Chapter 50

While Wei Sheng was busy preparing for Houzhai Village’s first online New Year goods festival, Zhou Mingxing saw that public opinion had fermented enough and that Wei Sheng’s follower growth had slowed down. He immediately released the long-prepared clarification statement.

Right after, He Yaru also updated her social media:

“I heard someone is spreading rumors about me having a deep relationship with Wei Sheng? That’s right! Let me formally introduce him—this is my unrelated-by-blood little brother, Wei Sheng!”

Li Lei directly reposted his wife’s post and added:

“From now on, I have another little brother-in-law. Life just got even tougher. (Crying-laughing emoji)”

After the two of them posted, the Mountain Path production team officially released their first behind-the-scenes video since announcing Wei Sheng as the second male lead.

When they filmed this scene, the entire crew cried so much that they almost ran out of tissues.

It was the second year after the female lead, Huang Xiujuan, had sacrificed her life.

Yang Fan, who had succeeded her as the second poverty alleviation officer of Huangjiabao Village, quickly won the villagers’ approval with his outstanding work and strong resource integration skills.

That year, they finally achieved the second step of the “Huangjiabao Specialty Agricultural Tourism Five-Year Plan” that Huang Xiujuan had once drafted: leveraging the bountiful kiwi harvest across the mountains, the village successfully held its first Kiwi Picking Festival.

Huang Xiujuan’s parents had never expected that even a year after their daughter’s passing, the people of Huangjiabao still hadn’t forgotten them.

Yang Fan accompanied the village’s elderly party secretary to Huang Xiujuan’s home, inviting her parents to attend the festival.

On the main road leading up the orchard, a special art exhibition had quietly opened.

Huangjiabao had collaborated with the local youth center to hold a painting competition themed around Huang Xiujuan’s story. The village provided dozens of precious photographs from her days on the frontlines of poverty alleviation. In just one week, the competition received over 5,000 submissions from elementary and middle school students across the county.

From these, the judging panel selected over fifty winning pieces. From the foot of the mountain to the peak, visitors could see, every few meters, depictions of the footprints and sweat that Huang Xiujuan had left behind.

As the exhibition’s narrator, Yang Fan wore a loudspeaker and explained the stories behind the paintings step by step.

On camera, Wei Sheng’s line delivery might not have been as polished as the veteran actors in the cast, but the occasional tremor in his voice only made his emotions feel even more genuine.

At the end of this scene, after finishing his explanations, Yang Fan watched as the crowd dispersed among the abundant kiwi trees. He sat at the edge of a stone staircase, pulled out his thermos, and gulped down half of his cold tea in one go.

“Secretary Yang, tired?” someone beside him asked.

Yang Fan shook his head, looking at the freshly dug foundation behind him—where the cement road had yet to be poured. Suddenly, a dazzling smile spread across his face.

Wei Sheng wasn’t particularly stunning in appearance, but his smile had a healing quality, and in his bright eyes, it seemed as if starlight twinkled.

Pointing to the remaining dirt road, he loudly declared to his colleagues:

“No matter how tired we are, can it compare to how exhausted Sister Xiujuan was when she first arrived in Huangjiabao?”

“Sister Xiujuan has already paved half the road to poverty alleviation for us. Are we really saying that with so many people here, we can’t finish the rest?”

“No! Not only will we complete this road, but look—beyond it, those vast mountains are our endless frontier!”

“I believe that if Sister Xiujuan’s spirit still watches over us, she would want to see us helping even more people deep in the mountains, clearing this path to prosperity!”

The warm winter sunlight shone down as Yang Fan and the village officials stood at the end of the unfinished mountain road, their determined gazes fixed on the distance.

That was their next battlefield in the fight against poverty.

That was also a reflection of thousands upon thousands of impoverished, remote villages across China.

One Huang Xiujuan had fallen, but countless Yang Fans had risen!

Perhaps foreigners would never truly understand why the Chinese nation could never be defeated or erased.

Because our people have faith, and we have a legacy to uphold!

Generation after generation of young Chinese, just like in the old story The Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, have passed the torch from father to son, from son to grandson. No matter how many sacrifices are made or how great the cost, once they set their sights on a goal, they will charge forward without hesitation!

A half-finished road.

A group of passionate poverty alleviation workers.

And before they knew it, the viewers watching this behind-the-scenes footage found their eyes welling up.

So-called peaceful times exist only because someone is bearing the weight on their behalf.

Under the production team’s official account, the newly released behind-the-scenes video skyrocketed to the trending list in under an hour!

Over a million views!

Over 800,000 likes!

Over 500,000 comments!

“A guaranteed hit! The most tear-jerking realism drama of the year! Director Li Lei never misses!”

“That mountainside art exhibit scene destroyed me. They all still remember her!”

“How could they forget? She used her life to pave half of Huangjiabao’s road to prosperity! (Crying emoji)”

“The ending is perfect! I want this video to be the show’s finale! Secretary Huang may be gone, but every villager of Huangjiabao is carrying her spirit forward!”

“So who was the one saying this new actor only got in because of connections? If all ‘connections’ could act this well, I’d actually want more of them in the industry! I can’t take another trashy drama with cringe acting!”

“Not even a Wei Sheng fan, but I have to say—this newbie’s acting is seriously impressive!”

“I refuse to believe this is his first-ever acting role. Go back and watch the scene where he interacts with veterans Meng Xiang and Hu Xuanru—he completely holds his own against them!”

“Dedicated Wei Sheng career fans here! Thank you all for your compliments and encouragement for our Xiao Wei. He is indeed a newcomer, but he has been working hard to improve! And given the poverty alleviation theme, this is practically a role based on his real-life experience. If you’re interested, check out this link (attached: a documentary from the national TV station about a poverty alleviation program).”

Some curious onlookers clicked the link and discovered Wei Sheng’s story of assisting poverty-stricken communities in Houzhai Village, helping locals develop a unique industry chain.

And just like that, it became clear!

No wonder this newcomer named Wei Sheng could portray a young poverty alleviation official so convincingly!

Turns out, he had actually done similar work in real life!

Not only that, but his efforts in helping locals establish an industry chain, open sales channels, and increase farmers’ incomes even got him featured in a national TV documentary on poverty alleviation!

This wasn’t just some variety show, where any celebrity with enough fame or a unique talent could get a spot.

No wonder his fans said he was practically playing himself.

At this moment, the national TV station’s social media managers noticed that their documentary’s view count had suddenly skyrocketed.

Then they checked the trending topics—well, well! This kind of free publicity was too good to waste!

Soon, the news, agriculture, and documentary channels of the national station all jumped on board.

The scale of this coverage was bigger than what some A-list celebrities could hope for!

With the national TV station stepping in, the rumors that “Wei Sheng was kept by a rich woman” collapsed on their own.

Think about it—anyone appearing on national television had to go through strict background checks. Like many female netizens joked, if you’re looking for a boyfriend, it’s best to find someone in the system because the state has already screened out anyone with a bad record.

If Wei Sheng had ever been a sugar baby, his face wouldn’t have made it onto such a serious platform.

Especially considering that this documentary first aired on the national news channel, which has even stricter scrutiny!

With the rumors falling apart, Director Li Lei’s new drama Mountain Path also rode the wave to wider recognition.

Realistic poverty alleviation dramas were still a niche genre in China’s film and television market, just starting to gain traction in recent years. Getting a free promotional boost like this? Li Lei was ecstatic! He wished the haters would throw a few more baseless accusations at him—so he could keep clearing things up while promoting the show!

Unfortunately, these trolls turned out to be cowards. The moment the national station stepped in, they immediately retreated! Li Lei didn’t even get a chance to confront them and extend the hype, much to his disappointment!

As for whether his wife was actually related to Wei Sheng?

That’s hilarious! He Ya Ru would love for Wei Sheng to become her brother-in-law, but knowing her hopelessly love-struck younger sister, she felt that girl wasn’t worthy of such an outstanding young man…

To this, Director Li could only say: If every connection in this world could be easily explained away as “being kept,” life would be much simpler.

He had no desire to be in-laws with someone like Ding Chengcai, that pretentious hypocrite. Too embarrassing!

The industry rivals behind the smear campaign probably never expected that after spending so much money hiring internet trolls to attack Wei Sheng—hoping to crush this newcomer before he could establish himself—

They’d end up giving him a massive boost instead!

Who would’ve thought this guy had such a powerful backer like the national TV station?

And to make things worse, their smear campaign not only promoted Mountain Path for free but also gave unexpected publicity to the first-ever online New Year’s Goods Festival in Houzhai Village!

Although they could no longer accuse Wei Sheng of being a sugar baby, haters weren’t ready to back down completely. When they saw him promoting his upcoming livestream, they started sneering again—

“Oh, so he’s addicted to milking the poverty alleviation angle? Helping villagers sell local goods now? Wonder how much commission he’s pocketing. Just wait till he gets exposed—it’ll be hilarious!”

Exposed? Well, why not just watch and see?

Coincidentally, Wei Sheng had just posted the livestream announcement, and curious onlookers clicked in.

Wait, what? A livestream where the host takes viewers on a virtual tour of a rural marketplace?

Now that sounded interesting!

Might as well follow and set a reminder to check it out later, right?

What surprised everyone was that, for once, the program team actually showed some consideration. To accommodate office workers, they scheduled the livestream for the evening!

A night market in the countryside? That was a first!

Wasn’t it common knowledge that rural markets were held in the early morning? Would there even be people at night?

Hilarious!

Ever since Houzhai Village’s collective economy took off, the village’s workforce had been insufficient to meet demand. They had already driven several neighboring villages to join in on their bamboo weaving, bamboo filament processing, and wild vegetable production businesses.

Now, in the surrounding villages, forget about people loitering around—there wasn’t a single idle person in sight during the day! If they weren’t digging up winter bamboo shoots or cutting bamboo, they were at home weaving bamboo products or making traditional rice cakes.

With so much work to do, who had time to go to the market during the day?

By 7:30 PM, after dinner, the night market stalls in Houzhai Village were already set up.

Some skeptics wondered—many remote villages didn’t even have streetlights. Would people even be able to see at night?

Curious fans and casual viewers clicked in for a peek, only to be instantly captivated by the charming mountain night market!

Houzhai Village did lack streetlights—but so what? Streetlights weren’t the only source of illumination!

Following the advice of an interior designer invited by Chen Mengjie, the night market used a variety of creative lighting solutions.

At the center of the venue, a massive bonfire burned brightly, warming the chilly winter night and casting a lively glow over the market.

At the main entrance, leading further inside, a framework made of thick bamboo poles stretched overhead. Upon closer inspection, the bamboo was hollowed out, with each opening revealing a glowing lightbulb inside.

One by one, the small lights glowed like countless twinkling stars in the night sky, turning the entire night market into a scene straight out of a celestial street.

Looking further, the market stalls were actually supported by bamboo pillars! These were slightly thinner stalks of moso bamboo, wrapped in colorful string lights, making them resemble fallen stars from the sky.

Upon closer inspection, the lights illuminating each stall were all different. Some used old-fashioned kerosene lamps, some had intricately woven bamboo lanterns, while others displayed colorful paper lanterns, all hanging at different heights.

Honestly, if Wei Sheng hadn’t said that all these decorations were handcrafted by the villagers themselves, the viewers would have suspected this was a themed Hanfu night market set up by a tourist attraction to charge entrance fees.

Sure enough! The Hanfu enthusiasts in the comment section were going wild—

“Ahhhhhh! Where is this night market? I need to wear my brand-new embroidered Ming-style bijia and mamian skirt to check in!”

“Perfect match! This is the moment to bring out my intricately embroidered Jade Rabbit Worships the Moon half-arm flowing immortal dress!”

“Fellow Hanfu lovers, charge! I need the location of this night market in one minute!”

“To the one asking for directions, here you go! @Wei Sheng, check his profile! The latest announcement has the location pinned! If you like it, consider following our Xiao Wei~ He’s an absolute gem!”

While Wei Sheng’s fans were busy promoting their idol, what about the man himself? He was already eating!

These days, being a food livestreamer wasn’t easy. To ensure they could taste all the delicacies at the night market, Wei Sheng and the other three guests had deliberately skipped dinner and stayed hungry until now!

Finally, as the market opened, Wei Sheng grabbed his selfie stick and made a beeline for the rice noodle soup stall!

The stall was run by Granny Chunjuan, who raised sheep in the village and was a master at making various noodle soups. It was said that whenever there was a wedding in the village, families would not only buy lamb from Granny Chunjuan but also invite her to cook her signature mutton noodle soup for the banquet.

Rural market stalls might look simple, but they always used real, high-quality ingredients. For example, in order to make a rich broth, Granny Chunjuan had been simmering lamb bones since the night before. The lamb itself was stewed to perfection, then cooled and thinly sliced, neatly placed in a woven bamboo basket, ready to be served.

On the condiment table, there were finely chopped scallions, cilantro, garlic shoots, ground chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, salt, aged vinegar, and even a jar of homemade chili oil.

Of course, the most prominent spot was reserved for their sponsor’s products—bottles of Li’s brand vinegar, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce lined up neatly.

“Granny Chunjuan, I’ll have a small bowl of rice noodles with double mutton!” Wei Sheng happily placed his order while focusing the camera on the massive boiling pot.

And so, the viewers watched as the nimble-handed granny prepared a steaming bowl of rice noodle soup, served in a large porcelain bowl, with a generous layer of lamb slices on top!

Wait… this is a small bowl?!

This was clearly a jumbo-sized portion!

Sharp-eyed viewers noticed that such a huge bowl of lamb noodle soup only cost Wei Sheng 15 yuan, and they immediately protested.

“Where I live, a plain bowl of rice noodles (no meat) already costs 8 yuan.”

“I once splurged and added a portion of lamb—got five measly slices, and they charged me 10 yuan extra.”

“Lamb is ridiculously expensive! The other day, I asked the butcher for a small piece, and when they weighed it, it came out to 70 yuan!”

“A pound of lamb costs 45 yuan, so honestly, 70 yuan doesn’t buy much.”

“Ahem~ Since everyone’s talking about lamb, let me do some advertising. Anyone here loves mutton? Granny Chunjuan’s lamb is all free-range, raised in the mountains!”

“These sheep are fed a diet of crushed corn, soybean meal, sweet potato vines, vegetable scraps, and even mountain leaves. The meat is incredibly flavorful! Just take a whiff—”

As he spoke, Wei Sheng pointed the camera at his steaming bowl.

The freshly prepared noodle soup was garnished with scallions, minced garlic, cilantro, a spoonful of chili oil, a dash of ground chili powder, and a splash of vinegar. Against the creamy white broth and snow-white rice noodles, the entire dish looked so appetizing that viewers could almost taste it through the screen.

“Oh wait, you guys can’t smell it, can you? Let me taste it for you!” Wei Sheng cheekily turned the camera back to himself, grabbed his chopsticks, mixed the toppings into the soup, and eagerly took a few bites.

The rich lamb bone broth, simmered overnight, was bursting with umami. One sip, and it was so delicious he nearly swallowed his tongue along with it!

Slurping down half a bowl of lamb noodle soup, Wei Sheng looked up and saw the comment section filled with people cursing him for being cruel. He secretly laughed and turned the camera to the table, where a sample product was already displayed—

“Want to try authentic, free-range mountain lamb? Look here!”

“We’ve prepared vacuum-sealed, frozen lamb portions. With the current weather, unless you’re in a remote border region, most places can receive it via next-day delivery, keeping it fresh.”

“Each pack contains one pound of free-range lamb. One pack costs 38 yuan, two packs for 72 yuan, with free nationwide shipping.”

“But this year, there aren’t many households in the village raising sheep, so we only managed to gather about 2,000 pounds in total.”

“I’ll put the purchase link below. If you want some, grab it now!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the comment section emptied—

People were rushing to buy the lamb!

Sure enough, as soon as Wei Sheng’s assistant uploaded the product listing, all 2,000 pounds of lamb sold out in under five minutes!

“Did anyone manage to get some? I got nothing but disappointment.”

“Haha, I grabbed air!”

“I went in to buy lamb but ended up with nothing but frustration!”

“Only 2,000 pounds? Who do you think you’re selling to? Look at the number of people watching the livestream right now! At least get another 20,000 pounds!”

“We really don’t have more!” Wei Sheng said helplessly.

Twenty thousand pounds of lamb? If they really raised that many sheep, wouldn’t the entire mountain range around Houzhai Village be grazed bare?

Jokes aside, Wei Sheng kept this in mind and planned to discuss it with the village later.

There were plenty of mountains around Houzhai Village. If lamb sales could actually turn into a proper business, families with mountain land could easily raise a dozen or so sheep.

Since local free-range mountain goats don’t grow very fat, a single sheep would yield about 20 pounds of net meat after slaughter. If a household could sell 20 sheep a year, that alone would add nearly 20,000 yuan to their income.

And that’s not even counting the extra earnings from selling offal and hides. With around a dozen sheep, plus new lambs born each year, a family selling 20 mature goats annually could make enough to cover all their living expenses in the countryside.

(End of Chapter)

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—Hanfu (汉服) is the traditional clothing of the Han Chinese, featuring flowing robes, wide sleeves, and crossed collars. Once worn for thousands of years, it’s now making a comeback in modern fashion and cultural events.