Chapter 291 Watch
The last time Ji Zhong came to Yunxi was during the Chinese New Year.

Every time he came here and looked at the vast mountains and fields, his mind would be attracted by the shabby villages dotted there. Sometimes he couldn't help thinking that since the reform and opening up, all cities large and small in southern Hunan Province have ushered in great development, but the rural areas here have always been poor, backward and hopeless. For many years, millions of people in the vast mountainous areas in the north and south have not been able to solve the basic problem of food and clothing.

However, as a man working in criminal investigation, he could only keep these macroeconomic affairs in his mind. As for Yunxi Village, as the head of the city's public security system, he was busy with official duties and did not come here often, especially after Ji Ling's grandparents passed away. He just tried his best to fulfill his duties as a son-in-law and restrained himself to do practical things for his wife's family within his ability.

This time, it was Ji Ling's uncle Zhang Haijun who called and invited him to attend the opening ceremony of the Yunxi Village Cultural Activity Center. Because the previous small auditorium was in such a dilapidated state, at the beginning of this year, at the initiative of the village committee, funds were raised to rebuild a new one.

It is rumored that the fundraising is calculated per person, and Ji Zhong naturally does not know how much money is raised per person, but he also heard his eldest brother from his mother's side say with interest on the phone that Zhang Yunqi was the most generous kid, and he received a total of 200,000 yuan in fundraising per person and celebration gifts. Therefore, the newly built auditorium is very grand, with the interior walls painted white and the exterior covered with tiles. In addition to the main auditorium with two floors for banquets, there are also Yunxi Village villagers' entertainment room, activity room, breeding training room, and reading room. Even the name has been changed to Yunxi Village Cultural Activity Center.

The celebration of Yunxi Village Cultural Activity Center will be held tomorrow. Today, the village has been busy preparing for the banquet, purchasing firecrackers and salutes, hanging colorful ribbons and posting red boards. The atmosphere is filled with joy everywhere.

This time when he came back, Ji Zhong also clearly felt that some magical changes were taking place in the village. No one was talking about poverty in the village anymore, and the faces of the farmers were full of liveliness that he had rarely seen in the past. This was most evident in the Fangyuan pepper planting base, which was located at the foot of Jiangjunling and had a total area of ​​more than a thousand acres. The endless fields were full of Fangyuan peppers. This kind of pepper is a specialty of Fengyang. It is very spicy, has a unique fragrance, and is far better than wild mountain pepper. It has a relatively high market value. At this moment, the farmers in Yunxi Village wearing straw hats were busy picking, collecting, bagging and carrying. Their enthusiasm for work was unprecedentedly high. Zhang Yunqi, who accompanied him, told him that these people were all members of the Yunxi Village Cooperative. They not only received wages for picking peppers, but also received land dividends and share dividends at the end of the year after the peppers were sold to Longjingyuan.

This made Ji Zhong feel a little emotional. 20 years ago, two men, Zhang Qing and Zhang Guoxiang, walked out of this poor and backward mountain village. The former is his wife, and is currently the vice president of Lijin Urban Cooperative Bank, and the latter is the deputy director of Jiangchuan Municipal Education Bureau. They were once the pride of the people of Yunxi Village and big shots who were chosen by heaven, but after diving into the system, they could not see the shore again.

20 years later, a young man, like his predecessors, walked out of the mountains with excellent results, and became a multi-millionaire in two years.

Of course, Ji Zhong has dealt with quite a few wealthy people, which does not surprise him very much, but some people are born with knowledge, they know what they are doing and what they want, and no matter how far they go, they will never forget their original intentions.

This is commendable.

Zhang Yunqi, who accompanied him to visit the Yunxi Village Cooperative and enthusiastically explained the long-term planning for this piece of land, reminded Ji Zhong from time to time of the day two years ago when this skinny, barefoot, ragged young man broke into his office. To be honest, this young man had a hard time. Poverty made him step into the harsh life stage too early. He experienced hardships that his peers could not imagine. He already had a deep understanding of the world. He knew what he was doing and what he wanted. He was not only working hard in his own direction, but also gave these farmers a new direction. The Longjingyuan Industrial Park that was about to rise from the ground and the three planned characteristic industries would bring huge wealth to his hometown that was tightly grasped by poverty.

Thinking and looking along the way, Ji Zhong, accompanied by Zhang Yunqi, once again walked to the Longjingyuan Industrial Park, which was about to start construction. Looking at the vast land, he still sighed in his heart: "When will you hold the groundbreaking ceremony?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Because the village is going to hold a celebration for the cultural activity center, the groundbreaking ceremony will be postponed to next Monday. Uncle Ji, do you have time to attend?"

Ji Zhong shook his head, but after a while, he nodded and said, "For economic matters, it would be better to invite Mayor Yang to attend. I am here as the son-in-law of the village, and I should be working in Lijin City in a while. You have to take care of some things in the city yourself."

Zhang Yunqi was stunned. He had not heard any news about this matter. Although Ji Zhong did not say it explicitly at the moment, he quickly realized that Ji Zhong's new position was most likely the deputy mayor of Lizhen City in southern Hunan Province and the director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

This transfer seems normal, at least on the surface. Police chiefs in provincial capital cities usually come from other cities in the province or from provincial departments.

At present, Ji Zhong is also a well-known figure in the Hunan police. He is a criminal investigator who is easy to stand out. He has investigated many major cases, including the Jiangchuan series of explosions and sabotage, the Friendship Apollo Shopping Mall hijacking case and many other major cases. The only thing that is questionable is his age. Ji Zhong is only 44 years old this year. Of course, the province now talks about emancipating the mind, overcoming the rigid and semi-rigid state among leading cadres, and promoting a large number of young and pioneering cadres.

Zhang Yunqi thought about these things, but was unwilling to think more deeply. He was a businessman, and the Longjingyuan Canning Factory he took over was state-owned assets, and the acquisition model he adopted was very radical. Although the entire process of property rights reform was transparent, he knew that he had to keep a distance from some things to avoid potential risks in the future, especially since he was so young and it was easy for people to imagine things, so he was usually very restrained. He would rather talk to Yang Jiarong about most things than go the Ji Zhong route.

However, it is difficult to distinguish between officials and businessmen. Although he and Ji Zhong are not as the outside world says, there is indeed a subtle relationship between them. At this time, he couldn't help but think of Yang Jiarong's excited reaction after reading his "Some Basic Judgments and Prospects on the Evolution of China's Public Enterprises in the Privatization - Based on the Innovative Ways of Property Rights Reform to Revitalize State-owned Assets in the Longjingyuan Canning Factory in Jiangchuan City" some time ago. He is now somewhat unsure whether it is right for him to actively participate in the storm of the reform of the property rights system of state-owned enterprises in the city. And just now, Ji Zhong deliberately reminded him to pay attention to the things in the city. Could it be that he was referring to this? He needs a few days of quiet time to make in-depth considerations and clear judgments on certain events in the city.

Thinking this way, the old and the young walked back to the village with their own thoughts. The enthusiastic villagers slowed their pace a lot. When they arrived in front of Zhang Haijun's house, Ji Zhong suddenly said, "Oh, there is one more thing. Ji Ling's mother has been working in Lijin City. This time I transferred there, and I can't let her stay in Jiangchuan alone. I plan to transfer her to Lijin City to study, but she doesn't want to. You know this girl, she is too stubborn. Find some time to persuade her."

Zhang Yunqi was stunned for a moment. Before he could speak, he heard Ji Zhong, who walked into the yard with his hands behind his back, say in a strange tone: "In that girl's heart, my words as a father are no longer as effective as yours."

Zhang Yunqi stood outside the door for a long time before going in. After lunch, Zhang Yunqi went straight to the meeting of the Yunxi Village Joint-Stock Cooperative.

The main content of the meeting was to establish a breeding production base and expand the pepper production base. This was the main purpose of Zhang Yunqi's return to Yunxi Village. In addition to the cooperative management headed by Zhang Haijun, the participants also included the cadres of the Yunxi Village Committee and several representatives of Liansheng, the largest shareholder, including Li Jilin, Wang Guibing and Niu Fen.

After everyone gathered and chatted for a while, Zhang Yunqi spoke first. He didn't say too many polite words and went straight to the point: "Let me talk about the general direction of the cooperative first. This matter was also mentioned during the meeting with the Fengyang County Government. Now let's set the tone. Starting next year, raw materials such as soybeans, peanuts, and rapeseed oil will be sold to farmers in other villages in Longwan Town in the form of underwriting contracts. As the old saying goes, you can't chew too much, and we can make money together. Our village still needs to develop characteristic industries so that we can have a competitive advantage. The characteristic industries are mainly three sectors, one is Fangyuan pepper, one is Linwu duck, and one is Fengyang jar meat."

Zhang Yunqi said: "On a specific level, my idea is this: the cooperative should set up subsidiaries and set up two professional operation teams, one responsible for the planting base and the other responsible for the breeding base. Why do we do this? The name of our cooperative has already made it very clear. It is a joint-stock cooperative, like a board of directors. In addition to Liansheng, the major shareholder, there are dozens of small shareholders, but the problem is that our shareholders are all farmers in the village. They don't have much education. Limited by the operating mechanism of the cooperative, they have relatively large powers and are free to withdraw. They usually like to interfere with Uncle Haijun's work. Of course, I don't mean to look down on the people in our village. Let's talk about the facts. We want to scale up and engage in scientific planting and breeding. It is definitely not feasible to rely on local methods for management and production. We must separate this area and invite professionals to do professional things. Only in this way can we truly realize the two industrial operation models of cooperative + company + production base and cooperative + underwriting contract + farmers' scattered planting."

"The third point is the issue of the production base. The transfer of land to expand the base must be implemented as soon as possible. At present, the 1000-acre pepper production base is too small. The average pepper yield per acre here is about 400 kilograms, and 1000 acres is 400 tons. There is no specific number for how many peppers Longjingyuan will need next year, but it will not be less than 1300 tons, three times or more. Moreover, most of the peppers this year are from suppliers, and the bulk of them will be handed over to the cooperative next year. As for how the breeding base is produced and operated, I am a layman and will not participate too much. As I said, professionals do professional things. We need to recruit experts and professionals in breeding on a large scale. I only come to Yunxi Village once or twice a year. What I can do for the cooperative is to support you in terms of people, money, and company strategic planning. Some ideas may not be necessarily correct. It is up to you to implement them specifically."

This is what Zhang Yunqi wanted to say.

The main function of a business owner is to build a team, set strategies, lead the team, make money for others, and make some money for himself. If he really has to do the duck farming himself, he will be exhausted. However, his words have set the tone for the next development of the Yunxi Village Cooperative. First, the focus of the cooperative's work has shifted to the scattered planting business of farmers in Quanlongwan Town. Second, the cooperative will not participate in the specific work of the planting base and breeding base in the future, and a new company will be set up to operate and manage it. Third, it will recruit talents.

Based on these three major directions, a group of men discussed in the meeting room of the cooperative until dark. Except for Li Jilin, a serious senior manager, all those present were peasants. This was exactly why Zhang Yunqi wanted to operate the production base independently. But this did not hinder their enthusiasm, because they understood that the profits from the planting base would go to the cooperative and the villagers, and Yunxi Village was going to have its own township enterprise, which was always a good thing.

We still had dinner at Zhang Haijun’s house in the evening.

It was very lively. Two tables were set up in the main room. Zhang Yunqi went out for a stroll after dinner.

There is a threshing ground not far from the entrance. The children in the village like to run around and play there at night. Chu Jian and Chun Lan are chatting under the grape trellis in the yard. Ji Ling is playing hopscotch with Xiao Xiao and Chu Xin in the threshing ground. Although it is already past eight o'clock in the evening, it is not dark. The sky is full of stars and the summer night breeze is warm. Zhang Yunqi can hear the girls' clear laughter.

He went in and took out a blanket, and draped it over Chu Jian who was sitting in the rocking chair: "It's windy outside at night, and you haven't recovered yet. Go inside and rest early. I'll go to Ji Ling's place."

Chu Jian stole a glance at Chun Lan who was pouting beside him, and her face turned red. She said softly: "Yun Qi, you and Ji Ling should come back soon too."

"Yes." Zhang Yunqi waved his hand, then smiled and went to the threshing ground under the wide eyes of his sister Chunlan. He sat on the haystack, looked at Xiaoxiao jumping on the grid, and said to Ji Ling: "I heard from your father that you are going to the provincial capital to study?"

Ji Ling turned her head to look at him. Under the bright moonlight, her delicate little face was covered with sweat, and her skin was white and bright. "Comrade Ji asked you to persuade me?"

Zhang Yunqi waved his hand: "Your father told me about this, but I don't think there is any need to persuade him."

Ji Ling let out a cry and came over: "Why?"

Zhang Yunqi turned over and laughed, "I remember a story about a fisherman who laughed at a rich man who was on vacation at the beach and said: Even if you are a billionaire, aren't you still sunbathing and fishing at the beach like me every day? Aren't our lifestyles the same? This question seems to make sense, but it's not entirely true, because the rich man has the freedom to choose, the freedom to choose to sunbathe at the beach or go hiking, but the fisherman does not, he can only watch the beach all his life. These are two completely different lives, so I think Xiao Ji should also have the freedom to make his own choices."

Ji Ling tilted his head and thought for a moment, then smiled with narrowed eyes, and stretched out his hand to scratch Zhang Yunqi's hair: "That makes sense, classmate Zhang, what do you want to watch for?"

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(End of this chapter)