Mixed in 1980

Chapter 533 Benefits
Chen Yanche arrived in Daliangshan with a bitter face.

Whenever I think of the hardships I endured during the summer vacation after my first year of high school, I can't help but feel a stomachache. For two whole months, I didn't eat a single piece of meat and just ate potatoes for two whole months.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a nightmare.

If I had a choice, I would never want to come here in my life. But alas, my mother makes a phone call, and I have to come even if it's a mountain of knives, let alone the Liangshan Mountains.

Upon arriving at this place, Chen Yanche was quite surprised. It had been many years since he had been here, and the environment in the Daliang Mountains was much better than before, showing considerable development.

"Mom, stepmother, what is it that makes me have to come all this way?"

"Not willing?" Zeng Ali squinted.

Chen Yanche shuddered: "How could that be, Mother? If there's anything you need, your son will definitely take care of it perfectly."

"Smooth-talking, I wonder where he learned that from."

She glared at her son, made him sit down, and then Zeng Ali got down to business: "The Liangshan Mountains are notoriously poor. Your food company is involved in poverty alleviation, so why didn't you come here?"

Zeng Ali suddenly noticed that her son's gaze was strange; he was looking at her as if she were an idiot.

Unable to control his temper, he immediately started slapping.

"Mom, can't we be reasonable?"

Chen Yanche winced in pain and quickly hid behind his stepmother: "The project is poverty alleviation in nature, but it is still mainly for profit. I must be sick to come to Daliangshan."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but purse her lips: "Only the two of you, I don't know what you were thinking, of so many places to go, why did you have to come to this place?"

Upon hearing this, not only Zeng Ali, but Zhao Yuanyuan also became angry.

He turned around and grabbed his youngest son's ear: "You little rascal, if you don't explain yourself clearly today, I'll have the eldest son deal with you later."

"Stepmother, spare me!"

Chen Yanche, feeling embarrassed, quickly begged for mercy: "Is poverty alleviation in the Liangshan area about money?"

How many years has the poverty alleviation project been underway?

"The government isn't investing enough money in this area? They're throwing all sorts of resources at it like crazy."

"It's not a matter of money and resources."

"It's a problem of mindset and education. I got rich and became frivolous, which is why I came here to do poverty alleviation. It would be a waste to spend my whole life here."

"It's not as bad as you say, is it?" Zhao Yuanyuan frowned. She had been here for a while and felt that although it was not good, it wasn't too bad.

But the reality is even worse.

Chen Yanche took out his notebook, found many reports, and made an extremely insightful analysis of the situation in Daliangshan, leaving Zhao Yuanyuan speechless.

Located in a remote area with poor transportation and a harsh natural environment...

Its extremely poor natural environment, lack of industrial base, and backward transportation conditions isolated it from the outside world, making it difficult to achieve economies of scale.

These are not the root causes.

There are many remote places, and the environment in Xihai Gu is even harsher than that in Daliangshan. Yet, they still managed to escape poverty. The biggest problem in Daliangshan is still mindset and education.

In particular, the scarcity of educational resources has led to a predicament where poverty is passed down from generation to generation.

"Anyway, I don't want to invest. It's too much trouble. Believe it or not, if you put chicks and piglets here, you won't even be able to collect a third of them."

As soon as he finished speaking, both mothers glared at him.

Chen Yanche shuddered, but stubbornly said, "Mom, stepmother, I really don't have the energy to do this. If you can't change your mindset, it's all for nothing."

Zeng Ali glanced at Zhao Yuanyuan and said, "Never mind, our son is all grown up and has his own ideas."

Zhao Yuanyuan sighed, "Yes, we've grown up, we can't rely on them anymore. Well, we're all getting old, this is how our lives will be."

Chen Yanche was both amused and exasperated.

He coaxed the two mothers to sit down and poured them tea: "I'll do it, okay? Let's make it clear first, we'll only try once. If we can't do it, there won't be a next time."

Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan were finally satisfied.

Controlling your son is easy. But then again, what's all this fuss about? It's all for your children.

If we can get the July 1st Grand Medal, we can put another layer of protection on them.

Chen Yanche had no choice but to work since he had agreed. The Daliang Mountains were actually a good fit for the company's project, as they were suitable for raising pigs and chickens.

The premise is that the villagers can accept it.

Don't send over pigs and chickens; you'll end up putting them all in the pot. That's just a waste of time.

"If you want to gain a reputation, you have to do the preliminary work yourself."

Thinking about all this gave Chen Yanche a headache, so he could only call Lin Yi to come over and help him connect with the authorities to create poverty alleviation projects together.

After the negotiations were completed here, his older sister called again, asking him to go to Hanzhong. Chen Yanche was puzzled, wondering when he had become so important at home.
When his elder sister summoned him, Chen Yanche dared not delay.

They're really going to get what's coming to them.

He had been the one who got disciplined the most since he was a child, and sometimes he wondered how his brother-in-law could put up with his older sister's bad temper.
My brother-in-law has gotten beaten up quite a few times.

The only explanation is that the brother-in-law is a sucker for good looks and was bewitched by his sister's beauty; he's a typical example of being blinded by lust: "He's also a pitiful one."

After arriving in Hanzhong, Chen Yanche was surprised to see his older sister. "Sis, what have you been up to? You've gotten so tanned!"

"Is getting a tan weird?" Chen Yanxi scoffed.

Chen Yanche said sullenly, "Sis, you can let others do things. There's no need to do it yourself. If you go back like this, your brother-in-law will complain."

"After this trip, I'll head back to Beijing."

The project has started, and I need to go out and do the legwork myself. After this busy period is over, Zeng Ali, Zhao Yuanyuan, and Chen Yanxi will all be stationed at the headquarters.

From now on, I can just make a trip once a year.

Just like Xu Jinqiu, who only goes out once a year, and occasionally only twice; Ye Wan is the same, going to the Taklamakan Desert once a year.

After chatting for a while, Chen Yanche asked, "Sis, what's the matter that you called me over?"

"Come with me tomorrow."

Chen Yanxi did not explain, nor could she explain clearly. The next day, she took her younger brother out and drove along the rugged mountain road.

We soon arrived at a mountain village.

To be precise, it can't even be called a village. It's located halfway up a mountain and consists of only two houses, one of which has already collapsed.

An elderly couple lived in another house.

Chen Yanxi opened the trunk and had his younger brother take out the rice, noodles, and milk he had brought. The film crew followed behind, filming all the way to the old man's house.

"Aunt and Uncle, are you home?"

An old woman came out of the house, speaking with a peculiar accent, and started chatting with Chen Yanxi. There was nothing particularly interesting about it; it was all just trivial stuff.

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Chen Yanxi said goodbye.

Next, we went to another village, which also had only a few people. There were many villages like this.

Chen Yanche listened to their conversation and got a general understanding of the situation here.

There are too many mountains here, and arable land is very scarce. Each place has only a small amount of land, which cannot support many people. There are usually only a few households in a place.

The government's poverty alleviation efforts have been very effective.

Settlements have been built in the towns above and below, and the houses are all built. All the villagers have houses, and some elderly people living alone receive a subsidy of 6,000 yuan per year.

Young people are all leaving the mountains, but many elderly people are staying behind. Some are reluctant to leave their hometown, some don't want to hold their children back, and some can't bear to part with the mountain produce...

Some of them are elderly people living alone.

In short, there are various reasons.

On their way back, the siblings encountered an old woman carrying a common local basket with a bundle of palm bark on top.

The palm bark stacked together was taller than a person.

"parking!"

Chen Yanxi got out of the car, opened the trunk, helped the elderly woman load her goods, and invited her into the car.

"Old man, how long have you been walking?"

"We set off at one o'clock in the afternoon." Chen Yanxi took out her phone and checked the time: "We've been walking for two hours. Are we heading to town?"

"Yes, to the mountain produce store in town."

"It'll take another two hours to walk from here to town, right?"

"need."

"It takes four hours to make the trip, old man. Where will you stay tonight? By the time you get back, it will be dark." Chen Yanxi asked in surprise.

"I live in town and have a house."

"You have a house in town, why would you go back to the mountains?" Chen Yanxi asked curiously.

"Get some mountain products, like palm leaves, houttuynia cordata, and cinnamon bark. It would be a waste not to get them. I can't live in town anyway."

"You're so old, how can you still do this?"

"I can't work much anymore," the old man said with a slight smile.

"Where's your kid? Let them ride bikes to haul goods, or carry them on their backs. It'll be exhausting."

"My child went out to work and isn't home."

"Do you usually live alone?"

Yes, that's right.

"Then why are you still working? Let your children take care of you. You're so old, you should rest at home."

"I can't rest. I earn my own money and don't spend the kids' money. My two grandsons are studying away from home, and we're struggling to make ends meet."

"Is the child good to you?"

"Good, why not? They give me money regularly, but I don't use it; I save it for my grandson." The old man smiled as he spoke of his child.

We talked a lot about the children along the way.

The car ride didn't take much time; in less than twenty minutes, they arrived in town, where Chen Yanxi took the people to the mountain produce recycling station.

Let's also see how they collect mountain products.

The mountain produce shop was run by a woman in her thirties. She was a bit thin, but had a very straightforward personality, though she spoke a little loudly.

Chen Yanxi noticed that the landlady was also filming a video.

Maybe she's an internet celebrity.

However, the proprietress is really nice. You can tell from how the old man interacts with her. She is very patient with the elderly and doesn't mind if the old man is dirty.

The proprietress started weighing the palm leaves. The huge basket of palm leaves only weighed a little over 60 kilograms, and it cost 2.5 yuan per kilogram. The proprietress even gave her a little extra.

When the old man was leaving, he gave him a small bag of fruit.

"It's quite interesting." Chen Yanxi witnessed the whole process and concluded that whether it was for filming or out of kindness, the old man benefited.

Chen Yanxi did not go up to disturb them.

Back at the hotel, he casually crossed his legs and said, "I've shown you quite a few places today. Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

"I have no idea!" Chen Yanche quickly shook his head.

Chen Yanxi narrowed his eyes: "Are you sure?"

"I really have no idea, sis. I'm the youngest and I can't stand being taken advantage of. If it weren't for you asking my second brother, who's rich and powerful, he wouldn't be afraid of being taken advantage of." Chen Yanche said with a forced smile.

"Your second brother is destined for great things."

"So I'm just doing nothing? Fine, I've been running around all day, I'm exhausted, I'm going back to my room to rest." Chen Yanche turned and left.

Do you think I don't know what my older sister is up to?

The "Hand in Hand with Liyuan" initiative is a one-on-one assistance program, but it's too complicated. The things the older sister has to do are equally complicated.

This is no less significant than the situation in the Liangshan area.

I've already taken on one task; taking on another is just asking for trouble.

"Sit still!"

Hearing his older sister's icy voice, Chen Yanche could only reply, "Sis, just tell me directly, what do you want me to do?"

"You speak!" Chen Yanxi sneered.

"Aren't you just bullying an honest person? What are you after?" Chen Yanche knew the answer in his heart, but he just didn't want to say it. Once he said it, he would have to do it.

The eldest sister won't let me off the hook.

"What's the point? It's all for you three brothers. Mom and stepmother both want to improve our family's reputation so they can protect you three brothers."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yanche could only manage a wry smile.

Everyone understands the principle, but I don't like trouble, and I especially dislike troublesome things.

Just as he was about to find an excuse to decline the offer, he saw his older sister narrow her eyes, looking like she was about to explode in anger. Chen Yanche knew that he could no longer refuse.

“Raising pigs and chickens is nothing more than that. As for planting, it’s all old men and women who can’t do those things.”

"Sis, are we really going to do this?"

"It's very troublesome. There are only a few people in one place, which is too scattered and the management cost is very high. Just sorting and receiving goods is very troublesome."

"It's like carrying a heavy burden."

The younger brother's words made sense, but Chen Yanxi had a different opinion: the more difficult the task, the greater the reward.

If you want a reputation, you have to do real work.

"Go on?"

"What else is there to say?" Chen Yanche was stunned.

Chen Yanxi chuckled and teased, "I don't believe you haven't thought of anything else. Don't keep things to yourself. If you're going to do it, you should finish it."

"No more." Chen Yanche quickly shook his head.

Chen Yanxi sneered: "Don't force me to hit you."

"Well, you're really an old man. The biggest problem in the mountains is transportation and supplies. They're all elderly people who have to walk to get around."

As he spoke, he glanced at his older sister and, seeing that she didn't object, continued, "Essentially, it's still a matter of resources. If you don't come out to buy and sell things, there's no need to leave the mountains at all."

“We can go through the Chinatown supermarket channel.”

"Forget it, let the Chinatown supermarket set up a mobile stall, just like that Fugui, driving to the mountains to sell goods."

"One route, once a week is enough."

"We treat this project as a public service initiative, with Chinatown Supermarket and Liyuan Charity Foundation working together to expand it across the country."

"It also benefits supermarkets in Chinatown."

After hearing his explanation, Chen Yanxi smiled and said, "Not bad, you have a good overall perspective. It's settled then. Let's get this project implemented as soon as possible."

"You're such a shrew!" Chen Yanche said irritably.

Chen Yanxi kicked him: "Don't complain. Our mother and stepmother are willing to do this. As the younger generation, we have to help, no matter how difficult it is."

"Besides, we don't even have to lift a finger."

"If you come up with an idea and put it into practice, it's all done by your subordinates. It's just a matter of paying some costs, but you can earn back everything by gaining a good reputation."

This was most evident in the fourth and fifth children.

Why was Lao Si's jade identification center able to develop? The fundamental reason is that she is the daughter of the Chen family and has Xu Jinqiu's endorsement.

Consumers trust Xu Jinqiu, and that's why they trust Lao Si.

Otherwise, who would pay attention to her?

There are plenty of domestic certification agencies, many of which are backed by universities, but consumers still don't buy into them and simply don't trust the so-called certificates.

After Chen Xiaowu's Green Food Company went public, it easily gained consumer recognition, mainly because of Xu Jinqiu.

I only believe Xiao Wu because I believe Xu Jinqiu.

(End of this chapter)