Li Changyou is in his early forties. He has a scraggly beard and looks very unkempt. Because he has a limp, he walks with a slight limp and his shoulders shrug constantly.

When Old Zhou saw Li Changyou enter, he glared at him and yelled, "What do you mean by 'being a sycophant behind someone's back'? I'd dare to curse you to your face, you heartless wretch! These are the leaders sent by the county to help with poverty alleviation. Come and meet them!"

"Hello, leaders!"

Li Changyou chuckled and clasped his hands in a fist and fist salute to us, saying, "You've come to the right person today. Looking across the entire Qingyun Town, I believe there's no one poorer than me! If you're going to help the poor, then the one who should receive the most help is me, this impoverished household!"

"Stop grinning like that, speak properly to these leaders!"

Old Zhou gave a stern look, then smiled at us and said, "Boss Duan, you guys chat first, I'm going to the backyard to kill a chicken!"

I waved my hand and said, "Master Zhou, this is just a simple meal, don't bother!"

Without another word, Old Zhou walked out: "No, you are the benefactors of Qingyun Town, how can we neglect you! Please sit down, I'll be right back... Li Changyou, please entertain these leaders well."

After Lao Zhou left, Li Changyou took the thermos and poured water for each of us: "Leaders, please have some water!"

I called Li Changyou over to try and get information out of him. Seeing that Lao Zhou wasn't there, I took out a thousand yuan that I had prepared and handed it to him: "Lao Li, this money is from our poverty alleviation program..."

When Li Changyou saw the money in my hand, he didn't even reach for it. Instead, he asked with a smile, "Boss, this little bit of money isn't even enough to feed a beggar, is it?"

Upon seeing Li Changyou's attitude, the monkey frowned immediately: "What do you mean? You think it's not enough that it's being given away for free?"

"Is this money really given away for free?"

Li Changyou looked at us meaningfully: "You want me to do things for you, that's fine, but you can't treat me like a fool, can you? Is it appropriate to pay me a thousand yuan to be your informant?"

When Jiang Man heard Li Changyou say that, her gaze became wary: "Do you know who we are?"

"I don't know, but that doesn't stop me from guessing your purpose."

Li Changyou, with an air of familiarity, picked up the cigarette box next to me, lit a cigarette, and sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed): "I started out by collecting mountain products. I know the plants in the mountains like the back of my hand! But the people staying at my house, although they said they came to collect mountain products, when I chatted with them, I found that they didn't even know what wild vegetables were abundant in these mountains. How can people like that do business?"

Besides the questionable identities of my family members, something's been off about Qingyun Town lately! Our godforsaken place has never been this lively, except for the Spring Festival when there are outsiders! In the past week, Qingyun Town has seen a large influx of outsiders, and there's even been a murder that alarmed the police. This shows that your purpose in coming here is definitely not pure!

Lin Que interjected, "We're different from those people; we were sent by the county!"

"So what if they're sent by the county? That just means you have powerful connections, it doesn't prove you're necessarily good people!"

Li Chang looked at us shrewdly and said, "Gentlemen, if I'm not mistaken, you're here to survey mineral deposits, right?"

I feigned surprise and asked, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Is that even a question? Our Qingyun Town has been living in this remote mountain village for generations, and we've always been this poor. But recently, the county suddenly wants us to move out, which means they must have discovered something! Qingyun Town itself is located on a mining belt, and there are mineral deposits in the surrounding mountains. So, with so many of you coming in, it must be mining companies vying for you. And since you're from Jintu Mining, it's not hard to guess!"

Li Changyou puffed on his cigarette and continued, "I know you miners all have triad connections, and I know I'm just a nobody who can't afford to mess with you! So today, I won't extort you, but I also can't risk helping you for a thousand dollars!"

I scratched my nose: "Just tell me what you want, how much money do you want!"

Two hundred thousand!

Li Changyou clenched his fist and gestured: "I owe 30,000 yuan in gambling debts. If you give me 200,000 yuan, I can pay off my debts and use the rest to buy an apartment in the suburbs of the county and move away from this poor place, Qingyun Town! I'm taking a risk to help you. This isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"The information about those people isn't worth that much money."

Although 200,000 was a negligible amount for Jiang Man and me, in order to prevent Li Changyou from thinking that the money was too easy to obtain and from endlessly extorting us, I finally only extended one hand: "Five thousand yuan. If you can accept it, we can make a deal. If you can't, then forget it!"

"Five thousand? Although Qingyun Town is poor, we are not isolated. These days, a decent mobile phone costs more than ten thousand. You think you can get me to risk my life for such a small amount of money? Goodbye, everyone!"

Li Changyou sneered and dragged his limping leg toward the outer room.

Seeing that things hadn't been settled, Jiang Man was about to try to persuade me to stay when I grabbed her wrist and gently shook my head at her.

She watched Li Changyou leave the courtyard through the window and looked at me in surprise: "Duan Shenxing, how could you make such a mistake on such a big matter? We came back for Qu Ruilin and his group, don't you know how important this news is?"

“You’re just a pampered young lady who doesn’t know the hardships of life! Do you know how much hardship I had to endure to earn five thousand yuan before I entered this industry? I had to guard my family’s small shop every day, go to the express sorting center to move goods after closing, and then work as a designated driver after finishing get off work at midnight. I couldn’t go home to sleep until three in the morning every day, and even then I could only earn seven or eight thousand yuan a month.”

I picked up the teacup beside me: "That's not how you spend money. Besides, I know Li Changyou; he'll definitely come back."

Seeing my nonchalant demeanor, Jiang Man countered with, "What if he doesn't come back?"

"Yes! Although the price I offered didn't meet his expectations, he won't let go of free money! Right now, he's not thinking about not earning five thousand yuan, but rather that he's already lost five thousand yuan."

I paused for a moment: "Besides, a gambler is not worth pitying! Even if you really give him 200,000, he won't buy a house in the county town. Instead, he'll use the money to continue gambling! Once he loses all the money, he'll still treat us as a cash cow. If we don't give him the money, he'll definitely betray the information that we asked him to keep an eye on him and go to Qu Ruilin to ask for the money. At that time, we'll be shooting ourselves in the foot."

Just as I was speaking, the monkey pointed out the window: "Young Master Duan, Li Changyou is back!"