Chapter 84

“Hello? Jin, I’ve got a money-making project here — want to join in?”

In the middle of the night, Wei Sheng directly called Jin Yannan.

In their line of work, nine o’clock at night was when inspiration struck — who could sleep at that hour?

Jin Yannan had just coaxed her son to sleep, made herself an iced Americano, and was about to open her laptop to review a script when she got Wei Sheng’s call.

“Where are you off making money again? Thanks for thinking of me, though. Spill it! What’s the project that’s worth waking me up at this hour?”

On the other end, Wei Sheng flashed a grin at the leaders of Jiangdong Town and gave Jin Yannan a quick rundown of the mining theme park project — but the real highlight was the homestay renovation plan.

“I remember last time when the show was screening guest applicants, there were lots of professionals with hotel and homestay management experience, right? With tourism so tough in the country now, it’s not easy for them to find decent jobs. Jin, why don’t our two shows do a dream crossover?”

“That way, we help Jiangdong Town recruit a batch of professional homestay managers, and we solve our show guests’ employment problems too. Two birds with one stone, no?”

Jin Yannan was genuinely impressed by this kid’s creative brain.

“But you still haven’t told me how we make money.”

Ahem — as a director skilled at making people cry, Jin Yannan knew one truth well: all deep, unwavering love and heartbreaking sorrow rests on an economic foundation.

Ask someone starving to death whether they’d rather find a way to eat or starve themselves as a funeral offering for their lover.

Romeo and Juliet don’t happen that often in real life…

Director Jin, queen of tear-jerkers, could only produce such moving slices of life thanks to generous sponsors and not get her shows axed by the network.

Wei Sheng rolled his eyes on the phone.

If this didn’t tie into Jiangdong Town’s industrial plan and so many villagers’ livelihoods, he’d absolutely make Director Jin pay him a planning fee this time.

“Does someone like me need to tell an expert like you how to profit? Think about it, Jin — how many brands are involved in renovations alone?”

“Just the basics: paint, diatom mud, wallpaper, flooring, tiles, wood panels, plus all the home appliances, furniture, linens, bathroom fixtures, lighting…”

“I’m telling you, Jin — if you don’t do it, I’ll sell this idea to Director Wang instead…”

“Do it! Do it! Teacher Wei, you can’t be a traitor! You’re one of our show’s resident guests on The Wage Earners — more sponsors only benefit us!” Jin Yannan immediately claimed this “dream crossover” plan for herself.

“I haven’t seen any benefit for us resident guests yet. The appearance fee in the contract is fixed, you know.” Wei Sheng said dryly on the phone.

How could Jin Yannan not know what he was angling for?

“Relax! If this crossover works, it’ll be like you filmed two shows at once. I’ll talk to Old Wang and try to get you a few more days off!”

Now that sounded better.

Teacher Wei was finally satisfied.

On the other side, watching Wei Sheng so easily PUA a provincial TV director, the cadres of Jiangdong Town were dripping with sweat. They finally understood what they had just gone through…

This “Jiangdong Town Mining Theme Park Prep Team” was supposed to be Jiangdong Town’s show, but at the very first meeting, they’d been led around by the nose by Wei Sheng.

Teacher Wei, the true master of psychological manipulation!

Still, this dream crossover idea made both Wang Qun and Jin Yannan very pleased.

Normally, their audiences didn’t overlap much. Besides a few fans of the regular guests, those who liked inspirational poverty-relief shows and those drowning in debt looking for jobs were rarely the same crowd — after all, people hustling three side jobs a day usually don’t have time for variety shows… cough!

But if the two shows crossed over? Heh heh —

Mutual promotion would double the audience base overnight.

Both sides were already scheming to poach each other’s viewers. Director Jin and Director Wang exchanged knowing smiles over video call — they didn’t even need Wei Sheng to stir the pot; they started quietly competing on their own.

With Jin Yannan, a pro at handling big sponsors, on board, Jiangdong Town’s financial strain was instantly no longer an issue.

When Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation returned to Jiangdong Town for its second shoot, Jin Yannan also organized a “sponsor scouting tour,” inviting a batch of potential brands to visit.

Wei Sheng hadn’t been wrong — home renovation could pull in a mountain of sponsor brands!

Once word got out that she was doing a crossover with the trending Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation to renovate the abandoned miners’ dorms in Jiangdong Town, good lord — the script wasn’t even drafted yet, and over a hundred sponsors were already calling in to sign up!

Who knew the domestic home renovation industry was this cutthroat?

Jin Yannan and her team carefully screened and interviewed more than a dozen companies before locking in the first round of prospective partners.

But business deals aren’t so easy — Jin Yannan wanted sponsors’ money, and the sponsors wanted to see if the show was worth it.

So Jiangdong Town welcomed a very special “scouting team.”

Unlike last time, this time the four resident guests of Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation were sidelined, while the professionals the production team invited became the main filming focus.

Wang Qun’s sister-in-law, Qian Lai, not only brought her own team but also invited two scriptwriting heavyweights she regularly worked with to do immersive fieldwork and start on new murder mystery concepts. She and her team dove straight into the construction site to help transform the miners’ dorm into a themed experience venue.

Wang Qun even brought in an old neighborhood renovation expert from the Provincial Planning & Design Institute to advise on reinforcing the dorm structures.

Meanwhile, the TV station’s cultural development team went door-to-door with the local cultural center to unearth traditional elements for a full set of mining-themed cultural merchandise for Jiangdong Town…

“Wow — your team’s an all-star lineup!” The brand reps were dazzled. If not for saving Jin Yannan’s face, they would’ve switched camps on the spot and asked Wang Qun if he needed more sponsors too. Cough — who says one company can only sponsor one show?

If you have money, you can be that capricious!

Sponsors can demand their spokespersons avoid rival brands, but they themselves can sponsor countless channels — money talks.

Beyond the publicity, the devastated Jiangdong Town left the sponsors genuinely moved.

Anyone qualified to represent a company at an investment tour had lived through those turbulent years. Back then, being a coal miner was gold.

Put it this way: if a family had someone working in a coal mine, they’d never go hungry.

The benefits and pay for miners back then were on par with today’s big tech engineers — food, housing, and transportation all covered. Some miners even brought their wives and kids to live on-site — one salary could feed an entire household.

Who could have imagined that when the tide of the times abandoned these people, it wouldn’t even bother to say goodbye.

From once-envied iron rice bowls to the decline of the coal mining industry—some private mines later couldn’t even hire miners and had to collude with shady middlemen to pay for workers…

The sponsors’ sighs reached their peak when they saw the miner dormitories that had been abandoned for years.

“Director Jin, say no more. For this episode, Songlin Home Furnishings is in!”

“We at Green Forest Eco-Friendly Panels are in too!”

“And us—Jinwu Lighting as well!”

There was simply too much that needed renovating in these old miner dorms. Honestly, if they didn’t care about the show’s dramatic effect, tearing them down and rebuilding would be totally feasible.

But the show wanted exactly that dramatic transformation: to turn rows of derelict, crumbling dorms into cozy, welcoming mine-themed guesthouses—thanks to the generous sponsorships of countless brands. And the required renovation materials, furniture, and décor? An endless list!

Most importantly, this wasn’t just any residential real estate.

They’d already seen the town’s preliminary plan for these mine-themed guesthouses. Once renovated, they would become Jiangdong Town’s first batch of rooms to host tourists!

What did that mean?

It meant that by using their branded products in this renovation project, every single guest who checked in would directly experience just how good their products were…

Think about it carefully: for a well-furnished guest room, let’s say its lifespan is ten years. That means for ten straight years, all these guesthouses would serve as free, high-frequency promotion platforms for their brands!

The more slow-witted sponsors were still hesitating over how much to pay.

The savvy ones had already quietly added Jiangdong Town’s officials on social media.

Because hey, if there’s a first batch of rooms, there’s bound to be a second and third phase down the line, right?

Even if the show only filmed two seasons, as a socially responsible national brand, they could absolutely build a long-term partnership with Jiangdong Town outside of the show!

For example, they could offer to sponsor all future guesthouse renovation materials for free—meaning the town wouldn’t have to spend a penny—so long as after renovation, they could have a little display area inside the rooms… or maybe a small plaque where their brand was used.

After all, that’s ten years of sustained, targeted exposure!

Guests who could afford to stay in a guesthouse and spend extra money to play at the Mine Mountain Theme Park—most of them were ideal potential customers!

So, Jiangdong Town not only solved the design competition’s renovation fund and prize money issues, but unexpectedly secured a huge pile of free home furnishing materials!

Best of all, because these were for brand display, even a fool could tell that the furniture and materials used for the miner dorm renovation would be the best each brand had to offer…

So Wei Sheng really hadn’t lied to them!

Winning over Jin Yannan meant winning over a whole wave of big-name sponsors!

And with these sponsors on board, what renovation fund? What prize money? It was all just a matter of naming rights!

In the past, the town leaders had run around every year, begging for scraps to fund the rebuilding of unsafe housing—smiling so much their faces went stiff—yet it was never enough.

But now, following Wei Sheng’s method, they hadn’t even treated the sponsors to a meal, and the sponsors themselves came knocking with money and supplies, practically begging to cover all the renovation costs for them… What kind of golden touch was this?

If Wei Sheng weren’t already a hugely profitable celebrity, the town leaders would have been tempted to keep him here for good.

As for the government employee status? The town would definitely find a way to get that sorted for him later!

Young man, you have an extraordinary talent for this—have you considered building a future with us here in Jiangdong Town?

(End of Chapter)