exhaled blurred her eyebrows and eyes, which was then quickly blown away by the wind.
Su Jun took off his cashmere scarf and wrapped it around her neck, revealing only her round nose and strikingly bright eyes. Lu Xiaoqi, who was about to speak, was rendered speechless by his action and stared blankly at him.
"Alright." Su Junyun stepped back nonchalantly. "Just looking at you makes me feel cold."
Lu Xiaoqi coughed lightly.
Hmm... The scarf was quite warm from his body heat, and it seemed to still carry his scent, a faint, slightly spicy woody fragrance, almost imperceptible. He must have just come from the workshop.
"Thank you. Um, what was I saying again? Oh, the residential complex!" She awkwardly tugged at her scarf, revealing her lips, and suddenly didn't know what to say. After calming down, she spoke fluently, "So I think we should build a residential complex."
Because of his incoherent rambling, Lu Xiaoqi couldn't help but glare at him.
Su Jun curled his lips into a smile, and the frustration caused by the change of office instantly vanished.
Lu Xiaoqi: "After the community is built, you can live in Zone 4 if you want, but you will need to abide by the rules of Zone 4. If you don't want that much trouble, you can also live in this community."
This residential complex is essentially a company benefit; employees get a discount when buying. She also keeps some for herself to provide as dormitories for employees. Once she had this idea, she immediately told her parents to stop looking at houses and shops, since there were already options available here.
Su Jun agreed with her idea and was willing to buy one.
"What about this land? Can you get it?" he asked.
He now understands the current relationship between the government and land. To acquire land, one must obtain government permission. And the government won't sell land to you simply because you have money.
Lu Xiaoqi was in a good mood when this was mentioned: "Of course, I brought this up because there's been some progress."
She happened to meet up with Ren Zhijiao yesterday.
Ren Zhijiao told her that she now has absolute power in the bureau, and Qinghe Ancient Town has become a new calling card for Qinghe City in just one month.
"You have no idea how smug our director has been lately!" Ren Zhijiao laughed. "He perfectly embodies the saying, 'You used to ignore me, but now you can't even reach me.' All of this is thanks to you."
Their tourism bureau went from a neglected and unpopular department to a highly sought-after one, receiving commendations from the city and even the province on several occasions. The bureau chief, who had been sidelined for so many years, now has a new hope for his career.
Besides the tourism bureau, the county is also the biggest beneficiary.
They previously invested heavily in road construction, parking lots, bus stops, and other infrastructure—it was a gamble. If Qinghe Ancient Town didn't succeed, all that investment would be wasted, but now their gamble paid off.
Qinghe Ancient Town has brought a steady stream of visitors to Anping County.
Qinghe Ancient Town has now passed the trial operation stage and is no longer limited to a flow of 10,000 people. On weekends, the flow of people can reach 17,000 to 18,000, and on weekdays, the flow of people can be stabilized at around 12,000 to 13,000.
Although this visitor volume is not as high as that of established ancient towns and famous scenic spots, it is already quite good for a newly opened scenic spot. Moreover, everyone predicts that there will be a surge in visitors after the Spring Festival when the temperature warms up.
These visitors have brought significant economic benefits to Anping County, with every industry—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—benefiting.
Not to mention, Qinghe Ancient Town has directly created hundreds of jobs and generated substantial tax revenue for Anping County.
So when the Anping County government learned that Qinghe Ancient Town wanted to build a hotel, they immediately saw the potential of this piece of land on this side of the lake. If Qinghe Ancient Town could revitalize this land, they would be more than happy to do so.
Lu Xiaoqi had just learned that the previous owner of Qinghe Ancient Town had wanted this land, but because the garment factory had not yet closed down, the school had not yet relocated, and the original owner did not have enough money, he ultimately failed.
Su Jun nodded, not asking anything else, only asking her, "Do you have enough money?"
Lu Xiaoqi: "It should be fine. We should be able to get a good price for this land. And the bank is also very willing to provide loans for the subsequent expenses."
When you succeed, the whole world comes to kiss you.
However, Lu Xiaoqi disliked this statement. She felt it was because her success brought greater benefits to "the whole world." It was a win-win situation for everyone.
"That's good." Su Jun nodded.
Lu Xiaoqi looked at him and laughed: "You don't have to sell your face just because you're worried I don't have money."
Su Jun nearly choked on his own saliva, and angrily retorted, "...What nonsense is Liu Chan spouting to you?!"
What does it mean to sell your face?
Lu Xiaoqi smiled and said, "He said you were worried that the company wouldn't have enough money, so you're planning to debut."
If Liu Chan were in front of him right now, Su Jun would definitely give him a good beating, he swore. He now deeply regretted giving the scarf to Lu Xiaoqi; with the scarf, at least he could cover his face and not let her see his embarrassment.
“Actually, you don’t need to do this if you don’t like it,” Lu Xiaoqi said softly to him. “I hope that each of you can do what you like in this new era.”
They have already helped her a lot.
After no longer worrying about money, she felt particularly loving and peaceful, hoping that everyone would be well.
Su Jun raised his eyebrows, a warm feeling flowing through his heart.
That's just the kind of person she is.
"Don't worry, I have my own plans." He suddenly reached out and ruffled Lu Xiaoqi's hair, then quickly withdrew his hand, put his hands in his pockets, and walked in front of her: "Finished looking? Let's go. You were too pretentious to wear a down jacket, and now you're freezing like a quail."
Lu Xiaoqi was furious: "You can lose your head, but you can't mess up your hairstyle, don't you understand?! Besides, why do you talk so maturely at such a young age..."
The two walked back to Qinghe Ancient Town one after the other without any apparent hesitation.
"Come with me tonight to draw cards," Lu Xiaoqi remembered. "I've accumulated quite a few more."
Su Jun nodded: "Okay."
The card-drawing game should naturally wait until the ancient town closes for the day. It can't be too late either, because if it's too late, the ancient town will be deserted, and with security guards constantly patrolling, suddenly a few people appearing might make it seem like a ghost story.
Therefore, the best time is around 12 o'clock, when the sanitation has been completed, the cleaning staff are leaving, and the security guards have not yet started patrolling.
Midnight.
Standing in her auspicious vantage point, Lu Xiaoqi opened the card in the system space.
Because she was busy with the opening, she accumulated three more chances to draw cards this time.
Click to draw a card.
A purple-gold card floated in the system space.
Wow, not bad, it's an SSR right from the start.
Click to flip.
A line of small text appears:
"Without visiting Dongshan for a year, I return only to find it too late to plant the spring fields—Wang Wei."
[Character Attribute: SSR]
[Abilities: (Grayed out and not displayed)]
[Degree of freedom: High]
......
Lu Xiaoqi suddenly opened her eyes.
Wow! The very first card is a royal flush!
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