November 24, 2006, Friday, is a good day for burials and erecting tombstones, but not for transactions.
The dam in front of the village committee is filled with baskets, densely packed and heavy, representing the sweat shed by the villagers in the fields over the past year.
The baskets are filled with well-groomed Salvia miltiorrhiza, as well as their expectations for the coming year.
Huo Qianli stood in the office, looking quietly at the dam.
Jiang Qingyue walked silently to his side and whispered, "Do you want to stop the people from the cooperative again? If you want to put on a good show, you have to do it well."
"No need for that. Things have come to this point. We've acted enough." Huo Qianli said calmly.
Sitting in the passenger seat of a truck, Liu Shuai looked at Zhou Gui beside him and said hesitantly, "Brother, are we going to Hushan Village in such a brazen manner?"
"It's okay. Things have come to this point. Enough of the show." Zhou Gui smiled faintly. "That Huo guy can't be stopped."
As soon as he finished speaking, the car jolted violently, then turned a corner, and the outline of Hushan Village appeared in front.
“Here it comes!”
Seeing the four trucks in front and behind rumbling into view, the villagers immediately shouted excitedly and the scene was boiling.
Tang Yuxuan and Mr. Hu stood on the second floor of Gu Daqiang's house, watching silently.
Mr. Hu smiled and said, "Why didn't I ask you to go down and perform a few scenes?"
Tang Yuxuan touched his chin and said, "I want to go, but Brother Huo said he doesn't need me."
Mr. Hu suddenly said, "This little Huo is not bad, we can get along with him."
"Yes, there are not many young people with conscience and means."
Mr. Hu turned his head and glanced at him. "You sound just as old as you are."
Tang Yuxuan smiled awkwardly, handed over a cigarette, and continued looking out the window.
After a while, he suddenly raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, you are so brave!"
In his sight, four cars were parked in a row in front of the village committee, and then each of them deployed its vehicles.
A middle-aged man shook his clothes and walked straight towards the village committee office in front of the villagers.
"Cadre Huo?"
Zhou Gui spotted Huo Qianli sitting in the office at a glance and handed him a cigarette with a smile.
Huo Qianli did not reach out his hand, but looked at him coldly, "Boss Zhou?"
Zhou Gui was not angry either. He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it, then pulled over a stool and sat down. "I have heard of your great name for a long time. Today is my first time to visit Officer Huo. Officer Huo, please don't be offended."
Huo Qianli said calmly: "If you don't come, I won't be offended."
Zhou Gui pointed out the window and looked at the three drug dealers in the town and Boss Chen who were busy weighing, paying, and loading the trucks. He smiled and said, "Look, Officer Huo, they are laughing so happily!"
Huo Qianli kept his mouth shut.
Zhou Gui added: "Have you ever thought about what to do if someone offers a higher price than the pharmaceutical factory next year?"
Huo Qianli slammed the table and glared at him, "You dare?!"
Zhou Gui waved his hands quickly, "What are you talking about, Officer Huo? Of course I don't dare! You have such a strong background in the town, how could we possibly do anything wrong? I am kindly reminding you, after all, we are no longer doing business in Hushan Village, and drug dealers from outside will definitely come to test the waters! For them, it is better to earn less than no money, and the town leaders can't control them."
Huo Qianli narrowed his eyes and asked coldly: "Are you threatening me?"
"No, it's a reminder."
Zhou Gui put away the joking expression on his face and looked at him seriously. "The facts are in front of us. These farmers only care about money, and they only care about the money in the present. No matter how much effort you put in and how good the road you design for them is, it can be easily destroyed by money."
Huo Qianli fell silent, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Zhou Gui looked around, turned his head and looked at Jiang Qingyue, his eyes flashing with surprise. He took out ten yuan from his pocket and said with a smile: "Miss, can you please help me buy a pack of cigarettes from the canteen?"
Jiang Qingyue glanced at Huo Qianli, who nodded slightly. Then she took the money and asked, "What kind of cigarettes do you want?"
Zhou Gui smiled and said, "Ten yuan a pack will do."
After Jiang Qingyue walked away, Huo Qianli said calmly: "What do you want to say?"
Zhou Gui looked at Huo Qianli and said, "You are indeed very capable. This cooperative is the biggest threat I have faced in a long time. But as I just said, these farmers are useless. Don't force yourself."
He sighed and said, "Nine yuan a kilogram, which is three yuan more than last year. Anyone with a conscience should be grateful and content, but what about them? They were conquered by just fifty cents. I don't know how much effort you put into negotiating this condition. I only know that if it were me, I would be furious."
Huo Qianli frowned, "What exactly do you want to say?"
Zhou Gui took a deep breath and raised his hand. "Fifty thousand yuan, go against the pharmaceutical factory, and sell the grown herbs to me next year. I'll give you a commission of one yuan per kilogram. I heard that you have developed a new planting method, and the output will increase by half next year. According to the current planting area, plus the increase in production, the cooperative alone will have a production of at least 50,000 kilograms next year. Add up the two sides and put one hundred thousand yuan in your pocket. Isn't it more comfortable than letting these losers make money and wasting their efforts?"
Huo Qianli was silent for a while, looked at him, and said slowly: "You have a point."
Zhou Gui was overjoyed when he heard this, "Then let's make a deal?"
Huo Qianli shook his head unexpectedly, "But that's based on the premise that they are all rotten mud!"
Zhou Gui frowned for the first time.
Huo Qianli looked out the window seriously, "You look down on them and think they are the poor ones who work hard in the fields. All year round, they bring the fruits of their hard work to you for you to slaughter, and in the end they have to be grateful to you and kowtow to you. That's why you think you are great and you are superior. But have you ever thought that your success is not because of how great you are, but because you happen to be in this remote and desolate Qianfu Town, and you happen to have their only sales channel, and you have become their only choice, just like the landlords in the past."
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