Chapter 74 - 73: Different Choices

Chapter 74: Chapter 73: Different Choices

"Come, come, everyone, make yourselves at home. Please, sit down, have some tea, and rest for a bit."

"Mr. Lin, the air in this village is truly wonderful."

"It is. I’ve felt much better since I arrived."

Lin Feng thought, ’This air-purifying property... the more people who come, the more famous this place will become.’

"The air in the village has gotten much better these past two days. And everyone, your performances just now were spectacular."

Director Liu spoke up from the side, "Now that everyone’s acquainted, let’s talk about a potential collaboration."

"Esteemed performers, I can offer two options. The first is a partnership: you come for a performance, and I pay you a set fee.

The other is that I hire you as employees of the scenic area, with a fixed salary plus bonuses."

A group leader asked, "Mr. Lin, how would the fixed salary and bonus be calculated?"

"The fixed salary should be self-explanatory. The main thing is the bonus portion. We’ll take a percentage of the ticket profits and distribute it to you as a bonus."

The leader of the folk-song choir said, "We can only work with you on a partnership basis."

"That’s fine. We can discuss the per-performance fee in a bit."

The other three leaders didn’t make a decision right away, saying they needed to go back and discuss it with their teams.

Lin Feng, for his part, was also in the middle of a salary reform. Starting next month, his staff would no longer receive a bonus from 5% of the total profits. Instead, they would get 30% of the profits from their respective projects.

For employees in undefined roles who served the entire scenic area, their share of the total profits would be adjusted based on the month’s earnings.

According to Hu Xia, having everyone eat from the same pot makes people lazy. Adding a little competition would make the employees more proactive.

In the future, positions for profitable projects would become highly sought after.

Everyone would also try to find ways to increase their own project’s profitability to earn larger project bonuses.

Lin Feng was also recruiting management personnel. He had realized his own abilities were lacking and that he needed professional help.

Quite a few people from Wuyuan County had submitted resumes, but it was obvious they were only interested in working here because of the Jade Grapes.

He didn’t negotiate with the folk-song troupe directly. Instead, Director Liu handled it. The final offer was 10,000 yuan for one performance, with 15 people in the troupe.

That was over 600 yuan per person for a single performance, though the troupe certainly wouldn’t distribute it evenly.

Lin Feng thought about it and agreed. In any case, he wouldn’t be able to hire this folk-song troupe more than a few times a month.

They all had their own jobs and could only come perform on Sundays, and even then, not always.

The dance troupe already had its own company and was still debating whether to continue collaborating as a separate entity or join Lin Xian Village directly.

The main issue was that they used to get only a few performance gigs a year and could barely make payroll. Lin Xian Village was a lifeline for them.

They were worried that if they chose the partnership model, Lin Xian Village would drop them if a stronger competitor came along.

It was the same for the Colorful Silk Dance troupe. However, he heard that the troupe’s beautiful lead dancer wanted to become an employee of Lin Xian Village.

According to some gossip from Hu Xia, the salary distribution in the Colorful Silk Dance team was extremely unfair.

The boss, who was also the troupe leader, took the largest cut, and only the leftovers were distributed to the members below.

Lin Feng hadn’t expected such a situation. ’It feels like I’m going to break their troupe apart just by having them perform here.’

Unlike the other three performance troupes, the Clay Figure Performance Ensemble agreed on the spot to become employees of Lin Xian Village.

They were a group that had come together informally, persisting only out of a love for their art and a desire to preserve its tradition.

Now that they could make a living from performing and continue their tradition, only a fool would choose the partnership option.

Lin Feng handed this matter over to Hu Xia, as it would be awkward for him to negotiate directly.

...

Lin Chaoyan and Zhou Jun arrived in Wuyuan County again. They first paid a visit to He Limin to gather some information.

Then they took a car and headed for Lin Xian Village. They needed to get their hands on the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills and take them back to the Imperial Capital for analysis.

Only after the test results were out could they use the pills on certain people with confidence.

Moreover, they had to get this done before Yang Yongjun arrived in order to maximize their gains.

When they arrived at Lin Xian Village, both of them were stunned. The village was completely different from how it was on their last visit.

Zhou Jun asked, "Uncle Lin, has the air here gotten better?"

"It’s such an obvious change, and you still have to ask? It feels better than the environment at some of the top sanatoriums. It wasn’t like this the last time we came."

"This place is truly magical! I heard the Jade Grapes have started growing. Do you think it’s related to this environment?"

They had investigated the Jade Grapes and knew they couldn’t be transplanted. Two agricultural professors were here studying them full-time.

If that weren’t the case, they would have long since found a way to get some vines and plant them back in the Imperial Capital.

Many people had the same idea, but they all gave it up after learning the vines couldn’t be transplanted.

As for digging up the entire grapevine, whoever dared to try would have to face the wrath of everyone else should the vine die.

Of course, in the current situation, even if someone were to try, everyone would band together to stop them.

They first went to check on the vineyard and discovered that the grapevine was indeed growing outwards, its vines already extending beyond the courtyard walls.

After speaking with the two professors, they learned it was still unclear why the grapevine was growing.

The two men were a bit disappointed. They had hoped they might be able to uncover the grapevine’s secret, but it seemed they had been too optimistic.

They called Lin Feng, and when they met him, they stated their purpose directly.

"Mr. Lin, we came this time mainly to buy some Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills."

"The application for this medicine hasn’t been approved yet. I can’t sell them."

Lin Chaoyan pulled Zhou Jun aside and said, "Mr. Lin, we need some Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills to take back for some people to try. We can help you solve the trouble with your application."

Lin Feng asked curiously, "That would be acceptable. From the sound of it, is someone in the Imperial Capital really blocking my application?"

"Yes, there is. Several large pharmaceutical companies have joined forces to delay your application."

"Are these people insane? It’s not like I can’t sell the Medicinal Tea. What’s the point of blocking the application?"

"Mr. Lin, they don’t believe that a medicine like yours can’t be mass-produced.

As for the Medicinal Tea, the moment you step outside Wuyuan County, someone will definitely try to cause trouble for you."

’It seems that when I said it couldn’t be mass-produced, not a single one of those pharmaceutical companies believed me. If it weren’t for completing the mission, I wouldn’t even want to bother with the application. Selling the Medicinal Tea is actually pretty good. Even if the effect is a bit weaker, at least I don’t have to worry about people causing me trouble.’

He led the two men to the Medicine House, said a word to Zhao Shiyun, and got one hundred pills for them.

The two men didn’t stay for a meal and left immediately with the pills.

He asked Feng Ziling, "What has your master been up to these past two days? He’s out from morning till night every day."

"My master went up the mountain to investigate the cause of the environmental changes. Oh, and he said that the small animals in the mountains are migrating toward Lin Xian Village."

Lin Feng instantly put it together. ’This must be an effect of the change in air quality. The air purification property was described as ’maintaining the most comfortable environment for living beings,’ and it’s equally effective on both plants and animals. In this kind of environment, both animals and plants grow exceptionally well. It looks like I’ll have to find a way to prevent animals from encroaching, especially creatures like wild boars.’