From collapsing rooftop to poverty alleviation village chief

[Congratulations, host, you have arrived at the core poverty alleviation area, "Qiongyu Village". You can now explore on foot and unlock the entire village map.]

Just as Lin Ye had predicted, after entering Qiongyu Village, the places he passed through were all lit up on the mini-map, displaying images scaled down to the real-world scenery.

The simple mud-brick houses, the dilapidated black and yellow thatched roofs, the blue plastic sheeting covering the broken windows, the mottled and dirty yellow mud walls, the straw sheds next to the fences and courtyards, the crooked trees and weeds, and even the muddy dirt roads after the rain are all exactly the same as the real scene.

Lin Ye noticed that each time he passed a house, in addition to lighting up the house and the surrounding area on the map, three lines of text would also appear on the house.

[Head of Household:]

【member:】

Poverty Alleviation Index:

These three lines of text appear to be the basic family information of each villager, but the rest are blank.

Lin Ye guessed that the results would only be displayed after he personally visited each household to investigate the situation.

In fact, the basic situation of each villager can be seen through the data from the Poverty Alleviation Department.

However, seeing with your own eyes, hearing with your own ears, and experiencing firsthand are naturally more authentic than reading cold, hard documents.

And what does this "poverty alleviation index" mean?

"Oh, so this is the new village chief?"

"Wow, no wonder she's a big star, she's so beautiful!"

"This delicate skin looks useless!"

As Lin Ye was pondering, a murmur arose around him. The villagers, seeing Chen Yonggui personally leading people into the village, all came out to watch the spectacle.

The news that the new village chief is a pretty boy celebrity spread throughout the village yesterday through the mouths of Liu Ying and her two siblings.

Now that they've seen the real people, the women are all laughing and gossiping, while the men look on with disdain.

Lin Ye remained unfazed and even smiled and greeted the villagers who were watching him, which caused them to subconsciously avoid his gaze.

When Lin Ye set off in the morning, Director Liu saw him off and specifically reminded him that the previous two college graduate village chiefs of Qiongyu Village lacked experience and made some mistakes, so now the villagers are very resistant to outsiders becoming village chiefs.

Lin Ye had thought he wouldn't even be able to enter the village, but the situation was much better than he had anticipated.

Having chosen the path of poverty alleviation, one must be prepared to face difficulties.

Passing by two brick-and-mortar houses with whitewashed walls and neatly covered roofs of blue tiles, and courtyard walls also made of blue bricks, they stood out from the surrounding dilapidated houses.

Lin Ye asked Chen Yonggui, "Old village chief, whose house is this?"

Chen Yonggui, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, replied indifferently, "Zhang Dafu."

Lin Ye nodded. "So this is Deputy Village Chief Zhang's house. That's nice."

Chen Yonggui glanced at him but didn't say anything more.

At this moment, Lin Ye saw a young girl appear behind a window of Zhang Dafu's house. She looked at Lin Ye with her big, dark eyes.

When Lin Ye looked over, the girl was startled and seemed to want to hide, but she eventually stood still and gave Lin Ye a shy smile.

Lin Ye nodded and smiled at the girl, then asked Chen Yonggui, "Old village chief, is that Village Chief Zhang's daughter?"

Chen Yonggui hummed in response, clearly showing no desire to talk. Lin Ye smiled and didn't ask any further questions.

The two walked silently past house after house. Ahead lay two mud-brick houses joined together, with two thin wooden doors in front of them. A wooden sign hung above the doors, on which a few words were scrawled in crooked handwriting:

Qiongyu Village Primary School.

Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat; Xiao Erduo was a student at Qiongyu Village Primary School!

At this moment, more than a dozen small heads peeked out from both sides of the simple wooden door, looking at Lin Ye curiously.

The children ranged in age from five or six to eleven or twelve, and were clearly students at the village primary school.

Lin Ye's lips curved slightly. The little ear is inside, isn't it?

Seeing Lin Ye looking over, the children all shrank back in a flash, then poked their heads out again a moment later. After a few whispers, a little girl of about seven or eight years old was pushed out.

She ran over, holding a bunch of wildflowers in her hands, and handed them to Lin Ye, saying timidly:

"Uncle Village Chief, this is for you."

The little girl tilted her head back, her two thick ponytails hanging down her back, and her big, dark eyes reflected the sky and Lin Ye's face.

In her hand were a few white wild lilies, a few clusters of fiery red daylilies, and a few foxtail grasses, all covered with fresh soil.

Lin Ye squatted down, patted the little girl's head, and unconsciously raised his voice, "Little friend, what's your name?"

The little girl was a bit thin, and her skin was a little rough, but her big eyes were incredibly clear and bright, and her voice was sweet and adorable.

"Uncle Village Chief, my name is Zhang Meimei."

Lin Ye's smile softened, and his voice became even gentler, "Zhang Meimei, why did you send me flowers?"

Zhang Meimei blinked. "Teacher Su said that you all came to help us. Although you may not be smart or do a good job, we should still thank you."

Lin Ye laughed, "Your teacher Su is quite good at teaching, but I'm very smart!"

The "you" the little girl was referring to should be him and the two previous village chiefs. Director Liu also said that the two college students in front of him did do things, but their methods were wrong, and they did bad things with good intentions.

Zhang Meimei shook her head vigorously, her braids bobbing along with the noise. "I don't believe it! Teacher Su said you're just kids trying to learn farming—just messing around!"

The little girl's voice was clear and crisp, and her expression was innocent and naive. The words she was saying were clearly meant to be sarcastic, but they sounded so pleasant and cute coming from her mouth.

Lin Ye laughed and took the flowers. "Then I'll have to ask your teacher, Ms. Su, to teach me how to farm in the future."

Zhang Meimei said disdainfully, "No, if you're too stupid, you'll tire Teacher Su out."

After saying that, he turned around and ran back to the village school. A group of children made faces at Lin Ye and then burst into laughter.

Chen Yonggui waved to the children, "Go back and do your homework!"

The children all rushed back to the classroom.

Watching the children's cheerful figures disappear into the distance, a rare smile appeared on Chen Yonggui's deeply lined face. He turned to Lin Ye and said:

"There's only one teacher, Ms. Su, in the village school. She went back home these past few days because of some family matters, so I'm teaching the children now."

Lin Ye nodded. "Director Liu said that Teacher Su is very popular with the children."

Chen Yonggui's gaze softened further. "Xiao Su is indeed different from other city people."

Lin Ye remained silent. Did he include "other city dwellers" in that context?

After passing the village school, Lin Ye looked back and finally couldn't help but ask:

"Old village chief, is there a little girl in our village named Little Ears? She should be studying at the village school too."

Chen Yonggui thought for a moment, then shook his head. "There are only four girls studying at the village primary school: my granddaughter Yaya, Sun Xiuying's daughter Meimei, Shanhua from Zheng Daniu's family, and Hongyu from Wang Degui's family. There is no one named Xiao Erduo."

Lin Ye quickly replied, "Little Ears must be a nickname. Doesn't anyone in our village have that?"

Chen Yonggui thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head again and said, "No."

Lin Ye was stunned.

Is there a little girl named Little Ears in Qiongyu Village?

Wasn't that little girl who kept writing to him from Qiongyu Village?

But why did she say in the letter that she was in Qiongyu Village and that she also mentioned Teacher Su from the village primary school? That makes perfect sense.

It seems I'll have to wait until Teacher Su returns before asking her.

After passing the village school and walking a little further, Lin Ye suddenly stopped, turned around, and ran back quickly.

Chen Yonggui called out from behind, "Village Chief Lin, where are you going?"

The other villagers also looked at Lin Ye with puzzled expressions. They saw him observing each house and then walking into the village school, carefully examining the two adobe classrooms.

Chen Yonggui quickly caught up, his face grim. "Village Chief Lin, what are you doing?"