"How about we try this way of cooking red-skinned potatoes tonight? Brother Zhang, pay up!" Jiang Yuan asked his agent, Brother Zhang, to buy all the potatoes in this field.
Then he rolled up his sleeves, intending to help dig potatoes.
To his surprise, he was looked down upon by Jiang Youliang, who was standing to the side.
"That's not how you dig potatoes!" Jiang Youliang showed no respect for the overly handsome young man as he would a shaman.
The old man pulled the movie star aside, then squatted down and carefully used his hands to pry open the soft mud under the potato seedlings.
The next second, several red-skinned potatoes of varying sizes appeared in front of everyone, like a hen laying eggs.
"These potatoes should be harvested just before the first frost. They can still grow for another two months. If we harvest them now, many of the smaller potatoes at the bottom won't grow big."
"If you want to eat them, don't dig them out all at once. Just make a small opening, see which potato is the biggest, and dig that one first. After you're done digging, put the soil back in, and the smaller potatoes inside can grow even longer."
"Did Teacher Wang Xian teach you this too?" Jiang Yuan squatted down with interest, carefully observing Jiang Youliang's technique for peeling potatoes.
"Do we need a teacher to teach us this? This is how we've been digging potatoes for generations in Langshan!"
Jiang Youliang pointed to a patch of sweet potatoes next to him and said—
"We eat sweet potatoes the same way, not just potatoes. When it's not harvest time yet and we're out of food, we dig up the soil underneath, find a few big ones to eat, and leave the rest in the soil to continue growing. Once the big ones are gone, the small ones grow faster."
Jiang Yuan nodded secretly, silently noting down this small detail.
The freshly dug potatoes have a beautiful magenta skin. Because the improved variety has a smooth and thin skin, the villagers don't peel these freshly dug potatoes. They wash them and cook them with the skin on.
This is yet another touching detail.
The poverty of the people of Langshan is truly etched into every little detail of their lives.
After all, who in the city doesn't peel potatoes when they eat them these days?
Fearing he wouldn't be able to remember all the details, Jiang Yuan simply took out his phone's memo app and wrote them down, planning to go back that night to enrich the character profile and design some small, subtle changes for the protagonist.
The potatoes have been dug up, and the main stage is now in Jiang Xiaoman's hands.
Sun Zheyuan and Lang Xingguo warmly invited the big star to rest in the Jiang family's living room, but Jiang Yuan waved his hand, saying that since he was there to experience life, he definitely couldn't slack off in the classic rural scene of the kitchen.
So, he happily followed Jiang Xiaoman into the kitchen.
When the house was built, the kitchen was designed to serve the guests upstairs with three meals a day, so it was made a bit larger than in most homes.
Furthermore, partitions were installed. On the left was the kitchen for cooking, and on the right was a dining room that could accommodate more than a dozen people. There was a door on both sides, and when the door was closed, the kitchen fumes could not escape.
Upon hearing that Jiang Yuan was to play the role of the poverty alleviation cadre who had vigorously promoted high-yield red-skinned potatoes in Langshan, Jiang Xiaoman was filled with respect and decided to use these red-skinned potatoes to prepare a potato feast for Jiang Yuan.
For the main dish, we made the local favorite: cured pork and potato rice.
As Jiang Xiaoman prepared the dish, she explained to Jiang Yuan why this staple food was so popular locally.
"People in the mountains are quite busy after autumn arrives. They need to plow their vegetable gardens and plant vegetables for winter in time."
"We need to hurry up and harvest the corn in the fields, and we also need to cut the stalks and carry them back to feed the cattle. Next, we need to harvest sweet potatoes and potatoes. We are often so busy that we don't even have time to eat."
"So we took a shortcut and diced the cured pork and potatoes. Just like making claypot rice, we first washed the rice and cooked it in a pot, then drained it and kept the rice water to make soup. Then we heated oil in a pan, added minced garlic and dried chili peppers and stir-fried them, then added the cured pork and stir-fried it. Finally, we added the potatoes, stir-fried them, added a spoonful of salt, then added the rice, added water and simmered it until cooked."
"A pot of cured pork and potato rice made this way can be wrapped in banana leaves, and you can also roll some homemade pickled vegetables or pickled chili peppers inside. It tastes great when it's cooled down in the field. If you don't like it cold, you can build a fire and grill it over some charcoal."
Jiang Yuan, eager to try it, couldn't help but ask, "Did Teacher Wang Xian often eat this kind of cured pork and potato rice back then?"
"I don't know, you'll have to ask my dad." Jiang Xiaoman smiled and called her father in.
Jiang Youliang did indeed host Wang Xian and his group of poverty alleviation cadres, and even took the opportunity to correct one of their points—
In fact, Wang Xian was not the only one who came to Langshan to help alleviate poverty back then. There were also several other poverty alleviation cadres, most of whom came from major agricultural colleges. Back then, major universities had counterpart support projects for poverty alleviation, and several of them were assigned to Langshan.
The arrival of these agricultural experts has indeed brought many changes to Langshan.
Not only did they bring high-yield red-skinned potatoes to Langshan, but they also introduced higher-quality sweet potato varieties that could be sold in supermarkets, corn with a sweeter and more glutinous texture, and even the konjac they are now growing is a high-yield variety introduced by poverty alleviation cadres...
These poverty alleviation cadres didn't act like experts or professors. When they came to Langshan to help alleviate poverty, they would sometimes simply stay in the farmers' homes, roll up their trousers, go barefoot, and work in the fields with the local farmers.
They weren't particular about food; they ate whatever the farmers ate.
Sometimes, when I see that farmers can't afford meat, I'll pay out of my own pocket to buy some fresh pork or a couple of fish at the market to take with me when I go up the mountain.
Jiang Yuan didn't say anything, but his agent and photographer next to him were already moved to tears.
These are the poverty alleviation cadres who are truly respected and loved by the people, aren't they? They ask for nothing in return, are not afraid of hardship, and have repeatedly charged to the front lines for the country's battle against poverty, some even sacrificing their precious lives for it...
"Why are you all crying?" Jiang Youliang asked casually, looking at the group whose eyes were red and swollen like a litter of rabbits.
"Don't underestimate Langshan just because it's poor. Teacher Wang said that the happiest years of his life were the years he spent in Langshan."
“I heard that you city people are under a lot of pressure. Teacher Wang said he loves to stay in Langshan, where he drinks spring water and eats farm-style food, just like his hometown.”
"I heard from Teacher Wang that since he came to Langshan, his insomnia and hair loss, which he had suffered from for many years, have been cured!"
Everyone held back their tears of emotion.
Jiang Yuan thoughtfully pulled Jiang Youliang aside: "Uncle Youliang, could you tell me more about the poverty alleviation work that Teacher Wang and his team did in Langshan back then?"
"It doesn't have to be particularly touching. Just say what you can remember, whatever comes to mind."
For those engaged in artistic creation, sometimes it's all about that "flash of inspiration."
Just now, Jiang Yuan suddenly realized something that they had overlooked, something that the screenwriter and reporters had also ignored—
All the media and writers seem to be portraying poverty alleviation cadres like Wang Xian as "great, glorious and righteous".
However, such a flawless character portrayal, if presented on the big screen, could potentially have a disastrous consequence for the film: viewers might find the movie too unrealistic because the characters are so perfect...
That's wrong.
They are glorious and admirable poverty alleviation cadres.
He is also the son, husband, wife, and father of millions of ordinary families...
The biggest taboo in literary and artistic creation is that the characters are not well-developed, or even too perfect.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan could no longer sit still.
While he was helping Jiang Youliang gather new material, he was also urgently reporting the matter to the director.
And a new requirement was put forward:
He can't control the other episodes, but for the episode where he plays the male lead, he hopes to invite the screenwriter to Langshan immediately to do research with him and create a more down-to-earth script!
Chapter 184
When the director heard that Actor Jiang wanted to change the script, not just make minor adjustments, but meant to completely scrap it and start over, he almost had a stroke and acted out dying on the spot.
After hearing Jiang Yuan recount his experiences at Langshan and the words of Jiang Youliang, an insider from back then, the director on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and made the decision—
"Book us two more guest rooms, and I'll personally take the screenwriter over!"
No director wants to be criticized by the audience for making films that are pretentious and empty.
In particular, Director Liang himself is a well-known director with a strong passion for art.
If Jiang Yuan's only intention today was to enrich the image of his character, then he would have a hundred reasons to shut Jiang Yuan up.
You, an actor, want to steal the screenwriter's job? How about we let you be the director too?
However, Jiang Yuan pointed out the most fatal flaw of this episode's script: it was too perfect, like an impeccable political book. Such scripts are indeed easy to pass the review process and may even receive some praise from higher-ups.
But Director Liang knew in his heart that if they filmed it according to the original script, they would be criticized to death by the audience and ridiculed by their peers!
Does he still have a choice?
He quickly packed up the unfortunate screenwriter and rushed to Langshan to meet up with Jiang Yuan that very night.
When they arrived, they discovered that Jiang Xiaoman's house was already full.
"Well, there's a guesthouse next to my house on the mountain. It just opened, but it's a bit pricey. I don't know if your crew has enough budget..." Jiang Xiaoman took the opportunity to try and get customers for Sister Tang.
Hilarious! A blockbuster Lunar New Year film, with a famous director and a three-time Golden Horse Award winner, would be short of such a small amount of accommodation fees?
It's booked! We'll reserve the entire guesthouse!
They're not leaving until the new script is polished!
Lu Xinran received her first order as the store manager with a completely bewildered look on her face.
The director was incredibly wealthy and booked the entire guesthouse for them. The client only made one small request: they hoped the guesthouse wouldn't prepare any fancy meals for the next few days, but just some local farm-style dishes, the more rustic the better!
Isn't that simple?
Hao Shuai had a sudden inspiration and went directly to Jiang Xiaoman to ask for help. He asked her to find a woman in the village who could cook, and the quality of the food didn't matter, since "the more rustic, the better."
Jiang Xiaoman asked Lang Ying, and since Sister-in-law Shanying was free recently, she decided to have her come up the mountain to help cook for a few days. The guesthouse was expensive, and the wages weren't low either; the chef could earn three hundred yuan a day.
Director Liang and Jiang Yuan, along with screenwriter Jiang Yueming who brought him, were like three little tails, wanting to follow Jiang Youliang around the clock, "listening to old man Jiang tell stories of the past."
Jiang's son was busy building a factory down the mountain, and Old Man Jiang was indeed lonely. These guests all loved listening to his stories, and Director Liang, a heavy smoker, kept offering him cigarettes, which made Jiang Youliang feel incredibly flattered. When he talked about those old times, he was incredibly forthcoming and knew everything he knew—
How does Teacher Wang Xian usually get along with the villagers? That's a story in itself!
At first, everyone was quite reserved. After all, he was a professor, while some of the local villagers could not even write their own names properly. They were from completely different worlds.
But after getting to know him, I found that Teacher Wang was kind and easy-going, like a younger relative who hadn't forgotten his roots even after going to university. If you were sleeping in a fellow villager's house and woke up to find a big rat lurking in the corner, you would calmly pick up a slipper and throw it accurately at it.
After eating roasted potatoes with them for several days in a row, they would loudly complain that they had no oil in their stomachs and pester the villagers to cut off a piece of cured meat for a treat.
The funniest thing is that after discovering that this professor was kind, good-looking, and, most importantly, unmarried, the villagers of Langshan started getting restless.
Families with daughters of marriageable age would cook cured pork and potato rice at home every few days and send their daughters to deliver the meal to Teacher Wang, who was working in the fields.
There were also enthusiastic girls who pretended to gather pig feed, break bamboo shoots, and dig wild vegetables. Wherever Wang Xian went, they would run to that mountain and sing folk songs for him. The singing made Teacher Wang's old face turn red with embarrassment, and he almost hit his foot with the hoe in his hand.
Faced with the enthusiasm of the mountain girls, Wang Xian initially tried to avoid them. However, when the promotion of their introduced red-skinned potatoes encountered obstacles, the shy teacher Wang finally put aside his reserve. Relying on his popularity among the aunts, sisters-in-law, and young women, he took their new potato variety and promoted it from village to village.
Whether they were misled by Teacher Wang's appearance or thought that if they encountered any technical problems while planting this new variety of potato, they could "casually" invite Teacher Wang to their homes for guidance, in any case, almost every village that Wang Xian visited had a few families who had ordered some of the new potato seeds.
These potato seeds, like tiny sparks, quickly spread throughout the surrounding villages and towns.
The reason is simple: our respected teacher, Mr. Wang, really didn't lie to them!
The new potato variety not only has a higher yield and a better-looking fruit shape, but also has a thin skin and crisp flesh. Freshly dug potatoes can be eaten with the skin on after washing.
Most importantly, these potatoes seem to take less time to steam, boil, or bake, which means more firewood can be saved when cooking.
In rural areas where you have to carry every single piece of firewood up the mountain yourself, who wouldn't want to avoid having to go up the mountain to carry firewood so often?