Chapter 120 Participating in the Canton Fair
The trauma left by the fire in the back mountain of Songtaogou is far more than just the charred earth and the lingering smell of burnt food in the air.
In the family compound, the cheerful working atmosphere of the past was replaced by a dull and depressing atmosphere.
The sisters looked at the mess halfway up the mountain, their eyes filled with heartache and confusion.
After half a year of hard work, it was about to pay off, but it was all gone overnight.
Shen Lingning stood in front of the ruins, the autumn wind blowing her hair up, revealing her smooth forehead that was filled with determination.
She bent down, grabbed a handful of dirt mixed with ashes and scorched earth, clenched it, and then slowly released it.
"Ling Ning..."
Aunt Sun's voice was choked with sobs: "This...what should I do..."
"What else can I do?"
Liu Jinfeng's eyes were red, but her tone was firm: "What's the use of crying! Let's plant more! I don't believe it!"
Shen Lingning turned around, there were no traces of tears on her face, only a kind of quiet strength.
Her voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly: "Auntie, Sister Jinfeng, everyone is right. Crying is useless. The mountain is burned, but the people are still here, the craftsmanship is still here, and the spirit must not be lost!"
She sprang into action, displaying remarkable calmness and planning skills:
1. Count the losses and reassure people: Organize personnel to carefully clean up the fire scene and carefully transplant the tea seedlings that can still be rescued; provide all possible assistance to families that have suffered serious damage to stabilize the overall situation.
2. Turning waste into treasure: She discovered that the land burned by the fire became extremely fertile (ash effect).
She immediately decided to use this scorched land to quickly plant a season of winter vegetables with short growth cycles, such as radishes and cabbages. This would not only solve part of the problem of staple food vegetables, but more importantly, keep the land from being idle, give everyone something to do and something to look forward to, and maintain collective cohesion.
3. Find another way: Tea cannot recover in the short term, but the invitation to the Canton Fair has arrived and cannot be missed!
She turned her attention to the wild osmanthus forest that was not affected by the fire, the partially preserved chrysanthemum fields, and the surviving tea seeds and soapberries in the warehouse.
“If tea isn’t enough, we’ll focus on ‘fragrance’ and ‘cleanliness’!”
She made a decision: "Since the production of Jingui black tea has decreased, we will make high-quality products! We will also increase the production of osmanthus soap, chrysanthemum soap, and tea seed washing powder! We will also develop new products!"
"Mom, the flowers smell so good... so sweet..."
While playing, Fubao accidentally picked a handful of wild osmanthus flowers and handed them to Shen Lingning.
Looking at his daughter's innocent smile and smelling the rich sweet fragrance, an idea struck Shen Lingning - why not incorporate osmanthus flowers directly into the food?
She led her sisters to use ancient methods to make thick and clear osmanthus honey, and tried to incorporate osmanthus honey into simple steamed cakes and rice cakes to make osmanthus cakes with the natural fragrance of osmanthus.
The taste may be rough, but the natural floral fragrance was a top delicacy in an era of material scarcity.
At the same time, she improved the formula of soapnut washing powder to make it more delicate, packaged it in simple paper bags, and affixed a handwritten label with "Songtaogou".
Zhou Weiguo mobilized his connections and found some scrap wood, and everyone nailed together a few simple but sturdy packing boxes.
Shen Lingning carefully combines limited premium black tea, various soaps, osmanthus honey, osmanthus cake, and tea seed washing powder into different exhibition sets.
Every product embodies the unyielding efforts and wisdom of the people of Songtaogou after the disaster.
Changan, the first Canton Fair.
(This is a fictional story, so don't assume anything about it. The real Canton Fair has always been held in Guangzhou. Chang'an held a similar trade fair during the same period, but it wasn't as large as the Canton Fair.)
There were crowds of people, the sounds of horns, conversations, and various local dialects mixed together, and the air was filled with the smell of various goods.
Songtaogou's booth is in an inconspicuous corner. The manager of Chang'an Osmanthus Tea Seed Soap Store is Jiang Chengdong, a veteran recommended by Zhao Changhe.
He is a local who lives in the textile city area and is familiar with all kinds of people. According to Shen Lingning's arrangements in advance, he customized advertising light boxes with lights, and shelves and exhibition stands with the same tone as the brand.
Even the flyers were in both Chinese and English. Zhao Xiangdong asked colleagues from the newspaper's advertising department to help with the layout and supervise the printing.
Everything was well prepared, but when Zhao Xiangdong saw that Songtaogou's booth was in the corner, he offered to help change the location, but was rejected by Shen Lingning.
"It's okay, big brother, it's fine. This is our first time participating in an exhibition, and it's normal to be in this position. Don't let anyone get hold of my godfather's handle."
Although it looks very fashionable and generous overall, it seems a bit petty compared with other large factories and state-owned enterprises.
At first, no one was interested.
Occasionally, foreign businessmen would pass by, take a curious look at the plain-shaped soap bars and paper bags, then shake their heads and walk away.
Liu Jinfeng was so anxious that bubbles appeared on the corners of her mouth.
Shen Lingning was neither anxious nor impatient.
She asked Liu Jinfeng to cut the osmanthus cake into small pieces and mix the osmanthus honey with boiling water to make small cups of trial drinks.
"Sister Jinfeng, since we can't do something fancy, let's do something down to earth. Let people smell our fragrance and taste our sweetness first!"
The sweet fragrance of osmanthus gradually spread, attracting some people to stop.
Chen Lingning confidently introduced the dishes using simple English words and gestures: "Natural! Flower! Soap! Tea! Pelese Try!"
Out of curiosity, some people tried it.
The sweetness of osmanthus cake, the sweetness of osmanthus honey, the light floral fragrance left after washing your hands with soap...
This primitive yet pure natural scent created a breath of fresh air in the venue filled with industrial products and chemical fragrances.
At the stall of the nearby machinery factory, the workshop director named Chen poked his head out and asked curiously, "Comrade, you can actually speak English?"
Shen Lingning turned his head and smiled: "I learned a little before."
The two men started chatting, and Shen Lingning handed over a cup of osmanthus tea with honey: “Come, comrade, have a drink to quench your thirst.”
Director Chen took a sip and praised it, "This tastes really good. I've been looking at it all morning. Your soap is selling very well. Do you have any extra? Leave us a hundred yuan. It's just right for National Day."
Shen Lingning looked embarrassed: "Ah, why didn't you tell me earlier? We are running low on stock. The exhibition is still two days away, so we need to keep some in reserve. The warehouse estimates that the maximum amount we can leave for you is 50 yuan."
Director Chen was overjoyed and rubbed his hands together, nodding: "50 yuan? Sure, sure."
He was just testing it out casually, but he didn't expect it to be true.
With Director Chen's enthusiastic introduction, several nearby state-owned enterprises, including Chang'an Textile Group and Chang'an Enamel Factory, came over to see Songtaogou's soap and Jingui black tea.
Each company placed an order for Songtaogou in the next quarter before foreign companies.
Liu Jinfeng and Jiang Chengdong were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling while signing the contract.
"Mom, that uncle...smells like rust and stinky oil...he doesn't like sweets..."
"He just spoke Japanese to someone in the bathroom."
Fubao was wrapped in a sling by Shen Lingning in front of her, with his little head resting on her shoulder. He suddenly muttered softly, and his little finger unconsciously pointed at a plain-looking middle-aged man who was wandering between the booths but rarely spoke.
Shen Lingning's heart moved, but he remained calm on the surface and continued to greet the guests, but his peripheral vision began to pay attention to that person.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
