Organizing a cultural performance was too simple for Xia Xiaolan.
It wasn’t surprising that Zhu Suizhou hadn’t thought of this strategy – though clever, he simply hadn’t seen as much as she had.
The 1980s had many advantages – clean air, abundant opportunities, honest people – Xia Xiaolan loved it here!
But the 80s also had shortcomings. Society constantly progresses, and after the millennium, people need to work harder and harder for material satisfaction. Without family wealth, one had to push themselves to become elite.
With lower earnings, material satisfaction became truly difficult. When others were buying homes in the city, should you buy too? If you wanted to buy, city housing prices were so high that only by becoming elite and working hard could you get what you wanted…
But not everyone could become elite.
So what then?
If material satisfaction wasn’t possible, one could seek spiritual satisfaction.
People escaping reality’s pressures easily found joy, from early computer games to mobile games to VR – gaming brought instant gratification that could last.
Those who didn’t like games could watch dramas, read novels, or scroll through TikTok or Kuaishou.
These were entertainment methods for homebodies – inexpensive and easily accessible.
For those willing to leave their shells and see the world, willing to spend money, the spiritual world was even more joyful!
Watching cultural performances?
The reason New Year’s Eve could still gather Chinese people around TVs watching the Spring Festival Gala thirty years later was probably just to post complaints on WeChat Moments and Weibo.
But that was China thirty years later after people had been exposed to various forms of entertainment.
This was in 1988 when a spectacular cultural performance could draw entire families in Shangdu to watch.
The Spring Festival Gala was only once a year, and TV stations rarely showed such performances otherwise.
The people of Shangdu in 1988 hadn’t seen many high-caliber cultural performances. TV screens were tiny – how could they compare to the spacious area in front of Asia?
The stage was huge.
The program arrangement was excellent.
There were traditional acrobatics, magic shows, familiar TV and movie actors, and even stars from Hong Kong!
Even if Zhu Suizhou organized a similar performance, gathering these performers wouldn’t be easy.
For Xia Xiaolan, it was simple.
Knowing Director Wang meant she could bring in a string of mainland film and TV actors. Moreover, Zhang Xiao was the headline act – last year’s TV drama topped the ratings, and Zhang Xiao is currently more famous than in her previous life!
Hong Kong stars were also manageable. Chen Xiliang, introduced by Du Zhaohui, knew TVB’s big boss. Chen Xiliang eventually “sold” the TV drama to TVB, though the response wasn’t as good as Xia Xiaolan and Chen Xiliang had expected.
It was the golden age of Hong Kong dramas, with quality shows everywhere. While “Luna’s Story” attracted mainland viewers, Hong Kong audiences found it merely acceptable, not spectacular… Xia Xiaolan felt this was also related to different regional situations. Hong Kong people didn’t relate as mainland viewers did – reform and opening up was a crucial policy for the mainland, but Hong Kong hadn’t experienced it.
They preferred watching wuxia dramas or shows like “The Greed of Man” – real estate and stock market stories were topics Hong Kong people eternally cared about!
Though the drama hadn’t opened Luna’s Hong Kong market, knowing TVB’s boss made it easy for Chen Xiliang to invite some Hong Kong stars.
If not, there was still Du Zhaohui’s influence.
If Zhu Suizhou still managed Asia, Du Zhaohui wouldn’t care whether the mall lived or died. Survival would be luck; bankruptcy would be perfect – making his useless son’s biggest investment a total loss!
But with management rights in Xia Xiaolan’s hands, things were different.
Du Zhaohui was happy to help.
Now Xia Xiaolan was the second-largest shareholder, becoming the largest was just a matter of time – he wasn’t helping an outsider.
If Second Madam hadn’t threatened to attack him on sight, Du Zhaohui would have attended Asia’s opening ceremony…
In short, Xia Xiaolan made the cultural performance extremely grand, running for three days, with government leaders from Shangdu attending the opening ceremony.
“Comrade Xia acts with masculine boldness,” Shao Limin said formally, no longer calling her Little Xia. He shook hands with Xia Xiaolan, truly impressed.
Xia Xiaolan smiled, “It’s all thanks to your support. Without your approval, I wouldn’t dare make it this grand.”
With such a scale, would provincial TV come to film?
If they came to film, they couldn’t edit out Asia Mall in the background – Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t refuse this free advertising. Central TV advertising attracted consumers, but today was Asia’s opening day, and local Shangdu consumers were more important than out-of-town tourists!
Asia Mall’s entrance was packed with crowds, citizens gathering from all directions, even from nearby rural counties who had heard the news.
When Xia Xiaolan acted, she made big moves.
She never worried about recouping advertising costs.
Yes, three days of cultural performances, paying so many actors and stars, plus stage and sound equipment – money flowed like water.
Let it flow.
Without spending, how could they earn more?
Xia Xiaolan didn’t copy Zhu Suizhou’s methods; she had her approach and advantages.
Wonder if Zhu Suizhou came today?
While spectacular programs continued on stage, Xia Xiaolan accompanied various leaders touring the mall.
The sales staff inside were beautiful and warm, creating an instant welcoming feeling. Whether buying or not, the atmosphere was comfortable.
There were service desks and shopping guides.
Floor directories clearly showed what was sold and where.
Even bathrooms had signs.
Purple Mountain Department Store’s deputy general manager came to observe today, following Shao Limin’s group from ground floor to top, watching the beautiful and polite salesgirls, and even personally experiencing Asia’s restrooms… damn, even the toilets smelled nice!
The deputy’s mood instantly soured.
Shangdu already had several department stores; adding Asia made everyone unhappy, meaning the already-divided cake needed redistribution.
Moreover, with Asia’s high investment, their appetite would surely be greedy, not satisfied with a small piece.
The deputy manager couldn’t find faults in Asia, which only made Purple Mountain Department Store look worse in comparison.
No matter how good Purple Mountain’s business was, they wouldn’t dare operate like Asia.
Take recruitment – Purple Mountain could find beautiful salesgirls too, but couldn’t train them to be both beautiful and polite like Asia’s. How much did Purple Mountain’s staff earn? Why should they treat customers like gods? As a state-owned enterprise, Purple Mountain could give more bonuses for good performance but couldn’t offer wages as high as Asia!
Without proper pay, people were hard to manage.
The visiting deputy manager was deeply troubled, unable to even enjoy the spectacular performance outside – Hong Kong stars singing? Pure decadent music! Shameful how Shangdu citizens listened in rapture – truly, truly unsophisticated!