Xiao Wang paid the money with satisfaction.
He carried the large, struggling grass carp and the fresh pork belly.
He was very pleased with his verification work this time.
But he wasn't in a hurry to leave.
He took a folder from the colleague beside him who hadn't spoken, and solemnly handed it to Lu You.
"Boss Lu, this is a preliminary cooperation plan drafted by our publicity department. Please take a look."
Lu You took the folder, opened it, and pulled out the documents inside.
It was an activity planning proposal titled "Everything Available—Yangcheng City Tourism Treasure Hunt Challenge."
Xiao Wang began to explain their promotional methods in detail.
"Boss Lu, our idea is to first co-create short videos. We'll use your current massive influence on the internet and our official City platform to jointly launch this event."
As he spoke, Xiao Wang pulled out his phone.
He skillfully opened the profile page of the official short video account for City tourism.
With a hint of showing off, he displayed it to Lu You.
"See, our official account is platform-certified and has authority..."
Lu You leaned over to take a look and almost burst out laughing.
The official account with the blue certification had a follower count that read—30,000.
30,000?
Lu You silently glanced at his own personal account, which was already racing toward a million followers, and everything became clear to him.
Good grief, they're using the banner of cooperation to come here and leech my traffic!
Despite his internal complaints, his expression remained unchanged.
Although it was an official account, it had fewer followers than he did.
However, the official status was there, and the endorsement and resources it could bring were incomparable to a personal account.
Ultimately, the cooperation would still have to rely on his own traffic to drive it.
The two quickly reached an agreement on the details of the cooperation.
They would jointly release an official announcement video.
The main content of the video would be to officially open this "Tourism Treasure Hunt Challenge" to all tourists visiting City.
The rules of the activity were simple: Any tourist, while traveling in City, could come to the "Old Lu Hardware Store" if they needed to buy something.
As long as Lu You couldn't produce it, after official notarization, the organizers would reward the challenger with 10,000 yuan in cash on the spot!
When Lu You saw the words "10,000 yuan reward," he was about to ask who would pay the money when Xiao Wang seemed to see through his thoughts and answered in advance:
"Boss Lu, don't worry, this reward definitely won't come out of your pocket. It's entirely funded by us, just to create buzz and popularity."
He paused and added with a smile, "As for you, you just need to perform as usual. Whatever you've been doing lately, keep doing it during the challenge. We believe in your strength."
Hearing this, Lu You completely understood.
To put it bluntly, the officials were providing the money and policies, using his fame and the "Everything You Need" gimmick to drive traffic to the entire Yangcheng City tourism industry.
When tourists came to City to challenge him for that 10,000 yuan reward, they would eventually need to eat, stay, and visit other attractions, right?
In this way, the entire City's economy would be boosted.
This was a win-win situation that benefited both parties; he naturally had no reason to disagree.
"No problem," Lu You agreed readily.
Then, he dropped a bombshell.
"Since it's an official cooperation, I should also show some sincerity. For this challenge, I'll raise the upper limit a bit, any item within 100,000 yuan is fine."
Hearing this, another flash of surprise crossed Xiao Wang's eyes.
He knew that the higher the limit, the more interesting and buzzworthy the challenge would be.
"That's great! Boss Lu, you're generous!" Xiao Wang said excitedly.
"More professional staff will follow up with you on the specific details of the cooperation later. We won't disturb your rest any longer."
After saying that, he and his colleague left the Hardware Store, carrying the grass carp and pork belly with satisfaction.
Watching their departing figures, Lu You's face was calm, but he was already overjoyed inside.
With official endorsement, the future of his small shop would be even more secure.
However, he didn't show too much excitement.
After all, he was already famous enough; what he needed was stable development, not a flash in the pan.
Just then, the system prompt sounded again.
[Ding! Main quest updated!]
[Lv3 upgrade conditions have been released. Please check them, Host.]
Lu You's heart tightened, and he immediately opened the system panel.
[Upgrade to Lv3—'Trade Center']
Required conditions:
Business points: 5,000,000 points (five million).
Prerequisite Skill Mastery: Master at least two professional skills unlocked at Lv2 (e.g., "Basic Mechanical Exoskeleton Design Principles", "Introduction and Practice of Artificial Intelligence", etc.).
Special Item Transaction: Successfully complete at least one special order with a transaction value exceeding 500,000 Dragon country currency.
Shop Influence: The real-world influence of "Old Lu Hardware Store" must cover at least three different industries (e.g., Food, Tech, Culture and Tourism, etc.) and receive positive coverage from official media.
Looking at this series of almost insane upgrade requirements, Lu You gasped.
Five million business points! That was simply an astronomical figure!
And those professional skills that sounded like gibberish, plus the 500,000 special order... the difficulty was more than ten times higher than upgrading from level one to level two!
He looked at his remaining balance of only 5,320 business points, and the joy of just upgrading was instantly dampened.
It seemed the revolution was not yet successful; Little Lu still needed to work hard.
"Take one bite at a time, walk one step at a time." Lu You quickly adjusted his mindset.
He decided to keep the remaining five thousand-plus business points for emergencies.
The most important thing right now was to renovate the shop!
He didn't want to face that kind of crowd again tomorrow, where there wasn't even a place to stand.
"System, open the shop renovation function!"
[Shop renovation function opened. Please choose a renovation template or perform a custom design.]
In Lu You's mind, an interface like 3D modeling software instantly appeared.
On it was a complete model of his small Hardware Store.
He didn't choose any of those flashy templates but decided to design it himself.
He kept the "Old Lu Hardware Store" sign, which was full of history.
But he expanded the storefront and replanned the internal space.
He designed a spacious and bright reception hall; although not large, it was absolutely necessary.
A private VIP room for negotiating large orders.
He defined the overall style as "low-key luxury."
The exterior still looked like a traditional shop, but the interior was a whole new world.
[Custom design plan generated. Estimated business points required for renovation: 3,000 points. Construction will automatically take place from 00:00 to 06:00 tomorrow morning, during which no noise or light pollution will be generated. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
Having settled the shop renovation, Lu You breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew that starting tomorrow, he would welcome those challengers flocking from all over the country with a brand-new look.
Finally, he stepped into the refreshed back warehouse once again.
What he needed to do now was to familiarize himself with this massive warehouse that had expanded tenfold as quickly as possible.
Remember every section, every shelf, and even the location of every item.
He wanted to carve the entire warehouse layout into his mind.
That way, when facing the imaginative demands of customers in the future...
He could retrieve anything they wanted at the fastest speed.
Then, say those words with effortless calm—
"Yes!"