The free period ended, and there were almost no tourists.
Li Zhengguo immediately bought prime advertising slots on provincial, municipal, and county television for a week, and aired the advertisements that had been recorded and specially edited that week.
If the summer holiday wasn't good, it would be over.
After a quiet week, amidst the disappointment of the villagers of Kushanli and the excitement of the three villages ahead.
Minibuses started to drive in, and some units with good welfare benefits came in organized groups.
The minibuses, which came in groups, also picked up some scattered tourists at the county exit.
Li Zhengguo immediately called the county to apply for bus routes.
A few hours later, the county provided a response: starting from tomorrow, the bus route from the county town to Kushanli would run from 6:30 AM, one bus per hour, and end at 5:30 PM. It would be suspended in winter.
Li Zhengguo breathed a sigh of relief. If Kushanli got any busier, they really wouldn't be able to cope.
The scenic spot entrance fee was ten yuan, eighteen cable cars were three yuan each, the cave attraction in the Hot Spring Valley was five yuan, totaling 69 yuan, with a joint ticket for 55 yuan.
The lake valley had water wire walking, floating on water, and walking on water for five yuan each.
A total of 84 yuan, with a joint ticket for 60 yuan.
However, it was more cost-effective to buy the 60 yuan joint ticket, which was only 5 yuan more for three additional games.
Eight minibuses brought 152 people, and the joint tickets sold out, totaling 9,120 yuan. The ticket seller at the entrance was very excited.
Li Zhengguo, however, couldn't be happy. He wanted the same liveliness as during the free period.
This amount of money wasn't even enough to cover a day's advertising costs.
On that day, there was only this group of people. The next day, the county bus service started, and people came in gradually.
The third day became quiet again.
However, the tourists who had visited on the first day returned.
The tourists brought simple cameras, and after developing the photos, they showed them off to their friends and relatives, which was more effective than television advertisements.
In late July, Kushanli tourism welcomed its peak season after charging fees.
The number of tourists reached two thousand a day. The sales of joint tickets and regular tickets alone amounted to nearly one hundred thousand yuan.
Li Zhengguo clenched his fists. His expectations weren't high; two thousand tourists a day by the National Day holiday would be enough.
Tian Jing had witnessed her husband's anxiety and worry for the past twenty days:
"Alright, are you relieved now? You've incorporated all the amusement facilities you knew into this scenic spot. And the hot springs are free to soak in. No one has this advantage."
Li Zhengguo relaxed his fist. "The investment was too large, and the guarantees I made were too great. If there were no customers, I really..."
"It's okay," Tian Jing interrupted him. "You've done well enough. For the past nine years, you've been constantly on edge. It's time to relax."
Li Zhengguo held her hands. "I'm sorry. I dedicated the best nine years of my life to others. After I step down next year, I'll take you traveling."
"Shh!" Tian Jing stopped him, fearing that if he couldn't fulfill his promise, he would feel guilty towards her.
Companionship was the best gift. She didn't need to travel everywhere; she had traveled enough already.
Li Zhengguo hugged his wife, his heart filled with emotion.
In August, Kushanli Hot Spring Valley was overcrowded, with many tourists staying and not wanting to leave.
This was not only because of the free hot springs but also because of the food from Yuan's Private Kitchen.
Yuan's Private Kitchen only accepted reservations and no walk-in customers.
However, both those who had tasted it and those who hadn't were willing to accept this.
Reservations were already booked for several days later, and tourists were willing to wait, extending their stay in the Hot Spring Valley.
They would soak in the hot springs, play some small games in the Lake Valley, or perhaps walk across the Flying Sky suspension bridge again.
When the guesthouse suites were full, they rented tents.
Tents cost five yuan a night, and you could find a good spot to watch the sunrise.
Kushanli Hot Spring Valley, a great place for leisure and entertainment!
Tourists didn't go down the mountain and even used their mobile phones to notify their friends.
Tourists without mobile phones paid to use the fixed-line phones in the Hot Spring Valley to contact friends and relatives.
Kushanli Hot Spring Valley's reputation grew, and more and more tourists came.
Li Zhengguo, however, notified for a limited intake, allowing only two thousand tourists up the mountain each day.
Even so, the Hot Spring Valley had as many as three thousand tourists staying each day.
Li Zhengguo asked the county people's armed forces department for help. He needed to recruit a batch of retired soldiers as security guards, as the village security team lacked manpower and retired soldiers were quicker to react.
The People's Armed Forces Department acted quickly, sending eighty retired soldiers on the third day.
Two retired soldiers were assigned to each of the twelve scenic spots and eighteen cable car stations, with twenty for the Lake Valley and Hot Spring Valley combined.
Only then did Li Zhengguo breathe a sigh of relief.
Subsequently, large signs promoting the limited intake were erected at the county entrance and the entrances of the three villages ahead.
The reservation phone number was the most prominent on the signs.
This way, tourists entered in an orderly fashion, the pressure on the ticket windows was reduced, and the scheduling for the young tour guides also became regular.
Everything, from disappointment to busyness to composure, allowed everyone to relax.
And because of the limited intake, tourists from afar who had booked the Hot Spring Valley chose to stay and wait rather than return.
Zhonghe Village, Zhangshan Village, and Lishi Village seized the opportunity, tidied up some relatively new and clean courtyards, and turned them into guesthouses and restaurants.
Together with Wang'er Village, these four villages saw a significant increase in income compared to before.
The village heads of the three villages ahead, as before, set uniform prices to avoid ruining the hard-earned high income.
...
Li Zhengguo visited each of the four villages ahead and then went to see County Mayor Ji.
After the last peak of tourism during the National Day holiday ended, Kushanli held another general village meeting.
This meeting was conducted via loudspeaker. Villagers with questions were asked to write down their problems and hand them to the phone administrator, who would then call the village committee to convey them.
Village Head Li would answer them via loudspeaker.
The content of the meeting was as follows:
Kushanli had applied for an expansion. The county road opposite the Ku River, twenty meters to the east and five kilometers to the south, was all allocated to Kushanli.
This plot of land would be uniformly built with three and a half stories, still in the style of small Western-style buildings.
Each small Western-style building would be ten meters wide and ten meters deep, with no front yard. The front would directly face two storefronts, and the backyard would be ten meters deep.
One hundred such buildings would be constructed this time, with a ten-meter gap between each building, designated as a parking lot with only one row of eight parking spaces for each building.
These one hundred buildings would be sold by the village committee, with a price of two hundred yuan per square meter.
The parking lot and backyard would be priced at one hundred yuan per square meter, totaling one hundred thousand yuan.
Villagers who were interested could subscribe. If they were not interested, the village would not force them.
If the subscriptions from within the village were not enough, the remaining units would be sold to the other four villages. For purchases from outside the village, the price would be increased by ten percent, making it one hundred and ten thousand yuan.
Only one kilometer of the five-kilometer southern stretch was used here. One kilometer, or about thirty mu of land, would be used to build a new primary school.
This primary school would include a playground, a cafeteria, a school shop, and teachers' dormitory buildings.
After the meeting content was broadcast, the village and the Hot Spring Valley erupted.
Everyone was discussing how their Village Head Li was eyeing their hard-earned money again.
Tourists who were still at the Hot Spring Valley also heard the meeting content.
They rushed to ask the phone administrator if the buildings would be sold to outsiders like them.
When the villagers heard this, they were unhappy.
Every family had children who had not yet separated into their own households.
Village Head Li's move was definitely a disguised separation of households.
There was no more land in the village for expanding residential plots, unless the greenhouses were demolished.
Even with their short-sightedness, they knew that demolishing the greenhouses was impossible at the moment.
This was only one hundred buildings, not even enough for two per family. Where would there be any extra to sell to outsiders?
No selling!
No need to ask, we all disagree with selling!
Isn't it just a hundred thousand yuan?
Buy it!
No, subscribe to it!
Let's go and subscribe now. Village Head Li must be raising funds to build houses.
Because Village Head Li had already asked Accountant Zhou to pay off the loans.
With no debt, Village Head Li started thinking about their wallets again.
After paying off the ten million yuan loan with the money earned by the scenic spot this year, there wasn't much left.
Village Head Li said that they would be able to distribute dividends next year.
Based on this year's income, the village dividends, calculated at thirty percent ownership for the sixty-eight households in the village, should be around forty to fifty thousand yuan per household.
They also earned two to three thousand yuan from managing guesthouses, restaurants, and shops.
By next year, they would be able to earn the cost of one building in a year.
They didn't have much cash at home, so combined with what they earned this year, they used it all to subscribe, and the deduction would be made from next year's dividends.