Tian Jing waved to the somewhat nervous Jiang Lin, motioning for her to sit closer.
Jiang Lin shyly nodded and greeted Li Zhengguo, "Uncle Li, hello."
Zeng Jingrong was surprised, "Why are you calling him Uncle? Didn't you used to call him Town Head Li?"
Jiang Lin's face instantly turned red.
Tian Jing waved him away, "You're not needed here. Hurry and leave."
The atmosphere was clearly awkward, but since Tian Tian asked him to leave, Zeng Jingrong had no choice but to get up.
He reached out his hand to Ji Shiyi, but Tian Jing slapped it away, "Shiyi stays."
Ji Shiyi also waved goodbye to Zeng Jingrong. She had seen through some of it and after Zeng Jingrong had walked away, she asked, "Captain Tian, are you looking for a daughter-in-law?"
Her words made Jiang Lin's face even redder.
"You could say that," Tian Jing nodded. "Jiang Lin wants to pursue Hao Hao, and I have no objections. Since Town Head Li is here today, let's get his opinion too."
"Whether it works out or not will depend on Jiang Lin's own ability."
Li Zhengguo merely glanced at her and waved his hand, "I have no objections either. The key is still Hao Hao's own wishes."
"Regarding this matter, Ji Shiyi, don't tell Hao Hao, to avoid causing him to react negatively."
"I understand," Ji Shiyi nodded. "Actually, it's not just Jiang Lin; several young girls in the team want to actively pursue Hao Hao. Hao Hao's appearance is too impactful."
As Ji Shiyi spoke, her eyes shifted towards Tian Jing.
Tian Jing touched her own face. Children resemble their mothers, and their mothers resemble their fathers. Isn't that normal?
"So, the decision rests with Hao Hao. We won't interfere."
"Jiang Lin bravely approached me, so we decided to take a look."
"Not telling Hao Hao is because we're worried he'll think we've already agreed, and casually accept it."
"Or, out of defiance, if he had some interest, but because he thinks we're involved, even that little bit of interest will disappear."
Tian Jing spoke these words, her gaze fixed on Jiang Lin's face.
Jiang Lin showed no change in expression. She had intended to pursue him based on her own merits from the start.
A marriage obtained by relying on the parents' approval wouldn't last long.
Tian Jing secretly nodded. This girl wasn't overly scheming.
She looked at her husband, and Li Zhengguo gave her a gentle nod.
Just then, Li Weixin came down carrying four empty baskets, and the awkward, constrained atmosphere finally dissipated.
Ji Shiyi pulled Jiang Lin away, leaving the stage to the birthday boy of the day.
Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo stayed with their younger son until evening before leaving.
Li Weixin waved goodbye to his parents with tears in his eyes. His seventeenth birthday was the most unforgettable birthday of his life.
Seeing her younger brother and sister-in-law, Li Min asked Rannan if she had eaten the steamed buns she made.
Tian Jing recounted Rannan's expression to her sister-in-law, and Li Min burst into laughter.
...
The "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" activity began in the village.
The children's spirits were crushed by the hard-to-swallow food and the shoes with visible toes.
Looking at the padded clothes and pants with cotton showing through the patched seams, they pouted and said their parents were abusing them. Their parents waved them off, telling them to go complain to the village committee.
The children immediately fell silent.
The "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" was organized by the village, and the village committee would hardly side with them.
Lin Erlai was even more extreme, dressing his two daughters in reed-filled clothes and covering them with bark quilts.
He frankly told his daughters about his past: "...A scoundrel who was beaten by everyone, where would I get cotton?"
"If it weren't for the Li family bringing cotton seeds and growing cotton, and if Captain Tian hadn't generously given each family a few seeds, your father and I would still be covered by such quilts and wearing such clothes."
"Endure it. If you endure it for twenty red flags, you'll be liberated."
Lin Wan wanted to ask why her elder sister and second sister weren't back to participate, but her second sister's current status made her hesitant.
She could only hope for Ying Hongqi's release.
Looking at her father, who was still using a cane, Lin Man didn't believe it.
As expected, by the end of April, when tourists entered Kushan Mountain and saw the two different lives the adults and children were living, they felt sorry for the children and naturally inquired about the reason.
When they learned about the origin of the "bitter suffering and sweet remembering," without the villagers pointing the way, they found the Lin family by seeing Lin Erlai, who was using a cane.
Facing the tourists, Lin Wan put on a show of misery, but the tourists watched with folded arms.
Some who hated evil said she shouldn't be given anything to eat, and should be made to dig for wild vegetables and cook them herself, without salt or oil, as salt was also a precious commodity of that era, let alone oil.
Others with sharp eyes noticed that Lin Man was even thinner than Lin Wan and couldn't help but indulge in conspiracy theories: They heard that the "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" started after spring plowing, so why was Lin Wan still in such good spirits? Could she have stolen her elder sister's food?
The tourists, increasingly disgusted, left the Lin family and went to other homes to see if there was anything more authentic to add points for them.
The thought of rescuing these children filled the tourists with a sense of justice.
The scenic area hadn't even opened, and the village was already packed.
The county television station arrived with their equipment. The village agreed to let them film, but the footage had to be real, the narration had to be real, and when stirring up viewers' emotions, there should be no negativity towards the village, parents, or individual children.
The scenes of "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" were broadcast that evening.
The television station's viewership soared, and Kushan Mountain was also flooded with tourists.
This kind of operation couldn't control the flow of visitors, so they had to set up barriers in the middle of the village roads to divide the traffic, preventing congestion.
Fortunately, the children still had to go to school, so this plan was implemented only after school hours.
Some children became accustomed to this attire and went to school in patched clothes. Their classmates didn't laugh but admired them for being on television.
Children from the first and second villages went back to their parents and demanded to participate in "bitter suffering and sweet remembering."
The parents were happy for their children to make a fuss, as their children's demands gave them a reason to go to Village Chief Zhou.
Why should all the excitement be concentrated in the main village of Kushan Mountain?
Zhou Chengbing was dealing with the television station. The station even said they wanted to stay and film, producing one episode a day.
Even if the small Western-style buildings belonging to the village weren't used as warehouses by the nursery, he wouldn't agree.
Their village didn't lack money. They were teaching the children to learn to endure hardship, so of course, they wouldn't let the children take money from the television station.
While negotiating, both the first and second villages called, saying they also wanted to participate in the "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" program. Most of the houses in their villages hadn't been renovated yet, making their performance even more convincing.
Zhou Chengbing had a headache. Was this acting? This was meant to be a real experience.
He asked Deputy Village Chief Ou and Secretary Yang to make the decision, but the two old men waved their hands, saying they didn't understand these things.
Village Chief Zhou had to report to Town Head Li.
Town Head Li said he had made two mistakes.
First, the children received half-meals at school. They couldn't eat them at home and went back to school to supplement, so they didn't feel their lives were difficult.
Of course, the half-meals at school couldn't be canceled. They could only pretend to forget. Was he really going to ruin the children's health?
Second, the television station was related to ratings. When the children from the first and second villages saw that they could be on television, they naturally wanted to participate.
Kushan Mountain had too many tourists. The participation of the first and second villages could alleviate the pressure.
In the future, there might be various extreme comments accusing Kushan Mountain of abusing children or using them for attention.
Therefore, they could accept the television station's filming request and all associated costs.
These costs would then be used for genuinely poor mountainous areas, with the income transparently posted on the village committee's bulletin board.
Each episode would show which family's child was featured, and the income received would be marked in the corner of that family's doorplate.
This would indicate how much money the child from this family had donated to impoverished mountainous areas. The child would receive spiritual encouragement, and the children in impoverished mountainous areas would be able to attend school, receiving the same spiritual sustenance.
With a solution in hand, Zhou Chengbing immediately put it into action.
The television station had to solve its own accommodation and food problems and was not allowed to disturb the villagers.
The filming requirements remained the same as the first episode. If the footage was distorted, Kushan Mountain had the right to sue the television station.
The television station people readily signed the contract. They were after ratings, and if they fell out with Kushan Mountain and were not allowed to film, it would be a net loss.
The first and second villages gained the right to participate and immediately put away the electrical appliances and furniture they had recently purchased, restoring their homes.
The children from the first and second villages could no longer watch television or sit on comfortable sofas. What if they regretted it?
What to do? Deal with it!
With the addition of two other villages, the pressure on Kushan Mountain's main village decreased slightly, but the tourist traffic remained considerable.
The repetitive days made the tourists tired. Finally, they began to earnestly make reservations for scenic area tickets and go up the mountain to play.
Of course, this was the first batch of tourists. Later tourists continued to arrive, and the lively scene continued.
Slowly, the parents noticed that the children had become much more sensible.
They no longer cried when eating coarse grains and coarse vegetables, and no longer felt ashamed of wearing patched clothes. They slept soundly on hard beds with stiff quilts.
They also proactively helped their parents with chores, feeding chickens, sweeping floors, and starting fires, doing everything skillfully.
By October, Kushan Mountain had invested all the hundreds of thousands of yuan received from the television station into the development of impoverished mountainous areas.
Of course, Kushan Mountain didn't have to do this itself; the poverty alleviation office handled it.
The poverty alleviation office publicized the amount of money donated by Kushan Mountain, and some faint voices of opposition disappeared.
The peak tourist season ended, but "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" had not.
Even the children who had earned enough "bitter suffering tokens" were still reluctant to move back into the small Western-style buildings opposite.
When scattered tourists asked why, the children said that living in the old houses and doing housework after school every day made them feel at ease.
Moreover, they could exchange items with "bitter suffering tokens," gradually obtaining the daily necessities they needed, which gave them a sense of accomplishment.
...
Tian Jing watched the spectacle for five months and finally told Li Zhengguo, "Tell Zhou Chengbing to stop while he's ahead. Don't let the children become too immersed in it, treating life as a game."
Li Zhengguo agreed. No matter how much they disciplined the children, they couldn't truly and completely replicate the past, making the children think it was just a game.
Indeed, when the village announced the end of the "bitter suffering and sweet remembering" program, the children were unhappy.
But there was no choice. When the village said it was over, it was over. All plans and games had to come to an end.
Reluctantly, the children moved back into the small Western-style buildings, only to find that the large color TV, refrigerator, and washing machine were gone.
Didn't they say the plan was over? Where was their big color TV? Where were their cartoons?
The parents looked up at the sky. Didn't they say they cherished the hard years? Appliances were something they couldn't even dream of in those hard years.
If they wanted appliances, they could dream on!