Chapter One: The Road Encounter

  A lush small bamboo forest opposite the teaching building of Cao Lingzi Township Middle School in Donglin County was blown by the wind, rustling and swaying.

  A girl of about eleven or twelve years old stood beside the principals office on the third floor of the teaching building, staring blankly at the outside view, her thin body seemingly trembling.

  Ye Pingyu walked up to the teaching building and caught sight of a little girl, his heart skipped a beat as he hastily walked forward to knock on the principals office door.

  In an instant, the door of the principals office opened from inside, a young female teacher flashed out, her face blushing as she glanced at Ye Pingyu, then hastily turned and left.

  Glancing at the female teacher, Ye Pingyu turned and walked into the principals office, where Principal Zhao Haibo of the rural middle school was sitting calmly at his desk.

  "Haha! Principal Zhao, sorry about that. My sister was late with the school uniform payment for a few days, so I came over to pay it today!" As soon as he walked into the principals office, Ye Pingyu let out a hearty laugh and took a few steps towards Zhao Haibo, extending his hand.

  Zhao Haibo had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and he gave Ye Pingyu a glance, but his body remained still, looking neither hot nor cold, with a faint expression, a pretentious face.

  Feeling a hot face suddenly met with a cold butt, Ye Pingyu immediately retracted his mood and hastily handed over the money.

  "Its not because of your face, Xiaoye. The school has already asked your sister to go home and raise money. Thats it!" Zhao Haibo put away the money handed over by Ye Pingyu with a serious expression as if handling official business.

  "Hehe, Principal Zhao, thank you so much. Now, can my sister go back to class?" Ye Pingyu said with a smile in his eyes as he leaned forward to look at Zhao Haibo.

  After a while, Ye Pingyu was still worried, and Zhao Haibo finally stood up and shouted loudly towards the outer room: "Teacher Liu, let Ye Xuanxuan go to class!"

  "Thank you, thank you!" As soon as Zhao Haibo finished speaking, Ye Pingyu hurriedly smiled and expressed a few more thanks before turning around and walking out of the principals office.

  As soon as they left the principals office, Ye Pingyu quickly pulled the little girl aside and asked in a sharp tone: "Why didnt you tell me earlier that you couldnt afford to pay? Is your family out of money?"

  "My dad and mom said they would give me the money to buy my school uniform after selling the rice, but now the rice hasnt been sold yet, so I dont have any money!" Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Ye Xuanxuans face was suddenly covered in tears.

  Ye Pingyu was silent for a moment, his family was not very rich, in order to support him and his sister to go to college, they spent all their savings, and his younger sister was still in junior high school here, after the new semester started, the school asked them to pay money to buy school uniforms, as a result, they delayed for several weeks without paying, then the school notified the parents, not allowing her to attend classes, asking her to go home and raise the money.

  Upon learning of the situation, he hurried over. Fortunately, he had met Zhao Haibo a few times before, otherwise even if they paid the money, his sister wouldnt be able to attend classes immediately and would still have to endure the teachers disdain. As a rural cadre, Zhao Haibo still had to give him some face...

  Before leaving, Ye Pingyu stuffed some pocket money into his sisters hand and told her to buy something good to eat. As a poor mans child, she had been taking care of the household chores since young, but being frugal was not an option when it came to food, especially during her growing years, he couldnt let her go hungry.

  After comforting his sister, Ye Pingyu walked out of Cao Ling Xiang Zi Middle School and headed towards the county government compound.

  There were many pedestrians along the way, all of whom were villagers passing by. Ye Pingyu was walking with his head down on the road, and when he was about to arrive at the entrance of the township government, a Jeep suddenly stopped beside him. A middle-aged man got out of the car and walked in front of him, saying: "Comrade, could you tell me how to get to Jinhu Village?"

  He raised his head and Ye Pingyu was stunned: "Where are you going?"

  That man said: "We want to go there to buy some Jinhu tribute rice, but cant find the way!"

  Ye Pingyu couldnt help but say: "Jinhu Village is still very far from here, and the road is hard to find."

  That man furrowed his brow, thought for a moment and said: "Comrade, can you help us out and show us the way? It wont delay you for long!"

  He took a closer look at the man and his heart skipped a beat. "Are you going with them?" he asked.

  "Thats for sure, Ill send you back when I return!"

  Then he thought for a moment and smiled: "Well, thats where I live, just thinking of going home!"

  "Haha! Thanks a lot, comrade!" The man laughed and said.

  Ye Pingyu got on the car, and the man asked: "Comrade, whats your surname?"

  "My name is Ye Pingyu, and I work in this village!"

  "Township cadres are really good!" The man said with a smile.

  Ye Pingyu said: "I just started working in the countryside, and my parents are both from rural areas!"

  "Rural people are really something!" The man sighed.

  Ye Pingyu fell silent for a moment, then thought for a moment and asked: "How did you think of buying Jinhu tribute rice?"

  That person said: "I heard that Jinhu tribute rice is of good quality and fragrant. We want to buy some to try."

  "Whats the use of having good quality if it cant be sold?"

  "That person was surprised and said: Such good rice cant be sold?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "This years harvest is very good, many people in our village planted rice, but nobody wants it."

  The mans face was calm as he said, "Does your family grow rice too?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "Our familys house hasnt been sold either, and my parents are worried about it."

  "That person thought for a moment and said: Then lets go to your house to buy it, after all, its the same wherever we buy."

  He glanced at that person and suddenly asked: "You look like youre from the city, can you help us find a way to sell?"

  He thought for a moment and said: "Ill consider this when I get back. If I can find it, Ill contact you."

  Ye Pingyu said: "Thank you so much, how many meters can you take now?"

  "Thats enough for one or two bags."

  "Just two bags of rice, Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and said: "Can we do this? Ill give you two bags of rice, can you help us find a sales channel when you get back?"

  That man chuckled and said: "How can this be, you let me lead the way and also have me deliver rice to eat!"

  Ye Pingyu said: "It doesnt matter, anyway the rice cant be sold now. Well give it to you and you help us find a sales channel. When you think about it, were still making a profit!"

  "That man smiled and said: You really believe in us like this?"

  Ye Pingyu frowned and said: "Whats unbelievable about this? We rural people are all like this!"

  That man burst out laughing and said: "Alright, well definitely help you find a way to sell it, but the money must be paid, cant eat your rice for free!"

  Ye Pingyu insisted: "If you say send it away, then just send it away. If you give us money, that means youre not willing to help us. Our rural area is very poor now, and the rice cant be sold!"

  He heard this and his tone changed as he asked: "Isnt there anyone in charge in your village?"

  Ye Pingyu shook his head and said: "There are too many things going on in the countryside, no one is in charge!"

  His face suddenly turned solemn, and Ye Pingyu also looked out of the car window with a melancholy expression.

  After the car arrived at Jinhuvillage, it drove directly to Ye Pingyus doorstep. The rural people here rarely saw cars, and when the village children saw a Jeep coming, they immediately surrounded it with excitement. When Ye Pingyu saw this, he quickly pulled them aside, fearing that the owner of the car would get angry.

  Seeing the children in the countryside, he smiled and said, "Its okay, let them watch!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, the children immediately burst out laughing and surrounded him again.

  Ye Pingyu shook his head and brought the person home.

  As soon as he entered the house, his mother, Guo Wenxiu, came out to greet him. Ye Pingyu said to her, "Mom, pack two bags of fine rice for me, my friend wants to take it away to eat!"

  As soon as Ye Pingyu quickly became his friend, the man couldnt help but smile wryly. Previously, according to the bosss instructions, he came here to buy Jinhu tribute rice and was not allowed to disturb the locals. He had to come in person and pay the money directly into the hands of the masses.

  But after coming over, he found that he couldnt find the road to Jinhu Village at all. Fortunately, he met Ye Pingyu, who not only took him there but also brought him rice. However, Ye Pingyu told him not to pay for it, which made him a bit embarrassed.

  That man thought for a moment, calculated it, and saw Ye Pingyu and his mother go into the house to get rice. He took out several banknotes from his body, saw a small hut next to him, and quietly walked in to put the money inside. By the time Ye Pingyus family realized it, they would have already gone far away.

  He poured a glass of water for the man, and then had him sit and wait while he went inside with his mother. He first talked to his mother about his sister buying school uniforms, only to find out that they really didnt have any money at home.

  Upon learning of this situation, Ye Pingyu didnt say another word and began packing rice with his mother.

  After packing, Ye Pingyu and his mother each carried a bag of rice out of the house, preparing to move it onto the vehicle. The man rushed over to greet them, took the bag of rice from Guo Wenxiu, and put it into the car with Ye Pingyu.

  After seeing the car loaded, Guo Wenxiu stood at the door and said: "Lets eat at home before leaving!"

  Ye Pingyu turned around and said: "There are still things in the village, I wont eat anymore. My friend and I will leave first!"

  Before his mother could speak, Ye Pingyu got on the car, and that person came over to shake hands with Guo Wenxiu, expressing gratitude, and also got on the car.

  Watching the car leave, Guo Wenxiu sighed and said: "This child, how did he just send two bags of good rice to someone?"

  As they walked back on the road, that person said to Ye Pingyu: "Xiao Ye, thanks for what happened today. This rice is really fragrant, its made the whole car smell so good!"

  Ye Pingyu chuckled and said, "Its delicious when you eat it, otherwise how can it be called tribute rice? The rice for the emperor to eat, if its not fragrant, that old emperor would have destroyed our village!"

  "Haha!" The man burst out laughing, feeling that Ye Pingyu was not only honest but also very interesting. This time it was really worth the trip, having completed his mission and met this self-proclaimed "friend" of his, he had gained a lot!

  All along the way chatting, the two people unknowingly returned to their hometown. At this time, like old friends who had not seen each other for a long time, Ye Pingyu had an unfulfilled feeling, and as soon as he got off the car, he would have to bid farewell to that person.

  That man looked at him, thought for a moment, then found a pen from the car, wrote down a phone number, and said to him: "My surname is Zhu. If theres anything, you can contact me with this phone number. As for your village selling rice, Ill think of a way after I go back. If possible, Ill get in touch with a big buyer to collect the goods. If so, Ill call you. Can you tell me your phone number?"

  Ye Pingyu hastily told him the phone number of his hometown and then took over the small note he handed over.

  "Thanks for today!" After memorizing the number, the man smiled and said, closing the car door and waving his hand as he walked away.

  Friends, dont forget to collect and vote for the new book!