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

morning.

Fang Wei arrived at the breeding research institute and gathered Fang Tao and others together for a meeting.

"Everyone, don't worry about the details. Your research results are very important, as evidenced by the national award you received. Therefore, I've decided to entrust the next research project to you as well, with the same conditions as before. Are you confident you can do a good job?"

He didn't address the previous investigation, but instead presented a new research project. This project was to cultivate a new type of high-yield corn, one that would not only excel in product quality but also in taste.

This research project is quite challenging. Fang Tao and his team need to start from scratch by screening parent plants and then cultivate them separately.

The selection process alone requires a lot of work. If you're lucky, you can find a suitable parent stock quickly; if you're unlucky, you don't know how many years you might have to wait.

Fang Wei wouldn't help them at first; they would have to rely on themselves for everything.

"Secretary Fang, please rest assured, we will definitely complete the mission."

Fang Tao and his team were very confident. They accepted the task with high spirits and then began to discuss the research path.

Needless to say, the first step is to find excellent mother plants, and then through generations of cultivation, perhaps only then can the plants they need be found. Only then can we talk about cultivating seeds, which is actually not that easy.

After discussing the initial work, Fang Tao and his team split into three groups and went to various parts of the country to find suitable corn varieties.

Their approach was simple and crude: they bought a little of every seed that looked decent, packed them up, and shipped them back. They avoided duplicate varieties, but tried to acquire as many different varieties as possible.

The screening process is like finding a needle in a haystack, so the sample size needs to be large enough. The quantity of each variety is not much, just one or two kilograms is enough.

Fang Wei issued the task and then ignored them, spending the last few days at the transportation company.

Although the transportation company was a newly established entity, its business was developing too rapidly, leaving Deng Yuanen extremely busy.

Fang Wei brought several directors over to help him. They withdrew from the company only after he had straightened out the business management. At the same time, he also provided the other party with two assistants.

"Secretary, judging from the current situation, the transportation company will be busy until at least the end of the year."

"It's not that exaggerated. Shipments will gradually stop a week to ten days before the Lunar New Year, and the transportation companies will naturally have less time. However, the busier it is, the more attention should be paid to traffic safety. I'll have to emphasize this to Deng Yuanen and the others a few more times later."

After finishing up with the transportation company's business, Fang Wei thought he could finally relax for a while, but then the hardware factory, chili sauce factory, bamboo ware factory and other enterprises faced a major tax inspection.

Fang Wei doesn't need to get involved in specific matters, but he does have to step in when the factories encounter problems they can't solve.

This busy period lasted until the end of the year, when the cooperative was about to begin its year-end settlement.

morning.

Fang Wei went to the county to attend a meeting on accelerating the development of township enterprises. The province introduced some measures to encourage the development of township enterprises, and the county also announced the establishment of the Township Enterprise Bureau.

To be honest, apart from the various enterprises under the cooperative, there aren't many township enterprises in the county that are truly outstanding.

After the meeting, the newly established Township Enterprise Bureau specifically invited some personnel to a seminar at the bureau. Fang Wei was among them; he even ate lunch at the bureau's canteen without taking a break at noon.

"To revitalize township enterprises, we cannot stick to the old ways and should innovate in our operations. You have all seen the measures to encourage development, such as allowing capable people to take on contracted projects, which is a good idea."

The seminar was rather uninformative, and Fang Wei found herself drowsy listening to it.

Some people have discussed the issue of contracting out production, believing it to be a panacea for revitalizing township enterprises, just like the household contract responsibility system.

Then he heard an absurd suggestion:

“Secretary Fang, nowadays we’re all about opening up and revitalizing the economy. How can you still cling to the old ways? I’d like to contract your chili sauce factory. Just give me a price for the contract; I won’t let you lose out.”

The speaker was a slightly overweight middle-aged man who had previously contracted two small township and brigade enterprises, making him a "township entrepreneur" in a way, which is why he was able to attend this seminar.

Perhaps because the other party has made some money in the past two years, he has become somewhat unscrupulous in his speech, even shouting that he wants to contract the chili sauce factory, and his words were quite impolite.

What is your surname?

Fang Wei was amused by the situation and asked the other party.

"No need for formalities, my surname is Wang. Seriously, Secretary Fang, if you can let me take over the chili sauce factory, I can't guarantee anything else, but I can definitely double the profits in a year."

The man was smug and launched a satellite.

"You dare to brag about anything? You should go back and look in the mirror. Everyone, I have things to do at the office. You can continue chatting. I'll be going now."

Fang Wei was too lazy to bother with this kind of fool. How much revenue and profit did the chili sauce factory have in a year? How could it be contracted out for no reason? He really didn't know where he got the confidence to talk so arrogantly.

This seminar was really pointless, so he stood up, greeted a few people from the conference organizers, and then left the venue.

"Look at his attitude!"

The man surnamed Wang was left standing there, so he had no choice but to find a way to save face.

Many people present couldn't bear to look at him. This fool, why did he have to provoke Fang Wei of all people? Besides, the chili sauce factory's products not only sell well domestically but are also exported overseas. How could it possibly be contracted out?

Contracting is generally a method used by companies with poor performance; companies with good performance would not do this.

However, some people knew the background of the man surnamed Wang and felt that things were not so simple.

After leaving, Fang Wei drove straight back to the company.

After sitting down in his office, he felt increasingly uneasy, so he called Zheng Bao over: "Brother Bao, investigate the background of this guy surnamed Wang. I want to see who else is trying to stick their dirty hands out on us."

"Okay, wait for my message."

After Zheng Bao figured out what had happened, he immediately went to investigate the guy surnamed Wang.

After all, the other party's proposal was too surprising, and there must be something fishy about it, so we still couldn't let our guard down.

The next day.

Fang Wei went to see her fifth uncle in the morning. Her fifth uncle had a cold recently and was resting at home after taking the medicine prescribed by Master Sun.

After leaving his fifth uncle's house, he went straight to his office.

Not long after they sat down, Zheng Bao walked in from outside, his face serious.

“Secretary, that guy surnamed Wang is no ordinary person. Last night I found an insider who said he has more than a dozen contracted companies, including some in neighboring counties as well as companies in our county.”

Zheng Bao said that the person was not as simple as he seemed on the surface; he had considerable strength and close ties with certain people in the county and region.

Fang Wei nodded, knowing the other party's background made things easier.

Yesterday's incident was definitely intentional, intended to intimidate and scare them. They will likely use other tactics in the future.

"Brother Leopard, you've worked hard. Don't make a fuss about this yet. Let's remain calm and see what other tricks they have up their sleeves."

Fang Wei gave Zheng Bao a brief instruction, then fell into deep thought.

He guessed that the other party might cause trouble for the cooperative's subsidiaries, and then come back to discuss the contracting. But wasn't the other party being a bit too naive?
A few days passed quickly.

Everything remained calm at the cooperative; no problems arose, and no one contacted Fang Wei. It was as if that day had been a farce, a tantrum by the man surnamed Wang. But Fang Wei saw it differently. He demanded that all units strengthen security measures and operate legally, avoiding any short-sighted or opportunistic activities.

This evening.

Fang Wei had already gone to sleep when she was suddenly awakened by a noise coming from outside the courtyard.

He quickly got dressed and went out. When he opened the door, he saw Zhao Jinsheng and two directors.

"Secretary Fang, something's happened! Someone tried to set fire to the chili sauce factory warehouse tonight, but luckily our employees were vigilant and prevented them from succeeding. However, the perpetrator hasn't been caught yet, and the factory has already called the police."

"Let's go and have a look!"

Fang Weiyi got a little anxious upon hearing this and immediately drove with Zhao Jinsheng and others to the village.

At this point, police officers had already arrived at the factory, and later, criminal investigators from the county would also come; the matter had become quite serious.

A corner of the warehouse was blackened by the fire. According to the workers on duty, they spotted several suspicious figures starting a fire during their night patrol. The workers shouted a few times, and the figures immediately ran away.

They failed to catch up.

It was late at night, so I couldn't see what those guys looked like. And these days there are no security cameras, so it'll probably be hard to catch them.

The on-site investigation confirmed that it was arson.

Have you offended anyone recently?

Arson is rarely random, especially when it involves entering someone else's factory; it must be premeditated.

When the investigators questioned Zhang Chu and the others, they all shook their heads after thinking for a moment.

"I do have a lead; you can investigate it."

At this moment, Fang Wei stepped forward and told him about the exorbitant demands made by the man surnamed Wang regarding the success or failure of the chili sauce factory.

Did he contact you again after that?

The investigators noted down this lead and then continued asking questions.

"No, we haven't had any dealings since."

Fang Wei spoke the truth, knowing that it would be pointless to tell the other party, as even the stupidest person surnamed Wang wouldn't personally set the fire.

However, it's still necessary to register the other party first, at least to make them behave a little.

Even a large and powerful cooperative needs to be wary of these lurking troublemakers.

After the investigators finished their questioning and investigation, they left. Fang Wei reassured everyone before going back to sleep. With all that commotion during the night, it was almost dawn when he finally fell asleep.

The next day.

Around noon, Fang Wei arrived in the county and went directly to find Huang Zhigang.

Huang Zhigang had already heard about what happened last night and was very angry. He ordered the relevant departments to thoroughly investigate the matter.

“Secretary Huang, I suspect that someone is deliberately putting pressure on the cooperative. I didn’t believe before that anyone would want to take over the chili sauce factory, but it turns out that someone really dares to take the risk.”

Fang Wei explained the whole story, which greatly shocked Huang Zhigang.

At the same time, he also secretly became more vigilant. He knew Wang Yougen; he had a complicated social network, and many people were unwilling to provoke him.

“Secretary Fang, Wang Yougen is no simple man. You need to be careful around him. Now we just need to wait for the results of the relevant departments’ investigation. Without evidence, it will be difficult to take action against him.”

Huang Zhigang pointed out Fang Wei's statement, and also stated that he would not tolerate it as long as the evidence was conclusive.

Fang Wei immediately realized that Wang Yougen had powerful backers.

After he returned, he immediately instructed Zheng Bao to transfer more personnel from the security department to guard the factories in the township. As for the cooperative, there was no need to worry; the cooperative still had plenty of able-bodied men, and guarding a few key areas should not be a problem.

Zhang Chu kept making phone calls, urging customers to come and pick up the goods as soon as possible. He was afraid that if another arson attack occurred and the other party succeeded, the losses would be huge.

“Secretary, a customer in Guangdong has asked us to deliver the goods directly to them. He is willing to pay half of the payment upfront.”

That day, Zhang Chu rushed to Fang Wei's office and told her something.

Most of the goods that needed to be shipped have been sent out recently, but a customer in Guangdong said he couldn't come and wanted the factory to deliver the goods directly to him.

The customer was willing to wire half the payment upfront, and then pay the remaining half upon receiving the goods.

Zhang Chu was a little unsure, which is why he came to report to Fang Wei.

"No! Give them five days. Either they take the goods away or they resell them to someone else."

Fang Wei rejected the proposal without hesitation. As the saying goes, "goods die at the destination," and at this critical juncture, it is necessary to be more cautious.

"Understood, I'll take care of it right away."

Zhang Chu then left to wait for news from the county.

in the afternoon.

Huang Zhigang called him, and as expected, Wang Yougen denied any involvement in the arson case, leaving the investigators helpless.

The arsonists were never found, and the matter was left unresolved.

While still angry, Fang Wei changed his approach. He called Zheng Bao over and asked him to investigate all the companies that Wang Yougen had contracted, to see if Wang had used any illegal means when he took on those contracts.

People tend to act out of habit. He doesn't believe the other party will always abide by the law, and he's sure they've used similar tactics before.

Zheng Bao selected some reliable people and sent them in several groups to inquire about Wang Yougen's actions during the contracting process.

As it turned out, it was easy to find out that Wang Yougen had indeed used many illegal means, such as arson threats at least five times.

Zheng Bao found several victims and went to great lengths to obtain their testimonies.

"A bunch of scoundrels!"

Fang Wei was furious after reading these testimonies and resolved to fight the other side to the end.

He then had Zheng Bao make two copies of these testimonies, and then drove to the county and went directly to Huang Zhigang's office.

After reading these testimonies, Huang Zhigang asked, "Are they willing to come forward and testify?"

“This might be difficult. Their main concern is retaliation. It would be better to arrest Wang Yougen first, which would put their minds at ease.”

"Wait a little longer. I'll have someone investigate thoroughly and solidify the evidence of Wang Yougen's crimes before we take action." (End of Chapter)