Chapter 43

Seeing that Wei Sizhe seemed to be hit right where it hurt, Wei Sheng thought, There’s an opening! He immediately seized the chance to brainwash him—

“So, Secretary Wei, look at it this way. Even the kiwis grown close to the village can only sell for this price. For those grown deeper in the mountains—especially in the remote villages without proper roads—even if the farmers manage to grow and harvest them, when would they ever make any real money carrying them down the mountain on their backs?”

The logic was sound, but the problem was…

“Mountain folks don’t know how to do anything besides farming.”

“If they don’t, we can attract investment and bring in businesses, allowing villagers in these remote areas to work near home. Not only would they have stable jobs regardless of weather conditions, but the money they make each year might not be any less than what they’d earn growing fruit.”

Wei Sheng flipped a few pages forward in the revised script and pointed at a passage he had circled with a red marker—

“We consulted professionals and found that the terrain around Huangjiabao, especially in the mountains, is perfect for an outdoor extreme sports park!”

“Young people today aren’t like our parents’ generation. They don’t just want to visit famous mountains and well-known scenic spots; they prefer niche travel destinations—like the remote village clusters in Huangjiabao.”

“We all felt that if Secretary Huang’s successor simply followed in her footsteps career-wise, it wouldn’t showcase the innovative spirit of our country’s grassroots poverty alleviation work. So the director, screenwriters, and our advisors all agreed that in the show, Secretary Huang’s successor should achieve even greater success in industrial innovation for Huangjiabao!”

“For example, after taking up Secretary Huang’s mission, Yang Fan realizes that the villagers living deep in the mountains aren’t actually suited for specialty farming. So, he decisively shifts strategies, conducts extensive research, and brings in an outdoor extreme sports camp for Huangjiabao.”

“This type of outdoor sports facility requires vast land and specific terrain conditions, which Huangjiabao’s geography perfectly provides. The site could support rock climbing, zip-lining, mountain biking, paragliding, and other adventure sports.”

“With this, villagers could lease their mountain land and bamboo forests to contractors, securing stable rental income each year. And if they don’t want to leave home for work, they can take on local part-time jobs. These outdoor sports parks need frequent maintenance, and workers earn 80 to 100 yuan per day—if they’re diligent, that’s two to three thousand yuan a month!”

“Plus, from what I know, setting up an outdoor adventure park can also boost the local tourism industry through cluster development.”

“Think about it—if visitors enjoy the scenery here and want to stay longer, won’t they need lodging at a local inn or farmstay?”

“If they stay, won’t they need places to eat for three meals a day?”

“And when they leave, won’t they want to buy some local specialties as souvenirs for friends and family?”

“Nowadays, everyone has their own social circles. If visitors find the place fun, they’ll post about it on social media. Word-of-mouth marketing will bring in more people, and once there’s a steady flow of tourists, what kind of business in Huangjiabao wouldn’t thrive?”

“Take, for example, famous domestic destinations like Huangshan and Taishan. I heard that elderly locals there carry two buckets of bottled drinks up the mountain and sell them by the roadside, making a hundred yuan a day.”

“Back when I visited Huangshan during college, I met a couple selling Huangshan street food at the foot of the mountain. Just by frying stinky tofu and making plum vegetable buns, they managed to buy houses for both their sons in their county town. And when their only daughter got married, they even gifted her a car—all fully paid!”

Wei Sheng patiently explained his and the production team’s vision.

The more Wei Sizhe listened, the more excited he became.

The tourism projects Wei Sheng mentioned were perfect for Huangjiabao!

Especially the patriotic education base idea—it would maximize the value of that single plaque while leveraging student visitors to promote Huangjiabao’s rural tourism industry among their parents.

And the outdoor extreme sports park—why hadn’t he thought of that before?

Huangjiabao was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with some areas featuring rugged terrain. They had always seen this as a bottleneck for local tourism development. But from a different perspective—holy crap!

What was considered a limitation for traditional tourism was actually ideal for outdoor extreme sports!

Thinking about it this way, it made so much sense—especially with how people had been cooped up for years, constantly restricted from traveling outside their cities or counties. Everyone was itching to get out. Some were even buying their own tents for camping and barbecuing. If they had a large-scale outdoor sports base right here…

At this thought, Wei Sizhe suddenly grabbed Wei Sheng’s arm—

“Come on! Let’s go to the village committee!”

Wei Sheng looked at him, bewildered. “What for?”

“Bring your rural tourism development plan. We need to hold a meeting and discuss this with the village!”

Before Wei Sheng could refuse, the excited Wei Sizhe had already dragged him off—

With the rural tourism development plan still clutched in his hand.

Wait, what plan? This was their drama script, damn it!

Poor Director Li. He had sent Wei Sheng to consult Wei Sizhe for guidance on their new drama script. But after waiting for ages… Wei Sheng had disappeared!

Where was he?

“Director Li, I’m at the village committee… They won’t let me leave… o(╥﹏╥)o”

Wei Sheng sounded pitiful over the phone as he complained to Li Lei.

What? The village committee had detained Wei Sheng?!

Li Lei immediately gathered the crew and rushed over to rescue him.

Unexpectedly, he didn’t come back either.

The village ended up detaining Director Li as well.

The reason? After discussing the tourism development plan that Wei Sheng brought (Wei Sheng: It’s a script! A script!), they realized it was actually perfect for Huangjiabao. So why wait?

Since the film crew was still there, why not ask the director for a favor and film this part as well?

Once the drama airs nationwide, people all over the country will know that Huangjiabao has an awesome outdoor extreme sports base. Wouldn’t tourists flood in like crazy?

The crew waited for a long time, but when Director Li didn’t return, they thought something had happened in the village. The assistant director immediately gathered Shen Yi, Le Ling, and others to go to the village committee to demand their release.

But when the village saw the screenwriter coming, it was perfect! They immediately detained Le Ling too, and several village officials surrounded her, asking if she could write the future Huangjiabao outdoor extreme sports base into the script and make it more exciting.

Preferably turning it into a viral must-visit destination that everyone dreams of going to at least once in their lifetime.

Le Ling: “……”

Everyone else: “……”

Did they just walk into a trap?

Even Wei Sheng himself didn’t expect that the few creative ideas he had casually suggested to Le Ling would actually be adopted by Huangjiabao!

And from the way things were going, the village was ready to take the revised tourism development plan straight to the county’s investment promotion bureau to find suitable tourism development companies.

Huangjiabao’s village collective might not have much money, but they had sincerity in spades!

As long as you’re willing to invest in Huangjiabao, just say the word—need manpower? Land? Whatever it takes to help the villagers escape poverty and prosper, they were willing to do it!

The atmosphere was so enthusiastic that Director Li, after drinking a few more cups of the local homemade liquor that night, started to feel the buzz.

When he heard the village officials lamenting about how difficult it was to attract investors, and how they hoped the drama’s influence could help draw some in, their humble plea nearly brought tears to the eyes of those listening.

Right then and there, Director Li pulled out his phone: “Hold on, let me call my wife and ask if she’s interested in investing.”

What?!

This workaholic who never went home actually had a wife?!

As it turned out, fate could be pretty unreliable at times—Director Li not only had a wife, but his wife was also the heiress of a well-known luxury resort hotel chain in China.

She wasn’t the type of breathtaking beauty commonly seen in the entertainment industry, but she had a classic, dignified elegance—a face that radiated stability and prosperity.

He Ya Ru had already been planning to bring their child to visit the set, so their kid wouldn’t forget what their father even looked like after being apart for so long.

When she heard her husband mention that there was a large area of mountainous land ideal for developing an outdoor extreme sports base, He Ya Ru became interested. She immediately said she would book a flight as soon as possible.

No wonder Director Li never bowed to capital when choosing scripts—turns out, his wife was capital!

Wei Sheng looked at the recently searched photos of Director Li’s wife on Qiandu and instantly felt a pang of envy.

Beautiful, well-educated, from an elite family, a top student since childhood, and a violinist… So what exactly did such an outstanding woman see in this unkempt director?

Was it his talent and unwavering artistic integrity?

When the village officials heard that Director Li had personally brought in an investor—and not just any investor, but his own wife—they exchanged glances before immediately letting go of Le Ling and surrounding Director Li instead.

That night, the lights in the Huangjiabao village committee meeting room stayed on until past 2 AM.

Holding the tourism development plan—no, the script!—Wei Sheng carefully refined and improved it.

Beside him, Wei Sizhe had somehow brought over his laptop and was furiously typing away, recording Wei Sheng’s ideas to prepare a more comprehensive investment proposal for the investment bureau’s review.

The village chief and party secretary had originally wanted to smoke, but seeing that there were women present, they felt embarrassed and instead scratched their heads while listening to Wei Sheng elaborate on the potential of these tourism industries.

Inspired by Director Li’s earlier remarks, Wei Sheng suddenly had another thought—if He Ya Ru really decided to invest in Huangjiabao’s outdoor sports base, maybe she could also help repurpose some vacant village homes into boutique guesthouses.

Although the homestay industry had declined in some previously popular tourist cities in recent years, it all depended on the specific situation. When a city became oversaturated with homestays, of course, business suffered. The competition was just too fierce.

But Huangjiabao didn’t have any high-end homestays yet!

Honestly, most people who could afford extreme sports had some wealth. Some mountain bikers and motocross riders reportedly spent hundreds of thousands just on their bikes!

If they were willing to bring such expensive equipment on trips, would they really hesitate to spend a few hundred yuan for a comfortable night in a guesthouse?

If they could attract a professional homestay investment company, then perhaps the married women in Huangjiabao would no longer have to leave their children behind to work in the city.

They could work at the guesthouses—cleaning rooms, cooking meals. The pay wouldn’t be much different from city jobs, but living at home meant no need to rent a place or buy groceries in the city. With lower expenses, they could actually save more money each year.

Most importantly—

“If this works out, the children of Huangjiabao will no longer have to grow up as left-behind children!” the party secretary sighed with emotion.

At their age, whether their own lives were good or not didn’t matter much anymore. What they truly couldn’t stop worrying about was their children and grandchildren.

Back when Huang Xiujuan first came to Huangjiabao as a village resident officer, she wanted to lead the villagers in developing specialty agriculture to lift them out of poverty. At first, the old village secretary was against it. But later, something Huang Xiujuan said completely changed his mind, making him resolutely stand by her side.

“Back then, Xiujuan told us that if the industry model doesn’t change, ordinary people have no hope for a better life—poverty will just become a vicious cycle.”

“If young people can’t make money in their hometown, they’ll have no choice but to leave their children behind and go work in the city.”

“With no one to properly care for them, the children left behind in the village won’t do well in school. When they grow up and fail to get into college, they’ll still have to go to the city for labor jobs.”

“Xiujuan said that children are the future of the country—and they are also the hope for Huangjiabao to change its fate.”

“That’s why, back then, Xiujuan led the villagers up the mountains to plant kiwifruit. She wanted the young people in the village to be able to make money at home instead of having to leave. That way, they could stay and take care of their own children, ensuring they received a good education.”

“That child! Before she left, she even called me, telling me to hurry up and take people up the mountain to check on the trees—she was worried the heavy rain might wash away our kiwifruit trees.”

The old village chief wiped his eyes and choked up, “I really wish Xiujuan could come back and see this! Our kiwifruit trees are doing just fine! The harvest gets better every year!”

Wei Sheng felt like something was stuck in his throat. For a long time, he couldn’t say a single word.

(End of Chapter)