In a city in the north, it was the season between late spring and early summer, when willow catkins filled the air.

With nothing better to do, Zhang Heng lay on the sofa, scrolling through TikTok.

Suddenly, a video caught his attention.

In the video, a man in his thirties, his face beaming with irrepressible excitement, shouted at the camera in a thick local accent, "Guys, I’ve found a way to get rich—collecting willow catkins! A lot of people around here don’t know this yet, but you can gather over a hundred pounds a day. At three yuan a pound, you can make three or four hundred a day. Isn’t that way better than working a normal job?"

The video then cut to the man, who, while still talking, expertly swept the willow catkins on the roadside into a pile with a broom and stuffed them into a massive woven sack, looking full of vigor.

Zhang Heng watched the video, his brow furrowed. ’Is this for real?’

’This willow catkin stuff is so annoying when it’s flying everywhere. Since when is it worth anything?’

Skeptically, he opened the comment section.

The comments were all over the place.

Some scoffed, "Probably fake. What can you even use willow catkins for? This is a scam to trick morons."

Others were dismissive, "What’s this stuff good for besides causing allergies? Impossible."

Some took a wait-and-see approach, "Technology is so advanced these days, maybe there really is a use for it."

And some confirmed it, "People are collecting it here, too. Looks like it’s the real deal."

Although Zhang Heng was still skeptical, the man’s sheer excitement in the video was enough to make him curious.

When he went out for lunch, he paid special attention to his surroundings.

Sure enough, in a park near his residential complex, he actually saw a few seniors wearing masks, holding brooms, and hunched over as they collected willow catkins from the greenbelts.

His curiosity piqued, he walked up to one of the women and asked, "Ma’am, are you collecting willow catkins? What is this stuff used for?"

The woman looked up and said excitedly, "Young man, you don’t know? Someone’s buying up willow catkins for three yuan a pound. There’s a collection point set up not far from here, right next to that scrap collection station."

Zhang Heng was stunned. ’It’s actually real?’

He hurriedly asked, "Ma’am, who’s buying them?"

"I think it was... Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory..."

’Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory?’

Zhang Heng had heard of this pharmaceutical factory. It had been making a big splash lately, producing a lot of effective medicines.

’Could what the video said be true after all?’

He hurried over to the collection point the woman had mentioned.

Sure enough, a long line had already formed. Several citizens were having their woven sacks, full of willow catkins, weighed, while staff members efficiently handled the weighing and payments.

Zhang Heng saw them exchanging cash for goods with his own eyes, yet he still found it hard to believe. ’Could they be shills?’

But then he thought, ’There are so many people. They can’t all be shills, can they?’

’Anyway, I’ve got nothing else to do today. Might as well give it a try.’

He found a plastic bag, casually collected a few pounds of willow catkins from the roadside, and then got in line.

When it was his turn, a staff member weighed his bag and actually gave him about ten yuan!

The moment the money was in his hand, Zhang Heng’s heart skipped a beat, and a wave of ecstasy washed over him.

’It’s real!’

’This is actually real!’

Forgetting all about lunch, he immediately ran home, dug out the woven sacks from his house, put on a mask, grabbed a broom, and gleefully threw himself into the grand enterprise of "picking up money."

For the rest of the afternoon, Zhang Heng collected willow catkins non-stop, happily bustling about.

As evening approached, he took two large sacks of willow catkins to the collection point. When they were weighed, they came out to over seventy pounds.

The staff member handed him over two hundred yuan. Zhang Heng took the money; its weight in his hand felt substantial, and he was overjoyed.

He couldn’t wait to film a video of his "haul" and upload it to TikTok, excitedly sharing his experience. "Guys, it’s real! You can really sell willow catkins for money! I made over two hundred yuan in a single afternoon! Everyone, get moving!"

The moment his video was posted, it caused an even bigger stir.

More people saw the opportunity and flocked to join the army of willow catkin collectors.

...

「Municipal Government Office Building」

Following Li Xu’s prescription, Secretary Wang took out a dose of medicine and carefully began to decoct it.

Once the medicinal liquid was ready, he carried the bowl to Mayor Lin’s office.

"Mayor Lin, the medicine is ready."

Secretary Wang said softly.

Mayor Lin looked up from a pile of documents. Seeing the bowl of dark, murky medicinal liquid, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

He knew Chinese medicine was bitter, but for the sake of his health, he took a deep breath, braced himself against the bitterness, and drank it all in one gulp.

As the liquid went down, a strong medicinal taste filled his mouth and rushed into his sinuses. It was so bitter that his brows knitted together into a knot.

After finishing the medicine, Mayor Lin rinsed his mouth and said to Secretary Wang, "Xiao Wang, the inspection team should be arriving soon, right?"

"Yes, Mayor Lin. Team Leader Hao and his group are expected to arrive this morning."

Secretary Wang reported.

"Alright, I understand."

Mayor Lin rubbed his temples, looking weary. "We have to accompany the inspection team today. It’s going to be another tough battle. Have my heart medication ready. If I collapse from exhaustion, you feed it to me."

"Mayor Lin, you absolutely must take care of yourself..."

Secretary Wang said with concern.

"That’s enough. Stop fussing. The job demands it!"

Mayor Lin waved his hand dismissively and immediately threw himself back into his intense work.

Meanwhile, a nondescript black Passat sedan slowly drove into downtown Feng City.

Inside were the members of the National Civilized City inspection team, led by Team Leader Hao.

He instructed the driver, "Xiao Li, slow down and take a few detours. I want to get a look at Feng City’s appearance first."

The deputy team leader, sitting beside him, smiled and said, "Team Leader Hao, are you trying to conduct an ’undercover visit’ to see the real Feng City?"

Team Leader Hao nodded and said grimly, "A city’s cleanliness is its public face and the most direct reflection of its level of civilization. This is especially true for the ’Sanitary City’ application. If they can’t even get the most basic sanitation right, there’s no point in looking at anything else. I want to see how well Feng City has actually done."

However, as the car drove deeper into the city, a look of surprise gradually appeared on Team Leader Hao’s face.

He discovered that the streets of Feng City were exceptionally clean and tidy, with almost no trash or debris to be seen on the pavement.

What surprised him most was that before entering the city, while on the highway and national roads, they had been so plagued by the drifting willow catkins that they hadn’t dared to open their windows.

Yet, the moment they entered the urban area of Feng City, there was virtually no trace of the willow catkins to be found!

Team Leader Hao observed carefully. He noticed that it wasn’t that Feng City had no poplar trees; on the contrary, there were many. The trees planted along the roads were all fast-growing poplars, the kind that produce huge amounts of willow catkins in the spring.

So why were there almost no willow catkins piled up beneath these trees?

His mind was filled with curiosity and questions.

The sedan finally arrived at the municipal government compound.

Mayor Lin and other city leaders were already at the entrance to greet them.

After some warm pleasantries, Team Leader Hao couldn’t wait to ask the question on his mind. "Mayor Lin, on my way here, I noticed that Feng City’s streets are exceptionally tidy. In particular, the willow catkin problem seems to have been completely resolved. I’m a bit curious, how did you get those poplar trees to stop shedding willow catkins?"