Hearing her ask that, the village chief sighed deeply.

“Our village is indeed called Peach Blossom Village, and these peach trees do belong to our village. However, many years ago, due to a drought, many people in our village starved to death. Someone came to our village and offered a high price to buy all these peach trees. So, although these peach trees are in our village, they no longer belong to us.”

That makes sense, but Shen Hua didn't mention missing the hint of panic in the village chief's eyes.

Perhaps to him, this explanation was already quite convincing, because even she herself believed it.

But who would know that this was an excuse he had already prepared beforehand? Or perhaps he had been using this pretext to tell the villagers and outsiders all along?

But the village chief's family also lived a very difficult life, so why would he hide it? That doesn't make sense at all.

Shen Hua knew that asking about this matter again would not yield any results, so he asked about other things instead.

Although the village chief's words may not be entirely true, some of them are true, and she can try to guess to get closer to the answer.

"Village chief, I heard from Xiaotao and the others that their uncle didn't come back because he went out? But it was already night, and I don't think anyone would choose to leave at night, no matter how urgent it was. Why is that?"

village head:……

He felt that the young man looked quite small, but he was very strong when carrying water, so he talked a lot and asked some questions that he couldn't answer.

In particular, there was a large camera in the back, which he already knew about; many people were watching the situation through the camera.

If someone does something even slightly wrong, it will be seen by millions of people, which will have a negative impact on their village.

But not answering is not an option either; he is the village chief, representing their village, and every word and action he takes is important.

So he can answer almost any question asked by the mythologist.

“I vaguely remember what you’re saying. It wasn’t just Xiao Tao’s uncle who left; there were three other people too. They did leave that night, though. I don’t know what urgent matter they had. They just told me about it, and then the four of them left. You know our village is poor, and they wanted to go out and develop their lives. As the village chief, I couldn’t stop them.”

Chen Hua: ...

She had heard the village chief mention their village's poverty several times, and she didn't know if the village chief was saying it on purpose.

"Village chief, they've been gone for so long, surely none of them have sent back any news!"

The village chief said, "After they went out, not a single message came back. If they had sent a message back, Xiao Tao and the others would have known."

Xie Sichen carried water with a blank expression, looking rather comical.

[Why is Shen Hua so heartless, constantly questioning the village chief? He won't even talk to our Brother Xie anymore; he looks so pitiful.]

[Exactly, why ask all this? The problem is, the questions just keep coming one after another; if it were me, I would have lost my patience long ago.]

[Don't lie, how could such a handsome guy be impatient with you? Chen Hua, look at me and ask me anything you want.]

[However, there really was a very wealthy person who bought all the peach trees here. The key point is that instead of selling the peaches, he let them fall to the ground to nourish the soil. Although nourishing the soil is a good thing, why do I feel that this is such a waste? It's not the kind of thrifty quality he should be.]

[I also think it's such a waste if even one peach falls, but these peaches are falling in droves! They'd spoil even if people ate them all. It's so strange. Could that rich man have some kind of grudge against Peach Blossom Village? Did he deliberately buy the peach trees so the villagers can only watch over the peaches but not eat them?]

[Didn't you hear the village chief say that there was a famine here, and people weren't even getting enough to eat? This person who bought the peach tree saved them; it was because of that money that they were able to buy food, preventing many people from starving to death.]

[Then why not sell these peaches? Or perhaps he's so wealthy he doesn't care about these peach trees, so why not let the villagers eat them?]

[How would I know? I'm not some rich tycoon.]

The comments section was abuzz with arguments about this, with everyone having their own valid points, but also some flaws.

[He looks so serious, and the village chief's answer was very formal, but why does it feel a little strange?]

Because very few people noticed this, the comment was quickly overshadowed by other comments as soon as it was posted.

[Everyone, stop arguing. I just came from the live stream across the street. It was so much fun there! No matter how we tried to help the villagers, they wouldn't let us. After a lot of refusals, only one team got approval. Looks like some people are going to go hungry again tonight.]

[Going hungry isn't an option. But if someone has a stomach problem and gets seriously hungry, the production team can't be fully responsible. I suggest there should be some kind of competition or activity to earn food; that would be more interesting.]

[I think this is great, and I really want to see it.]

[Let's all go comment under the director's post; I want to see Brother Xie sing.]

Shen Hua already knew what she wanted to know, and she had other ways to find out, but knowing it wasn't convenient right now, she didn't ask any more questions.

When she was fetching water, she saw fish in the river, and they looked quite plump. Why didn't the villagers catch them?

"Village chief, I saw that the fish in the river were quite plump, so why didn't I see anyone catching them to eat?" Chen Hua asked as she came to fetch water.

"You know, the villagers sometimes come to catch these fish, but these fish are very cunning. The villagers who come to catch them can only catch some small ones, and it wears out their clothes a lot. The fish also have a lot of bones, and they don't taste good. They have a fishy smell, so gradually fewer and fewer people come to catch them."

Chen Hua: ...

I never imagined there were so many reasons. It seems she overestimated the villagers and underestimated the fish here.

Wait a minute, the task assigned by the production team is just for us to come out and find food ourselves. So if we catch a fish here, it's ours to keep.

Thinking of this, she probably looked at Xie Sichen.

"Xie Sichen, you see the fish inside, right? Why don't you help the village chief fetch water and I'll catch the fish, or you catch the fish and I'll help the village chief fetch water."

No matter which one, as long as the two of them go to catch fish, they will definitely be able to catch some.

However, compared to being under the camera, fetching water seems better, which is for catching fish. The river water is very cold, and even if it's not frozen, there are some broken pieces of ice in it. You can imagine how cold it would be to step into it.