Chapter 756: Local Snake
Qiubei County is located in the karst mountain and hilly area in southeastern Yunnan. Not only are there numerous mountains and forests but few flat lands, but the rocks are also severely eroded, making road construction very difficult and transportation very inconvenient.
When the convoy entered Qiubei County, they couldn't find a decent place to park, so they had to park on the playground of the county government.
The electricity was just connected here not long ago, and the ability to communicate with the outside world is basically negligible, so there was no way to get in touch with the relevant departments here before coming here. Now that so many buses have poured into the county government compound at once, the officials here, both big and small, are frightened.
If they didn't know that the world is peaceful now, they would have thought that there was trouble somewhere.
Lu Yiming led Sheng Yongshi and Ni Cong out of the car. Looking at the county leaders who were on high alert, Sheng Yongshi quickly explained to them the purpose of their visit in his hometown dialect.
When they heard that Lu Yiming and his team were organized by Fu Ri University to inspect the poverty alleviation project, these leaders let down their guard and warmly welcomed everyone.
"Ajia, Ajun, Azhen, bring out the tables and chairs for everyone to sit on. Xiao Liu, tell the kitchen to boil some water and make some tea."
County Mayor Li Baolong ordered the staff on site to move all the tables and chairs out of the house and place them on the playground.
The houses here are so cramped and small that it is difficult for ten people to turn around when squeezed in, so the only place to receive Lu Yiming and his group is the playground.
The veterans brought by Xu Tengyu also took action, moving tables, chairs and benches, and soon formed a circle on the open space.
Then, someone from the kitchen came out with two plastic buckets with red bottoms, white surfaces and many scratches. They were filled with dark red steaming tea.
This bucket is obviously a multi-purpose tool. It is not only used to hold tea, but also daily meals.
It is very likely that it is used for washing clothes and vegetables.
There are not so many requirements in the countryside. A plastic bucket is a valuable property. There is no condition to distinguish whether it is functional or not. It is good enough to have it usable.
The tea is filled with thick tea stems and large tea leaves, and it smells bitter even without you even drinking it.
Li Baolong said apologetically, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to everyone. There's no market today, so we didn't even prepare some melon seeds and peanuts. I'm sorry for not entertaining you well."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "You don't have to be so polite, County Magistrate Li. We came here abruptly. We came here today to discuss the export of Qiubei peppers. I brought along experts in food, as well as people in the logistics and e-commerce fields. My goal is to build the brand of our Qiubei peppers, so that our Qiubei peppers can go directly from the fields to the tables of consumers, ensuring that there are no middlemen making a profit from the price difference."
When Li Baolong heard what Lu Yiming said, he was immediately overjoyed.
In the geographical environment of Qiubei County, there are few places for growing rice, and most of them are dryland crops, among which Qiubei pepper is a unique variety. However, due to the rugged mountain roads and inconvenient transportation, farmers alone cannot transport this good thing.
In the past few years, the government stepped in to negotiate with cooperative buyers, but in the past two years, the buyers have controlled the Qiubei peppers and there is no way out. The purchase price has been getting lower and lower every year, and now it has even reached the point where farmers can't even make back their investment, causing strong protests from farmers, and now and then farmers still come to report it.
"Mr. Lu, are you telling the truth?"
Lu Yiming nodded slightly and said, "I, Lu Yiming, never tell lies."
Ni Cong quickly said, "Mr. Lu is the richest man in Asia."
When Li Baolong heard that Lu Yiming was the richest man in Asia, he was immediately in awe.
Lu Yiming said, "County Magistrate Li, we won't stay here too long. I plan to go to the fields or visit farmers to see the quality of Qiubei peppers this year."
Li Baolong said enthusiastically: "Okay, okay, I'll take you there."
Lu Yiming said, "No need. We have already contacted them. Let's go to Sheng Yongshi's , and then investigate the pepper planting situation in the entire area."
Li Baolong said, "Then I'll ask the kitchen to prepare it, and we can come over for lunch. I'll also make arrangements for you to go to the hotel."
Lu Yiming thought about it and thought that with so many people, Sheng Yongshi would definitely not be able to have dinner at home, so he said, "Then I'll trouble you, County Magistrate Li. We will settle the expenses with you when the time comes. It may be too late for lunch, so let's come here in the evening."
"That's fine."
After saying goodbye to Li Baolong, Lu Yiming and his friends, under the leadership of Sheng Yongshi, crossed two mountains and hiked for more than two hours before entering the village.
Several students from the literature club were almost paralyzed by exhaustion. They crawled and rolled without caring about their image when climbing the hill, gasping for breath.
The village is not big, with only about 20 families living in a mountain valley. The most common surname here is Li, and people like Sheng Yongshi migrated here from outside to escape the war in ancient times.
So many people came to the village at once, which alarmed the entire village, and people from every household went out to watch the fun.
"Why are there so many people here?"
“Are those the People’s Liberation Army?”
"There are adults and children. What are they doing here?"
Amid the suspicious discussions, everyone arrived at the door of Sheng Yongshi's house. Dozens of people filled the originally spacious cement floor.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Sheng Yongshi called out, and a woman with wrinkled face and gray hair came out of the dim room holding a dustpan. She was Sheng Yongshi's mother, Li Meiju. She was stunned to see so many people suddenly appearing at the door, and then she saw Sheng Yongshi and spoke: "Shishi, why are you back? Who are they?"
Sheng Yongshi introduced: "These are the members of our Fu Ri University Literature Society, these are people from Teng Yu Logistics Company, and these are doctors. This is Mr. Lu, the richest man in Asia. This is my boyfriend Ni Cong. "
Although she looks weak, she is very clear about relationships between men and women and introduces them to Li Meiju openly.
Li Meiju didn’t feel anything about the logistics company or the richest man, but she couldn’t help but take a second look at this doctor and her boyfriend.
Ni Cong was well prepared. He took out two gift bags and handed them to Li Meiju. He said politely, "Auntie, I am the general manager of Fan Zhenxiang Catering Company. I just graduated from Fu Ri University. It's just a small gift. I hope you won't dislike it."
"Okay, okay, he's a good-looking guy, not bad."
Li Meiju's eyes narrowed as she smiled.
My daughter is grown up now, so it’s not bad for her to have a boyfriend. Besides, since Ni Cong was admitted to Fu Ri University, he must be a good person.
In the simple value system of rural people, anyone who can get into a good university must be a reliable and good person.
Sheng Yongshi asked, "Where's my dad?"
Li Meiju sighed and said, "He's lying in the inner room and he doesn't want to eat. Sigh."
Ni Cong asked in surprise: "Is your uncle still not well? Why don't you send him to the hospital?"
Lu Yiming cursed: "Look, where is the hospital here? Why do you think I brought the medical experts here?"
He turned to a middle-aged man in his forties and said, "Doctor Wang, please go in with your colleagues and help."
"OK."
The root cause of Sheng Yongshi's father Sheng Xuehai's illness was anger. First, he was very angry about the price offered by the buyer, and then he thought that his year's work would be in vain if his peppers rotted in the fields, so he was anxious and fell ill. There was no big problem in essence.
Sheng Yongshi took Ni Cong into the house to meet Sheng Xuehai.
Sheng Xuehai heard that Ni Cong was also a student of Fu Ri University, and became the president of a company right after graduation. He came here today to help sell peppers in the countryside. After hearing the good news, Sheng Xuehai's illness was immediately cured.
Sheng Yongshi was very happy to see Sheng Xuehai getting better. Outside, Lu Yiming was urging them to inspect the situation. Ni Cong put down all the medicines and supplements he had brought with him and said to Sheng Xuehai and Li Meiju, "Uncle, aunt, we came here to take a look and also to sell all the peppers in our village. We plan to go out and visit everyone to see how their peppers are doing."
Sheng Xuehai volunteered, "Come on, I'll take you there. I know everyone in the village."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "It's great to have uncle leading the way."
Sheng Xuehai took everyone out and soon arrived at an acquaintance's home.
"Old man Li, are you there?"
A man with gray hair and dark skin came out of the room, holding a pipe in his mouth. Before he could see the man, a voice came: "Are you well?"
"Wow, why are there so many people?"
Sheng Xuehai smiled and said, "I'm fine. Come on, let me introduce you. This is my son-in-law, the big boss in Zhonghai. These are the others."
Lu Yiming: “???”
Xu Tengyu: “???”
Others: “???”
Wow, this introduction is really simple, straightforward and easy to understand.
Old man Li didn't think there was anything wrong.
"What are they here for?"
"They said they were here to buy the peppers from us and to build a pepper processing plant in the county. They said they would sign a contract with us directly when the time comes. As long as we meet their purchasing standards, they would buy the peppers at the market price."
"Is there such a good thing?"
"Of course, this is what my son-in-law said, can he lie to me?"
"That's great, we'll just grow peppers from now on?"
"Yes. Stop talking nonsense and take out your peppers for the experts to have a look. If the quality is up to standard, we will sign the contract and take all the peppers away."
"good."
The agricultural experts brought by Lu Yiming tried peppers one by one. After the trial, they scored all the data of the peppers and recorded them in a notebook, and then used this to distinguish five different grades of pepper varieties.
"Mr. Lu, this kind of pepper is suitable for making pickled peppers. We can make canned pickled peppers later. This kind of pepper has a fine texture and is fragrant but not spicy after being ground into powder..."
Listening to the expert's report, Lu Yiming was very happy. He waved his hand and said, "Then please study it and make a few product formulas for me according to grades. We will build a factory locally to help the villagers get rid of poverty and become rich!"
"Okay, Mr. Lu."
The inspection was not something that could be done in an afternoon, and building a factory was certainly not something that could be done in a day. Lu Yiming and his team took a quick look and returned to the county town.
When Lu Yiming and his team returned to the county town, Li Baolong asked expectantly, "Boss Lu, how was the inspection going?"
Lu Yiming nodded slightly and said, "The quality of the peppers is very good. I plan to have the expert technical team continue to investigate and include all the pepper varieties. When the next crop comes, let agricultural experts guide farmers in planting. We will directly adopt the contract system and send the grown peppers to the factory we have built for direct processing. We will also select a site in the county to build a pepper processing factory."
Hearing Lu Yiming's words, Li Baolong was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He held Lu Yiming's hand tightly and said with a sob: "Mr. Lu, I thank you on behalf of the 400,000 compatriots in Qiubei County!"
There is no doubt that once Lu Yiming's plan is realized, Qiubei County will not be able to get rid of poverty and become rich immediately, but the villagers' lives will at least have hope.
Lu Yiming was also a little moved, and said: "Our country is vast and rich in resources, and there is never a shortage of good things. It's just that there is a lack of channels for people to know about them. Even good wine needs to be hidden in a remote alley. I am now committed to building channels so that these good things can be known to people and delivered to those who need them. I hope the relevant departments can support it."
Li Baolong immediately promised: "There is no doubt about this. The county will give you all the support it can. Don't worry and do it boldly!"
"In that case, I would like to thank County Magistrate Li first."
"Look at what you said. I should be the one thanking you."
Li Baolong invited everyone to the only hotel in the county town, where they ate and talked about issues related to follow-up cooperation.
We talked until late at night and basically finalized the overall cooperation and planning, and we were just waiting for the specific cooperation to start.
The news that a big shot was coming to the village to buy peppers and set up a cooperative quickly spread throughout the village, and many people ran to Sheng Xuehai's house to inquire about the situation.
Hearing the villagers calling him "brother", Sheng Xuehai felt that he had entered his highlight moment. On the one hand, he took out the melon seeds and peanuts sent by Ni Cong to treat everyone, and on the other hand, he explained the policies to the villagers.
"Sign a contract to farm directly? And get expert guidance? Are our good days coming?"
"Isn't it? We don't even have to sell the crops after they are grown. They are directly brought to the factory for processing."
"Please open your eyes, sir."
These people, who have worked hard for generations, never even dreamed that they would encounter such a good thing.
In the next few days, experts conducted inspections in various parts of Qiubei County and classified all pepper varieties and quality. Different grades of products were given different purchase prices to encourage farmers here to work hard on production and improve quality as much as possible.
After signing a series of contracts with the county and farmers, Lu Yiming promised to arrange a construction team to build the factory immediately, and then prepared to leave.
However, no matter how hard they tried to cooperate, it would be next year's business. This year's peppers had already been harvested, and Lu Yiming had to take care of it in order to gain the support of the villagers. He asked Xu Tengyu to take out the truck, bring in packaging equipment, and buy all the peppers in the village at the market price.
The villagers who received the money and sold their peppers were so happy that they almost beat drums and gongs.
However, as the saying goes, some are happy while others are sad. For example, Yin Dehui, who got the news, is very unhappy now. He was furious when he learned that a group of outsiders had taken away all the market prices of Qiubei peppers and contracted the subsequent peppers.
"Damn it! How dare someone steal my business? They must be fed up with living. I have to go talk to them."
Not long after, the Indo-German Society gathered dozens of people, came to the front of the convoy and blocked everyone's way.
When the convoy saw someone blocking the road, it had to stop.
Lu Yiming asked, "What's going on? Do you want to take a ride outside?"
Zhao Tiezhu stuck his head out of the window and took a look, then said, "No, I'll go ask."
