Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

Once the order in the stands was restored, Chang Gui called out:

"According to the ranking order, Liu Neng, you're the first to speak!"

Liu Neng immediately perked up, straightened his collar, and strode quickly onto the stage. He grabbed the megaphone, cleared his throat several times, and began to speak haltingly.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, hello everyone! I, Liu Neng, may not claim to be perfect in my conduct, but I am absolutely upright and honest!"

"First of all, let's talk about family harmony. My wife and I have spent most of our lives together without ever arguing or bickering. My daughter Liu Ying is filial and sensible, and my son-in-law is successful in his career. He and Zhao Si are closer than brothers!"

"And let's talk about helping each other in the neighborhood. Whenever anyone in the village has an event, big or small, I, Liu Neng, have never been absent. When it comes to helping others, I'm absolutely first-rate, so I think I'm fully qualified for this star-rated civilized household award!"

At this point, he changed the subject, glancing at Xie Guangkun in the audience, and said with a smirk:

"Of course... I'm not saying others are bad, but I'm afraid some people overestimate themselves. Their homes are always in chaos, with people making a scene about hanging themselves. They have a small argument every three days and a big fight every five. They can't control their sons, and their homes are a mess. With this kind of family atmosphere, they dare to come up and be evaluated as a civilized and harmonious household? I'm ashamed for them. How can they be so shameless!"

As soon as he said that, the audience burst into laughter, all knowing who he was talking about.

Xie Guangkun, listening from below the stage, turned pale with anger and gritted his teeth. Before Liu Neng could finish speaking, he stood up abruptly, strode onto the stage, and snatched the megaphone away.

"Shut up right now, Liu Neng! You're really good at lying through your teeth! You have the nerve to talk about harmony? A couple of years ago, you kicked down someone's door in the middle of the night over half a row of land, disturbing the whole neighborhood. Why didn't you talk about neighborly harmony then?"

Xie Guangkun gripped the megaphone, spittle flying everywhere, his voice drowning out everyone else.

"Listen up, everyone! My Xie family has an upright family tradition, and we live one of the best lives in our village! My son, Xie Yongqiang, runs a thriving orchard and is now working on a hot spring project with the Wang Group. He's a truly progressive young man in our village! This is what a truly civilized family looks like!"

Liu Neng immediately became anxious, his stuttering worsened, and his face turned bright red.

"You...you...how can you fabricate such lies? What broom? When did I take public property? Don't make false accusations! How dare you say that to me? You and Wang Laoqi even argued over sheep eating vegetables, everyone in the village knows that!"

"And what about family values? You force Xie Yongqiang to do this and that every day, and you throw tantrums and act tough whenever the child doesn't do what you want, driving Yongqiang to hide in the orchard on the mountain, afraid to go home! The other day you had a fight with Chen Guiying at home, overturning the table and smashing dishes, and the whole village came to watch the spectacle. I'm ashamed for you even though you're not embarrassed! With your behavior, do you even deserve to be named a civilized household?"

"I was just being reasonable and upholding justice!" Xie Guangkun shouted at the top of his lungs.

"You're kidding me!"

Liu Neng refused to yield an inch:

"You call that reasoning? That's just being unreasonable! You're the biggest troublemaker in the whole village!"

The two were completely enraged, digging up old grievances from over a decade ago, starting with the selection of model households. They exposed each other's shortcomings and dirt, each shouting louder than the other.

The villagers below the stage laughed uproariously, some clapping and cheering, others whispering and gossiping. The whole courtyard was in complete chaos, even more lively than a traditional folk opera performance.

Chang Gui frowned angrily on the stage, picked up the teacup on the table, and banged it hard on the table three times.

"Stop arguing! Everyone, be quiet!"

He shouted three times, but it didn't quell their anger. The two remained stubborn and refused to back down. Finally, Changgui couldn't take it anymore and slammed his hand on the table, standing up abruptly.

"Still arguing, huh? If you keep arguing, both of you will be disqualified from the selection! How old are you? Arguing in front of the whole village, aren't you ashamed? You have no manners as elders at all!"

These words finally worked. Liu Neng and Xie Guangkun shut their mouths in a huff, glared at each other, and turned their heads away, looking displeased and resentful.

After the two of them calmed down, Wang Laoqi steadily walked onto the stage.

He held a megaphone in his hand, his expression was simple, and he said a few words in a very simple way.

"I'm not good with words and I don't know how to say nice things. I've always adhered to one principle: to live an honest and upright life, to work hard and earn money steadily, to help each other with my neighbors, to not cause trouble, and to get along peacefully."

"I don't know how I got elected. I'm grateful to everyone who voted for me, and I have no complaints if you don't. It's all about participation."

After saying that, he put down the loudspeaker and walked off the stage without saying anything more.

This action, on the contrary, drew cheers from the villagers below the stage, with sparse applause ringing out intermittently.

Next, we will officially begin the voting process.

The village representatives lined up one by one to go on stage, picked up paper and pen to write their names, and then put them into a basin.

Accountant Xu supervised the entire process of ticket verification, and did a very solid job; no one could find anything wrong with it.

Lin Chen picked up his pen and steadily wrote down the three characters "Wang Laoqi," folded it neatly, and casually dropped it into the ballot box. His ballot had a mark inside, which could be seen at a glance.

The voting ended quickly, and the most exciting part began: counting the votes. Chang Gui sat at the front of the stage and read out each vote. Accountant Xu would then mark the corresponding name on the blackboard with a tally mark.

Liu Neng and Xie Guangkun huddled close to the blackboard, craning their necks like geese, their eyes fixed on the blackboard without blinking, as if afraid of losing a few votes.

At first, the three votes were neck and neck, with no clear winner. Both of them were secretly pleased, feeling that they had a very high chance of winning.

When Accountant Xu read out the special recommendation votes, he paused for a moment and raised his voice to shout it out.

"One special recommendation vote for Lin Chen, cast for Wang Laoqi! This vote is equivalent to three votes from an ordinary villager!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Laoqi's votes on the blackboard immediately surpassed those of the other two.

Liu Neng and Xie Guangkun froze on the spot, stunned. They had both secretly assumed that even if Lin Chen didn't help them with all his might, he would at least give them some face. They never expected that he would not show any favoritism at all and would directly cast the crucial vote for Wang Laoqi.

But this is for the best, at least the other party didn't get it.

From then on, Wang Laoqi's votes soared.

The vote count was over quickly, and Accountant Xu picked up the chalk and neatly wrote down the final vote count on the blackboard.

"The final vote count is complete. I now officially announce that Wang Laoqi is this year's Star-Rated Civilized Household of Ivory Mountain Village!"

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.

"Seventh Brother truly deserves this title!"

"Seventh Brother, you're treating us to dinner!"

"That elderly couple has always been honest and law-abiding, never causing trouble. This honor should rightfully belong to them!"

Wang Laoqi himself was a little confused, with a simple and honest smile on his face, looking extremely embarrassed.

"Oh my, this is such a surprise! I was just there to make up the numbers, I never expected to be selected."

In contrast, Liu Neng and Xie Guangkun stood there, looking at each other with grim expressions, their faces ashen and wilted as eggplants.

As the meeting ended, the villagers gradually left in twos and threes, and the courtyard quickly became deserted.

Only Liu Neng and Xie Guangkun didn't leave. The two of them squatted down in a sheltered spot by the west wall of the village committee, basking in the sun, and each took out a cigarette and lit it.

The two men smoked silently for several minutes without uttering a word. Finally, Liu Neng couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first, his tone a mixture of frustration and anger:

"It's all...it's all your fault! You...you really went looking for trouble. If you hadn't signed up, and I was the only candidate, this 'civilized household' award would definitely have been mine. But you had to interfere, splitting all the votes, and in the end, it all went to Wang Laoqi for nothing. Don't you think you're out of your mind?!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Guangkun casually threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it twice.