Chapter 166: Hope and a Few Rats!

Chapter 166: Hope and a Few Rats!

In just one day, the entire You City had become bustling with activity.

Everyone was drawn to the billion-dollar sweet potato cultivation project. After countless inquiries, they learned about the enormous profits from these sweet potatoes and were eager to participate.

Unfortunately, the 50,000-acre cultivation plan promoted by Liyuan Farm had already been approved by the county government as part of the Rural Economic Revival Plan.

You City has a population of over 400,000, but many have moved out to work in other places. The rural economy is already in decline, and the county government is now trying to bring some of these people back to boost the local economy and help them become prosperous again.

These people, who were previously working outside, would pay taxes and spend their money elsewhere, contributing to the economies of other regions, not You City.

Now, through Liyuan Farm's plan, they can attract many rural families back. This 50,000-acre project can involve 7,000 to 8,000 households. Even with just 5 acres, a single season's harvest can bring in over 250,000 yuan. These taxes and expenditures will stay within You City, significantly boosting the local economy.

Therefore, everyone in You City naturally wants to secure a spot in the cultivation plan. Since the quotas are allocated by village, the village leaders are eagerly vying for more spots at the county government.

Naturally, many residents of the county also want to participate, but the primary requirement is to have a rural household registration and land.

This requirement disqualifies most of the county residents.

Many people now deeply regret their decisions.

In recent years, many in You City have left their villages to build houses in towns or buy homes in the county, moving their household registrations there. As a result, very few people are still registered as rural residents.

Now, with this project, many are regretting their past choices.

County Government Office

After finishing his day's work, County Magistrate Liu instructed his secretary, "Let's head over to the Agriculture Bureau."

"Sure, Sir," the secretary promptly arranged the car.

The billion-dollar sweet potato cultivation project is the biggest project in You City this year, and Liu is naturally keeping a close eye on it.

Although he had always supported Liyuan Farm, he never expected them to launch such a large-scale project so quickly. But once the sweet potatoes were introduced, everything fell into place.

With this project, Liyuan Farm has become the top enterprise in You City.

At the Agriculture Bureau, the place was swarming with people, mostly from the villages, who had come to register for the cultivation quotas.

Their faces were filled with excitement and hope for the future.

Liu nodded, recognizing that the development of a place depends on the hope and enthusiasm of its people.

Therefore, this project, which brings hope, cannot have any issues.

Entering the bureau, he asked Wei Yuan, "How's it going? Is the project proceeding smoothly?"

Wei Yuan nodded, "Overall, it's going well. I spoke with Mr. Zhang again, and we found some loopholes in the current cooperation model. To prevent any issues, we plan to implement a collective responsibility system. If any household in a village causes problems, the entire village will lose its cooperation rights."

"Of course, we will repeatedly inform everyone. If anyone still causes trouble, we'll have to set an example."

Liu nodded, "If they persist after multiple warnings, they don't deserve support. If their village is affected, that's just the way it is. This will also encourage mutual supervision and prevent unnecessary issues. By the way, you said it's mostly smooth, so there must be some problems, right?"

Wei Yuan nodded and handed Liu a list. The list contained names and positions, followed by the plots of land they had requested for their relatives and friends, all 50 acres each.

"Such big appetites," Liu said, feeling a surge of anger.

Fifty acres equate to a production value of 10 million yuan, with a 30% profit of 400,000 yuan, making the net profit nearly 3 million yuan.

Who gave them the nerve?

He handed the list to his secretary and instructed, "Call them one by one and tell them to come here."

The secretary nodded and immediately started making calls.

Soon, several people hurried over, looking nervous upon seeing Liu.

They knew it was because of their attempts to secure quotas through the Agriculture Bureau.

Liu Xian frowned when he saw these people, all of whom were close to the Secretary. Without wasting any words, he immediately confronted them: "You all know how important this project is to Youcheng, right? Aren't you afraid that if this gets exposed, you'll be the ones to suffer the consequences?"

One of them quickly replied, "Liu Xian, we know we were wrong, but we just wanted to help our poor brothers back home."

Another added, "Besides, Wei Yuan himself allocated 600 acres, didn't he? We knew about it, which is why we came to ask. We thought it would be okay by default."

Liu Xian subconsciously looked at Wei Yuan upon hearing this.

600 acres, with a production value of 120 million, and 40% of that is still several million. The profit wouldn't be small.

He didn't believe Wei Yuan had the nerve to do this, and the other party wasn't the type to do such a thing.

Wei Yuan immediately explained, "Those were all arranged by Boss Zhang. The people from his village have done him favors, and he's specifically repaying them. He's a man of deep loyalty and gratitude."

Upon hearing this, the faces of those people finally changed. They had only known about the 600 acres and hadn't investigated the details thoroughly. Now, things were looking grim.

Liu Xian nodded, satisfied. "Then there's no problem."

He then shouted at the group, "All of you, scram. Don't meddle in this."

They didn't dare hesitate, turning to leave with grim faces.

Liu Xian then added, "The people you want to recommend, have them follow the rules. Each person can only get 10 acres!"

This made their faces light up with joy, and they hurriedly thanked him, finally leaving with a sigh of relief.

Wei Yuan, puzzled, looked at Liu Xian. "Aren't you just making it easy for them? I don't believe giving them these spots will stop them from getting involved!"

Liu Xian explained, "Each spot is only 10 acres, no more than 200 acres in total. It won't affect the big picture. The key is that the Secretary is leaving. We don't want to stir up trouble now. As you said, if these people get greedy and try to meddle, it'll be even better."

Wei Yuan understood and didn't say anything more.

He knew about a plan Liu Xian hadn't yet revealed: to upgrade Youcheng to a city.

The last group had taken the wrong path, leading to a failed application and a debt of over 100 billion for Youcheng.

That failure made it clear that Youcheng wasn't qualified to be upgraded to a city, at least not yet.

Now, with the emergence of Liyuan Farm, Liu Xian saw a glimmer of hope.

When he first heard about this plan, he couldn't help but be amazed and admired the decision.

If successful, this would absolutely benefit the area, and they would be remembered by this place for generations. No matter how many people came and went, those who lifted Youcheng to new heights would be remembered.

Moreover, the white-skinned sweet potatoes from Liyuan Farm offered a new opportunity to bring back the rural workers from Youcheng. After all, Liyuan Farm's plans didn't stop at the initial 50,000 acres; there were more to come.

The next step would be to attract investment. With the influx of visitors to Liyuan Farm and the return of rural workers, the population advantage would become evident. Coupled with growing fame, it would attract factory investments.

More factories mean more jobs, which would bring back more people.

If the local workforce isn't enough, they could attract workers from neighboring counties.

At that point, they could offer policies like housing and education to these new residents, encouraging them to settle in Youcheng, creating a virtuous cycle.

When that happens, some people will definitely need to be cleared out.

So, giving these people 10-acre spots is like digging a pit for them. When the time comes, they can be buried in it.

Unity and focus are essential; there's no room for troublemakers.

...

While Youcheng was busy, Liyuan Farm was also bustling. Lin Muxue, having received the keys to Zhang Lin's Mercedes S-Class, headed straight for Youcheng's train station.

The People's Daily reporters were about to arrive.

Youcheng didn't have an airport, so they had to go to Ming City first and then take the train to Youcheng.

Liu Xian could have arranged for a pick-up in Ming City, but they wanted to capture the train journey from Ming City to Youcheng and the crowded train station in Youcheng.

This would be a great starting point for their interview and filming.

A train station bursting with visitors to Liyuan Farm would be a hot topic.

On the train, Jiang Ling sat by the window, with the head of the photography team beside her, along with two other members of the team.

Even before reaching Youcheng, she overheard passengers discussing Liyuan Farm and the projects there, her face filled with admiration.

Most of the visitors were from the Linyuan Farm.

She had worked at the People's Daily for over a decade, visiting numerous scenic spots and witnessing similar scenes, but only at those internationally renowned 5A-rated attractions.

Now, Linyuan Farm was different. It hadn't even been rated yet and had only been open for a short time.

She couldn't fathom what kind of magic had been used to achieve such success in such a short period, especially in a small county like Youcheng.

Before coming here, she hadn't even known where Youcheng was, let alone heard of it. Now, a miracle had emerged in this place.

No one could deny that Linyuan Farm was impressive, and the person behind it was even more so.

Finally, the train arrived at the station. Jiang Ling led her photography team off the train, and as they entered Youcheng Railway Station, she was utterly amazed by the dense crowd.

Such a volume of people was usually only seen in major cities' train stations, and even then, only during holidays. It shouldn't be happening in a small county like this.

She immediately had one of the photographers start filming.

This took a lot of time, and it was well past noon by the time they got off the platform and into the exit corridor.

There was a long queue here, and it was anyone's guess how long it would take to get through the ticket check. It was even more crowded than what she had read online.

She had a hunch about the reason: the beauty-enhancing sweet potatoes had likely drawn more visitors to Linyuan Farm.

Fortunately, a station staff member approached them. "Are you from the People's Daily?"

"Yes!" Jiang Ling replied promptly.

The staff member said, "Follow me. The county has already made arrangements, and a car from Linyuan Farm is waiting for you outside."

"Great!" Jiang Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

After the filming was done, she followed the staff member to the other side. Outside, a Mercedes S-Class was waiting, cordoned off by barriers. It was Zhang Lin's Mercedes S, driven by Lin Muxue to pick them up.

Typically, cars couldn't stay too long outside the station, or they would be fined and penalized.

However, there were always exceptions, and Linyuan Farm's reception for the People's Daily was one of them. The Mercedes S could park for as long as needed, and it was on a special whitelist.

When Lin Muxue saw Jiang Ling and her team, she greeted them with a warm smile. "Journalist Jiang, welcome to Youcheng and Linyuan Farm."

"Thank you, Ms. Lin. We appreciate your hospitality," Jiang Ling replied, shaking Lin Muxue's hand.

After they got into the car, Lin Muxue said, "Journalist Jiang, I'll be your host for this visit. Our boss sends his apologies; he has a very important matter and is currently on a business trip."

Her boss didn't want to show up for the interview, so he had given her this flimsy excuse. But now, she had to go with it.

Jiang Ling nodded, not pressing the issue. She often encountered such situations, where the responsible person was unavailable for various reasons.

The Mercedes S started and headed straight for Linyuan Farm, arriving at the parking lot in no time.

"Journalist Jiang, this way. We'll take you to your accommodations first," Lin Muxue said as she led Jiang Ling and her team toward the Southern Camping Ground.

The photography team was already filming the farm's surroundings.

"Ms. Lin!" Zhan Lili was already waiting outside the camping ground with her team. She knew who was arriving, and the farm was taking this visit very seriously.

When Jiang Ling saw the sign for the Southern camping ground, her anticipation grew. This camping ground had been mentioned multiple times online and was known for its legendary design.

The design was created by a high school student named Yaoyao, and yet the farm had used her plans to create a camping ground that countless visitors praised for its beauty, pleasant environment, and comfortable accommodations.

Online reviews from visitors here consistently praised the design, the beautiful surroundings, and the pleasant stay, all of which contributed to a great mood.

This was something unique to this place.

So, she was very excited.

When Jiang Ling entered the camping ground, the "Environment Beauty +1" and "Welcoming +1" attributes took effect immediately.

In that moment, she was struck by the layout and environment of the entire campsite. It was beautiful, stunning, and the design was indeed very comfortable.

She felt that her first sentence could be: "The moment I stepped into the campsite, I was captivated by its environment, a beauty I couldn't compare to any other place I've been to, not even once!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end