Chapter 143 Business Briefing

After learning the clues, Shen Lingning went to the meeting alone. Facing the difficulties raised by Deputy Director Qian and others, she remained calm and explained in a clear and logical manner the legality of the Chashan Military Factory, its contribution to the country's foreign exchange, and the doubts about the so-called "illegal" documents based on facts.

Her words were flawless, which put Deputy Director Qian and his group in a passive position.

At the same time, the base security department and relevant departments coordinated by Zhao Changhe took joint action. Based on the clues of the "Sakura Plan" provided by Shen Lingning and the social network of Deputy Director Qian found by Liu Jinfeng's husband, they followed the clues and dug deeper.

The investigation found that Deputy Director Qian had a relationship with a man who had been retired for many years...

The time is ripe to close the net!

Late one night, the joint action team launched simultaneous attacks and captured Wu Renxin in the small Western-style building where he lived in seclusion and Deputy Director Qian's home respectively. They also seized the code book, the radio (fragments) and a small number of cultural relics that had not yet been transferred.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, "Old Sakura" Wu Renxin finally confessed.

The truth came out and the whole base was shocked!

When Shen Lingning learned that Wu Renxin was actually related to the injustice of the Shen family, her heart was in turmoil, and new and old hatreds surged in her heart, but it also strengthened her determination to make Chashan even stronger.

With the internal cancer eradicated, the external threat to the tea mountain was temporarily eliminated.

However, when Shen Lingning returned to the tea mountain and counted the inventory and orders, a more realistic and urgent crisis was placed before him: the tea raw materials were almost out of stock!

The enemy spies were eliminated, and the whole tea mountain was jubilant and production enthusiasm was unprecedentedly high.

The newly arrived tea-frying machines, rolling machines, and other equipment were installed and debugged, and the machines in the workshop roared, greatly improving efficiency. But Shen Lingning looked at the warehouse account book, his brows furrowed more and more.

The spring tea picking is nearing its end. All in all, this year's domestically produced high-quality spring tea raw materials are only about 3,000 kilograms.

After processing losses, the finished tea leaves even less. However, the already signed foreign trade orders alone, primarily for Golden Osmanthus black tea and the newly developed milk tea, as well as the raw material requirements for other floral-scented tea seed soaps, will require nearly 2,500 kilograms of finished tea.

This means that there is very little share left for domestic sales and trialing new products such as milk tea.

What’s more serious is that there are only 400 kilograms of tea seeds left in stock, which is the hope for expanding planting next year.

We had originally hoped that the Ministry of Agriculture could allocate some fragrant flowers such as jasmine and osmanthus needed for scented tea, as well as high-quality tea tree seedlings, but the results of previous contacts were all "tight supply" and "need to queue."

"Director, this won't work."

Aunt Sun held up the production schedule, a worried look on her face. "The machines are fast, but even a good cook cannot cook without rice. If we produce according to orders, our own inventory will only last for another two months at most. If we can't deliver by then, the penalty will be exorbitant, and our reputation will be ruined."

Liu Jinfeng added: "I've also inquired with surrounding communes, and the quality of the tea they grow doesn't meet our requirements, and the quantity is small, so it won't solve our major problem."

Shen Lingning knew that raw materials had become the biggest bottleneck restricting the development of the tea plantation. The joy brought by the equipment upgrade was diluted by the reality of the dilemma.

She called a meeting of key personnel, and everyone talked at once, but no one could come up with a good solution that would produce immediate results.

The only hope still lies in resource allocation and support at a higher level.

"We can't wait any longer."

Shen Lingning made up his mind, "I will go to Chang'an in person! On the one hand, I will report to Uncle Zhao and the relevant departments in person on the results of our elimination of enemy spies. More importantly, the problem of raw materials must be solved!

If the Ministry of Agriculture approach doesn't work, we'll have to think of other solutions. We can't let a living person die from holding their urine! I'll go to the county first to attend a briefing."

——

In the early morning of Qinnan, the air still carried the moisture and fragrance of earth from last night's rain.

On the bluestone streets of Hongxing Town, under the jurisdiction of Zixing County, breakfast stalls have been set up and are steaming hot.

Shen Lingning was walking on the slightly noisy but lively street, holding the hand of Fubao, who had just turned three years old.

Fubao had two small buns on her head today, and was wearing a unique little skirt that Shen Lingning had made by patching together scraps of floral fabric. Her big eyes looked around curiously.

They sat down in front of a stall that looked cleaner and ordered two bowls of steamed noodles, a local specialty.

"Mom, this is slippery, sour and spicy, so delicious!"

Fubao imitated the adults and used his chopsticks, not very skilled at it, to slurp up the wide, thin and smooth noodles one by one. His little face turned slightly red from the sour and spicy soup, but he ate with gusto.

She also expressed her feelings, "Finally, I'm three years old now and I'm able to eat such delicious noodles!"

The childish talk made the diners at the nearby table and the stall owner laugh in a good-natured manner.

Shen Lingning looked at her daughter's healthy and lively appearance, her heart filled with relief, and she carefully helped her wipe the chili oil from the corner of her mouth.

In the past few years, for the development of tea mountains and military factories, Shen Lingning has traveled almost all over the mountains and rivers of Qinnan, and Zixing County is the focus of her business.

Many fellow villagers know this capable but humble military factory director who sincerely leads everyone to prosperity.

Combined with previous reports in the provincial newspaper, she is quite famous in this area.

Just after finishing breakfast and getting ready to get up, an old farmer with a frosted face and carrying a bamboo basket recognized Shen Lingning. His eyes lit up and he trotted over enthusiastically, "Oh! It's Comrade Lingning! What a coincidence!"

As the old man spoke, he took out a piece of shiny bacon tied with a straw rope from the basket and forced it to Shen Lingning. "The bacon is smoked from the pigs raised at home. It smells delicious! Take it and let the child have a taste!"

Shen Lingning quickly declined: "Uncle, this is not allowed, you can keep it for yourself..."

"Yes, yes!"

The old man was very stubborn: "If it weren't for your tea factory, how could my son learn to drive (referring to the transport team), and how could our family earn that extra money?