The following day, Party Secretary Liu and Factory Director Liu successfully signed a purchase intention contract. The herbs were not limited to the raw materials for Xie Yuyao's patented drugs; they could be purchased as long as the factory could use them.
Dr. Zhuang also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to Xie Yuyao. He was not a sentimental person and did not refuse the share of the patent profits. He only said that he would handle the follow-up matters for this batch of medicinal materials as soon as possible.
Xie Yuyao felt relieved to be spared the hassle of making excuses, and she smiled and said, "No need to rush, just arrange it as you see fit. I have to thank you for making this go so smoothly."
Secretary Liu was also very grateful to Dr. Zhuang. Being a man of good manners, he suggested, "Let's go to the department store and see if there's anything we can give Dr. Zhuang to express our gratitude. We can also pick out some things to take back with us."
Xie Yuyao smiled and agreed. Even if he hadn't suggested it, she would have suggested going to see it anyway, since it was a rare opportunity to visit the provincial capital.
Upon arriving at the department store, Secretary Liu mainly went to buy in-demand cigarettes, alcohol, and some items that could be given as gifts. Xie Yuyao, on the other hand, bought two bottles of Moutai liquor and lingered in the clothing section.
Military uniforms are currently the most popular everyday clothing, but Xie Yuyao prefers dresses with a dress-like design.
Peter Pan collars, fitted waists and flared hems, and fabrics adorned with vibrant, contrasting floral prints accentuate the girls' beautiful faces and graceful figures.
This type of dress has been passed down through generations and is the clothing that best suits Xie Yuyao's aesthetic at the time. Therefore, she bought four or five sets in one go, as well as several pairs of matching shoes and socks.
In addition, she bought some things that couldn't be bought in the county town. The money and tickets were spent like water. When Secretary Liu found her after buying what he wanted, he saw that she was carrying many large and small bags in her hands, almost too many to carry.
After enjoying the shopping and food in the provincial capital, Xie Yuyao and Secretary Liu presented Dr. Zhuang with a gift and embarked on their journey home at sunrise the next morning.
They traveled on sleeper train tickets that Dr. Zhuang had helped them buy. Without connections, sleeper train tickets are impossible to buy even if you have money; most people can only buy hard seats or standing tickets.
After a 12-hour journey, the train arrived in Anhe County as the city lights began to twinkle.
Xie Yuyao and her companion stayed at the Anhe County Guesthouse for another night before returning to Qingshan Village the next day.
After learning from Party Secretary Liu that the negotiations with the pharmaceutical factory had gone smoothly, the brigade leader was all smiles. He immediately convened a meeting of the brigade cadres to discuss how to properly handle the medicinal herb business.
Since artificially cultivated medicinal herbs typically take a year to yield a harvest, they need to go up the mountain to collect wild herbs in the early stages. However, Qingshan Village has limited manpower, so in order to achieve economies of scale, it would be best to mobilize other production brigades to participate together.
However, this involves the division of interests, and the brigade cadres need to do their best to secure benefits for the villagers of their production brigade.
The newly appointed accountant, Zhang, made a suggestion: "Let's apply for a project to establish a Chinese medicinal herb production base and strive for national funding. While developing medicinal herb fields and carrying out artificial cultivation, we can also purchase medicinal herbs from other places and then sell them to pharmaceutical factories."
Party Secretary Liu, however, expressed pessimism: "With traditional Chinese medicine being suppressed now, there's no chance that our application for funding to plant medicinal herbs will be approved at this time."
"Then let's establish a medicinal herb supply company in the name of our brigade. The initial funds needed for planting will be raised by the villagers of Qingshan Village, and the profits will be distributed according to the investment in the later stages." The brigade leader had a long-term vision and was unwilling to let go of the artificial planting industry.
Secretary Liu then said, "Then I will go to the commune to complete the procedures for establishing the enterprise. After the procedures are completed, we will announce the list of medicinal materials to be purchased and the prices."
“I’ll go with you,” the captain said.
This matter concerns the long-term development of Qingshantun, and he must treat it with caution.
The commune director never expected that Qingshan Village would come up with a new idea to generate revenue, and even solve the sales problem.
After Captain Zhao Deqiang and Secretary Liu finished explaining the establishment of the medicinal herb company, they tentatively mentioned financial support.
As expected, Director Cao was in a dilemma. "I also hope that everyone can explore new ways to generate revenue, but the national situation is grim in this regard, and there is no support."
Therefore, the brigade leader proposed the idea of raising funds.
“But most of the villagers in our production brigade are so poor that they can’t even get enough to eat. Even if they raise funds, they don’t have much money,” Director Cao pointed out the practical problem.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "How about this: first establish a company, and then supply the pharmaceutical factories in the provincial capital with the profits from collecting and purchasing medicinal herbs, and then use the profits to invest in the medicinal herb fields."
Director Cao's suggestion was sound, but the brigade leader and Party Secretary Liu wanted to start planting medicinal herbs as soon as possible.
After all, medicinal herbs take one or two years to grow before they can be harvested, and it is springtime now, so we don’t want to miss the season.
"I would like to invite those in the know to participate in the fundraising," the captain revealed his trump card.
When he proposed this fundraising idea, he had already thought of the best person to raise funds for: Xie Yuyao.
Her willingness to propose this industry suggests she has a positive outlook on its prospects. And if she were to allocate a portion of her new patent royalties to investment in medicinal herb cultivation, she would likely be happy to do so, provided the profit-sharing ratio is fair.
Director Cao reminded them: "If the educated youth do not marry locals, they will return to the city sooner or later. You need to think carefully about how to handle their quotas then."
"Don't worry, we will make proper regulations in this regard," said Party Secretary Liu.
Director Cao smiled and said, "Then I wish you a bumper harvest in your medicinal herb fields!"
*
With Director Cao's approval, Party Secretary Liu immediately went to complete the formalities, while the brigade leader returned to Qingshan Village and began the work of selecting members to collect medicinal herbs.
It was lunch break time, and there were no patients in the clinic. The team leader sat at a table with Zhao Guangliang and Zhao Hongqin from the clinic. Xie Yuyao was not there; she and Old Sun had gone to deliver medicine to Yu's father for a follow-up visit.
The team leader told them about the cooperation with the provincial pharmaceutical factory and proposed: "Guangliang and Hongqin, you are more knowledgeable about medicinal herbs, so one of you will be the leader of the herb-gathering team."
Zhao Guangliang and Zhao Hongqin looked at each other, speechless for a moment.
They already knew about Xie Yuyao's trip to the provincial capital. They were excited because they learned that there was a high chance that the herbs she collected could be sold directly to pharmaceutical factories. They circled around Xie Yuyao excitedly, cheering her on and trying to establish a partnership.
They never expected that the brigade headquarters would set up a special herb-gathering team to go deep into the mountains to collect herbs, and even send them to lead the team.
Zhao Hongqin was terrified of the deep mountains, fearing she might encounter wild animals, which she felt too weak to fight off. Zhao Guangliang, on the other hand, was much braver as a boy, but his grandmother's insistence prevented him from venturing into the mountains.
He had been so ashamed of the rescue by the winter hunting team last time, and now that he was needed again, he could not refuse. So he gritted his teeth and said, "Let me go. I will talk to my grandmother about it."
Zhao Hongqin said, "Your grandmother is old, so don't let her worry. I'll go instead."
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