Wang Fugui suddenly raised his pipe, his cloudy eyes flickering between Chen Changyuan and Zhao Debiao. "We're from the same village, who's going to take the blame if someone dies?"
Chen Changyuan caught a glimpse of the half gold watch chain sticking out from the village chief's sleeve. It was the "local specialty" sent by Zhao Debiao during the autumn harvest last year.
He sneered, his toes rubbing against the moldy Gastrodia elata. "The village chief is right. Why don't we let Boss Zhao pay the compensation and then we can go back to our own homes?"
Zhao Debiao covered his swollen wrist, his gold-rimmed glasses tilted on his nose: "I don't have any money!"
He suddenly lowered his voice and leaned closer, "But the thirty acres of medicinal fields in the back mountain..."
“Bang!”
A stack of banknotes suddenly fell on the front of the car.
Zhao Debiao straightened his glasses proudly and said, "Two thousand yuan for you to shut up."
The onlookers gasped.
Wang Fugui's Adam's apple rolled, and his palm, like dry tree bark, quietly moved half an inch towards the banknote.
Chen Changyuan suddenly grabbed the banknotes and shook them out in the sunlight.
A few dead leaves fell among the yellowed banknotes, and in the middle was actually a piece of paper money for the dead.
"Boss Zhao, are you going to burn paper for the dead?"
Chen Changyuan picked up the paper money with two fingers, and the yellow paper rustled in the wind. "Or..."
He turned abruptly and looked at Wang Fugui, "Has the village chief known about this for a long time?"
Wang Fugui's face twitched, and he forced a smile that was uglier than crying: "Oh, Changyuan, Uncle Zhao was just confused for a moment, look at what happened..."
"Oh, confused?"
Chen Changyuan flicked the paper money and slammed it at Wang Fugui's feet. "That gold chain on the village chief's wrist was probably given to him by mistake, right?"
"Ouch!"
The crowd exploded.
Wang Fugui was so panicked that he kept pulling at his sleeves and avoiding glances.
"I, I..."
He grunted for a long time and couldn't say a complete sentence.
"What? You want me to help you recall?"
Chen Changyuan approached step by step and sneered, "Last year, our village sold Tianma to Zhao Debiao at a 20% discount compared to the outside. Can you calculate this amount?"
"Bullshit!"
Wang Fugui jumped up, his face flushed. "I'm the head of the village, so why don't I think about everyone?"
"Bah! You're the only one who thinks about everyone else? You're selling the herbs that the villagers worked so hard to grow at a low price, while you're just enjoying yourself!"
"Damn! He's clearly thinking about his own pockets!"
The villagers' expressions changed.
Suddenly I understand!
Our village has a bumper harvest of medicinal herbs every year, so why can’t we sell them at a good price?
So the root is here!
Zhao Debiao saw that the situation was not right and thought to himself that it was not good.
He glared at Chen Changyuan fiercely, pulled out a wad of banknotes and slammed them on the hood of the car: "Two thousand yuan! Not a penny less! Isn't that good enough?"
Chen Changyuan looked at him coldly without saying a word.
Zhao Debiao was getting terrified by the stares. He gritted his teeth, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, wrote something on it, pressed his fingerprint on it, and threw it over: "Letter of Guarantee! From now on, I will never touch a single medicinal herb from Qingshui Village! Is this okay?"
"roll!"
Chen Changyuan didn't even bother to look at the paper and waved him away.
Zhao Debiao felt as if he had been pardoned. He climbed into the car with his two thugs in shame, running away faster than a rabbit.
"OK!"
The crowd cheered and looked at Chen Changyuan with gratitude.
Chen Changyuan looked around and shouted, "Fellow villagers! What happened today has taught me a lesson—it's better to rely on yourself than on others! We should control our own destiny and not let others lead us by the nose!"
After a pause, he continued, "I want to set up a village medicinal herb cooperative! In the future, everyone will grow medicinal herbs, and the cooperative will buy them all. The price will be 30% higher than Zhao Debiao's!"
"Okay!"
The crowd was boiling...
A surge of passion surged in Chen Changyuan's heart.
In his mind, he had already pictured the cooperative taking root in Qingshui Village. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He took a step forward and headed straight for Lao Yuantou.
"Old Yuan, would you like to join our cooperative?"
After he finished speaking, he stood in the crowd with a loud and confident voice and expectation in his eyes.
"Well, what else can I say? Join us! For the long term, I have the strength to fight for the future and pave the way for the cooperative."
There was enthusiasm in the old man's words, and although he said he was old, he was not vague at all.
The villagers all nodded, feeling reassured about Lao Yuantou's participation.
After all, Lao Yuantou is one of the best experts in growing medicinal herbs. With him, the cooperative will definitely be able to take root.
"Changyuan, whatever you say, we'll do it!"
A villager rolled up his sleeves, his eyes full of excitement.
"That's right! You are Qingshui Village's great hope! We are united and will follow you!"
Another villager echoed.
Chen Changyuan listened, his mind busy as he pondered a strategy before speaking, "I plan to make a detailed plan first. We'll divide everyone into several groups, each responsible for a different type of herb. As for the specific planting methods, we'll need to discuss them with Lao Yuantou before we can gradually roll them out."
As soon as the words fell, the old man quickly pointed out a few people and said, "These fellows are experienced in growing medicinal herbs. If we bring them over as technical consultants, they will definitely not go astray."
They immediately got down to work and gathered together to discuss the matter.
The cooperative's affairs completely ignited the whole village. Everyone had a playful look on their face, joked with each other, and the atmosphere was very lively.
In the afternoon, Chen Changyuan prepared to go to the county town.
An hour later, we arrived at the medicinal materials company in the county town.
Chen Changyuan strode into the company. Just as the security guard at the door was about to stop him, he had already walked through the corridor with ease and pushed the door directly into Zhang Qinghai's office.
Zhang Qinghai was a quick and decisive person. When he looked up and saw that it was Chen Changyuan, he quickly put away the documents on his desk and stood up to greet him.
"Changyuan, what's the urgent matter that brings you here in such a hurry?"
As he spoke, he poured a cup of tea and handed it over.
Although Zhang Qinghai's smile was gentle, it couldn't hide the fatigue between his brows.
Chen Changyuan took the tea, took a sip, and got straight to the point: "Director Zhang, I've just started collecting medicinal herbs and am working as a frontline for the village cooperative. Expanding sales channels is our top priority."
Zhang Qinghai's brows lifted, with a hint of admiration in his eyes: "You're ambitious! You dare to take action! That's really exciting! Our industry needs people like you who are brave enough to push things forward!"
As soon as he finished speaking, before he had time to drink his tea, Chen Changyuan spoke again: "What a pity, the cooperative has just started and it has encountered some difficulties. Your supplier made such a fuss today that it is really infuriating."
"What? Which scabby dog dares to run wild on my front line?"
Zhang Qinghai moved the teacup away, his face looked gloomy as if it was about to drip, and his voice became lowered.
Chen Changyuan didn't hide anything and answered directly: "Your brother-in-law - Zhao Debiao."
Zhang Qinghai's forehead immediately tightened, the cup in his hand shook, and the tea almost spilled out.
The corners of his mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said, "What the hell is this guy up to again?"
"Thirty percent of the medicinal herbs and seeds you supplied me were fake."
Chen Chang paused after finishing his words, "Besides, he also brought a batch of ghost money as real money to insult me."
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