Chapter 497: Xiao Ping'an's Modern Adventure 2.0

"Not a chance, buddy. How come I feel like you've changed? You've had the virus, sure, but you aren't actually useless now, are you? What do they call it—a silver-spear wax-head?"

"Get lost."

Zhang Ping'an had a face full of black lines. His body had been baptized by electric current, and compared to the version of himself in his memories, he was stronger by more than just a little; his stamina wouldn't be shorter than when he was young.

Especially after doing Military Physical Boxing in the morning, his whole body felt refreshed; he felt like he had returned to being eighteen.

"Hahaha, I'm off."

Wu Jian was just like him, only his gambling addiction was even worse. Back in the day, he had been even crazier about trading virtual currency than him, borrowing three hundred thousand from the bank to trade it. Of course, he had lost quite a bit, and now he was also buried in debt; the two of them could be called brothers in misfortune.

"Sigh, I have to do something. I can't just sit around and eat through my savings."

After being baptized by the explosion of internet information for over half a month, Xiao Ping'an discovered that his hunting skills from his past life seemed to have no place in this era. The only possibility was to go to the Northeast to be a forest ranger or something similar.

"How about I go out and take a risk?"

Job opportunities in this hometown county were truly too scarce, especially if one wanted to turn their life around; one had to play a bit dirty.

"Forget it, forget it. In this life, my parents are getting old, and I'm not young anymore either. What on earth should I actually do?"

In the evening, Xiao Ping'an browsed through a lot of current affairs news. His memory was very strong now, almost photographic, and he quickly analyzed the content.

He also watched interviews with big shots and read economic newspapers and magazines, but still had no clue. Just like that, for a whole week, Xiao Ping'an finally had a result: shoot short videos and become a blogger.

Short videos had developed rapidly over these past two years, and it was still a period of high dividends. Whether he could take a bite depended on this one push.

Plus, he had studied video post-production in college, so he could get the hang of various software after getting familiar with them. He prepared to build his foundation on an agritainment farm.

Even if the short videos didn't work out, running an agritainment farm could provide a safety net, especially now that the lockdown was lifted and the economy was recovering; there would definitely be retaliatory consumption.

No sooner said than done, Xiao Ping'an quickly wrote his ideas into a business plan. He still needed a few partners.

The next day, after finishing his workout, Xiao Ping'an went straight to Wu Jian's house and dragged him up.

"Auntie, I'm looking for Wu Jian."

"He's still sleeping in his room. Go on in yourself."

"Okay."

"Get up quickly and look at my plan."

"Hmm?"

Wu Jian rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at the business plan with an expression of disbelief:

"Not a chance, buddy. What kind of state are we in right now? Where would we get the money to do this?"

"It's precisely because of that that we have to do it. At worst, we just owe a few more tens of thousands. If you gamble, a bicycle can turn into a motorcycle."

"..."

"Damn it, let's do it." Provoked by Zhang Ping'an, Wu Jian also felt his blood start to boil.

Once Wu Jian was ready, the two of them rode their little electric scooters to set off for the next house: good brothers Xiaopang and Xiaoli'er, both of whom were broke and had external debts.

Actually, there was one more good brother, but he was already married and had children, so Zhang Ping'an didn't go look for him.

"How about it? Are you in or not? I've already scouted an agritainment spot by the national highway. It's big enough, and I'm planning to go take it over."

"Each of us puts in fifty thousand, and then wages are distributed according to labor. Here are some of my plans."

"You can write a business plan? Did this wave of the flu give you a new brain?"

"..."

"Read it quickly. Give me an answer on whether you agree or not. If not, I'll find other people."

"You didn't notify Dongdong?"

"He's already married. This isn't a hundred-percent success, so it's better not to create family conflict."

"But he cooks well."

"Yeah, if he were the cook, everyone in our county would definitely love it. It's authentic country-style flavor."

"Alright then, I'll call and ask."

"You shedding hair, what do you want with your uncle?"

"Big nephew, come over quickly. The usual spot. The brothers are all waiting. There's a good thing to discuss. It's best if you bring your wife too."

"What's the situation?"

"I can't explain it in a sentence or two. Come over and we'll talk."

"Okay, be there in a minute."

Fifteen minutes later, the couple arrived. They had been high school sweethearts through college, married five years ago, were the most enviable pair, and had a daughter.

They ran an advertising company, responsible for design, printing, assembly, and so on. They could earn at least two or three hundred thousand a year, which was already quite good in the county.

They were the best off among our group of five, the only ones married, and also the most tired. Sometimes they worked until the middle of the night. This money was rightfully theirs to earn; it wasn't something to be jealous of.

"It's like this..."

Xiao Ping'an explained it directly. As expected, they didn't plan to join. Their current work was relatively free, and their income was stable; there was absolutely no need to take this risk.

"Although I can't join, I can invest a little. What do you think, honey?"

"Fine, then let's invest fifty thousand too."

"Good. Let's set the rules and lay out the ugly truths first. Otherwise, I'd rather not partner up than hurt our brotherhood."

"That's only right."

Because Xiao Ping'an had written all the detailed plans clearly, everyone understood as soon as they saw them, and then they all looked at him with strange expressions.

Everyone had been together for eight or nine years; everyone knew exactly what everyone else was worth. This was completely unlike Zhang Ping'an's usual style.

"Having the virus is a good thing. You've even become smarter after getting over it."

"Get lost. I just feel like we can't waste our youth anymore. We're all over thirty, damn it, and you even have a five-year-old kid."

In truth, Xiao Ping'an really disliked this feeling of being in debt. In his past life, even if his family borrowed money occasionally, they would pay it back the moment they had the funds, otherwise he would feel uncomfortable all over. That was how he was now.

"Hahaha."

After the joking around, everyone began to divide the work: Zhang Ping'an was responsible for skit planning and video editing, and also appeared on camera; Xiaopang was definitely the food vlogger; Xiaoli'er was the "pretentious guy," dressed in a suit and leather shoes all day, responsible for greeting and seeing off guests; Wu Jian was responsible for filming.

"OK, let's settle on this for now. Tomorrow, once everyone's money is in place, we'll sign a contract and get to work."

Xiao Ping'an spent the next half month busy; 100,000 covered everything at the farmhouse, including the free-range chickens, the fish and soft-shelled turtles in the pond, the acre or so of vegetable garden, and a small strawberry patch.

"Brother, if I weren't tight on cash, I wouldn't transfer this to you even if it killed me."

The owner wasn't a local; the years of the pandemic had caused them to lose everything, and they were truly unable to continue operating, so Zhang Ping'an didn't really haggle much.

This farmhouse courtyard wasn't small; including the chicken-raising woods, vegetable garden, pond, and so on, it was about five or six acres of land.

After everything was ready, Xiao Ping'an began daily filming, posting to his social media circle, and doing some "edge-ball" content, which meant wearing a tank top and practicing Military Physical Boxing in the woods.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Day 2023, and business saw a surge; they barely had time to film skits anymore, as everyone was acting as temporary food runners.

The short video account was neither hot nor cold, but it did bring in some traffic; then, through customer interview Q&As, the account became a little popular, quickly surpassing ten thousand followers, gaining a bit of fame in the small county, and becoming a popular internet check-in spot.

In the blink of an eye, another half year passed, and the account was completely established, with over one hundred thousand followers and small profits, and the farmhouse also started seeing returns.

That's how things went: the more popular it got, the more popular it became; in just a few months, the traffic picked up, and by the end of 2023, the followers had exceeded one million, and the farmhouse area had even doubled.

Now, just from the advertising endorsements taken on through short videos, they made over one million a year, and adding the more than three hundred thousand in income from the farmhouse, they could be considered to have made it.