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

"Secretary Ma, let me take a look first, and then we can talk."

Fang Wei didn't mention the contract fee. He then called Zhang Chu and asked him to come over as soon as possible.

Next, he and Zhang Chu and others inspected the 2 mu of dry land. To be honest, the land was quite good, but the water conservancy facilities were relatively backward. The irrigation canals needed to be repaired and more wells needed to be drilled.

Although the investment is substantial, the returns are more than enough to cover the costs.

"Secretary, I think this can be done."

Zhang Chu was originally a brigade leader and was very familiar with agricultural production.

He thought these 2 mu of dry land were very good. The soil was fertile, and as long as the irrigation problem was solved, it would be very suitable for growing chili peppers. Moreover, the yield would not be low and the quality would not be bad.

"Well, let's not express our opinion yet. Let's wait until President Cai arrives before we talk about it."

Fang Wei planned to have Cai Tong negotiate with Secretary Ma, as he himself was too lazy to haggle with him, simply because he found it troublesome.

Zhang Chu understood immediately, and the two returned to Secretary Ma's office.

Luo Zhimin had already left, and Secretary Ma kept asking Fang Wei how much he was willing to pay for the contract, but Fang Wei avoided the question.

“Secretary Ma, it’s best if General Manager Cai from the company talks to you about this. I’ll inform him right away, and he should be here by tomorrow at the latest.”

Fang Wei didn't say anything, then called Cai Tong and left.

It's not that he's bad at negotiation, but rather that he hesitates to say certain things because of Luo Zhimin's influence. Cai Tong, on the other hand, can talk freely, and Luo Zhimin has no influence over him at all.

The next day.

Cai Tong arrived in Xiangyang Town and began negotiations with Secretary Ma and others regarding the contracting of 2 mu of dry land.

When he proposed the same conditions as those of Qianjin Township, Secretary Ma and others agreed without hesitation, giving Cai Tong no chance to back out.

Cai Tong appeared somewhat annoyed, but in reality, he didn't care at all.

He and Fang Wei shared the same view: there was no need to be too restrictive on this part of the fee; farmers should be able to make a profit.

Subsequently, the company, farmers, and the town government quickly completed the signing of the agreement.

The contract fee is the same as that of Qianjin Township. The initial investment is borne by Yaoling Agriculture. The farm workers needed will be recruited locally, and only the management and technical personnel will be dispatched by the company.

Secretary Ma was very pleased. Although these farmers had temporarily lost control of the land, they could still receive a contract fee every year, and a considerable number of them could also work and receive wages.

This is a great thing for increasing farmers' income.

Having settled the matter of the Yaoling chili pepper planting base, Cai Tong returned to the provincial capital. Zhang Chu stayed behind, tirelessly visiting hundreds of growers.

The chili sauce factory also sources many of its raw materials from farmers in various townships. The company has long-term contracts with them, and they are willing to continue the partnership.

In addition, he kicked out the profit-driven farmers who breached the contract from the supply chain and refused to provide them with Yaoling chili seeds again.

The various crop seeds produced by Yaoling Agriculture cannot be saved for propagation, so these growers will be cut off from Yaoling chili peppers in the future.

There were also some farmers who signed annual contracts. Zhang Chu and his team conducted a thorough investigation and renewed contracts with a small number of them, but did not renew contracts with the majority of them.

These people were too embarrassed to cause trouble, because they themselves had concealed production output for their own benefit and failed to properly fulfill their contracts.

Don't think Zhang Chu and the others were unaware; they turned a blind eye at the time for other reasons. But with the company's chili pepper planting base nearing completion, such opportunists lost their fundamental value.

Zhang Chu decided that from now on, priority should be given to the production of chili sauce, followed by the production of dried chilies and chili powder.

Once the chili seed base yields a harvest next year, the shortage of raw materials will no longer occur.

"Secretary, I'm heading back to the provincial capital now. Is there anything else you need?"

After finishing these tasks, Zhang Chu planned to return to the provincial capital.

Before leaving, he met with Fang Wei, but Fang Wei did not give him any further instructions, so he left immediately.

In Fang Wei's view, Zhang Chu was already fully capable of managing the food company. His subordinate chili sauce factory, chestnut processing plant, rice mill, and so on were all running very well, so he didn't need to worry about them much.

Taking advantage of the free time at the end of the year, Fang Wei settled the production and operation situation for the year.

Harvest crops, points +323400000

Harvest crops, points +120000000

Harvest crops, points +294000000

Harvest crops, points +172500000

Harvest crops, points +2100000000

[Side hustle settlement, points +180000000]

Total points: 6862388740.

With approximately 69 billion points remaining, there are enough points to upgrade any areas or facilities that need upgrading.

For the time being, neither the planting area nor the Yulin picking area has any urgent pressure to upgrade. On the contrary, there are many newly added facilities that need to be upgraded from scratch.

He plans to wait until next spring before planting to take a look.

However, there was one facility that, while seemingly insignificant, deserved special attention. So he spent 10 billion points to upgrade the [Main Residence] to level 18. [Affiliated Facilities] → [Living Facilities] → [Main Residence]

[Facility Level: (Level 18, 0/50 billion points)]

[Facility Attributes: Sturdy, Durable, Focused, Calm, Beneficial to Owner]

Living in this building grants an additional 180% to all attributes, +1 to Luck, +1 to Anti-aging, +1 to Warning, and +1 to Health.

Total points: 5862388740.

This upgrade yielded a surprising bonus: Health +1, which will ensure the health of the owner and other residents of the main house, making them rarely get sick.

Health is something money can't buy, Fang Wei sat there happily for a long time.

Of all the facilities, the main house is the most inconspicuous, and its function is not immediately apparent. However, after years of observation, Fang Wei has realized that this facility is actually the most useful to him and his family.

To be honest, if we had gotten the "Health +1" attribute back then, Grandpa might have lived a few more years.

Afterwards, Fang Wei left the office with a smile and returned home.

after a few days.

Fang Wei then began his year-end inspection tour, with his first stop being Fragrant Hills.

The electrical appliance group is currently making intensive preparations for its listing in Hong Kong. The company has completed its shareholding reform and its annual revenue has exceeded 200 billion yuan, making it a super-large enterprise.

Who could have imagined that a small hardware factory would take such an extraordinary path?

Fang Wei did not personally participate in the audit work. Accompanied by Zhang Wenyuan, he visited the various production lines and held a meeting with the main members of the sales department.

Judging from the current situation, there is still a lot of room for growth in the market demand for refrigeration equipment, small household appliances, and electric fans.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Wei attended the company's board meeting, where he was elected chairman of the electrical appliance group, Cai Tong and others became directors, and Zhang Wenyuan remained as general manager.

After all, the electrical appliance group is no longer a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yaoling Agriculture, so the seats on the board of directors are very important.

"Old Zhang, keep up the good work, I'll support you."

Fang Wei and Cai Tong are both just occupying positions; they don't actually have time to participate in the operation and management of the electrical appliance group.

With their authorization, Zhang Wenyuan would wield considerable power, but he would still be subject to relevant constraints.

After completing the inspection, Fang Wei and Cai Tong went to the provincial capital to conduct an inspection of Yaoling Agriculture.

“Secretary, since you’re in the provincial capital, why don’t we have a meeting to discuss the year-end bonus? Although we suffered some losses this year, we still have enough for the bonus.”

After the inspection, Cai Tong suggested holding a meeting to discuss the profit-sharing plan.

Fang Wei had no objection to this. At the subsequent meeting, he proposed that this year's dividends be distributed at a standard of 3000 yuan per person, but the final implementation would have to wait until the company's year-end settlement report was released.

No one expected that such a profit-sharing plan could be implemented in a year of great disaster. Even Cai Tong advised Fang Wei to consider lowering the profit-sharing standard.

"We suffered a loss of about 100 million yuan this year, but overall our profit level is still good. The standard of 3000 yuan has already taken into account special circumstances, so we don't need to be too strict."

Fang Wei shook his head and insisted on distributing the dividends at a standard of 3000 yuan per person.

No one said anything more and expressed their agreement with the plan.

The profit-sharing plan has been approved; the remaining issue is its implementation.

the next day.

Fang Wei then returned home.

"Third Brother, try this little honeydew melon. I heard it's the latest improved variety, and it's very sweet."

After returning home in the afternoon, Pan Lianhua rushed back from the factory.

His older sister brewed him a pot of tea, and Pan Lianhua took out two small honeydew melons for Fang Wei to try.

The honeydew melons are grown in the company's greenhouses and have undergone three generations of improvement, making them increasingly popular. These melons are sweet and delicious, and have now become the main variety grown in greenhouses during the winter.

“It’s delicious, Sister, Lotus, you should have some too.”

Fang Wei wasn't particularly fond of fruit; after losing a few dollars, she went to wash her face and hands.

After returning, he received a phone call and went out again, only to come back quite a while later, which puzzled Pan Lianhua.

"Third Brother, what are you doing? You're acting so sneaky."

"What's all this sneaking around? We have something serious to discuss. Didn't a new chili sauce factory recently open in Qinghe County? They've poached our chili farmers, causing a shortage of raw materials for our chili sauce factory."

I had someone investigate, and guess what? That guy tried to contract our chili sauce factory through Huang Keli, but when that didn't work out, he opened a similar factory in Qinghe County.

After making adjustments, Zhang Chu managed to maintain the supply of chili peppers.

Once the chili pepper production base in Xiangyang Town is put into operation next year, the problem of raw materials will be completely solved.

However, Fang Wei wasn't the type to take a beating without fighting back, so he specifically sent someone to investigate the factory's background, and the results were quite intriguing. (End of Chapter)