Poverty Alleviation C27

Chapter 27

Honestly, it’s no wonder that Fang Chen would rather work in the mountains than let his mom sell their house to fund his studies abroad.

His family’s house is in a well-known new first-tier city, and properties in the main urban area hold their value exceptionally well!

Apparently, when Fang Chen’s parents first bought their home, they only spent a little over 700,000 yuan. Now, its value has multiplied several times, reaching more than 3 million yuan…

Only a fool would give up such a valuable asset for an uncertain future.

To put it bluntly, even if Fang Chen couldn’t find a job for the time being, the fact that he owned a fully paid-off apartment in the provincial capital meant he’d never have trouble finding a wife.

But if he didn’t have a house, then even if he came back from studying abroad with a 30,000-yuan monthly salary, would a future mother-in-law still be willing to marry her daughter to him?

Selling a house in the main city of a major metropolis is easy. Buying it back? That’s a whole different story.

“So yeah, forget about a 3,000-yuan monthly salary—even if it were only 2,000 yuan, as long as the job is stable, it’d be enough to stop my mom from selling the house and sending me to Australia for school,” Fang Chen said with a wry smile.

Wei Sheng’s eyes darted around as he came up with an idea for his struggling friend.

“Lao Fang, just tell your mom this: The position in Houzhai Village is for college graduate village officials. You’re not here just for the salary—this is about gaining grassroots work experience because you plan to take the civil service exam in the future.”

Fang Chen was momentarily stunned before he sent two rows of thumbs-up emojis through the chat!

One row wasn’t enough to express his admiration.

“Damn, bro! That’s a genius excuse!”

To his mom, the ultimate dream job was nothing less than a stable, government-backed civil service position.

If he actually managed to pass the exam, forget Australia—his mom would build him a ladder to the moon if he wanted!

“Heh, and you can also tell her that while Houzhai Village is a bit remote, it’s peaceful in the mountains, making it the perfect place to focus on studying for the exam. Plus, most of the people you’ll be interacting with are already in the system, so you’ll naturally learn a lot about how it works.”

Wei Sheng patiently guided his dormmate, step by step, on how to sell this idea to his mother.

Fang Chen was completely convinced!

No wonder middle-aged women loved Wei Sheng so much—his words were practically magic!

Meanwhile, in the group chat, Jiang Siyuan had been silent for a long time.

It wasn’t until Wei Sheng tagged him that he finally responded with a breathless voice message—

“I was just packing my bags, Lao Wei! Wait for me! I’ll be there first thing tomorrow!”

Fang Chen: “……”

Looks like the job market for college graduates in China really is brutal right now.

Even a rural village official position in the middle of nowhere was getting snapped up.

After settling the hiring of his two friends, Wei Sheng quickly filled in the talent gaps in his project proposal.

Wang Qun was seriously impressed.

If this kid didn’t go into the entertainment industry and instead stuck it out in the TV station for a few more years, the HR department would definitely have a spot for him!

While Wei Sheng was busy helping Director Ouyang with recruitment, Chen Mengjie was also taking action.

At first glance, their program’s guest lineup seemed like a hastily assembled amateur team. But in reality, each of them had their own strengths.

Take Chen Mengjie, for example—Houzhai Village needed a complete redesign of its road signs, tourist information boards, and visitor center. The design fees alone would be a hefty expense.

However, Chen Mengjie’s family had their own dedicated design team. If she could get some freebies from a wealthy lady, why spend money?

Besides, she agreed with Wei Sheng—this project didn’t have a high design budget anyway. They could just treat it as the Chen family participating in a public service initiative to support rural development.

And if Houzhai Village’s tourism industry took off in the future, every visitor would see the beautifully designed tourist center and recognize it as a Chen family project. It’d be free advertising!

When Chen Mengjie’s older brother heard his little sister’s reasoning, he immediately knew that someone had coached her.

Otherwise, with her usual spoiled behavior at home, she wouldn’t even bother saying “please” when asking her own brother for help. Since when did she start explaining things with logical arguments?

Unbelievable.

His little sister had actually matured after being away for a while?

Curious, Chen Mengjie’s brother suddenly became interested in the variety show she had joined.

That evening, he came home a bit late from work, only to find that their parents were still up.

Strangely enough, the living room TV was on!

The wall-mounted TV in their house had been gathering dust for ages. Its only purpose was to give the cleaning lady more work. How had it suddenly come back to life?

“Mom, Dad, what are you watching?” Chen Mengjie’s brother loosened his tie and sat down on the sofa.

“What else? You never care about your sister! Her variety show is airing at 10 PM—since you’re here, watch it with us!” Father Chen glared at him.

Chen Mengjie’s brother had only intended to grab a cup of tea, but after being scolded, he had no choice but to sit down and watch his sister’s show with them.

Luckily, the show didn’t seem very popular—only three commercials played before the opening credits rolled.

“Eh? This director has a pretty good sense of aesthetics~” After watching a short segment of the opening sequence, Chen’s older brother couldn’t help but be surprised.

How should he put it? This opening sequence didn’t have any dazzling special effects or magnificent aerial shots. Instead, it started with an elderly man with graying hair, wearing yellow rubber shoes and a military-green jacket stained with grass and mud. He was leading an old ox, followed by a small calf, as they walked along a rural path shrouded in morning mist.

Then, as if following the old man’s perspective, the camera showed an elderly woman wearing a floral headscarf, feeding chickens at the door.

An old man squatting under the eaves, noisily sipping porridge.

A little spotted dog lazily sunbathing against a pile of straw.

A duck herder waving a bamboo pole, calling out as he drove his flock along the riverbank.

Every single frame was utterly ordinary—so simple that it even carried a hint of poverty. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, it instantly calmed the restless hearts of urban viewers.

Chen’s older brother found himself engrossed.

In this new episode, the production team had ultimately taken the audience’s feedback into account. The guests returned to Houzhai Village, not only bringing the villagers a lively communal feast but also committing to a larger mission—using the remaining six episodes to see what changes they could bring to this poor, backward mountain village.

And so, the Chen family watched as their pampered little princess did everything she could to cut costs for the village.

A set of custom handmade bamboo furniture by an intangible cultural heritage master? Too expensive! The villagers could make their own bamboo furniture!

Decorative paintings for the visitor center interior? One piece costs over 3,000 yuan?!

What a joke! Scrap them all! I’ll paint them myself!

Since the age of five, the Chen family had hired a renowned traditional Chinese painter to personally tutor Chen Mengjie. Now, that long-forgotten skill was finally put to use—saving the village tens of thousands of yuan on decorative art purchases.

What? They needed to buy ornamental trees and flowers for the visitor center’s exterior? A single Japanese black pine costs tens of thousands?

The mountains are full of trees! As long as they’re not protected species or commercially valuable trees like pines, osmanthus, walnuts, or oranges, the villagers were more than happy to let them dig up whatever they needed for the visitor center.

For the first time, the elite designers from the Chen family’s team experienced what it was like to get supplies for free.

On their first day trekking up the mountain with shovels and hoes, they were skeptical—wild plants might not meet the precise standards of professional landscaping.

By the second day, they were completely hooked.

Honestly, these wildflowers and trees might not have the same refined look as those cultivated in nurseries, but with careful searching, they found many unique and beautiful plants unavailable on the commercial market.

It was like opening blind boxes—addictively fun!

Watching the designers become so obsessed with treasure hunting in the mountains, Miss Chen rolled up her sleeves and personally dragged them back down.

“Work first! You can go play in the mountains after you finish!”

The designers grumbled in frustration.

Chen’s older brother couldn’t help but laugh.

These artists were notoriously difficult to manage at the company, always clashing with clients due to their high artistic standards. Who would have thought that his little sister could actually keep them in line? Hahaha!

His eyes gleamed with realization—maybe this was the key to handling these artists.

He should take a page from his sister’s book: act domineering and unreasonable! Forget artistic ideals—just do as I say and make it happen!

Was this the legendary “fighting fire with fire”?

Meanwhile, over in the village, the mayor had handed over the old village committee’s three-room brick house to be repurposed into the visitor center. By modifying the existing structure, they saved both time and money.

On Ouyang Xia’s end, with Jiang Siyuan and Fang Chen joining the team, the app was quickly put into trial operation. Their group was the first to complete their task.

As soon as Jiang Siyuan and Fang Chen arrived at Houzhai Village, they fell in love with its picturesque scenery.

Jiang Siyuan, a hardcore fishing enthusiast, went completely wild when he discovered that the village’s river was full of fish that rarely got fished.

Aside from work, he spent all his time fishing.

Wei Sheng was going crazy dealing with him.

The guy only knew how to catch fish, not cook them. Every time he came back with a full basket, he shamelessly ran to Wei Sheng, grinning and begging him to cook his haul.

At first, Wei Sheng obliged. But after being pestered too many times, he got fed up and started salting and drying the smaller fish—crucian carp, minnows, baby carp—into fish jerky.

As the episode neared its end, the basic functional areas of the visitor center were already completed. Zhang Zexuan had also finalized arrangements with the elementary school for the first batch of students to experience hands-on farmwork classes in the village.

Wei Sheng had long finished the necessary approvals and even helped set up the venue and refine the activity packages.

Everything was ready—now they just had to wait for their first batch of young visitors.

Director Wang Qun, a master at suspenseful cliffhangers, cut the episode just as the audience’s passion for rural revitalization reached its peak.

The cheerful ending theme played.

“That’s it?” Chen’s older brother was actually left wanting more.

That was rare.

He hadn’t sat through an entire TV program in nearly a decade.

How could a show with such a corny name and zero celebrities be this captivating?

An hour and a half flew by, and they actually forgot to change the channel.

They just wanted to see how the guests would help Houzhai Village overcome its difficulties despite having no money and no manpower—it was more addictive than chasing a drama!

“Your sister should be home tomorrow, right? Ask her then—when will Houzhai Village finally be ready to receive tourists? If it’s taking too long, we might as well donate some money. This TV station is so stingy—who knows when they’ll actually get things done for the villagers?” Father Chen complained.

Mother Chen’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she eagerly suggested—

“I just heard the director say that every upcoming episode of this show will be filmed in Houzhai Village, right?”

“How about… next time Mengjie goes to record, we tag along for a little trip? It’s not like we wouldn’t be paying—we can consider it our way of supporting Houzhai Village’s tourism economy! We’ll buy lots of local specialties from the villagers~”

Father Chen was tempted by the idea.

The couple turned their gaze toward their son.

“Why are you looking at me? Do I have any say over your precious daughter? If you want to go, ask her yourselves!” Chen’s older brother bristled.

“Who’s asking about that? I’m talking about the donation!” Mother Chen pointed at the TV. “Didn’t you hear Mengjie say on the show that the village is short on funds? A lot of the basic infrastructure projects can’t even begin yet. Your sister is working so hard to help the village, and as her big brother, shouldn’t you at least contribute something?”

Chen’s older brother: “…”

Please don’t call me Big Brother anymore—just call me Big Fool, thanks!

(End of Chapter)