"Hello, Director Zhao!"
Zhang Cheng quickly stepped forward and respectfully introduced himself, "My name is Zhang Cheng, and I'm from Zhangjia Village!"
He greeted her first, then continued with a hint of apology, "Director Zhao, it's really very abrupt of me to bother you at the hospital so late..."
Director Zhao put down the newspaper in his hand, a kind smile appeared on his face, and he raised his hand to indicate to Zhang Cheng that he didn't need to be polite.
"We're all serving the people, so there's nothing abrupt about it."
"Young man, you'd better get to the point. It's so late, what brings you to the hospital?"
"Director Zhao, it's like this."
Zhang Cheng dropped the formalities and got straight to the point: "I'd like to ask if your supply and marketing cooperative still buys Polygonatum sibiricum?"
"It's the kind of dried Solomon's Seal."
As he spoke, he pointed to the sack placed at the door of the ward.
Director Zhao then noticed the sacks on the ground.
He frowned and asked with some doubt, "Now that the mountains are blocked by heavy snow and the roads are so difficult to travel, why don't the people in your village wait until spring when the snow melts before coming to the county to sell Solomon's Seal?"
Zhang Cheng gave a wry smile and explained helplessly, "Director Zhao, we really have no other choice."
"This year's heavy snow is something we haven't seen in decades. The mountains are all blocked, and every household in the village has almost run out of food."
“A while ago, when the snow wasn’t this deep, we could still go into the mountains to hunt and barely make ends meet.”
"But now, the snow in the mountains is almost knee-deep, making it difficult to go hunting. If we don't think of a way soon, we might run out of food..."
"well!"
After listening to Zhang Cheng's explanation, Director Zhao sighed deeply, and his expression became serious.
"Young comrade, we in the county are aware of the difficulties your village is facing."
"You must trust the government. No matter how great the difficulties, as long as we work together, we can overcome them."
"Since you braved such heavy snow and traveled dozens of miles of mountain roads to come all the way to the county to sell Solomon's Seal..."
Director Zhao paused, his gaze falling on Zhang Cheng's face, and said earnestly, "This shows that your village is truly facing a certain level of hardship."
Zhang Cheng stood there obediently, listening attentively to Director Zhao's speech, his face occasionally showing gratitude and anticipation.
He knew that dealing with superiors required patience.
Especially older leading cadres like to talk about policies and reason, and give a "passionate" speech.
All he had to do was listen attentively and, when appropriate, show an expression of being "encouraged".
Sure enough, Director Zhao launched into his long-winded speech again.
After speaking for a good five or six minutes, Director Zhao finally stopped, took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and then looked at Zhang Cheng again, his tone softening.
"Young comrade, how much Polygonatum did you bring this time?"
"It weighs about seventy pounds," Zhang Cheng estimated.
Director Zhao nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "Well then, considering the special circumstances of your village, I'll make an exception and buy all the Polygonatum you brought at a price of one yuan and fifty cents per pound."
As he spoke, Director Zhao picked up an old notebook from the bedside table, tore off a page, and quickly wrote down a purchase request.
Then, he took out a red stamp from his briefcase and solemnly stamped it on the note.
Director Zhao handed the stamped slip to Zhang Cheng and said gently, "Young comrade, take this slip and go to the county supply and marketing cooperative first thing tomorrow morning. Find Old Liu in the business section, and he will settle your account."
"Director Zhao, thank you so much!"
Zhang Cheng excitedly accepted the note and bowed deeply to Director Zhao. "On behalf of all the villagers of Zhangjia Village, I thank you for your help and support!"
"No need to thank me, it's what I should do." Director Zhao waved his hand with a smile, indicating that Zhang Cheng didn't need to be so polite.
Everyone likes to hear compliments, and leaders are no exception.
Especially this kind of sincere and grateful compliment is very pleasing to the eye.
Zhang Cheng was thinking to himself whether he should go to the street tomorrow to find someone to make a banner and properly publicize Director Zhao's "advanced deeds".
However, selling the small amount of money from Polygonatum was not his main purpose.
The reason he braved the wind and snow to come to the county town was primarily to take this opportunity to connect with the supply and marketing cooperative and see if he could find some "business opportunities".
After all, although national policies have been relaxed, private businesses are still subject to many restrictions. If they are not careful, they will be labeled as "speculators" and may face confiscation of goods or even imprisonment.
If you want to do business legitimately, it's best to be affiliated with a state-owned enterprise or public institution.
Now that he finally had the chance to meet the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhang Cheng was naturally unwilling to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He tentatively asked, "Director Zhao, I have another favor to ask. I wonder if you could help me with that?"
"Oh? What is it? Tell me about it." Director Zhao looked at Zhang Cheng with great interest.
"Director Zhao, could I get a batch of goods from the supply and marketing cooperative and take them back to the village to sell?"
"Um?"
Upon hearing this, Director Zhao's originally amiable smile faded slightly, his eyebrows rose, and he scrutinized the seemingly simple-minded young man before him.
"Young comrade, your current idea is very dangerous."
"Director Zhao, we really had no other choice!"
Zhang Cheng, his face contorted in distress, began to pour out his grievances to Director Zhao.
"Director Zhao, as you know, our Zhangjia Village is more than 30 miles away from the county seat. Not to mention that the mountains are blocked by heavy snow now, and the road is almost buried by snow, even in spring and autumn, it is not easy to come to the county seat."
“Villagers usually have to travel dozens of miles to the county town to buy daily necessities such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, needles and thread.”
"It takes a whole day to travel back and forth, which is really inconvenient."
"Once we run out of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at home, we have to borrow from each other to barely make ends meet..."
In fact, the county's top leaders had long been aware of the problem of poor commodity circulation in rural areas and had been trying to find a solution.
The supply and marketing cooperatives also held several meetings to discuss how to improve the supply of goods in rural areas.
One important proposal is to set up sales outlets of supply and marketing cooperatives in some remote villages with inconvenient transportation, as an experiment.
However, not just anyone can open a dealership.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
