Chapter 719: I'll Say That Too in the Future

"This image is really good."

"Yeah, it's not much worse than some movies I've seen."

"I really didn't expect that wedding videos could be filmed so beautifully."

"Exactly. It's hard now; every industry is competing. Who would have thought that someone could film a wedding like this?"

Xu Hongdou asked the man sitting beside her curiously: "Wang Yan, this must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Wang Yan was also watching the video. It was his first time seeing it too; this was provided by the 'Living Father.' He had specifically worked in the wedding industry before. Although the video now was provided by the 'Living Father,' the filming ideas and techniques still followed the style he used when he worked in weddings. If he were to film it again, it would roughly be like this, or maybe even worse. After all, when the 'Living Father' takes action personally, the same thing can be done to the extreme. Relatively speaking, he would definitely be a bit worse.

Hearing Xu Hongdou's question and seeing the curious gazes of others, he shook his head with a laugh: "If it were my personal labor fee, it would probably just be the one thousand yuan gift money I saved, plus three days of food and lodging. I met this person halfway; he's from Henan Province. Meeting is fate, so I just joined in the fun. You can tell from their family environment that they are just a normal family, not the kind that is super rich.

I supervised the whole process, and the editing and music were all done by myself. Some of the shots were filmed by me, and quite a few were filmed by the people from the wedding company they found. Because there were multiple camera angles, more manpower and equipment were used. However, they knew the wedding company, so they charged the cost price. Calculating all the expenses, it should be fifty thousand, right?"

Da Mai followed up and asked: "Then what if you count your labor fee?"

"That's impossible to measure, after all, I'm not specifically running a shop to do this wedding business." Wang Yan laughed, "But if I were running a shop to do business, I would definitely film it even better and more exquisitely. It should be at least three hundred thousand, and it would have to include food and lodging, and it couldn't be bad."

"Also three days?"

"Then it couldn't be three days; it would take a month. Or let me put it another way: even if it were done in three days, it would have to be dragged out for a month before delivering the finished product. This isn't doing photography; it's doing business to make money."

Looking at the smile on Wang Yan's face, Da Mai expressed her disgust straightforwardly: "Sure enough, business people aren't good people."

Huh?

Ma Qiushan was stunned for a moment, feeling offended. He explained with a smile: "Da Mai, business has business rules. Thinking like that is one-sided. Wang Yan's meaning is that he wants to establish a reputation for fine production for his company and be worthy of the money the consumer spends. Think about it the other way around: you spend hundreds of thousands to find someone to film your wedding, and the result is done and given to you in three or four days. Would you feel comfortable spending that money? Would you feel that the other person's effort isn't worth that much?"

"You're a writer; if you go online later and post a small essay ruining someone's reputation, then can this business still be done? But Wang Yan's skills, the wages of his subordinates, and the cost of opening a shop—these are all real. Whether a business person is good or bad depends on whether their service to the customer is good, whether they are good to their employees, and whether they have fulfilled their obligations to the country. If they have done these, they are good; if they haven't, then they are bad—they are the capitalists who should be hung from street lamps."

Xie Zhiyao also chimed in: "Doesn't this include me too? I'm a good person, Da Mai."

Da Mai had never worked, had never been tempered in the big dye vat of society, and her channel for obtaining information was the internet. It was very normal for her to have a single-minded view of things. Originally, she spoke quite straight, but now she had drunk some alcohol and was in a daze, so she didn't use her brain even more.

Her words were definitely problematic, but for this kind of unintentional mistake, and since Da Mai's appearance was beautiful and the overall feeling she gave people was like a rabbit, naturally, no one really cared about this kind of harmless little problem.

Seeing the embarrassment revealed on Da Mai's flushed face from drinking a little alcohol, Wang Yan waved his hand with a laugh: "It's nothing, I was just saying that; I won't do that kind of business in this life. You should drink less; this is only one bottle, and your eyes are already dazed."

Nana looked at Da Mai beside her with a wry smile: "Sorry, don't hold it against Da Mai; she's just like that."

"What's there to hold against her? Da Mai is actually right; business people's hearts are dirty, otherwise, they can't do business well. But that doesn't include me. It's not self-aggrandizement; my heart isn't dirty, that's why I'm losing money." Xie Zhiyao waved his hand. He had also known Da Mai for a long time and didn't dwell on this, turning instead to talk to Wang Yan, "Wang Laoshi, after watching this wedding movie, I'm even more reassured. Let me toast you to thank you for your help and support for our Yunmiao Village."

Huang Xinxin also raised her beer bottle: "Right, I represent the Yunmiao Village Committee to thank you for your support."

She had heard before that this Wang Yan was a rich man and had the intention of finding a place to invest and retire. No matter what he did or how much he invested, as long as he settled down here, it would enrich the industries of their Yunmiao Village and help the development of Yunmiao Village.

"Since we are the only ones from Yunmiao Village here, I can't fall behind either." Xie Xiaochun also raised her beer bottle and came up, "If Wang Yan films this well this time, and we post the video online, if it goes viral by chance, then everyone in our Yunmiao Village will benefit. Not to mention getting rich, at least we can earn more money. People working outside, seeing that their hometown is rising, can also work at home and don't have to be separated from their families."

"I can't fall behind either." Little Gourd, who had eaten until her little face was flushed, also raised her juice, looking quite serious, which made people laugh out loud.

Wang Yan said: "You guys don't need to hold me up so high; otherwise, if there's no splash when the time comes, I won't have the face to continue staying here. I can only say that I will do my best to film it and show what should be shown. As for whether it can attract tourists, I can't guarantee that to you, and I don't have that ability."

"The skills are there, and the scenery of our Yunmiao Village isn't bad either; it shouldn't be a problem. Publicity is our business. As long as you film it, it will definitely be fine. People have their own judgment. As long as Yunmiao Village enters the eyes of more people, there will definitely be people coming. Wang Laoshi, no matter what, we must thank you for your help. If it succeeds, we thank you; if it doesn't, we thank you just the same. Don't be humble; excessive humility is pride. Come, drink, drink."

Xie Zhiyao had mixed in the outside world, so naturally, there was no problem with his speech and actions.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, spoke humbly, and drank with them.

"Come on, let's have one too. Wang Laoshi is really deep and unrevealing; who would have thought that a wedding video could be filmed like this? It's really an eye-opener today."

Hu Youyu was greeting everyone again, afraid of cooling the atmosphere.

After drinking, he said to Wang Yan: "Can you show me later?"

What he called him just now was Wang Laoshi; he was shocked by Wang Yan's skills and bowed down. Of course, he also had something to ask of him. After all, he wanted to livestream and post videos, and having a professional like Wang Yan help was obviously much better.

Wang Yan nodded: "Did you livestream today? Did you record enough material?"

"That goes without saying; I do what I say. But the time was short, just one hour. I looked at the data, and it wasn't very good. But it doesn't matter; I gained more than ten followers, so there are still people who like it."

Hearing the conversation between the two, Nana asked curiously: "Are you really going to do it?"

"Could that be fake?" Hu Youyu looked at Xie Zhiyao and the others who were a bit confused and explained, "Didn't Wang Laoshi go viral for catching a thief? We discussed the issue of livestreaming yesterday, and he said my livestreaming was quite good. Although I had livestreamed before, I didn't persist. After chatting with him this time, I wanted to try again. Anyway, there's nothing to lose. Not to mention whether it goes viral or not, even if there are just a few people who sincerely like listening to me sing, I'll be satisfied. Hey, right, you guys hurry up and give me a friendship follow each; help me increase my follower count."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and asked people to scan the code to follow. Everyone at the table, except Little Gourd, including Da Mai who was already dazed, clicked a follow and became his fans.

After this set of things was done, everyone continued to watch other people's happiness with laughter.

Today's main activity was to let Xie Zhiyao see his level of filming long videos, which served to prove his ability. After all, although it was basically equivalent to helping for free, helping in a way that caused trouble was always bad and wasted people's time. Today, seeing it for themselves gave them peace of mind. If such a complicated and trivial wedding could be filmed well, and it was filmed in the mode of a movie, there was no reason why he couldn't handle filming a promotional video for tourism.

This wedding video was very long, two and a half hours, and everyone couldn't finish watching it. This kind of thing is just for freshness; unless it's the parties involved or people about to step into the hall of marriage, they would watch it with relish. It's hard for a group of single dogs to resonate.

At around ten o'clock, Nana helped Da Mai back to her room. Little Gourd, who had long been full and asleep, was carried back by Xie Zhiyao, and Huang Xinxin followed along, as they still had things to discuss. Xu Hongdou also went to wash up and go to bed, leaving only three men continuing.

Watching the lively scene still playing, Ma Qiushan shook his head and sighed: "With your skills, you really should open a shop, take more jobs, witness more people's happiness, and let more people witness happiness."

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "If it really became my main job, I wouldn't love doing it anymore; it's meaningless."

"That's true too. You're used to being free, and you're not short of money. It's just a pity for such good skills. Let me tell you, this definitely has business. Those whose skills are better than yours look down on this, and they don't necessarily have this storytelling thinking or this directing ability. Those whose skills aren't as good as yours can't film this feeling at all. There really aren't many who can earn this money. It's a pity, really a pity..."

Seeing Ma Qiushan's appearance, Hu Youyu said: "I say Old Ma, you don't want to drag Wang Laoshi to partner up and do weddings, do you?"

Without thinking, Ma Qiushan shook his head repeatedly: "How could that be? I'm just sighing that people have different fates. You say Wang Yan isn't short of money and is multi-talented. Think of me, Ma Qiushan, having lived for forty years, and I'm still a loser."

"Do you think it's possible that it's because Wang Laoshi isn't short of money that he has the heart to study, and that's why he's multi-talented?"

Ma Qiushan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Wang Yan. Seeing Wang Yan nodding at him with a smile, he let out a "woo-hoo" sound: "Drink, drink!"

Goods must be compared to be thrown away, people must be compared to die. Wine enters the sorrowful intestines, making sorrow even more sorrowful. Ma Qiushan, who was cultivating his character, was already drunk.

Hu Youyu didn't care about him and laughed: "It's good to be drunk. When I first came, I knew at a glance that he had things on his mind. Today, I don't know why, but he drank by himself without anyone persuading him. I guess it's probably because seeing people getting married happily reminded him of his own love affairs. He's forty years old; you say, can he not be anxious?"

"This is because his cultivation isn't in place. Alright, let me fix the video for you."

Wang Yan stood up with a laugh, went over to unplug the computer, took Hu Youyu's phone, connected it to the computer to transfer the video he had recorded earlier, and started producing it. He had to explain to him while doing it.

In the hour of time, more than half an hour was singing. There were three songs that performed quite well; they were all folk songs that were quite popular before. He played and sang by himself, with some small adaptations, which were still quite good.

Wang Yan cut out the three segments separately, adjusted the color scheme, added subtitles, and had to check if there were any copyright issues. Hu Youyu held his phone and recorded the video, planning to watch it slowly later.

Besides this, Wang Yan also made a closing prompt for him, which was Hu Youyu's original voice, saying "I am Hu Youyu, follow me," with a rascally tone, and even added a Q-version avatar on the spot.

After operating like this, Hu Youyu released the first official video. Of course, he had works before, but they were all things like showing off, or some works he learned from internet trends for a while. This time, he either deleted or hid them. His main page was clean, and there was only that one, which counted as a fresh start.

Hu Youyu definitely wouldn't sleep well tonight. Not to mention how much effort he put in, just the fact that a player like Wang Yan produced the video for him made him have some expectations. With expectations, it's easy to toss and turn. Just like buying a phone or computer online, he would check where the express delivery was for no reason...

The next day, Wang Yan brought breakfast back as usual. Today's courtyard didn't have the liveliness of yesterday morning; there was only Da Mai cooking breakfast, still boiling noodles.

Seeing Wang Yan enter, she said with a flushed face: "Sorry about yesterday."

"Business people aren't good people?" Seeing her nod, Wang Yan laughed, "What's the matter with that? You didn't say anything wrong. Besides, I was just saying it; I won't really open any wedding company, so you don't have to think too much about it. How is your state these two days? Have you gotten better?"

"It's okay. It's still very hard to write, but my spirit is indeed much better. Thank you, Wang Yan."

"I'm just talking without back pain; it's still you who is good at absorbing suggestions and has great execution. This is your own credit; it has nothing to do with me. If what you're writing is really too hard, I think you should consider conceiving another book to disperse your spirit; perhaps when you look back, what you couldn't figure out will be figured out. Oh right, I have a book list, and I'll send it to you along with the resources. Reading more books is beneficial to your writing. What I'm sharing with you are all things I've read. When you've read them, we can exchange ideas, and it will also provide you with some new ideas."

Wang Yan brought up the old topic again, continuing to deepen Da Mai's impression.

Da Mai's confidence, on one hand, comes from her success in writing, and on the other hand, it should come from her own inner openness. As long as she doesn't put so much pressure on herself, it's equivalent to a rebirth. Then, diligent reading, diligent learning, and diligent thinking, feeding back into writing—not to mention writing a blockbuster book, but she can always go to a higher level.

"Thank you, Wang Yan."

"Here we go again; don't always say so many thank yous. As the saying goes, 'The rose is in the hand of the giver; the fragrance is in the hand of the giver.' You become better, and then I also share in the joy of you becoming better. This is a good thing."

Thinking for a moment, Wang Yan said: "Perhaps you can show me the novel you're writing now. Although I haven't written one, I've read quite a few various books, and I'm very good at giving suggestions. You don't have to be embarrassed either; as long as it doesn't convey any bad thoughts and isn't filled with negative energy, then there's no problem."

If it were someone else asking, Da Mai might not give it. But with his psychological construction earlier, and the small "apology" from Da Mai now, according to Da Mai's personality, she definitely wouldn't refuse.

Sure enough, after pondering for a moment, Da Mai nodded and took out her phone: "I'll send you the platform, pen name, and book title, but don't tell anyone else. Now in our courtyard, only you and Nana know."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't expose it." The phone in his hand chimed with a new message notification. Wang Yan picked it up and took a look.

The platform was a big site for female-oriented novels, and the pen name was 'Da Mai's Sunny Day.' Operating the software to download, he said: "I'll finish reading it in these two days and send you my suggestions. You can absorb them as you see fit."

"Then tha..." Seeing Wang Yan raising his eyebrows at her, Da Mai swallowed her words and pointed to the pot behind her, "I'm boiling noodles."

"But you can't always boil noodles, right? Don't you get tired of eating them?"

Da Mai laughed embarrassedly: "It's simple and easy to make. I don't always eat noodles; there are also dumplings, wontons, etc., but I can't eat much in the morning."

"Just exercise a bit, and your appetite will open up. You saw that complex version of the Eight Brocades I taught Master Ma, right? When you have time, learn it and practice it once every morning; I guarantee you'll eat well and feel good."

Thinking for a moment, Wang Yan said: "Oh, right, I remember Xie Zong sent a ham yesterday, along with some mushrooms and cured beef. I'll cut two slices of ham and add them for you; let's eat together. Let's stir-fry the mushrooms too; they've been sitting for a night, and they won't be fresh if we wait until tonight."

"Mushrooms are poisonous; do you know how to cook them?"

"Don't worry, my skills are enough to open a restaurant; you'll know in a while."

Saying it and doing it, under Da Mai's skeptical gaze, Wang Yan found the ham, cut a few slices first, and handed the cured beef to Da Mai to put into the noodles. He also found a bag of various mushrooms, cleaned them, washed the cutting board, and started chopping away.

"What are you doing? Are you going to cook?"

Looking up at Xu Hongdou who walked in, Wang Yan nodded: "The mushrooms Xie Zong brought yesterday, let's cook them early to avoid them not being fresh later."

"I heard mushrooms are poisonous; can you do it?"

"Just wait and see."

Xu Hongdou curled her lips, turned around, and went to Da Mai's side, and the two started chatting. Initially, communication between people of the same sex is always very good, especially since both of their personalities are fine. After a few days of contact, they were building a friendship.

High-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods. There is no other way to cook mushrooms—stir-fry them over high heat; if they aren't cooked, you'll be poisoned. It's a popular internet meme: every mushroom-eating season, the people of Yunnan Province always have to go to the hospital, because they never doubt that the mushrooms are poisonous, but always firmly believe that the mushrooms weren't stir-fried thoroughly...

Wang Yan's skills, of course, were nothing to sneeze at; they really reached the level of opening a restaurant. He was also a player who had eaten his way through China. Although his cooking wasn't at the top master level, stir-frying mushrooms was still a piece of cake.

After a round of clanging with the big ladle, a large plate of mushrooms with some shredded beef was served on the table.

Looking at the dish that had quite a bit of color, aroma, and taste, Xu Hongdou and Da Mai looked at each other, hesitantly picked up their chopsticks, picked up a small piece, put it in their mouths, and tasted it carefully.

Da Mai's eyes lit up, and she gave a thumbs up very supportively: "Delicious."

Xu Hongdou also nodded: "I couldn't tell, your cooking is really quite good."

Wang Yan knew that it wasn't actually how delicious it was—after all, it wasn't like they hadn't eaten good food before. They were just surprised that he, this rich idler, could actually cook, and cook quite well at that.

He raised his eyebrows, looking a little smug: "I never brag."

"I know, you want to say 'having many skills is never a burden,' and that you have to know everything, right?" Xu Hongdou laughed, looking at Wang Yan with her big eyes.

"Congratulations, you've learned to answer ahead of time." Wang Yan laughed out loud, "Alright, eat quickly, eat more. Although we're taking the cable car up the mountain, we'll definitely have to walk quite a bit, so store up your energy."

Da Mai asked: "Are you guys going to Cangshan?"

Xu Hongdou said "Mm": "Do you want to go together?"

"I still have to type; I can't stop updating. However, when I first came, I went once; Nana dragged me there. Just like he said before, if you don't go to Cangshan and Erhai, it feels like you came in vain. But after I went, I didn't feel anything special."

"If you put it that way, I've walked for so many years, and I also don't feel anything special. However, after seeing the scenery, it's like a shadow left in your heart. This principle is the same as reading books. People always ask what the point of reading so many books is, since you can't remember them, but they really did leave something behind for you."

Da Mai nodded thoughtfully and said: "Still don't feel anything."

Xu Hongdou coughed, swallowed the food in her mouth, gulped down a large mouthful of water, and laughed out loud: "I see you talking in sets all day long; it didn't work this time, did it?"

"Broad knowledge, open-mindedness, understanding nature—this is what the past seven-plus years have brought me." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, "But if we're talking about purely looking at scenery, then besides the photos I took, if I think back later, there really isn't any special feeling. In the final analysis, it's different regions and different customs that endow the different spirits of the land. But I just can't say I don't have any special feeling; otherwise, what were my travels for the past seven-plus years? Wouldn't that have been in vain?"

Da Mai nodded knowingly: "Understood, you're just stubborn. Wang Laoshi, I'll learn from you; in the future, when others ask, I'll say it like you..." ===== CHAPTER 720 =====