Chapter 10 Startup Capital

Ask your parents for money?

Xia Wu couldn't bring himself to do this.

In Donghua Town, where Yanggou Village is located, there were some factories a few years ago, but they were later closed down due to severe pollution.

Originally, the salary for working in the factory was not high. I had to work day and night shifts without rest to get a salary of about 3,000 yuan a month.

Liu Guizhen used to work in a paper mill. When she told Xia Wu how much her salary was, Xia Wu almost bit off his tongue.

Only three thousand.

The little money she earned after working hard for a month was not even enough to buy a nice meal.

But in Donghua Town, this is daily life. If you want to be close to home, you can only accept the exploitation of working long hours for low wages, or you can only go out to work.

Later, the factory closed down and many people in the town went out to work. I don’t know how many elderly people and children were left behind at home, which was even more pitiful.

So how could Xia Wu bear to ask his parents for money?

She wanted to earn money on her own, but how to do it became a problem.

After watering, Xia Wu clapped his hands and went back to the house.

For breakfast, Xia Wu had egg pancakes. The pancakes made from local eggs were golden brown, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Paired with a bowl of buffalo milk, Xia Wu was very satisfied with the meal.

After breakfast, Liu Guizhen put on a straw hat, put ice sleeves on her arms, covered her face, and followed Yang Guojun to the field. The sesame seeds in the field were almost ripe, and they had to harvest them, otherwise they would all explode in the field when they were ripe.

Xia Wu also wanted to go, but Yang Guojun asked her to stay home. "The broadband installer is coming today. You and Xiaowen should wait at home. It's hot out there. Just be obedient."

"Okay," Xia Wu looked up at the sky. The sun was a little strong today.

After their parents left, Xia Wu and her brother were the only ones left at home. Grandpa went out early in the morning with his medicine box to see patients, and he didn't even have time to eat breakfast.

There is no hospital in Yanggou Village, and the nearest clinic is in another village. There are many elderly people and children in the village. Whenever someone has a headache or fever, they will go to see Grandpa Yang first.

When encountering patients with limited mobility, Mr. Yang would go there in person carrying his medicine box, and he was very busy all day long.

Everyone had something to do, and Xia Wu also began to seriously consider making money.

There is no suitable job nearby, and even if there is a job, Xia Wu may not be able to do it. She has to go to work step by step and get a salary of two or three thousand. How long will it take her to save enough money to buy a house?

So we need to use our brains to figure out how to make money...

Xia Wu suddenly thought of something. Before her identity as a fake rich girl was exposed, she was surrounded by many young ladies, most of whom were of the same class as her. They usually traveled abroad, ate beautiful meals, had afternoon tea, drove luxury cars, and showed off their designer bags. Among them, there was one who liked to show off those luxury goods online.

At a party one time, Xia Wu heard her say that many people liked her online, and that she could earn enough money to buy a few bags by simply posting some videos.

How to make money by posting videos online?

Xia Wu did what he said and started looking for relevant information. He soon found the "useful information" on major platforms.

"How did I turn my ordinary life around by using social media to earn over 10,000 yuan a month?!"

"Brother Hui will teach you how to monetize your own media and easily earn a million a month!"

Any search will bring up eye-catching headlines. Xia Wu is not a fool. If he really makes a million a month, who would brag about it online to attract more people to share the spoils?

Just like her sisters before her, most of them knew not to show off their wealth and would never flaunt what they had on public platforms.

Xia Wu picked and chose, and finally found a girl's video, "Confessions of an Ordinary Country Girl: I Saved the Life of My Mother with Uremia!"

"Hello everyone, I'm Xiuxiu. In this video, I want to talk to you about something in my heart."

As soon as the video opened, a girl in furry pajamas appeared in front of the camera. She had light makeup on and her appearance was not delicate. She stood in front of an old house commonly seen in rural areas and introduced her home and her family to everyone.

Xiuxiu was born in the countryside and is the eldest in the family. Her father worked on a construction site in his early years and unfortunately fell and became paralyzed in bed. The whole family relied on her mother's work. When she was in her sophomore year, her mother was diagnosed with uremia, and the burden of the family fell on Xiuxiu's weak shoulders.

In order to save her family, she resolutely decided to drop out of school and go home to take care of her parents. In order to save enough money for her mother's surgery, she began to learn video editing and live streaming, and filmed some daily rural life on weekdays. Fortunately, she succeeded. She earned more money every month from the self-media platform than her mother earned working in the factory. After more than half a year, she had almost saved enough money for the surgery, and decided in the video to give one of her kidneys to her mother.

This video was very popular, with nearly one million likes. Many people encouraged and praised Xiuxiu in the comment section. Xiuxiu happened to be doing a live broadcast, and Xia Wu clicked in to watch. There were as many as 50,000 people online in the live broadcast room.

It's still daytime.

Messages about giving gifts kept popping up on the screen. Xiuxiu in the camera was stirring chicken feed to feed the chickens. She was still wearing the pink furry pajamas, and the two rabbit ears on her hat swayed with her movements.

Xia Wu spent most of the morning looking for similar live broadcast rooms. To her surprise, there were quite a few live broadcast rooms in the countryside. Many of them were farmers. Some were running in the mountains, running back and forth as many times as the gifts were given. Some were wearing frog doll costumes, and the interaction was also based on the number of gifts.

The backgrounds of their videos are all rural without exception.

But Xia Wu didn't want to make such a video. Yang Hongwen came over to watch it with her. When he saw the image of Coke in the video, he laughed and pointed at the screen and said, "Frog, human."

Xia Wu patted her brother's head. After watching so many videos, she felt a little disappointed. The videos these people made gave her an uncomfortable feeling. Is it true that if you live in the countryside, you can only become famous by showing off your ugliness? Do you have to expose your poverty, backwardness, and misery to the public in order to make money?

She could understand the difficulties of these people, perhaps it was because of their real family misfortunes, or perhaps they really had no strengths.

But Xia Wu would never allow himself to make money like this.

So, she is also in the countryside. What kind of rural self-media track will she open up to make money?

Closing his eyes, Xia Wu could hear the rustling of fallen leaves in the autumn wind, the barking of dogs in the distance, the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects closer...

She recalled the day she first arrived in town: the blue sky and white clouds, the tranquility and comfort, and the dense forests she had seen on the mountain, the clouds shrouding the mountains, the clouds rolling and unrolling, and the tired birds returning to their nests...

Although the countryside is poor, it is also a beautiful place. Can we only profit by hurting people's sympathy instead of letting them see the real daily life in the countryside?

If you want to do something, do it differently! Do what you want to do!

"I've made up my mind!"

Xia Wu suddenly called out. Yang Hongwen looked up at his sister in confusion. She placed her hands on her brother's arms and said seriously, "Brother, let's make some money by filming videos together!"

Yang Hongwen: "Ah?"

It is not that easy to start your own media. You can shoot videos with a mobile phone, but you have to edit them later, and editing requires a computer.

Xia Wu's mobile phone can replace a camera. After all, it is the latest model she bought not long ago. It has powerful performance, not to mention taking photos and videos.

She searched online and found out that shooting videos requires a tripod or something. Xia Wu looked at her brother and decided to let him act as a tripod temporarily.

Then comes the post-editing… which requires a computer.

There is no substitute for this.

Should I buy a new one or find someone to help me?

Xia Wu's previous laptop was also a top-of-the-line model, costing 70,000 or 80,000 yuan. Now she can't afford such a good computer.

After much thought, Xia Wu decided to contact someone.

I entered a familiar string of numbers in my mind and clicked to add a friend. Within ten minutes, the reminder showed that it was approved.

Nuyoah: "Xiao Wu? I sent you a message, but you didn't reply! Is this your new account? What's going on? I asked that bastard Xia Heng, but he just played dumb!"

Messages kept popping up, and Xia Wu could feel Qi Miaomiao's intense emotions through the screen.

Wu: "Miao Miao, I changed my number. I'm only contacting you now. Don't tell anyone else about me. I'll explain the previous matter to you when I have time. I want to ask you for a favor, okay?"

Nuyoah: "Oh my god, are you sure this is you?"

Xia Wu and Qi Miaomiao grew up together. Both of them were spoiled young ladies. Later, they went abroad to study together and their relationship was as deep as that of real sisters.

Qi Miaomiao had never seen Xia Wu speak to her so politely.

The next second, the video popped up and Xia Wu answered it immediately.

The flamboyant and beautiful woman was wearing a black miniskirt and had gold flakes on her slightly curly hair. Qi Miaomiao was partying in the bar and quickly found a private room and closed the door before she calmed down.

It was night on her side, and day on Xia Wu's side. Yang Hongwen's face suddenly appeared in the camera, and Qi Miaomiao opened her eyes wide: "Who is the man next to you? You finally couldn't stand Fu Shilin anymore and kicked him out!?"

"Great! Your eyes are finally better. Only you can stand a cocky guy like Fu Shilin! Come on, introduce him to the sisters. What's his name? What does he do?"

Qi Miaomiao's mouth was like a machine gun, never stopping for a moment.

Xia Wu was helpless. "Miao Miao, you misunderstood. This is my brother! His name is Yang Hongwen, you can call him Xiaowen." He turned around and pulled Yang Hongwen's sleeve. "Brother, say hello to Miao Miao."

Qi Miaomiao's pupils dilated again. His last name was Yang? No wonder she thought this man looked somewhat similar to Xia Wu... She had thought it was just another scene where lovers grow more and more alike as they spend more time together.

Qi Miaomiao also knew about the troubles in Xia Wu's family and often scolded Yang Wei with her. She was a steadfast sister. No matter what Xia Wu wanted to do, even if she wanted to kill someone, Qi Miaomiao would be there to hand her a knife.

"You, went back? What's going on?" Qi Miaomiao was anxious.

"Okay, don't ask so many questions for now. I don't know how to answer you. In short, I will have no contact with the Xia family and Fu Shilin in the future. If they ask about me, you don't have to say anything, but I don't think they will ask. So, let it be. I have my own new life now," Xia Wu raised his mobile phone and let Qi Miaomiao look at the scenery outside, the endless mountains, the silver ribbon-like river, and the quiet rural environment.

Qi Miaomiao opened her red lips and asked, "Are you a monk?"

"Bah! This is called seclusion! Do you understand seclusion? I plan to rent a mountain here and build my own kingdom. When you return home, remember to come find me. I'll treat you to the strawberries I planted!"

"You planted these, strawberries?" Qi Miaomiao swallowed hard, not daring to associate the word "farming" with Xia Wu. It sounded absurd no matter how she heard it. She was about to cry. Damn the real daughter, damn Fu Shilin, how could they treat Xia Wu like this!

"Yeah! I'll take a picture of it and show it to you when I'm done. Oh, and you have the key to my apartment, right? Have someone take out the computer for me and send it to me. I'll send you the address later. You don't have to touch anything else."

Xia Wu didn't notice Qi Miaomiao's sadness and anger, and told her his original purpose of looking for Qi Miaomiao.

"Xiao Wu, do you really not need help? I can return home immediately and help you..."

"Miao Miao! Really, you don't have to!" Xia Wu looked at Qi Miao Miao with a serious, pleading expression. She knew Miao Miao could do a lot for her. After all, in her previous life, Miao Miao had been so devoted to her that she became a joke. Yes, how could the villain in the story not have a cannon fodder female supporting role who was also brainless and took sides? "Miao Miao, just listen to me. Just send me my computer. I'm really happy now. I feel like I've found the meaning of life."

"I don't want to have anything to do with the past anymore."

Qi Miaomiao finally realized Xia Wu's seriousness and said in a daze, "Okay, I get it. Xiao Wu, no matter what happens, I will stand by your side. If you need me, I can go back anytime."

"Miao Miao, I know."

“I’ll send a message to Shen Beiyang in a while and ask him to get the computer for you. Send me the address.”

"Okay, thank you Miaomiao."

"Thank you, Miaomiao." Yang Hongwen thanked Xia Wu by imitating his appearance. Half of his face was exposed in the camera, and his eyes were clear and invincible.

Xia Wu pulled him into the camera and said to Qi Miaomiao, "Look, my brother and I look alike, don't we?"

Qi Miaomiao let out a breath and laughed, "Looks alike, really alike, you can tell they're biological children. Our brother is so handsome, much better looking than Xia Heng and that old scholar!"

"Of course!" Xia Wu patted his brother's back proudly.

"Xiao Wu, why do you suddenly want to rent a mountain? Are you out of money?"

"No! I'm not short of money, I just think it's quite interesting. Didn't we go on vacation to a farm abroad before? I also want to set up a farm like this and grow some natural crops. Making money is one thing, but mainly I want to find something to do."

Forgive Xia Wu, she didn't dare to tell the truth in front of her good sisters.

She wants to make money now.

Qi Miaomiao relaxed. So that's how it was. From her perspective, running a holiday farm and farming on a mountain were two completely different things. After all, many well-known farms were very high-end.

"Okay, I'll definitely come find you when I return home!"

Someone called Qi Miaomiao, and she turned around and urged them to leave in English. Xia Wu said tactfully, "Miaomiao, go have fun first. We'll contact each other when we have time."

There is a time difference between China and abroad. It should have been late at night when Qi Miaomiao arrived, and she should have been having a great time, but when she saw Xia Wu's message, she immediately responded to her.

Qi Miaomiao blew her a kiss: "Okay~ Bye Xiao Wu, bye Brother Xiao Wen~"

Yang Hongwen obediently raised his hand and said goodbye to her.