Field Notes from a Local Government Office in a Monster Village

Also known as: "Assistant Village Director in a Village of Monsters" and "My Poverty-Alleviation Targets Are All Spirits"

Blurb:

The year she graduates from college, Le Qianshan is hit by one piece of bad luck after another. Her best friend suddenly cuts ties with her, her boyfriend cheats and hooks up with a rich beauty, and a lecherous older man at her internship keeps harassing her, then accuses her of being a mistress. Her parents are fighting about getting divorced, and the whole family is in chaos.

At the end of her tether, Le Qianshan happens to take the western-region volunteer recruitment exam. She rushes off to a border town in the far southwest, becoming a grassroots worker for a two-year term. She plans to get away from all the mess of her life and recuperate here.

On her very first day in town, the local government assigns her to Fuchang Village to serve as the assistant to the village director.

What she never expected, however, was that none of the villagers were human!

Lang Bairen: A big black wolf, and the former commander of a special operations brigade. After being injured during a special mission and overusing his demonic powers, he entered a period of instability and kept turning into a wolf. With no other choice, he temporarily retired. The villagers unanimously elected him village director of the monster village.

Female lead: A crybaby little white rabbit who evolves into a southwest China Tyrannosaurus.

Male lead: A handsome, cool, mature, loyal wolf-type heartthrob.

Qianshan's life before: Takeout, chasing pop idols, video games, and getting battered by friendships, romance, and family. Constantly caught in ugly fights and left in tears, she's a little white rabbit with a tendency to cry at the drop of a hat...

Qianshan's life after becoming the assistant village director:

1. This morning, Director Lang turned into a dog again during the village committee meeting. No, a wolf. He insisted on finishing the meeting, but the county inspection team saw him and criticized us for being unprofessional. They said it was outrageous to let a wolf-dog sit at the head of the meeting table...

2. Doctor Xiong at the village clinic worked himself to exhaustion. Who knew he was a panda...

3. We have to patrol the mountains every day to prevent forest fires. Luckily, our village's forest rangers are all monkey spirits. Too bad they're a bunch of Tibetan macaques. Apparently they're related to the monkeys on Mount Emei, but they're several times more hot-tempered and unruly than their cousins there...

4. Poverty-alleviation work isn't easy. The family I've been assigned to help is a whole nest of sloth spirits! Why are there sloth spirits in southwest China?! Shouldn't we check if they crossed the border illegally three hundred years ago?!

5. There's so much paperwork and so many forms, and everything is always needed immediately. Luckily, the village clerk is a spider spirit with eight hands to type with. She's also among the county's fastest at helping villagers sign up for medical insurance...

6. Fox Sis, who returned to her hometown to start a business, opened a chicken farm and beat up the weasel family next door. Director Lang has gone to a county meeting, so we have to hurry over and mediate the dispute...

7. Need to survey land plots? No problem. Big Brother Eagle can work as a drone!

And so on. Two years later, Comrade Qianshan has gone straight from a delicate young woman to a strong, confident woman, with nerves and willpower of steel. She can easily get even with everyone who once hurt her.

A whimsical, lighthearted rural-life fantasy about grassroots work, with some face-slapping and feel-good payback. The main tone is warm and funny. If it sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to add it to your reading list.

The framework for this blurb was discussed with friends in 2020, with WeChat records to prove it. This draft blurb was posted on September 24, 2024, and has been screenshotted.

Theme: Devote yourself to grassroots rural revitalization, build a prosperous and stable country, and find a happy, loving relationship.