Chapter 136 Guagua.
As Xiang Yao had expected, Huang Guofu and Yang Youliang's eyes lit up immediately when they knew that she was actually thinking of generating income for the team this time.
Zhang Xiaoxia smiled and said, "This girl is so secretive and won't tell me first. She insists on waiting for you to come back. I want to see what her money-making scheme is."
Xiang Yao also smiled, and she said frankly: "This matter really needs the help of our team leader and branch secretary!"
Yang Youliang took a puff of his cigarette and looked at Xiang Yao kindly: "Now that Secretary Huang and I are here, you can finally speak."
Xiang Yao: "Of course."
She picked up the basket at her feet, uncovered the cloth, and gestured for a few people to look at it. "Please take a look first. How are these peanuts and tomatoes growing?"
Huang Guofu reached out and grabbed a handful of peanuts, examining them carefully. After a moment, he said, "You've given these peanuts to quite a few people before, haven't you? I even ate a few at He Yuezhi's house last time."
Xiang Yao's eyebrows curved. "Well, I often ask for help, and my family doesn't have much to give. But I really didn't need peanuts recently, so I gave them to you as a favor. Secretary, please peel one and taste it. Isn't it a particularly good variety?"
Huang Guofu didn't hesitate and immediately peeled a peanut and stuffed the fat peanut wrapped in red skin into his mouth.
He closed his eyes and sipped it for a long time, then nodded: "It's very oily, with large grains, and tastes good."
After opening his eyes again, he asked, "What you want to talk about is about these peanuts?"
Xiang Yao nodded: "And here are these tomatoes, you can try them too."
She gave each of them a big tomato, and even gave Zhang Xiaoxia one.
Zhang Xiaoxia knew that the one given to her before was for private sharing, and she couldn't help but feel lucky that she wanted to take it home for her children to try, so she threw it into the drawer.
Look, I got another one, and the whole family can have a taste of it!
This time, Yang Youliang couldn't wait to take a big bite. Before he even swallowed it, he nodded repeatedly, "This tomato is great! It's juicy and has a nice crunchy texture. Wow, I've never had such a delicious tomato!"
Huang Guofu also nodded slightly, thinking that the quality of this fruit was very good.
He already knew that the little girl in front of him was about to say something, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he waited for her to speak first, while in his mind he had already started thinking about the feasibility of certain things.
Xiang Yao's eyes flashed with cunning as he began to promote his fruits and vegetables: "Of course! My tomatoes are the only ones you'll find anywhere else in the local area. They're truly great."
Yang Youliang said, "Then I still think your peanuts are better. Although these fruits are delicious, if we want to eat some fruit in the countryside, we can go to the mountains to pick wild fruits. They are a bit sour, but they are always enough."
"As for peanuts, if you want to try some, the supply and marketing cooperative may not have them for sale. The key is that you can also extract oil from them!"
Xiang Yao nodded and said, "Each has its own merits. If you take these tomatoes to the city, people will chase after them and want to exchange some to take home!"
Of course, she couldn't say the word "buying and selling". The reason for issuing a letter of introduction was not to engage in speculation and profiteering.
Zhang Xiaoxia didn't taste the tomato, but put it away without leaving a trace. She urged her, "What are you thinking, girl? Tell me quickly!"
Xiang Yao chuckled and said, "What do you think if our brigade planted peanuts and tomatoes on a large scale?"
She first made a promise: "Don't worry about the seeds, I can get as many as you need!"
There are still quite a few melons piled up in her melon field, more than enough for planting.
Huang Guofu frowned and said bluntly, "I'm afraid this won't work. We've always grown rice here, and that's the bread and butter of the entire brigade. Planting peanuts or tomatoes is a recipe for failure because we lack experience. And secondly, even if we grow something and get a harvest, who's going to harvest it?"
He looked straight at Xiang Yao, his eyes full of seriousness: "If no one buys it and it can't be sold, then there's no money or food to exchange. If these two can't be exchanged, then we'll starve. This is not fun."
Xiang Yao didn't give up easily because of these words. She kept her smile on her face and said, "As for the lack of experience, Baichuan and I visited a planting expert a few days ago. He told us about general planting methods and knowledge on preventing pests and diseases. He also suggested that we go to the agricultural technology station to ask technicians for guidance. This is definitely not a problem."
"As for sales, as far as I know, there are very few large-scale peanut growers in our province. The ones currently on the market are all from other places. As long as we have good results, I believe the market will not be a problem."
She curled her lips and continued, "This depends on the efforts of our brigade cadres. If we can establish a demonstration plot for cash crops for the entire commune, or even the entire county, and grow high-yield crops, what a great honor it would be!"
Don’t mention it, don’t mention it, just these last few words really made Huang Guofu’s heart move slightly.
As the secretary of the entire brigade, he might have thought about getting promoted to the commune. However, in the countryside, the way to get ahead is all related to the output of the land.
Other brigades can also rely on growing rice and paying public grain on time every year, and they can do it better than Shitang Brigade. It is difficult for him to become an outstanding talent in this regard and catch the attention of the commune.
But he knew very well that although the temptation was great, the risks were also not small.
Xiang Yao recounted some other details of the matter, his throat almost smoking. He decided to take a break and wait quietly for the brigade cadres to think about it.
Zhang Xiaoxia thoughtfully poured her a pot of tea. After thanking her, she drank it up in big gulps and finally felt refreshed.
Yang Youliang didn't have as many thoughts as Huang Guofu. He was only concerned with one thing: could he plant the crops? Would they be able to produce anything? Was he sure it would bring benefits to the team? Would the crops all go to waste, leaving the entire team without food?
To be honest, he only half believed what Xiang Yao, a little girl, said.
Of course, it wasn't that he didn't trust Xiang Yao as a person, but rather that he didn't trust her limited life experience at the age of eighteen.
She is still a little girl. Her intentions and heart are good, but such a big matter still needs to be carefully discussed.
Xiang Yao naturally understood this logic. After she finished what she was about to say, she stopped talking and followed Zhang Xiaoxia to crack peanuts, making a crackling sound.
Huang Guofu looked at the two of them several times, and finally couldn't help himself: "Can you two go out and have some fun?"
Zhang Xiaoxia and Xiang Yao smiled at each other, then hurriedly picked up the basket and went out.
After coming out and walking under the eaves, Zhang Xiaoxia brought two stools, and the two continued to eat peanuts in the rain and fog in the front yard.
Zhang Xiaoxia chewed some peanuts and smiled vaguely, "Secretary Huang was really polite to us today. He usually loves to scold people!"
Xiang Yao nodded: "I've seen this before."
Back then, when she called He Hongmei's head "full of pig manure," and her husband Li Zhiyong's head "a windmill," those were incredibly sharp words...
But you know what, although Secretary Huang is a bad mouth and his son is useless, he is still capable and is willing to consider the people in the team.
This is why he has been able to stand firm in the entire brigade and everyone respects him and keeps his word.
Zhang Xiaoxia sighed and said, "I personally think the method you proposed is quite good, but to be honest with you, it's still difficult to put it into practice." Xiang Yao curled his lips, without much regret on his face: "Even if it doesn't work, there's nothing we can do. After all, it all depends on human effort."
"But if it's really impossible," she said with a sudden smile, "then I won't bother with it anymore. I'll just ask a few families I know if they want seeds. If they do, I can plant some in my own plot."
Zhang Xiaoxia nodded. "To be fair, your peanuts and tomatoes are really good. I've never seen anything grow so well. Whether you agree or not, I'll definitely have to ask you for some seeds. I have a lot of kids at home, and they'll be very greedy!"
"Yes," Xiang Yao said generously, "Aunt, you don't have to be polite to me. Just come and get it when you need it."
Zhang Xiaoxia now felt a little regretful that she had not brought the wool with her. Otherwise, she could have knitted several rounds while talking.
The peanuts people brought were limited in number. No matter how delicious they were, she couldn't keep eating them! That would be so embarrassing.
But Xiang Yao really didn't care about these peanuts. When she saw her stop eating, she advised: "Auntie, don't think about saving them for me. I have plenty here. Eat them quickly!"
The two of them had been interacting with each other several times in recent days, and the sense of unfamiliarity between them seemed to have lessened. After Xiang Yao's persuasion, Zhang Xiaoxia felt that there was no need to be shy. She heard that she couldn't knit now and could only sit here, so she really continued to eat.
After a while, I don’t know what the two people inside said, but there was a loud sound of a heavy enamel pot hitting the wooden table, and even the raindrops seemed to be shaken a few times.
Xiang Yao raised his eyebrows and stopped talking. He pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the movement inside.
"No!" Yang Youliang's deep voice came through the crack in the window. "Rice is our life-saving food, and it's also the thing we peasants are most confident in growing well. If we really set aside a large area to plant other crops, what will we do if we can't grow any? Who can we turn to for justice then?"
"Agricultural Technology Station? If we really have a problem, even if a god comes, it won't help! We have so many people in our team, we can't withstand such a big disturbance."
Compared to Yang Youliang, Huang Guofu's voice was much calmer. The two of them said a few more words and gradually lowered their voices.
Xiang Yao blinked and thought to himself, it seems that the plan of large-scale planting in the first year is doomed to fail.
However, she was not too depressed. This result was expected, just like the anti-threshold effect she had mentioned to Nie Baichuan before. At worst, she could still mobilize everyone to try planting one crop on their own land.
Everything has to be done step by step. She is not in a hurry. The time is not right yet and there is plenty of time to work it out slowly.
Just as I was thinking this, I don't know how long it had passed, the door of the office inside opened, and Yang Youliang waved to the two of them:
"Come in and talk."
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