Chapter 7: Macro Plan

  What is the market? This elusive thing can't be grasped all at once. The wind blows, and vegetable planting industry emerges in Jixiang Town, which is relatively far from the county town. If it really takes off, the transportation cost will be higher than those towns near the city, not worth it, and there's no competitiveness. As for fruit forestry, it's even more impossible, at least three to five years are needed, let alone it's already passed the spring planting season.

  The problems of peasants still need to be decided by peasants themselves, what to plant and how to plant, after the land contract has been fully decided by themselves.

  Some villagers in Wolong Village have decided to give up planting this year and prepare to go to the city to work. Farmers can't leave their land, although they are very reluctant, but it's much better than working hard for a year and not being able to make enough money to survive for a year. Children need money to go to school, get sick, wear clothes, etc. Many people feel that they can't wait any longer and have already started contacting friends outside to find a place to work.

  The village committee has realized the severity of this matter. If the land is not managed for a long time, it will be abandoned and left to waste. After being abandoned, it will not produce the same yield as before. Therefore, the village committee urgently convened a villagers' meeting to repeatedly explain to everyone the seriousness of the land being abandoned.

  "Zhang Zhi Shu, we also know, but if we continue to plant, by this time next year, where to put the grain will become a problem, not to mention the money for the children's tuition?" Many villagers said helplessly.

  "Alas, let's plant anyway. If we don't, the land will be deserted. Maybe next year things will turn around." Jiang Fugui also didn't know how to persuade those villagers who had already given up.

  "I heard that Tie Dan's family planted something unknown." Tie Dan is a nickname given to Jiang Dayuan by the villagers, Jiang Dayuan was very capable when he was young and his land was also cultivated very well, this is also a kind of respect for Jiang Feng's father.

  "I also know, I'll go take a look later" Jiang Fugui faintly felt a glimmer of hope, and after finishing speaking, he turned around and went to Jiang Feng's house.

  "Is Iron Egg at home?" As soon as he walked into the courtyard, Jiang Fugui let out his loud and hoarse voice to shout.

  "Rich and noble brothers, his dad is eating now." Zhang Xilian put down the bowl and chopsticks in her hand and walked out, seeing Jiang Fugui hastily responded with a sound.

  "What wind brought you here? Come and have some food." Jiang Dajun said with a smile when he saw Jiang Fugui. "What's the point of eating, these past few days have been chaotic and I haven't been able to sleep," Jiang Fugui said with a worried expression.

  "What are you going to plant this year?" As soon as Jiang Fugui entered the door, Jiang Dayuan knew his intention. These days, the village has been windy and rainy, and Jiang Feng also knows. However, he has no solution now.

  "Hmm. Many people don't plan to plant anymore. If they don't plant, the land will be abandoned. And if they do plant, the grain won't be worth anything..." Jiang Fugui recounted the recent events in detail. He was also extremely anxious and didn't know what to do with his own land either.

  "What are you going to plant?" He paused and stared at Jiang Dayuan, saying "I heard that Jiang Feng cultivated a new crop." Jiang Fugui looked at Jiang Dayuan with longing.

  "Oh. I haven't thought about what to plant yet. It's land. Jiang Feng has just cultivated a new crop, but it's still in the experimental stage. Don't know if it can be successfully cultivated or not." Jiang Dayuan said with a smile.

  "What is it after all?" Jiang Fugui asked relentlessly.

  "Oh. Uncle, do you still remember when we went to Longfengdi and picked those fruits?" Jiang Dajun knew that if he said it was longan fruit, he would definitely not know what it was either. After thinking for a moment, he said.

  "What is that?" Jiang Fugui remembered the tempting taste of that fruit. Unfortunately, it's hard to get a chance to eat it even once a year, and that fruit only grows on Longfeng Peak, which is steep and precipitous, making it difficult to encounter.

  "Hmm" Jiang Dà Yuǎn replied affirmatively.

  "Go, take me to see," he said, and without another word, he pulled Jiang Dajun towards the field. The hope of Wolong Village might be in that small piece of land.

  After a while, he saw Jiang Feng observing something in the field from afar, occasionally jotting down notes in a small notebook.

  "Jiang Feng", Jiang Dayuan shouted

  "Ah, Uncle Fu Gui, how did you come?" Jiang Feng saw them and hurried over.

  "Jiang Feng, what's the name of this plant?" Jiang Fugui asked carefully while examining it. This was very similar to the fruit tree in his memory, a sapling over a foot tall had already produced many small fruits.

  "Longan fruit." Jiang Feng replied.

  "Can it be cultivated successfully?" Jiang Fugui also knew the market prospects of this longan fruit. If it is promoted throughout the village, Wodragon Village will no longer worry about money in the future.

  "Uncle Fu Gui, it's currently being tested. The saplings have been successfully planted and have already bloomed and borne fruit. It's just not yet mature, and I don't know what the taste of the longan fruit will be like in the future?" Jiang Feng said, looking at Jiang Fu Gui with a sincere gaze.

  "Ah..." Jiang Fugui fell into deep thought. How much he had hoped that this longan fruit could be successfully cultivated and then promoted in Wodragon Village to alleviate the difficulties faced by the villagers now.

  It seems that Jiang Feng has seen through Jiang Fugui's thoughts. Jiang Feng explained the situation of Longan fruit to Jiang Fugui: "Uncle Fugui, Longan is an annual plant. If the experiment is successful, we can use a specific nutrient solution to cultivate seedlings with branches. We can plant them this year and they will bear fruit next August, just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The taste is what everyone knows, but I don't know if the Longan fruit I cultivated has that taste too. If it does, I'll graft them according to different situations, and then we can promote them on a large scale in our village, which will increase some income."

  "If it's that good, I really miss the delicious food I had back then." A deep longing appeared on Jiang Fugui's face. If he could successfully promote it throughout the village, he would also be able to hold his head high.

  "It's already July now. I guess it will be ripe in another month."

  "Hmm, look, those saplings have already produced small longan fruits. I think they will definitely be ripe by August. At that time, I'll invite Uncle Fu Gui to taste them."

  "We've been waiting. Ah, Jiang Feng, what's your take on this year's grain planting issue?" As he thought of these things, his excited face fell again.

  "Now everyone is planting according to traditional methods, and basically everywhere in the country is the same. We can't decide what to plant based on market demand, which often leads to oversupply. And what we sell are just basic raw materials like wheat, corn, soybeans, etc. Except for a portion sold to the state as reserve grain, the rest can only be sold to flour mills, oil extraction plants and some coarse grain processing enterprises. I've been thinking about it for several days, and I think our village should focus on developing in a few directions..."

  Upon hearing this, Jiang Fugui urged Jiang Feng to quickly say: "Which directions?" Upon hearing that there were several directions, he was still very surprised.

  Jiang Dà Yuàn also wanted to hear Jiang Feng's opinion, but he gave a white eye to Jiang Fù Guì, "What's the hurry, old thing, listen to Jiang Feng slowly"

  "Dad, Uncle Fu Gui, I've analyzed it a bit, take a look and see if it's right or not"

  "Hmm, you said" Jiang Fugui hurriedly replied.

  "Firstly, this year's grain harvest was bountiful and the country has already met its storage targets. I think it's unlikely that there will be large-scale purchases next year. Those processing enterprises also took advantage of low prices to stock up on grains that can be used for several years, so planting wheat might not be feasible anymore. However, we can plant miscellaneous grains. As you know, the millet produced in our Jixiang Town has plump grains, and when cooked into porridge, it's fragrant and easy to cook."

  "That's true, but many places have millet too"

  "It all depends on packaging now. We can apply for a green label, I heard from the older generation that our lucky rice was once the imperial court's tribute rice."

  "I've also heard that before, but I don't know who still remembers it accurately from the early years." Jiang Fugui thought carefully, but couldn't figure out a clue.

  "Let's talk about this later, secondly, I think our Wolong Village is far from the county town and the transportation is not very convenient. If we plant vegetables, it will be inconvenient to transport them in the future. Why don't we dig a pond by the Happiness River to raise fish? The water quality in our village is very good, as long as we do some testing, we can determine what kind of fish to raise."

  "Raising fish, building a fish pond like that will cost a lot of money, you know our village..." Jiang Fugui looked at Jiang Feng with embarrassment, not wanting to spend a single penny, as the village currently has no income.

  "Uncle Fu Gui, this is just an idea, it's not like we're going to put it into action right away," Jiang Feng interrupted Jiang Fu Gui.

  "Yes, it's just an idea, I think it's pretty good" Jiang Dayuan thought carefully and felt that it was also quite good.

  "Hehe, it's all because of money troubles, and what's the third thing?" Jiang Fugui's face turned slightly red as he hastily changed the subject.

  "The third one is a bit far away, that requires more money. Rich and noble books, Dad, you've also been to big cities, compared to those places, don't you think our Wolong Village environment is very good?" After finishing speaking, he swept a glance at the two who were deep in thought.

  "Your meaning is to develop tourism?" Jiang Fugui suddenly came to his senses, as if he had thought of something again, but this time he didn't say it out loud.

  "Yes, tourism, or more precisely, resorts. We have beautiful scenery here with mountains and water. As long as it's properly developed, it will definitely attract those rich people from the cities to come here for vacation and eco-tourism," said Jiang Feng confidently.

  However, to achieve these goals, we still have a long way to go. The most pressing task at hand is to build a highway that leads directly to the county town. To make this happen, the village must start making money immediately." Jiang Feng turned around and looked at the dragon eye fruit tree seedlings he had cultivated, his heart filled with hope.

  "It's no wonder you're a college student, your vision is indeed high. By the way, Jiang Feng, let's convene a village meeting tomorrow and share your ideas with everyone."

  "Alright, Uncle Fu Gui, let's gather the village committee members and group leaders tomorrow and discuss the details further. Let's not mention the fish farming and tourism development for now. The most important thing is to organize everyone to do a good job in planting millet first." Jiang Feng thought for a moment, feeling that it was better not to share those ideas with everyone just yet, after all, they were still not very mature.

  "Alright, I'll listen to you." Jiang Fugui was now deeply impressed with Jiang Feng and didn't doubt his words at all.

  A few people observed for a while at the edge of the field and agreed to head towards the village. The small trees by the roadside fluttered constantly, as if witnessing the prospects of Wolong Village's plan.