Chapter 119

Sun Limin personally led the team, and all the township officials had come along. Such a grand display left the villagers of Huangbai Village both excited and uneasy.

They were excited because the long-awaited full relocation might finally become a reality.

But they were uneasy too—after all, they had practically forced the crew of *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation* to come here by sending a whole box of petition letters. Would this end up causing trouble for the show?

Feeling guilty and anxious, the villagers carried over two cases of bottled water and a box of oranges from the local shop to offer to their guests.

“Auntie, why aren’t you making tea for the guests?” In the crowd outside, a little boy with straw-yellow hair looked up and asked the elder beside him.

“Niuniu, you’re such a thoughtful child, knowing we should serve tea to our guests. But they can’t drink our water here—if they do, they’ll get sick.”

Her words cast a heavy silence over the villagers gathered around.

Ever since it was discovered that the land here was heavily contaminated by pesticides, it was as if the entire village had been sealed off from the world. Friends and relatives avoided them like the plague. Even during holidays, when people felt obligated to visit because of family ties, they wouldn’t dare eat or drink anything. They’d drop off gifts, exchange a few pleasantries, and leave as quickly as possible.

Being treated like a disease—anyone would feel hurt. But for the villagers of Huangbai, they had long since grown numb.

Forget relatives—how many people from their own village had fled over the years?

That little boy, Niuniu—his mother used to work at the pesticide factory. She was known throughout the village as a diligent and capable young woman. That’s why she had beaten out many of the village men to land a job at the factory.

Back then, having a family member working at the pesticide plant was something to be proud of. The pay was good, and there were all kinds of holiday benefits.

But who would’ve thought that this enviable job would cost Niuniu’s mother her life?

Because she was hardworking, she was assigned to a dangerous post. She didn’t even live to see the factory relocate—she died in agony from pesticide poisoning on a hospital bed.

What chilled people to the bone was that after she died, Niuniu’s father took the compensation money from the factory and abandoned his son to his elderly parents, running off to the city to enjoy life. No one’s heard from him since.

Later, Niuniu’s grandparents also died of cancer. The boy was still just a toddler. With no one left to care for him, it was the aunt next door who took pity on him. She started including him when she cooked meals, but beyond an extra bowl and pair of chopsticks, there wasn’t much more she could do.

Eventually, the villagers couldn’t stand it anymore. They called Niuniu’s father and demanded he return—either take the child to the city or arrange for someone to adopt him. Otherwise, they’d report him for abandonment.

Only then did Niuniu’s father reluctantly agree to send 500 yuan a month to the aunt’s household for living expenses. And that’s how this poor child managed to scrape by and grow up.

When she heard that high-ranking officials were coming to the village, Niuniu’s aunt didn’t even bother changing out of her slippers. She grabbed Niuniu and rushed to the village committee office. She didn’t have any grand plans—she just wanted to ask the officials to find a way to get Niuniu out of here. Even if it meant giving him up for adoption to a childless family in the city, it would be better than letting him stay here and slowly be poisoned to death.

Niuniu was lucky. His mother had gotten pregnant before the pesticide plant moved in, so he was born healthy and without deformities. But even the healthiest person, if they lived in Huangbai Village long enough, would eventually fall ill—tumors, cancer, blood disorders, or just chronic sickness that ruined their life.

No one in the meeting room knew about the aunt’s plan.

At that moment, the production team was in a meeting with Vice Mayor Sun, discussing how to help relocate the entire village.

The biggest obstacle was finding a suitable resettlement site.

Unlike the vast and sparsely populated Langshan region, land in N City was incredibly scarce and expensive. Any decent-sized plot had been claimed decades ago. The local government had considered splitting up Huangbai Village and relocating people in batches to surrounding towns.

But the problem was—

“None of the other towns are willing,” someone said. “They call them ‘toxic people.’ They’re afraid that if these villagers move in, they’ll bring death with them. No one wants to take them in.”

Many rural folks don’t understand how pesticide contamination works. They think it’s like a contagious disease—once someone’s “infected,” they’ll spread it to others. Didn’t many of the women in Huangbai Village give birth to deformed babies?

With the surrounding towns refusing to take them, Huangdian Township couldn’t possibly be so heartless as to drag the villagers somewhere and just abandon them, could they?

So the relocation plan was shelved—year after year.

“Director Wang, I’ve watched your show. The concept of poverty alleviation and agricultural support is fantastic. I never imagined you’d come to our village. On behalf of all the villagers of Huangbai, thank you for your help!”

“To be honest, the city has also been working hard to find a solution. We’ve identified a few places that could accommodate the villagers in batches. The problem is, those areas have no farmland. In other words, we can help them leave Huangbai Village, but they’ll have to find new ways to make a living…” Sun Limin gave a bitter smile.

People think that being a high-ranking official means you can solve anything. But whether it’s commercial land or farmland, it all belongs to the state. All they can do is coordinate. And since Huangbai’s land is already contaminated, even if they wanted to trade it, no other township would be foolish enough to swap their good land for pesticide-poisoned soil.

When Sun Limin said that the only real issue was finding employment for the relocated villagers, Wang Qun secretly let out a sigh of relief and instinctively looked toward the show’s “think tank,” Teacher Wei.

Wei Sheng: “???”

Just then, Sun Limin also turned to look.

Seeing Wei Sheng’s young and handsome face, Sun Limin couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Teacher Wei. I know you’ve helped many poor mountain communities solve employment issues. This time, you must help us too!”

Wei Sheng blushed at the praise.

“Vice Mayor Sun, just call me Xiao Wei. When you call me ‘Teacher Wei,’ I get nervous.”

“Hahaha!” Sun Limin laughed heartily and agreed.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about this on the way here. I agree with the city’s stance—Huangbai’s soil contamination isn’t something that can be fixed overnight. But the health and safety of the villagers should be the top priority.”

“Since you mentioned relocating in batches, I wanted to ask—does the relocation have to be within the province? What if we moved them out of province?”

“Out of province? Where to?” Sun Limin’s interest was piqued.

“Langshan! In fact, before coming to Huangbai Village, I was filming over there. The land is vast and sparsely populated, and because many of the mountain folk have moved away, there are now lots of hollowed-out or abandoned villages.”

“More importantly, these empty villages usually have large tracts of fallow mountain land nearby.”

“To put it bluntly, N City is much more developed than Langshan, and the government here has more money. I’ve looked at the data—Huangbai Village has fewer than 200 permanent residents left. If N City is willing to negotiate with Langshan and spend some money—not even talking about land swaps—I’m sure many of the locals there would be happy to sell off their old houses and land.”

“That way, even though the villagers are moving out of province, they’ll still have homes and land in a rural setting. Life wouldn’t be all that different from what they’re used to.”

“Plus, Langshan has beautiful scenery, clean air, and excellent water—it’s a well-known wellness destination. After years of exposure to pesticide toxins, maybe the villagers of Huangbai could actually begin to recover there.”

“Langshan? It’s definitely a beautiful place,” Sun Limin said thoughtfully. “But I’m not sure if the villagers would be willing to move somewhere that far…”

“Mayor Sun, we’re willing!” someone suddenly shouted from outside the door.

“That’s right, Mayor Sun! As long as we don’t have to stay in this toxic place any longer, we’d be willing to move even to a mountain of blades, let alone Langshan! Better to die poor than die sick!”

“Pfft—dying poor won’t be necessary,” Wei Sheng chuckled. “If everyone’s really willing to relocate to Langshan, I actually have a project that might suit you all. Done right, it could earn you more than farming ever did.” As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and opened the “Sunset Glow Livestream Room” under his company’s platform.

Wei Sheng had been thinking about this for a while. In modern society, not just Huangbai Village, but many places had suffered from overdevelopment or heavy industrial pollution. As a result, many locals ended up with chronic illnesses—especially tumors, cancers, and leukemia. Just hearing those words is enough to make most people shudder.

So his idea was to add a new livestream channel to their network company’s lineup, one focused on a “special group.” No need to do anything fancy, not even hire outside staff. Just pick a few bright young people from Huangbai Village, send them to the company for some training, and then have them document the entire relocation process and the daily lives and treatments of these chronic illness patients—nonstop.

“I believe there are many villages across the country—and even the world—just like Huangbai Village. Livestreaming shouldn’t be limited to singing and dancing. We need channels that focus on special groups too.”

“Let’s be real—life is long. Who can guarantee their family won’t ever have someone fall seriously ill?”

“Instead of waiting until it happens to you, why not pay more attention to these issues now?”

“If we can get the Huangbai Village account up and running, and build a following of over a million fans—Mayor Sun, do you believe me when I say this one livestream channel could support the entire village?”

Sun Limin nodded thoughtfully. “I believe it. After all, you even managed to turn that abandoned mine in Jiangdong Town into something valuable. And Langshan? That area’s famous for its rich natural resources.”

“More than just rich resources, Mayor Sun! If Huangbai Village really does relocate to Langshan, you should go take a look. Langshan today is nothing like it used to be.”

“Oh? How so?” Sun Limin asked curiously.

Wei Sheng grinned, pulled up Jiang Xiaoman’s video account on his phone, and handed it to Sun Limin.

He’d long thought Jiang Xiaoman was a rare talent. And sure enough, in just a short time, Jiang Xiaoman’s personal account had already gained hundreds of thousands of followers. Hitting a million was only a matter of time.

Never underestimate the impact a million-follower influencer can have on a village.

Wei Sheng had been following a tea-selling influencer for a while. That guy had over three million followers now and single-handedly revitalized the entire tea industry in his hometown. On that platform, he was now one of the top tea influencers. One person alone was enough to sell all the tea from the whole region.

That’s the beauty of working with origin-sourced agricultural products. The quality is more reliable than with contract manufacturing. As long as the streamer ensures quality control at the source, the business can thrive for the long haul.

Unlike some influencers who work with third-party manufacturers—sure, they might have occasional viral hits, but one bad product and their reputation crashes overnight.

Last time when he went into the mountains with the film crew, Wei Sheng had been too busy to sit down and talk with Jiang Xiaoman. But if N City really could help relocate Huangbai Village to Langshan, then maybe the local officials could lend a hand and give the project a push.

If Jiang Xiaoman could build a brand around Langshan’s agricultural products and scale it into a full-blown industry, then the relocated villagers from Huangbai Village could follow her lead—growing and processing products, running their own social media accounts. With both paths open, surely one of them would lead to prosperity, right?

“Excellent! No wonder they call you the famous Teacher Wei!” Sun Limin slapped the table and burst out laughing. After a while, he finally stopped and added with a smile:

“If this were any other province, it might take some effort. But Langshan? That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You all might not know this, but a few years ago, our N City was actually the designated support partner for Langshan Town’s poverty alleviation campaign!”

“What? That’s incredible!” Wei Sheng exclaimed in surprise.

“Maybe it’s fate,” Sun Limin said with a sigh. “Seven years ago, we helped the people of Langshan climb out of poverty. And now, seven years later, it’s our turn to ask them for help.”

His words moved everyone present.

Seven years ago, you pulled me from the mire of poverty.

Seven years later, I’ll lead you out of this poisoned land.

What could be more wondrous than that kind of destiny?

(End of Chapter)