"Wow, there's a little coal shop here!"

With Wilson's pompous performance, the central plot of this so-called "interview" finally kicked off.

The assistant stepped forward, pretending to be curious to look at the environment of the store, and then opened his mouth to the old man who was busy in the store and asked:

"Uncle, what are you doing here?"

The old man looked up at the two people in front of him suspiciously, and was a little overwhelmed for a while.

Foreigner?

It was quite unusual for foreigners to appear in this county, and in his memory, the last time he saw them was the blonde and blue-eyed teachers who came to teach at his daughter's school a few years ago.

"What are you doing?"

The old man asked warily.

"We're here to visit, and when we see your store, we feel curious and come and have a look."

The assistant's expression was natural, and there was no flaw at all.

After hearing her words, the old man also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the propaganda of the so-called "foreign guests" in recent years has long ceased to exist, in the hearts of an old man of his age, there is actually a kind of awe for foreigners after the solidification of thinking.

——

Or rather, reverence for certain rules.

For fear of losing people, for fear of ruining the image of the country.

He rubbed his hands nervously, patted the soot off his clothes, and then straightened up and said:

"There's nothing to see here, you guys come to travel, go to the riverside to see, there's a new water park by the river, it's very beautiful!"

"We don't want to look at those things, we like the raw."

The assistant continued to answer.

Raw?

The old man didn't quite understand the meaning of the word, he just smiled at Wilson, who was holding the DV, and stretched out his hand to say "yes", and then tried to continue carrying the coal piled up in the doorway.

And that's exactly what Wilson wanted.

While aiming the DV at the old man, he motioned for the assistant to continue to follow and talk to the old man according to the script that had been prepared long ago.

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

"What else can you do to move coal?"

The old man replied briefly.

"Why don't you bring a mask? There's so much dust here, it's easy to get sick. ”

"If you are sick, you have to do it, don't do it without money."

Hearing the old man's answer, Wilson was secretly happy, and he could clearly feel that he had found the right place for his first interview.

The assistant on the side did not directly ask the core question, but put down his body and took the initiative to help the old man move a basket full of coal to the tricycle parked on the side.

And this action also made the old man, who was already not thinking much, let down his guard against her.

"Hey, you're a girl, you're still weird, just let it go, don't do it!"

"I'm afraid I can't afford to get your clothes dirty."

The assistant smiled generously and replied:

"I don't have to pay for it!"

And Wilson, who was DV, quickly grasped this detail and said in English:

"It can be seen that the ordinary people in this town are very kind, and my friend helped him just now, but the first thing he cares about is whether or not he stains my friend's clothes."

"This makes me feel more like an English gentleman."

"But a gentleman wouldn't live in such a dilapidated house, and wouldn't need to make a living selling coal"

While he was reading the narration to the microphone, the old man and his assistant finally finished moving all the coals, and instead of sitting down at once, the former found two stools, carefully wiped the dust off them, and then let Wilson and the others rest with him.

Obviously, he has now begun to treat the two Wilson as "his own people".

Seeing that the time was ripe, the assistant also began her guidance.

"Uncle, is anyone still burning coal now? I think we all use natural gas. ”

The old man sighed and replied:

"Yes, they all use natural gas, and there are still a few that burn coal."

"A few years ago, I went to pull a cart of coal back, and it would be sold out in less than half a day.

"Because of what? Natural gas was expensive back then. ”

"In addition, it is also convenient to use coal, you said that in winter, you need to heat your home, and it is not cost-effective to buy charcoal, and you can cook with a stove, how good."

"Not anymore, now it's electric heaters, induction cookers, and liquefied gas."

"There are almost no coal people in the city, that is, a few restaurants, and there are people burning coal in the suburbs."

"In a few years, the countryside will stop burning coal, either simply firewood or biogas."

"If you don't talk about others, I don't want to burn coal myself."

"That's true. Do you still make money doing this? ”

The old man shook his head again and again, and replied:

"If you don't make money, what money do you make here? It's nice to have a thousand dollars a month! ”

Wilson smiled with satisfaction.

It seems that the preliminary investigation has not gone wrong, and the life of this old man is indeed extremely difficult.

1000 yuan, what can you do in this era?

Maybe for some, it's just a meal.

So, he hurriedly said into the microphone:

"The situation of this old man is even more difficult than we thought, he does not earn more than 100 euros a month."

"You know, even in this small town, a simple lunch costs more than 1 euro."

In other words, the money he earns can barely cover the family's food consumption.

"One hundred percent Engel's coefficient! Unthinkable"

These words have begun to have obvious guiding meanings, but under Wilson's superb acting skills, the so-called "surprise" covers the malicious intent implied in them.

And at this moment, the old man on the opposite side suddenly coughed violently.

Seeing this, the assistant hurriedly took out mineral water from his bag, patted the old man's back with concern, and asked:

"Are you alright? What's going on? ”

It took a few minutes for the old man to finally regain his breath.

"It's okay, it's okay."

"It's said that there is something wrong with the lungs, but maybe it's lung cancer."

"Lung cancer? No way? ”

An exaggerated look of surprise appeared on the assistant's face, but Wilson grew more and more excited.

This is living suffering.

And the suffering of the other party is the breaking point of their own consumption.

"Why not, it's easy to get lung cancer if you do this."

"Hey, I don't even want to talk about this, and I don't dare to look at it."

"It's a few years to live, and when I raise my two daughters, I won't have to worry about leaving."

The old man's voice revealed a calmness, and even the two Wilson, who were not right-minded, were finally moved.

But they haven't really forgotten what they're going to do.

After the old man got on the tricycle, they naturally helped him push the cart and followed him.

And it was this trip that allowed them to collect enough material to make a video

A few days later, a video went live on YouTube.

It's titled "Traveling to China and Met an Old Man Who Sold Coal."

At first, its popularity was not high, but with the assignment and promotion of the background, the playback volume of this video began to increase at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it was quickly reprinted to the domestic video platform in China.

In a very short period of time, the video's impact quickly spread.

It is undeniable that the real status quo of the underlying society it shows really pierces everyone's softest heart.

In the video, people can see more than just a few simple conversations between Wilson's team and the old man, but also more heart-wrenching details that are revealed through "not very clear shots".

For example, the brightly colored children's electronic watch he wears on his hand may not know from which stall he bought it for a few dollars, just to ensure that he can arrive at the customer's request on time.

For example, the walls of his house are covered with awards, but on the table below them is a bowl of leftovers that cannot be seen in color.

For example, those families who are still ordering coal are often in poor condition, and even some elderly people only order a few pieces at a time, because they can only afford these few pieces of fuel to survive the cold winter because they can only pay for the money they get from scavenging.

It all seemed so real, and yet so unreal.

Is that really the case?

In those corners that we can't see, are there really people who are still living this life so bitter that they can barely breathe?

With the cough of the old man selling coal, the audience in front of the screen seemed to be suffocated with him.

At the end of the video, Wilson summed up the video in a deep tone.

"This video was originally just to record the new things we encountered during the trip, but the appearance of the old man broke our plan."

"We decided to record him-—— maybe, after seeing this video, more people will follow him and help him."

"By the way, it's not him, it's them."

"I think that in every corner of this world, there are hidden people who are suffering like them."

"We're doing so little for them, but at least, there should be some."

There is no talk of "breaking the defense" in this year, but it is undeniable that after the video was released, many people did break the defense as soon as they saw it.

Under the comment area of major video websites, netizens shared their experiences one by one, discussing the video itself and the problems it brings.

"This video is really real, my hometown is a small county, and now the situation in many places is the same as what was filmed in the video."

"The lower they are, the less money they have, and more seriously, they don't even have a chance to turn over."

"Those who sell coal sell coal for a lifetime, and those who sell vegetables sell vegetables for a lifetime, but when we enjoy the dividends of rapid development, they seem to be abandoned"

"Maybe we should really stop and wait for them, or rather, we should pull them along."

"Indeed, I feel this kind of thing too much."

"I went back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year this year and saw a lot of similar things."

"You're all paying attention to the old man selling coal, but basically no one notices the old man scavenging in the video."

"There is such a person near my house, heating is already a luxury for him, if it weren't for the village to buy him rice, flour and oil, I estimate that he won't be able to live for a year."

"It's outrageous, you know? In the past, the poem said, 'I am worried about the charcoal and wish the sky is cold', but I never imagined that it has come to this year, and there will be people who have no way to solve the problem of 'food and clothing', so they can only pray to the heavens to warm up as soon as possible."

This is considered the most normal comment, and at the same time, under the deliberate guidance of some accounts, a trend of "contrast" has begun to appear.

On one side, there is a picture of a new type of equipment that looks like a science fiction product.

On one side, there was the old man's withered and chapped hands.

On the one hand, there is the huge amount of scientific research budget that has been publicly released.

On one side, there were several torn banknotes stained with soot.

Such a picture is full of impact.

And under such impact, more and more extreme and extreme comments have gradually become more and more.

"Your country is like this, what you value is face and international influence."

"It's really a bit ironic, the official news of Xinghuo has just been announced, and this organization doesn't know how much money it has swallowed up in the past few years."

"Yes, we admit that the benefits are huge, but the question is, is it really worth it?"

"Perhaps, we don't need so much advanced military equipment, and we don't need any chips, excavators and the like."

"We just want everyone to have a bite to eat, is that hard?"

In this series of turbulent public opinion, a core point of view has gradually emerged.

That is:

Are we really going in the wrong direction? Is our so-called "for the happiness of the people and the happiness of all mankind" just an empty phrase?

Is happiness earned by weapons and war?

Apparently not, right?

Since it's not

So what have we done and what are we doing now?

What did Xinghuo, an organization that has carried countless glories, do?

(End of chapter)