Ch 95: The World’s Number One Resort

“Hello, Manager Tang. I am Su Guang, Tao Ke’s agent. Here’s the situation: our company, Yuntian, would like to collaborate with Great Tang Resort to host an art competition centered around Tao Ke’s likeness in your ‘Stroke of the Brush’ program…”

After the call connected, a rough male voice spoke. In just half a minute, Tang Huai grasped the situation.

Although ‘Stroke of the Brush’ featured advanced technology, most of the artwork produced consisted of still lifes or unauthorized doodles. Characters like Karoshu or famous celebrities were not available due to copyright restrictions; even if visitors managed to draw them, they couldn’t be commercially realized in a holographic format.

As visitors’ interests grew, realistic depictions of anime and celebrities would undoubtedly become a trend in ‘Stroke of the Brush.’ Yuntian Entertainment aimed to seize this opportunity by initiating collaboration.

“Manager Tang, Yuntian is willing to waive any likeness fees and hopes Great Tang Resort will consider working with us…” Su Guang continued as Tang Huai pondered.

His tone was steady, but inside, he was nervous. Tao Ke was his favorite artist, and despite her recent decline in popularity, Su Guang still wished to rekindle her fame. She had both the looks and acting skills and had once been incredibly popular. All she needed now was a chance to make a comeback.

In the office of Luo Hai Yuntian Tower, Su Guang was on the phone while Tao Ke, sitting on the sofa, lit a cigarette. When she first saw ‘Drinking alone under the moon,’ she casually mentioned a collaboration with Great Tang Resort. The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If Great Tang agreed, and Yuntian managed the operation, coupled with her taking on a low-profile, down-to-earth image, she had a real chance of regaining her fame.

She didn’t want to continue playing insignificant roles indefinitely.

“Not considering it for now? Manager Tang, Yuntian is one of the top entertainment companies in China…” Tao Ke inhaled two puffs of smoke. She thought this would be a sure deal, but Su Guang’s face had turned grim.

Tao Ke stood up abruptly.

“I understand. Yuntian will think it over carefully. We hope Great Tang Resort will also reconsider,” Su Guang concluded and hung up, his expression crestfallen.

“What happened?” Tao Ke stubbed out her cigarette.

“Great Tang Resort refused politely, stating that since the New Year just passed, they’re not considering promotional entertainment events at the moment.” Su Guang put the phone back on its base. Although Tang Huai had been polite, he was firm, leaving little room for negotiation.

Tao Ke’s face tightened in displeasure.

A few years ago, she was endorsing top luxury brands like CC and Qigu. Small-time developers and advertisers were vying for her attention. Although her career took a hit due to her divorce scandal, she still had some influence. Now, she was even offering to help promote Great Tang Resort for free, and they refused?

“What about authorization?” Tao Ke took a deep breath and pressed on. The art contest might have fallen through, but if she could get the licensing rights, she still had confidence in making it work.

After Tao Ke asked, Su Guang’s expression turned complicated, and he didn’t immediately respond.

“What is it?” Tao Ke asked in confusion.

“The authorization can be granted, but instead of receiving a fee, we have to pay Great Tang Resort… They’re asking for three million for three years,” Su Guang finally replied.

Tao Ke: !!!

…

“She’s a big celebrity; are you really not considering working with her?”

In Great Tang Resort’s office, Tang Huai hung up the phone as Xie Yunshu asked curiously. He had overheard most of the conversation. Tao Ke was a major star, and by market standards in China, celebrities were usually paid appearance fees. But here, Tang Huai not only declined Tao Ke’s participation but also set a price of three million…

“Great Tang Resort doesn’t rely on celebrities for success. There’s no need to cling to them,” Tang Huai replied, returning to his desk.

He declined Tao Ke not because of her scandals, but for the reason he stated: Great Tang Resort was a holiday island known for its scenery. There was no point in going out of their way to host events for various celebrities. Tang Huai had compared the influence before; celebrity endorsements did bring in some prestige points, but not significantly more than a video directly from the resort.

Prestige points mainly stemmed from visitors’ interest in the resort itself, not the celebrities’ added value.

Of course, if celebrities were willing to pay, that would be different. Since the island master’s authority upgrade, such related income was now also included in the island’s revenue.

With this in mind, Tang Huai opened the system interface:

Host Name: Tang Huai

Scenic Areas: [Blue Sea Lake], [Snow Village]…

Island Value: 22 million+

Prestige Value: 500,000+

Last night, Tang Huai converted all the prestige value into island value, but after the live broadcast of Thrilling Racing, the prestige value magically grew again. Satisfied with its growth rate, he reviewed it briefly before turning his attention to the island’s revenue.

Sora Island received its first visitors in July of last year, making it eight months since then. During these eight months, the island’s total revenue reached 10.06 million USD.

Although 10.06 million USD in eight months might not sound like much, this amount is solely generated by visitors, and the bulk of visitors has increased significantly in the last two months. Now that both cash and island value are in place, it’s time to push forward with major developments.

Xie Yunshu thought for a moment and agreed with Tang Huai’s decision. After a brief discussion, they returned to their respective work.

“Ping, ping—” While Tang Huai was reviewing some documents, his WeChat chimed.

Sender: Yu You.

Tang Huai unlocked his phone.

Yu You: The dahlias in the courtyard have bloomed. [Image] [Image]

Yu You’s message was simple, containing a few words and two pictures of the courtyard garden. The images showed a vibrant garden filled with green foliage, where pink and blue dahlias were in full bloom. Dahlias are Mexico’s national flower, symbolizing elegance and grace. In the photos, Yu You stood in front of the flower beds, his tall, well-proportioned shadow contrasting with the lush and vibrant dahlias.

Tang Huai finished viewing the images and replied earnestly: Beautiful.

Since their last hotpot meal, they hadn’t seen each other in over two months.

In the second-floor greenhouse of the villa in Mexico City, Yu You typed: When shall we see the flowers together? Feeling that his message was too forward, he deleted it and instead wrote: Smells lovely. [Cute emoji]

Tang Huai smiled and the two started chatting casually.

During the conversation, Yu You felt a small beast jumping inside his heart. Now that his legs could support him for half a day, he thought maybe… he could sneak off to Sora Island?

This idea was like a small flame spreading rapidly, impossible to control.

…

“What’s going on here?”

“I’m scratching my head in frustration. I was really looking forward to this, and now it’s over in just one circle?”

“Ahhh, I’m going to give this a bad review.”

…

While Tang Huai and Yu You chatted, over at the imperial city of Bianjing in the ancient city of Bianjing, the viewers following the live broadcast felt a bit dazed. The helicopter had already approached the imperial city and circled near it briefly. Then, it slowly ascended along the outer wall of the city.

The viewers’ curiosity had reached its peak. They were expecting to see a grand, solemn palace or a luxurious hall. However, the helicopter just flew around the city walls and left?

That’s not how you play the game!

“Mr. Tony, what’s going on?” The viewers complained, and even Wang Lu was stunned. She had already prepared the script to introduce the imperial city. Was that it?

“The imperial city of Bianjing is currently closed to the public; access is not permitted,” Tony replied coldly, likely due to his AI nature.

Wang Lu: …

In the meantime, the helicopter flew out of the imperial city’s range and continued to ascend. Wang Lu glanced at Tony in front, opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing. This was Great Tang Resort’s territory, so it wasn’t her place to request them to open access.

“Dear visitors, it is now 6:30 PM Mexico time, and today’s live broadcast has come to an end. Please stay tuned to Luo Hai Live tomorrow.” After calming down, Wang Lu smiled gently at the live audience.

She had started the live broadcast at 5 PM, lasting a total of one hour and thirty minutes, successfully completing the task set by Editor-in-Chief Sun. The remaining segments would be covered during tomorrow’s aerial broadcast.

After speaking, Wang Lu glanced at the number of viewers on Luo Hai Live: 2.3 million+.

This was the peak viewership for Luo Hai Live in the past six months.

“But what about Blue Sea Lake and the Ice Snow Castle? It’s over already?”

“Aww, I wanted to see Fruit Kingdom for a while… Can we have more of Fruit Kingdom?”

As soon as Wang Lu finished, the viewers expressed their dissatisfaction. They hadn’t even seen everything yet!

Wang Lu showed a regretful expression. Plans couldn’t keep up with changes; Bianjing Ancient City was just too vast. There was no time left to stream other scenes… Though the broadcast time was short, it had a significant impact. According to feedback from the station, several advertisements were already booked for tomorrow’s show.

“Thank you.” Half an hour later, Wang Lu returned to the Bianjing Inn as Tony flew the helicopter away.

Looking at the large inn, Wang Lu took a deep breath. She was full of anticipation for the live streams in the next two days.

…

“A full version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival! It’s confirmed to be a complete panoramic sculpture!”

“ST completely failed; could become the best joke of the month.”

“The background of FillTech Company remains a mystery.”

Wang Lu went to wash up and rest. Meanwhile, on Chinese Weibo, viewers edited the hour-and-a-half-long video into a short version, and it instantly went viral.

Bianjing Ancient City was one of the oldest scenic areas at Great Tang Resort, having piqued tourists’ interest some time ago. However, with today’s technological advances, many prefecture-level cities also feature giant Buddhas and sculptures. Enlarging statues twentyfold isn’t all that rare.

While a single Bianjing Ancient City might not be impressive, a replicated version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival would be a world-class marvel. With the video being shared on Weibo, tourists’ curiosity was reignited.

Some meticulous viewers dug up Great Tang Resort’s official Weibo and searched for keywords: “Bianjing Ancient City.”

@GreatTangOverseasResort: “Bianjing Ancient City, Along the River During the Qingming Festival.” [Soldier Emoji] [Soldier Emoji]

The last Weibo post related to Bianjing Ancient City was published six months ago, around the time when Tang Huai first opened a social media account. Topics related to Bianjing Ancient City and Blue Sea Lake trended briefly back then.

Looking back now, the official account of Great Tang Resort had clearly acknowledged the relationship between Bianjing Ancient City and Along the River During the Qingming Festival. However, at the time, tourists thought it was just riding the wave of the famous artwork’s popularity and didn’t pay much attention…

Along the River During the Qingming Festival holds a special place in the hearts of the Chinese people. Now, with the comprehensive video of Bianjing being presented, and with Luo Hai TV providing an official endorsement, the topic “Bianjing Ancient City VS Along the River During the Qingming Festival” climbed to the top of the trending list after three hours of moderate popularity.

The second spot on the trending list was occupied by a female celebrity’s birthday party.

At that moment, the female celebrity was so angry upon seeing the newly crowned top trend that she stomped her feet. She had planned for this trending topic in advance! If memory served her correctly, she had bought a street photo trend at the beginning of the year, and she had proudly topped the list. But she hadn’t even stayed in the top spot for an hour before getting bumped off by Great Tang’s “Great Tang New Year” topic…

It happened then, and now it was happening again.

Did Great Tang have a grudge against her?

@ChinaHistoryAssociation: “Along the River During the Qingming Festival is one of China’s top ten classical paintings. Based on a comparison of the character arrangement in Bianjing Ancient City, the similarity is over 80%. The China History Association will form a dedicated team to visit the island for an in-depth investigation.”

As the discussion about Along the River During the Qingming Festival heated up on Weibo, @ChinaHistoryAssociation posted an update. Despite its ordinary name, the association bears an orange V badge, indicating its official status. Its members consist mainly of history professors from Huasheng and China University, granting it a certain level of authority in academic circles.

Although @ChinaHistoryAssociation didn’t directly elaborate, the post made it clear: they had taken notice of Great Tang Resort and would be conducting a formal investigation!

This left tourists somewhat confused.

First, it was @ChinaAcademyofSciences, and now it’s @ChinaHistoryAssociation… Is Great Tang Resort about to make a major breakthrough?

Even some long-time skeptics began to waver. They had previously believed that Great Tang Resort’s fame was merely the result of hype. But now… they found themselves tempted to start saving up for a trip.

…

“Let’s contact Great Tang…” While the topic of Along the River During the Qingming Festival continued to stir up the internet, Tao Ke sat in her office at the Luo Hai Yun Tian Building, staring at Weibo’s trending list, gritting her teeth.

Three million yuan for a three-year authorization fee isn’t a big deal in the entertainment industry, but Tao Ke had been sidelined for two years, and the company had since repositioned her commercial image. Even if the company agreed to cover the cost, it would require multiple meetings over the course of at least a week.

Tao Ke wanted to seize this opportunity, and she couldn’t wait. The money would have to come out of her own pocket.

“Three million for a three-year license? Although Brush of the Stroke is a new technology, if not handled well… it’s a risky investment,” Su Guang cautiously advised.

The two had known each other for years, and he was familiar with Tao Ke’s financial situation. Although she wasn’t short on money, her assets were still being divided with her ex-husband, leaving her with limited liquidity.

Tao Ke might appear glamorous on the outside, but things weren’t as smooth behind the scenes.

“No worries,” Tao Ke replied, waving her hand before lighting a cigarette and gazing out the window.

Yun Tian Tower had 130 floors, and Su Guang’s office was on the 96th floor. From here, one could overlook the entirety of Luo Hai’s new district.

Tao Ke loved the feeling of being in a high place. Having once been at the top, she knew this current state was not what she wanted. Since she had fallen, she was determined to climb back up at all costs.

High risks come with the promise of great rewards.

…

“Manager Tang, Great Tang currently has no intention of purchasing copyrights? That’s surprising,” Luo Liang said, staring at Tang Huai in confusion inside the Great Tang Resort’s Sora office.

Ever since considering the idea of getting the copyright for Karoshu, Luo Liang had been contemplating the feasibility of bringing Karoshu to life. Blue Green Publishing House is Japan’s largest manga publisher, with classic anime characters such as Karoshu, Lorelai, and Peach Blossom Sakura under its umbrella, holding significant influence in the global anime industry.

With Great Tang Resort’s Brush of the Stroke technology being one of a kind worldwide, Luo Liang saw a potential win-win in a collaboration between Great Tang and Blue Green Publishing House.

He had come by yesterday, but Tang Huai was busy with Thrilling Racing, so it was a wasted trip. Now, returning today with high hopes, he was tactfully declined…

Luo Liang: …Feeling a bit down.

“Manager Tang, this is the pros and cons report I prepared over the past two days. Please take a look,” Luo Liang said, feeling a brief pang of disappointment before remembering the document in his hand. Over the past couple of days, he had put in considerable effort during his breaks to compile some data.

Tang Huai had been focused on Sky Forest for the past couple of days and hadn’t given much thought to involving anime in Brush of the Stroke. However, looking at the twenty-plus pages of A4 paper and Luo Liang’s eager eyes, he hesitated before taking the document earnestly.

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