I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 814 Fang Qingye's First Encounter with True Poverty
As soon as she finished speaking, the entire living room fell silent, and everyone's eyes were drawn to her and Fang Qingye.

Chen Ziqing continued, her speech quickening slightly with excitement: "Chairman Fang, as the founder and chairman of ByteDance, your very identity brings with it topics and traffic. 'Why is the head of a billionaire tech giant personally going to impoverished mountainous areas to sell black rice?'—that headline alone is enough to ignite public curiosity, and its effect will probably far exceed any marketing promotion. Your personal endorsement of the product will greatly enhance its credibility and appeal."

A sense of unease crept over her as she finished speaking. She was a journalist, and should have been reporting the facts objectively, but her words had made it clear she considered herself part of the team.

Moreover, wouldn't having Fang Qingye personally promote products online damage his image? After all, have you ever seen Jack Ma or Richard Liu sitting in a live-streaming room selling products?
Zhang Nan and the others did not show any surprise after hearing this. She exchanged a glance with her colleague, took a deep breath, and said to Fang Qingye with a hint of apology, "Chairman Fang... actually, our team has also discussed this idea privately before."

Product operations manager Wang Lei scratched his head and chimed in, "Yes, we all think that as long as you're willing to appear on camera, even just as a special guest, it will be decisive in boosting the live stream's traffic. This is indeed the best solution we can think of to break the deadlock."

Content planner Li Yue cautiously added, her excitement barely concealed: "We even secretly brainstormed a script, for example, you could talk about your initial motivation for participating in this poverty alleviation livestream, interpreting the value of the product from an entrepreneur's perspective, which is more powerful than any advertising slogan... However,"

She paused for a moment, then said, "We haven't dared to mention it to you. After all, you are the chairman, and it would be inappropriate for you to personally promote the products... We were also afraid of taking up too much of your time."

Fang Qingye laughed: "Everyone has put in so much effort for this live broadcast, how can I stand idly by? No problem, but this is also my first time riding in a sedan chair."

"Don't worry, Chairman Fang, I'll make sure you sit here in style!" Li Yue blurted out.

The crowd roared with laughter.

After the meeting ended, everyone dispersed, not to rest, but to return to their rooms and continue their work. Chen Ziqing also got up to say goodbye.

"Chairman Fang, I only realized today that you are quite humorous, like that line 'shaking your leg to look at the pretty girl'..." Chen Ziqing said with a smile, as if she had seen a different Fang Qingye.

Fang Qingye smiled without saying a word.

what is this……

My buddy used to tip girls who showed off their thighs in Douyin live streams.

Of course, that was before my rebirth.

Starting from the third day, the expedition went deep into the heart of the Qinling-Bashan Mountains, where the group witnessed firsthand the poverty in the area.

Fang Qingye's group traveled by car to a small village called Mingzhu Village.

Although the village has a beautiful name and the scenery along the way is picturesque, the minibus bumped along the rugged mountain road for a long time, crossing several mountains before finally arriving at a valley. The local mayor, Zhang, who was traveling with us, asked everyone to get off the bus.

Mayor Zhang, in his early forties and of stocky build, explained to everyone that Mingzhu Village had not yet achieved "road access to every village," but it was not far from the village committee, about 8 li (approximately 4 kilometers).

“We usually go to the village by motorcycle,” he added.

"The county is raising funds and striving to complete the last 8 kilometers of road this year!" Mayor Zhang said firmly.

Eight miles wasn't too far. The inspection team, a dozen or so people, strolled into the depths of the valley, enjoying the mountain scenery and chatting as they went. Fang Qingye's group consisted mostly of entrepreneurs from Nanxin County, and he walked with Tian Zhonggu.

Tanaka Tani runs a company called "Pioneer Manufacturing," which originally produced stamped parts. Later, when Nanxin County attracted BYD's new energy vehicle production line, he seized the opportunity and, through Fang Qingye, contacted BYD's Vice President Lü, becoming a supplier of brake discs for the company.

Their business has grown bigger and bigger, and they are now one of the well-known manufacturing enterprises in Jinghai area. Therefore, they were invited to participate in this poverty alleviation inspection.

"Aoba, I heard you're planning to do live-streaming e-commerce?" Tanaka asked in a low voice as they walked.

“Yes, the companies I work for aren’t really suitable for poverty alleviation cooperation projects. After thinking it over, I decided to try live-streaming e-commerce on Douyin.” “I usually use Douyin, I never thought it could be used like this,” Tanaka Tani said with some emotion.

"You think Douyin is only for watching beautiful women sing, dance, and show off their legs?" Fang Qingye retorted.

"Hehe... just for fun." Tanaka Tani chuckled awkwardly.

When the group arrived at the village committee, the village party secretary and director had been waiting for a long time. In addition to the village committee members, Fang Qingye also met the village-based poverty alleviation work team—three young cadres who were transferred from various units in the county to work in the village to provide assistance. They all looked to be no more than thirty years old.

In a simple meeting room, Party Secretary Wu introduced the basic situation of Mingzhu Village to everyone.

“Our Mingzhu Village has 130 households with 409 people, of which 81 are impoverished households, accounting for 62.3% of the total number of households in the village. It is a deeply impoverished village in the county.”

Mayor Zhang then analyzed the causes of poverty, which mainly included insufficient labor force, poverty due to illness, poverty due to disability, and poor transportation.

“Mingzhu Village is located deep in the Bashan Mountains, and transportation is extremely inconvenient. There is not a single paved road in the entire village, and the 130 households are scattered across several mountain peaks. From the village committee, the furthest household has to walk for more than three hours to reach its destination…”

More than three hours!
Fang Qingye was shocked. This was unimaginable in his Jinghai area, even more backward than Zhang Dongwen's hometown in the Yimeng Mountains.

"If you want to get rich, build roads first. I truly understand that today," Tanaka Tani, sitting next to me, murmured.

Fang Qingye nodded silently.

Afterwards, the group split into two groups and visited several impoverished households. The village officials naturally didn't take them too far, only around the ravine where the village committee was located.

Even so, the scene before her eyes still deeply shocked Fang Qingye.

The mud-brick house was pitch black, and it was almost impossible to see anything inside. An old woman with disheveled hair sat in the courtyard, while a man in his thirties stood at the door, grinning foolishly at them.

The team was led by Yang Fan, the first secretary stationed in the village. He was in his early thirties from the county's agricultural bureau and worked as a section chief. He had been stationed in the village for almost a year and knew the situation very well. He introduced in a low voice: "This household consists of only a mother and son. The mother suffers from cataracts and has blurred vision; the son has a congenital intellectual disability."

"In this situation... how do we help them?" Tanaka Tani couldn't help but ask.

"Our overall goal for poverty alleviation is 'ensuring no worries about food and clothing and guaranteeing access to compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing.'" Yang Fan explained skillfully: "The two worries are ensuring that the rural poor have enough to eat and wear; the three guarantees are guaranteeing their compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing."

"Specifically for this household, the first step is health poverty alleviation. We plan to provide the elderly woman with free cataract surgery through the poverty alleviation project, so that she can regain her sight. At the same time, we will waive their annual rural cooperative medical insurance premium, which is 150 yuan per person this year." Yang Fan is very familiar with the policies.

"In addition, there is housing-based poverty alleviation. The county plans to build resettlement housing near the town government, and those who meet the policy requirements can move there for free."

He glanced at the man who was still grinning foolishly and continued, "Although he has some intellectual disabilities, he can still do some manual labor. The town will arrange a suitable public service job for him, which will pay about 500 yuan a month."

"How much?" Tanaka asked instinctively.

“500, that’s the policy. Public service jobs are basically paid 500. In addition, the mother and son also receive a minimum living allowance, which is more than 500 a month. The elderly woman is over 60 years old and also has pension insurance, which is 118 yuan a month,” Yang Fan answered with certainty.

“Two people, a monthly income of a little over a thousand yuan…” Tanaka Tani murmured, repeating the same thing, and then fell silent.

(End of this chapter)