Jiang Hua was invited by several teachers on the show to visit their art troupes. This became a popular meme, showing everyone's fondness for Jiang Hua. But this situation spiraled out of control.
"Jiang Hua, come play in our Taizhou, our Taizhou girls are beautiful." "Jiang Hua, come to Changzhou, we'll take you to eat delicious food."
Early in the morning, tourism bureaus from various places went crazy, for reasons Jiang Hua himself didn't understand.
Finally, the reason was dug out by netizens - Jiang Hua had been praised by name on the East Sea Fleet's official blog. His "Horse Racing" paired with scenes of various gunboats firing was simply amazing.
His fans were elated, feeling as if their own child had made it big. This wasn't just any official blog, it was one with global strike capability, with tremendous impact.
"Jiang Hua, come play in our fleet, we'll show you the gunboats."
With officials taking the lead in joining the fun, it was truly an unprecedented spectacle. So various local tourism bureau official blogs started playing along with the meme.
This excited Jiang Hua's fans immensely. Jiang Hua himself was still bewildered. Seeing gunboats - his dad would probably love that. But with everyone being so enthusiastic, he felt quite embarrassed.
Jiang Hua @-ed a long string of official blog names: "Thank you everyone for your love. I want to ask, when going to see the gunboats, can I bring my dad? He's a veteran, an army man, who's always had a dream of sailing."
They immediately replied: "Of course you can, just come directly."
Damn, is it really that easy? Just come directly? Jiang Hua felt it was time to face his family. He himself couldn't distinguish who he was, but was increasingly influenced by this Jiang Hua. Taking this opportunity to bring his family for a trip seemed good.
"Damn, come quick, so Jiang Hua likes to see gunboats too." "Why do all you men like these things? My husband, when scrolling Douyin, if not watching pretty girls, is watching these."
This time, other official blogs weren't happy. The Jinguan City Tourism Bureau directly invited him to play on Yulin Road, even sending an invitation to Little Hundred Flowers.
Jiang Hua himself was bewildered. What was going on? But there was no choice. Zhejiang Province and Jinguan City had always had good relations, this face had to be given. Besides, Jiang Hua was now their person, wherever he went he'd automatically promote Yue Opera and Zhejiang Province.
Jinguan City had already received a response and eagerly announced the news on their official blog. Everyone was just playing along with the meme, but they were taking it seriously.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be played. Jiang Hua was at most a third-tier or low second-tier star, without as much traffic as everyone imagined.
There was a popular saying online: What's the standard for a top-tier star? 30 million Weibo followers, that's a hard standard. But Jiang Hua's Douyin and Weibo combined only had about 10 million followers, he couldn't possibly be top-tier.
Many people couldn't understand Jinguan City's operation. Such a grand gesture would make sense for a first-tier star. Jiang Hua himself didn't understand either, he was just stuffed onto a plane.
Many people online weren't optimistic about Jiang Hua's trip, after all, he had only debuted three months ago at most.
....
At Jinguan City's Shuangliu Airport, it was packed with people today. At the airport entrance, everyone was quiet, not many people, queuing in an orderly manner, not disturbing others.
Jiang Hua walked out carrying a backpack. Everyone waved the posters in their hands, which were photos of him playing the erhu last time.
These fans were really thoughtful, but everyone was still a bit scared, afraid Jiang Hua would make them sing Yue Opera like last time.
Jiang Hua waved and said: "Thank you everyone, go home now, be careful on the way."
"Ah, Jiang Hua, can we take a photo with you? I came from the Northeast!"
Damn, that's really impressive.
Jiang Hua gave her a thumbs up, then said: "Alright, since there aren't many of you, let's all take a group photo. It's not easy coming from so far, but this is an exception."
"Okay, we definitely won't come in person next time."
They asked a passerby to take a group photo, and only then was Jiang Hua's itinerary revealed.
Netizens all sighed with regret:
"Damn, if I had known, I would have gone too. This guy actually took photos with fans, the sun is rising from the west." "Right, right, and he didn't even randomly test fans' study progress." "Can't take it, I've already bought a plane ticket."
This seemed like a signal, and within a week, all plane tickets were sold out. Even other modes of transportation started to be fully booked. Keep in mind, the peak tourist season had just passed, this was supposed to be the off-season.
Everyone finally realized how shrewd the Jinguan City Tourism Bureau was. They directly profited from this wave.
...
"Teacher Jiang, this way please."
Jiang Hua rested for a day, then was taken to tour Jinguan City. This time his fans were bolder. Everyone relied on the official restrictions on Jiang Hua, who wouldn't dare to randomly test their study progress.
At every stop, Jiang Hua was surrounded by fans. This was quite a spectacle.
"Teacher Jiang, this is Yulin Road, there are many small bars inside."
As it happened, a band was performing at the entrance of a small bar. Fans all called out:
"Jiang Hua, we've come from so far away. My roommate's dying wish was to hear you sing." "Sing one, sing one!"
The tourism bureau leader smiled and patted his shoulder. "Little Jiang, why don't you sing one? Actually, I'm a fan of yours too."
Jiang Hua finally understood why he was invited here, his star power wasn't enough. It turned out the big boss was his fan, that made sense.
"Alright, I'll sing one song. But let me be clear, only one song, no more."
Jiang Hua walked over to the guitarist, exchanged a few words, then took the guitar.
Fans all screamed: "Ah, Jiang Hua is finally singing live!"
Jiang Hua waved his hand, and the audience immediately stopped cheering.
"Thank you for Jinguan City's warm invitation, allowing me to travel on paid leave, and thank you all for your love."
"I'll sing a new song, 'Chengdu', for everyone."
This was returning the favor, right?
"What makes me shed tears, is not just last night's wine."
Damn, he changed styles. This was folk music. Jiang Hua's first album was mainly R&B. It also had rap and traditional opera style.
His style was very varied, but all just recorded in the studio. Many singers in the entertainment circle were studio singers, their live performances were disastrous.
But as soon as Jiang Hua started singing, everyone was immersed. This was the charm of music.
Many in the audience took out their phones to record. The tourism bureau certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity, three cameras were filming the whole process.
"Walk with me on the streets of Chengdu, oh oh, not stopping even when all the lights go out."
A very simple melody, with only guitar accompaniment, yet it touched people's hearts.
On the tourism bureau's official livestream platform, countless people rushed in. Everyone marveled at Jiang Hua's talent.
"Not stopping even when all the lights go out."
As the song ended, the scene fell silent for 2 minutes.
...