I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Who would believe that?!

I never expected Aunt Xu to order this.

After hearing Aunt Xu's words, the old village chief let out a breath and extended a withered finger:

“This is a great opportunity to make a name for yourself. I told you your son should have been promoted a long time ago. It won’t do good deeds quietly all the time. You wait here, I’ll go back and get you the account books.”

After saying that, he ran into the house and came out a short while later with a thick blue-covered ledger and a pair of reading glasses on his face.

“Look, this is the donation our village received. I’ve kept a record of every single one, even the smallest amounts, like tens of yuan or a dozen yuan. His son donated a lot, so I put it on a separate page. Let me find it…”

The old village chief flipped through the pages for a while, then pointed to a page and said:

"Look at this."

The crowd crowded around, and down where he was pointing, there was a densely packed list of donations for various projects such as "road repair, bridge repair, canal repair, and pond digging," with details of donations for each project ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.

“You should have seen this bridge. You have to cross it to get from the county town. It was built with donations from her son. All the paved roads in this village were built with donations from her son.”

"Did you see the solar panels on the roofs of the houses in this village? Her son donated money to install them. And the waterproofing on the roofs, which you can't see, was also done with her son's donation."

"There are eighteen ponds of all sizes in the village, used for raising fish and shrimp. Her son donated money to dig them. He also donated 1500 million yuan in the first phase and 2500 million yuan in the second phase for the land leveling in the village. This is the largest donation he has ever made."

"And another thing, do you see these solar streetlights by the roadside? There are 50 in the whole village, all equipped with surveillance cameras. Each one costs 15 yuan, including the surveillance equipment. They were all donated by her son."

After he finished speaking, the jaws of the people standing in front of him dropped open.

The old village chief closed the ledger and said, "Comrades, if you were on TV, you should report more on this kind of positive energy. You know, that kid has done so much for our village, but he's always been unknown. It makes good people feel bad, doesn't it?"

Chapter 81 Moral Blackmail?

After the old village chief finished speaking, several unfriendly comments appeared in the live stream.

"Is this person using moral blackmail? Just because you do a good deed, does that mean I should get attention?"

"I'm not watching anymore. It's all the show's production team's arrangement, forcing a high profile."

“We came to see Xiangxiao and Xinhai, not to see the village's telephone poles.”

Director Tian also saw these comments and frowned slightly.

The selling point of the program "Poetic Life" is the relaxed and idyllic life in a paradise. However, the old village chief's words were somewhat heavy, which made the tone of the program deviate a bit.

As he hesitated about whether to ask the staff to intervene, a middle-aged man in a t-shirt strode out of the inner room.

The man, holding a cell phone, walked quickly over and said to the old village chief, bowing his head:

"Secretary Chen, they're not from a TV station, they're just tourists filming a program. Please don't cause trouble."

The old village chief, somewhat bewildered, exclaimed loudly, "Huh? Not from the TV station?"

"Yes, the audience doesn't like your old tunes anymore; you're ruining the show's effect..."

He had been watching the live stream inside, so he naturally saw those negative comments.

Fearing the old village chief might say something wrong, he quickly came over and stopped him, telling him not to continue.

These days, who wants to hear lectures?

The middle-aged man pulled the old village chief back, but they were stopped by someone.

The man looked up and saw a figure wearing a cool T-shirt standing in front of him.

It's Xu Xiangxiao.

"Don't leave until you've finished speaking," Xu Xiangxiao said seriously. "Why don't the viewers like watching anymore?"

The middle-aged man looked embarrassed: "This..."

He Ling, with her extensive experience, guessed what the comments would say and stepped in to smooth things over:

"The old village chief's intentions were good, but perhaps his way of expressing himself was a bit hard for some people to accept. I hope everyone can..."

Xu Xiangxiao interrupted him, saying each word slowly and deliberately:

"If my fans said something like that, I couldn't accept it."

Everyone suddenly fell silent.

Just as He Ling was about to help cover for her, fearing she might say something wrong, Xu Xiangxiao said again:

"My mother always told me when I was little that we should never forget the well-digger when we drink water."

"The scenery in this village is beautiful, the environment is great, and everyone lives a very poetic life."

"But I know that without these roads, buses can't get in; without that bridge, we would have to take a detour of dozens of miles; and without these surveillance cameras, we would all be in danger."

"Without these facilities, our lives would not be poetic; we would only live a miserable life."

“I really feel that the person who donated money to build these facilities has brought me great convenience and a sense of security, and I am very grateful to him.”

"At the same time, I don't want my fans to be unreasonable and mean-spirited people."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Xinhai immediately stood up and said, "I agree with Xiangxiao. I'm on her side."

Wang Feng nodded and said, "I agree. The environment of this village is really great. Aunt Xu's son has put in a lot of effort, and he deserves attention."

With the idols speaking out, the tone of the live stream comments changed instantly.

"Those comments in the live chat just now are really brain-dead and have no conscience."

"Indeed, you're threatening not to watch anymore. Who do you think you are? Everyone loves to watch, whether you watch it or not is up to you."

"I come from a rural background, and I so wish my village had such an environment!"

……

He Ling walked up to the old village chief and said to the two people in front of her:

"Excuse me, gentlemen, we are guests and have only caused you trouble."

He reached out to shake hands with the middle-aged man, who quickly wiped his hand on his trousers before shaking hands with He Ling.

"Teacher He Ling, I'm so excited! I've been your fan since I was a child!"

"From childhood?" He Ling looked at the man's unshaven appearance, which made him look like he was in his thirties or forties, and she was both amused and exasperated.

The middle-aged man introduced himself: "I am a member of the village work team here. My surname is Liu. You can just call me Lao Liu."

The old village chief patted Old Liu on the shoulder and praised him:

"He's a good cadre! He was sent down from the city! But he didn't complain at all when he was assigned to our village for poverty alleviation. He's settled down here and has been working here for 5 years. Look at him, who would know that he's a division-level cadre?"

He Ling immediately said, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Old Liu humbly replied, "I dare not accept such praise. As the head of the village work team, I am only doing my duty."

Qin Yunshang blinked to the side. She didn't quite understand the meaning of "village-based work team" and "department-level cadre," and was completely confused.

Old Liu straightened up and said, "The village chief meant no harm in what happened just now. I certainly didn't want to affect your program, but if I had any other intentions, from the bottom of my heart, I still hope that more people can pay attention to the issues of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers."

Qin Yunshang whispered to the older sister next to her, "What are the three rural issues?"

Old Liu had sharp ears; upon hearing her words, he immediately replied:

"The 'three rural issues' refer to the issues of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. These are of paramount importance to the national economy and people's livelihood, and are also key to our path of rural revitalization."

He pointed into the distance and said, "Perfect timing! I know that you teachers have leased a few plots of land here and will be farming there. How about I take you to see those plots and we can chat about what Aunt Xu's son is doing?"

He Ling said, "We need to ask Director Tian."

According to the script, the original itinerary was to visit the fields the next day.

But Director Tian suddenly felt that the atmosphere today was much better than just going to see Tian in a dry manner, so he immediately made the decision to agree.

Old Liu and the old village chief led everyone out, and Qin Yunchu stood there hesitating for a while before following them.

She was worried that Chen Ya's identity would be exposed, but she also really wanted to know what Chen Ya had done in her hometown.

As Old Liu walked, he pointed to the side and said:

"Look at this land, how flat and beautiful it is."

Qin Yunshang tilted her head, looking at the field with its lush green rice seedlings, the air still carrying a faint smell of farmyard manure, and found it utterly unappealing.

"What's so good about it?"

Old Liu said, "You don't know, this is a mountain village. In the past, these fields were all hillsides and gullies, some high and some low. The villagers made a living by living in the cracks in the mountains."

Looking at the flat land, Qin Yunchu could not imagine that this place had once been a hillside.

Qin Yunshang said, "Isn't the hillside nice? It would look even better if it were covered with green plants."

Her words surprisingly garnered agreement from many viewers in the live chat:

"Yes, leveling mountains for personal gain, isn't that destroying the environment?"

"Yes, it also encroaches on the environment where plants should grow."

“Before, the mountains and rivers were beautiful, and it would have been great to develop tourism instead of farming.”

Hearing Qin Yunshang's words, Old Liu was speechless for a long time. After a while, he finally let out a sigh and said softly:

Do you know what the average income of this village was five years ago?

Everyone turned to look at him.

He held up three fingers and said, "I remember it very clearly, 3250 yuan."

Qin Yunshang had no concept of the amount of money; she just felt it was indeed very little.

“I have 2 yuan a month for living expenses,” she said, stunned.

Old Liu shook his head and said, "It's not 3250 yuan a month."

"It's 3250 yuan a year!"

Chapter 82 Aunt Xu's Son

Everyone was slightly taken aback by what Lao Liu said.

They even thought he was joking.

Only He Ling remained somewhat calm, saying, "Prices were low back then, and..."

Old Liu shook his head and said, "It's not a matter of prices. Back then, the minimum wage in Jingzhou was 1800 yuan per month, while the average income in the village was just over 3000 yuan."

He continued, "Rural people are people too; they need to make a living. They need to eat, wear clothes, their children need to go to school, and they need medical treatment when they get sick... But with an annual income of only 3000 yuan, what can they do?"

Just like the celebrities' performances, the comments section was filled with shock.

Even recent graduates earning a monthly salary of 3000 yuan think that an annual income of just over 3000 yuan is ridiculous.

Some viewers in the live chat provided explanations:

“I grew up in the countryside, where income is very low, but fortunately there aren’t many places to spend money.”

"City dwellers probably don't understand how much a pound of rice can sell for, right? Have they ever thought about how much income farmers can make from such cheap rice?"

“In the past, we rural people were born and raised in the soil. We couldn’t afford to live, we couldn’t afford to get sick, we couldn’t afford to die. We had to endure everything!”

……

Old Liu continued, "Why is the income so low? In the past, the village was all in mountain gullies, and not only was the grain yield per mu low, but it was also difficult to grow and harvest."

"The older people in this village either have leg problems or back problems. It's all because they worked hard when they were young."

"Why not use machinery? Machinery can't get in! It's just a tiny field, and it's already crowded with people, let alone machines."

"Young people don't want to stay in the village. Farming is tiring and the income is low, so they all go to the city to work. Only the elderly, weak, sick and disabled are left in the village."

"At that time, villagers couldn't afford medical treatment or schooling, and large tracts of farmland were abandoned."

"Where are the green mountains and clear waters? They're just a bunch of emaciated farmers, scraping together a living from the soil."

"Look."

He stopped and pointed to a house to the side. There sat an old man in the doorway, his right trouser leg was bare, and his cane was placed beside him.

Old Liu continued:

"Do you see that old man? A few years ago, he became lame, but he was still farming. He sat on a bench, tilling the land with a hoe, one stroke at a time."

"I was an official in the city for several years at that time, and I had never been to the countryside. I had never seen such a scene before."