Chapter 79 Quote: The personal secretary is not close to you even when you are outside...
No matter what happened in private, Director Liu would still greet Qu Mingli as usual when he saw him, and even asked Qu Mingli where he was going.
Qu Mingli told the truth, "There's some wood ear mushrooms growing at the Jinchuan Forest Farm. I'm going to take a look." He then asked Director Liu, "Do you want to come with us?"
It was such a hot day, with the sun shining brightly, and he said he wanted to go see the fungus. Who would believe him?
Something happened to Mu'er over there, and he had to go over there urgently to deal with it...
Anyway, if the sun wasn't so strong, Director Liu might be willing to go over and see how exciting he was, but forget it today.
Director Liu smiled and said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I don't have the time. I have a lot of work to do."
Having said that, he went back in and began to flip through the documents in a pretentious manner while enjoying the draft in the office.
Qu Mingli didn't expect Director Liu to go, and neither did anyone else in the bureau. After all, the weather was really hot today, and no one was optimistic about growing wood ear mushrooms.
So he went there by himself, without taking the bureau's motorcycle truck or the small train that goes directly to Jinchuan.
He took another bus, got off at Wangshan Forest Farm, and then took the newly repaired road to Jinchuan Forest Farm. It happened that he had only taken one trip with the bureau when the road was first repaired, and since it was crowded and he hadn't looked carefully, he could take the opportunity to see if there was anything else that needed repairing.
Unexpectedly, after Secretary Lang learned about it, he actually got a bicycle and waited for him at Wangshan Forest Farm. "I haven't been on this road much, so I'll give you a ride today."
"I'm young, so I'll take you." Qu Mingli took the bicycle and asked Secretary Lang, "Do you have any bicycles in your forest farm?"
Secretary Lang was a little surprised. Seeing Qu Mingli directly get on the bike, he looked hesitant and asked, "How about you ride the bike and I'll talk to you while we walk?"
"Come on up." Qu Mingli patted the back seat. "Not many people know me anyway, so why are you being so particular?"
Seeing that he insisted, Secretary Lang got on the bus. After all, if he walked back, the distance would be a bit far and it would probably waste time.
Still feeling uneasy, he continued, "There weren't any bicycles at the forest farm before, mainly because we didn't need them. But now the road's been repaired, so I figured I could get one. I guess they'll come in handy someday."
Qu Mingli, who had already ridden his bike out, agreed, "That's right. More and more roads will be built in the future, and everyone's life will get better and better."
"That's because you, Secretary Qu, are thinking of everyone. You thought of having people modify their tractors, build roads, and even wanted us to grow wood ear mushrooms in our forest farm."
Although this was just flattery, Secretary Lang was quite willing to do so. After all, Qu Mingli was really doing practical things for everyone.
Qu Mingli laughed and said, "You have to have Qi Fang and Yan Xue from your forest farm to have that ability. Otherwise, who would modify the tractor? Who would grow the wood ear mushrooms?"
The two walked and looked along the way. With the bulldozers and excavators, the road was indeed built quickly and well.
All the potholes have been filled, and the overly bumpy areas have been flattened. On the way, I met a few people who were walking up the mountain on this road to pick wood ear mushrooms and dig asarum. They also said that it was much easier to walk after the repair.
"We used to go up the mountain from the forest farm this way, but the road wasn't repaired and was trampled out by people, making it difficult to walk on." Secretary Lang explained to Qu Mingli.
Qu Mingli nodded and said, "It's right to repair it. We need to hurry up and repair the roads in other forest farms as well."
When they were almost at Jinchuan Forest Farm, Secretary Lang got out of the car. He felt embarrassed to let Qu Mingli lead the way, so Qu Mingli got out of the car and walked with him.
The two men entered the forest and headed straight for the river. After walking for a while, they saw the long brick wall in the distance.
"How many acres does it cover?" Qu Mingli asked Secretary Lang.
Secretary Lang answered truthfully, "The culture room and office don't take up much space. They're all ear fields. After all, one planting can yield three years of harvest, and we have to continue planting next year and the year after."
Remembering Director Liu's earlier doubts, he added, "Comrade Yan Xue's trial planting last year has also produced this year, and it has produced more than the new plantings from the forest farm."
Qu Mingli didn't say anything else. The two of them pushed the cart in and just happened to see the busy scene of wood ears drying and packing.
Secretary Lang had done some research and said to Qu Mingli, "Xiao Yan's drying process is quite particular. You can take a look at it later."
What Qu Mingli noticed was Xu Wanchang, who was sitting in a wheelchair with empty legs, and Guo Changan, who was checking one by one whether the fungus had been dried.
He actually rarely saw disabled people in Chengshui, and he had rarely seen them before coming to Chengshui. It wasn't because there were few disabled people, but because it was simply inconvenient for disabled people to go out.
He didn't expect to see two of them as soon as he entered Yan Xue's pilot project. They were obviously working in the pilot project, which really surprised him.
But before he could ask, Yan Xue had heard the commotion and came out, greeting the two with a smile, "Secretary Qu, Secretary Lang."
The petite girl wore a simple and capable short-sleeved shirt and trousers, with the hem of her trousers not tucked into her waistband, hiding her already slightly pregnant belly.
Qu Mingli withdrew his gaze temporarily and said with a smile: "You did a good job, you collected so much."
"Dried black fungus doesn't weigh much. It looks like a lot, but it's actually not much." Yan Xue smiled and led the two people in. "Everyone, stop for a moment. Secretary Qu and Secretary Lang from the town bureau are here to inspect us."
He also emphasized Qu Mingli, "This is Secretary Qu of the town bureau. Without his strong support, there would be no establishment of our pilot project."
This must be welcomed, and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, applauding and greeting each other.
"I just came to take a look. Comrades, please mind your own business. Don't worry about me."
Qu Mingli pressed his hand, but still noticed that there was a girl in the crowd who had remained silent. It was only when someone gently touched her that he realized that Yan Xue had started talking.
It seems that Yan Xue has more than two disabled people here. He couldn't help but look at Yan Xue again, "I heard from Secretary Lang that you have some particular ways of drying clothes."
"Indeed, there are." Yan Xue pointed at the wood ear mushrooms that were drying next to her and explained them to Qu Mingli one by one.
Qu Mingli nodded as he listened. After looking at the clothes drying in the front yard, he moved on to the listening area in the back yard.
Yan Xue didn't go alone, and called Guo Changan, "Go get the record book and tell Secretary Qu about the situation in the ear field."
He then introduced him to Qu Mingli, "This is Guo Chang'an, the observation and recorder for our pilot project. He has always been interested in fungus culture and helped me a lot last year. When the forest farm was hit by a flood, he acted decisively and, together with my mother, helped me preserve the fungus cultures."
Unexpectedly, there was a technical position here. Qu Mingli looked serious, stretched out his left hand and shook hands with Guo Changan, obviously taking care of Guo Changan's inconvenience.
Guo Changan himself was quite calm. He went back to the office to get his notebook, then walked to the backyard with the two men on crutches.
Since the establishment of the pilot project, Yan Xue has been unable to observe frequently due to the increased workload. He is the one who takes notes. "The ear field is currently divided into two areas. The eastern area is made with seeds from the wood ear mushrooms planted by technician Yan last year, while the western area is made with wild wood ear mushrooms from last year."
Qu Mingli was indeed interested when he heard it, "Which side grows better and has a higher yield?"
"Currently, the second-generation strains are growing better and producing higher yields. Technician Yan said we'll continue to save the seeds this year and divide them into three areas next year to see how the third-generation strains perform."
Yan Xue not only grew wood ear mushrooms, but also paid attention to technological updates and optimized seed selection from the very beginning. Most people don't have this awareness.
Qu Mingli couldn't help but look at Yan Xue again. He felt that this young girl was very impressive. Like Qi Fang, it was a bit of a waste of her talent to stay here.
Moreover, he asked people to modify machines, build roads, and cultivate wood ear mushrooms. He really wanted to do something practical to make his position worthwhile.
But he didn't expect that when things were handed over to Yan Xue, Yan Xue would not only be able to do the job well and beautifully, but also be able to take care of more people who needed care.
This made him unable to help but say to Yan Xue after the pilot project: "It's a good thing I decided to let you do this pilot project. You are very good."
Yan Xue never takes credit for herself. "It's all thanks to everyone's ability and willingness to work together. I can't run such a big business on my own."
He is good at speaking and doing things. He even talked about Secretary Lang's support for the pilot project, and the smile on Secretary Lang's face never faded.
Qu Ming's ideal was the disabled employees in Yan Xue's pilot program, and he was thinking about this all the way back to the bureau.
Guo Changan was fine, as he was said to have been injured while logging. The bureau arranged a job for him, but he preferred to work with Yan Xue, so he switched over.
Qu Mingli was actually more concerned about the other two people, especially the young girl who had been silent and obviously had hearing problems.
It is said that the other party is the family member of a forest farm employee, and there are tens of thousands of family members of employees in the town forestry bureau. She is definitely not the only one like this, but she is the only lucky one.
Qu Mingli felt that the bureau really needed to have a few more units like Yan Xue that were willing to recruit people with disabilities, but he had only been in office for less than a year, and he couldn't just do whatever he wanted in the bureau...
Thinking of this, Qu Mingli's face couldn't help but show some solemnity. When Director Liu saw this, he thought that he had guessed correctly.
Director Liu was in a very good mood and even deliberately asked Qu Mingli, "How is it? The fungus production at Jinchuan Forest Farm is pretty good, right?"
Qu Mingli had never had any feelings towards people who brought personal grudges into work. After seeing Yan Xue's competence and kindness, he had even less good feelings towards her.
Yan Xue just did a small pilot project, with no more than five formal employees, but she was able to take care of three disabled people. What did the other person do in this position?
This made him abandon his gentleness for once, and he replied directly, "That's great. I've already notified them and asked them to find time to go to the County Commercial Bureau for a quote."
After saying that, he raised his hand and gestured to the door of his office, "Director Liu, do you have anything else to say?" It was obvious that he didn't want to pay any attention to the other party.
Director Liu just thought that things were not going well for him and he was in a bad mood, so he didn't get angry with him. "Nothing, I have to get back to work."
As for going to the County Commercial Bureau to get a quote, Director Liu just listened and didn't take it to heart at all.
During the planned economy era, commodities could not enter the market directly; they were subject to state allocation. Resources produced by forestry farms, such as timber, were directly allocated by the state. However, any remaining resources, such as ginseng grown on ginseng farms, were under the control of the Commercial Bureau, requiring a price quote from the Bureau before they could be sold.
Since the pilot project belongs to the forest farm and is a subordinate unit of the forest farm, the wood ear mushrooms produced cannot be counted as the people's sideline business. They must first be quoted from the Commercial Bureau.
Yan Xue was the person in charge and the most sociable among the regular employees, so she was the only one who could go. However, when she told the second old lady about this at home, she glanced at her belly with obvious worry.
"It's okay for me to go." Yan Xue smiled and comforted the old lady, "It's been almost five months now, it's the most stable time."
But no matter how stable it was, the car had no seats. It almost got into an accident last time. The old lady was hesitant to speak.
Qi Fang had just returned from the small repair factory and was washing his hands and face in the yard. He frowned when he heard this.
But he took one look at Yan Xue's face, which had become a little rounder due to her pregnancy, and said, "Go ahead. I'll go with her."
Without waiting for Yan Xue to refuse, he went out and came back to tell Yan Xue that he had made all the arrangements.
Yan Xue thought he was talking about the small repair shop, but she didn't expect that when she arrived in Chengshui the next day and just waited for the long-distance bus to the county, someone knocked on the window and said, "Qi Fang, here!"
Yan Xue looked over and found that it was a young man in his twenties. She thought Qi Fang had met an acquaintance.
When the young man saw that they had noticed him, he immediately turned around and said to the ticket seller, "There's a pregnant woman downstairs. I came up to save a seat for her."
It turned out that the seat was reserved for her. Yan Xue subconsciously turned her head to look at Qi Fang. Qi Fang had already protected her and started to get on the bus.
There were a lot of people on the bus, and I was originally annoyed by the issue of reserved seats, but when I heard that it was reserved for a pregnant woman, I didn't say anything.
The man waited for Qi Fang to bring the other person up before he gave up his seat and glanced at Yan Xue. "Is this your wife? She looks familiar to me."
"The female lead singer at last year's party." Qi Fang said, handing the ticket money he had prepared in advance to the other party, "Thank you."
The other party immediately pressed the ticket he had bought when he boarded the bus into his hand and said, "What's that? Next time you come over, just teach me a little more."
But Yan Xue still thanked the man again. After he got out of the car and left, she looked up at the man standing next to her and asked, "Did you look for it when you went out yesterday?"
Qi Fang was standing between her seat and the aisle. Hearing this, he hummed, "A former colleague from the machine repair shop."
He explained the other party's identity, but did not say how he found the other party yesterday.
When they arrived at the county, he had already found out the location of the Commercial Bureau, so he took Yan Xue to get off at the nearest stop and went straight there.
When they entered the Commercial Bureau, someone carrying a large wooden barrel passed by them and almost bumped into Yan Xue, but he blocked it with his hand.
The wooden barrel rubbed a red mark on the back of his hand, and he couldn't help but frown, "Didn't you see there's a pregnant woman here?"
The other party acted as if he didn't hear anything and walked straight forward. He grabbed his arm and asked, "Didn't you see there's a pregnant woman here?"
The man had no choice but to turn around and put down the wooden barrel he was carrying. He said impatiently, "You brought a pregnant woman here to do business? Can't you let her stay at home?"
It's no wonder he made a mistake. There were still few women with jobs in those days, and even fewer who could come to the Commercial Bureau to do business. What's more, the basket for carrying things was still carried on Qi's back.
Qi Fang's face turned cold when he heard this. "Pregnant women can't come to work? The leader said that women hold up half the sky. Do you think he's wrong?"
This was an era when people still had to learn the leaders' quotations. How could the other party dare to say yes? He could only admit defeat and said, "I just wasn't looking, okay?"
After apologizing to the two of them, he picked up the wooden barrel and walked away, muttering as he walked, "What a lot of nonsense."
Qi Fang's face still looked bad, so Yan Xue grabbed his wrist and looked at it. "Is your hand okay?"
"It's okay." Qi Fang took it back nonchalantly, then lowered his eyes and asked her, "Are you okay?"
"With you blocking the way, what could have happened? He was still more than half a foot away from me at the time."
Qi Fang then relaxed his expression, found the nearest office, knocked on the door, and asked which room the quotation was in.
Unexpectedly, when I walked in, the man who had just moved the barrel was also there, and he was still talking to someone: "When I just came in, I met a man who came to do business and brought a pregnant woman with him."
Just as he finished speaking, Yan Xue came in, walking in front of Qi Fang. As soon as she entered the door, she smiled and asked, "Excuse me, is this where the quotation is?"
The man carrying the barrel paused, and the others felt a little awkward. Someone quickly asked, "Which company wants a quote?"
"Hello." Yan Xue first took out the relevant documents from her bag. "I'm from the Jinchuan Forest Farm under the Chengshui Forestry Bureau."
As soon as she opened her mouth, everyone in the room was stunned. They didn't expect that she was the one who came to do the job. Besides, the timber of the Forestry Bureau was not under their jurisdiction, and it was not time for ginseng yet.
Local ginseng is usually dug up in mid-September. After being dug up, it must be cleaned and dried before it can be quoted and sold to the county commercial bureau.
But the person from the Commerce Bureau still took the document and looked at it, then showed surprise. "Jinchuan Fungus Cultivation Base?"
"Yes, we are a wood ear cultivation base newly established by the Chengshui Forestry Bureau this year," Yan Xue said. "But we are still in the trial stage, and this is the first time we have come to you to get a quote."
This is shocking enough. Can wood ear cultivation be cultivated artificially?
Originally, there was only one person helping her, but now everyone else looked over and someone asked, "Have you planted your fungus successfully?"
"The crops have been planted, otherwise I wouldn't come to you for a quote." Yan Xue smiled and turned around. Qi Fang had already taken off the backpack and placed it next to her.
She took out the packed wood ear mushrooms from her backpack and distributed a large bag to everyone. "This is what we planted at our base this year. Comrades, you can take a look."
At that time, someone opened it and saw that it was indeed sun-dried wood ear mushrooms, which looked even better than what they had seen in the market.
This is a bit difficult, after all, there has never been cultivated wood ear mushrooms before, and no one knows how to price it.
The person who was helping Yan Xue asked her directly, "How much is the price of your base?"
Yan Xue was well prepared and took out a pre-written price list. "We plan to set the retail price at 3.6 yuan per pound, and the wholesale price at 3.35 yuan."
In this era, the country has requirements that prohibit excessive profits, and the price difference between retail price and wholesale price must be set within 10%.
Yan Xue explained to the group, "The retail price of wild wood ear mushrooms in the Chengshui market is 3.8 yuan per pound, and it might be even more expensive in the county. Firstly, this is our first trial planting this year, so the yield isn't very high. Secondly, if we set the price too low, it will affect the income of the local mountain residents."
Nowadays, no one cares whether it is wild or cultivated. It’s good enough to have something to eat. If you can buy cheap ones, who would buy the expensive ones?
"The purchasing station only charges three dollars and twelve for this, right?" The man who almost bumped into Yan Xue while moving the wooden barrel interjected.
Their company makes beer, and the price is only about 20 cents per pound. The whole bucket he brought was not as valuable as the bags of fungus that Yan Xue had.
But everyone knows that the fungus collected by the purchasing station is definitely not of this quality. Generally, it is because the place is too remote and it is not convenient to go down to the market, so it is sold directly to the purchasing station.
And if it's cheaper than what the purchasing station offers, why would they quote a price? Just send it directly to the purchasing station.
In the end, they couldn't make a decision, so they simply invited the leaders of the bureau to come and discuss it together.
The leaders of the Commerce Bureau were also confused. How did the forest farm under Chengshui quietly start growing wood ear mushrooms?
After much discussion, a group of people finally decided to set the retail price at RMB 3.50 and the wholesale price at RMB 3.27 after considering various factors.
It's slightly lower than what Yan Xue sold last year, but that was because of the smaller quantity. This year, the forest farm has so much planted, so it's definitely going to be hard to sell at a lower price. Besides, Yan Xue's original price wasn't 3.60 yuan, so she just wanted to test the waters, and surprisingly, it turned out quite well.
Once the price is set and the official seal is affixed, the pilot production of these fungus will be smooth sailing and there will be no problem selling them anywhere.
When Yan Xue left, she left behind those big bags of fungus. I guess everyone in the office got a lot, including the leader who came later.
After leaving the Business Bureau, she glanced at Qi Fang beside her and asked, "How are we going to get back? Did you find someone to take your seat?"
Qi Fang just glanced at his watch and said, "We still have time. Let's go eat first, and then go to the starting station to catch the bus."
This is really all arranged. Yan Xue couldn't help laughing, "Why don't you stop being Master Qi and be my Secretary Qi."
Master Xiao Qi actually thought about it seriously, looked her in the eyes and asked her, "Lifelong?"
Obviously still remembering what happened before, Yan Xue replied seriously, "Not for life, but..." She blinked, "We can be close to each other."
The latter sentence was said softly, like a small brush brushing Qi Fang's hand gently.
Qi Fang's gaze deepened instantly as he looked at her. "Do you remember that you're already four months old?"
His eyes were very aggressive, as were his words, which made Yan Xue subconsciously hold her amulet - her belly.
However, after holding it in for more than three months, this man is really patient. Even so, he still has to hug her to sleep. If he doesn't hug her during sleep, he will hug her in the middle of the night.
Yan Xue's expression turned serious. "We're still on the street, Master Qi, please be careful."
"Isn't that Secretary Qi?" Qi Fang switched places with her, letting her walk inside, and repeated what she had said before, "Personal secretary."
The personal secretary didn't stay close to him when he was outside. Yan Xue wanted to say that she thought it would be better not to mess with a man who had been a vegetarian for three months.
After dinner, the two went to the starting station to catch the bus. Sure enough, they successfully grabbed two seats.
However, a woman holding a child came up from behind, so Qi Fang gave his seat to her and stood all the way back to Chengshui.
Fortunately, it is not the Chinese New Year period, so it is not difficult to find a seat on the small train back to the forest farm. Qi Fang is tall, so as soon as he entered the carriage, he found a seat on each side of the aisle.
He asked Yan Xue to sit in one of them first, and was about to go to the other side. When he looked up, he met a pair of familiar little eyes.
The person sitting inside Yan Xue had his back to them. Only now did he see his true face. His facial features were regular, except for a few puffy eyes. It was Qi Fang, whom he hadn't seen for almost a year.
Qi Fang paused at that moment, and the look in his peach blossom eyes gradually darkened.
No, it’s been almost a year, how come this person pops up again?
And she was sitting right next to Yan Xue, while he had to sit on the other side of the aisle...
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