1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 352 Do you really have to act like this just to eat chicken?
Once Wang Rongshan had nimbly climbed into the back seat, the jeep started again and drove along the paved road leading to the breeding area deep within the pear orchard.

As they were talking, the car drove into a breeding area enclosed by bamboo fences and next to a large pear orchard.

Through the fence, Su Wenchen could already see several golden pheasants walking and foraging in the woods.

The setting sun, filtering through the sparse branches, cast a golden-red glow on the chickens.

"This sight is truly magnificent, far surpassing the quality of ordinary poultry."

Wang Rongshan pointed outside, his tone filled with pride.

"Director, look at this! Just its appearance alone far surpasses that of ordinary poultry!"

Su Wenchen looked at the flowing golden-red expanse, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.

These carefully bred Bluewater Golden Feathered Chickens have lived up to expectations, achieving a visually stunning effect that he hadn't even anticipated.

As long as the taste doesn't go wrong, this will definitely be a very distinctive aquaculture business card.

Just after the group got out of the car to take a look.

The sound of dogs barking could also be heard in the pear orchard.

"Wang! Wang! Wang!"

It's obvious that there are quite a few dogs inside.

After hearing the barking of the dogs, several elderly fruit farmers wearing thick cotton-padded coats came out of the wooden houses in the pear orchard.

Upon seeing Su Wenchen and Wang Rongshan, they immediately approached.

The wrinkles on her face looked like they were blooming with joy.

"Director Wang, leaders, you've arrived!"

"Come! Come! Come! You've come to see the Golden Phoenix, haven't you? Come in quickly."

He then nimbly opened the iron gate of the pear orchard.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen smiled and said.

"Golden Phoenix?"

Upon hearing this, the old man spoke in a loud voice.

“Boss, we call these chickens Golden Phoenixes here. Look at them, they all stand tall and proud, just like phoenixes, so majestic.”

After entering the pear orchard, Su Wenchen took a closer look and nodded to himself.

"Just by looking at it, it doesn't look like an ordinary item. Those few golden and red feathers on its tail alone could probably fetch a good price."

"In the West, there may be a market for edging used in high-end clothing, decoration of high-end gift boxes, or high-end works of art."

Seeing Su Wenchen say this, Wang Rongshan smiled and said.

"Director, looking at it this way, it really is a golden phoenix!"

"Every part of him is a treasure!"

An elderly fruit farmer added from the side at this point.

"Isn't it true that every part of it is a treasure?"

"It's just like what you said, boss. As long as the density isn't too high, not only can the chicken manure nourish the trees, but it can also reduce pests!"

"Look at this tree bark, it's shinier than in previous years!"

"This chicken can even pounce on the insects on the tree branches!"

"Once spring arrives and the spring pears start bearing fruit, they will definitely grow even more vigorously!"

"And this chicken is really fierce! It's better at guarding the orchard than a dog."

“Ever since we got a little older, we often find dead snakes in the pear orchard, all of them pecked to death by them.”

“Even the dogs that used to be kept in the orchard now only linger around the house and don’t run around in the woods anymore.”

"What a bunch of worthless bastards."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen smiled and shook his head.

"Even if this chicken is fierce, it's probably still not as fierce as a dog. The main thing is that dogs are much smarter than chickens; it knows that this is our pet."

"Knowing that killing one would probably get me a beating, I'd rather not provoke them and avoid getting pecked by the chickens for nothing!"

"By the way, have you tried the taste and flavor? It's not enough for it to just be good; it's ultimately going to be served on the table."

Wang Rongshan felt a little embarrassed when he heard this.

"Director, I tried it once, but there was a slight mishap with that chicken, so we just tried it ourselves."

"But that chicken was only raised for a little over sixty days, but even so, it tasted very good."

"Wow, the taste is amazing!"

Wang Rongshan seemed to be savoring the memory as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen couldn't help but chime in.

"Alright, then I'll host you in your county tonight."

"Catch a few chickens, make poached chicken, stewed chicken, fried chicken, stir-fried chicken, and cook one of each to see which way of cooking chicken is best."

"You can arrange the rest."

"I'll contact the farm and the counties, as well as Director Chen of the Protocol Department and the leaders of the engineering team. We'll meet in your county tonight."

"Let's all get together and see how things are progressing in all aspects."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's instructions, Wang Rongshan immediately stood up straight.

"Yes, Director, I'll arrange it right away."

In the depths of winter, the nights in Dangshan County are bitterly cold.

The county canteen, however, was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Wang Rongshan, the director of Dangshan County and the host, was directing people to clean up the canteen, set out the dishes, and prepare to serve the food.

Meanwhile, Su Wenchen was receiving people from all over the place who had come from different places.

First up were Chen Guodong from the protocol department, who came from the venue area, and Guo Xiangyang from the venue.

In particular, as soon as Chen Guodong came in, he took off his thick hat and said to Su Wenchen.

"Old Su, I've been looking for you all afternoon!"

"Why did you come here instead of going back to the site for the meeting?"

When Su Wenchen saw the two enter, he stood up to greet them.

"Haha, I just happened to be here for an inspection and that's when I heard the news!"

"This time it was my fault."

"However, we won't be drinking tonight. I'll definitely punish myself with three drinks after we finish entertaining you."

"Come, come, come, sit down and talk!"

"Old Guo, do as you please!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Xiangyang felt the warmth emanating from the cafeteria and immediately took off his clothes.

"Then I'll go see if Director Wang needs any help."

Seeing this, Chen Guodong also took off his coat, placed it on the back of the chair, sat down, and took a sip of water.

"The advance team arrived very quickly, which was to be honest a bit unexpected."

"The specific time of the president's visit has not been announced. I estimate that it will be announced in the last week or two. However, since the advance team has already arrived to make arrangements..."

"That means the time to understand is very close."

"So we don't have much time left to prepare."

Su Wenchen agreed.

"Indeed, but our area is basically ready."

"In the agricultural sector, the microbial alkali treatment demonstration area, the circular agriculture demonstration area, and the small-scale mechanization demonstration area are basically all ready."

"The construction of the reception hall and the airport runway is the responsibility of the engineering team, and we don't know how far along the progress is."

"If that doesn't work, we'll have to ask the nearby members for help."

Chen Guodong said directly.

“I went to see it about two weeks ago, and it was almost all finished.”

"But you can ask them if they need any help later!"

Just as the two were talking, several more people in military uniforms walked in.

Su Wenchen immediately stood up and said.

"Commanders, it's like speaking of the devil and he appears!"

"Come, come, sit down! Sit down!"

Jiang Dayong, from the Sixth Engineering Regiment, who was the most familiar with Su Wenchen and was the first to arrive, spoke up with a smile.

"Haha, Director Su, you've stepped in to improve our meals, how could we not come right away?"

The leader of another regiment nearby echoed this sentiment.

"That's right. It's said that Dangshan County raises a lot of chickens known as 'Golden Phoenixes.' With Director Su hosting us here, it seems we'll be lucky enough to try some!"

Su Wenchen responded with a smile.

"Looks like we've already made a name for ourselves even before we're ready to leave the pen!"

"Don't worry, we'll definitely meet your expectations this time. We also hope you'll give us some feedback!"

"Come on, everyone, don't stand, come and sit down!"

Just as he finished speaking, leaders from several other counties walked in, and Zhao Guohua immediately said...

"It's so lively!"

"Director, we're not late, are we?"

"I originally thought you could get to our side based on the route!"

"I was thinking of hosting you when we're on our side!"

Su Wenchen waved.

“I’m not late. According to my original itinerary, I was indeed going to your county in the evening.”

"However, something happened in the middle, I'll talk about the details later."

After saying that, he shouted from behind.

"Everyone's here, Comrade Rongshan, you can start serving the dishes now."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Wang Rongshan immediately greeted him.

Soon, dishes were served one after another.

"Colleagues, please have a taste! Director Su said that the stewed chicken, poached chicken, fried chicken, and stir-fried chicken are all made with our Golden Feather Chicken. Please try them and give us your feedback!"

Su Wenchen also picked up his chopsticks and said.

"Don't be shy, let's have something hot first and chat while we eat."

The atmosphere immediately became lively upon hearing this.

Chen Guodong scooped up a small bowl of chicken soup, took a sip, and his eyes lit up instantly.

"Yes, this soup is really good, incredibly delicious, and it also has a subtle mushroom aroma and a unique flavor."

"This soup is absolutely divine, so incredibly delicious!"

Jiang Dayong shook his head and picked up a golden, crispy fried chicken leg.

"It's bland and watery, and it doesn't look appetizing at all."

"Look at this! The golden color looks so appetizing. I love eating this kind of oily food!"

Upon hearing Jiang Dayong's words, his colleagues from the same unit next to him laughed and said...

"Old Jiang, if you like oily food, then you might as well just drink oil!"

"Hmph, hmph, I wish I could eat this oily stuff every day!"

"It's a pity there wasn't enough meat for me to eat!"

After saying that, he couldn't wait and took a bite. With a crisp crunch, his eyes widened. "Mmm! This taste...so good!"

"But as I was eating, for some reason, a wave of memories washed over me."

Jiang Dayong could barely hold back the tears welling up in his eyes.

This not only stunned Su Wenchen, but also left his colleagues bewildered.

"No, Lao Jiang, what are you doing?"

"Do you have to act like this just because you're eating chicken?"

"Why are you acting like you haven't eaten in years? Our military region hasn't treated your regiment badly, has it?"

Hearing his colleague's words, Jiang Dayong shook his head.

"I don't know why the taste of this chicken leg always reminds me of my youth, and I can't help it."

"Back then, I and the other young men in our village were lured into becoming laborers for a bite of meat."

“I was lucky. The unit I was assigned to revolted, and I followed them step by step to where I am now. They were taken away with us back then.”

"I never found them again. I remember very clearly that I shared half a chicken leg and it tasted just like that."

Upon hearing Jiang Dayong's words, Su Wenchen fell silent.

However, Jiang Dayong's colleague next to him said something strange.

"Really? Could roast chicken back then compare to what we have now?"

As he spoke, he grabbed one and eagerly took a bite, making a crisp crunching sound.

"Mmm! This texture...tsk tsk, crispy skin and tender meat, and the meat is so fragrant!!"

"It really is delicious! But the taste is a bit like the flatbread my wife makes for me."

Su Wenchen was speechless upon hearing this.

What is this?

These are two completely different ingredients, how did you tell the difference?
Thinking of this, Su Wenchen also picked up a fried chicken leg.

Take a bite.

Instantly, an enticing flavor traveled from my taste buds to my mind.

Su Wenchen suddenly recalled the taste of the roast chicken he ate for the first time when he was a child in the orphanage.

The taste isn't particularly delicious.

It was a sense of satisfaction carried with it by memories, something that Su Wenchen experienced after he started working.

A feeling I can never find again.

It's no wonder that everyone feels the taste is different. This taste from memory varies depending on different experiences, so what one misses will naturally be different.

Su Wenchen took a few more bites, but they weren't as amazing as the first bite.

However, it was still very delicious, and I even felt a little unsatisfied after finishing it.

This made Su Wenchen think that if he could really enter the high-end chicken market in the United States, the quality would definitely attract a group of loyal diners.

What do you guys think?

Compared to the greasy fried chicken and stir-fried chicken, Guo Xiangyang clearly prefers boiled chicken.

He picked up a piece, dipped it in some sauce, put it in his mouth, chewed it carefully, and nodded frequently.

"Crispy skin, tender meat, rich chicken flavor, sweet aftertaste, and not dry at all."

"Director, this chicken is indeed suitable as a high-end ingredient, but it's a pity to use it to make fried chicken. It should be cooked by poaching to bring out its original flavor."

Compared to Guo Xiangyang, Chen Guodong also tried several other dishes. He considered them more from the perspective of etiquette and hospitality, but he was also impressed by their flavors.

"Director Su, yours is indeed unique, especially the color, the festive and auspicious appearance, and the auspicious meaning."

"It's definitely a unique feature that we use to entertain guests."

Hearing this, Su Wenchen nodded.

"Alright, when the advance team arrives, we can highlight Golden Feather Chicken as a signature dish on the delegation's menu."

Now that we've eaten enough, let's get down to business!

"Director Chen, could you tell me the specific requirements from above?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else sitting in the room immediately put down their chopsticks.

Obviously, although the food was delicious, people wouldn't lose their temper.

After all, everyone knew a little bit of information before coming here, just not in great detail.

Chen Guodong's expression also turned serious, and he took out a notebook from the pocket of his coat hanging behind the chair.

"Comrades, according to the specific information we have received from the Protocol Department..."

"The advance team of the presidential delegation is expected to arrive in Beijing on January 3. After completing the initial coordination in Beijing, they will arrive at our special administrative region airport no later than January 6."

"Their core task is to finalize and finalize the president's itinerary."

"The key points involve the following aspects."

"Firstly, regarding security, they require us to provide detailed security plans and manpower deployment schemes. They also require joint surveys and controls of all access routes around the venue, as well as the core area."

"The outer perimeter security is arranged by our special zone, the middle layer security is taken over by the security team sent from above, and the inner residential area is their own responsibility."

Su Wenchen nodded; this was not much different from what he had expected.

After all, it's impossible to really rely on the militia of their special zone to be responsible for security in this kind of situation.

"There's no problem with that. We've already deployed security plans for the outer routes."

"In the next few days, the elite police officers from your respective counties will come over to conduct the final reconnaissance and cooperate in setting up controls on the perimeter."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's arrangement, the leaders of the four counties nodded in agreement.

“No problem, we’ll go back and notify the police officers we selected in advance to familiarize themselves with the terrain near the guild hall starting tomorrow.”

Seeing this, Chen Guodong continued.

"The second requirement is communication. We need to ensure the smooth operation of dedicated telephone and telegraph lines, and we also need to provide shortwave radio support."

"However, we don't need to worry about this much. They will bring their own equipment. We just need to provide them with a dedicated communications room."

Jiang Dayong said directly.

"That's easy. We've set up several spare rooms in the main building of the clubhouse. They can just choose one as their communications room."

Chen Guodong continued reading.

"Next, it's time to arrange the itinerary, accommodation, and logistical support."

"This includes the need to prepare inspection route plans, itinerary arrangements, backup routes, and backup vehicle plans in advance."

"The accommodations, room furnishings, drinking water, and food safety of the president and his entourage."

"There are also arrangements for the accompanying journalists' accommodation and meals, medical support, and the allocation of translators."

"This time they specifically instructed that they would bring a large corps of reporters, mainly from the three major television stations."

"So we need to pay attention to the arrangements for the press corps, otherwise these people might only focus on the shortcomings when they take pictures."

Su Wenchen strongly agreed with this statement.

"We really need to pay attention to this, Lao Guo, you should put more effort into it."

"Their president has his own team of chefs, so even if he doesn't like our cuisine, he won't show it."

“These journalists are different; they all say that it’s easier to deal with the King of Hell than with his underlings.”

"You'll have to put in a little more effort in this regard, otherwise all our hard work will be wasted if a few brats mess things up, and that would be a huge loss."

"However, we shouldn't be obsequious. We should just try our best to entertain them in a reasonable and respectful manner."

"We don't need to pay attention to those particularly unreasonable demands."

Hearing this, Chen Guodong nodded.

"Indeed, the decision has already been made: this reception should be neither servile nor arrogant, neither cold nor warm!"

"We need to ensure that foreign guests are treated with courtesy while also conveying our stance."

Guo Xiangyang responded immediately upon hearing this.

"I understand, I'll arrange it when I get back!"

Seeing this, Su Wenchen looked towards the engineering team.

"Commander Jiang, what's the situation at the airport?"

"How is the construction of the runway, basic navigation equipment, apron, temporary command and communication room, and fuel depot progressing before January 5th?"

"Can you guarantee that you will have basic take-off and landing support capabilities by then?"

Do you need us to send more people to help?

Jiang Dayong quickly shook his head.

"Director Su, thanks to the tireless efforts of our engineering teams from both provinces working day and night to expedite the construction, the runway has now completed over 95% of its concrete pouring and compaction, which should meet basic take-off and landing requirements without any issues."

"The makeshift helipad, oil depot, and security perimeter wall have been basically completed."

"The temporary prefabricated buildings for the command tower and communications room are being installed and tested with the equipment inside. They should be able to connect to communications for initial testing the day after tomorrow."

"The basic navigation beacon installation has begun and is expected to be completed in three days."

"We have coordinated with the nearest military airport to borrow several ground support vehicles, and they will be in place by January 4th."

"Based on the runway length and strength assessment, there is definitely no problem with the safe takeoff and landing of medium-sized special-purpose aircraft!"

"We will ensure that all necessary debugging and airport support team drills are completed before 6 PM on January 4th!"

"Good! There absolutely cannot be any accidents at the airport."

Then he looked at Wang Rongshan and said.

"Finally, regarding the supply of ingredients, the reception hall was built at the junction of the Dasha River and the abandoned Yellow River."

"It's not far from your Dangshan County. Apart from what they brought themselves, all the ingredients supplied to the guild hall are provided by your Dangshan County."

"You must be strictly responsible for this; there can be absolutely no ambiguity on this matter!"

"This presidential visit is not only a major test for our special economic zone's work, but also a rare opportunity to showcase our special economic zone's new development and new technologies to the world!"

He picked up his teacup and drank tea instead of wine.

"I won't go into too much detail, but I'll just mention the hard work and sweat we've put in over the past six months."

"We absolutely cannot allow any problems to arise at the last minute. Everyone must be extremely vigilant to ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

“Starting tomorrow, I will join Secretary Chen and the staff of the Special Administrative Region Office and the Protocol Department to form a temporary inspection team to conduct a final, detailed inspection.”

Su Wenchen's gaze fell on Zhao Guohua and several other county directors.

“Your counties also have heavy responsibilities.”

"External security, unobstructed routes, and stability within the jurisdiction are the foundation."

"Although we haven't arranged it according to the itinerary, we can't rule out the possibility that the foreign guests will request to visit your production team at that time."

"So you all need to be aware of this!"

After speaking, Su Wenchen looked at Chen Guodong.

"Director Chen, do you have anything to add?"

Chen Guodong stood up and added.

"Director Su's explanation is very comprehensive."

"I want to emphasize one point: after the advance team arrives, any requests or changes they make, no matter how big or small, must be reported to the command center."

"After Director Su and I come up with a plan, we will coordinate and respond in a unified manner to avoid multiple commands and arbitrary solutions."

"That way, even if anything happens, it will be me and Director Su who will come to us, and it will have nothing to do with you."

Su Wenchen also stood up and spoke.

"Then it's settled!"

"Starting tomorrow, everyone return to your positions and act according to the plan."

"Everyone has worked hard for half a year. Success or failure depends on this. Let the world see that even on saline-alkali land where no crops can grow, we can still make a name for ourselves!"

(End of this chapter)