Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

"It depends on the situation. I'll definitely help if I can, but if I can't, no amount of pleading will help."

Fang Wei had essentially agreed, but he had to put a tight rein on the other party to avoid putting him in a difficult position later.

For example, if the breeding base were to propose that the Xiatang brigade abandon rice seed production and instead produce a material specifically for the base, Fang Wei would definitely not agree.

Everything has its limits, even the best relationships.

"Haha, that's enough. Little scholar, go and get some wine."

Zheng Xianfa felt a weight lifted from his heart, and suddenly felt a strong urge to drink.

"Dream on! You wouldn't drink when we offered you some earlier, now no one's going to serve you. Director Zheng, take your time eating, we're leaving."

Fang Wei ignored him, then got up and left the cafeteria with Pan Lianhua in her arms.

Zheng Xianfa shook his head helplessly, then finished his meal and went to the window to pay the money and food coupons.

A few days passed quickly.

The county has undergone a round of adjustments.

Wang Liang successfully became the director of the Agriculture Bureau, while the county's agricultural breeding base was separated from the Agriculture Bureau and placed under the direct leadership of the county. In other words, the breeding base and the Agriculture Bureau were on equal footing, and neither could govern the other.

Subsequently, Zheng Xianfa took office as the director of the county's breeding base.

Upon taking office, he abolished the system previously implemented by Wang Liang, including intercropping. He announced that starting next year, he would make full use of 20,000 mu of arable land to increase the output of the [YX-032] rice variety.

This plan was definitely devised by Fang Wei; he was merely the executor.

"Director Zheng, if we're focused on increasing rice yield, our breeding materials will soon be insufficient. This year, we suspended our cooperation with the Xiatang brigade, and we don't have much breeding material left."

As a new broom sweeps clean, Zheng Xianfa's first meeting saw some people questioning his decisions.

Isn't this a good sign? If he can't control things, how will he be able to give orders in the future?

"You don't need to worry about that! I came from Xiatang Brigade. If I couldn't even handle something like this, wouldn't I be a laughing stock?"

I hope everyone will actively support my work. Once our rice seeds are sold throughout the province and even to other provinces, I will apply to the county government, and you will all receive a generous reward.

Zheng Xianfa came prepared, so how could he be stumped by this question?

Then everyone remembered that this Director Zheng came from the Second Team of Xiatang Brigade and seemed to have a good relationship with Fang Wei.

With Fang Wei's support, the breeding base is sure to develop well, and many people are beginning to feel hopeful.

As a result, people's perception of Zheng Xianfa has improved considerably.

Ultimately, the meeting was a success; at least he left people with the impression of being a "practical person." His goal is to double the production of the [YX-032] rice variety next year, continuing to fill the gaps in the province's rice production.

At this time, Fang Wei welcomed the new commune director, Huang Zhigang, to the brigade.

Although Huang Zhigang used to work in a government agency, his work methods were quite pragmatic, so he had a good relationship with Zheng Xianfa and Fang Wei.

"Director Huang, shall we go take a look at the fields?"

Fang Wei continued to show Huang Zhigang the necessary respect, and did not change her attitude despite the change in Huang's status.

As before, Huang Zhigang readily agreed, and the group then went to the rice paddies of the first team. During the inspection, he asked many questions, whereas he had rarely spoken when following behind Zheng Xianfa before.

"Secretary Fang, your rice yield has always been good, but I have a question. Your rice yield seems to have been stable in recent years, but it hasn't increased. Could you tell me what the reason is?"

Ultimately, his status had changed, and Huang Zhigang wanted to achieve even greater success.

"Director Huang, breeding work is very complicated. Once the yield of a certain rice variety reaches a bottleneck, it is extremely difficult to increase it even a little bit. Unless you are extremely lucky, it is impossible to cultivate a new rice variety with a higher yield."

Fang Wei patiently explained it to the other party.

Is there any hope of developing new rice varieties with higher yields in the next year or two?

Huang Zhigang seemed a bit anxious, which is understandable, after all, a new broom sweeps clean.

Fang Wei shook his head and said, "Whether we can cultivate a new rice variety or not, there's no timetable. We've been working hard, and maybe one day we'll get lucky and suddenly succeed?"

Huang Zhigang then fell silent, pondering how to motivate the other party.

This kind of pressure is useless, and he knows very well that even Wu Yaoyang can't force the other party to submit, so he, as a commune director, is even less of a threat.

The group checked the growth of the rice seeds and then visited other production teams.

Huang Zhigang and others then left Xiatang Brigade and went to other neighboring brigades.

"Third Brother, is he a new official, and is he going to put pressure on us?"

After everyone left, Zheng Hu looked at Fang Wei and said something.

"Never mind him, let's just follow our own production plan."

Fang Wei remained calm. He estimated that no one in this position would act recklessly, and if they did, Wu Yaoyang would be the first to object.

He then returned to the team headquarters, wondering when to release [Nanguang No. 3] again.

Not many people in the team knew about this rice variety, and Fang Wei sealed it away under the pretext that the rice variety's characteristics were unstable, so the few people who knew about it gradually forgot about it.

"Let's wait and see. The situation over the next two years is unpredictable, so it's better to play it safe for now."

After considering it for a while, Fang Wei decided to hold back for the time being.

The current "Nanguang No. 2" rice variety still has great potential, so there's no rush to upgrade it so quickly.

Over the next two days, he went to the Yao village.

Wang Songlin arranged for people to conduct a detailed screening of [Yunyan 66] and [K326] according to his requirements, and they have now entered a new round of cultivation.

"Third Brother, don't you think [Yunyan 66] is good?"

Wang Songlin accompanied Fang Wei to the experimental field, and seeing that the other party seemed more concerned about [K326], he asked a question in confusion.

According to his viewpoint, there's no need for selection; [Yunyan 66] would definitely be chosen. This variety of flue-cured tobacco exhibits very stable performance, resulting in the largest number of selected varieties.

The performance of [K326] was much worse. A batch was planted earlier, but most of them were discarded, and only a few good-performing plants were kept.

"It's not that [Yunyan 66] is performing poorly, but I've discovered that the potential of this variety of flue-cured tobacco is limited, and it's almost impossible to cultivate a new variety."

In contrast, while the traits of variety [K326] were not very stable, the few plants selected showed significant changes. These changes were exactly what I needed.

The so-called cultivation of new flue-cured tobacco varieties requires mutation.

If there are no mutations, [Yunyan 66] is still [Yunyan 66], and [K326] is still [K326]. How can they be called new varieties?
Because of the attribute bonuses, the efficiency of screening is greatly improved, which provides a shortcut for breeding work.

Clearly, the selected [K326] flue-cured tobacco variety has shown a significant increase in resistance. In biological terms, this is equivalent to altering some of its genes. What else could it be but a new variety?
Wang Songlin didn't understand anything more profound, so he just grunted and shut his mouth.

"You two come here and protect these [K326] flue-cured tobacco plants. Move the rest of the [Yunyan 66] plants away." This 10-mu experimental field was in a corner, not connected to any other field.

Fang Wei instructed people to transplant all the [Yunyan 66] flue-cured tobacco to other locations, because there were still some [K326] flue-cured tobacco seeds from the previous season, and they needed to be replanted as soon as possible.

In other words, he had already decided on the final variety, which was [K326].

In the past, he had always been very cautious, and he usually suppressed any attributes that allowed him to grow faster, so as not to cause a stir.

Now he has confidence. Since he became the leader, there have been no more doubts in the village, and he can go ahead and try some things.

So he adjusted the growth-accelerating attribute of this experimental field, doubling its value.

In other words, the maturation time of [K326] will be shortened by half compared to before. The growth cycle of general flue-cured tobacco varieties is about 180 days, divided into two stages: the seedling stage and the field stage, which is a relatively long growth cycle.

The previous [NX-232] flue-cured tobacco had a growth cycle of approximately 120 days (within the planting area), while it took approximately 150 days to grow in ordinary farmland without attribute enhancements.

Now, after he deliberately adjusted the attribute values, the growth cycle of [K326] is about 80 days (in the planting area), or about 110 days (in ordinary farmland).

In addition, the resistance attribute value was adjusted, which improved the resistance of this type of flue-cured tobacco.

Fang Wei found it amazing; it was the first time he had ever comprehensively adjusted the attribute values ​​of crops, and it felt like he was performing "gene editing." What to strengthen, what to maintain, what to weaken—it was all just a game of adding and subtracting numbers.

The [K326] flue-cured tobacco produced through his adjustments should possess characteristics such as a short growth cycle, high resistance, good taste, and strong adaptability.

Therefore, the tobacco variety that is ultimately bred cannot be called [K326], but should be renamed.

It can be called whatever you like, the only principle is that it must be distinguished from [K326]. Because the new variety and the original [K326] are no longer the same type of flue-cured tobacco, the differences between the two will be significant.

At this growth rate, we should see results before the end of the year.

"That's great!"

Fang Wei felt pretty good after finishing her work.

Once the new variety is developed, it will undergo one or two more seasons of cultivation before it is finalized. At that point, he can report back to Xu Minghui. Whether or not it passes the evaluation for the new tobacco variety is none of his concern.

That's something Zhu Minghui needs to worry about.

Of course, this experiment was not just about tobacco; it was an important attempt by Fang Wei to launch a comprehensive breeding program.

weekend.

Fang Tingting came back from the county to visit her parents and stopped by Fang Wei's place for a while.

She's been back for a while now, but because she's been very busy working in the quality control department, she's only just found the time to go home and visit.

"Manman, thank you!"

The girl wasn't confused. She later learned that the information about her previous study trip to the regional cigarette factory and her recent entry into the quality inspection department was all given by Director Zhu Minghui of the regional tobacco bureau.

As for the relationship between Fang Wei and Zhu Minghui, Zhu Minghui had already mentioned Fang Tingting to her face.

There is no love without a reason in this world. Fang Tingting has come this far because of the help she received from her uncle.

"Let's not talk about those things as family! This is all I can do to help you. You'll have to walk the rest of the road yourself. Keep up the good work."

Fang Wei didn't say much; it was better not to let Fang Tingting know some things.

Fang Tingting nodded heavily, determined to work hard and strive to become a cadre as soon as possible.

The next day.

Tingting returned to the county town, and Fang Wei gave her a ride back along the way.

"Tingting, I have to attend a meeting in the county. Wait for me at the entrance of your workplace after you get off work at noon, and we'll have lunch together. I need to talk to you about something then."

Fang Wei and her niece parted ways at the entrance of the cigarette factory, and then Fang Wei went to a meeting.

This meeting was the previous "Drought Relief Commendation Meeting". The Xiatang Brigade won the collective award, Zheng Hu won the advanced individual award, and Fang Wei, as always, played a supporting role.

He naturally didn't care about these things and was already used to them.

"Third Brother, shall we go out for dinner?"

After the meeting, Zheng Hu planned to have lunch with Fang Wei in the cafeteria.

"Go eat by yourself, I have something to do."

Fang Wei shook his head and went directly to the cigarette factory.

He saw Tingting at the door, called out to her, and she ran over with a smile.

Fang Wei took her to a restaurant on his bike, where they ordered two dishes and a soup, and the meal was quite good.

"Manman, the food today is delicious. You've spent so much money on it."

Fang Tingting didn't know what her uncle wanted to talk to her about, so she waited after she had eaten and drunk her fill.

Fang Wei gestured for her to come with him, and then he took Tingting to the department store: "Tingting, Manman will buy you a bicycle. When you're not busy, go back and visit your mom and dad more often."

“Manman, I will go back to see them often, but you don’t need to buy me a bicycle, I have a salary.”

Tingting quickly declined, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Stop talking nonsense and let's go."

Fang Wei frowned, and Tingting dared not utter a sound.

Neither she nor Tao Tao were afraid of Fang Ping, but they held this uncle in the highest esteem.

Fang Wei had the ticket, so she spent 158 ​​yuan to buy the other party a 26-inch Forever brand bicycle. Tingting's total income was only a little over 20 yuan, so the bicycle was equivalent to more than half a year's income for her.

"Alright, go back to work now. Remember to lock your car properly so it doesn't get stolen."

After Fang Wei finished this matter, he returned to the team.

A few days later, Tian Guihua found out about this and said a few words to Fang Wei, telling him not to waste money. The children are all working now, and it's not appropriate for them to ask their elders for money to buy things.

Fang Wei smiled without saying a word, and Tian Guihua couldn't do anything about it.

"Did your sister-in-law say something to you again? She just doesn't want you to spend money on your nephews and nieces all the time. She still remembers the favors she owes them."

During the meal, Pan Lianhua said with a smile.

She was naturally not unhappy; she had supported Fang Wei buying Tingting a bicycle from the very beginning. She understood her sister-in-law's personality, which was why she said that.

"It doesn't matter, I know what's going on."

After lunch, everyone rested for a while, and then Fang Wei followed Pan Lianhua to the bamboo ware factory. (End of Chapter)