Chapter 216 - 167: Auspicious Grand Opening

The two pandas were, of course, Tuantuan and its mother.

Knowing the film crew was arriving today and that it was also the grand opening for several shops in the scenic area, Li Xiang had set out at two in the morning. He ran a round trip of over six hundred kilometers to the Hailuogou Primeval Forest to bring Tuantuan and its mother over.

They didn’t have any luggage, so they were ready to leave at a moment’s notice. And the bamboo forest on the mountain behind Li Xiang’s house had more than enough shoots for them.

Tuantuan was incredibly excited the entire trip, while its mother was utterly terrified. She clung tightly to Li Xiang because his speed was so fast it felt like flying.

The two giant pandas cried out the entire way. Luckily, Li Xiang stuck to remote, wild areas.

After settling in Tuantuan and its mother, he called over the Little Fox and Er Huang to get them acquainted.

The arrival of the two pandas caused a sensation.

People flocked over to watch. One bold child tried to get closer to pet Tuantuan, but Li Xiang immediately stopped them, shouting, "These are wild giant pandas! They may still have their wild instincts, so please don’t get too close!"

His words startled everyone. They remembered—’Right, this is an Iron-Eating Beast. Don’t be fooled by its cute appearance; it’s still a bear.’

Old Village Chief Li Jinyu was also thrilled. ’The Li Family ancestors must be smiling down on us! For wild giant pandas to actually appear in Li Family Village! Even in Sichuan Province, pandas are a rare sight.’

Luo Feifei, many other celebrities, and the director’s crew came over as well. They were all astonished, but also thrilled and delighted.

They had all seen pandas before, of course. But for such an auspicious creature to suddenly appear right as they arrived and just before the opening ceremony... what could that signify?

This had to be a sign of a successful launch, a prelude to a box office smash!

The director glanced at Luo Feifei, who was laughing and chatting happily with Li Xiang. ’Before we came,’ he thought, ’I asked Luo Feifei to perform a divination. The result was highly auspicious, and now it’s come true. For someone so young, Luo Feifei is truly a transcendent master.’

Then, the Little Red Fox made a public appearance, darting about the back mountain like a fiery cloud as it played with Tuantuan. This made everyone feel their trip had been more than worthwhile. To think they’d get to see such a wild Spiritual Object in person!

There were ones in zoos, of course, but none were as Spiritual as this.

Both the Little Red Fox and Tuantuan had eaten Li Xiang’s Spiritual Medicine and secretly practiced the Breathing Technique, awakening their intelligence. They were naturally different from ordinary animals, not to mention they were already rare species to begin with.

The Little Red Fox was very perceptive. To satisfy everyone’s curiosity, it led Tuantuan to a spot five or six meters from the crowd to eat bamboo shoots. It even interacted with the humans occasionally, giving them a real show.

Tuantuan was very bold and unafraid of people. Tuantuan’s mother, however, was a bit uneasy. She kept a distance of over twenty meters from the crowd, observing them furtively.

Following Li Xiang’s instructions, Old Village Chief Li Jinyu organized a group to maintain order on the back mountain. Their main job was to advise people not to go up the mountain and to just watch from a distance.

In truth, Tuantuan wouldn’t hurt anyone. But its mother was a full-grown giant panda seeing so many humans for the first time in a brand-new environment. If people got too close, an accident could happen, and that would be terrible.

This was also why Li Xiang had the Little Red Fox stay with them on the back mountain. At a critical moment, the fox could intervene. It was already a Tier One Exotic Beast and could easily handle Tuantuan’s mother.

Luo Feifei looked from the Little Fox to Tuantuan, and a thought inevitably surfaced. ’These Spiritual Objects are just like me—they’re all here to ride Li Xiang’s coattails.’ If Tuantuan showed up in Li Xiang’s backyard in a few days, she wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.

’Yes, when that happens, I’ll definitely go pet it myself.’

Lei Jiaming, the security captain, had eight young guards under his command. He had already assigned two of them to come over and help maintain order.

These young men were all from Lei Family Gully. While excited to see the giant pandas, they were also quite envious. ’Why didn’t the pandas come to our gully?’ they thought. ’We have bamboo in Lei Family Gully, too!’

Lei Jiaming came by for a quick look before leaving again. There were too many people today, and as the security captain, he was extremely busy.

Zhao Xueqing, Yao Yao, and Lei Xiaohui were also swamped. Lei Xiaohui had originally planned to cosplay as Hua Mulan to attract more visitors, but she was pulled away at the last minute to run the coffee shop.

Zhao Xueqing was juggling three shops by herself: the National Tea House, the coffee shop, and the milk tea shop. Although she had hired several young women to help and trained them for a few days in advance, she simply couldn’t keep up.

Yao Yao was in the same boat, completely overwhelmed. She had planned to perform classical dances but had no time for it now.

The three women all felt a bit "duped" by Brother Xiang. ’Brother Xiang,’ they thought, ’you never told us business would be *this* good! We’re going to work ourselves to the bone today!’

But as they watched pot after pot, cup after cup, and bottle after bottle sell, as orders poured in nonstop and the receipt printer practically smoked after going through several rolls of paper, the three women shook off their weariness and worked with renewed vigor.

’This is what it’s like working for Brother Xiang,’ they thought. ’What’s a little hard work and exhaustion? We come from the countryside; we’re not afraid of hardship, only of having no work to do.’

The opening ceremony for the film version of *The Return of the Condor Heroes* was held in a large clearing in the garden. The crew had set up a large poster that wished the production an "Auspicious Start," featuring the movie title and several promotional stills.

As the "most important" actor, Li Xiang was also featured on the poster. He was invited on stage with the director, producer, Luo Feifei, and other celebrities to be interviewed by the press and share a few words.

Everyone was surprised to notice that "Little Dragon Girl" was always standing next to "Yin Zhiping," practically inseparable, while the actual male lead, "Yang Guo," was left out in the cold.

This immediately became a hot news topic, and many people started snapping photos.

One netizen commented, "Looks like the Xiang-Feifei ship is real. They must be dating, even without an official announcement."

For such a major event, leaders from the county and the town also attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches. The town’s delegation was led by the town mayor himself, while the county’s group was led by a deputy county magistrate in charge of culture and media.

Li Xiang was acquainted with all of them.

The leaders also went to see the giant pandas and the Little Red Fox, clucking their tongues in amazement. Upon learning that the animals had all appeared on their own, they praised Li Family Village for its excellent ecological environment, which had attracted so many protected species to take up residence.

Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou came as well. However, they were traveling from the provincial capital, which was quite a distance away, so the opening ceremony was more than halfway over by the time they arrived. Li Xiang, with his sharp eyes, spotted them from the stage and gave them a small nod and a wave.

Many of Li Xiang’s fans also came to show their support, including quite a few who had traveled from out of town, like the businessman from Yunnan Province, He Zhixiang. Many of them were the "big brothers and big sisters" from the top of his fan rankings. However, everyone was surprised to find that Top Aunt hadn’t come.

Even though "Top Aunt" was no longer vying for the number one spot, everyone still called her that out of habit.

In the afternoon, the film crew began to dress the set. Li Xiang’s place was still just a bare shell, after all. And although the Ancient Tomb Sect’s aesthetic was minimalist, they still needed time to create an atmosphere that matched the novel’s description of the "ancient tomb."

The director spoke with Li Xiang, telling him that the official filming would begin that night. The very first scene was the passionate one between Yin Zhiping and Little Dragon Girl, and he wanted Li Xiang to be prepared. The director was surprisingly earnest, taking out the script to give Li Xiang a thorough analysis of Yin Zhiping’s psychological journey and how to best portray it.

The reason this was chosen as the first scene was because it was a huge publicity stunt. With so many reporters still on-site, how could they not milk it for all it was worth?

A film’s shooting schedule often bears no resemblance to the plot’s chronological order. There would still be many post-production stages, such as editing, dubbing, and adding special effects.

As night fell, many people began their journey home, as Li Family Village couldn’t possibly accommodate them all. Only some reporters and a few die-hard fans remained, waiting patiently to witness the filming with their own eyes.

Luo Feifei’s mother found Li Xiang and said she wanted to rent a room in his house, adding that it was also Luo Feifei’s idea. They would be filming here for a week or two, and commuting from the county town every day would be exhausting. Since Li Xiang’s house was newly built and quite nice, why not just stay here?

"Don’t be a stranger by bringing up money. It’s on the house," Li Xiang said magnanimously.

Luo Feifei secretly pulled him aside. "Are you dense?" she whispered. "We’re not the ones paying, the production company is."

"Oh, right." It dawned on Li Xiang. ’That’s right, the production company is footing the bill, so why offer it for free?’ he thought. ’No reason not to fleece this sheep.’ And so, the room was rented. Every little bit counts, after all.

Some of the rooms had previously been used to store things like tea and red wine, but with the new shops opening in the garden, some of that inventory had been moved out, leaving plenty of tidy, empty rooms. Luo Feifei and her mother decided to share, renting a bedroom on the second floor.

As for bedding, Li Xiang gave them a brand-new set. It had been purchased during the renovation—the three girls had helped pick out the beautiful design. Granny Li Xiang had already washed, dried, and stored it in a cabinet, so it was ready to use.

That evening, Zhao Xueqing, Yao Yao, and Lei Xiaohui were ecstatic. They were too busy to get away and find Li Xiang, but they reported the day’s triumphant results in their work group chat.

Zhao Xueqing: "According to a preliminary count, the National Tea House has brought in over 360,000 in sales so far!"

Lei Xiaohui: "The coffee shop made around 280,000!"

Yao Yao: "The National Style Tavern, around 250,000." She had been thrilled at first, thinking the tavern’s performance was incredible. But compared to Zhao Xueqing’s teahouse and coffee shop, her numbers fell short, and she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. She quickly found a reason, though: many customers had to drive, and you can’t drink and drive. It was understandable that her sales would be lower for now. ’Once I start performing my national dances to draw a crowd,’ she thought, ’I won’t necessarily lose to Zhao Xueqing in the long run.’

’This is a marathon, not a sprint. Falling behind at the start doesn’t mean you’ll lose in the end. Zhao Green Tea, I will definitely surpass you,’ Yao Yao vowed to herself, her competitive spirit kindled.

Then, a young woman from the milk tea shop sent a message: "The milk tea shop made over 170,000."

Everyone did the math. My god, over a million in a single day! What kind of monstrous revenue was that?

Li Xiang encouraged them in the group chat: "You all were amazing, absolutely outstanding! Thank you for all your hard work today. I’ll give everyone a bigger performance bonus at the end of the month."

However, Li Xiang also reminded them not to get complacent. It was a special occasion, which was why they had broken a million in a single day. Once the hype died down, sales would surely drop. In fact, they might not break this single-day record again for a very long time.

Everyone indicated that they understood. But even so, now that they had made a name for themselves, their future revenue was bound to be decent.

Good business meant job security.

Motivated again by Li Xiang’s promise of end-of-month bonuses, everyone worked with even more enthusiasm. Brother Xiang had always been generous—a fact known to everyone for miles around.