Chapter 176 I'm impressed by you. Family members who are not related by blood
Zhu Yingning did not pursue the question of the exact date Xu Sirui returned to Beijing, as she was so hungry. He cunningly opened the bag of food when she was full of doubts. The aroma aroused her appetite. As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for people. She started to study it and decided not to care about these trivial details.
The table was filled with joy. Unlike Xu Zhengkang, Zhou Tianqing didn't follow the rule of "no talking while eating or sleeping." They chatted as they ate, making the meal long and enjoyable.
With Zhou Tianqing acting as a mediator, the slight discomfort they felt when being alone with Xu Sirui dissipated for the most part. After dinner, the three of them played the Switch that Zhou Tianqing had just bought.
Zhu Yingning's ability to play electronic games is still not very good. After losing several games in a row, she found the playing cards in the cabinet on the coffee table and said she wanted to play Landlord.
"I suddenly feel like taking a nap." said Xu Sirui.
"?"
She grabbed him and said, "No!"
After wasting an entire afternoon in the noisy chatter, Zhou Tianqing said she wanted to show off her cooking skills by cooking for dinner, but Xu Sirui strictly forbade her. Zhu Yingning asked why, and he secretly told her that Zhou Tianqing not only lacked common sense when cooking, but also liked to improvise on impulse.
She had previously made a cake and had the idea of replacing eggs with goose eggs. The resulting cake was so fishy it was inedible. However, her grandparents, who advocated for encouragement, forced Xu Sirui to finish it. When he asked, "Why didn't you eat it yourself?", they replied, "We are the elderly. You should respect the elderly and love the young."
Another time, Zhou Tianqing heard from somewhere that whole eggs exploded if heated in the microwave. So, on a whim, she cut the egg in half and microwaved it, but it exploded again. Xu Sirui was ultimately forced to pick away the egg fragments bit by bit.
Because of Zhou Tianqing's past misdeeds, Xu Sirui relegated her to the sink, washing vegetables and peeling garlic. Dinner was primarily a collaborative effort between him and Zhu Yingning, with Zhou Tianqing serving as a supporting role, providing emotional value.
That night, Zhu Yingning fell asleep in the guest room she had stayed in for three years. Oh—it couldn't be called a guest room now. Ever since she completely took possession of the house from Xu Zhengkang, Zhou Tianlan had made it her own, saying he would always keep a place for her there.
The layout of her room has not changed from before to now. The four-piece sets are washed and put away. After they are put back in place, you can smell the fragrance of laundry detergent.
The familiar sweet aroma.
She closed her eyes and slept the most peaceful sleep she had had in a month.
**
On Sunday morning, Zhu Yingning took a bus back to the village.
Before leaving, she still did not ask Xu Sirui directly about Xu Zhengkang, but only told him that if he encountered any trouble, he could ask her for help.
"I will do my best to help you as long as I can," she said.
"Got it," he said as he pushed a suitcase in front of her.
"Hmm?" She didn't understand what he meant.
Xu Sirui explained that the clothes inside were some winter clothes he had bought for her. "Doesn't your village have heating? It's almost snowing in December. You should prepare your clothes early so you can get through the winter. The clothes are all washed and dried and ready to wear. There's also a quilt, but it's too big so I didn't stuff it in. I'll give it to you when the time comes... I'll have my mom send it to you."
"You make me sound like a squirrel that just needs to stock up on food for the winter." She smiled as she took the suitcase handle and squeezed it. After a long silence, she looked up and asked, "Did you buy these clothes for me?"
"No," he denied, "it's my mom."
She slowly said "Oh".
There are many ways to verify it, such as calling Zhou Tianlan now and asking her what clothes she has inside. If she can't answer, it proves that Xu Sirui is probably lying again.
But……
She also felt that there was no need for any verification.
Because no matter who bought it, one thing is certain – the people here love her like family.
She once thought she had few relatives, but perhaps God took pity on her and sent her many relatives who were not related by blood. She loved many people and was loved by many people.
Zhu Yingning wrinkled her nose, suppressed her nasal soreness, and said, "Thank you... and thank Aunt Zhou for me too."
He nodded, reached for the car keys, and said he would drive her to the high-speed rail station first.
**
The high-speed train ride from Beijing to Province G took only four hours, but it felt like plunging from one world into another. Beijing was her brief resting place, but this was her battlefield. Zhu Yingning gathered her spirits and quickly returned to her rural development work.
During the two days she and Shen Fei were away, the cooperative operated normally. Several farmers working there weren't used to raising so many pigs at once, so they made some minor mistakes when they first started, and a few piglets escaped, but they were quickly found.
Zhu Yingning asked Wang Shengju how he found the piglets. He said, "It's very simple. I let the children look for them. Whoever finds one gets a reward to play with their mobile phone. It only takes half an hour to find them all. It doesn't waste adults' working time and it can improve efficiency." She was amused and confused.
After the cooperative gradually got on track, she discussed the future path with Wang Shengju. They agreed that the most efficient way was to introduce professional breeding companies and cooperate with these large companies. Otherwise, if they had to rely on themselves to start from scratch with marketing and open online stores, it would take many years to build brand awareness.
But they had some differences on when to start discussing cooperation.
Wang Shengju suggested that he could apply to have the pig farming project included in the local key investment project database, leveraging the advantages of the investment bureau to find suitable companies. He suggested waiting until the village cooperative had achieved some results before using them to convince the other party. Otherwise, presenting empty-handed promises would create a negative impression among potential partners, hindering future collaborations.
Zhu Yingning, however, felt that they couldn’t wait until they could produce results—what did it mean to “produce results”?
Every company has its own standards. What one company considers a good result might be child's play in the eyes of another. Even if they achieve results, it's impossible to convince everyone with them. It would be better to attract investment while developing aquaculture and adjust shortcomings based on feedback from companies, just like TV series used to be filmed and broadcast simultaneously, with scripts revised based on audience feedback.
In short, she believes that investment promotion work should be carried out in parallel with the development of the cooperative. There is no need to wait for one to be completed before doing the other. The latter is confined to conservative thinking.
Disagreements naturally lead to quarrels, and for the first time, she and Wang Shengju had some friction over work.
Wang Shengju said that she was eager for quick success and was blinded by the "rush to achieve something."
This evaluation made Zhu Yingning depressed for a long time after she returned home. She never thought that the term "quick success and instant benefits" could be applied to herself.
Chen Fei comforted her, "Captain, I don't think being eager for quick success is a bad thing. To be honest, when we come to work here, besides the ideal of serving the people, we must also consider practical factors. We all want to make some achievements here to facilitate future promotions. We must have a mentality of eagerness for quick success in order to achieve great things in the future."
"Comrade Chen Fei, you're so blunt." Wen Wenxu was startled by the bluntness of Chen Fei, a science major, and turned around to use his art of speaking as a liberal arts student. "Captain, I think you're indeed eager for quick success and instant benefits, but you're not eager for your own success or immediate benefits. You're anxious for the success of the village and the benefits of the people. In that case, being called eager for quick success and instant benefits is actually quite realistic, isn't it? It's really nothing."
Zhu Yingning's frustration quickly turned to amusement after hearing their various attempts to console him. "...Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I wanted to ask what you think about the investment promotion."
"I don't know much about this area, but I'll listen to you and do whatever you tell me to do," said Chen Fei.
Wen Wenxu said, "Captain, we are a team, and we must work together."
She nodded: "I understand, I will find a way to convince the branch secretary."
She took the "talk and act" approach to the extreme, and while she was trying to convince Wang Shengju, she also began researching suitable companies. Ultimately, her success in convincing Wang Shengju was due to her bringing along her notes, clearly outlining the strengths and potential of the companies she had chosen, how she would establish initial contact with them, and the subsequent follow-up with other personnel.
After Wang Shengju finished reading the information she had compiled, he said only five words: "I'm impressed by you."
"Secretary, are you really convinced by me or are you just being sarcastic?" She couldn't interpret these words to any avail, so she simply played the sincerity card.
Wang Shengju shook his head and smiled: "...I'm really impressed by you! Just do whatever you want. Alas, I'm old and can't keep up with the thinking of you young people. If you need any cooperation, please tell me. I will be responsible for providing backup support for you."
"Okay! Thank you, Party Secretary." She left with a smile on her face.
Later facts proved that her decision, which was described by Wang Shengju as "short-sighted and quick-profit", was very correct. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, it was precisely because of her intensive multi-threaded work arrangements that allowed her village to successfully establish its own brand before the economy was hit by the epidemic, and laid a sufficient foundation for economic recovery after the epidemic.
What followed was the initial contact with the company, and Zhu Yingning, Shen Fei, Wen Wenxu and others were once again busy as spinning tops.
Wen Wenxu suggested that initial contact could be made simply by email or phone call, but Zhu Yingning didn't want to stop there. She felt that email was a one-way process, while she needed a two-way screening process. Besides the company's decision on whether to cooperate with them, she also had to conduct in-depth on-site inspections of their actual conditions to determine whether to collaborate with them.
In order to achieve this goal, she prepared for a new business trip, and this time she decided to take both Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu with her.
The preparations for the trip were arduous. She led Chen Fei and her colleagues in recording and editing a short video about the cooperative and preparing a detailed project pitch, covering everything from pork quality to market demand analysis and preliminary profit forecasts. They often rehearsed the format of their business interviews in the evenings, ensuring that only the right conditions were met before applying to their superiors for the trip.
While waiting for approval, she had a rare moment of free time and spent the afternoon relaxing in her dorm, lying on her bed, browsing her phone and connecting with the outside world online. In Wu Bo's words, she was definitely a reclusive 2G internet user.
The circle of friends still showed all kinds of life. She felt sleepy while reading it. When she was about to fall asleep, a circle of friends that Xu Sirui had posted two days ago caught her sight.
She forced herself to open her eyes and glanced at the copy, and the sleepiness that she had finally managed to suppress flew away.
The post Xu Sirui posted on his Moments contained only one photo, which was a court summons.
She looked at the likes on his post - if it was a post visible to everyone, many friends would have liked it by now, but the likes column was empty.
Was it sent to her alone?
Zhu Yingning clicked on the picture and carefully browsed the location, time and reason for the rumor.
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