Chapter 29: Feigning Innocence, Jiang Ke
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“Daily necessities and food are in greater demand, so those two categories will each get ten yuan. School supplies will only get five yuan, since there aren’t that many children in the mountain villages. The money has already been distributed to each group. Once we reach the purchasing site, you may all go and buy what you need.”
“We still have some time, so everyone can rest for a while.”
After traveling for a little over half an hour, they arrived at the day’s purchasing site.
As soon as she got off the bus, Jiang Xian realized that they were at a huge wholesale market.
“What kind of place is this?” Li Jiale asked, bewildered. She had never been anywhere like it.
For someone who went to upscale places whenever she went out, how could she possibly know what this was?
“This is a wholesale market,” Lai Bingfu explained. “You can find all kinds of goods here, and you can buy them in bulk.”
“Everyone can now go and look for the items your groups need.”
Along the way, they saw countless shops, each packed with merchandise. Most of the shopkeepers did not even bother to stand up and ask what they wanted when they saw the group. They merely glanced at them before returning to their own business. Only a few called out to ask what they were looking for.
There were fruit shops, snack shops, dried-goods shops, and more. The market had everything.
“That looks like a shop selling school supplies. Rong Fan, shall we go take a look?”
Rong Fan nodded.
The two of them left the group and walked off on their own.
They had not gone far when Lai Bingfu spotted a shop selling daily necessities as well. “Let’s head that way. There’s a shop selling daily necessities over there.”
The three groups split up and went in three different directions. The livestream was divided into three screens, allowing viewers to follow all three teams at once.
They almost always chose a single shop and bought everything they needed there.
The shopkeepers had not expected such large orders. They hurriedly called everyone working in the shop over to help pack the goods.
Once everything had been packed, the shop staff carried the packages trip by trip to the entrance of the wholesale market.
Except for those handling the payments, everyone else waited at the market entrance to guard the goods.
Before long, two trucks arrived. Written boldly across them were the words: “The No Limits to Luxury Program Sends Love.” Beneath the slogan were the names of several companies that had donated money.
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Everyone carried the supplies onto the trucks one load at a time. The few people who had gone to settle the bills soon returned as well and handed the invoices to Nono.
“We’ve finished purchasing all the supplies. We’re now heading to the mountain village where we’ll be making our donation. The drive will take two hours, so everyone can rest for a while.”
Everyone climbed back onto the minibus. The minibus led the way, with the two trucks following behind.
During this time, the livestream did not show the guests sleeping. Instead, it displayed the invoices.
Liu Shenghai had deliberately spread out the invoices from all three groups so that viewers could see that every penny of the sponsorship money had been spent, and that neither the production team nor the guests had kept any of it for themselves.
[Rich people really are rich. It was just a simple banquet, and each person casually contributed a little—and that added up to twenty-five yuan.]
[I don’t even know whether I’ll ever be able to save twenty-five yuan in my entire life.]
[The wealth of the rich is beyond anything we can imagine.]
After displaying the invoices, Liu Shenghai introduced the names of the companies that had made donations, explained what industries they worked in and what products they produced, and gave them a round of publicity in the process.
That was partly why those companies had donated in the first place. The No Limits to Luxury program was extremely popular at the moment. As long as a company’s name appeared on the show, its reputation could soar immediately, even if nobody had paid it any attention before.
At first, they traveled along a broad, flat road in a straight line. But as they went farther, it became obvious that the vehicle was swaying from side to side. Their bodies rocked and tilted with every turn, making it clear that the road ahead twisted and wound through the mountains.
Jiang Xian felt as though she had slept for a while before finally hearing the driver say, “We’re here.” The vehicle gradually came to a stop.
Looking out the window, she saw endless mountains stretching into the distance.
She had assumed that they would see the villagers’ homes as soon as they got off the bus. Unexpectedly, they were still on the road. There just happened to be a large open area there, so the vehicles had stopped in that spot.
The minibus was also the last vehicle to arrive. It was filled with young men, who immediately got off and began unloading the supplies from the trucks.
“The vehicles can’t reach the villagers’ homes because the rest of the way consists of narrow paths. We’ve already notified the village chief, who is bringing the villagers out to help carry everything inside. Everyone, please help carry some of the supplies in.”
As soon as he finished speaking, an older man appeared, leading a group of elderly people, women, and children toward them. Their clothes were either dirty or torn, making it clear that life in this village was truly difficult.
Seeing the group and the supplies being unloaded one load at a time, the man at the front could not help wiping the corner of his eye.
“You’re good people!”
“Uncle, these supplies were donated by several entrepreneurs. We simply purchased them and brought them here,” Liu Shenghai said, pointing to the names of the companies beneath the banner.
“They’re all good people. Every one of them is a good person!”
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“Come on, everyone. Let’s help carry the supplies inside!”
Each person picked up two bags and followed the villagers farther into the village.
[Is this the kind of place people get married into and can never escape from?]
“My God, living in a place like this… I can’t imagine how hard life must be.”
[The production team really put a lot of thought into this.]
“This place looks a little like where we went to soak in hot springs, but it also resembles some abandoned place that hasn’t been inhabited for years. There’s a saying about a place where not even birds leave droppings—that must be what people mean by it. I wonder if there are hot springs here?” Zheng Jin was visibly shaken by what he saw.
After all, he had lived in the city from birth and had never watched television. He simply had no idea that places like this existed.
He instinctively assumed that somewhere like this must have hot springs as well.
Sheng Ya could not stop herself from rolling her eyes. “How could a place like this possibly have hot springs? It isn’t a tourist attraction.”
“Yaya, you actually answered my question! You were really listening to me.” Zheng Jin was delighted. He had only asked rhetorically, never expecting Sheng Ya to answer him.
“My hometown is similar to this place. It’s also the kind of place where not even birds leave droppings.”
“Who says birds don’t come here? This place is wonderful, with beautiful mountains and clear water. I love places like this. It’s obviously untouched nature, and breathing in more of this air is tremendously good for the human body!” Zheng Jin changed his tune with astonishing speed.
“Young Master Zheng is right about that. Although this place is remote and life here is difficult, the air is excellent. The villagers are all working hard to make a living. Look over there—that’s the farmland they cultivate themselves. It may well provide their food for the entire year,” Jiang Ke said, transforming into a determined and sunny local guide.
“Jiang Ke, aren’t you tired?”
Li Jiale felt the two bags in her hands cutting painfully into her palms. The path beneath her feet was difficult to walk, and the scorching sun made her irritable. She was exhausted and hungry, moving like a walking corpse.
Yet Jiang Ke still seemed full of energy, looking as though she found the journey effortless.
“The place where I grew up was similar to this, so this little distance is nothing to me.” After saying that, Jiang Ke gave a perfectly timed smile, with the blazing sun directly behind her.
She thought her smile must look especially beautiful at that moment, and that everyone in the livestream was surely feeling sorry for her.
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