Power and Wealth
Chapter 1915 – A gathering of stars
The hall was filled with noise and cheers.
Today’s airport is no longer peaceful.
As each big-name celebrity disembarked, the crowd buzzed with excitement, snapping photos, seeking autographs, and shouting.
“Meng Meng!”
“Meng Meng, I love you!”
“Please sign, Mr. Zhou!”
“Mr. Zhou, my mom loves your songs!”
With one celebrity after another arriving, the scene started getting out of hand.
The airport security personnel were exhausted and sweat-soaked, calling for reinforcements via walkie-talkie. At the same time, the staff from Jiao Lin County joined in, with Meng Hanmei constantly expressing her gratitude and saying “thank you” for their hard work. Unsurprisingly, this was not a task usually handled by airport security. Since these celebrities were invited to the event on behalf of Jiao Lin County for public purposes, the airport had given them considerable leeway. Otherwise, the airport wouldn’t have been as accommodating.
More reinforcements arrived from the security team, and for a while, the chaos was brought under control.
Dong Xuebing had already contacted the comrades from the General Political Department’s song and dance troupe.
“Colonel Zhou, thank you for finding the time, despite your busy schedule, to attend Jiao Lin County’s cultural gala. On behalf of the Jiao Lin County Party Committee and the County Government, thank everyone for your hard work along the way.”
Zhou Xuguo smiled, “You must be Xiaobing.”
Dong Xuebing quickly replied, “Yes, Colonel Zhou.”
“I’ve heard your uncle mention you before. You are a fine young man.”
Zhou Xuguo smiled, appreciating Dong Xuebing’s presence, and complimented him. “Don’t call me Colonel, just call me Old Zhou or Uncle Zhou, haha.”
“How is your wife doing? Is she doing well after giving birth?”
Dong Xuebing replied, “She’s doing well. She can eat and drink just fine, but she’s just a bit chubbier than before.”
Zhou Xuguo laughed, “A bit chubbier is normal. As long as she’s eating healthy, that’s all that matters.”
Clearly, Zhou Xuguo was familiar with Dong Xuebing. Even though he belonged to the cultural troops, his military rank spoke volumes. It’s not surprising he knew Dong Xuebing.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Dong Xuebing saw no one else was emerging from the terminal and personally escorted Colonel Zhou and the song and dance troupe members out to the buses.
Thirty to forty people, a large group, require multiple buses.
Dong Xuebing had accounted for this beforehand, ensuring enough vehicles. There wouldn’t be a shortage of transportation.
Watching the group of song and dance troupe members, both men and women, carrying their instruments and stage props, board the buses one after another, Dong Xuebing felt incredibly satisfied.
Just this group alone could potentially provide six or seven performances.
Colonel Zhou would sing two songs, and the rest of the troupe could perform a few dance performances. There would likely also be a traditional music performance.
This was already a significant number of acts.
Adding the other invited celebrities would be more than enough to support a gala.
Moreover, almost all the people Dong Xuebing had invited beforehand were singing acts.
The arrival of the General Political Department’s song and dance troupe added more diversity to the performances, increasing the gala’s overall tension.
It would attract a wider audience across different age groups.
After all, the age of the investors wouldn’t be very young, and compared to those idol-level celebrities, the participation of the General Political Department’s troupe would likely be more widely accepted and appreciated.
The political significance was also different.
Seeing Jiaolin County able to invite the General Political Department’s troupe was bound to increase the investors’ confidence to some extent, directly or indirectly aiding Dong Xuebing’s efforts in attracting investments.
The bus had sent the people off.
Zhang Dongfang appeared deeply moved.
“Xiao Bing, even the General Political Department’s song and dance troupe, can attend this gala. It’s not their internal army performance; it’s a commercial show, not what they do.”
Zhang Dongfang was happy, but he felt somewhat overwhelmed by the event’s grandeur.
Dong Xuebing smiled, “It’s not a commercial performance.”
“For attracting investments, this is just about right.” Zhang Dongfang replied.
Meng Hanmei finished her tasks and joined them, listening in.
Dong Xuebing said, “It’s not a problem. We didn’t pay any appearance fees. It’s almost like a charity event; don’t think too much about it.”
He was confident that his uncle had sorted everything out. Otherwise, the troupe wouldn’t have come, and there wouldn’t be any issues for Dong Xuebing to worry about. His uncle had been an influential figure in the General Political Department for many years, and if he couldn’t pull strings now, what would he be doing? The discipline within the song and dance troupe was strict but not purely military, allowing for some flexibility.
Creak.
A few media interview vehicles pulled up in front.
As soon as they stepped out, it was clear that the provincial TV and newspaper staff rushed inside—some with cameras, some with camcorders. But after going around inside for a while, they returned empty-handed, having missed the celebrities. They had to ask the Jiao Lin County staff for information.
“Comrade.”
“Uh.”
“Everyone’s gone.”
“You mean all the celebrities went to our county.”
“Damn, we came too late.”
Provincial media reporters were quite frustrated. After receiving the news, they rushed over but still missed the celebrities leaving ahead of them.
A provincial TV female journalist was quick-witted. Seeing the situation, she realized she wouldn’t catch anything today. She immediately targeted the Jiao Lin County TV staff.
“Are you from Jiao Lin County TV? Hello, I’m from the provincial TV station. Can we share your filming and interview materials with us? If you share your footage, we’ll help promote you and guarantee our promotion will be positive.”
The staff from Jiao Lin County TV blinked, “I need to ask my leader.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.” The female journalist said, but she still followed closely behind.
The county TV station staff found Dong Xuebing and Zhang Dongfang and reported the provincial TV station’s request.
Dong Xuebing and Zhang Dongfang exchanged a few words and agreed to the suggestion.
“Anyway, once their news goes out, many TV stations and newspapers will cover it. It doesn’t matter.”
“And it’s helping promote our investment and cultural festival, so why not?”
Twenty minutes later, people from Jiao Lin County were busy again.
A small group of investors arrived, and Zhang Dongfang quickly attended to them.
Dong Xuebing didn’t go to handle it. Instead, he walked to a corner and made a few phone calls, confirming that no more celebrities would arrive this afternoon. If anyone were coming, it would be just two people who had things to do today and couldn’t make it until tomorrow morning.
So, Dong Xuebing’s task for today was complete.
An hour later, everyone from Jiao Lin County headed home.
As evening approached, the cars returned to Jiao Lin County, and Zhang Dongfang saw that the dinner meeting with investors was beginning. After informing Dong Xuebing, he went to socialize with the investors. Dong Xuebing did the same. He drove directly to the venue at the central park to check the situation.
In front of the main stage were rows of chairs packed together.
The first row was filled with many people, all listening to Director Sun muttering about something while a few celebrities walked up on stage to get familiar with the setting. Staff members were also adjusting equipment with microphones, giving a quick trial to a few celebrities. Though they couldn’t conduct a full rehearsal, each celebrity needed to briefly present their program to create a program list for announcements. They also needed to discuss any lighting effects or backup dancers needed so that everything could be arranged beforehand. Otherwise, trying to manage everything at the last minute tomorrow would be too late.
“Alright, that program is settled. Place it between the two singing performances in the middle, okay?”
Director Sun directed a staff member to note it down.
“Good, that’s the general layout for now. I’ll refine it more later. Any last-minute changes will be notified tomorrow. Hmm, tonight, we still need to finalize the music. Time is a bit tight, so please cooperate.”
“My melody is ready. Brought it with me.”
“I wasn’t able to prepare it urgently. I’ll have the company ready by tonight. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
Except for a few foreign celebrities, most domestic celebrities seemed to know Director Sun well and had worked with him before. They had a great deal of respect for him.
“Alright.”
Director Sun said, “Then we’ll try it tomorrow morning, run through the program quickly, and see if there are any issues.”
Seeing they were done, Dong Xuebing walked over with a smile. “Everyone, thanks for your hard work. Let’s have a meal together. I’ll host a welcome dinner for you. Thanks for your support this time.”
Chen Ying smiles, “Finally, we can eat.”
An old foreigner from the SS band whistled. Other foreign beauties and handsome men also got up, probably hungry.
Only Director Sun waved his hand, “You guys go ahead. I still have things to handle. I have too much to do.”
Dong Xuebing said, “Don’t be like that, Director Sun. Without you, we can’t do it. You’ve been the busiest these past couple of days. You need to relax too. Come with us. We’ve already booked a private room.”
Liu Han also said, “Yeah, come on, Director Sun.”
But Director Sun still insisted, “You guys go ahead.”
After saying that, he took the program list and began to look it over again.
Dong Xuebing didn’t care and hooked an arm around Director Sun’s shoulder.
“Come on, Director Sun. If you don’t eat, I won’t be able to pick up my chopsticks either.”
After spending a few days together, Dong Xuebing had become quite familiar with Director Sun.
“Oh, come on, don’t drag me.”
Director Sun had no choice but to go along.
The restaurant was right outside, and everyone walked there together. Along the way, countless staff members from Jiao Lin County stared at them with awe.
The soldiers from the song and dance troupe were relatively quiet.
Zhou Xuguo, on the other hand, was quite talkative and chatted with the two comedians.
The three younger ones, Liu Han, Li Meng Meng, and Chen Ying, laughed and joked along the way.
Director Sun and people like Amy Allen conversed in English about the arrangements for the evening. They were very dedicated and focused on their work without a moment’s rest.
This was the initial lineup.
It was indeed a star-studded event. With this lineup, it wasn’t just a tiny cultural evening for a county; it could also host a large-scale cultural event for the provincial TV station.
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