Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 716 - Chapter 716 708. The Biggest Problem_1

Chapter 716: 708. The Biggest Problem_1 Chapter 716: 708. The Biggest Problem_1 In the living room, Wu Lei led Zhang Chen to his room to play video games, while downstairs, the leader was convinced of the young person before him: “Is making this cooling tea bag tiring? Is harvesting taxing?”

“Not really tiring.”

Song Tan wasn’t too keen on chatting–she didn’t have much to sell, and she didn’t like making small talk with people.

So she enthusiastically said, “Let me call someone for you–”

“Tian Ye! Tian Ye! This uncle wants to ask about harvesting Yuxing Grass, you tell him about it.”

What?

Tian Ye came out from Professor Song’s room, bewildered. At this moment, looking at Song Tan standing in the living room, he walked over with a confused expression on his face.

He had obviously gotten a bit darker from the sun, but no matter how tanned he was, his youthful spirit couldn’t be concealed.

Seeing that he didn’t know how to start, the leader took the initiative to ask, “How old are you this year? Are you not in school and staying home to help out instead?”

Tian Ye was momentarily at a loss: “Isn’t it summer vacation now? Our classes aren’t that intense yet.”

This really is…

The leader and Secretary Wang exchanged glances, both a bit amused–they had actually forgotten about summer vacation.

But…

“Isn’t school starting soon? Don’t you need to prepare for your lessons?”

What’s with these two? Tian Ye was a bit puzzled, and his tone got a bit strange:

“I’m studying. Now, I help them pick Yuxing Grass every morning and evening. When it’s too hot I study with the three teachers at Sister Song’s house.”

“The teachers are all Professor Song’s students. Everything we grow at home was taught to us by them, hands-on.”

Wu Lan came in holding a teacup.

Her thoughts differed from Song Tan’s: as long as she got paid, it didn’t matter where she sold the goods, especially when it came from municipal authorities.

If she spread the word that she supplied the government, wouldn’t that sound impressive?

As for the concern of payment delays… She was quite excited at the moment and hadn’t thought about it yet.

Seeing that the conversation had turned to Tian Ye’s studies, she quickly praised him: “Our Tian Ye is really good at his studies! The teachers all say that he’s a sure candidate for the 985 and 211 universities. This kid has never attended a single day of tutoring–just naturally smart!”

“It’s only been during this time, studying some English with Professor Song and practicing grammar and stuff.”

Secretary Wang became curious: “Is he a relative of yours?”

“No,” Wu Lan casually said: “He’s from another village. It would be such a pity if someone with such good grades didn’t seize the opportunity.”

Although the statement was simple, it indicated that education is still highly valued in the mountain villages!

The leader and Secretary Wang were delighted.

Having talked about various topics, they now addressed the main point:

“Ma’am, I came to ask what else is planted at your home now?”

“We haven’t planted much.”

Wu Lan thought briefly, “What are you looking to procure? I really don’t have anything edible here, and we can’t supply that.”

While speaking, she mentally went through the inventory at home: “We have chestnuts, but they’re pricey and not ripe yet; we’ll have to wait until next month.”

“There’s not much left in the garden either. We’ll start a new crop after the autumn planting. As for watermelons, only the last of them are left; they can’t be sold anymore.”

As for the rest… there really was nothing more. The mountain hadn’t fully bloomed yet, the fields that needed resting and seeding were in the process, and those who were busy preparing the soil and fertilizing were still at it…

“Anything else… in a few more days, the autumn tea will be ready for harvesting.”

But aside from that, there really was nothing left.

Thinking about this, Wu Lan also became disheartened and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, you see…” Her sincerity came through in her words.

There truly was nothing left to sell.

Except for the layers upon layers of cowpeas in the fields that were impossible to finish eating.

Now they only had an abundance of cowpeas–their family just couldn’t eat that much. At the moment, they were pickled, sun-dried, stored in various ways, all just to use them up. If it was about small batch purchases, they could actually meet the demand.

Like pickled cowpeas, if it comes to small-scale supply, they could keep up. But as for municipal procurement… how many people are there in the municipality, it should be roughly enough, right?

Wu Lan thought a lot but then saw the two people opposite her switch to another question quickly after asking the previous one:

“What are the biggest difficulties you face with farming?”

Wu Lan’s suspicion was momentarily cast to the back of her mind, as she felt depressed: What’s with these two, asking all kinds of weird questions?

She too grabbed a cup of tea to cool off and took a seat:

“Oh my! That question really hits home! The biggest difficulty is the lack of people! Look at our mountain, with its uneven high and low surfaces. Agricultural machinery doesn’t fit well here–we’re short of manual labor!”

“But where can you find manual labor these days?”

She spread her hands: “That’s all the relatives and friends we have. Over by the children’s grandparents, seven or eight old men and women gather to weave straw mats. Even if you sifted the whole village, you couldn’t find many who are idle.”

She sighed: “Looking ahead, when it comes to sowing seeds on the mountain, we still have to invite people from faraway villages… The journey is long, and labor costs inevitably have to be a bit higher, all these are costs.”

As she said this, the leaders began to ponder.

Over the years, it isn’t uncommon to see villages empty out as migrant workers leave to work elsewhere, becoming so-called hollow villages.

But relying solely on farming, there’s no way to accumulate wealth–the current structure of survival. People need medical care, elderly care, and to provide for their children’s future. If farmers stay at home, other than continuously getting poorer, there’s simply no other way out!

But wanting to retain people can only happen if the countryside offers more development opportunities.

This problem…

The leaders gave Wu Lan and Song Tan another deep look before changing the subject: “This mountain road has been around for some years now, it’s not very convenient for transportation, is it?”

It’s not just inconvenient, it’s extremely inconvenient!

In the summer, when selling melons, if not for Old Zhao’s nephew driving both steady and slow, and the truck lined with lots of padding, given the fragility of our melons, who knows how many would have cracked by the time they arrived?!

But what’s the use of telling all this to the person in front of me?

Even Secretary Xiaozu, with all her capability (indeed, in Wu Lan’s eyes, her capability reached the sky), hasn’t managed to get the procedures through to this day.

So Wu Lan felt somewhat resigned: “Let it be. I don’t think the application for the village road paving will get approved anytime soon. If not, we’ll just slow down. If it’s inconvenient to transport the watermelons, we’ll just earn a little less next year.”

Upon hearing this, the leaders went silent for a moment.

Then, it was Secretary Wang who curiously asked, “The cadres in your village seem to be quite responsible, aren’t they?”

“That’s for sure!” Speaking of Secretary Xiaozu, Wu Lan couldn’t help but beam with pride:

“Don’t be fooled because she’s a young lady and a college-educated village official; she’s actually very reliable and full of new ideas! She’s especially good!”

“How good is she?” The leaders were intrigued.

Oh boy.

For a moment there, Wu Lan was stuck.

How good was Secretary Xiaozu… where to begin?

Not to mention anything else, when it comes to handling paperwork, Secretary Xiaozu is far better than any agent!

And she doesn’t charge a penny!