77: Chapter 77 The convoy is here

Old Man Liu's son, Liu Dajun, couldn't help but shout.

"Third Uncle, what are you all going to do? Picking yellow peaches?"

Third Uncle Liu's face was beaming with joy as he answered loudly, "That's right, the whole family is heading out to pick yellow peaches. Why hasn't your family started yet? Hurry up and get to the mountain!"

Liu Dajun was completely bewildered.

What was going on!

The peaches couldn't be sold at all, yet they were mobilizing the whole family to go up the mountain to pick them.

Noticing Liu Dajun's reaction and expression, Third Uncle Liu guessed that he likely didn't know the news yet, so he said:

"Dajun, you don't know yet, do you? Secretary Qin Chuan has contacted Hongtai Supermarket. Starting at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, they will begin loading and purchasing our yellow peaches at the high price of 2.5 yuan per jin. Hurry up and go pick some more now, then take them to the entrance of the Township Government early tomorrow morning."

What! Such a huge stroke of luck! A purchase price of 2.5 yuan per jin!

Liu Dajun asked incredulously, "Third Uncle, is this true?"

"Of course it's true," Third Uncle Liu affirmed. "Lots of people have already gone to pick yellow peaches. Also, remember to go to the Village Committee to pick up plastic crates. They require us to pack them in those special fruit crates, one crate at a time."

"Good, good, good!"

Repeating the word "good" several times, Liu Dajun shouted excitedly, "Wife, Dad, Mom, let's hurry and go pick yellow peaches!"

The entire Shiwan Village became lively.

The orchards were filled with figures picking yellow peaches, and the villagers were all beaming with joy.

Liu Dajun was also filled with motivation.

At a purchase price of 2.5 yuan per jin, he did a rough calculation. His family had planted over a dozen mu, with several hundred yellow peach trees; they could probably pick thirty to forty thousand jin of yellow peaches.

That would be eighty or ninety thousand yuan; if they were lucky, it could exceed one hundred thousand.

Isn't this better than working a regular job!

He had already made up his mind: once all the yellow peaches were picked, he would clear all the barren hills belonging to his family and plant them entirely with yellow peach trees.

The entire Dahe Township was practically in an uproar.

Everyone was talking about two things.

The first, of course, was that Secretary Qin Chuan had helped everyone contact Hongtai Supermarket, so the sales channel for the yellow peaches was no longer an issue, and the gratifying part was that the purchase price was as high as 2.5 yuan per jin.

The second matter was that Township Head Chen Qunfeng had his head smashed by a brick.

"He deserved it, he really deserved a beating!"

"Look at what he did. The buyers he brought over were only offering four or five mao per jin; we could barely even cover our labor costs."

"You really can't compare people. They are both leading cadres, but compared to Secretary Qin Chuan, the gap between them is just too big!"

"..."

Township Head Chen Qunfeng had a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his head, looking quite ridiculous. What made him feel embarrassed was the discussion among the people.

He had completely become part of the background.

His existence only served to highlight Qin Chuan's excellence.

Unable to face staying any longer, he thick-skinnedly asked Qin Chuan for leave, and then slunk back to his home in the county seat alone.

In fact, besides the large-scale cultivation of yellow peaches in Dahe Township, several neighboring townships also had some cultivation.

Because the climate, soil, and other conditions here were perfect for growing this fruit.

People living in the county seat noticed that in the past few days, there were more people selling yellow peaches; one could even see fruit farmers or vendors setting up stalls to sell yellow peaches everywhere by the roadside.

They were either setting up two baskets full of large, fresh yellow peaches, or driving tricycles filled with yellow peaches.

County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang, County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong, and other county leaders noticed this situation.

It suddenly occurred to them that the yellow peaches had entered a bumper harvest period; from now on, the next twenty to thirty days would be the picking season.

Today, the County Party Standing Committee held a meeting.

After discussing all the agenda items, County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang mentioned, "Everyone, yellow peaches have matured on a large scale, including in Dahe Township. I heard it's a bumper harvest this year, and I'm sweating for their sales."

County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong nodded and said, "Sales channels are a big problem. Most of the yellow peaches might rot in the fields."

One county leader said, "I was against the large-scale cultivation of yellow peaches back then. Look at it now, how are we going to sell so many yellow peaches?"

County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang said, "It's useless to say such things now. What we need to do is help everyone think of sales channels."

After finishing, as if remembering something, County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang asked, "County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong, have the comrades from Dahe Township approached you? Have they asked for help regarding sales channels?"

County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong shook his head. "Dahe Township hasn't, but leaders from several other townships have approached me to complain, asking how they can sell their yellow peaches, whether I have any sales channels, and if I can help them think of a way."

Hearing this, County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang was slightly puzzled.

The yellow peach cultivation area in the other townships was far smaller than that of Dahe Township, yet they were seeking help from the county, while Dahe Township was not.

What was going on?

After the meeting ended, the first thing County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang did upon returning to his office was to call Qin Chuan's cell phone.

He inquired with concern about the sales of yellow peaches in Dahe Township.

Qin Chuan said heartily, "Secretary Cao, I was just about to report to you. Our sales channels are not a problem at all..."

Over the phone, Qin Chuan briefly explained the situation.

After listening, County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang was stunned for a moment, then laughed dumbfoundedly.

The man was the son of the Provincial Party Secretary; he had connections and channels. He had been worrying for nothing.

Feeling relieved, in order to show his concern, County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang said, "Secretary Qin Chuan, is there anything you need help with from the county level?"

Qin Chuan said, "Actually, there is one thing we need help with from the county. What we lack most right now are transportation tools—tricycles or tractors would work, but small trucks would be even better. We need to transport the yellow peaches from the various villages to the purchasing point in the township."

The vehicles coming from Hongtai Supermarket were large trucks, the kind with over a dozen wheels, capable of carrying twenty to thirty, or even thirty to fifty tons at a time.

It was inconvenient for these large trucks to go to the villages below. Although there were roads connecting every village, the roads were winding and narrow; the trucks were too big and long to travel easily, or they couldn't go there at all.

This required a large number of smaller transportation tools—small trucks, tricycles, or even tractors would do.

County Party Secretary Cao Zhengwang agreed immediately.

Starting in the afternoon, many small trucks arrived in Dahe Township one after another, beginning to help the fruit farmers transport their fruit.

The next day, early in the morning.

Just as the sky was brightening, the square in front of the Dahe Township Township Government became lively. A large number of fruit farmers had already arrived, with crates of yellow peaches stacked neatly, higher than a person's height.

Many people were looking around, wondering when the Hongtai Supermarket trucks would arrive and when they would start purchasing the fruit.

By ten past seven, someone finally shouted excitedly.

"They're here, they're here, the trucks are here!"

Hearing this shout, many people craned their necks to look. Sure enough, a Mercedes-Benz SUV was leading, followed by a convoy of large trucks, all slowly driving along the road.