I Got Rich in Period Fiction-Chapter 357: Afforestation

Soon, the tree-planting day arrived, and Qiao Qingyu had already prepared in advance, on behalf of the Student Union.

Bring your own tools, and if you really don’t have tools, bring buckets and watering cans.

They borrowed more than a dozen large trucks from the transportation company to take the students and faculty members who could attend the tree-planting event to the hundred-acre strip of the sandbelt claimed by Xichuan Agricultural College.

Both principals were there.

Understanding the importance of making an appearance, the vice-principal naturally didn’t want to fall behind, especially knowing there would be media interviews. Articles by the college’s own publicity department had been prepared in advance.

It was not only about form; substantial work had to be done too.

The temperature in March in Xichuan was still a bit low, but the students’ enthusiasm was incredibly high and excited. Principal Lu took a megaphone, said a few words to boost morale, and then praised the Student Union for their role in this event before he took the first shovel into the earth.

And so, everyone got to work enthusiastically.

The Xichuan Daily reporters took several close-up shots of Sun Xiuyuan holding a shovel and seedlings.

Then, a jeep arrived to pick up Sun Xiuyuan and the reporters.

In total, it was barely over an hour. It seemed the reporters came just for Sun Xiuyuan.

And Sun Xiuyuan? She only waved the shovel a few times, not even digging out a bit of soil.

Many students were extremely dissatisfied.

Those who were easily excited were already cursing and complaining.

Principal Lu and several people from logistics were so engrossed in their work that they didn’t even notice.

The vice-principal did notice, but he just smiled.

Some students, unable to contain their anger, sought out Qiao Qingyu to complain. It was only then that Qiao Qingyu became aware of the situation, and after asking around, she found it to be true.

Qiao Qingyu frowned slightly. Sun Xiuyuan had wanted to run for Student Union President but was not elected. She didn’t care for the position of vice-president, so she turned to the youth league committee.

Sun Xiuyuan was now the vice secretary of the youth league committee.

It wasn’t unreasonable for her to take the lead and make an appearance at such an event, but what did it mean to come and then just leave?

Oh, right, there was also that reporter who was obviously dispatched by the Sun family.

At this time, the inherent sense of superiority of certain privileged classes became evident.

If we talk about the children of the big courtyards, He Xiuyu, Lu Ye, Shen Haoze, including Su Yunyao, any of them held a higher status than Sun Xiuyuan.

What could Qiao Qingyu say? She didn’t even know what Sun Xiuyuan had gone off to do.

What if it wasn’t to avoid labor after all?

If she just charged up to confront her, she would be at a disadvantage.

Sun Xiuyuan had always disliked her, first because of the Student Union President issue, and secondly because of that incident with Professor Feng’s experimental greenhouse.

After these two instances, Sun Xiuyuan truly held a grudge against her.

Every time she saw her, her eyes were like little knives. On the usual days, if the Student Union and the youth league committee had joint activities, she would always come up with some underhanded tricks. Although Qiao Qingyu resolved them every time, such a person was really annoying.

However, the two had not had a verbal conflict, so there were some things that were difficult to handle.

Sun Xiuyuan was no fool; naturally, she wouldn’t let Qiao Qingyu catch her in a weak position.

So what exactly was Sun Xiuyuan doing by following the reporter back? She had to figure it out.

Moreover, not everyone from Xichuan Agricultural College could possibly be swarming out to participate; some students had important matters, some were sick with poor health, or had other issues, which were all normal occurrences.

As long as they had a sick leave note, the teachers had to approve it.

So wasn’t it a piece of cake for Sun Xiuyuan to get a sick leave note as well? She could just mention any ailment, dizziness, an uncomfortable heart – could you still force her to come?

If things didn’t go well, another report could claim that she persisted in labor despite her illness—what a way that would be to build her reputation.

But still, Qiao Qingyu was unwilling.

This time’s activity was not only about the school leaders; she had put in a lot of hard work, as had Lu Ye, who also did a lot. The students had labored in the chilling wind.

Why should Sun Xiuyuan, who had done nothing, get to reap the benefits?

She wouldn’t accept it!

But now, she had to figure out whether the reporter was simply taking a few photos or truly planning to use this opportunity to promote Sun Xiuyuan.

Qiao Qingyu thought to herself that when Lu Ye arrived, she had a few words to say to him.

It wasn’t long before Lu Ye showed up; he first met with the school leaders and sincerely expressed his gratitude, then he came looking for Qiao Qingyu.

Qiao Qingyu suggested to him that since many units were planting trees today—after all, today was the day for afforestation—he should do a comprehensive report.

If no reporter was accompanying him, then someone from his unit with good writing skills could write an article and submit it to the Xichuan Daily for publication.

Lu Ye glanced at Qiao Qingyu and softly said, "Do you have something else you want to tell me?"

Qiao Qingyu didn’t hide anything and briefly explained to Lu Ye about Sun Xiuyuan and that reporter.

Lu Ye frowned slightly. He knew about Sun Xiuyuan; the Sun family had approached his sister-in-law, intending to introduce Sun Xiuyuan to him. He had found an excuse to decline, but the Sun family wouldn’t give up so easily; they indeed saw him as a suitable candidate.

However, he was unwilling to deal with the Sun family and Sun Xiuyuan.

On this point, his grandfather also supported him.

But if things were as he suspected, and Sun Xiuyuan was using this opportunity to enhance her value in preparation for another path after graduation, that would be quite vexing.

If it were Qiao Qingyu, that would be fine, but for Sun Xiuyuan to want such a big advantage?

He felt a surge of anger, but his face remained calm. He told Qiao Qingyu, "I need to visit a few other places. Nearly all units that could came out to plant trees today."

"Then you should go, don’t let us hold you up here."

Lu Ye nodded and looked at Qiao Qingyu laboring along; he felt a bit of heartache, but these two words of ’heartache’ didn’t suit him.

Lu Ye hastily left, but first, he detoured back to his unit. His department was now fully staffed, with his secretary by his side. He had considered doing the reporting, but not in the way Qiao Qingyu was thinking, by combining them all into one report; after all, there were issues of ranking to consider.

But Qiao Qingyu’s words had given him a flash of insight. It was a simple matter of prioritizing by the area of land adopted. You couldn’t just adopt one acre and expect to be the first in the report; what about the people who adopted a hundred acres?

Then wouldn’t the follow-up work suffer because of this issue, ending up being counterproductive?

Lu Ye asked his secretary to wait and hastily went to see the senior leader.

Ever since his arrival at Xichuan, from the moment he decided to make a real difference, the senior leader had been especially supportive of his work. He didn’t mention the Sun family or Sun Xiuyuan, nor did he talk about the reporter from the Xichuan Daily, but he shared his ideas directly, "... Senior leader, that’s what I am thinking. Could you please talk to the Xichuan Daily and set up a special column for us to combat desertification and green Xichuan... I will be visiting every unit these next few days, and if you could loan me a reporter from the paper, plus my secretary, we could get this series of reports done quickly."