"Sixth Brother is a master farmer in Cang Village, and he's also quite skilled at stonemasonry and carpentry. We've found the right person!" Lan Hua's evaluation completely put Zhang Guodong at ease.
Early November. After ten days of work, the swimming pool at Taoyuan Xiaozhu was basically completed. It is 21 meters long, 5.5 meters wide, and 1.8 meters deep.
After being built with bricks and tiles, it is 20 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 1.6 meters deep. It's not very deep, but it's sufficient. If it were too deep, there would be a risk of accidents inside.
This depth is just right.
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Guodong was involved in the entire excavation of this enormous swimming pool, and in terms of workload, he did twice as much as Zhao Laoliu.
People say that rich people are lazy and generally won't do hard or strenuous work. But this is certainly true for Zhang Guodong.
But no one knew that Zhang Guodong viewed this level of labor as a form of mental fortitude. He participated in the labor while wearing a 500-kilogram lead bag.
This is effective in training one's ** (body/body), although the effect is not as fast as practicing boxing.
"Fandun, Uncle Tiaozi is calling you!" In the field, Fandun was carefully tending to some tender seedlings in his plot. After about ten days of growth, the seedlings had grown quite robustly, each about half a foot tall.
Transplanting medicinal herb seedlings. Whether they survive is the most crucial step. Now, it seems that this hurdle has been largely overcome.
The entire village grows medicinal herbs, with about three thousand plants per acre, and very few die. These herb seedlings seem quite resilient.
That morning, township leaders came to Jixing Village to inspect the medicinal herb cultivation and were generally satisfied.
However, some people privately said that Secretary Wang mentioned that the villagers of Jixing Village were taking too big a step, with less than a quarter of the village's land being planted with medicinal herbs, and very few people planting all of their land with medicinal herb seedlings.
Zhao Sanshun and the village committee officials were also anxious.
So, right after the township leaders left their work inspection, a village committee meeting was immediately convened to discuss and resolve the matter.
A quarter of the village's land has been planted with medicinal herbs, but the work is progressing poorly. If it's delayed any longer, they won't be able to keep up with the medicinal herb company's purchasing volume next year.
Nine hundred thousand yuan flowed into Zhang Guodong's pocket. This is equivalent to nine hundred thousand medicinal herb seedlings. It's a huge sum of money, making many people envious. He actually earned nine hundred thousand yuan just by cultivating medicinal herb seedlings.
Most of the land in this village has been converted to grow medicinal herbs, which amounts to three or four million yuan. These medicinal herbs are truly...
"Qiangzi, what does Uncle Tiaozi want with me?" Fandun called out.
Uncle Tiaozi, whose real surname is Xu and given name is Xu Wentao, is a very cultured person. He is said to have moved here more than ten years ago and become a resident of Jixing Village.
He was younger than Zhao Sanshun, but was one of the more educated people in the village. He taught himself medicine and passed the medical licensing exam. He was quite a celebrity in the surrounding villages.
In recognition of his contributions, Uncle Tiaozi became a member of the village committee of Jixing Village. Even if other committee members change, he usually remains on the committee.
Naturally, he doesn't usually get involved in the actual work; he only participates when it comes to things like medicinal herbs, saving lives, and practicing medicine. So, he could be considered a full-time staff member.
However, this time Zhang Guodong collaborated with the village, and the township government oversaw the criminal investigation; Uncle Tiaozi was involved. He had also seen the appraisal report issued by the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences. As a doctor, he studied traditional Chinese medicine and naturally knew much more than an outsider.
This medicinal herb is excellent and very precious.
Uncle Tiaozi was one of the people who fully agreed.
Qiangzi, whose real name is Zhao Qiang, is a young man in his early thirties in the village. He used to be a soldier and is said to be a first-rate marksman among the few hunters in the village. Now that the state has confiscated homemade guns, only a limited number of low-powered air rifles are allowed. However, even possessing an air rifle requires an application to the township armed forces department, which then applies for approval from higher authorities.
Enough with the small talk.
Qiangzi didn't know what Uncle Tiaozi wanted with Fandun. He was just relaying a message. There were other people he needed to relay too. A meeting was scheduled at the village committee office.
When everyone arrived at the village committee.
Quite a few people have already arrived. Village representatives, Party members, and so on. Zhao Sanshun and other village committee cadres are all there, and surprisingly, Uncle Tiaozi is also there. He wears glasses and has a refined, scholarly air. His skin is rather dark, and his hair is somewhat gray.
"Ahem, everyone's here?" Zhao Sanshun glanced at everyone, tossed away his cigarette butt, and coughed. The office fell silent.
"There are two discussions today," someone in the crowd jeered.
Yes, yes.
"Quiet down. This is a village-wide meeting of village representatives, a formal meeting. Everyone, please listen to the village chief speak first!" Zhao Shutang, the deputy village chief in charge of family planning, said with a frown.
Everyone fell silent. They still held Zhao Shutang in some awe. This guy had a stern face. If he caught someone having too many children, that person was in for trouble.
Although Jixing Village is under the jurisdiction of the provincial capital, most people have become more aware of the importance of having more children than they can support. Therefore, many still choose to have only one child, while those who choose multiple births or a boy/girl are a minority. However, there are always those who cross this line.
The Chinese government has a good system for controlling birth rates.
"The first thing is how to arrange the medicinal herb planting tasks for our village. This was assigned by the township leaders. Most of our village has planted medicinal herb seedlings, but that's not enough. Secretary Wang from the township said that we have signed contracts with three pharmaceutical companies. If there isn't enough medicinal herbs, the company established by our village will have to pay them a lot of money. So this matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible," Zhao Sanshun said.
The company set up in the village is not very formal, especially in terms of management.
However, according to the law, if you breach the contract, you still have to compensate the other party.
Currently, the chairman and general manager of the "Jixing Village Medicinal Herb Planting Joint Company" is Zhao Sanshun, with Qian Yunlu, Xu Wentao, and Zhao Xingwang as deputy general managers. Qian Yunlu was sent by the township government to provide guidance. Xu Wentao was appointed as deputy general manager due to his position. Zhao Xingwang was elected as a deputy general manager by village representatives.
Then there were company staff, mostly village representatives. Only the finance staff were sent by the township government. The fat man made up his mind about this.
The pilot project in Jixing Village is crucial to the future plans of the entire township. Therefore, financial matters must be transparent. The approach employed is a combination of professional personnel and supervisors.
This supervisor was elected by the village.
"Third Uncle, what if there's something wrong with these medicinal herbs? If everyone grows them, I'm worried. We might lose all our income next year," someone said anxiously.
This man, Zhao Xiaowei, is a pillar of the village's younger generation. He has only a junior high school education but is very enthusiastic about village affairs.
His sentiments likely represent the concerns of most others.
"And another thing. If it's a golden seed, how much would that cost? It would need to be three million. Where would that money come from?"
In a short while, the villagers raised many questions. Most of them revolved around these two points: First, they were unsure about planting the medicinal herbs and didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket. Second, many couldn't afford to buy more seedlings, as it was a cash purchase.
Zhao Sanshun seemed to know what was going on; he remained calm and nodded occasionally, his brow relaxed.
"There are two main questions everyone has raised. I'll answer the first one first. I just discussed this with the village representatives and committee members. The first question is whether these medicinal herbs can bring everyone the expected income. There are no problems with the identification of these herbs. The township has also guaranteed it. Secretary Wang personally took them for identification. They are very suitable for our northern climate and soil, so as long as we pay attention and take care of them, their growth should be fine. Furthermore, we have already signed purchase contracts with three companies. So, the sales price is not a problem. The key is whether we can successfully cultivate the herbs. After these ten days or so, do you have any thoughts on the growth of these herbs? The answer is that these herbs are very drought-resistant and disease-resistant, and they can grow well with almost no effort from us. So, this first question is not a problem!"
"And the second question?"
"The second issue is how to expand the planting area. I have discussed this with Secretary Wang to see if we can get some medicinal herb seedlings from Zhang Guodong first, and then repay the loan after selling the medicinal herbs next year. Secretary Wang has already agreed to help him solve this problem!"
"Whether it's true or not is still debatable. Besides, these medicinal herbs are too expensive, aren't they? That's three or four million yuan, and it'll all end up in his pocket. What's the point of all our hard work?" A woman's voice sneered from the crowd.
Zhao Sanshun glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Zhao De's wife, Zhao Xifeng. He immediately frowned. This woman was usually very unpopular.
"Without their medicinal herbs, what can you grow? You can't forget your roots!" Unexpectedly, Zhao Laoliu, who rarely spoke in the crowd, confronted Zhao Xifeng.
This surprised everyone.
Zhao Laoliu harbored a deep hatred for Zhao Xifeng. He hadn't resisted her temptations, but without her instigation, he would still be himself. Zhao Xifeng's attacks on Zhang Guodong and her damage to his reputation made Zhao Laoliu unable to remain silent any longer.
"You!" Zhao Xifeng clearly hadn't expected Zhao Laoliu to dare talk back to her. Her face immediately turned cold. "Fine, you old Liu, you speak so righteously, but I know all about your shady dealings."
The thought that Lao Liu hadn't given her any medicinal herb seeds made Zhao Xifeng grit her teeth in hatred.
"Alright, if you want to argue, go outside. We're having a meeting here!" Zhao Sanshun said coldly. In his heart, however, he was thinking, "This sixth brother has been going to Taoyuan Xiaozhu quite often lately, digging a pond for Zhang Guodong. Has the sixth brother finally figured things out?"
"snort!"
"The minority must submit to the majority. Since the majority has no objections, this matter is settled!" Zhao Sanshun raised his voice. "Now, let's talk about the second matter. The village committee has decided to elect Comrade Zhang Guodong as the executive deputy village head of Jixing Village. Let's discuss it."
"Executive Deputy Director of the Well?"
"Is there such a position?"
"Perhaps there is? Doesn't the district also have an executive deputy district head? That's the highest-ranking official below the village head."
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