Chapter 256: Poverty Alleviation Case
Xiao Ji rarely pouted, not quite agreeing with George’s viewpoint. In her opinion, the organization should trust George; at least they should provide him with a fair opportunity, if not full support.
The village cadre had been waiting at the entrance of the village. Upon seeing George, the two greeted each other and introduced themselves.
When it was Xiao Ji’s turn, George looked towards her.
The cadre’s gaze followed George and landed on Xiao Ji, looking right through her and beyond.
He did not notice Xiao Ji, dressed in a little dress, who was pristine and completely out of place with everything.
Xiao Ji shook her head and said, “I don’t want them to see me.”
George respected Xiao Ji’s opinion. He nodded and said, “Please lead the way.”
“Alright.” The cadre was rather carefree.
He led George, who was carrying a backpack, into the village.
The village was called Tongshan Village, a provincial-level poverty-stricken village. There was only one two-meter-wide path leading out of the village, and it had just rained in the morning, leaving the cadre’s pants covered in mud.
Xiao Ji floated along, her shiny little shoes lightly stepping on the muddy ground as they entered the village together.
The village was quiet, with not many young adults. George asked the cadre, and learned that many young adults had gone out to work since there were not many local industries.
Upon arriving in the village, George didn’t bother resting and asked the cadre to take him to visit some villagers.
The cadre took him to Old Wei’s house. Walking through the large entrance without a door, George looked around like a normal person, and a saying popped into his mind: “The home is bare.”
The bed was made of two wooden planks haphazardly piled with some clothes, and a black-and-white TV was playing a show with snowy static.
From the visits, they learned that Old Wei had two children, one in college and the other in high school, both needing money. Due to tuition issues, the eldest almost dropped out, but fortunately, there was a student loan.
As they left Old Wei’s house, the cadre said, “There are many households in the village like Old Wei’s.”
George felt heavy-hearted; this immense wealth gap further reinforced his resolve to alleviate poverty.
Xiao Ji couldn’t help but complain, “What’s the difference between this and exile?”
George didn’t respond because he didn’t want the cadre to think he had some strange psychological problems.
He simply replied, “I will help everyone get out of poverty and become prosperous.”
The cadre didn’t respond but just smiled happily. In his view, this young, unknown First Secretary sent down from above was simply too young. He had seen two young people exhaust themselves here and turn into seasoned veterans.
When the two returned to the room that had been prepared for George.
It could be said to be worse than a bare home, with red brick walls, a cement floor, and a wooden window that could be older than George, without any bedding. The ground was also covered in dust. It would be enough to drive most graduates to pack up and leave.
Fortunately, there was a broom, and George picked it up to clean the floor.
Xiao Ji stood at the door and said, “I could use her power to spread curses and lies in the world, fabricate a lie to deceive everyone, and get them to come here to travel.”
“No.”
George said, “Falsehoods can’t become truth.”
“Brother George,” Xiao Ji said, “you can’t afford to waste time now. I know you want to prove your capabilities to those weak mortals, but… don’t forget your hometown.”
“There are two reasons,” George said. “First, I still can’t figure out the flow rate of time across the three worlds; it might be irregular, or it might have a pattern. The most pessimistic assumption is that I’m already late.”
“But that doesn’t mean you’re wasting time,” Xiao Ji said. She looked as if she couldn’t stand being there for a day. She missed human cities, even the experimental bases that used her.
“Second, often, walking steadily forward is the right path, the shortcut.” George said, “Since I want to gain the trust of the Huaxia organization, if I don’t use my extraordinary abilities and take it step by step, how can I get them to risk their lives, the lives of their citizens, their careers, and even their own lives into my hands?”
“Alright,” Xiao Ji said, “then what are you planning to do? Get them to sign contracts together? Or talk to the elders? I feel like there are quite a few wealthy individuals supporting you.”
“I will consider both.”
“Then I will rest assured.” Xiao Ji said, “I thought you wouldn’t use your connections.”
“I’m not foolish.”
In Xiao Ji’s imagination, after George finished cleaning, he would make a call to the elders, and within the next few days, a large sum of money would pour into the impoverished village.
But it didn’t happen.
In the following week, George personally visited all the village cadres, large household owners, and impoverished families to understand various situations. He returned in the evening to study a lot of information online, busy here and there, and sometimes the number of words he exchanged with Xiao Ji in a day didn’t exceed ten.
This made Xiao Ji pout dissatisfiedly, almost dropping a water bottle. Although she was not happy, Xiao Ji still selflessly accompanied George, helping him with his work.
“It’s been six months, Brother George.”
Xiao Ji squatted on the edge of the field, gripping the edge of her white skirt with both hands to keep it from getting dirty.
George was less particular; he sat barefoot on the edge of the field, wearing an old straw hat, with a hoe beside him.
Xiao Ji didn’t see the influx of funding and policy support she had imagined; instead, she saw George even starting to do farm work.
George set aside the opposition to form a party member service team, going door to door to help labor-short families and impoverished households develop production. He took the lead in the most difficult and time-consuming tasks.
“Brother.” Xiao Ji omitted George’s name, poking George’s dirty shoulder with her delicate finger. “Everyone is very dissatisfied with you. They originally wanted to live a stable life, but not only did you form a service team, but you also worked really hard yourself. They have to go along, and all day long they are cursing you, saying you’re crazy, and calling you power-hungry.”
“Especially that flat-faced village cadre.” Xiao Ji said, imitating the cadre’s tone: “This young man must have water in his brain. He just wants to be an official, making me come home at eight every day.”
George’s expression remained calm: “I know.”
“Alright.” Xiao Ji said, “The women in the village also say you’re mentally ill, talking to non-existent people all day.”
“Mhm.” George replied, “It’s very normal for ordinary people to feel strange seeing a young person talking to the air.”
“Brother, I want to go back.”
George patted Xiao Ji’s head and said, “If you want to go back, just say so. Don’t try to provoke me. I’ll apply to the higher-ups.”
“No.” Xiao Ji said, “I just want to be with you. It’s good for us to go out for a walk as well.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have much time left.” George said, “How is your progress?”
“Very poor.” Xiao Ji lowered her head and said, “I think I’ll have to leave you in a little over a year, and I feel sad. I really haven’t learned anything from your actions. Seeing those poor people, I’m trying very hard to make my mood heavy.”
George patted Xiao Ji’s head and said, “It’s okay, let it be.”
Xiao Ji brushed the dust off her head and said, “Alright.”
…
…
“Through investigations, we reached a conclusion: On the surface, Tongshan Village’s poverty is due to weak industries and poor infrastructure, but the root cause lies in the severe mindset of the masses to ‘wait, rely, and demand.’ The party members and cadres lack vitality and enthusiasm, failing to play a good leading role. To achieve the goal of poverty alleviation…”
The clear AI voice echoed in the meeting room, where more than a dozen high-ranking officials were seated at the conference table. They had heard plenty of these “eight-legged essays,” but now everyone perked up, focusing intently to hear the results from this otherworldly person.
“…If we want to ignite the enthusiasm of the majority of party members and the masses for work, the inexperienced Xiao Qiao arrived and was at a loss. She went online to study materials on grassroots party building, consulted leaders in the town, discussed with village committee members, and sought opinions and suggestions from elders…”
“But theory alone is not enough. To stimulate the masses’ enthusiasm, practical actions and results must be exhibited. He learned by visiting Fengquan and Fuyue, experiencing modern agriculture and rural tourism…”
“…He went to places with equally harsh natural conditions, like Wanxiang Village in Fengshan County, to learn firsthand that ‘small mountain villages can achieve great things,’ which enhanced development confidence….”
“…The village cadre of Tongshan said nothing but praise for Xiao Qiao, saying that the new energy he brought revitalized Tongshan Village…”
“…The village suffers from labor shortages, and forming a party member service team to help labor-short households…”
“…He secured support from the labor union of Z Bank’s headquarters and the C County branch, donating 1.3 million yuan to repair village roads…”
“…Organized local skilled individuals to form a ‘local expert team’ to impart agricultural and breeding techniques to the masses for free…”
“…He introduced two agricultural industrialization enterprises, and developed three large-scale breeding farms and ten family farms…”
“…When Xiao Qiao spoke about the impoverished households in the village, he was even more ‘in the know’: Old Wei and his wife utilized the industrial turnover fund to build several pens behind their house, raising meat chickens according to local conditions, while other impoverished households also leveraged their unique characteristics to achieve increased income and prosperity through policy support…”
Finally, the lengthy eight-legged essay “broadcast” ended.
A cautious official lowered his head, once again confirming the documents on the table. The clean white paper read:
“This article was handwritten by George and edited by XXX to remove references to extraordinary powers.”
He asked again, “He never lies, is very honest, right?”
“Yes.” The elder straightened his back, his complexion rosy. “You can check the report on page five.”
“I’ve read it three times.” The cautious official said, “The formulation of contracts for villagers. Since the contracts were established, uncivilized and illegal behaviors have dropped significantly, and several generations of feuds in the village have been mediated… Is the law returning?”
In rural grassroots areas, control was lost, and legal awareness was weak; who was right or wrong mainly depended on how many men a family had. This was normal, after all, the police station was far in the town.
“Yes.” The elder said, “He is now purifying all the curses in the entire village; we used ‘the production team’s donkey’ for experiments.”
“That’s inappropriate.” The cautious official said, “You know that ‘the production team’s donkey’ is her divine chosen one. She uses him to judge my reality or falsehood; if this matter leaks…”
“We only used the guise of an experiment to request the blue pills from him,” the elder said, “and sent people to use the blue pills to slap villagers in Tongshan; it had no effect.”
“He’s in the village, right?”
“Yes.”
“The experimental results lack persuasive power.”
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Someone knocked at the door.
A soldier with graying hair strode in and saluted:
“The latest experimental results are out; none of the one hundred fifty blue pills were effective.”
The elder nodded in satisfaction, looking into the cautious official’s eyes and said, “He is currently waiting for our response and is not in the village.”
The insistence on maintaining a benevolent order seemed to truly protect people from the demon king’s curses.
This thought surfaced in many people’s minds.
“Based on his achievements, he can be rated as a provincial-level tourism poverty alleviation demonstration village.”
This meant that, according to what they had previously agreed upon, they would give George even more resources.
The cautious official shifted in his seat and said, “We should observe and study further to see if this set can last. He’s using extraordinary abilities, as well as policy leanings.”
