Chapter 688
Little Fatty greatly appreciated Su Miao's factory expansion plan:
"That's a good idea. Let me tell you, the location of your factory is also very good! It's right in your hometown village. With relatives looking after you, it's very convenient for you to do anything.
You don’t know, I heard some time ago that a boss went to the countryside to lease land to grow crops, and the village wanted to charge fees beyond the contract.
That boss was also stubborn and refused to pay. The villagers even cut off the water supply and blocked the road, causing a huge disturbance.
Su Miao frowned when he heard this, and the spoon stirring the dessert made a crisp sound on the edge of the bowl:
"There's such a thing? How can the village be so unreasonable?"
In fact, what Su Miao wanted to say was that it turned out that some people had already started to contract large areas of land for planting. She thought that it would take a few more years for the market economy to develop before this would happen.
Little Fatty put down the Konjac Juice package in his hand, wiped the chili oil from the corner of his mouth, and his expression suddenly became serious:
"Miao, since we're talking about expanding the factory in the village, I'm going to tell you about this. You'd better be careful when you listen to it."
Seeing his serious expression, Su Miao put down the account book in her hand and moved closer with curiosity: "Okay, I'll listen carefully."
"Just last month, something shameful happened in Nitang Village in Taipei City.
There's a boss from Guangdong Province named Feng. I heard he made a fortune in food processing there, and he's attracted by our climate and land prices. He wants to lease several hundred acres of land to grow a new variety called 'passion fruit.'
Su Miao nodded: "I know this passion fruit. It is not our local variety. It is native to Brazil in South America. The main producing areas are Hawaii and Florida in the United States and Australia. The English name is "Passion fruit".
It means "passion" and "romance", so it is also called "lover fruit" and "love fruit".
I heard it was introduced to our Guangxi region for cultivation two years ago and has developed rapidly.”
"Yes, yes, that's the fruit! The best-selling product in Boss Feng's factory is passion fruit juice, so he wants to start a garden like you do. Not only can he grow it himself, but I heard he can also make some extra money."
He held a colorful brochure and praised the fruit in great detail, saying that it could be sold for dozens of yuan per pound if exported abroad.
Then they approached the Huangnitang Village Committee and contracted their land to grow fruit, promising to hire local villagers to work and also saying they wanted to build a small processing plant.
Su Miao seemed to be thinking: "Sounds like a good condition?"
The fat man nodded. "The contract is for five years, and the first year went pretty smoothly. Boss Feng did recruit about twenty villagers to help with the planting, and they're paid daily, so everyone's pretty satisfied."
The fruit trees in the garden are healthy and free of disease, so it can be considered a good harvest."
"Then what happened later? If it develops well, I would like to buy some." Su Miao asked.
The fat guy took a sip of milk tea to suppress the spicy taste of the konjac juice and continued:
"Actually, both sides have some reasons. First, this year, Boss Feng suddenly brought over a dozen workers from his hometown, calling them 'technicians', and took over most of the work originally done by the villagers.
The villagers went to argue, but Boss Feng said that the villagers were not capable of doing the technical work and could only do odd jobs like weeding and fertilizing, and their wages were reduced.
The fat boy imitated Mr. Feng's Cantonese-style Mandarin: "You don't understand the technology. If you damage my seedlings, you will have to pay for it!"
Su Miao couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Brother, you've learned something really interesting. Although the human rights are in Boss Feng's hands, it violates the previous promise to the village committee. No wonder the people of Nitang Village are dissatisfied."
But the fat guy couldn't laugh: "The matter is not over yet. Several elderly people in the village felt that they were bullied, so they went to find the village party secretary.
The village party secretary took some people to talk to Boss Feng, and guess what he said? 'The contract doesn't specify how many people I have to hire. It's my freedom to choose who I want!'"
"What you said is true, but it's too cruel. However, I don't think this reason is enough to make such a big deal out of it. Their village must have other plans." Su Miao shook his head.
The little fat brother clapped his hands:
"You're right! The villagers probably saw the good harvest from the garden last year and saw that Boss Feng had made so much money, so they became jealous. They felt that Boss Feng only provided the capital, and the land, water, and labor were all provided by the villagers, and they felt that the money they received before was too little.
During this period, the passion fruit was ripe and ready to be picked. Not only did they go on strike, the village party secretary also brought a dozen villagers to block the village entrance, saying that they would charge an additional "management fee" of 500 yuan per mu of land. If they did not pay, they would not allow Boss Feng to enter the village to pick the fruit.
"Management fees? If it's not mentioned in the contract, then this is considered arbitrary charging, right? How is it different from gangsters collecting protection money?"
Su Miao is also a boss himself, and he also finds such things very tricky. After all, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake.
Xiaopangge was also indignant about this behavior:
"If it's not written in the contract, then this is considered arbitrary charging, right? People took the contract to the village chief to argue, and he just patted his chest and said, 'This is the village rule, and outsiders who want to make money have to abide by it.'
Boss Feng refused to give in, and that night someone threw manure into his makeshift cabin and stole a lot of fruit.
"How did Boss Feng handle it? Did he call the police?" Su Miao asked.
The fat guy curled his lips and said, "We reported it, and when the police came they just took our statements. The village secretary and the villagers collectively changed their story, saying it was just the kids being naughty. The police just gave them a verbal lecture, and as soon as the police left they still blocked our way and refused to let us in."
The village party secretary directly announced that if the "management fee" was not paid, not only would the work not start, but the entire garden would be confiscated.
Boss Feng called the police again, which directly angered the people in that village. Then the villagers started to make things difficult for him.
First, they demanded a 'road maintenance fee,' claiming that Mr. Feng's truck had damaged the village road; then they demanded a 'water resource fee,' claiming he used too much water for irrigation; finally, even the village committee wanted to reassess the land contract price.
Su Miao was stunned. "This is really going to develop into the underworld, right? Boss Feng is an outsider, isolated and helpless."
Little Fatty shook his head:
"Boss Feng is also stubborn. He refused to pay a penny more and even threatened to sue the county.
As a result, the next day, the orchard's water pipe was dug up, and the trucks coming to collect the fruit were blocked at the village entrance by several tractors for a whole day."
Su Miao imagined the scene and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Boss Feng, whom she had never met before: "What happened next?"
"Later?" The fat boy smiled helplessly.
"Later, Boss Feng really went to the county to file a complaint. The county sent people to mediate. The village agreed to it in person, but after the people left, they continued to make things difficult.
They are local indigenous people, and the higher-ups will only mediate. They won't actually arrest anyone unless the case is a particularly serious criminal one.
Finally, Boss Feng had no choice but to negotiate and pay a toll of 500 yuan so that he could pick the fruits of this year first.
However, given the current situation, it will be impossible to grow fruit trees properly in the future. He now plans to find another place to contract and transplant all the fruit trees there. Not only will the initial investment be wasted, but there will also be considerable expenses later."
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