Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

In the evening, Wang Changgui was packing up his things in the town office, planning to have a drink with his colleagues after he finished.

As soon as Lin Chen called, Chang Gui exploded upon hearing the contents of the call.

"What? They've started an underground lottery in Ivory Mountain? No way! These guys usually seem pretty shrewd and clever, how could they believe in this bullshit!"

"It really is Uncle Changgui."

Lin Chen's voice came from the other end of the phone:

"It's all being spread by people from the town into the villages. It seems there are even people specifically collecting the codes. If we don't do anything about it, it will be too late once people have lost all their money. You should quickly use the loudspeaker to announce it and hold a meeting tonight to crack down on this."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back right now!"

Chang Gui dared not delay, as this was no small matter. The station had been extremely busy lately, and sometimes when they needed to make announcements, they would have to return to the town after setting up a post in the village. Otherwise, he would have known about this matter.

Chang Gui's bike chain was almost flying off, but he finally arrived in the village before dark. He called Lin Chen, who then drove to the village committee.

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

Chang Gui slammed his hand on the table, turned around and rushed to the loudspeaker, grabbed the microphone and turned the volume up to the maximum.

The village loudspeakers hummed, the sound clearly reaching every household and courtyard:

"Attention all villagers! Attention all villagers! Urgent notice!"

"The rumors circulating in the village recently about making money by watching cartoons and cooking shows are all lies! This is an underground lottery, which is illegal gambling! The police station is cracking down on it throughout the county and town!"

"Let me tell you, anyone who participates again will be fined at best, and detained at worst! Don't take any chances! All that talk about TV stations leaking codes and national welfare is utter nonsense! Why would the government hide its welfare benefits?"

"And anyone in town who buys mountain produce, and helps them collect money via code, will be reported to the police station!"

"At 7 PM tonight, all village representatives must attend a general meeting at the village office. Every household must be present; no one is allowed to be absent!"

The announcement was broadcast three times in a row, and it spread throughout the entire village in an instant.

The village immediately erupted in chaos. Xie Guangkun quickly stuffed the code into the stove pit. He had been inside once before and didn't want to go back in. Last time, Liu Neng had humiliated him for a long time.

Zhao Si hurriedly hid the cigarette box wrapper everywhere, muttering to himself:

"Oh no, oh no, after all this, it turns out this is illegal... We can't do it..."

The old ladies in the village were in a panic. They quickly distributed all the money they had collected back home and obediently stayed at home, never daring to mention winning the lottery again.

At 7 p.m., the village office was packed with people; almost everyone in the village, young and old, had arrived.

The overhead light bulbs were extremely bright. Liu Neng, Xie Guangkun, Zhao Si, and the others stood obediently in the front row, appearing exceptionally well-behaved, but in reality, each harbored their own ulterior motives.

Chang Gui stood in front, his face as long as a shoehorn, holding a police station's anti-gambling leaflet in his hand, and spoke in a stern tone.

"Quiet down! Today's meeting has only one thing to do: completely eradicate this malpractice of underground lotteries!"

"No, don't you guys watch the news? The higher-ups have repeatedly warned us against touching these things!"

"This thing existed in Shenyang back in 01, and by 04 it was rampant in the rural areas surrounding Shenyang!"

"This thing has ruined so many people! So many villages, where people have poured all their money—the money they'd saved from farming, building houses, and even getting married—into gambling, only to lose everything. Their land is abandoned, their families are torn apart, and then they'll have nowhere to cry!"

Chang Gui was a little out of breath from shouting. Wang Yun had been acting very aggressively lately, and he was even a little afraid to go back to the village. He waved his hand and called Lin Chen to the front to say a few words.

Lin Chen came over and whispered:

"Uncle Changgui, I don't have much authority when I speak. What you said just now was very good."

"We'll play the good cop and the bad cop. I've finished playing the good cop, now it's your turn to play the bad cop. Try to persuade them gently again."

Lin Chen gave a thumbs up:

"Great job, you truly deserve to be the village chief. Alright, I'll try to persuade you gently then."

"Are you all crazy?! A bunch of stupid fools, actually believing cartoons to reveal secrets and telling people phone numbers while cooking? Even the TV station is baffled; a bunch of adults are glued to their screens watching kids' cartoons every day. Aren't you ashamed?!"

Wang Laoqi felt offended, but he didn't say anything.

"You still believe this is a national welfare benefit? You're missing a screw! If you're full of water in your brain, bend down and see if you can pour it out! National subsidies are deposited directly into your account; why hide them on TV?"

"I'm reiterating this one last time! From today onwards, anyone who buys, distributes, or studies lottery codes will be reported directly to the police station! Don't wait for the police to come to your door and handcuff you; crying out for justice won't do any good! Everyone should focus on farming, work diligently, and stop daydreaming about windfalls!"

"Are you really like that? Don't you even take a good look at yourself in the mirror? Do you think you'd win the grand prize? Even if I gave you the money, would you be able to find out the truth? A bunch of idiots... Waaah..."

Before Lin Chen could finish speaking, Chang Gui covered his mouth.

"Uncle Changgui, I'm not tired, I can still say a few more words."

"Chen, please stop, I beg you, it sounds awful. If they kick you in the ring, I'll be in trouble too."

Before he could speak, Changgui used real cases from the surrounding towns and villages, which had been distributed by the police station, to conduct a cautionary education session.

As soon as Chang Gui finished speaking, another round of chatter erupted from below.

"Oh my god, thank goodness I didn't follow the trend and buy it."

"So it was gambling. You can get detained for betting ten or twenty yuan?"

"I'll never trust these crooked and shady practices again. Farming honestly is the safest bet."

At this moment, Xie Guangkun cleared his throat, deliberately raised his voice, stood up, and said in a pretentious manner:

"I saw through this scam a long time ago! It's so stupid and ignorant! Only uneducated people can fall for it. We reasonable people wouldn't touch it! Changgui, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things in the village for you while you're in town."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Neng let out a sneer that could be heard by everyone present:

"You watch this, Guangkun, give me a break! Don't pretend! Just a few days ago you were chasing after me asking what the special code was, and even said you'd buy a couple to test the waters! Now that things have gone wrong, you're acting like you know everything?"

Xie Guangkun's calm and unhurried defense:

"That was research! I was trying to warn the villagers against being scammed! How can that be compared to your reckless gambling? I was doing this to take responsibility!"

"What responsibility? It's all just hindsight!"

Lin Chen crossed his arms and snorted coldly:

"Uncle Guangkun, do you know Old Zhou, the guy who buys mountain goods in town? He's the one who brought this shady business in here. You two are pretty close, aren't you?"

Xie Guangkun panicked upon hearing this and immediately said:

"Xiao Chen, you can't say that. I know Lao Zhou, but I didn't help him. Besides, there are so many channels, you can't just make up stories and wrong people."

Chang Gui patted the table outside:

"Alright, stop arguing. We'll let bygones be bygones, but from today onwards, anyone who offends again will not be spared!"

Zhao Si lowered his head, put his hands in his pockets, and whispered to Yu Tian's mother behind him:

"I told you long ago, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The right way is to farm properly..."

Yu Tian's mother rolled her eyes at him and said without any mercy:

"Don't brag! When you're squatting on the ground counting the number of kitchen knives, you're more serious than anyone else!"

Zhao Si glared at her, then shut his mouth and said nothing.

The elderly women in the back row were also chatting in hushed tones.

"I'm only buying something that costs a few dozen yuan, it should be fine, right?"

"Don't take any chances. I'll never buy it again. I lost over two hundred yuan; it was all for nothing."

"That's terrifying. They can even detain people. I wouldn't dare do anything reckless."

At this moment, Lin Chen slowly stood up, and Chang Gui immediately stopped him.

"Uncle Changgui, I'll stop cursing and just tell everyone about the harm it causes."

"Okay, but you absolutely mustn't swear, your mouth is like it's been poisoned."

Lin Chen stepped forward and clapped his hands, instantly silencing the entire room as everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"Let me tell you all some honest words. Don't be fooled by the harsh words the director uttered; it's all for your own good."

The people standing in the first row all lowered their heads, thinking to themselves that you were the one who used the most offensive language.