"No problem, Mr. Shen. Please, feel free to raise any concerns you have. In any case, we’ll have to continue our discussion with Director Kong later." If an ordinary celebrity had said sothing like that, Mayor Wang would probably have been displeased. But Hah’Er wasn’t a person, and Mayor Wang had to rely on Shen Yibin to direct him during filming. Therefore, he had no choice but to listen to what Shen Yibin had to say.
"Um, well, here’s what I was thinking. This proposal plans out Hah’Er’s actions in excruciating detail. Don’t you think it would be a little too difficult to have Hah’Er follow the plan to the letter? Hah’Er isn’t an actor; he doesn’t have that kind of acting ability." ’Wait, that doesn’t sound right either. Aren’t there plenty of celebrity actors these days with no acting ability who are still absurdly famous?’
Mayor Wang blinked, stunned. ’He has a good point. I’m speechless.’ It had only been a few days since he’d had the idea to ask Hah’Er to be Yunzhong City’s tourism ambassador. There was no way they could create an entirely new proposal in such a short amount of ti. So, his subordinates had no choice but to take an old proposal and modify it.
But when those proposals were originally drafted, who could have imagined that Yunzhong City would one day hire a panda to be its tourism ambassador? All of them were designed with a human celebrity or other public figure in mind, so it was inevitable that so of the details would demand an unreasonably high level of cooperation.
"My goodness, Mr. Shen is right. Our preparations were inadequate." It was true that his side hadn’t prepared thoroughly enough. The little bit of annoyance Mayor Wang had felt toward Shen Yibin instantly vanished. "If Mr. Shen hadn’t brought this up, we would have likely run into major problems during the shoot."
"Mayor, I’ll have soone draft a new proposal imdiately. We’ll strive to have it ready before Director Kong arrives in Yunzhong City." Qin Qing was also displeased. ’If this goes well, I can use this achievent to move up another rank. But now, we’ve found such a huge flaw before we’ve even begun. I’ll have to give them a serious talking-to later.’
"Not so fast. Let’s hear Mr. Shen’s thoughts first." Mayor Wang had far more life experience than Qin Qing. He curbed Qin Qing’s impulsive reaction and signaled for him to get ready to take notes on Shen Yibin’s suggestions.
"Thank you, Mayor Wang, but you can’t bla them. The fact is, hiring a panda to be a city’s tourism ambassador is a first for the entire country. If it weren’t for a leader with such a pioneering spirit as yourself, Mayor Wang, who would ever have thought of it?" Shen Yibin started by flattering the mayor a little. He had been in the workforce for a few years, after all; he understood these social pleasantries.
"Haha, the real key is that your panda is just too clever, Mr. Shen. Otherwise, Sichuan Province would have snatched up this idea long ago." Mayor Wang was also feeling quite proud of his idea. He offered a few words of modest refusal, and his mood brightened considerably. ’Hmm, it’s not that my subordinates are incompetent, it’s just that their abilities are still a far cry from my own.’
"Hm?" Hah’Er tilted his head to look at Mayor Wang, his eyes full of curiosity. ’What are they all saying about ?’
"I think I’ll co sit over here. It’s hard to talk from so far away." Even a man as experienced in the political world as Mayor Wang was completely disard by Hah’Er’s cuteness. He ca out from behind his desk and sat down on the sofa next to Hah’Er. "Secretary Qin, in a mont, take a couple of photos of and Hah’Er. I want to send them to my daughter." ’She’ll definitely love these photos.’
After they took the photos, Mayor Wang turned to look kindly at Shen Yibin. "Mr. Shen, why don’t you tell us your ideas first. I’ll have Qin take them down, and then we’ll have the relevant departnts review them for feasibility. If they’re viable, we’ll discuss the details further when Director Kong arrives."
"Please, just call Bin." Being called "Mr. Shen" repeatedly was making Shen Yibin feel a bit awkward. "I’m sure you’ve seen the video of Hah’Er rescuing that person on Xiong Mountain, right? There was no script at all that ti, and I didn’t give Hah’Er a single command. That was all Hah’Er’s own doing."
Mayor Wang nodded slightly, not interrupting him. "So, I was thinking, maybe we could do it that way for the promotional video, too? Instead of writing a script beforehand, we could just take Hah’Er to those beautiful scenic spots and let him do as he pleases. Wouldn’t a video fild like that be more authentic and persuasive?"
In truth, Shen Yibin just didn’t want to be ordered around. If they fild according to the proposal Qin Qing had brought, both he and Hah’Er would have a miserable ti. ’And Hah’Er probably wouldn’t be happy about it either, would he?’
Seeing Mayor Wang lost in thought, Shen Yibin continued, "Just imagine it: Hah’Er standing on a dragon boat, taking in the beautiful scenery along the banks of the Yunshui River. Hah’Er in a bamboo forest, holding a Yunzhong Orange. Hah’Er with a small basket on his back, picking oranges alongside the farrs... As long as we capture these images, we won’t need any narration. Tourists from all over the country—and even the world—will surely be able to appreciate the charm of Yunzhong City."
’Yep, what I an is, just let Hah’Er play however he wants. You guys don’t have to manage anything, just follow him around and get so candid shots!’ After the photoshoot at the zoo, he had grown wary of these kinds of events. If he had to go through sothing like that again, Shen Yibin figured he’d die from exhaustion.
The photoshoot with Xu Ye had already worn him out this much, and this ti they were shooting an entire promotional video. The workload would be much, much larger. Shen Yibin really wanted to live a couple more years.
"Hah’Er, with a small basket on his back, picking oranges in an orchard alongside the farrs?" Mayor Wang couldn’t help but picture the scenes Shen Yibin had just described. ’These ideas really do seem much better than the rigid, outdated plans in this proposal, don’t they?’
"Just like those photos posted on Weibo yesterday?" Qin Qing recalled the photo set of Hah’Er as a construction worker. ’Is Hah’Er going from a construction worker to a farr now?’
’Was it because the construction boss stiffed him on his wages, so Hah’Er had to leave the city and go back to being a farr in the countryside? What’s next? Is he going to start catching fish by the river and beco a fisherman?’ Little did Qin Qing know, Hah’Er actually was an expert at catching fish.
"It’s a good idea, but it’s a bit too unpredictable. If we get lucky, we could film a magnificent promotional video. But if our luck is bad, the filming ti and cost would certainly go over budget..." Mayor Wang understood the potential benefits, but he couldn’t make a decision lightly.
"Mayor, how about we prepare for both scenarios? We can have them revise the proposal for now, and then hear Director Kong’s opinion when he arrives," Qin Qing began, trying to solve his superior’s dilemma. "Alternatively, we could shoot a test segnt according to Mr. Shen’s suggestion and see how it turns out. If the results are good, we can continue with that approach."
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