Perhaps the precautions had already been explained, or perhaps because the sightseeing bus had already reached the vicinity of the square, the driver changed the subject and began introducing the attractions.
"This is a food plaza built by Xujia Village and surrounding villages. It has sixty snack shops with different categories, flavors and tastes. You can find all kinds of snacks unique to Haishi here, such as savory glutinous rice balls, taro cake, thousand-layer water cake, and sweet popcorn dumplings made with chicken shit vine."
Hearing such a long list of dishes, everyone swallowed hard. Before they could even express their amazement, the sightseeing bus drove away from the food plaza that exuded such enticing aromas.
"This entire greenhouse complex belongs to Xu's Catering. The fruits and vegetables used in the Seaview Restaurant all come from here. All the fruits and vegetables here are pure, natural, and pollution-free green foods."
This is the mudflat aquaculture base in Xujia Village, currently cultivating marine tilapia, prawns, razor clams, and other seafood. The seafood used in the seaside restaurant and food court all comes from here. With your admission ticket to the seaside hot spring resort, you can purchase ten catties of various seafood at a low price, caught to order and incredibly fresh.
That area enclosed by bamboo is a free mudslide area, where fishermen use the 'seahorse' – a tool they've used for centuries to make a living.
During the beachcombing season, fishermen ride seahorses across the mudflats to collect clams, dig for clams, catch mudskippers, and gather mud snails. If you're interested in catching mudskippers, you can try it under the guidance of a professional.
Whether it was Luo Min or the others, they all initially came for the rare sight of the 'seaside hot spring,' but now, after the driver's explanation, they developed a strong interest in all the other forms of entertainment.
"On this joyous occasion, we gather here to celebrate the opening of the seaside hot spring resort, invested and built by Mr. Xu of Xu's Catering. Our distinguished guests today include leaders from Haishi City and Qianhai Town. We would like to invite the Haishi City leader to the stage to deliver a speech."
Please welcome all leaders and Mr. Xu, the owner of Xu's Catering, to pick up the scissors and cut the ribbon for the Qianhai Hot Spring Resort. The opening ceremony of the Qianhai Town Hot Spring Resort has come to a successful conclusion.
Crackle—bang—
The sound of firecrackers resounded through the sky, and thick smoke rose from the ground like clouds. Xu An put the scissors back on the tray in the hands of the hostess and accompanied the group of leaders and guests to tour the seaside hot spring resort.
Due to funding constraints, the first phase of construction focused on the seaside hot spring project. Apart from that, there were only a dozen or so sea-view rooms and sea-view restaurants on land.
Taking the sightseeing bus further sped up the tour, allowing us to see the entire park in less than half an hour.
Subsequently, despite Xu An's repeated invitations, all the leaders politely declined and left.
After driving for a distance, the car carrying the simple-minded middle-aged man made a sharp 180-degree turn and headed straight towards Xujia Village, stopping in the open space next to his second grandfather's house.
"Didn't I tell you not to come over? What would it look like if people saw this!" Upon hearing the sound of the car, the second grandfather immediately pushed open the courtyard gate and welcomed the simple-minded middle-aged man in.
"We're already on your territory, old village chief. If I don't come and visit you, my dad will definitely give me a scolding."
"Tsk, it was me who told you not to come. What's the big deal about making things difficult for a junior like you?"
"Haha." The simple-minded middle-aged man chuckled and immediately changed the subject, saying, "Old village chief, after all these years, your yard hasn't changed at all!"
"It's because we hadn't found the right approach in previous years," the second grandfather said without anger, nodding readily in acknowledgment. He then added proudly:
"But now we've finally found the right path. Because of time constraints, we only farmed 2,000 mu of seafood this year, but if all of the seafood from those 2,000 mu is sold, every household in our Xujia Village can receive at least 80,000 yuan."
Next year, we'll put all the remaining mudflats into aquaculture, with harvests every six months, every year, every two years, and every three to five years—we'll arrange it all! The dividends will be enormous! Come back in three to five years, and Xujia Village will be completely transformed, lined with huge villas!
"Haha, I'll be looking forward to it then."
The two then drank and chatted, envisioning the future development of Xujia Village in all aspects. The more they talked, the happier they became, and the happier they became, the more they drank. Before long, they were both quite drunk.
Emboldened by the alcohol, the simple-minded middle-aged man finally revealed the purpose of his visit.
"I received word that after the New Year, the higher-ups will select two or three more cities in Haiyang Province to pilot the 'two-yuan lunch' program. Remind Anzi to be prepared. The situation in other cities is different from that in Haiyang. I can't say anything, but there are quite a few catering companies eyeing this pilot program, so be very careful."
Buzzing—buzzing—buzzing—
Just after seeing off the last business partner who came to attend the opening ceremony, Xu An felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took out his phone and saw that it was a series of messages from Xu Heping.
The first batch of hot pot chili peppers has all been collected. After drying and grinding into powder, it totals 3,430 jin (1,250 kg). I sent 300 jin (150 kg) to Haishi as an express shipment, and it should arrive in the next couple of days. Keep an eye on it.
Oh, right, there's something important I need to tell you.
Professor Wei and his students conducted a sampling inspection of the forty-nine greenhouses in Hezibao, and the results were not good. This spicy chili pepper is quite potent and cannot be grown continuously.
[For now, we'll take a break for one season and see how it goes. We'll test the soil again in April or May to see how it is before deciding whether we can continue planting hot pot chilies.]
[But this is actually quite good. Many villagers are envious of the good chili harvest, and they've said all sorts of things. If it weren't for Secretary Li's influence, these greenhouses would probably have been smashed long ago. Since crop rotation isn't possible, then everyone in Hezibao can take turns, so no one will be envious.]
These are the crops Professor Wei recommended for planting. Take a look and see which ones are suitable.
The hot pot spice harvest is finally complete!
The much-anticipated [Hellish Braised Food] is finally back on the shelves, which is truly a cause for celebration.
As for what Xu Heping mentioned later, it wasn't a big problem, and Xu An wasn't too worried.
After all, once the Spring Festival is over and the snow melts and the ground thaws in Hezibao, more than a thousand greenhouses will spring up!
Don't even mention that you can only plant hot pot once every quarter, even if it's every three to five years, it's no problem at all!
As long as Professor Wei is here, as long as the technology for growing Sichuan peppers is available, and as long as those thousand greenhouses are built, there is nothing to worry about.
(End of this chapter)
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