Poverty Alleviation C25

Chapter 25

No one expected that a village-level meeting would attract hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream!

Even the county propaganda department was stunned!

Just last year, they had gone all out to organize a rural tourism festival, spending over 800,000 yuan on a single event—

And that didn’t even include the hundreds of thousands poured into promotional expenses!

During the live stream of that festival, they had even quietly bought some traffic to make the numbers look good. Cough—even so, their peak viewership barely exceeded 100,000.

To make the event data look more impressive, they had even mobilized all the students in the county in advance, asking them to persuade their parents to watch the live stream at home.

But who could’ve imagined that J Province TV’s show, with zero pre-launch publicity—aside from a half-hearted announcement on their official social media—would hit a peak of nearly 600,000 simultaneous viewers?!

And these weren’t even bot accounts!

The barrage of comments was so overwhelming that anyone with poor eyesight wouldn’t even be able to keep up!

On-screen, a group of village officials—who could barely speak standard Mandarin—sat around under the dim glow of a lightbulb, smoking cheap cigarettes and drinking homemade tea, listening intently as Wei Sheng carefully mapped out their future plans.

For a moment, it felt as if time had rewound several decades, back to the days when a small village became nationally famous for pioneering the “Household Responsibility System.” Back then, the villagers had huddled together, pressing their red fingerprints onto a document—probably feeling just like they did now.

None of the village officials were thinking about how much effort and dedication this project would require to succeed, nor were they considering the immense pressure they would face if it failed.

They were like people trapped in darkness, suddenly seeing a faint glimmer of light—so they ran toward it with everything they had.

“I’m tearing up. It’s so incredibly hard for remote villages to escape poverty and build wealth!”

“When will the road in Houzhai Village be completed? I live in J Province—I’ll definitely bring my family to support them when it’s done!”

“This reminds me of my hometown. Can the production team come to our village next?”

“Wei Sheng, come to our village! My dad is the village chief, and he’s always complaining that my college degree was useless and didn’t help our village at all. Well, I might not be much help, but my idol sure is! Hahaha!”

“Since no one here is playing fair, I guess I’ll have to drop my hometown’s coordinates too.”

The comment section suddenly took a wild turn—turning into a massive online investment fair.

Viewers from rural areas all over the country flooded the chat, passionately promoting their hometowns and begging the production team to consider helping their villages in future episodes.

Even funnier, before anyone knew it, blue-check verified accounts started joining in—

County and township tourism departments from across the country began shouting over each other in the comments.

They weren’t just naming their locations—they were listing their top scenic spots!

And those who had watched previous episodes and picked up on Wei Sheng’s love for food? They started dropping the names of their region’s signature dishes in the chat.

Wei Sheng was too busy with the live stream to notice, but the audience was practically drooling from all the food talk.

“I mean, yeah, but my hometown doesn’t really have anything special to eat. Wei Sheng, change the map already—I wanna try that Chenpi Banquet from [City Name]!”

“Bāyú Dumplings! Pipi Shrimp! Wei Sheng, look at me! My hometown has tons of amazing food!”

“So what if you have seafood? Our Yunnan mushrooms are famous across China!”

“Mushrooms? You mean the kind that can land you in the hospital if you eat the wrong one? Hahaha~”

“OMG, my hometown got mentioned! You can’t have a proper Chinese meal without our Lao Chen Vinegar!

“Huizhou Stinky Mandarin Fish! Fermented Soybean Tofu! Wei Sheng, look at us! We’ve got more than just food—our Huizhou architecture is world-famous!”

“World-famous? Ha! Ever heard of Mount Tai’s Fengshan Ceremony? The ultimate ambition of ancient emperors! You NEED to experience it!”

With blue-check accounts in the mix, the once harmonious foodie chat quickly splintered into countless factions, each fiercely battling to promote their hometown’s cuisine and attractions.

Meanwhile, back in Houzhai Village’s D County, the propaganda department wasted no time taking action. That very afternoon, they made a passionate post on the local news portal, engaging with the show’s production team in an all-out PR blitz.

Thick-skinned as ever, they even pulled strings through the city government to get their hands on some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the show. Their post went all out, thanking the production team for their major contribution to Houzhai Village’s economic development and, most importantly—rallying the entire county to tune in!

“If you have a TV, turn it on! If you don’t, download J Province TV’s official app! For the sake of ratings—let’s goooo!!!”

After all, the viewership numbers for the next two episodes were crucial for their county’s external publicity KPI targets!

At the same time, as the live stream reached the Hundred-Family Feast preparation segment, this episode’s biggest sponsor—Li Ji Seasonings—officially joined in on the action.

No wonder they had dropped five million yuan just for the naming rights—

The moment they appeared, they threw down ten “carnival” gifts in the live stream!

Immediately after, Li Ji’s official social media account posted a major announcement on their homepage:

“This Saturday at 10 PM, Li Ji teams up with @Back to Hometown with My Bros to visit the scenic Houzhai Village in J Province, supporting rural revitalization—Li Ji is taking action! Sneak peek: today’s dishes, prepared by the one and only @Chef Who Can Do Math, Wei Sheng, are all made using Li Ji’s top-quality seasonings~”

Li Ji’s PR and marketing team was clearly far superior to the brand that had botched a soy sauce sponsorship earlier—

The moment they announced their partnership with the show, they immediately connected with Wei Sheng and linked their flagship products to the live stream’s shopping feature.

And they generously announced: Since the boss is out at sea fishing and may not have a signal, all net profits from products sold in the livestream today will be donated to Houzhai Village as a fund for rural tourism infrastructure development!

The comment section instantly exploded with laughter and praise.

The CEO of Li Ji also turned out to have quite the comedic talent. Whether it was pre-arranged or not, a sharp-eyed netizen suddenly discovered that the CEO’s personal social media account had just updated with a new post.

Clicking on it almost made people laugh themselves unconscious.

#Li So-and-So, the Soy Sauce Maker: I didn’t go abroad; I’m in domestic waters! Read and approved!

“Hahahaha~ A true patriotic businessman, even when fishing, he stays within domestic waters. Love it!”

“Li Ji’s marketing department is in danger!!!”

“Didn’t expect this, did you? I didn’t go abroad; I’m in domestic waters, hahaha~”

“Wait! Hurry and buy the soy sauce! Damn, it’s selling out so fast!”

Because this was a charity promotion, Li Ji had only listed a few of its flagship products in the livestream’s shopping section, each with a stock of just 10,000 units.

Who would have thought that netizens were so quick? While sending comments, they also managed to place orders at lightning speed. In less than ten minutes, tens of thousands of units were completely sold out!

What the heck?

Disbelieving, viewers refreshed the shopping page—damn! It was really sold out?

Even Wei Sheng himself hadn’t hyped up the products, yet the sales power was terrifying!

“Emmm~ Even though the host never actively promoted any products, just watching him cook makes me feel like… maybe if I use Li Ji’s soy sauce and vinegar, my dishes will taste just as good?”

“Girl, wake up! Soy sauce and vinegar are the same, but we don’t have Wei the Chef’s hands!”

“Hehe~ My husband told me to buy whatever I wanted, since he can use it too.”

“Damn! Husbands who can cook really do belong to someone else.”

“Since no one is stopping me, I declare that from now on, Wei Sheng is my husband!”

“Hey, you in front—don’t you feel guilty for stealing my husband?”

“Checking in as Wei Sheng’s wife from Fuyang!”

With the sponsor stepping in, the livestream became even livelier.

Perhaps inspired by Li Ji, more and more viewers started donating in the livestream, leaving all sorts of messages.

Some said they wanted to donate money for Houzhai Village’s infrastructure.

Some wanted to buy warm winter clothing for the elderly in the village.

Most were Wei Sheng’s “wild wives” scattered across the country, all with one simple thought: We can’t let hubby’s livestream stats look bad!

“This won’t do, Old Wang. If this keeps up, the donations in the livestream will get too high, and the disciplinary commission might investigate us…” Producer Wang Yang anxiously nudged his partner, Wang Qun.

“How about… we donate too?” Wang Qun could only think of this solution.

“Donate! I’ll call the station!”

Wang Yang hurriedly made a call to the old station director.

At this moment, he felt immensely grateful that the old director wouldn’t be retiring until the end of the year. If that penny-pincher Pu Xiangdong were in charge right now, he might have actually pocketed the money. And if some netizen later reported it to the disciplinary commission, they’d be done for!

As expected, the old director had a high level of awareness. As soon as he heard that Li Ji had taken the lead in donating to Houzhai Village, he didn’t even hesitate.

“Old Wang! The director said all earnings from today’s livestream will be donated to Houzhai Village! Go tell Xiao Wei now!” Wang Yang ran back excitedly after hanging up.

By this time, the kitchen was already busy, with people coming and going. The earpiece probably wouldn’t work in all the noise, so Wang Qun quickly wrote a note and had someone secretly pass it to Wei Sheng.

Wei Sheng was sharp—just by receiving the note, he guessed that the director had something important that couldn’t be announced directly in the livestream. Taking advantage of a moment when he went to grab ingredients, he stepped out of the camera’s view, quickly read the note, and understood.

Back in front of the camera, he pretended to glance at the comments and smiled at the camera—

“Wow! Thank you, family, for the hot air balloons and Porsches! Oh, and the carnivals!”

“I almost forgot to mention, today’s Hundred-Family Feast livestream is also a charity event. All earnings and donations from today will be used as charitable funds for Houzhai Village—to support rural development, improve the environment, and build infrastructure.”

“So on behalf of Houzhai Village’s folks, thank you all for supporting rural revitalization! Alright, it’s time to serve the food—come, let me take you to see our Hundred-Family Feast!”

Houzhai Village, located in the mountains, had long upheld the tradition of hosting a Hundred-Family Feast on Winter Solstice.

After a year of farming, by the time Winter Solstice arrived, the grains and vegetables had been harvested, and the pigs raised at home had been slaughtered. With everything stored away, farmers finally had a rare period of leisure, and they used this major festival as an opportunity to celebrate.

Houzhai Village’s Hundred-Family Feast was similar to a well-known communal banquet in another region of China. Here, however, the tradition was that on Winter Solstice, every household would move their dining tables to the open space in front of the village committee office, filling them with home-cooked dishes and homemade liquor.

Before the meal, offerings were first made to Heaven and the ancestors, then to the mountain god and the land god, and only after that could the villagers start eating.

The eating customs were interesting too—it wasn’t about staying at one table. Usually, the dishes that disappeared the fastest were the ones deemed the best.

Because of this, the annual Winter Solstice Hundred-Family Feast became the ultimate battleground for Houzhai Village’s homemakers to show off their cooking skills—

Whichever family’s dishes got eaten up first? That household had the most dazzling chef of the feast!

Whichever family’s dishes get finished the fastest will be the ultimate winner of this year’s Hundred-Family Feast!

“Xiao Wei, our whole team is counting on you! Do your best, and I’ll take you to a hot spring later! And treat you to imperial cuisine!” Chen Mengjie cheered for Wei Sheng while holding her camera and filming behind-the-scenes footage.

Ouyang Xia: “I heard your grandpa loves tea? I happen to have some Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao from a friend. Do well, and I’ll give you a whole pound!”

Wei Sheng glanced thoughtfully at Zhang Zexuan.

Zhang Zexuan: “…”

“Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and cook! Ahem—didn’t Grandma always say she wanted to take a cruise to see the Three Gorges Dam? If you win, I’ll arrange it for Grandpa and Grandma!”

Now that sounded more like it!

Wei Sheng took the opportunity to squeeze some promises out of his friends, then picked up his spatula and started working on the last few dishes.

He hadn’t just randomly picked a few recipes.

Before setting the menu, he specifically asked the village chief, Hou Tianbao, about the rules of the Hundred-Family Feast. Once he learned that the food would be left out in the open for at least three hours, he instantly had a plan.

It was already late autumn, and the outdoor temperatures in the mountains were quite chilly. Except for dishes served in pots, most food left out for three hours would get cold.

So, what kind of dishes still taste great even when cold?

After some thought, Wei Sheng decided on a Pickled Mustard Greens and Beef Mini Hotpot, with a base layer of pan-fried golden-brown tofu. The dish would be placed on a small charcoal stove, with the charcoal changed twice during the meal. Forget three hours—it could stay warm for half a day!

There was also some dried lamb given by the villagers, so Wei Sheng chopped a piece into small chunks, soaked it in water, and braised it with local green-skinned radish. He set it on a charcoal stove to simmer slowly.

During the Hundred-Family Feast, there would definitely be speeches from the elders and casual chats among villagers. By the time the formalities were done, the lamb would be perfectly tender. Plus, the aroma of stewed lamb only gets richer over time. With cold dishes all around, the mouthwatering scent of his Braised Lamb with Radish would drive people crazy with hunger!

Besides these two main dishes, he also prepared:

White-Cut Chicken, a cold dish served with dipping sauce.

Honey Amber Peanuts, a sweet and crunchy snack.

Pickled Pepper Chicken Feet, a flavorful and spicy appetizer.

Salt and Pepper Duckling, a crispy, savory dish.

It might seem like just six dishes, but Wei Sheng’s sharp mind was at work—he used oversized serving plates for everything! Visually, his table immediately stood out compared to the traditional small dishes used by others.

And sure enough!

As soon as the dishes were brought out, the massive plates—several times larger than the others—immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Seeing the eager expressions of the villagers, Wei Sheng simply smiled, hiding his brilliance.

The livestream viewers: “…”

666! When it comes to strategy, our CEO Wei is on another level!

Now that they thought about it, they suddenly realized—hadn’t they also been drawn to that seafood restaurant, One Scoop Fresh, just because of their oversized utensils?

Had they been tricked by oversized tableware all along…?

(End of Chapter)

—The Household Responsibility System (HRS) was a reform in China during the late 1970s and early 1980s that replaced collective farming. It allowed farmers to lease land, produce independently, and sell surplus crops after meeting state quotas. This system boosted agricultural productivity, increased rural incomes, and played a key role in China’s economic transformation.

—A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable value that tracks progress toward a goal. Businesses use KPIs to assess performance, improve efficiency, and make informed decisions.