Chapter 28 Harvest (Part Two) All rural activities aim to promote rural development...

"I am Yun Youning. I was saved by the goddess and have come to Yunhe on her orders."

Cheng Hui looked at the beautiful, gentle, and well-mannered young woman before him and said softly, "Come with me to see the goddess."

Yun Youning said, "Thank you."

Cheng Hui's gaze passed over her and fell on the twenty-odd people who had followed to watch the commotion not far away. He wondered: What's wrong with these guys? They've seen people come to seek refuge with the goddess before, so why are they so interested in following along?

Just because Miss Yun is pretty?

"Of course not!"

After leading Yun Youning into the goddess's room to meet her, Cheng Hui withdrew and walked up to the crowd of onlookers who had followed him all the way to the county government office, teasing them.

The onlookers immediately erupted in anger: "We're not looking at her beauty, we're looking at her brains!"

Cheng Hui: "...Brain?" Do you know what you're talking about?

"Old Master Cheng, did you know that this Miss Yun brought a lot of gold, silver, jewelry, jade, silk, satin, and grain?"

Cheng Hui: "Huh?"

"On her way to Yunhe, she took in nearly a thousand refugees."

Cheng Hui: "Uh..."

"Not only that, she also persuaded the magistrates of two counties in Pingshan County to pledge allegiance to our Goddess!"

Cheng Hui: "What???"

Cheng Hui was shocked. "Two counties in Pingshan Prefecture! Really???"

"Of course it's true! The envoys from those two counties are waiting at the city gate!"

Pingshan County is right next to Anling County, very close by.

During this period, people from Pingshan County also came to Yunhe County one after another.

However, the entire county flocked to join them...

"How did she do that?" Cheng Hui asked, his face filled with disbelief.

Onlookers said, "It's said they were lured with benefits."

Nonsense, why would anyone side with you if there's no incentive for them to do so?

The group started chatting animatedly.

"It's not hard to understand. It's autumn now, and without enough food, no one will survive until spring!"

"Yes, yes, rather than doing our best only to watch the people under our rule starve to death, we might as well find a powerful backer."

"If they pledge allegiance to our goddess, she will support the people of their entire county!"

"Besides, they're quite far apart, so the goddess won't take away their power." Of course, I have reservations about this statement, but Yun Youning would definitely say this when she's making empty promises.

"It's easier said than done. This Miss Yun is truly remarkable."

Cheng Hui: "..."

He suddenly smiled, truly a promising young man.

"Please take me to see the envoys from those two counties."

At the same time, Yun Youning was also talking to He Qinglan about the two counties.

“Their border is Dongkou County, and Dongkou County has a coal mountain.” Yun Youning looked at He Qinglan intently. “I don’t have the ability to directly persuade the county magistrate of Dongkou County, so I can only settle for the next best thing and persuade the two poor counties next door.”

A smile played on her lips. "Of course, it wasn't just through words. I spent some gold and silver to bribe the county magistrate and other officials."

"I believe that if we take these two counties, it will be much easier to seize Coal Mountain in the future."

He Qinglan nodded slightly in approval, "Well done."

Yun Youning was very happy, "Thank you for the compliment, Goddess!"

He Qinglan said, "You can stay here for now. After the harvest festival, you will be in charge of the finances."

Yun Youning hesitated slightly, "Me? But I'm new here..."

He Qinglan knew what she was hesitating about, and said, "Zhao Yong won't mind. In fact, he has long hoped that someone could take over this job."

One should only do what one is capable of. Zhao Yong is a smart man who knows his own strengths and weaknesses. He knows that he is good at being a junior accountant, but he cannot handle too much work.

Therefore, he had wanted to resign for a long time, but unfortunately there was no one more suitable than him at the moment.

He Qinglan comforted him, telling him to hold on for a while, and that someone would eventually be able to handle both accounting and business, and he could just assist her.

Zhao Yong sighed helplessly, "...Fine."

He Qinglan: "Zhao Yong will cooperate with you to do a good job of handing over the work and help you get started. You can also learn with him."

Yun Youning then stopped refusing and said, "Yes!"

Yun Youning, who had just arrived in Yunhe, persuaded the magistrates of two counties to join the goddess, and the news quickly spread throughout Yunhe.

For the next few days, Yun Youning fully enjoyed the treatment of a celebrity, being stared at with intense gazes wherever she went.

For this reason, her younger sister and the rest of the Yun family declined to go out with her.

Yun Youning could only convince herself that things would get better in time, and that everyone would get used to it.

The harvest festival began as scheduled.

On a clear autumn day, Yun Youning took her whole family to watch.

There were a lot of people coming, including local residents, people from several nearby counties, and people from Anling County and other regions who came to join in the fun.

The crowds were shoulder to shoulder, a sea of ​​people.

If it weren't for the city guards maintaining order, the scene would have been in complete chaos long ago.

Yun Youning held her younger sister's hand with her left hand and the butler's little boy's hand with her right hand, and slowly walked forward with the crowd.

The opening ceremony hosts were a man and a woman selected from Gu Lanying's publicity department. Both were tall, good-looking, and very eloquent.

The young man said enthusiastically, "The first Yunhe Harvest Festival is officially starting! Welcome, fellow villagers!"

The young woman, beaming with pride, said: "First of all, let's invite the goddess to speak for us!"

He Qinglan walked onto the stage.

She changed into a deep purple, waist-length, double-breasted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and styled her long hair into a bun.

Her skirt fluttered as she walked, adding an ethereal touch compared to her usual style.

Amidst the expectant gazes of countless people, the goddess spoke: "I requested the holding of the Harvest Festival so that you could see with your own eyes that your hard work and efforts have not been in vain, and that you could enjoy the joy of the harvest."

"I hope everyone here today has a great time."

"I sincerely wish this harvest festival a complete success."

The crowd cheered.

The two hosts returned to the stage. "Next, our ladies from the laundry will perform a dance for you. Please give them a round of applause!"

Clapping? Some people were puzzled, but then they heard someone clapping enthusiastically, and they suddenly realized what was going on and started clapping too.

Amid thunderous applause, a dozen or so women dressed in identical dance dresses walked onto the stage, struck poses, and took their positions.

When the men and women carrying their instruments came on stage and began to play, the girls started to dance to the music.

"That's great!"

The performers watching from backstage praised it.

Xue Guizhi smiled proudly, "They've been practicing hard for a long time."

The dance dresses were newly made because they needed to be the same style for everyone's body type. The makeup and hairstyles were also decided together by everyone.

The musical instruments and the people who played them were also "borrowed" from them. There was no other way; playing musical instruments is such an elegant activity that very few people know how to do it, and they had to ask around for several days before they finally found a suitable person.

Seeing the girls dancing gracefully to beautiful music, as if it were all meant to be this way, Xue Guizhi was deeply moved.

"Next up is the agricultural product display!"

Mo Jingchun's voice came from not far away, "Everyone, come up on stage one by one and stand in the order we rehearsed."

"Walk carefully and be careful not to fall."

"Dear uncles and aunts, don't be nervous when you introduce yourselves later. It's okay, you've all memorized your lines! You can do it! Keep it up!"

"The performers for the second and third acts, please come and stand over here. After they finish showcasing the agricultural products and leave the stage, the second act will begin immediately, understand?"

"Don't be nervous, everyone in the audience is from our village, they're all familiar faces!"

"Everyone will be fine, keep it up!"

"Have the children changed their clothes?"

"No need for makeup! They're still so young, just comb their hair!"

"Great!"

Xue Guizhi watched as Mo Jingchun spun around like a top, her voice several octaves higher than usual, and couldn't help but laugh.

Who would have thought that Mo Yatou would have such a decisive and efficient side?

No matter how busy they are backstage, what they present to the audience on stage is always perfect.

The best farmers selected from each village stood on the stage and introduced various agricultural products to the villagers below.

"These are chili peppers. You can cut them directly for stir-frying, or you can dry them to make dried chili peppers, grind them into chili powder, or make chili sauce or pickled chili peppers."

"These are mung beans. They can be used to make porridge, mung bean paste, mung bean cakes, mung bean noodles, and mung bean powder."

"This is a tomato. You can eat it raw, cook it, or make it into tomato sauce. I have nothing else to say about it but one word: delicious!"

...

Locals who came from afar to watch the spectacle looked at the agricultural products displayed on the stage with a sense of wonder.

Some they recognized, some they had never seen before.

Regardless of whether they had seen them before or not, they were all very surprised because the agricultural products looked "good-looking".

"The cucumbers we grow aren't that big."

"Yes, look how they grow them. Look at those cowpeas, they look so beautiful."

"The eggplants I grow don't look that good!"

Is the problem with the seeds, or with the planting method?

"We'll ask the locals later."

Are they willing to talk?

The harvest festival serves two purposes: to celebrate the harvest and to showcase agricultural products.

Although He Qinglan's original intention was one, Mo Jingchun, after studying the real interview questions diligently, grasped the true meaning of the questions: all rural activities are for promoting rural economic development and doing a good job in rural revitalization!

She had a sudden realization and pulled Gu Lanying aside to discuss how to attract more people to come and how to better showcase and promote agricultural products.

"Since we can't set up an agricultural product processing plant right now, we'll find a way to sell them directly."

"In the first year, we can sell at a low price to build up our reputation first."

“We don’t have that capability right now, but we can have businessmen from other places act as intermediaries.”

Mo Jingchun gritted her teeth as she spoke. The interview questions mentioned "e-commerce platform" and "live-streaming sales," which she didn't understand, but she felt they were good.

Forget it, let's just be realistic and do what they can do!

After the expert grower finished his demonstration, he said to the audience, "We have set up an exhibition area where we have made food using these agricultural products. Everyone is welcome to come and see for themselves."

The crowd below gasped in surprise.

A glint flashed in Yun Youning's shrewd eyes. Oh, this harvest festival is actually a large-scale agricultural product sales exhibition?

-----------------------

Author's note: When I was doing the questions, I was thinking about what kind of program to put on, but when I looked at the answer key, I realized they were going to put on an agricultural product exhibition and a crop picking experience.

So its essence is to promote sales and develop the economy.