Chapter 354: Gossip

She hadn't seen any television in the room just now.

Chen Amei shook her head and said, "It broke down two years ago. It would cost a lot of money to fix it. Plus, I have presbyopia and can't see the TV clearly without my glasses, so I just sold it."

"I'm sorry, grandma, we didn't consider this issue before." Hu Xiaoxiao said sincerely, "If there are any electrical appliance assistance activities in the future, I will give some suggestions to the organization and ask them to replace the TV with other more practical appliances."

Chen Amei said happily, "Okay, that's a good suggestion. I'd like to ask Miss Hu to pass it on. Although television is good, it's not suitable for everyone. Watching TV requires a fee, which is an extra expense every month. I'm very poor and I'm not willing to spend it."

Hu Xiaoxiao thought about this and asked Chen Amei if the gifts from the Women and Children's Foundation were suitable. Chen Amei sighed deeply and said, "I'm very grateful to all the philanthropists for giving me so many good things and red envelopes. Red envelopes are my favorite. I can buy anything with money. But nutritional supplements are useless if I can't even eat enough. Instead of giving me such expensive nutritional supplements, it would be better to give me rice and oil instead."

"Okay, I will make a suggestion to the Women's and Children's Foundation." Hu Xiaoxiao asked.

The nutritional supplements distributed by the Women and Children's Foundation are indeed not very practical, but it cannot be said to be wrong. Many elderly people and children living in poor conditions are seriously malnourished.

While switching to rice and oil is practical, it's much more cumbersome. It's impossible to deliver a large amount of rice and oil to the elderly all at once. Baogang is humid, and rice easily spoils due to moisture. If you don't want the rice to spoil, you have to deliver it every one or two months. Then a new problem arises: who will deliver the rice?

If the Women and Children's Foundation comes to deliver, we will have to increase staff, which means increased expenses and increased management costs.

If we work with the community, the goods will pass through more than one person's hands, making them more vulnerable to corruption. Who knows how much of the rice and oil we send will actually reach those in need?

Therefore, Hu Xiaoxiao knew that sending nutritional supplements was not practical and it would be better to change to daily necessities and living supplies, but he did not immediately promise Chen Amei that he would change.

First, she needs to present her opinions to the board of directors, and then wait for them to come up with a feasible plan. She is just one of the members of the Women and Children's Fund, not the one who makes the decisions, and cannot make decisions on behalf of the directors.

But Hu Xiaoxiao's sincere attitude comforted the residents watching nearby. They asked Hu Xiaoxiao, "Ms. Hu, if you were elected as a district councilor, what benefits would you fight for us residents?"

That's a good question.

Almost every candidate is asked this question.

Basically, every candidate's answer to this question is to exaggerate, and the bigger the campaign, the bigger the exaggerations. For example, in some countries' presidential campaigns, the candidates boast so much that even the candidates themselves don't believe it.

District councillors have been elected for several terms. I believe that all residents have heard the bold statements made by each district councillor during the election.

Hu Xiaoxiao believed that almost every conceivable textbook answer had been promised by the candidates, and she also believed that few district councilors could deliver on those promises. Otherwise, the village's sewage treatment would surely have been mentioned year after year, so why hadn't it been properly addressed?

Therefore, if Hu Xiaoxiao repeated his answer, some residents would inevitably question whether a certain district councilor had made such a promise during his previous election campaign but had not fulfilled it.

Hu Xiaoxiao then used a difficulty Chen Amei had previously encountered to answer this question, "If I were elected as a district councilor, I would suggest that the community set up a voluntary electrical appliance repair team to provide free electrical appliance repairs to community residents once a year."

This answer may not seem so grand, such as "for a more beautiful future for Baogang", but it must be said that this answer is very practical, down-to-earth, and not difficult to implement, and it is an answer that residents really find useful.

Chen Amei took Hu Xiaoxiao's hand and said to everyone, "Miss Hu is a good person. Good people will definitely do good things. Trust me, I'm old and have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. I won't make a mistake in choosing someone. You can definitely go right by choosing Miss Hu."

Grandma Chen Amei helped Hu Xiaoxiao win the favor of many residents, making Hu Xiaoxiao's building cleaning operation today very smooth.

For several days thereafter, Hu Xiaoxiao went to the community personally to canvass for votes and to understand the situation of the community residents.

Although most residents said they would vote for Hu Xiaoxiao, it is unknown how many of them were just being polite or saying it casually. In any case, there is no guarantee that they will actually vote.

Therefore, after the election, Feng Junhao began to organize a bombardment of propaganda to make the scales in the hearts of voters continue to tilt towards Hu Xiaoxiao.

Hu Xiaoxiao's campaign slogans were hung on both sides of the streets, and stalls were set up in places with heavy traffic in the community to distribute flyers to every passerby.

On the first day of setting up the stall, Hu Xiaoxiao came in person.

Feng Junhao chose a place near a market with heavy traffic, planted flags, hung slogans, and all the staff wore uniform T-shirts.

Hu Xiaoxiao arrived early. Seeing the good weather, she expected the sun to be much brighter at noon, as the weather had been a bit dry recently. She said to Ye Zhini, "Go buy some monk fruit and chrysanthemums. We'll make some herbal tea for the residents who need it."

To show his sincerity, Hu Xiaoxiao, who rarely cooks, personally made herbal tea on the street. Fortunately, the process is very simple: crush the monk fruit, pour it into a large pot with chrysanthemums, add water, and light the fire.

Chrysanthemum can clear away heat and detoxify, and it is best to drink it in this season.

Luo Han Guo clears heat and moistens the lungs, reduces phlegm and relieves coughs. Most importantly, it is very sweet. If you add Luo Han Guo to make tea, you don’t even need sugar because it is much sweeter than sugar.

This area is near a market, and there are a few old trees on the roadside, which makes it much cooler. Usually, many elderly people come here to play chess, chat, and gossip.

Not only Hu Xiaoxiao chose this place as the stall location, but also another candidate, Zhang Rongguang, whose stall was only a few dozen meters away from Hu Xiaoxiao's.

Moreover, Zhang Rongguang's stall location is better than Hu Xiaoxiao's. His stall is under the largest tree and is very cool.

Although Hu Xiaoxiao's stall was also shaded by a tree, this tree was much smaller, and mottled sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves.

Seeing that Hu Xiaoxiao had prepared herbal tea and distributed it to passers-by, which attracted them to stop, the publicity staff on Zhang Rongguang's side became a little anxious.

When Zhang Rongguang, having finished his meal and tea, strolled over, the propaganda staff hurried forward and said, "Brother Guang, Hu Xiaoxiao's tactics are despicable. She's using herbal tea to buy residents' votes. Should we file a complaint with the community about her bribing residents and violating regulations?"