With an inspection team about to arrive, the township chief is determined to turn a muddy road into a picture-perfect scene in a single night, by every means except the honest one.
Scene 1: Orders at Midnight
深夜，王乡长把全村干部叫到办公室，桌上摊着一张红头文件。
Late at night, Township Chief Wang summoned all the village officials to his office, where an official red-letterhead document lay spread out on the desk.
Chief Wang
上级明天上午就来咱们的'生态示范村'，可西头那条烂泥路怎么见人？
The higher-ups are coming to inspect our 'model eco-village' tomorrow morning, so how can we let them see that muddy road on the west end?
Official Li
乡长，那路两旁光秃秃的，临时种树也来不及生根啊。
Chief, both sides of that road are completely bare. Even if we plant trees now, they'll never take root in time.
Chief Wang
谁说要它生根了？连夜去镇上拉一车塑料竹子来，插满整条路，！
Who said anything about taking root? Drive into town tonight, haul back a truckload of plastic bamboo, and stick it along the whole road. Instant results!
Scene 2: A Beautiful Scene in One Night
天还没亮，几十个人打着手电筒，把假竹子一根根插进路边的泥土里。
Before dawn broke, dozens of people with flashlights were stabbing the fake bamboo stalks, one by one, into the mud along the roadside.
Official Li
这的，远远看还真像那么回事，就是闻着一股塑料味儿。
All this lush green, from a distance it really does look the part. Only thing is, up close it reeks of plastic.
Chief Wang
味儿算什么，领导又不会蹲下来闻。把那块'生态宜居'的牌子也擦亮点！
So what if it smells? The leaders aren't going to crouch down for a sniff. And give that 'eco-friendly living' sign a good polish while you're at it!
晨光中，一片崭新的'竹林'整整齐齐立在路边，叶子在风里。
In the morning light, a brand-new 'bamboo forest' stood in neat rows along the road, its leaves not stirring in the slightest in the wind.
Scene 3: The Inspection Team Arrives
上午九点，一辆黑色轿车停下，下来一位头发花白、卷着裤腿的老干部。
At nine in the morning, a black sedan pulled up, and out stepped an old official with graying hair and his trouser legs rolled up.
Chief Wang
陈处长，您看咱们这竹林,绿化搞得到位吧?都是村民自发种的!
Director Chen, take a look at our bamboo grove. We've really done the greening properly, haven't we? The villagers planted every bit of it on their own initiative!
陈处长没接话，径直走到竹子旁，伸手一，'咔'地折下半截的塑料管。
Director Chen said nothing in reply. He walked straight up to the bamboo, reached out and gave it a snap, and with a 'crack' broke off half a length of hollow plastic pipe.
Director Chen
自发种的？这竹子还会'结果'呢，根上贴着商标。
Planted on their own initiative, you say? This bamboo even 'bears fruit' — there's a brand-name price tag stuck right on the base.
Scene 4: The Mud Underfoot Remains
王乡长的笑容僵在脸上，额头沁出一层细汗，半天说不出话。
The smile froze on Chief Wang's face, a thin film of sweat beading on his forehead, and for a long while he couldn't get a word out.
Director Chen
我这双脚还陷在烂泥里呢。村民天天踩的是泥,不是你这戏台子。
My own two feet are still stuck in this mud. What the villagers tread through every day is mud — not this stage show of yours.
Director Chen
插这一车假竹子的钱，够铺多少米的水泥路，你吗?
The money you spent sticking in this truckload of fake bamboo — how many meters of concrete road could it have paved? Don't you have any sense of that?
老人甩甩沾泥的裤腿，转身上车，留下满路在风中的'竹林'。
The old man shook the mud off his trouser legs, turned, and got back into the car, leaving behind a whole roadside of 'bamboo forest' standing dead still in the wind.