Chapter 358: Short‑Video Competition

July 7, sunny, to cultivate and expand a native internet‑celebrity team, multiple measures are being taken to grow emerging business models and explore the development of the "internet‑celebrity economy"; a uniquely fresh activity is quietly unfolding.

Through the matchmaking of old classmate Wang Honghai, Ganshui County partnered with Douyin to officially hold the inaugural short‑video competition, guiding and encouraging all county cadres and the public to use Douyin, Kuaishou and other short‑video platforms to promote Ganshui and showcase its tourism resources and e‑commerce products.

The high prize money not only set the county's cadres and masses itching to take part, but also attracted many professional teams to join.

The short‑video competition's purpose is not merely entertainment; it aims to make every participant a spokesperson for Ganshui, recording its beautiful scenery, long history and distinctive culture with a camera, and telling Ganshui's story through short videos.

Through short‑video works, more people will learn about Ganshui's charm, raise Ganshui County's visibility, thereby boosting tourism, spurring e‑commerce development, and driving rapid local economic growth.

At the same time, Douyin held training classes in Ganshui, cultivating seed talent for internet celebrities and implementing training programs for celebrity e‑commerce, live‑stream e‑commerce, and content e‑commerce, showing Wang Honghai's clout at Douyin!

Zhou Jian, who lives in Temple Bay Town, is 39 this year, makes a living farming and earns little. He joined the county's e‑commerce training class, was introduced to e‑commerce and short videos, and under the instructor's guidance registered a Douyin account, filmed short videos to promote his farm products, earning 3,000 yuan from a single order! This convinced him that in e‑commerce one must seek traffic by any means, and that at present celebrity live‑streaming is the best option.

Wu Rui—Ganshui Ge, a young man from Laoshan Town, has worked in Chang'an for years; last year he got into Douyin, and used this competition to return to Ganshui specifically to shoot material, edit it into videos, upload them online, while also promoting his family's medicinal herbs. In just a few days his followers multiplied and his income rose sharply.

An account called Ganshui Na Jie belongs to a housewife with a bold, even somewhat 'spicy' personality; after being discovered by the training class, her followers grew from zero to 180,000, gradually making her Ganshui's major internet celebrity. Her live‑stream earnings now bring in thousands of yuan each day, and she has begun to build her own live‑stream team.

Peng Yuan is a youth who returned home to start a business; he previously worked in internet jobs in Chang'an, and recently founded a live‑stream company after returning, receiving strong support from the Ganshui County Committee and County Government. So far his portfolio has incubated accounts such as Ganshui Mengmei (300,000 followers) and Jiaxiao Lao Wang (100,000 followers). Jiaxiao Lao Wang focuses on driving‑school daily life and rural scenes, earning roughly a few thousand yuan per day from live‑stream revenue.

These myriad 'internet celebrities' emerging are merely a microcosm of Ganshui County's e‑commerce economic development, and gradually more cadres and the public are throwing themselves into the growth of the e‑commerce economy.

Ganshui County and Douyin cooperate to establish internet‑celebrity bases, create internet‑celebrity towns and villages, cultivate internet‑celebrity 'check‑in spots', and drive rapid growth of Ganshui County's internet‑celebrity economy.

Lu Fan was chatting idly with Wang Honghai in the office when County Chief Yuan Weiwei pushed the door open, worriedly saying, "Secretary, Honghai, on the short‑video apps on my phone these past few days I keep seeing Chang'an's 'unfinished building', it feels off, as if someone is doing it on purpose!"

Honghai nodded and said, "Lu Fan just raised this issue; I checked with the company and it is indeed a human manipulation. Douyin has already taken control, but self‑media isn't just ByteDance. I talked with the big brother, and he told me to stay out of it; I guess he has his own plans."

Lu Fan echoed, "Secretary Wang told us not to pay attention, so he must have a better solution. With Secretary Wang's wisdom, perhaps the passive can be turned into the active. But from this incident we can conclude that someone is stirring trouble behind the scenes! As the saying goes, one must always be wary of others! Honghai, you have media contacts; do more for Secretary Wang to guard against petty schemers; now is a critical period for the Secretary!"

Honghai nodded in agreement; being hot‑tempered, he immediately started making phone calls, ordering his subordinates to act.

In mid‑July, Ganshui County experienced a far‑reaching major event!

The County Committee and County Government announced a restructuring of the County Bus Company, replacing all buses on routes 1–5 with electric buses, and the final item was especially shocking: starting July 20, all county buses will be free to ride!

A 'small' matter of livelihood showcases a 'big' concern for the people; the tangible benefit makes Ganshui residents grin with joy, feeling the care and respect of the County Committee and County Government!

Once the 'free bus' policy was announced, Ganshui County quickly became the city's focal point and an online hotspot, and this north‑western small county gradually attracted attention from across the province and even the whole nation!

On July 20, the National Bureau of Statistics released the half‑year economic operation bulletin; Chang'an City ranked just behind 'Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen', its GDP surpassed one trillion yuan, and it topped all 16 assessment indicators, becoming the brightest star. The people of Chang'an proudly shouted the slogan 'Chang'an Rise'!

Benefiting from Chang'an's dazzling results, calls for Wang Hongtao to become Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee are growing louder!

Immediately after, Wang Hongtao loudly put forward a 'medical reform' plan; the people of Chang'an shouted: 'It's coming, it's coming!' longing for a star, longing for the moon, finally the people have waited for Secretary Wang's big move!

In late July, Chang'an City held a highly watched medical‑reform conference, with two 'special' guests seated in the hall—County Committee Secretary Lu Fan of Ganshui and County Chief Yuan Weiwei, who came to 'learn from the masters'!

Listening to Deputy Secretary Wang Hongtao's inspiring speech, Lu Fan and Weiwei focused intently, hearing Secretary Wang's views and plans for medical reform firsthand, their pens never leaving the paper.

They intend to use this valuable learning opportunity to bring these precious experiences back to Ganshui County, injecting new vitality into local medical reform!

After the meeting, Lu Fan asked Chen Jianfei to take away all of Chang'an's medical‑reform materials.

On the way back, Lu Fan sighed, "Weiwei, Secretary Wang has been working on medical reform for years; his considerations are truly thorough. I doubt anyone in the country can surpass him!"

Weiwei nodded, "Indeed, 'illness leading to poverty, illness pulling people back into poverty' is the biggest obstacle for ordinary people to improve their lives; a serious illness can drag several families into a bottomless abyss!"

Lu Fan said, "Deputy Secretary Wang's saying that I strongly agree with, 'To repel external threats, first secure the interior'! Before Ganshui undertakes medical reform, we must eradicate the parasites in the medical field completely! Solve the problem of over‑medicalization! A few days ago I caught a slight cold, bought two boxes of medicine, took a few doses and got better; most of the medicine was wasted. This happens to everyone."

According to Secretary Wang's experience, Ganshui has 100,000 people, a 95% reimbursement rate, and the finance department would be fine with less than a hundred million yuan a year. But if we don't solve the corruption problem, no amount of money we pour into medical reform will satisfy their greed! After returning, I will arrange for the Discipline Inspection Committee and the Health Bureau to launch a special rectification.

"Alright, I support!"

Lu Fan asked the most pressing question: "Weiwei, Ganshui wants to do medical reform—do we have enough money?"

Weiwei laughed, "Secretary, you're the only secretary I've ever seen who doesn't handle projects or constructions. Ganshui's finances are continuously improving; how could we be short of money? The treasury now has over three hundred million yuan lying around, the funds are more than enough!"

Lu Fan also laughed, "Aren't you the same? Money taken from the people and used for the people must be spent where it counts, on improving livelihoods, and then I won't feel any sting at all!"

Chang'an's medical reform has drawn the nation's attention; no one expected that the tiny Ganshui County is also 'scheming', planning to keep pace with Deputy Secretary Wang's steps.

Back in Ganshui, Lu Fan and Yuan Weiwei immediately summoned Discipline Inspection Committee Secretary Du Wenlong and Health Bureau Director Dai Bufan.

When they arrived, Lu Fan smiled and said, "I just finished attending Chang'an's medical‑reform conference with the County Chief and learned a lot! I called you both here because before Ganshui's medical reform we need to thoroughly clean up the industry's misconduct. Bufan, you are the Health Bureau Director; you know the corruption in the medical sector best. The County Committee and County Government have now resolved to govern; I hope the Health Bureau can turn its blade inward, carve out the rotten flesh, show the courage of self‑revolution, act decisively, and lay a solid foundation for Ganshui's comprehensive medical reform!"

Dai Bufan, who was transferred by Lu Fan from the County Committee Office to the Health Bureau, naturally must implement the secretary's directives. After a moment he said, "Secretary, as far as I know, the average commission in the medical sector ranges from 20% to 30%; this is essentially an undisclosed secret, and the vast majority of people are not clean. To put it bluntly, probably all frontline medical staff and managers have varying degrees of corruption; the better doctors earn even more. How should we gauge the scale of industry rectification? Please advise, Secretary!"

This question stumped Lu Fan; one cannot sweep all medical staff away in one net, right?

After thinking, Lu Fan instructed, "Target the big ones and let the small go; focus on the management layer! Mobilize medical staff to voluntarily return illicit gains and disclose their own issues, and you can grant them leniency."

County Chief Yuan Weiwei added, "There's a common problem: any expensive or effective medicine is almost never stocked in the hospital pharmacy, but doctors will tell you where to buy it. Hence there are many drugstores beside hospitals, each thriving! This issue must be taken seriously!"

Lu Fan nodded and said, "Medical issues are a major livelihood concern for ordinary people; the high cost and difficulty of treatment have been tormenting everyone. People painstakingly save money for half a lifetime, only to have a hospital stay wipe them out. When saving, it's a handful of bills; at the hospital it's a handful of cash thrown away. How many people become poor because of illness, how many give up treatment because they can't afford it, and lose their lives!"

Bufan, using these Chang'an materials as reference, quickly draft Ganshui County's medical‑reform plan; the main direction is a 95% reimbursement rate, with the County Government reviewing the proposal.

Wenlong, the chaos and corruption in the medical field have long existed; it's a long‑term, cumulative process that has spread from points to the whole, now at a stage where it must be rectified! You must investigate in detail and go deep. For those egregious offenders whose embezzlement exceeds a million yuan, arrest them, sentence them, impose heavy penalties, and do not protect the short‑term or go through the motions!

Du Wenlong nodded and said, "Alright, Secretary, I'll get started right away."