Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

After finalizing the decision to run for village chief, Yao Jiping drove to the county bank a few kilometers away that very afternoon and withdrew twenty thousand yuan in cash. In the company of Xu Aiguo and Yao Jianjun, she went door-to-door campaigning, promising that anyone who cast their vote for grandpa Xu Qingfan on election day would get a fifty yuan subsidy for tea money afterwards. Inevitably, they ran into Yao Jiankun who was also rounding up support. Seeing Yao Jiping copying his original dirty trick, Kun cursed loudly, "You offspring of a man without an asshole, like your pathetic father could be a chief! I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice; go to wherever it's cool and stay there!" Xu Aiguo then rewarded him with a hefty slap, "Keep that mouth clean. A man whose wife ran off with someone else still has the nerve to yell here, not even sure if his son is his own seed!" "You all just wait, if I don't get someone to deal with you then my name isn't Yao!" Yao Jiankun, clutching his face with his left hand and pointing with his right, threatened Yao Jiping and the group. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" A bunch of villagers watching the commotion pointed at Yao Jiankun with contemptuous laughter. Everyone knew each other well; if that scoundrel Kun really knew some big shots, would he be in such a sorry state? "You want to play, huh? I'll sell my ancestral home and fight it out with you to the end! One hundred for each person who votes for me during the election!" Yao Jiankun bellowed like a lunatic. Watching the once spirited Chuxi Belt Brother fall to such a dog-like state after twenty years, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but reflect on the vagaries of life. "As if your dilapidated house is worth anything, ha ha ha ha!" The surrounding villagers burst into another round of uproarious laughter, filling the inside and outside of the house with joyous atmosphere. "You all just wait!" Yao Jiankun left with that threat, looking defeated. No one took his threats seriously, and after seeing Yao Jiping's real money, twenty thousand yuan, the vast majority of villagers promised to vote for Yao Shulun when the time came. Watching this scene unfold, Xu Qingfan felt somewhat helpless deep down, but that's how it is at the grassroots level. The villagers couldn't care less about how nice you talk; poverty alleviation and farming assistance were beyond their understanding, they only cared about how much cash could end up in their own pockets. So in the end, the election still boiled down to a contest of financial power, but how many of these village officials elected this way are truly willing to work hard and do real work for the village? Thus, Xu Qingfan still quite hoped that his grandfather could become village chief, not for anything else, but for the fact that twenty years later, the cleanliness of the water in Chuxi River, not too contaminated for even scavengers to survive, would make it worthwhile. Since they all had work and school to get back to, the three only stayed in Chuxi Village for one day before returning to Li City. ... But just one day after leaving, upon their return, they found the bus stops, advertising pillars, mall exteriors... plastered with promotional posters for "Hilarious Daily" in every direction. "What's this Hilarious Daily? Wasn't this place advertising Metersbonwe before?" Yao Jiping exclaimed, pointing at a gigantic 15m x 20m poster on the exterior wall of Gualv Square. "Right, who's the silly rich guy who paid for this? I noticed it when we passed by the bus stop just now," Xu Aiguo also remarked. Xu Qingfan: .... [Your son here is that silly guy.] He was aware that their comic was starting its promotional campaign this week, but Xu Qingfan had not anticipated that Zhang Chunxue would be so generous with investment that she'd even surprise him. At home, Xu Qingfan had only briefly mentioned the comic book venture to Xia Xiaoxiao, so at this moment, the elders still had no clue that their son was about to publish a book. After the car engine stopped, Xu Qingfan couldn't wait to get out and make a call to Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi to ask what was going on. "You little rascal, come back and help me carry the vegetables home!" Yao Jiping shouted at the retreating back of Xu Qingfan as he ran off. Back at home, Xu Qingfan used the landline to call Zhang Yiyi's family and, by chance, Zhang Chunxue answered the phone. "Hello, who's this?" Zhang Chunxue's pleasant voice came through the receiver. "Auntie, it's Xu Qingfan!" "Haha, it's Xiao Fan, Yiyi went to play at Wanning's house. Is there anything you need her for? How come you don't visit your aunt over the weekend!" "Auntie, auntie, that one at Gualv Square!" Xu Qingfan spoke in a jumbled way, but Zhang Chunxue understood immediately. "You mean that poster, right? That advertising space belongs to auntie's company, and it just happened to expire recently, so it's empty anyway." Zhang Chunxue said nonchalantly. "Mhm, thank you, Auntie!" Xu Qingfan felt grateful. "What are you talking about, I should be thanking you! Yiyi has become so much more cheerful, and she also contributes to the comics, after all. Isn't it only right for auntie to lend a hand!" "Mhm mhm, I can't talk to you anymore, auntie, my mom's back. You mustn't tell her about me drawing comics!" Xu Qingfan lowered his voice as he could hear Yao Jiping's footsteps from afar. "Hahaha~ Auntie knows what to do; I definitely won't betray you!" Xu Qingfan quickly hung up the phone and nonchalantly turned on the television. "Go on, go on~ the moment you come back, you just care about watching TV. Help me take these vegetables to Jingjing and Wu Lingyu's mom!" Yao Jiping pointed at the mountain of vegetables piled on the floor. "Which ones?" Xu Qingfan glanced at the vegetables and fruits scattered on the floor. "These ones, this one, this one, and this one take to Xiao Xiao's house, and that one take to your Auntie Li!" Yao Jiping pointed haphazardly at the floor. Xu Qingfan: "???" "I don't understand; sort them out before you ask me to carry them." He shrugged in exasperation. "You can't even understand this, what use are you? Never mind, don't bother carrying them, go back to your room and do your homework!" Xu Qingfan: ... [It's okay, it's just menopause, I can understand, long live understanding!] Xu Qingfan silently went back to his bedroom and then sneakily slipped out the door while Yao Jiping went into the kitchen. He hadn't taken a close look at the "Hilarious Daily" poster before; being the author, he should definitely take a good look. Right at the entrance of Lianhua Courtyard was a bus stop, and the advertisement inside the transparent glass had been changed to their "Hilarious Daily" without him knowing when. The content was a joke about waiting for the bus from the comic book: A dunce wanted to get on the bus, but the back door was filled with people, there was no room to sit down. The bus driver reminded him to keep up, saying there would be seats available soon; after the bus started moving, the dunce chased after it. A few seconds later, the driver's sudden brake indeed freed up many seats in the bus amid the curses of the passengers, and the dunce successfully got a seat on the bus. In the bottom right corner of the comic's end was the tagline for "Hilarious Daily": On June 1, read "Hilarious Daily" comic, keep laughing, and good fortune will come naturally! Really, even Xu Qingfan felt the urge to buy it after seeing the poster; after all, the scripts he wrote were magical realism drawn from reality. Seeing such a joke while waiting for the bus could indeed brighten one's whole day. [Whether it can skyrocket to fame, everything will depend on Children's Day] Xu Qingfan couldn't help but start to feel excited.