Chapter 187: A Grand Victory

**YC City.**

Even though it was the busy farming season, the streets were bustling with people, especially at the cross street, which was especially lively today.

In front of the post office on the cross street, a stage and a curtain had been set up. Actors performing in a traditional style were energetically singing skits that might not be highly esteemed, but were popular among the common people.

Next to the stage, a large banner read, "Bangye White Liquor, Free Tasting!"

Since the tasting was free, they couldn't serve unlimited amounts. A dozen or so promoters, wearing red "Bangye White Liquor" sashes, handed out small paper cups of liquor to new visitors.

A group of men stood happily by the street, watching the performance on stage.

Old Gazi had come to the street with a neighbor to buy vegetable seeds.

Seeing the excitement and the free liquor, the neighbor, feeling a bit greedy, dragged Old Gazi into the crowd to get a cup.

Looking at the paper cup that only had a couple of sips of liquor, Old Gazi muttered, "What's the point of this? It's not even enough to rinse my mouth!"

His neighbor, smiling, said, "It's free anyway. Let's enjoy the show and have some. Once the liquor is finished and the show is over, we can leave. It won't delay buying the seeds."

Old Gazi thought about it and agreed. He joined the crowd, enjoying the performance.

Traditional performances like this often attracted lower-class audiences. People didn't watch traditional performances for aesthetic enjoyment but for simple entertainment. Thus, the requirement for traditional performances in Northeast China boiled down to one word—"Wild."

Because of this, most of the audience was male, and these men were precisely the target market for liquor.

The actors on stage expressed emotions vividly, and the song "Picking Cucumbers" reached its climax. The free liquor was consumed, and the spectators' faces turned red. They laughed heartily at the vulgar lyrics, and when the performance reached a particularly spicy part, the entire cross street erupted in cheers.

Seeing the excitement, a large group of men gulped down their liquor in one go.

However, since only one cup was allowed per person, there was no more to drink.

After the song "Picking Cucumbers," the performance switched to "Touching the Flagpole"—a more provocative skit. Watching the female performers twist their bodies like water snakes made the men dry-mouthed and thirsty. But their cups were already empty, and they were anxious.

At that moment, a promoter took advantage of the stage's break and used a loudspeaker: "Bangye White Liquor is now on sale, originally 2.5 yuan per bottle, now only 2.1 yuan!"

"Isn't this just a scam? Didn't they say the tasting was free?"

Hearing this, everyone felt deceived.

But seeing that the performance on stage showed no sign of ending and with the program listing more tantalizing skits like "Sister Ma Opens Shop," "Eighteen Touches," and "The Son-in-law Drills the Door," the audience, frustrated, still bought Bangye White liquor despite their grumbling.

By the afternoon, drunk Old Gazi carried a 50-pound bucket of economical Bangye White liquor onto the bus home.

When he got home, his wife saw his face red from drinking and asked about the vegetable seeds.

At this point, Old Gazi, full of alcohol and thoughts of the performance, had forgotten about the seeds. He grinned foolishly, lay down on the bed, and burped.

He looked at his wife but didn't dare to mention how good the performance was.

"This damned Bangye White Liquor is really good!"

Seeing her husband, who had spent the whole day drinking and bought only liquor, not seeds, his wife was furious.

She grabbed a feather duster and marched to the bed.

According to incomplete statistics, over seven hundred men in Yichun were beaten by their wives that day. However, the Hui Rong Wholesale Department, which had just obtained the Bangye White liquor agency, was bustling with customers and extremely popular.

Traditional performances, free liquor, market promotions, and big-scale dances… Bangye White's promotional tactics were truly exhaustive.

The most dramatic case was Ice City.

Due to the large size of the city, street performances didn't create a big impact like in Yichun. Therefore, under Li Xian's arrangement, the promoters rented a fire observation hot air balloon from the Forestry Bureau and, after coordinating with urban construction and sanitation, placed over 20,000 flyers on the balloon.

With promotional activities on the ground and a hot air balloon drifting through the sky with a banner saying "Bangye White Liquor Fragrance Across the World," the city was showered with flyers, and the liquor's aroma set off a citywide sensation!

In just a week, from Yichun to Ice City, almost every city was taken over by Bangye White. Whether in cities or rural areas, the scent of Bangye White liquor was everywhere, becoming a temporary sensation.

The Bangye White Liquor Factory was busier than ever, but despite the hectic work, the employees were thrilled—their wages for the month were likely to be explosive.

Li Xian, who had led all this, couldn't stop smiling.

He hadn't expected such a low-level marketing strategy to be so effective!

Since the start of the campaign, the sales line had soared like a kite. In just seven days, the liquor production had already matched the previous month's total. The previous goal of doubling the performance had been far surpassed.

Concerned about the loan, Li Xian took the sales report from the campaign to the Bangye County Government and presented it to Liu Weihong.

"County Head Liu, you asked me to double the performance, and now it's tripled. What about the loan?"

Li Xian, not standing on ceremony, directly pulled out a chair and sat down.

Liu Weihong, busy with research in several sorghum trial villages and just returning, was astonished by the speed at which Li Xian had achieved his previous request.

"Are you sure you didn't just make this report up to trick me?"

Facing Liu Weihong's suspicion, Li Xian smiled.

He was glad he had prepared.

Immediately, he placed the photos of promotional activities from various regions on the desk: "People's words are like nails, County Head Liu… I'm wondering if you're trying to back out?"

Seeing the real photos and the palpable excitement captured in them, Liu Weihong was astonished and delighted.

The liquor factory had become a key tool for him to promote local development, and Liu Weihong was eager for Bangye White to sell well!

Feeling enthusiastic, the new county head immediately had his secretary arrange a meal, and he strongly insisted on taking Li Xian to the government cafeteria to honor his achievements.

At the dinner table, Liu Weihong immediately agreed to the loan matter with full determination.

Seeing Liu Weihong's attitude, Li Xian felt it was about right.

"Seems like it was worth all the effort…"

He thought.

---

**Tongjiang County.**

A private small distillery in a hardware warehouse in the county.

The small distillery was a partnership between three brothers. Business had been poor before, but recently, they had made a bit of money by labeling their homemade liquor as Bangye White and selling it locally.

Previously, some had used industrial alcohol to fake Bangye White, which the Liu brothers considered to be outrageous.

They used real liquor—though it didn't taste great, it was safe.

Thinking it would be a long-term money-making venture, they were dismayed when the new Bangye White packaging was released a few days ago.

Now, the three brothers were scratching their heads over the new Bangye White bottles.

"Second Brother, how did they seal the lid on this bottle? How come there isn't even a seam? How do we do it?"

"Why are you asking me how to do it? Why don't you consult your knee first? You're the one in charge of bottling, and now you're asking me?"

"Second Brother, you should act like an older brother. Is that how you speak to your younger siblings? Get a grip!"

"Big Brother, I'm anxious too! Look at this packaging. It's not just the lid, even the clay bottle itself is a problem! They're single-use—once used, the bottle is wasted, and we can't even collect the waste. What do we do in the future?"

"Ah, I think Bangye White will be out of our reach from now on."

"So, are we going to starve?"

"If not, we can collect Maotai bottles and refill them with Maotai."

"Big Brother, Maotai is a sauce-flavored liquor, and our homemade liquor doesn't match. What then?"

"Damn! Just put a different label on it and call it 'Special Supply Clear Aroma Type' for the troops!"

"Oh! My Big Brother is so clever! No wonder we three were born from the same mother. Big Brother, you were the first to come out? Your brain is really on point!"

"That's a must… Alright, stop talking nonsense. We haven't had any income for a week. Hurry up and collect Maotai bottles from the waste recycling center. We'll start working this afternoon!"

"Got it, Big Brother!"

---

Not only the homemade liquor vendors in Tongjiang couldn't handle the new Bangye White packaging, but fake liquor spots in other regions also couldn't figure out how to deal with it.

In no time, those with crooked minds could only watch as Bangye White flew off the shelves, gritting their teeth in frustration—there was nothing they could

 do.

But reforming was out of the question, and since they couldn't make genuine liquor, they continued with fakes.

Thus, a large number of counterfeit products from brands like Kongfu Family, Maotai, and Jian Nan Chun were rushed to market.

Though counterfeit liquor is harmful, it more significantly impacts genuine liquor.

With the surge in counterfeit products causing chaos, the sales of genuine liquor were immediately affected. Meanwhile, Bangye White, which was still popular and free of counterfeits, was even more loved by the public.

Sales soared once again.

As the liquor factory's popularity soared, the atmosphere in Bangye seemed to have heated up significantly, making summer seem to have arrived early.

But in Li Xian's house, under the setting sun, it was full of springtime romance.

"Su Meizi, this is hand-made mung bean cake from our Forestry Bureau, good for relieving heat. I specially bought it this morning. Have some?"

In front of the living room door, Zheng Weishi, with a cheeky expression, held a small package and said to Su Ya, who was picking vegetables.