Chapter 122

“What godson? Lang Dongyang, are you itching for a beating again?” Lang Qingsong, the Party Committee Secretary of Dongxiang Town, happened to be passing by when he overheard Lang Dongyang’s self-introduction. His mouth twitched, and he couldn’t help smacking the back of the young man’s head.

Lang Dongyang grinned sheepishly. “You’ll have to ask my mom about that. She said Aunt Huang just got here, doesn’t have a single relative around, and since I’m her assigned one-on-one support buddy, I’m supposed to take care of her like she’s my own mother. If that doesn’t make me her godson, what does?”

Lang Qingsong was rendered speechless.

Just three days ago, Dongxiang Town had finally welcomed the villagers from Huangbai Village.

Unlike N City, where land was scarce and people were practically pushed out to make room, Dongxiang Town was suffering from severe population outflow. Locals were all scrambling to leave. So when over two hundred people moved in at once, the town took it very seriously. They organized a volunteer team, cleaned up every available vacant house, and even prepared a grand open-air banquet to welcome the newcomers.

In this region, whenever there’s a wedding or funeral, it’s customary to host a banquet at home. And this time, they were welcoming people who had once contributed both money and effort to help the people of Langshan escape poverty and build a better life—benefactors, no less!

Word got out, and many local chefs who specialized in open-air banquets volunteered to help. They didn’t ask for a single cent in return—they just wanted the folks from Huangbai Village to taste the best of Langshan’s local cuisine.

In the end, with the show’s production team coordinating, the banquet turned into a full-blown “Langshan Food Festival.” From pre-meal snacks, stir-fried treats, and tea, to the endless spread of local specialty dishes on the banquet tables, and even fresh fruit for dessert—everything was a signature dish from the chefs.

That one open-air feast completely put the villagers of Huangbai Village at ease.

Before they arrived, they thought Langshan, being a poor rural town, would be barren and desolate. But to their surprise, it was exactly as the government had advertised—rich in natural resources and full of foods they’d never even heard of.

Especially the local red-flesh potatoes—soft, sweet, and flavorful. No seasoning needed—just roast them over charcoal and dip them in the local spicy chili powder. Absolutely delicious!

They couldn’t help but think: ever since that pesticide factory moved into Huangbai Village, it had been years since they’d tasted vegetables this good.

And then there were the free-range chickens from the mountains, the rice-field carp, the tangy and crunchy pickled bamboo shoots, the fragrant and tender taro pork belly… The more they thought about it, the more excited the villagers became about their new life in Dongxiang Town.

What surprised them even more was that the locals of Dongxiang not only warmly prepared temporary housing for them, but also assigned each family a vegetable plot and a piece of land for growing grain.

On top of that, for elderly folks without children and sick mothers with kids, the town recruited volunteers to launch a “one-on-one support initiative” to help them adapt to life in Langshan as quickly as possible.

Even the production team hadn’t expected such a heartwarming development.

And neither had the audience.

A week later, the first episode of the “Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation: Huangbai Village” series aired.

The opening was nothing short of shocking.

Through the lens of the cameraman, viewers saw fruits and vegetables struggling to grow in pesticide-contaminated soil—twisted in shape, pitiful in yield. It was a gut punch.

Then the camera panned from the desolate land to the villagers’ homes.

These once-strong, healthy farmers had been ravaged by years of exposure to toxic pesticide residues. Some had lost all their hair, their nails falling off.

Some had developed malignant tumors. With no money for treatment, they could only lie in bed and wait to die.

There were even children born with deformities due to lack of prenatal care—heartbreaking scenes that were hard to watch.

Years of illness had devastated one family after another. In other places, people might still be able to farm or raise livestock to get by.

But not in Huangbai Village. The soil was poisoned. The vegetables they grew—no one outside the village dared eat them, let alone buy them at the market.

The water was toxic too. Chickens that drank it lost their feathers, stopped laying eggs, or never grew to maturity. The few hens that survived laid bizarre, misshapen eggs that looked downright creepy.

With no source of income, villagers sold off everything of value just to afford medical care.

To say they were destitute didn’t even begin to describe their suffering.

This was the most heart-wrenching episode since “Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation” began airing.

And yet, strangely enough, no one clicked away despite the disturbing footage. On the contrary, as the show’s topic gained traction online, more and more victims came forward in the comments to speak up for Huangbai Village—

“Suddenly reminded of the Minamata Disease disaster in Country R. I heard it started when a nitrogen fertilizer company built a factory and dumped untreated toxic wastewater into the sea, poisoning all the fish and shrimp. Locals who ate the seafood got all sorts of strange illnesses. It was terrifying!”

“I remember Minamata Disease was mercury poisoning, right? I heard just a grain-sized amount of mercury can kill a full-grown adult.”

“Those guys really have no fear of death. Used to dump mercury-laced industrial waste everywhere, and now they’re dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean. I don’t even dare eat imported seafood anymore.”

“Horrifying! We just covered this in class. For those who don’t know, here’s a quick breakdown of how dangerous mercury-laced wastewater is. When animals ingest mercury, it turns into methylmercury in their bodies. That stuff causes rapid brain shrinkage in humans, attacks nerve cells, and damages the cerebellum and sensory systems that control balance.”

“This disease first showed up in cats. After eating fish and shrimp contaminated with methylmercury, the cats would stagger, convulse, and become paralyzed. That’s why it’s also called ‘dancing cat disease.’ In humans, mild cases cause slurred speech and numb limbs. Severe cases lead to neurological breakdown, twisted limbs, and horrific deaths. If you’re brave, go look up the pictures online.”

“The scariest part is—it’s hereditary! Just like those deformed kids in Huangbai Village. They’re born with speech and motor impairments. The symptoms are similar to polio, so in places unfamiliar with soil contamination, it’s often misdiagnosed.”

Many other commenters shared that their hometowns had also suffered after introducing polluting industries. In recent years, locals had seen a spike in tumors, leukemia, cancer, gout, and high blood pressure.

Some even shared personal stories—how their hometowns had many leather factories, and ever since those opened, the water became undrinkable, crops stopped growing, and rivers once teeming with fish and shrimp were now lifeless.

No one knows where all that toxic waste ended up—what soil absorbed it, which vegetables grew in it, which chickens, ducks, pigs, or cows drank it, and how it all eventually made its way into human bodies as poison.

After watching the first episode, viewers were chilled to the bone. For the first time, they realized just how close environmental pollution was to their own lives.

Deeply moved, netizens felt even more sympathy for the villagers of Huangbai. They heard that the village used to grow greenhouse vegetables. If it weren’t for the pesticide contamination, they might still be living peacefully in their hometown—growing and selling produce, leading simple, happy lives.

But now, everything was destroyed. Their loved ones, poisoned over years by the contamination, fell terminally ill. Without money for treatment, they died in agony. And the villagers themselves might one day face the same fate.

At the end of the episode, one highly upvoted comment struck a chord with countless viewers:

“I wonder if the folks from Huangbai Village still need help. I kinda regret not paying attention to this sooner.”

A simple, heartfelt sentence—yet it resonated deeply with thousands.

Many people are barely scraping by—what they earn each month is just enough to feed their families. But compared to the villagers suffering from terminal illnesses, they are undoubtedly the lucky ones. At the very least, they’re still alive and healthy.

After the program aired, it sparked a wave of heated discussion online. Soon, numerous environmental organizations across the country began sharing the full-length video. In an instant, the long-forgotten issue of environmental pollution was thrust back into the public eye.

At the center of the storm was N City, which suddenly found itself caught in a whirlwind of public opinion.

Fortunately, the local government had been prepared. In fact, from the moment they agreed to let the production team film in Huangbai Village, they had already begun drafting an official response for when the story inevitably gained traction.

Before long, N City released a detailed statement spanning several thousand words.

In it, they laid out a comprehensive reflection on the environmental issues that had emerged over the past decade during the city’s economic development. The statement highlighted their unwavering efforts to shut down heavily polluting enterprises, the massive investments poured into cleaning up contaminated soil, water sources, and rivers, as well as the progress made in tackling air, water, soil, pesticide, and noise pollution.

The report was filled with data precise to three decimal places—each number a testament to N City’s determination to combat environmental pollution and protect public health.

After reading the statement, countless outraged netizens fell silent.

Was it really fair to pin all the blame on N City’s government? No. This was a scar left by an era. Back then, people were so poor they were on the brink of desperation. When a chance to make money finally appeared—even if it came in the form of a heavily polluting factory—local governments fought tooth and nail to bring those businesses in.

When you don’t have money and you’re starving, pollution becomes a secondary concern.

Now that everyone has enough to eat, can we really turn around and condemn the very people who made that possible?

If everyone shares the blame, then let it end with our generation. Let us be the ones to stop this mistake.

(End of chapter)