Chapter 127

On the third day after angry fans pushed the hashtag #JProvinceTVStationIsUseless to the top of the trending list, a sudden rumor began circulating online—

Perhaps the station had been scolded into submission, but J Province TV Station was reportedly considering investing in a poverty alleviation-themed drama! And word had it that the original team behind *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation* would also be involved in the scriptwriting.

Wait a minute—wasn’t this exactly the drama adaptation fans had been clamoring for?

In an instant, fans were overjoyed. They quickly deleted their earlier rants and threats against the station, then turned around and showered J Province TV Station with sugary praise while enthusiastically recommending their hometowns to the production team.

Ahem~ At this point, not just the entertainment industry but even the general public knew that *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation* was basically a walking Poverty Alleviation Cadre. Wherever the show went, the locals would soon be lifted out of poverty and well on their way to prosperity.

These days, who doesn’t have a few poor relatives back home? Especially young people from rural areas—they were practically writing blood oaths, begging the production team to come film in their hometowns.

What left Zhou Mingxing utterly speechless was that it wasn’t just the netizens going crazy—even people within the industry were jumping on the bandwagon.

In recent years, *Retracing the Path of Poverty Alleviation* had become a breakout hit in the variety show scene. A provincial-level production with no traffic stars, no big-name guests—just a ragtag team of insiders traveling to remote corners of the country. And yet, they managed to create a top-rated, long-running hit that frequently landed on trending lists and even earned praise from the national news channel. Fine! They could grudgingly admit that the last part was what they envied the most.

But now you want to turn a variety show into a scripted drama?

What a joke! Since when could J Province TV Station independently produce a drama?

Do you have a go-to award-winning screenwriter?

An experienced director for rural-themed stories?

Veteran actors with national recognition? Young idols with massive fan bases?

No? What a coincidence—we do!

Hey, how about a collaboration?

In no time, the phones of J Province TV Station execs were ringing off the hook again.

The station heads had been hesitant at first, but once they saw all the industry big shots scrambling to get a piece of the pie—huh? If everyone’s fighting over it, then this must be a good pie!

No way, no way, we’re not giving it up! Don’t we have our own directors? We’ve got actors too! Let’s get our own people in first!

And so, a few months later, the four cast members of *The Wage Earners* found themselves reunited on the same drama set.

This new drama, tentatively titled *East Wind Brings Fragrance for a Hundred Miles*, was an inspirational story about poverty alleviation, telling the tale of two cities—one from the east and one from the west—joining hands across mountains and seas to help each other.

Sitting in the largest conference room at the station, Wei Sheng looked around and suddenly felt like he was back on the set of *Mountain Path*.

The director was someone familiar—Li Lei, the chief director of *Mountain Path*.

The screenwriter was familiar too—Le Ling, who had written *Mountain Path*.

Even most of the main cast were from their own company: Shen Yi, Zhang Hanxing, Yang Junyao, and Xiang Hong’s younger brother, Xiang Lei. There were also a few veteran actors who frequently appeared in period dramas.

Wait a second! Didn’t the station heads say they’d be using mostly in-house talent? Why were they still bringing in outsiders?

“Ahem~ The Provincial Propaganda Department is taking this drama very seriously. The station wants to make it properly and aim for awards,” Zhou Mingxing whispered.

Everyone immediately got the message, and their expressions turned serious.

“They’re probably not just aiming for awards,” Wei Sheng thought to himself. “They’re probably gunning for a spot on the national channel.” Otherwise, why would they have brought in Li Lei?

Last year, *Mountain Path* had cemented Director Li Lei’s position as the top name in Main-theme dramas.

Just the fact that *Mountain Path* had been rebroadcast twice on the national channel—and had outperformed many new shows in ratings during its reruns—meant the station must’ve gone to great lengths to get Li Lei on board.

What Wei Sheng didn’t expect was that Li Lei had come specifically for him.

“What? You want me to play the male lead? No way, no way, I can’t carry that role,” Wei Sheng turned pale the moment Li Lei enthusiastically recommended him at the meeting.

He knew his own acting skills. His performance in *Mountain Path* had been passable only because he’d designed the character Yang Fan himself—it was easy to get into the role. Plus, *Mountain Path* was an ensemble drama. With veteran actors around, even if his acting was a bit green, it didn’t stand out too badly.

But to carry the whole show as the male lead?

Help! If his whole family sat down to watch it together, he’d be so embarrassed he’d want to dig a hole in the floor and hide.

“Relax, this role is perfect for you. We need someone who can’t act! The greener the better. In fact, no acting experience is ideal,” Li Lei said with a mysterious smile.

Before he could explain further, the staff began handing out printed and bound scripts.

Wei Sheng flipped through the first two episodes and immediately understood what Li Lei meant by “no acting experience is ideal.”

To put it simply, this wasn’t your typical poverty alleviation drama—it was more like an inspirational, hot-blooded story disguised as a comedy.

The story begins with the prosperous eastern city of Yunjiang launching a new round of the East-West Poverty Alleviation Collaboration Plan, as per national policy. Yunjiang sends a cadre to the impoverished western county of Sanshan. But while helping locals herd sheep upon arrival, the lead goat headbutts the cadre, breaking his leg. With no other option, just before being taken away in an ambulance, the cadre asks the department’s rookie, Han Baili, to go to Sanshan County in his place—start the work, hold the line, and wait for reinforcements.

Han Baili, freshly selected through the “Three Supports and One Assistance” program, is completely clueless—both about the system and about life outside it.

To make matters worse, within a week of his arrival, a local epidemic breaks out, and the entire province hits pause.

Wei Sheng: “…”

What kind of ridiculous bad luck is this?

And so, a wide-eyed, idealistic rookie ends up stuck in a village with a bunch of equally clueless villagers who have no idea what they’re supposed to be doing.

With no way to get to the county seat and no new assignments, Han Baili has no choice but to contact his department for help while wandering around the village, treating it as grassroots research.

Who would’ve thought this hot-blooded newbie would actually manage to turn a backward, frustratingly ignorant village into something remarkable?

The first story in the village begins at the home of the family Han Baili is staying with.

The poorer and more underdeveloped a place is, the more entrenched the preference for sons over daughters tends to be. This particular villager, Yang Siping, a sheep farmer, had five daughters with his wife before finally having a son. The couple treated their precious boy like a treasure, while the five daughters were basically unpaid labor.

The eldest daughter married into the neighboring village—not for love, but to be close enough to come home and help out whenever needed. The second and third daughters worked outside the village and were expected to send most of their earnings home to save up for their brother’s future bride…

The couple constantly repeated, “Our son is our lifelong support.” The villagers had heard it so often they’d become numb to it. But Han Baili? He wasn’t about to let that slide.

He firmly believed that “practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.”

“Uncle Yang, Aunt Yang, since you believe your son is your only support, then while we’re all sealed inside the village, why not start now?”

*Beep~ Welcome players ‘Mr. and Mrs. Yang Siping’ to the instance: ‘A Happy Life with Only Me and My Son’.*

The eldest daughter was sealed in the neighboring village and couldn’t come. The second and third daughters were far away in other cities. Han Baili called them and asked for their cooperation—specifically, to stop sending any living expenses back home.

With no support from his daughters and being trapped at home, it didn’t take long for all kinds of conflicts to erupt.

Mr. and Mrs. Yang Siping suddenly discovered that their precious, perfect son—whom they had always believed to be their future—didn’t earn money, didn’t do chores, stayed up all night glued to his phone, and didn’t get up until lunchtime the next day. Whenever he ran out of money, he’d come begging them. Twice, when they were slow to hand over cash—probably because he couldn’t go out and play—he lost his temper and went berserk, smashing pots and dishes, yelling and screaming like a madman…

Meanwhile, Han Baili was fanning the flames—

He kept meticulous notes on everything happening in the Yang household and would debrief Yang Siping the next day, going over every miserable detail. He’d also kindly remind him that, without the support of his five daughters, he now had to earn 500 yuan a day to cover household expenses and his son’s spending.

Yang Siping: “…”

*I can’t even leave the village. Where the hell am I supposed to make 500 yuan?*

What drove him even crazier was that, after Han Baili helped the village sell some unsold agricultural products through a poverty alleviation program, when it came time for them to collect the money, Han Baili simply spread his hands and said innocently—

“The money from selling your family’s sheep has already been collected—by your son.”

“What?! I raised those sheep with my own blood and sweat! Why the hell should he get the money?” Yang Siping exploded with rage.

Unfazed, Han Baili calmly flipped open his trusty “Villager Classic Quotes” notebook, found the page for the Yang family, and pointed it out to him: “Look here, Uncle Yang. These are your own words: ‘This house, every brick and tile, will belong to my son in the future!’”

Yang Siping: “…” *That hit right in the heart!*

Sure, he did say that—but what he meant was *after* he and his wife died, everything would go to their son. He never said the boy could start taking over while they were still alive!

“Uh, Uncle Yang, I’ve been a bit idle lately, so I took the liberty of doing some financial planning for your family. Based on your son’s current spending habits, and factoring in future costs like getting married and raising kids—without help from your five daughters—your current assets might not even last until you and Aunt Yang retire. Your family could go bankrupt.”

Yang Siping: “…”

“Wait! I still have five daughters, don’t I? I raised them so they could support their little brother!” Yang Siping quickly snapped back.

Han Baili calmly closed his notebook and kindly informed him, “I’ve already convinced your daughters. From now on, they won’t be sending a single cent home. Only this way can your son be forced to stand on his own, to break and then rebuild.”

“So, for the sake of your son’s bright future, it’s time to cut off his allowance.”

Just after getting the money from selling the family’s sheep, Yang Youzhi was gambling with a few shady friends when his father came storming in, waving a sheep whip and chasing him halfway around the village. The money hadn’t even warmed in his pocket before it was snatched back.

“Give me the money! You said this house was mine! Why can’t I spend the family’s money?” Yang Youzhi screamed, furious.

Yang Siping stared coldly at his son. “Your mother and I aren’t dead yet. This house is still ours. You don’t get to manage the money.”

People are selfish by nature. In the past, Yang Siping didn’t care how recklessly his son spent money—because it wasn’t money the boy had earned. It came from squeezing his daughters dry.

But now that the daughters refused to contribute, and the couple had no pension to rely on, they could only survive by selling a few sheep each year to buy grain. And their son had gambled away half a year’s worth of food in a single night. What were they supposed to do—survive on air?

When the son was no longer a source of security in old age, but instead the very reason the family was going bankrupt, all of Yang Siping’s fatherly love turned into seething rage.

At that moment, the ever-diligent Han Baili “kindly” reminded him again: “I’ve heard that a lot of young people these days take out online loans. When they can’t pay them back, they dump the debt on their parents. Uncle Yang, your son doesn’t have any money on hand—he wouldn’t have taken out loans, would he?”

Yang Siping: “!!!”

He checked—and sure enough, he found a deficit of tens of thousands of yuan!

Turns out, the boy had borrowed all that money online and didn’t buy a single thing for the house—not even a needle. He’d spent it all tipping female streamers. Yang Siping nearly had a stroke from sheer fury.

Even Yang Youzhi’s own mother stopped defending him. The couple—one wielding a sheep whip, the other brandishing a broom—chased their son around the village two or three times. Every villager was leaning over their walls to watch the spectacle.

Han Baili, genuinely worried that the Yang family might fall back into poverty because of online loans, stayed up all night calculating the numbers. He laid it all out clearly: if they wanted to pay off the debt, including interest, and they raised ten sheep a year, it would still take them eight years to pay it all back.

The next morning, Yang Youzhi was driven up the mountain by his father to chop wood and feed the sheep.

Wei Sheng: “…”

*Is this Poverty Alleviation Cadre cursed or what?*

(End of Chapter)