Chapter 129

This was the most fun Wei Sheng had ever had on a set since he entered the industry.

Probably because the first season of *Daji Reborn* had already broken the ice, this time around, with the same familiar faces, the atmosphere on set was incredibly warm and easygoing.

The best part was the filming location they’d chosen—Huazhi Village in Province F. It was a quiet spot with few tourists, but it had vast mudflats and fruit orchards.

Whenever they had downtime, Wei Sheng would take his junior disciple and some of the crew to the nearby mudflats. They’d pay the local boss a few hundred yuan and spend a few hours digging around. The seafood they unearthed wasn’t worth much, but they’d bring it back and ask the guesthouse owner to cook it up. After wrapping for the day, they’d gather around a steaming bowl of seafood noodles, paired with the landlady’s homemade pickled chili peppers—absolutely delicious.

If they had more time, they’d head to the orchards to help the farmers pick fruit. The island’s citrus crops weren’t ripe yet, but it was peak blueberry season. Though picking them was a bit of a hassle, the naturally ripened blueberries were incredibly tasty!

The locals said this year was a “big year” for blueberries—high yield, but low prices. Without hesitation, Wei Sheng ordered 200 boxes from the farmers—100 for giveaways in his livestream room, and the other 100 donated to the “Foundation for Elderly in Poverty.”

These elderly folks lived frugally and would never splurge on something as pricey as blueberries.

What Wei Sheng hadn’t expected, though, was that this coastal fishing village, which he’d assumed was relatively well-off, wasn’t quite as prosperous as it seemed.

One evening after filming wrapped, Wei Sheng returned to his lodging and realized his red string bracelet was missing.

And this wasn’t just any red string!

After he was anonymously reported and investigated a while back, Grandma Hu had been worried he was having a streak of bad luck. She personally braided two “Phoenix Tail Vajra Strings” for him to wear on his wrist, to ward off petty troublemakers. Since it was handmade by his grandma, there was no way he’d just let it go. He told the crew and took his assistant, Xiao Bai, back to the beach to look for it.

He suspected he’d taken it off during a scene and slipped it into his pocket, and it must’ve fallen out when he changed clothes after wrap.

When they got back, they saw someone rummaging through a trash bin full of empty water bottles.

“Huh? I thought everyone around here was doing mudflat farming? They should be loaded—why would someone be picking through trash?” Xiao Bai asked, puzzled.

“What’s so strange about that? There are poor people everywhere. I mean, look at our city, J City—its richest guy’s worth billions, and you’re still making four grand a month.”

Oof. Right in the feels.

Xiao Bai immediately clutched his thin wallet, heart aching.

The person digging through the trash was a woman in her forties. When she saw Wei Sheng and Xiao Bai approaching, she froze in embarrassment. One hand clutched a woven sack, the other gripped the pocket of her apron tightly. Her face flushed red, and after a moment, she pulled a few coins from her apron pocket, opened her palm, and said softly, “I found this money on the ground and no one seemed to want it, so I picked it up. Is it yours?”

“No, probably someone else dropped it and didn’t care. I’m actually looking for a red string bracelet, about as long as my wrist. Have you seen one?”

Hearing he wasn’t there for the money, the woman visibly relaxed. She stuffed the coins back into her pocket, set down her sack, and walked over to help him overturn the trash can.

“I saw them sweep all the trash into here earlier. Your red string should be in there. I’ll help you look.”

Wei Sheng fought back the sting in his chest and crouched down with Xiao Bai to search.

“Found it! Is this the one?” the woman exclaimed, pulling a red string from a pile of used tissues.

It was beautifully braided, with gold and silver threads woven in, and two tiny jade beads dangling from the ends. No wonder the owner wanted it back.

“That’s it! Thank you so much, big sister. This red string is really important to me. I’m sorry for taking up your time. Here’s 200 yuan—just think of it as a little thank-you.”

With that, Wei Sheng dropped the money and quickly left with Xiao Bai.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give more—he was afraid she wouldn’t accept it if it was too much. Two hundred yuan was just enough—not too little, not too much. Even if she took it, she wouldn’t feel too guilty.

While digging through the trash earlier, he’d noticed her hands—thick knuckles, calloused palms, and small scars crisscrossing the backs. Clearly, she’d lived a hard life. He didn’t know her story, but he knew that 200 yuan could probably buy her family a few pounds of meat and a couple of good meals.

What he didn’t expect was to see her again the next morning—this time, dressed as an extra on set.

Because the production needed background actors, and hiring people from outside meant extra transportation costs, the director decided to recruit local villagers instead. They paid 100 yuan a day. The work was easy, and for many, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be in a movie. Quite a few villagers signed up.

During a break, the woman showed up with a bag of early-season summer oranges and insisted on giving them to Wei Sheng. She probably still felt bad about taking his 200 yuan for what she saw as a small favor.

Wei Sheng happily accepted. He peeled one on the spot and took a bite—it wasn’t too sour. He’d stayed up late reading the night before and was feeling a little groggy. One sweet and tangy orange perked him right up.

“Hey, this orange is pretty good. You’ve got good taste, kid—give me one!” The director came over and grabbed two. Soon, others followed, and the whole bag was gone in no time.

“Teacher Wei, where’d you buy those oranges? I thought the ones in the village weren’t ripe yet. Did you get them from outside?” someone asked.

Wei Sheng immediately sent several customers her way.

Wu Meiqiong had only brought the oranges because she felt guilty about taking Wei Sheng’s money. After thinking it over, she’d decided to pick the biggest, juiciest early-season oranges from the dozen or so trees at home and bring them to him. She’d worked as an extra on set a few days ago and knew he was the star. Sure enough, she ran into him today.

What she didn’t expect was that after tasting her oranges, Wei Sheng would turn around and bring her so many buyers. Now, she wouldn’t have to worry about selling the fruit from her trees.

Those dozen or so orange trees? She’d actually picked them up by chance. A few years ago, a poverty alleviation team came to the village and encouraged everyone to plant citrus. When the seedlings arrived, two bundles of orange trees had been mixed in by mistake. Since there weren’t many and no one else wanted them, she took them home and planted them near her house. Turned out, they ripened earlier than everyone else’s.

Now, the surviving dozen early-season orange trees were her treasure. She never ate a single one herself. Every year, she’d pick them in batches and sell them at a stall near the docks when the fishing boats came in. No vendors wanted to buy such small quantities, so she had to sell them herself—ten yuan for four jin. If she sold them all, it was enough to cover three months of her family’s living expenses.

Wei Sheng had been right. Even in a seemingly wealthy coastal village, there were still people living in hardship. Compared to the big families who leased mudflats and ran aquaculture businesses, Wu Meiqiong was poor even among the poor.

She wasn’t originally from Huazhi Village. She grew up in an inland city and had never seen the sea. She’d always dreamed of living by the ocean. One day, she met a man from a fishing village who was working in the city. He told her his hometown had mountains, sea, and endless seafood. Enchanted, Wu Meiqiong ignored her family’s objections and married into this unfamiliar little village.

She thought she’d live a simple, happy life with her husband as ordinary fishermen. But what she didn’t expect was that Liu Gao’an wasn’t the type to settle down. If he had been, he wouldn’t have left home to work in the city in the first place.

Less than six months after they married, while she was heavily pregnant, Liu Gao’an claimed he needed to earn money for baby formula and left again for the city.

At first, he sent her a thousand yuan or so each month. But gradually, the money dwindled. When the babies were born—twin girls—he came back once, got angry that she’d given birth to two daughters, threw down three thousand yuan, and disappeared for the next two years.

When he was in a good mood, Wu Meiqiong would ask him for living expenses and maybe get five or eight hundred yuan out of him. But when he wasn’t, no matter how many messages she sent, he wouldn’t reply at all…

And so, Wu Meiqiong, a single woman with two kids, often had to carry one in her arms and the other on her back. In the early years, her life was worse than a beggar’s. Things had only gotten slightly better in the past two years—now that both daughters were in elementary school, she finally had a bit of time to earn money. But she still couldn’t go far.

She had to drop off and pick up her daughters every day, so she could only take odd jobs nearby—digging clams and razor shells in the tidal flats, helping out in orchards during harvest season, picking fruit, and collecting scrap at the docks. The money she made was just barely enough to feed the three of them.

People around her would ask, “If that man’s so unreliable, why not just divorce him?”

Did Wu Meiqiong not want a divorce?

If she had the means, she’d have ditched that irresponsible bastard in a heartbeat!

But if they divorced, where would she and her daughters live? How would they eat?

The house and land back in her hometown wouldn’t be given to her—she was a married-out daughter. And if she divorced Liu Gao’an, she’d definitely lose the right to live in the Liu family’s house. The mountain land and vegetable garden that belonged to the Liu family would be off-limits too.

For the sake of giving her daughters a stable place to grow up, Wu Meiqiong had no choice but to swallow her pride and endure. Since her husband wouldn’t give them a dime, she simply treated it as if she were widowed—raising the two girls on her own. Life was tight, but at least they had a roof over their heads and didn’t need to pay rent. She could grow some fruit trees, melons, and vegetables to get by.

When Wei Sheng heard about Wu Meiqiong’s situation, he was moved. After work that day, he took Xiao Bai to the village mini-mart and bought two boxes of milk and a couple of big gift packs of Wangwang snacks that kids loved, then headed to Wu Meiqiong’s house.

He wanted to ask if she’d be willing to sign with their company. They could provide training and help her build an image as an “independent mom raising kids solo within marriage.”

“I think Huazhi Village is perfect for social media,” Wei Sheng said. “Meiqiong-jie, look—you’ve got orchards up in the hills, tidal flats down below, you can go digging for seafood, or set up a stall at the docks. If your account takes off and you gain followers, you could even sell local seafood online. That’s gotta be better than scraping by on odd jobs.”

“Well… I’ve never made short videos before. I usually just take pictures of the girls at home. I don’t know if I can really do this social media thing.” Wu Meiqiong was clearly tempted, but she was also worried. If she failed, she didn’t want to drag Wei Sheng down with her.

“Don’t worry about the technical stuff. As long as you’re willing, we’ve got a whole team to guide you step by step—how to shoot videos, build your account, manage and promote it. The company handles all that. Once your account is up and running, you’ll just need to share a portion of your monthly income with the company. Think about it, Meiqiong-jie. If you want to give it a try, I’ll have someone get in touch with you.”

Worried she might hesitate because of the cost, Wei Sheng quickly added, “Don’t worry, our company treats signed streamers pretty well. You won’t need to invest anything upfront—we’ll even provide a free set of equipment for you to use.”

“Alright! I’ll give it a try!” Wu Meiqiong nodded. Her eyes, dulled by years of hardship, began to flicker with a glimmer of hope.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

Men couldn’t be relied on, but her daughters were growing up fast, and the costs were only going to increase. If she wanted to send them to college, she had to save up a lot more money. That kind of expense couldn’t be covered just by doing odd jobs in the village.

Wu Meiqiong had always believed that her current situation was largely due to the fact that she had dropped out of school before finishing middle school to start working. Because she lacked education, she had no path forward except farming and manual labor.

She had suffered enough for being uneducated—she didn’t want her daughters to follow in her footsteps.

Half a year later, after earning her first real income through social media, Wu Meiqiong was endlessly grateful that she had chosen to believe in Wei Sheng at that moment.

(End of Chapter)