I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

winter solstice.

As dawn broke, Jiangjia Village came to life.

Smoke rose from the chimneys of every household, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of dumplings and glutinous rice balls.

The village children, dressed in new clothes, chased and played in the alley, holding the pig bladders they had been given at yesterday's pig-slaughtering feast. They blew them up and slapped them against each other, making a "slap slap" sound.

In the festive and peaceful atmosphere, several unfamiliar faces sneaked in furtively.

The leader was a man in his thirties, wearing a baseball cap pulled low, with a DSLR camera hanging around his neck and a voice recorder in his hand.

His name is Li Wei, and he is a team leader in the public relations department of Chu's Media.

This time, Chu Tiankuo's order was absolute—to dig three feet into the ground and find out all the negative news about Jiangjia Village.

"Everyone be smart, split up and act!"

Li Wei lowered his voice and spoke to his men behind him.

"We specifically choose those dilapidated corners to film, and we specifically interview elderly people who look unhappy. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Brother Li!"

The men immediately scattered, like rats scurrying into a rice granary.

Li Wei then set his sights on a target.

He saw Wu Xiulian carrying a vegetable basket, walking out of her yard, preparing to go to the village's vegetable market to buy some fresh vegetables to make dumplings.

Although Wu Xiulian has been in a bad mood lately because of Jiang Jianwen's stock speculation, clothes make the man.

She was wearing a cashmere coat that Jiang Chen had recently distributed to the elderly in the village, and soft-soled leather ankle boots. She looked much more energetic than before.

Li Wei's eyes lit up. He felt that this person had a mean face and seemed like someone who loved to complain, so he immediately went to greet him.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm a reporter from the provincial agricultural weekly. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

He flashed what he thought was a friendly smile.

Wu Xiulian glanced at him but didn't stop walking.

"What is it?"

"Sister, it's like this, we received a report that your Jiangjia Village chief, Jiang Chen, is using violence to force you to sell your land. Is that true?"

Li Wei quietly handed the recording pen forward.

Wu Xiulian stopped abruptly.

She turned her head and looked at Li Wei as if he were an idiot.

"What did you say?"

"We've also heard that he's been withholding your workers' wages without permission, running the village like a dictator, and anyone who doesn't obey him will be driven out. Sister, don't be afraid, we're reporters, we'll stand up for you!"

Wu Xiulian looked Li Wei up and down.

She may be a chatterbox, but she's not stupid.

She knew perfectly well who had brought about the good life in the village.

This person came in and immediately started asking these nonsensical questions; he's clearly here to cause trouble.

Wu Xiulian rolled her eyes so hard they almost flew into the air.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely penetrating.

"Brother Chen is giving us a villa to live in, and he'll even give us gold bricks at the end of the year. Are you blind?"

She pointed to the rows of neat two-story buildings in the distance.

"Deduct wages? My husband, Lao Jiang, works in a factory and earns 12,000 yuan a month, not a penny less! That's more than what you, some lousy reporter, make, isn't it?"

Li Wei's face froze instantly.

"I don't think you're any good! You have shifty eyes, and you come to our village so early in the morning to sow discord. What are you up to?"

After Wu Xiulian finished scolding, she picked up her vegetable basket, turned around and left, muttering to herself.

"What kind of lunatic is this, delaying my trip to buy chives?"

Li Wei stood there, feeling humiliated, his face turning pale and then flushed.

He gritted his teeth and decided to change his strategy.

If we can't get interviews, then we'll film!

He strolled to the old street in the village, where there were still some old houses that hadn't been demolished yet.

He specifically pointed his camera at a wall with peeling paint, a spider web in a corner, and a trash can by the roadside, and started snapping away.

He was going to send these photos back with titles like "The Desolation Behind the Glamour" and "The Truth Behind the Glamour," to disgust Jiang Chen to death!

He was so engrossed in taking pictures that he didn't notice a person sitting on a branch of a large locust tree not far away.

Ding Xiu was wearing a black tracksuit and holding a stainless steel thermos, slowly drinking the goji berry and red date water inside.

He watched Li Wei's performance as if he were watching a monkey jumping around.

Ding Xiu leaped lightly and silently jumped down from the three-meter-high tree, landing without making a sound.

He slowly walked up behind Li Wei.

"Dude."

Ding Xiu's voice was very flat.

Li Wei was startled and almost dropped the camera in his hand.

He turned around and saw a tall, stern-faced man standing behind him, his eyes as calm as a deep pool of water.

"You seem quite engrossed in filming."

Ding Xiu pointed to his camera.

"But you haven't even taken the lens cap off, so what are you filming? Are you filming your own inner demons?"

Li Wei's head buzzed, as if he had been hit by a hammer.

He subconsciously looked down and saw that the black plastic cover on the camera lens was still intact.

He spent ages taking pictures of the trash can on the wall, but he couldn't get a single one in the photo!

Li Wei broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

He panicked and stammered, "I...I was doing an undercover investigation! Testing the camera!"

"Undercover investigation?"

Ding Xiu smiled.

He took a step forward, giving Li Wei no chance to react at all, and his hand shot out like lightning, grabbing Li Wei by the back of his collar.

Li Wei, who is 1.75 meters tall, was like a chick with its neck being choked in Ding Xiu's hands, its feet instantly leaving the ground.

"What...what are you doing! Let me go! I'm a reporter!"

Ding Xiu ignored him and reached into Li Wei's shirt pocket with his other hand, pulling out a work ID.

He opened it and saw that next to Li Wei's photo on the work ID, the words "Chu's Media Group - Public Relations Department" were clearly printed.

"I knew it smelled like scum."

Ding Xiu casually threw his work ID on the ground.

He carried Li Wei, who was still struggling in vain, with one hand, and strode forward as if carrying a garbage bag, heading towards the village entrance.

Villagers along the way stopped to watch the spectacle.

"Isn't that the 'reporter' who was asking so many questions earlier?"

"He got caught by Instructor Ding! Serves him right!"

Ding Xiu, expressionless, carried Li Wei through the entire village, until they reached the stinking ditch at the village entrance, which had been washed away by rain a few days earlier.

"What...what are you going to do! I'm warning you, hitting someone is illegal!"

Li Wei was so frightened that his soul almost left his body, and his crotch was already slightly damp.

Ding Xiu raised his arm.

"Thump!"

Li Wei traced a perfect parabola in the air and landed precisely in the foul-smelling, dark green ditch.

The ditch water in December was icy cold, mixed with the stench of rotten vegetable leaves and silt, instantly filling Li Wei's mouth and nose.

He struggled to surface, spitting out a mouthful of black water that was cold, frightening, and smelly; tears and snot streamed down his face.

Ding Xiu stood on the shore, looking down at him, his tone still indifferent.

"Go back and tell that guy surnamed Chu."

Even the dogs in Jiangjia Village don't welcome him.