This matter regarding the Huang family, writing it was originally unnecessary. It's troublesome, requiring numerous adjustments to avoid jeopardizing the entire book. Therefore, many readers might not grasp the significance of these sections.
In truth, there's no grand purpose. It's simply that if a transmigator doesn't attempt to salvage anything, they are no better than pigs or dogs.
So, if these chapters seem meaningless or like filler content, feel free to skip them. My apologies.
Holding this precious photograph, along with extensive interview materials, the core crucial point remained whether the other party was genuine or not.
Were they truly the old family of Boss Huang, or yet another group of con artists?
If the interviewee were an ordinary wealthy individual, regardless of authenticity, they would directly ambush them during the interview, capturing the interviewee's surprised reaction, thus completing their task.
However, the subject was Boss Huang. The situation was different. Even CCTV, before conducting interviews, would have all interview questions reviewed by Huang He himself. Only after ensuring all questions could be answered would the interview officially commence.
While it wasn't impossible to stage an ambush during the interview, if Boss Huang were angered, the loss of over 500 million RMB in advertising from Jiangnan Group on CCTV would be an unbearable consequence for the entire network.
However, by the time this investigation report was finalized, the recording of the entire interview was about to begin. Thus, the journalist in charge of the interview, before the interview commenced, handed over the story gathered by the production team, along with the crucial elementary school graduation photo, to Boss Huang, wanting him to identify if the people in it were his father and thus confirm if Huangjia Village was indeed Boss Huang's hometown.
Unexpectedly, when Boss Huang saw the photograph, his emotions became instantly uncontrollable. His eyes visibly reddened and moistened.
After uttering an apology, he returned directly to the lounge. However, this did not dishearten the director. The more intense Huang He's reaction, the higher the authenticity of the photograph, meaning they had indeed found Boss Huang's fellow villagers.
Indeed, after about an hour, Boss Huang returned, holding a photograph which he handed to the production team. Upon closer inspection, the two photographs were identical, both graduation photos.
Ahem, graduation photos, naturally, every classmate received one. It's quite normal to have many identical graduation photos.
And Huang He possessed an identical graduation photo, which implied that Huang Tianshan himself was present in this photo, as only those who were in the picture would receive a copy.
"I never imagined I would have the chance to see this photograph in its complete form!" Boss Huang said emotionally, his eyes red, clearly having cried.
Hearing Boss Huang's words, the film crew immediately examined the new photograph carefully, discovering that a portion of it was hazy, as if ink had been splashed with water, blurring the figures within.
However, the background of this graduation photo, as well as the appearance of the unfocused classmates, matched, proving it was indeed the same graduation photo.
"Mr. Huang, your father must have cherished this photo dearly, often taking it out to view and reminisce, otherwise, it wouldn't have worn down like this!" the journalist said with emotion.
"Alas, your statement is only half true!" Boss Huang said with a peculiar smile. "When my father was alive, he did often take out this photograph to reminisce. However, the worn-out portion wasn't due to frequent handling. My father said that because he was very small back then, and his grandmother had already passed away, people at school bullied him and gave him the only defective copy of the graduation photo!"
"So, whenever he was bullied in society, or encountered difficulties, or his business was not going smoothly, he would take out this photograph, recall the days when he was bullied at school, and compared to those days, the current difficulties and setbacks would seem insignificant. My father would then regain his fighting spirit!"
"It can be said that without this photograph, my father's achievements would not exist, nor would the current Jiangnan Group!" Boss Huang said with deep emotion, while the surrounding journalists' expressions became somewhat awkward.
"Mr. Huang, I apologize for bringing up some unpleasant memories for you!" the interviewing journalist quickly apologized.
"No, I have no unpleasant memories. Because these memories all belong to my father, and have nothing to do with me. And since I can remember, my father rarely spoke about his childhood stories. On the few occasions he did, he only reminisced about my grandmother."
"Sometimes I curiously asked him where our hometown was, but my father never answered me. If you hadn't brought this photograph today, I wouldn't know until now that my hometown is actually in Hero Town, Yi Province. It's truly an interesting name, that there exists a small town called Hero in this world!" Boss Huang said with a smile, and the surrounding area erupted in laughter, everyone was happy.
"Alright, let's begin the interview!" Boss Huang said proactively, and then commenced the interview, which had been prepared for nearly a month.
The entire interview process was very smooth. Huang He answered questions basically as asked. Not only were all the pre-prepared questions answered, but Boss Huang also stated on the spot that the production team could ask any questions they wished, even if they were more pointed, he was willing to answer them all.
Such good fortune?
So the entire production team completely let loose, asking many questions that could be considered intense.
For instance, how long Boss Huang believed he could maintain his position as the world's richest man, whether Boss Huang was married, how Boss Huang viewed the concentration of wealth in one person, and whether it would cause more social problems.
These questions were extremely probing, and Boss Huang answered them all with great decisiveness.
Towards the end of the interview, the production team brought up the matter of finding his hometown again, told the story, and then asked Boss Huang some questions. Boss Huang personally confirmed that his hometown should indeed be in Hero Town.
"Mr. Huang, we actually filmed some video materials on-site, which also include some content related to your father and your grandmother. Would you be willing to watch it now, or would you prefer us to give it to you later to watch at your leisure!" the production team asked cautiously.
"It's fine, I'll watch it here. I can't wait!" Huang He said without hesitation. Consequently, Jiangnan Group's staff immediately set up a projection screen on-site, and in coordination with CCTV's staff, projected the video without delay.
The video began with footage of the local scenery of Huangjia Village, a village built on sheer cliffs, with extremely magnificent scenery that made many present, who had never visited Huangjia Village, feel a stir of emotion.
Only Boss Huang, upon seeing the scenery on the video, suddenly sighed, "Living in such a place, without even a decent road, the villagers must live very difficult lives!"
Indeed, as the camera shifted from the beautiful scenery to Huangjia Village, the poverty of the entire village was directly revealed.
Looking around, the entire village had only a few dozen houses, and all of them were wooden structures, not a single concrete house was visible.
Almost all the houses were built on the only flat areas along the cliff edges. Therefore, although the village had electricity, every household had neatly stacked firewood by their doors, clearly indicating that the village still relied on burning firewood for daily life.
This was a village whose poverty was visible to the naked eye.
After that came scenes of the production team searching for the village chief, interpreting the genealogy, and inquiring about the stories of Huang He's father from that year. Boss Huang watched with great interest.
When he heard that his father used to be idle and also stole chickens and dogs, Boss Huang even laughed and said, "No wonder my mother often said my father was a thief, because he stole my mother away back then!"
After understanding the situation, the village chief actually offered to take the production team to see Huang Tianshan's old house.
Upon hearing this, Boss Huang, who had been smiling all along, suddenly became emotional again. He straightened his body, staring intently at the video.
"Old village chief, you mean Mr. Huang Tianshan's former residence is still there?" the journalist asked excitedly upon hearing this.
"It is!" the old village chief confirmed. "That little rascal wasn't alone; he had three uncles. After this little rascal left, his three uncles helped him look after the house, saying he would definitely return someday and shouldn't be without a place to shelter from the wind and rain. They also said he'd need this house to get married someday!"
"As a result, they've been looking after it for over 40 years. Those three old uncles have passed away, but their descendants are still there, still helping them look after the house. However, the house inevitably has some clutter piled up, and some parts are damaged, but the overall structure is still very good and very sturdy."
"Over ten years ago, we had an earthquake here. Experts said it wasn't a very large earthquake, but half the houses in the village collapsed. Yet, this fellow's house remained completely intact, not a single piece of wood fell off. That's the blessing of ancestors!" the old village chief rambled on, leading the production team around the village. Finally, beside a large tree, they found the ancestral home of Huang Tianshan.
The house, though not large, was not small either, measuring at least ten meters in length.
The entire house was built of wood. Although there were windows, there was no glass in them. Vaguely, one could see some newspaper remnants clinging to the windows, indicating that the windows were originally papered. Now, all the windows were broken.
Through the windows, one could vaguely see the interior of the house. It was indeed filled with clutter, but there were also many household items. However, it was too dark inside, and the camera lens couldn't get a very clear shot, leaving people curious.