The show "I Help My Fellow Villagers Sell Their Mountain Products" started slowly but gained popularity. No one expected that this niche poverty alleviation program, which didn't even make a splash in the first episode, would suddenly become a hit in the second episode!
It's fair to say that there hasn't been any truly explosive news in the Chinese entertainment industry lately, so much so that a mere piece of gossip about the Jin family's wealthy background has managed to trend on several hot search lists in one go.
Are trending topics so worthless these days?
It's not that trending topics are worthless, it's just that Jiang Xiaoman and Yan Susu, this mother and son, are incredibly good-looking, and...
Jiang Xiaoman's story of returning to his hometown to start a business is so inspiring that some passersby who initially clicked in out of curiosity found themselves unable to leave after clicking in...
Watching the show wasn't enough; new fans who got hooked also followed the official announcements from the show's production team to find Jiang Xiaoman and Langshan Elementary School's video accounts.
The battle of wits between Xiaoman and the principal made the fans laugh out loud.
The spirit of Langshan Primary School in persisting in running the school despite difficulties is truly moving.
In addition, since the program itself focuses on rural poverty alleviation, the entire internet was discussing the entrepreneurial stories of Lang Shan and Jiang Xiaoman. Even Lang Ying gained hundreds of thousands of fans. On the contrary, the relationship between Jiang Xiaoman and Madam Jin was gradually forgotten.
With so many wives, Yan Susu, apart from being pretty, doesn't have any particularly memorable qualities.
On the contrary, everyone likes Jiang Xiaoman more and more. Who doesn't like a treasure boy like Xiaoman who has a positive outlook, good looks, and a natural comedic talent?
Furthermore, starting from the third episode, after the guests accumulated some initial startup funds, they began to seriously help the paired farmers re-plan their family economic development. In the process, they also introduced the rise of rural characteristic economic industries such as Langshan small tea cakes, wild mushroom cultivation, and Langshan local honey, which made the audience's blood boil.
This immersive poverty alleviation campaign is incredibly engaging!
So much so that before the show's publicity team even had time to create a hashtag for the show, fans couldn't wait to create one themselves, and the number of fans increased by hundreds of thousands overnight.
Now all the fans have finally found their home base, especially the show's fans. They are excitedly discussing the performance of the various entrepreneurial groups in the super topic and what methods they can use to help farmers increase production and income.
As the show gained popularity, Langshan Town finally welcomed its first batch of investors.
One of the owners, who had previously stayed at the guesthouse next to Jiang Xiaoman's house, has taken a liking to the scenery of Langshan, especially the nearby hydroelectric power stations of various sizes. He plans to develop a large-scale camping and fishing base here, along with a resort hotel and a youth study and development base.
This boss has visited this place before, doesn't he know how beautiful the scenery is?
He must know, because he has seen it with his own eyes.
At that time, Langshan was not well-known to the outside world. It only had two internet celebrities, Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Yu, which was not enough to boost the development of local tourism.
But things are different now. The airing of the program "I Help My Fellow Villagers Sell Mountain Products" has made an inconspicuous little mountain village a complete hit online.
Recently, many netizens have been posting asking how to travel to Langshan. Currently, there isn't even a dedicated tourist bus line in the area. There are only two buses a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, and they travel very slowly. If you don't have a car, it's really difficult to visit Langshan!
Even if you have your own car and can drive to Langshan, the village's capacity to receive tourists is almost zero now—there is only one high-end homestay in the village, plus a few rooms at Xiaoman's house, what can that do?
To put it bluntly, with such a small number of guest rooms, even a large bus wouldn't be able to fit, let alone a large-scale rural tourism industry.
This business owner saw the opportunity and, having always longed to see the scenery of Langshan, he immediately approached the town leaders after the program made Langshan Village famous, hoping to work with the Langshan Town government to develop the tourism project.
Not only that, this boss is quite resourceful.
Since it's a camping site, the whole family should come together. Adults can fish and swim, but kids shouldn't just squat on the side playing in the mud, right?
Perfect timing! Langshan Village already has three cooperatives, right? This boss plans to build another youth study and development base on his own, and cooperate with Jiang Xiaoman's beekeeping cooperative, tea cooperative, and wild mushroom cooperative to share resources.
The base can connect with the village's cooperative to provide teenagers with outdoor labor experience projects such as beekeeping, tea picking, and mushroom picking. In return, the base will also provide them with a venue rental fee.
The tea gardens and wild mushroom cultivation bases of each household in the village were originally located there. After cooperating with the expansion base, they can get an extra amount of rent every year.
And city dwellers who bring their children for outdoor activities are unlikely to leave empty-handed, right?
Since we're already here and have experienced it firsthand, why not buy some local specialties to take home?
Although you can cook your own meals at the campsite, if you get tired of the food at the campsite, wouldn't you like to go to the village to try some local dishes?
In this way, wouldn't the local specialty products business and agritainment business in the village also take off?
Recently, Jiang Xiaoman has been accompanying this big boss on various inspection tours. There used to be many hydropower stations built in Langshan. After some of the smaller hydropower stations were abandoned, they were contracted out to private owners for fish farming. Each of these contracted reservoirs needs to be negotiated in advance, including how to rent the land to set up camping sites, and how to split the revenue between the fish farms and the camping sites if tourists come to fish. All of these things need to be agreed upon in advance...
He was so busy he felt like he could be split into three pieces. When he heard that Madam Jin, who was suspected to be his biological mother, had actually sent people to their house, Jiang Xiaoman's anger flared up instantly.
Jiang Xiaoman rarely gets angry and always has a smiling face. Suddenly, she turned cold and looked rather frightening.
"Xiaoman, don't worry. You're all grown up now. Even if your biological mother comes looking for you, she can't just take you away from your father, can she?" Sun Zheyuan comforted him. "I'm here with you. You should go back and check on things."
Everyone knows how much Jiang Xiaoman cares about her father.
Jiang Youliang is Jiang Xiaoman's biggest Achilles' heel.
Even the boss who came with him urged him to go home quickly and had the driver take him back.
Jiang Xiaoman hurried home. When she arrived, she saw a man about the same age as Sun Zheyuan sitting at her door. Her father, Jiang Youliang, even made tea for the man and chatted with him.
What's the point of chatting! Just kick them out with a big broom!
"Xiaoman, you're back?" Jiang Youliang forced a smile when he saw his son return.
He told himself that it was only natural for his son's biological mother to come looking for him. After all, Xiaoman was her son, and he had taken her for himself for so many years. It was only right that she wanted to take her son back now.
But deep down, I still couldn't bear to part with it.
When he first brought Xiaoman home, Xiaoman was only as long as his arm. Now she's taller than him. How can the bond between father and son over these decades be erased by simply saying "biological child"?
However, he was only the adoptive father, while the other party was Xiaoman's biological mother. What right did he have to stop her from recognizing her biological son?
Seeing Jiang Youliang on the verge of tears, yet desperately trying to force a smile, Jiang Xiaoman's eyes reddened, and she almost ground her teeth to powder.
However, he knew Jiang Youliang's character all too well. He was a kind-hearted man who raised his own moral bottom line to an infinite degree. Even if he had devoted his whole life to raising the other party's child, and the other party now wanted to acknowledge him as family, Jiang Youliang would not only not be angry, but might even feel guilty and ashamed, thinking that he had taken the other party's child for himself... That's just the kind of personality his father had!
"Hello Xiaoman, I'm Mr. Jin's special assistant. I'm here on behalf of your birth mother..."
“I’m sorry, but if you’re here to reunite with your family, I’m afraid you’ll have made a wasted trip.” Jiang Xiaoman raised her head and gave President Jin’s assistant a cold look. “As you can see, I’m already an adult and don’t need another mother to raise me. Since she chose to abandon me, she should pretend that I never existed.”
"I've seen the gossip news online. Mrs. Jin is now married into a wealthy family and has her own son. She has a happy family and doesn't lack sons herself, so why would she want to steal someone else's son?"
"That's fine then. My place is too small to accommodate everyone. Please make yourself at home."
Jiang Xiaoman rudely dismissed President Jin's special assistant.
"Xiaoman, why did you let him go? I saw the photos of the two of you, and that really is your biological mother..." Jiang Youliang said anxiously.
Jiang Xiaoman only acknowledges herself as her adoptive father, which naturally makes Jiang Youliang happy.
However, he had another worry: Jiang Xiaoman didn't have a mother, not even an adoptive mother. He was afraid that this would be a disadvantage when they dated in the future.
He had heard from the matchmakers in the village that nowadays, girls, especially those from rural areas, expect their future mothers-in-law to help take care of their children. He had never married, which meant that Jiang Xiaoman didn't even have a foster mother to help take care of her children. What if her future in-laws found fault with her?
Jiang Youliang's life principle is that as long as it benefits his son, he is willing to suffer any hardship.
Now that Xiaoman's biological mother has finally arrived, her daughter-in-law's family won't find fault with her anymore. They should accept her no matter what!
As for raising the child, back when the family was so poor, he was able to raise Xiaoman all by himself. Now that the family is in such good condition, Jiang Youliang is confident that he, as the adoptive father, can also act as the adoptive mother.
He was confident that he could help his daughter-in-law take care of the two children.
However, he is confident, but he is afraid that his future in-laws will not be!
Having a biological mother in name only makes things easier.
Chapter 233
Jiang Youliang actually supported Jiang Xiaoman's trip to S Province to meet her relatives. Jiang Xiaoman knew that her father had a strong altruistic mindset when it came to being a person.
Selfish people are all egoists, but Jiang Youliang is the opposite. When he interacts with others, he always puts others first. It is precisely this personality that makes him very popular in the village.
Jiang Xiaoman knew there was no way to persuade her father to give up the idea of having her acknowledge her family from a normal perspective. Her eyes darted around, and she tried her best to suppress her emotions, even secretly pinching herself until her eyes were red. Then, she grabbed Jiang Youliang's arm and said pitifully—
"Dad, you don't know, my biological mother remarried a long time ago, and now her son is in college."
"Think about it, she's so rich now, but she's never thought of coming back to me. Why?"
Why?
Of course, it's because they don't want Jiang Xiaoman, this burden, at all.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Youliang's expression turned rather grim.
Although he was poor, from childhood to adulthood, the best things in his family were always reserved for Xiaoman.
Xiaoman lives in his own home. Although they are poor, he is the only child in the family. Jiang Youliang protects him like the apple of his eye, and he has never suffered any grievances. Are they going to send him to his own mother's house to be treated badly?
Xiaoman is right. That person is already married, has their own family, and has children with that family. Asking Xiaoman to go back now is not something she, as a daughter-in-law, can decide. Jiang Xiaoman, a "burden," would be living under someone else's roof with her own mother, how miserable that would be...
"I'm not going!!" Jiang Youliang got angrier and angrier, he was already furious with his own overthinking.
This kind of thing happens way too often in TV dramas!
What good can come of a child who is a burden to her stepfather's family after her biological mother's marriage?
A kind family might give you a meal, but they'll still save the best things for their own children.
That's fine, but people work hard to earn their fortune. If they don't give it to their own children, are they going to give it to a stranger who has no blood relation to them?
What really angered Jiang Youliang was that Jiang Xiaoman's biological mother hadn't prepared anything or given him any explanation; she had simply sent an assistant to take Xiaoman back.
If I take him back, where will he stay? What about his job?
None of this was mentioned!
It's obvious that they have no sincerity whatsoever and haven't considered Xiaoman's future at all.
So selfish, no wonder he was so heartless as to abandon Xiaoman back then.
Jiang Youliang made up his mind: if the other party didn't come in person and make clear arrangements for Xiaoman's future, he would never let her go!
"Even if I've explained it clearly, Dad, you still can't abandon me."
Jiang Xiaoman simply hugged her father and started throwing a tantrum.
"Dad, think about it. No matter how rich someone is, they'll leave it to their own son. Even if that woman takes me back, what can she give me? It's not mine, so even if she gives it to me, I won't take it."
“I currently own two cooperatives. I also have shares in Yingzi’s wild mushroom cooperative, and I can also earn money by live-streaming and making videos. If I work hard, I can easily earn several hundred thousand yuan a month.”
"Why would I give up such a promising future to eat someone else's leftovers at their house? And then be disliked? I'm not going!"
"Dad, are you going to abandon me? o(╥﹏╥)o"
Jiang Xiaoman's tone was incredibly aggrieved.
If netizens saw this scene, they would definitely exclaim, "What an amazing cup of green tea!"
Unfortunately, Uncle Liang is a big fan of Xiaoman (the Grain Fullness) theory.
Knowing that he was abandoned by his biological parents, Xiaoman was particularly worried about being abandoned by Jiang Youliang when he was a child. Once, Jiang Youliang found that his son was helping him pick corn and hadn't even done his homework. He was so angry that he said if he didn't study hard, he shouldn't be his son anymore.