Chapter 37: The Blueprint of Schemes

Let me think.

Yang Yuan reclined in the boss’s chair, his calm as deep as water; he wasn’t even in the mood for his favorite cigar.

He wasn’t the true owner of Tianchen Culture—just a professional manager.

Barely in office, he had already breached contracts and lost money, leaving him no way to answer to his superiors. Moreover, Ning An Cultural Tourism had deposited the promised 5 million compensation into the company account, trapping him in a dilemma.

“If all else fails, we’ll have to use domestic survival streamers!”

After a long pause, Yang Yuan glanced at Liu Qing.

“Domestic streamers? Yang, Ning An Cultural Tourism’s Qi Haoyong specifically wants top-notch international challenge experts. Besides, most domestic survival streamers aren’t well-known, and many of their survival videos are faked,” Liu Qing replied.

Liu Qing hesitated.

Even though the Ning’an Cultural and Tourism Group was a county-level company, it controlled a 5A-rated scenic area—not something to be underestimated.

“Does Qi Haoyong want international talent? No! He wants the exposure—visitors for his scenic area and film city,” Yang Yuan explained.

Yang Yuan shook his head.

Ever the profit-seeker, Qi Haoyong was a seasoned operator; if the deal was lucrative enough, he’d even agree to have a three-year-old take on an international challenge expert.

“It’s just the domestic streamers,”

“What’s wrong with domestic streamers? Just look at Xu Hao—he’s amassed fans with flashy tricks. His audience outnumbers those of the international survival experts,”

“Xu Hao is an exception,”

Liu Qing’s voice was barely audible.

That top survival expert from Long Kingdom, Zhu Qiang, had ironically become Xu Hao’s ‘prey.’

“An exception? If Xu Hao can pull it off, why shouldn’t others? They can mimic his exact formula—if Xu Hao builds a log cabin, so do the others; if he uses jumping rabbits, they follow suit! If they lack resources, we can slip them in unnoticed. Xu Hao recruits his own competitors, and if nothing else works, let them approach him. When we promote Yunning Cultural Tourism’s challenge event, why wouldn’t it draw a crowd?”

Yang Yuan gave a cold smile.

In the world of capitalism, logic takes a backseat.

“Yang, everything else can be sorted out. It’s just building a log cabin without nails or glue—that’s almost unheard of among streamers,” Liu Qing noted.

After a moment of silence, Liu Qing added,

“There are all kinds of streamers on short-video platforms; you just haven’t noticed them. I’ll check with Ziyun Live Stream Guild—they might have exactly who we need.”

After speaking, Yang Yuan immediately pulled out his phone.

“Ziyun Live Stream Guild? You know someone from there? I’ve heard they’re very influential, even boasting a flagship streamer with 30 million followers.”

Liu Qing was surprised.

Both he and Yang Yuan had worked in Country M before. Now, with Yang recently back to take over Tianchen Culture, it was unexpected that he knew someone like that.

“The boss of Ziyun Live Stream Guild is my cousin. Of course I know them,”

Casting a glance at Liu Qing, Yang Yuan dialed the number immediately.

Beep, beep, beep. Although Yang Yuan hadn’t put the call on speaker, Liu Qing could hear every word.

Soon, the call was answered.

“Hello!”

“Sis, it’s Yang Yuan,” he said.

“Yang Yuan? When did you change your number?”

Yang Ziyun’s voice came through quickly.

“Sis, I just got back—it’s only been a few days since I returned,”

“You came back? Things not going well over there? Has Uncle been informed?”

“Sis, it’s not like that; the company sent me back to take over a new acquisition—yes, the old Tianchen Culture. I’m now the director here.”

“You’re now the director of Tianchen Culture?”

Yang Ziyun paused.

“Yes!”

“What a coincidence—your company’s wilderness survival show is impressive. I saw a promising competitor and wanted to sign him, but turns out the kid’s ungrateful.”

“Sis, you mean Xu Hao, right?”

“That’s him!”

A note of frustration and envy tinged Yang Ziyun’s voice.

“He’s genuinely difficult to handle; the company even had a fallout with him.”

“Enough about him—why did you call me?”

“Sis, here’s the deal: our company is launching a new project and needs streamers skilled in carpentry. Do you have any? Recommend a few,”

After some small talk, Yang Yuan got straight to business.

“Carpentry-skilled streamers? Are you trying to replicate Xu Hao?”

Yang Ziyun, ever the industry big shot, immediately caught on to Yang Yuan’s plan.

“Yes!”

“To be honest, I recently found someone skilled in carpentry—but he can’t build a log cabin without nails or glue. I even tried to get help from the Long Kingdom Ancient Architecture Research Institute, but they were too arrogant. They claimed that as a state agency, they weren’t a school. If you want to learn something, you go to a proper school.”

Yang Ziyun sighed in exasperation.

She longed for her streamer to replace Xu Hao, but obstacles emerged even before they began.

Other companies might have stood up to such criticism, but since it was a state agency, she had no choice but to back down.

“Is it really that tough? Even institutions like the Long Kingdom Ancient Architecture Research Institute are giving us trouble?”

Yang Yuan’s face darkened instantly.

“It’s tough. So the only way to replicate Xu Hao is to cheat behind the scenes—hide nails, wood glue, and similar items out of the camera’s view. You can’t really rely on the streamer,”

“I see.”

Yang Yuan fell into deep thought.

“You know, if necessary, I can send one of my streamers over to help. He’s a pretty good modern carpenter with solid skills,”

After a pause, Yang Ziyun’s voice came through again.

“Sis, then send him over—I want to give him a try! By the way, is that the only one you have? I might need several of them.”

Biting his lip, Yang Yuan steeled himself and said,

“If it’s that kind of carpenter, I can find plenty. How many do you need?”

“Ten!”

“Alright! When do you need them?”

“In the next few days!”

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Sis! When I go to Yan City, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“We’re all family! Besides, using my streamer benefits our studio too.”

“Alright, I’ll hang up for now.”

After hanging up, Yang Yuan turned to Liu Qing and said, “Book me a flight—I need to go to Ning’an myself to meet Qi Haoyong.”

“Yang, are you really planning to…”

“I’m confident I can convince him!”

“Alright, Yang.”

Knock, knock, knock! Just as Liu Qing turned to leave the office, a staff member’s voice suddenly rang out from the door.

“Manager Liu, there’s trouble in the Challenge Zone!”

“Huh?”

Yang Yuan and Liu Qing frowned.

“What’s going on?”

Coming to his senses, Liu Qing hurriedly opened the glass door.

“Yang, Manager Liu—just now, two camels barged into the Shadou area where Xu Hao is located.”

The staff member exclaimed urgently.

If it weren’t an emergency, he wouldn’t dare to disturb them at this hour.

“What? Two camels? Where did they come from? Wasn’t the perimeter already cleared?”

Snap! Yang Yuan immediately stood up.