Chapter 639
Su Miao's slender fingers gently stroked the edge of the teacup. The tea had already cooled, but it still reflected her slightly furrowed brows.
Outside the window, a few sparrows were jumping around on the wall, making tiny noises.
She thought for a moment, her voice soft but firm: "Don't worry, they may not ignore this matter, maybe it takes time."
Uncle Wu's rough hands tightly grasped the pipe. He took a deep puff of smoke, and the smoke he exhaled slowly rose in the afternoon sun.
"I also know that government agencies can't handle things so quickly, and there's no need to rush. But judging by today's situation, I'm afraid the situation is not good.
Not to mention whether Hongxing will be dealt with, we are not even sure whether we can get compensation."
Su Miao said calmly, "We can make two preparations. Dad and I will go find Team Leader Su to see if he has returned to Ning County.
If he hasn't come back yet, I'll ask Mr. and Mrs. Pan for help. The Pan family has a wide network of contacts in the county, so maybe they can get some inside information."
Uncle Wu hesitated: "The Pan family? Will this cause them trouble?"
Su Miao comforted him, "I just asked them to help inquire about it. My godparents are always enthusiastic. Besides, this matter concerns the livelihoods of so many villagers. He won't stand idly by."
The room suddenly became quiet, with only the ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock being clearly audible.
Su Yuanzheng stood up, patted the non-existent dust on his pants, and said:
"It's getting late. Let's go now. We are about to go to the capital. Let's do what we can before that."
Everyone at the Agricultural Science Station knew that their papaya orchard was a point-to-point support project, so they all thought they came to see Team Leader Su about the papaya orchard, and their attitudes were all very good.
An agronomist who often goes to the countryside with Team Leader Su said:
"Team Leader Su hasn't come back yet. He's on a one-month study abroad assignment and probably won't be back until the end of the month. What can I do for you?"
Su Miao said, "It's nothing important. I'm going back to Beijing to study in the next few days, and I wanted to come and thank Team Leader Su for his help to our papaya farm over the past year."
Secretary Li showed a look of surprise on his face, and then his smile became even brighter:
"Oh, is that so? This is the first time I've seen you guys being so polite. This is all part of our job, there's no need to come all the way to thank you."
Su Miao looked sincere and said seriously,
"Director Li, completing a job and completing it well are two different things. We cannot take your efforts for granted. We will always remember the station's help to the papaya garden.
I brought some local specialties from the village today. They're not expensive. Since Team Leader Su is not here, could you please help me distribute them?"
Team Leader Su's colleague was very pleased with what he said. He smiled brightly and took the heavy bag and said:
"Oh! You're so welcome! You're so welcome! If you have any planting problems in the future, feel free to come to us!"
Coming out of the Agricultural Science Station, Su Yuanzheng asked his daughter:
"Miao Miao, can we just talk directly about the fake fertilizer issue? I think that comrade just now was quite friendly and might be able to help."
Su Miao shook her head. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows on her face.
"Dad, if it was before today, maybe I would ask that comrade for help.
Now we know how deep the water is here. We don't have a close relationship with the other party, so speaking rashly will not achieve anything and will only cause trouble for the other party. Let's go to Fat Brother's house and ask."
When they arrived at Pan's house, Pan's mother just came back from get off work. She was very surprised to see them and greeted them quickly:
"Come in, come in! I was telling Lao Pan yesterday that you might be going to the capital in the next two days, and I wouldn't see you for another six months. I didn't expect you to come back today."
Because he had a good relationship with Pan's mother, Su Miao didn't exchange many pleasantries and said directly:
"Mother Pan, we've run into some problems and we'd like to ask you for help."
"Oh? What's the matter? Just tell me!"
Su Miao recounted the whole story.
After hearing this, Mother Pan's brows gradually furrowed, and her fingers unconsciously tapped the armrests of the rattan chair.
"Hongxing Agricultural Supplies..." she murmured, her expression becoming serious.
"What's wrong with this store?" Su Miao keenly realized that something was wrong.
Mother Pan sighed:
"I know this Hongxing Agricultural Supplies store you're talking about! No wonder the people in your village keep running into obstacles everywhere. The owner of this agricultural supplies store is the brother-in-law of Deputy Director Zhong of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and he has connections in the government."
Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng suddenly realized. Su Miao said, "So there's this connection behind it. No wonder... He must have informed all the departments. This makes it even harder to defend our rights."
Just then, the sound of a key turning was heard outside the door.
Mr. Pan pushed the door open and walked in, holding a bottle of wine in his hand.
Seeing the people in the house, his eyes lit up: "Lao Su! Miaomiao! It just so happens that I got a bottle of good wine..."
"Let's not talk about the wine for now. Something really went wrong with that thing I was talking to you about a few days ago!"
Mother Pan waved her hand to interrupt her husband and spoke seriously.
After listening to their stories, Pan's father also took it seriously:
"We already knew that the boss behind Hongxing was actually Deputy Director Zhong, and his brother-in-law was just a figurehead. However, the things he bought before were all legal and compliant, so it didn't matter.
Some time ago, Lao Zhong informed several departments and asked them to put any issues related to their store on the back burner.
This had little to do with our unit, so I didn't listen carefully. I didn't expect that the fertilizer they sold was substandard and that so many farmers were suffering losses."
"Dad Pan, this...will it be difficult for us to defend our rights? We can't let the farmers suffer in vain because of their evil intentions. This is too unfair!"
Su Miao noticed that Pan's father's eyes became sharp, an expression she was familiar with, the one when he was thinking about a countermeasure.
Father Pan raised his head and looked at Su Miao with a gentle gaze:
"Don't worry, even if he has some connections, he can't completely cover up everything. Otherwise, the law will become useless. I'll go and negotiate for you first, so that the farmers won't suffer in vain."
It was already very rare that Mr. Pan was willing to help supervise the progress, so Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng didn't say anything more, otherwise it would be inappropriate.
Pan's father took out some good wine he had just bought and invited the two of them to dinner. Pan's mother took Su Miao aside and told her to take care of her health even though she had a heavy workload at school.
They chatted until nine o'clock in the evening. After sending Su Yuanzheng and Su Miao out, the couple started talking in private.
Mother Pan whispered, "Old Pan, what do you think we should do about this?"
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