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

Time flies.

The Yao village has already prepared the new season's soybean seeds for spring planting, and everyone is starting to prepare for the New Year, waiting for the celebration.

Binbin and Xiaojie returned home one after another, and the winter vacation officially began.

"Dad, our mentor said that if we have the chance, we should go and collect herbs ourselves a few times. On the one hand, we can familiarize ourselves with the growing environment of the herbs, and on the other hand, we can learn how to distinguish the medicinal properties of the herbs."

After Binbin returned home, he visited Sun Daoren. Once home, he pestered Fang Wei, wanting his father to take him into the mountains to collect herbs.

After Master Sun left, the clinic continued to operate. However, the ownership of the clinic had changed; Zhao Baocheng and several other doctors pooled their money to take it over.

Therefore, Binbin stopped helping out at the clinic.

"Going into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs is dangerous. Aren't you afraid?"

Fang Wei neither agreed nor refused, but instead asked a different question.

"Don't worry! I can make my own snake and insect repellent powder, and it works very well."

Binbin is very brave and won't give up his plan to go into the mountains to collect herbs just because of Fang Wei's words.

Pan Lianhua wanted to stop him, but considering the man's abilities, she said nothing.

"Alright then, I'll take you for a drive in the mountains tomorrow."

Fang Wei nodded and agreed to her son's request.

In reality, these days, very few doctors personally go into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs. Partly because they lack the means, and partly because it's unnecessary, given the relatively convenient flow of goods in modern society.

Since my son wants to experience gathering herbs, it's fine to take him.

Even though he no longer has firearms, as long as he has a machete, nothing in the mountains can harm the father and son.

After so many years of clearing, wild boars are rarely seen in the mountains anymore. And ferocious beasts like tigers and leopards have long since disappeared, so going into the mountains poses no danger to him at all.

the next day.

Fang Wei took Binbin into the mountains.

Pan Lianhua didn't go; she, Xiaojie, and her older sister were going to the market, as there weren't many days left until the Spring Festival.

Fang Wei and Binbin walked leisurely through the mountains and forests. Binbin was in good physical condition and looked very energetic due to years of exercise.

"You're right to think of snake and insect repellent. We don't need to fight venomous snakes. If we can get rid of them, we should do so. Also, we should be familiar with the appearance of various venomous snakes, so that we can prepare our own antidote if we get bitten."

Throughout the journey, Fang Wei shared his experience of navigating the mountains with his son.

He especially talked about the number one threat, venomous snakes, starting with prevention, including snake driving, snake catching, and snake venom treatment, giving a comprehensive account of it.

The Fang family has an ancestral recipe, which he passed down to Binbin, so the recipe has a successor.

The father and son only rested once on the way before arriving at the herb cultivation base.

Binbin needed to find some rare herbs, and Fang Wei remained silent, waiting for him to try to find them himself. Only if he couldn't find them would Fang Wei offer some guidance.

"Binbin, the worst thing you can do when collecting herbs is to engage in destructive harvesting; we also need to consider sustainable development."

Fang Wei explained a lot about the rules and techniques for collecting herbs, which Binbin quickly memorized.

Binbin finally stopped after working for two hours.

Fang Wei stepped forward and picked out a few herbs, saying, "Some herbs are easy to confuse. These herbs are quite different from the ones on your list. You should pay attention to them in the future."

Overall, Binbin has a good eye, but there are still a few mistakes.

Fang Wei explained everything to his son, and Binbin finally understood and remembered what his father had said. Then he went to pick more herbs and quickly brought back the correct varieties.

"You've done a good job. Let's go home."

He took Binbin home, and Binbin quickly wrote down all of today's gains in his notebook.

His medical skills were undoubtedly far superior to his father's; the two were essentially incomparable. However, his father's ability to identify herbs far surpassed his own, something he felt he couldn't even begin to match.

Fang Wei didn't explain; he possessed multiple personal attributes, including the ability to detect and identify.

In addition, the rich practical experience he accumulated in the mountains and forests is something that most people would find difficult to surpass.

This winter vacation was truly meaningful for Binbin. He often went into the mountains with his father to collect medicinal herbs, and eventually he was able to basically distinguish the various rare herbs in the herb cultivation base.

It's not easy to do that, so it seems Binbin is quite talented.

Binbin also learned how to process these rare herbs from his father, and before he knew it, the Spring Festival had arrived.

This Spring Festival, the most talked-about topic was not the Spring Festival Gala programs, but the frequent favorable policies, which finally brought private enterprises into the spotlight.

Although the conditions for setting up a limited liability company are quite strict, such as the requirement that the registered capital must be fully paid up, at least it allows private individuals to start businesses and companies.

It was around this time that collective enterprises gradually declined, and the reform of state-owned enterprises once again became the mainstream.

This matter will have little impact on Yaoling Agriculture. At most, it will be converted into a limited liability company as required, but the core collective ownership of the enterprise will remain unchanged. In other words, the enterprise will ultimately belong to all members of the three cooperatives.

But for those who benefited from reform and opening up, many had access to a broader stage.

Of course, it was also during this process that many collective enterprises gradually transformed into private enterprises, and even many state-owned enterprises changed their ownership structure. "We will adhere to the path of collective economy, not carry out enterprise reform, not engage in management buyouts, but we can improve employee benefits as much as possible in terms of distribution."

After returning to work on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Fang Wei convened a joint meeting in the commune, reiterating the determination to follow the path of collective economy.

At the beginning of this year, Yaoling Agriculture increased the wages of its employees by 30% and also increased the base for bonuses, resulting in a significant increase in average income per employee.

But now some people are starting to have doubts, and he has to emphasize these issues.

“I agree with the Party Secretary’s statement that we should not carry out enterprise restructuring.”

Cai Tong was the first to express his stance, and the others also expressed their willingness to follow Secretary Fang to the end.

Now that everyone recognizes that Yaoling Agriculture cannot be privatized, the purpose of this meeting has been achieved, and Fang Wei then adjourned the meeting.

Next, we'll begin preparing for spring planting, and this issue will no longer be discussed.

Fragrant Hills in Guangdong.

In a dilapidated rented room, Fan Zhipeng held a newspaper and read it over and over again.

After fleeing his hometown, he eventually arrived in Xiangshan, because there are only two major lock manufacturing bases in China: the smaller one in Xinlin County and the larger one in Xiangshan.

With his years of management experience, Fan Zhipeng became a front-line manager in a lock factory, a position far lower than his previous one in the hardware factory.

He had no choice but to endure it; if he missed this opportunity, he would go hungry.

Actually, he didn't hate Fang Wei. Fang Wei and Cai Tong and others handled things professionally and ultimately left him some room for maneuver; otherwise, he might have already lost his freedom.

But he was not convinced and was determined to turn things around.

"Old Fan, what are you looking at so intently? Time to eat."

His wife called Fan Zhipeng to dinner, and only then did he put down the newspaper he was reading.

Now that private businesses, factories, and corporations are finally allowed, he simply doesn't have the money. He believes that if he were given another chance, he could definitely get back on his feet.

But for now, let's fill our stomachs first.

"I'm going to work. Make yourself something to eat for lunch. Don't be too frugal."

After lunch, Fan Zhipeng rode the second-hand bicycle he had bought some time ago straight to the factory.

On a road not far from the factory, he was probably too engrossed in his thoughts and didn't check the surrounding road conditions when turning, almost hitting a car.

"Can you even ride a bike? You're looking down and not watching where you're going. Who's going to be responsible if there's an accident?"

The driver was startled, jumped out of the car, and started yelling at Fan Zhipeng.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Fan Zhipeng quickly apologized and said nice things. Only then did the driver turn around and get into the car. The car and the bicycle went their separate ways, and Yu Hao, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, was still turning his head to look at Fan Zhipeng.

Yu Hao certainly knew Fan Zhipeng and was aware of that matter, but he never expected to run into him in Xiangshan.

Some things just happen by chance.

Upon entering his office, Yu Hao immediately called Fang Wei.

"Secretary, guess who I just saw?"

"Who did you see? Could it be Fan Zhipeng?"

Fang Wei's answer startled Yu Hao. He was a little confused. Did the other party have the ability to predict the future?
"I did see Fan Zhipeng, how did you know?"

"I'm just guessing. The matter that would make you call must be something important. Fan Zhipeng is most likely to have gone to Xiangshan to escape his debts, which is why you ran into him."

Fang Wei's logic is very clear: Fan Zhipeng is quite old, so the probability of him going back to his old profession is the highest.

There are only two places in the country with the most developed lock industry. Excluding Xinlin County, that leaves Xiangshan. Based on his understanding of Fan Zhipeng, the other party wouldn't be a deadbeat forever. Only Xiangshan might be able to turn his life around.

After listening to Fang Wei's analysis, Yu Hao felt very impressed.

"Should we find out exactly which factory Fan Zhipeng works at?"

Yu Hao's meaning was also very clear: he was asking Fang Wei if she needed to deal with Fan Zhipeng again.

"Forget it, we have no obligation to help creditors collect debts. I'm more curious whether Fan Zhipeng can make a comeback."

Fan Zhipeng has been fired from the company, ruining the other party's "golden cicada shedding its shell" plan and leaving the other party with a huge debt.

There's no need to resort to other means; it's best to pretend you know nothing.

"Understood! You go ahead with your work, I'll contact you later."

Yu Hao smiled and then hung up.

He had no personal grudges against Fan Zhipeng, so since Fang Wei said to let it go, then so be it.

It seems the other party is also working in a factory. With the meager wages they earn, I wonder when they will be able to pay off their debts.

Fang Wei felt that the world was really small. It seemed that Fan Zhipeng had no other choice but to work in Xiangshan.

After hanging up the phone, he went about his official business and quickly put the matter out of his mind. (End of Chapter)