A group of people stood around watching the workers unload the goods. Xu Lai didn't go over to join the crowd, thinking that with the appearance of this trash can, the village's environmental problems would be guaranteed in the future.

Previously, when livestock died in the village, they would just throw them into the stream, where they would be carried downstream. While there was no environmental pollution upstream, the people downstream suffered greatly.

Sometimes, while I'm washing clothes or vegetables, a dead chicken or duck floats by, which is incredibly disgusting.

Qin Huan set up trash cans in different locations according to the number of people and houses in the village, ensuring that every household could easily throw their trash into the trash cans.

There's one right in front of Xu Lai and Zhao Qingyun's house. From now on, they'll have to walk to the other side of the road to throw away their trash. Of course, they can also bring their own small bucket and empty it all at once when it's almost full.

Xu Lai was busy processing the chickens, and she didn't pay much attention to the noise outside, not even going out to check.

When Grandma came back and told her, she learned that the commotion was caused by some people who disagreed with Qin Huan's arrangements and wanted to put the trash cans in front of their own houses. This argument escalated into a fight, and Qin Huan, who was trying to break up the fight, was also pushed and shoved a few times.

Xu Lai chopped the chicken in half and asked, "Is Secretary Qin alright?"

Grandma paused for a moment and said, "She looks alright to me. Her hand was scraped and bled, but Xiao Zhao took her to the infirmary to get it bandaged."

Xu Lai caught the key phrase, "Xiao Zhao, is it Zhao Qingyun?"

Grandma nodded. "It's him. There's no one else in our village with the surname Zhao except him. Who else could it be?"

Xu Lai thought about it carefully and realized that it made sense. He was an outsider and didn't belong here. He wouldn't stay here forever. But she was different. If nothing unexpected happened, she would probably stay in this place. She couldn't ask others to stay for her sake.

She chopped the chicken even harder. After chopping it, she washed the five-finger peach and tied it into a small bundle. The free-range chicken at home didn't have a fishy smell, so there was no need to blanch it. She just put it directly into the clay pot to stew.

There were still some noises outside, so Xu Lai took off her apron and went outside to find out what was going on.

Uncle Guiping was on the outskirts and nothing happened to him. When he saw Xu Lai coming over, he quickly said, "Could you help me persuade them? They all look like they've been shot and are so fierce."

These people are all of the same generation as Uncle Guiping, so naturally they won't pay him any attention right now. They usually respect him as the village chief and give him some face, but now that it involves their interests, they've turned on him.

Xu Lai pushed through the crowd and walked to the middle. At first, the people didn't see her face clearly and thought it was that young secretary again. Just as they were about to curse, Xu Lai turned her face, and the crowd stopped talking.

The crowd fell silent instantly, as if a proud rooster had been choked and silenced in an instant.

Xu Lai advised, "Uncles, what are you doing? There are so many households in our village, it's impossible to provide a trash can for every single one, right? If you want one, you can pay for it yourself, and I'll buy it for you. You can have as many as you want."

In the past, she wouldn't have had a say at all, but ever since she brought in traffic and made money for the villagers, and she often invites those aunties to pack packages so that they can have an extra source of income, her status has risen.

After she finished speaking, many people dispersed and said embarrassedly, "We were selfish. Three households sharing one bin is fine. Anyway, it's not far. We can just walk a few steps to throw away our trash."

Xu Lai nodded: "That's good, why make such a fuss? Secretary Qin has brought benefits to our village, and we are grateful to her. Don't think that just because she is young, you can bully her. After all, I am young too, and I know that all the uncles and elders look down on me."

Those who made money off her immediately said, "No, no, you are an outstanding representative of our village."

Xu Lai waved his hand: "Everyone, you can go home now. The one who pushed Secretary Qin down, please stay and apologize to her. And the village chief too."

It has to be said that as long as a person has money and can make others make money, their words carry more weight than before; this is a very realistic situation.

Qin Huan watched from afar and said to Zhao Qingyun, "Sister Xu Lai is really amazing. She makes such excellent short videos and has brought economic development to the village."

Zhao Qingyun said with admiration, "Yes, she has always been very capable."

Qin Huan looked up at his expression, and to put it simply, at that moment she was certain that the man next to her definitely liked Xu Lai.

Zhao Qingyun was almost home when he asked, "Can you walk by yourself?"

Qin Huan looked at Xu Lai over there, gritted her teeth and said, "It still seems to hurt a bit. Can you help me to the village committee?"

To be honest, he didn't really want to go, because he had clearly seen Qin Huan walk by herself. Just then, Uncle Guiping was ahead, so he called out, "Village Chief, Secretary Qin's foot is a little injured. I have some things to do here. Could you help her over?"

The village chief was just about to go home, so he agreed. He also needed to talk to Qin Huan about something. "Okay, let's go then, Secretary Qin."

The village chief comforted him, saying, "I'm sorry, I apologize on behalf of those unreasonable people in the village."

Qin Huan quickly said, "It's alright, it's alright. It was my fault for not arranging things properly. I should have asked everyone's opinions before making a decision."

The village chief said, "If anything happens in the future, you can ask Xu Lai for help if I'm not around. Don't get injured like you did today; I feel really bad about it."

As they chatted, the two arrived at the village committee. The village committee consisted of two buildings, one with two floors. The first floor of the right-hand building was where meetings were usually held, and the upper floor was the clinic. The other building was the temporary housing for village officials, with two floors in total, one floor for each person.

Qin Huan occupied the second floor, while the first floor was the territory of the village doctor, who usually rested there during his lunch break. Since she had been here for several days, he had been leaving get off work around six o'clock every day.

After Xu Lai finished dealing with things here, she went straight back to her house. Zhao Qingyun was waiting at the door, wanting to say something to her, but she only glanced at him.

The soup is perfectly cooked; you can smell its aroma without even lifting the lid.

Xu Lai ladled out a bowl and took it to the village committee, then gave it to Qin Huan. "This is stewed soup. Drink it while it's hot. Try not to get your wounds wet. Call me if you need anything. This is my phone number."

She left a note, and Qin Huan thanked her, thinking to herself, "Xu Lai is such a nice person. No wonder my senior likes her."

She searched for the phone number and found Xu Lai's WeChat ID. Qin Huan requested to add her as a friend and waited for her to accept.

Xu Lai hadn't looked at her phone; she was completely captivated by the soup. She'd heard people say how delicious five-finger peach soup was, but she hadn't believed them then. Now, she wanted to tell others the same thing.