Chapter 111

Wei Sheng’s fans were on the verge of a mental breakdown lately.

Watching his livestream, it looked like he was filming the familiar show *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation*, but then they glanced at the livestream title—wait, *Youngsters Sing to the Motherland*? What kind of new special is this?

Clicking into his homepage—holy crap! Wei Sheng, when did you sign on to another variety show? And not just any show, but a cross-industry music competition?

Hold up! Can Wei Sheng even sing?

His fans were completely baffled.

His haters, on the other hand, were having a field day. Wasn’t this just handing them ammo on a silver platter?

Nice! You, a variety show personality who debuted as a nobody, already stretched credibility by jumping into film and TV. And now you’ve got the nerve to meddle in a music competition with a bunch of professionals? What gives you the right? You can barely manage a square dance!

Suddenly, the internet exploded with arguments over whether Wei Sheng was just a “resource baby”—someone riding the coattails of J Province TV Station, hogging all the opportunities just because he was their “favored son.”

Of course, his fans stood firm, insisting their idol was innocent. It had to be that vampire Zhou Mingxing, who, seeing how popular Teacher Wei had become, kept throwing gigs at him nonstop. Poor Teacher Wei was so overworked he’d lost weight! o(╥﹏╥)o

Zhou Mingxing, you heartless bastard!!!

At that very moment, Zhou Mingxing, who was in the middle of a heated debate with the higher-ups at the station trying to cut down Wei Sheng’s less important shows so he could catch a break, suddenly sneezed—twice, and hard.

Seeing how exhausted he looked, the execs sighed and finally relented. “Fine! Just book him a couple of commercial shows to fill the gap. Don’t let people say he’s slacking off or using the show as a side hustle to make money. Even if it’s not against the rules, it sounds bad.”

Zhou Mingxing, who was used to being cursed out daily by Wei Sheng’s fans, Shen Yi’s fans, and Zhang Hanxing’s fans, had long since become immune to online flame wars. He didn’t even bother clapping back.

Besides, the more viciously fans cursed him, the more it showed how deeply they loved their idols. He was thrilled, actually. Why would he defend himself? Let them rage—because the more they cared, the harder they’d fight back against haters and boost their idols’ engagement stats…

Sure enough, when Zhou Mingxing once again played dead and didn’t respond, Wei Sheng’s fans turned their firepower on the haters. The two sides clashed across every major platform, going at it for hundreds of rounds, and in the process, managed to push Wei Sheng—who was off doing poverty alleviation work in the mountains—onto the trending list.

Seriously though, what was there to argue about?

When passersby clicked on the trending topic, they were dumbfounded. The hashtag #WeiShengResourceBaby# was basically the internet’s version of a “monthly cycle”—it popped up on the trending list at least once a month. Were these professional haters really this lazy? Couldn’t they at least come up with a new angle?

Seeing even random netizens stepping up to defend Wei Sheng drove the haters nuts. Somehow, they’d gotten their hands on Wei Sheng’s upcoming schedule. One glance at the spreadsheet—damn! It was a straight lineup of events, dramas, and variety shows all hosted or funded by J Province TV Station.

At this point, “resource baby” didn’t even begin to cover it. Just like the haters said, looking at that list, it was like J Province TV Station was owned by the Wei Sheng family. He had a hand in *everything*. Wasn’t this the very definition of being aggressively promoted?

While fans and onlookers were starting to question everything, Wei Sheng’s personal social media account suddenly followed a random influencer.

And when people remembered the online company Wei Sheng had invested in and founded, even his fans fell silent.

Was he really just using the show as a front to funnel money into his own company?

Unaware of the storm brewing online, Wei Sheng was still in Langshan, where the phone signal was spotty at best. Sometimes calls wouldn’t even come through when the phone was in his pocket. Not that he had time to be on his phone anyway—Langshan might be poor, but damn, the food here was amazing~

On his first day there, Wei Sheng had thought the locals’ “vegetable rice” looked like the slop hotels scraped together from leftovers. But after Jiang Xiaoman personally cooked him a deluxe version, he instantly fell in love with it!

Wasn’t it basically the same as the pea rice from J Province?

Langshan didn’t grow rice, but it was rich in wild mountain mushrooms and fresh bamboo shoots. Apparently, it was one of the few places in the country where you could eat bamboo shoots year-round. The locals had mastered the art of cooking with these ingredients.

Wei Sheng watched as Jiang Xiaoman peeled and blanched a type of thin bamboo shoot no thicker than a thumb, squeezed out the water, then diced it up.

There were also a few kinds of wild mushrooms he didn’t recognize. Prepping those was more complicated—they had to be torn into pieces first, then stir-fried in hot oil with minced garlic until fragrant. Jiang Xiaoman kept frying them for so long that Wei Sheng suspected he was extracting the mushroom oil. Only then did he set them aside.

Langshan’s version of vegetable rice was also different from what Wei Sheng was used to—they used less rice. When cooking, they’d mix equal parts rice and diced potatoes, then add some soaked cracked corn for color. Once the rice was nearly done, they’d heat up a big pot with rapeseed oil, toss in diced ham, bamboo shoots, and wild mushrooms, season with salt and MSG, then mix in the rice. After stirring everything together, they’d drizzle more rapeseed oil along the edge of the iron pot, cover it, and let it steam for another ten-plus minutes. And just like that, a big pot of vegetable rice was ready.

Apparently, the authentic version also included wild greens, but since some of the local greens had a strong taste and rough texture that outsiders might not like, Jiang Xiaoman left them out. Even so, Wei Sheng devoured two big bowls in one go.

If his new assistant Xiao Bai hadn’t repeatedly begged him to stop—nearly in tears—Wei Sheng would’ve gone for a third.

His previous assistant had been fired by Zhou Mingxing. Though no one told him why, Wei Sheng could guess—it was probably for having a loose tongue. Otherwise, how had the details about him and Shen Yi starting a company leaked?

The new assistant, Xiao Bai, was supposedly a distant relative of Zhou Mingxing. The poor kid had a rough life—his parents divorced and neither wanted custody, so he was raised by his grandfather. After his grandfather passed away last year, he had no one left back home. He couldn’t focus in school, ended up in a vocational school, and got bullied a lot. Zhou Mingxing brought him over and made him Wei Sheng’s assistant.

According to Zhou Mingxing, he thought Xiao Bai’s personality was a good match for the job. Wei Sheng still didn’t understand the logic, but every time Xiao Bai got teary-eyed, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Like now—Xiao Bai’s eyes were red, and Wei Sheng had no choice but to reluctantly put down his bowl.

Damn you, Zhou Mingxing! If he’d known Xiao Bai was sent here to monitor his diet, he would’ve “accidentally” left him behind at the hotel…

Seeing that he hadn’t eaten his fill, Jiang Xiaoman smiled and comforted him while Xiao Bai went to the kitchen to get water. “No worries! I’ll write down the recipe for you later. I’ll even pack some of my family’s cured meat and homemade wild mushroom oil for you to take home.”

What a good guy! Wei Sheng looked at him gratefully and added Jiang Xiaoman as a friend on the spot.

And then he saw it—he was trending again. For getting dragged by haters. Again.

Wei Sheng: ???

Seriously, is there no one else in the entire entertainment industry? Why are you all so obsessed with me, a mere rookie?

He couldn’t figure it out, and honestly, didn’t want to. So he just uploaded the video he’d casually taken of Jiang Xiaoman cooking.

“Filming the show and met a hidden culinary master. The food was insanely good! I’m a foodie—what’s wrong with adding a chef as a friend? Yes, I’m punching above my weight! You’re all so noble! So amazing! Then go ahead, try rejecting a friend request from a master chef~”

“Puhahaha~” Fans who knew the truth were practically dying of laughter on the trending page.

“Sorry, I just can’t pretend to be aloof. As a die-hard foodie, who could say no to friending a kitchen god?”

“Followed Xiaoman-ge in a flash! Just watched his videos—confirmed kitchen god! I’m obsessed!”

“Am I the only one curious about how good that veggie rice actually tastes? Did you guys notice? Wei Sheng had TWO bowls! Big enough to fit my whole head!”

“If it weren’t for the assistant begging him to stop, I bet Wei Sheng would’ve gone for a third bowl. Pfft~”

“Tragic news, sisters! Just checked the delivery apps—no one sells that veggie rice in my area. Ugh, I really wanna know what it tastes like.”

“Don’t panic, upstairs! Just prep the ingredients and follow Xiaoman-ge’s steps—you can achieve veggie rice freedom right at home.”

“As someone with zero kitchen skills, my eyes say ‘I got this,’ but my hands say ‘nope.’ o(╥﹏╥)o”

On one side, Wei Sheng was bantering with fans online, tossing memes back and forth like a pro.

On the other, Jiang Xiaoman and Langshan Elementary were skyrocketing in popularity.

The haters looked at this, then looked at that, and finally flipped their tables in rage.

This job is impossible!

After the meal, Wei Sheng shared his idea with Jiang Xiaoman.

“What? You want to recommend my little aunt to sign with your media company?” Jiang Xiaoman asked, a little surprised.

“Not just Jiang Cancan. Xiaoman, have you seen the show *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation*? I actually want to recommend Langshan Village for the next season. But you might not know—this show’s got a ton of people eyeing it. Everyone wants in. They nearly fought to the death for season one, and season three’s gonna be even more competitive. If Langshan Village doesn’t have a standout advantage, even if I personally recommend you, there’s still a chance you’ll get cut…”

Wei Sheng’s plan wasn’t exactly complicated. He wanted to replicate the inspirational ensemble story of *The Wage Earners* and their success with the Pearl Garden ghost project—only this time, the setting would be Langshan Village. Through their influencer incubation program, they’d turn the entire village into a poverty-stricken but determined community striving to lift itself out of hardship.

After all, audiences these days are tired of the same old tearjerker poverty stories. And to be honest, some families have been stuck in poverty for generations—not entirely society’s fault. A lot of it comes down to mindset passed down over the years.

In fact, some of the villages Wang Qun’s team had previously screened out had exactly this issue.

They weren’t even that remote or barren. Plenty of nearby villagers had gone to the city, earned money, and built big houses. But some people just got used to waiting for handouts. When they saw the government pouring money into poverty relief—building houses, giving out piglets and startup funds—they just lay flat and waited for someone else to lift them out of poverty.

The poverty alleviation campaign had been going on for years. At first, those stories could still move people to tears. But now? People have grown numb.

But the stories of Jiang Xiaoman, Jiang Cancan, and Principal Jiang at Langshan Elementary—those sparked something in Wei Sheng. They reminded him of Pearl Garden.

If audiences loved the inspirational story of a ghost project turning around, wouldn’t applying that formula to Langshan Village create the same kind of magic?

When a poverty-alleviation variety show meets a group of struggling but resilient mountain villagers, the potential for heart-stirring stories is endless!

Wei Sheng couldn’t wait to bring it up with Wang Qun.

Unfortunately, Wang was still tied up with the *Youngsters Sing to the Motherland* production team… Sigh. Different network. No way he could just poach Director Chen’s people, right?

Jiang Xiaoman was also intrigued by Wei Sheng’s poverty-alleviation IP incubation plan. But since it involved the whole village, he couldn’t make the decision alone. He’d have to talk it over with the village council first.

And then there was Jiang Cancan. Sure, she was his little aunt by seniority, but she was only eight years old. If she were to sign with Wei Sheng’s company, her guardian would have to do it.

“Alright! No rush. Talk it over first. If you guys decide to go for it, just shoot me a WeChat message. I’ll help you get in touch with the director.” With that, Wei Sheng hurried off, carrying the local specialties Jiang Xiaoman had gifted him.

It wasn’t that he was trying to act like a big shot—he had to perform at the opening ceremony of a real estate expo hosted by his station. See, thanks to his “heroic turnaround” at the Pearl Garden ghost project, some superstitious developers had started calling him the “Ghost Project Buster.”

What’s a real estate developer’s worst nightmare? A broken funding chain leading to a ghost project, of course. A ghost project means all the money invested goes down the drain—not exactly ideal.

So for this expo, several bigwigs from real estate associations specifically requested the TV station invite Wei Sheng, the “Ghost Project Buster,” to bring some good luck.

Call them superstitious if you want, but remember how bad Pearl Garden used to be? After Wei Sheng’s show aired, a major state-owned real estate group took over. Word is, the new launch prices were so high, original owners made hundreds of thousands just by holding on.

All Wei Sheng had to do was show up and perform for a bit—an hour tops. The station leadership agreed in a heartbeat.

As the saying goes, “The boss gives the order, the staff break their backs.”

That “just one hour” meant Wei Sheng had to take a late-night ride to the city, catch the only flight back to J City, and still show up backstage at the expo by 8 a.m. sharp… I mean, the show starts at 9. He couldn’t show up later than the execs, right?

Act like a diva in front of the big bosses? Wei Sheng wasn’t trying to get blacklisted by the station, cough~

(End of chapter)