Liu Family Village, an ordinary mountain village, could not be more ordinary.
Eighty percent of the village consists of the elderly and left-behind children, a common situation in remote villages.
The film crew arrived by chartered flight.
Everyone exited directly through the VIP passage, and the large bus waiting to pick them up was in the parking lot.
Xia Weiliang carried her luggage onto the bus. Naturally, she was about to help several other girls. They would never let her do the heavy lifting. What were initially delicate appearances of being unable to lift anything now saw them all shouldering suitcases.
She walked in and sat down, only to find someone already seated in front, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.
Assuming it was a local staff member or guide, she greeted them enthusiastically, "Hello, are you the local guide?"
The person who had been sitting there suddenly turned their head, "Liang Niang!"
Hearing this address, Xia Weiliang was stunned.
In this world, there was only one person who could call her that.
"You rascal! How could it be you?!"
Xia Weiliang was both surprised and delighted. She stood up and hugged him, "Zhao Cheng! You came and didn't even tell me!"
Little Zhao Cheng let out a few憨笑 (han xiào -憨笑: simple, honest, or awkward laugh) and revealed two rows of big white teeth.
He had grown almost a head taller since they last met. The thirteen-year-old boy was now taller than Xia Weiliang.
Because he had grown so rapidly, even the village chief began to worry, fearing he might have some form of gigantism. He even took him to the county for a physical examination.
It was only when the doctor told him that it was because the child's nutrition had improved and he was in his fastest growth phase that the village chief finally relaxed.
Zhao Cheng was a little shy when he saw Xia Weiliang. He awkwardly fiddled with his hair, saying, "They told me not to tell you. They said it was for the show's effect..."
"Cough cough!"
Da Zhuang coughed forcefully. "Did I say that? Think carefully, is that what I said?"
He kept winking and gesturing at the child. Zhao Cheng smacked his forehead and immediately remembered, "Ah! It's a surprise! Yes, a surprise!"
For Xia Weiliang, it was indeed quite a surprise.
"Ah! It's Zhao Cheng!"
"Oh my god, it's Little Chengzi!"
Later, Ah Ning, Situ, and the others also boarded. Upon seeing Zhao Cheng, they were all pleasantly surprised.
They also remembered that the mysterious guest Da Zhuang had mentioned was indeed Little Zhao Cheng!
This was simply too unexpected, arguably the most unforeseen "mystery" in history!
Zhao Cheng was also very friendly when he saw everyone. He had become much more sensible and smiled more, calling out, "Brother Situ," "Sister Ah Ning," "Brother Shao," and "Brother Mark," with sincere and respectful respect.
Speaking of which, these people were the ones who truly changed his destiny. In his eyes, these people were not glamorous stars but his own brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts.
Especially his godmother, Xia Weiliang, who not only paid for his education but also regularly remitted money to the village chief to help improve his meals and monitor his studies.
During holidays, she would video chat with him and encourage him intensely!
Zhao Cheng was not ungrateful. After the show ended and everyone had left, he studied with all his might. His drive was quite intimidating. The village chief often had to urge him to rest, fearing he would become obsessed with studying and ruin his brain.
But Zhao Cheng knew he had no right to slack off. So many people cared about him, and he had no way to repay them except with his grades.
Zhao Cheng was actually very smart. He gradually caught up on his missed lessons, and then he was able to keep pace with the teacher's instruction, eventually ranking among the top ten in his grade.
Everyone called this journey a miracle, but only he knew how much effort he had put in.
Therefore, when he received the invitation from the program team this time, he readily accepted because he had a satisfactory report card that he could proudly show to Liang Niang!
"You are Zhao Cheng, right!"
Zhang Miaomiao had diligently watched "Courage" and was very familiar with Zhao Cheng. That episode had truly made her cry buckets.
Now that she saw him in person, she recognized him immediately.
Xi En, Lin Zhuonan, and Shang Rongrong were also very familiar with him and greeted him warmly.