Chapter 61

Two days later, the program crew kicked off their first live broadcast after entering the village—right at the city’s well-known Citizen Square Night Market!

After watching the Retracing the Road to Poverty Alleviation crew’s first live broadcast from Huazi Village, netizens were all stunned.

Wait, this… this is also considered poverty alleviation?

The locals didn’t want to farm and preferred to lie flat and beg, yet the program crew didn’t give up. They took an unorthodox approach—helping them re-enter the workforce through street vending?

We’ll bow to no one but you!

And the craziest part? These professional beggars really were motivated by the show.

Fans of Wei Sheng all swore this had to be because the guy was just too good at doing business.

The original plan by the production team had been to guide the beggars into selling flowers at street stalls. With three shifts a day, each person could earn two to three thousand yuan a month—enough for basic living expenses.

Wei Sheng’s idea matched perfectly with what Cao Dong had in mind. He also felt that such a large stall would be wasted if it only sold fresh flowers.

Given that people were taking turns and there would always be someone at the stall, Wei Sheng made a small suggestion.

For instance, in summer, they could set up a secondhand freezer and sell cold drinks and popsicles. In winter, they could sell roasted sweet potatoes and stir-fried chestnuts. The costs were low, and even if the products didn’t sell quickly, they wouldn’t spoil. Worst case, they could eat the leftovers themselves—nothing wasted. And just by having those things out on display, they’d likely sell at least a little every day.

When Wei Sheng used to help his grandma run her shop, he’d noticed that no matter the weather, daily essentials like cigarettes, beverages, and instant noodles always sold a bit.

There were also other small, easy-to-sell items that didn’t take up much space—like cheap umbrellas, disposable raincoats, or hair clips and bands for girls. These could all be added to the stall’s inventory.

These items weren’t expensive, didn’t spoil, and could trickle in a steady stream of revenue. If they made just a few dozen yuan from these every day, that would already cover daily food and lodging—then all the money from flower sales would be pure profit.

Aside from a small number of beggars who were born mentally disabled or cognitively impaired, most were actually quite clever. With just this bit of inspiration from Wei Sheng, the entire stall-vending setup was completely transformed.

In addition to the few items Wei Sheng suggested, the smarter beggars also came up with other products.

For example, various dried goods and wild vegetables commonly found in the countryside but hard to buy in the city, or homemade broom heads and such.

Some even started selling their “special talents.” Those with good voices set up wireless speakers and offered a free love song with every large bouquet purchased, making it convenient for young men to confess their feelings on the spot. There were also flute players, erhu players, and singers performing little ditties—everyone showing off their own tricks to enhance the “added value” of their products.

The funniest part? Some of these beggars used to crash weddings and funerals to perform comedy routines. They didn’t have any real talent—just quick mouths. So they boldly put up signs advertising services like “entertaining people” and “arguing on your behalf.”

Put simply, if your girlfriend was mad, you could pay a fee and hire them to go cheer her up with jokes and performances.

Or if you were bad at arguing and lost a fight but couldn’t let it go, you could hire someone to “argue for you”…

When netizens saw these signs, they were completely floored.

Goodness! Is this that legendary “Didi Argument-On-Demand”?

And what left people even more speechless was that people actually bought these services.

One young lady had been cheated on by her boyfriend with a mistress. The scumbag and the other woman were even openly bragging about it, shamelessly telling everyone that the girl was a cold-hearted tomboy, no wonder she couldn’t keep a man.

The poor girl was crying her eyes out while walking through the night market with her bestie, when she happened to see the beggars’ “argument and insult” services. They charged by the hour, only 100 yuan per hour—it was seriously tempting!

Her best friend, clearly a rich lady, immediately picked out the two with the sharpest tongues. One was sent to the scumbag’s workplace, the other to the mistress’s office. She booked a full three days of insult service!

These two beggars had already been infamous for their poisonous mouths back in the village. Now that they had a big client and were getting paid well to curse people—1,000 yuan a day to yell different insults—they didn’t hesitate.

They each dragged a torn sack, flopped it down beneath their butts, and sat in front of the target’s office building. Their words were so sharp it could cut bamboo. Pandas within five hundred miles would’ve starved to death from the roasting. They cursed the guy and his mistress so thoroughly, they didn’t dare step outside. The whole company knew about them by the end of it.

What Wei Sheng hadn’t expected was that these beggars had somehow, without being taught, figured out how to use social media!

They registered video accounts on their own. At first, it was just to shoot videos and promote their stalls. If they went viral, they might get fans who would come to the night market just to buy flowers—which would be way better than just sitting around, right?

Then after launching the “cursing on demand” service, they were worried security would come beat them up. So every time they showed up at someone’s workplace, the first thing they’d do was lay out a sack to sit on. Second thing? Turn on their phones and start livestreaming!

Sure enough, once the beggars started live streaming their rants, the security guards didn’t dare to act rashly. All they could do was stand nearby and desperately try to persuade them to stop.

But the beggars were too sharp-tongued. The guards couldn’t out-talk them.

Some guards even got talked into switching sides.

If they were older, the beggars would appeal to emotion: “Big bro, you’ve got a daughter, right? Imagine if your girl was dating someone and some hussy stole her man, then smeared her name everywhere. You can’t hit them, so can’t you at least scold them a little?”

If the guard was younger, they’d appeal to logic: “Little bro, bet you’re still single? You better behave. If word gets out that you’re sympathizing with a cheating scumbag, what girl will want to date you? Who’s gonna introduce their sister to you? You wanna get cheated on too?”

The young security guards turned pale at those words. They would rather be scolded by their superiors than dare to drive away the beggars hurling insults—what if the girls saw and thought they were siding with a scumbag?

To be honest, security jobs could be found anywhere. But if their reputation was ruined, they might not even be able to get a wife—that’d be even more tragic.

What made it even more ridiculous was that the two beggars, livestreaming themselves cursing the scumbag and the mistress, suddenly blew up online. Their account went from just over a dozen followers to several hundred thousand in only three days!

Every day, tens of thousands of fans tuned in to watch them scold people, and during peak hours at night, the number of simultaneous viewers even reached hundreds of thousands—far outshining many influencers who paid to boost traffic to their streams.

The most unbelievable part? These two beggars were business geniuses too. They started accepting “cursing commissions” online—anyone who wasn’t present but wanted to vent about a scumbag or a mistress could just leave a comment with a tip, and the beggars would deliver a lively, full-throttle public shaming on their behalf.

And they were pros at it. Their tone rose and fell with perfect rhythm, and when they got worked up, they even sang a few lines while cursing. They did it so well that the scumbag and mistress didn’t even dare show up to work anymore. They had to crawl back to the victim to apologize, begging her to withdraw the “commissioned cursing service”—they were even willing to double the compensation.

“Pah! Now you know what shame feels like? Where was that shame when you were cheating? Withdraw it? Withdraw your damn self!”

Maybe the girl suddenly had an epiphany, because not only did she refuse to back down—she even extended the contract for another three days. She had the beggars go straight to the scumbag and mistress’s hometown and station themselves at the front door, yelling at them day and night for another full seventy-two hours!

By now, the scumbag and the mistress were infamous across the entire internet.

And not a single person sympathized with them.

Logically, the two hadn’t even been married—just dating. Breakups and makeups are normal. If he really didn’t like the girl, he could’ve just broken up peacefully and found someone else. No big deal.

But the problem was, he didn’t want to let go of his rich girlfriend. He happily accepted all the expensive gifts she gave, while shamelessly flirting around and even trash-talking her with the mistress… If you’re going to be this despicable, then don’t blame the girl for paying someone to curse you out!

The scumbag actually had some brain cells left. When he found out the two beggars were participating in a poverty alleviation program by J Province’s TV station, he filed a complaint against the show. And the reason? Get this—he accused the program of “promoting immoral values.”

Cheating and then turning around to bite someone else—who’s really the immoral one here?

Wang Qun was initially worried that the complaint might negatively impact the show. But Wei Sheng, sly as ever—having been raised by a group of square-dancing aunties—immediately came up with a devilish idea.

“He filed a complaint? Then let’s formally apologize~”

“Let’s release the full, uncut video of the beggars cursing! And tell the audience, ‘We’re a news organization—we speak with facts. No one from the program team ever hinted at or encouraged the beggars to take commissions. They used their free time to earn some extra cash. It’s not illegal, and we’re not the police. Who are we to interfere?’”

Didn’t he want an official response?

Well, here you go—we apologized and released the full video. Now let the public decide who’s immoral. We never uttered a single dirty word!

Wang Qun laughed so hard he slapped the table.

That video included the full scene of the girl breaking down in tears at the night market, telling the story of how the scumbag and mistress had bullied her.

A victim’s direct testimony—wasn’t he asking for evidence? Congratulations, they saved it for him. “Here you go, you’re welcome!”

At that point, the scumbag’s social life was truly over.

And it didn’t stop there—countless righteous netizens began publicly boycotting the company he worked for. The company quickly realized how bad the PR looked and fired him on the spot for “causing serious harm to the company’s image.”

The mistress didn’t get off easy either. She was originally a non-permanent teacher at a school, preparing for the civil service exams. Well, so much for that—she not only missed the exam, she lost her current job too.

Once the parents heard that their kids’ teacher was a shameless mistress, how could they possibly stay quiet?

Especially after more gossip surfaced—apparently, this female teacher acted totally different depending on which parent she was talking to. If it was a mom, she was scolding constantly. But if it was a dad—especially one driving a luxury car or wearing an expensive watch—her attitude suddenly turned warm and charming.

That made a lot of moms start to suspect this mistress of a teacher might be eyeing their husbands too.

All of this made the show Retracing the Road to Poverty Alleviation explode with popularity even before it aired. The first episode of Season 2 wasn’t even out yet—a single pre-release livestream was enough to send the show’s official accounts on both Weibo and video platforms soaring in followers!

An official program calling out scumbags and mistresses? Now that’s spicy! Gotta follow right now!

And as for this “Beggar Village”—at first, long-time fans were a bit uneasy when they heard the season would start by helping a group of professional beggars. But once Wei Sheng accidentally discovered a new “skill tree” for them, well—damn!

The old fans went absolutely feral recommending this show.

“Hey, did you know there’s a variety show that lets you curse out scumbags and mistresses for free?”

“Check out Retracing the Road to Poverty Alleviation!”

At first, the gossip crowd was confused by the name.

Shouldn’t a show about cursing cheating scumbags be called something like Neighborhood Mediation or The People’s Arbitrator? What does poverty alleviation have to do with anything?

But when they clicked in out of curiosity—good lord, what a hidden gem!

A group of temp poverty-alleviation volunteers trying to help out professional beggars—already hilarious. And these beggars were selling flowers at the night market, developing all kinds of weird and wonderful side businesses—it was wild!

The content was so juicy that not only did netizens follow the show’s official accounts, they also tracked down and followed the personal livestream channels of several beggars. Then, guided by the program’s livestream room, they started following even more beggars who were selling stuff at other night markets…

To be honest, this was way more thrilling than those sketch shows on the Spring Festival Gala that like to copy jokes from the internet.

As the situation spiraled out of control, even the production crew was left dumbfounded.

Here’s the current state of affairs:

These beggars were selling flowers at their night market stalls, bringing in a few hundred yuan a day.

Then they’d go live, chatting with viewers, taking orders for insult commissions, and even doing some light product promotion. Every night, they’d make tens of thousands of yuan…

When the village head heard about this, he was grinning so wide it looked like his face might split. He rallied the villagers who were out selling too, and they crowdfunded to make a gigantic silk banner for the production team. Then they had someone ghostwrite a heartfelt thank-you letter, and sent both to the TV station with drums and gongs.

To show their gratitude, they even used their account with the largest follower count to livestream the whole banner-delivery process.

With a blank expression, Wang Qun accepted the first ever banner they’d received since starting the show. The viewers watching the stream were dying of laughter.

What kind of ridiculous production team was this?

Looking at the stunned faces of the entire crew, the fans clutched their aching cheeks from laughing too hard and were more convinced than ever—there’s no way this kind of ridiculous script was pre-written!

Halfway through filming, the poverty-alleviation mission was unexpectedly completed ahead of schedule. So what content was left to film?

“Keep filming! Why not? If they’ve made money, they’ve got to go home and renovate their houses, right?” Wang Qun tried to cheer the team on.

Wei Sheng didn’t want to burst his bubble, but the reality was this: now that the beggars had tasted the sweet success of livestreaming and selling goods, they were going full throttle, itching to be online 24/7. Who had time to go home and fix up houses?

“Don’t we still have Xiao Dong’s group? Protecting minors, right? Let post-production add mosaics! We’ll film a normal poverty-alleviation case!” Wang Qun rolled up his sleeves.

To “convince” Cao Dong to participate in filming, Wang Qun shamelessly resorted to a bribe:

“Good kid! I know you’re making money to get your grandpa treated. It just so happens I know the director of the Provincial People’s Hospital…”

That was a ruthless move. Cao Dong agreed without hesitation.

Money he could earn bit by bit, but the director of the Provincial People’s Hospital was the kind of contact he might never gain access to in his entire life. He’d been surviving on the streets for years—what didn’t he understand? Medical care wasn’t just about money; you needed to find a top specialist.

Especially those who only saw rich patients—you couldn’t even get an appointment with them.

And someone like Wang Qun, a government official, just happened to have those kinds of connections.

Wei Sheng didn’t say much, but quietly pulled a few strings from his time in post-production and got some custom cartoon avatars made for Cao Dong and the kids. Anywhere the kids showed up on camera, they’d cover their faces with these avatars—way more effective than mosaics.

But what no one expected was that the show didn’t sell the kids out. Instead, working the night market led to Cao Dong’s father unexpectedly finding his son…

After Cao Dong and his group agreed to take part in filming, the production crew finally managed to climb out of their absurd script hole!

And this group was much more aligned with the show’s themes of warmth and uplifting stories.

The three kids—Cao Dong and his siblings—were working tirelessly in the city to save up for their grandfather’s surgery. Cao Dong slept barely five hours a day and juggled two part-time jobs.

From 5 to 9 in the morning, he bought buns, steamed rolls, soy milk, and milk from a breakfast shop, then dragged them over to a quiet metro station to sell. If he was lucky and sold out, he could make over 100 yuan in the morning.

After breakfast sales, he’d go to the agricultural wholesale market, rummage through discarded produce to find what was still edible, clean it up, and use it to make lunch boxes. Around noon, he’d set up a stall outside a construction site to sell them.

Being young and having a sweet mouth, he’d lay it on thick with the sob story. The elderly guard at the site took pity on him and let him sell meals at the gate. That could earn him another two or three hundred yuan a day.

In the afternoon, he’d squeeze in a few hours of sleep, so his siblings wouldn’t have to go to the night market—working during the day was safer, after all.

Now that the kids were all getting their lives back on track, Old Cao wasn’t about to drag them down. He genuinely wanted to turn over a new leaf and become a role model for them.

Back when he was young, Old Cao had done all kinds of shady things just to survive. But now that he was older and had these kids, he’d rather starve or die sick than watch them go astray.

The kids were still so young. The youngest, Beibei, was only a little over two. Their lives had only just begun. If they could tough it out for a few years and avoid the same crooked path he took, even without a degree, they could learn a trade and make an honest living.

Now that they finally had a shot at the right path, Old Cao let the older three head to the provincial capital to work, while he, the blind old man, stayed behind to care for the youngest.

Don’t let his blindness fool you—he managed just fine. Every day he cooked, made formula, did laundry, everything. When he had free time, he’d even weave cricket cages out of straw.

The more he made, the less the kids had to work.

Seeing this blind man working his heart out for children who weren’t even related to him, viewers cried nonstop from the moment the stream started. One box of tissues wasn’t even enough!

“Waaah! Blind Grandpa Cao is amazing. Can’t the crew find him a job too? He clearly misses those kids every day.”

“Better not. Living in the city would be too inconvenient for someone who’s blind. He’s used to life in the countryside—see how he knows where everything is even without a cane?”

“Xiao Dong has to make it big! Someday he’ll cure Grandpa Cao’s eyes. Their blessings are just beginning!”

“I can’t take it anymore. I need to go send Xiao Dong a donation on his livestream!”

“I just bought a bunch of stuff from Xiao Dong’s stream. This kid gets up at five every morning to sell breakfast so he can afford his grandpa’s treatment.”

Around 6:00 p.m., just as the night market was starting to get busy, Cao Dong sent Cao Xi and Cao Nan home to rest and stayed behind alone to run the stall.

This season, sesame flatbreads were selling even better than flowers. Recently, Cao Dong had just learned how to make them from someone. He also fried some pork tenderloin, sausages, and pan-fried eggs. The lettuce he bought wholesale from the agricultural market was washed and dried. The fresh sesame flatbreads stuffed with tenderloin were fragrant and enticing. A plain flatbread sold for three yuan; add a slice of tenderloin or two sausages, an egg, and two lettuce leaves, and it sold for eight yuan. For someone with a small appetite, one flatbread was enough for a whole meal. Business was booming.

“Two sets of flatbreads, with sausage and egg.”

A familiar voice suddenly exploded above his head.

Cao Dong’s entire body jolted. His small head, covered by a mask, lifted slightly—and sure enough! The man standing in front of the stall ordering flatbreads was none other than his biological father, Liang Haibo!

Cao Dong originally didn’t carry the surname Cao. His name was Liang Dongdong. After fleeing from home, fearing his family would find him, he only dared to go by his childhood nickname. He despised the surname Liang. After Old Cao saved him, he simply adopted Cao as his surname and renamed himself Cao Dong.

Liang Haibo hadn’t initially recognized him. But right at that moment, the heat-proof glove on Cao Dong’s hand fell off, and the prominent birthmark on the back of his hand gave him away!

“Dongdong? I knew it, you little brat! What are you doing here? Well, well! Looks like you’ve made a fortune with this stall, huh? Come! You’re coming home with me!”

Delighted, Liang Haibo grabbed Cao Dong’s arm.

At first, he hadn’t really cared much about this son—he had a new wife anyway, and if the son ran away, he could just have another one. But after Dongdong left, there was no one to do the chores. The new wife was unbearably lazy and couldn’t be hit either. The moment he raised a hand, she’d run to the police station, making him a laughingstock in the village.

Now things were looking up. He had found his eldest son again—someone to do the chores at last!

“Help! He’s kidnapping me! I don’t know this man!”

Cao Dong couldn’t overpower Liang Haibo. Seeing he couldn’t break free, he immediately started yelling and making a scene.

“Still daring to scream?”

Liang Haibo hadn’t hit anyone in a long time. He couldn’t hit the new wife, but his own son? Of course he could! Without hesitation, he raised his arm and delivered several harsh slaps to Cao Dong’s face!

The blows left Cao Dong’s head ringing. Blood flowed from his nose and the corner of his mouth, the sight quite alarming.

In his panic, he forgot that his phone was still live-streaming.

At this hour, the livestream room was packed. Tens of thousands of viewers witnessed the domestic violence scene firsthand. The comment section erupted with fury, and local viewers rushed to call 110 to report the incident on Cao Dong’s behalf.

Vendors nearby were even faster.

Because the night market near the university town attracted large crowds, there were always special police patrols nearby every evening. Vendors who knew Cao Dong immediately ran to alert the officers.

Hearing the commotion, Wei Sheng and his team, who were also streaming at the night market, rushed over.

Seeing that Dongdong’s nose and mouth were bleeding, Ouyang Xia flew into a rage. He was a father himself—if anyone dared hit his son like that, he’d fight them to the death!

Without hesitation, Ouyang Xia charged forward.

Wei Sheng passed the selfie stick to Chen Mengjie and joined hands with Zhang Zexuan. The three of them managed to pull Cao Dong away from Liang Haibo.

“Who the hell are you people? This is my son—I’ll discipline him however I want! Mind your own business!”

Liang Haibo glared at the three men with bulging eyes, his face filled with hostility.

“We’re the successors of socialism! And we will not stand by while you bully the weak!”

Wei Sheng retorted sharply without missing a beat.

The onlookers, initially tense, burst out laughing at that line.

At that moment, the patrol officers arrived. Seeing that Liang Haibo was still trying to drag the frail Cao Dong, they pounced without a word and subdued him.

Liang Haibo panicked a little at the sight of the police, but when he remembered that Cao Dong was his son, his ignorance of the law made him all the more arrogant:

“I’m his father! A father has every right to discipline his son! What are you arresting me for?”

Oh, so it’s domestic abuse with a confession.

The officer sneered and, seeing that he was resisting, promptly cuffed him:

“You’re exactly the kind of trash who abuses children that we’re here to arrest!”

“Yeah!!”

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause.

The livestream viewers cheered as well. Some even said they had already recorded the incident. This abuser couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to! They were more than willing to provide evidence to the police.

Cao Dong was shielded protectively behind Ouyang Xia and Wei Sheng. Seeing Liang Haibo cuffed and dragged away, he couldn’t help but show a look of satisfaction.

Thinking of his mother, who had been beaten to death by this monster, Cao Dong almost wanted to grab the meat-cutting knife next to him—if murder weren’t a crime, he would have ended it right then and there.

But he couldn’t.

He had a new family now. Scum like Liang Haibo wasn’t worth giving up Old Cao, Xiao Xi, or Xiao Nan for…

(End of Chapter)