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

By evening, the river level began to rise, and all units activated their emergency plans.

Fang Wei personally led people to guard the river embankment, which is the first line of defense against floods and must be held no matter what.

It was a tough night; he barely slept, constantly checking the water level.

early morning.

The torrential rain stopped without warning, and by the morning the sky had cleared up, much to everyone's relief.

"The weather is unpredictable. I was worried that it would turn into a flood, but the rain stopped and the sky cleared up overnight."

Weather forecasts aren't that accurate now, and it will be difficult to do so even decades from now.

Fang Wei didn't see anything wrong with spending the night on the dike; avoiding disaster was the greatest happiness. He and the cadres and commune members who had stayed up all night went to the canteen for a meal, and everyone seemed very happy.

After dinner, he went home to sleep, and the rest would be handled by a designated person.

He slept until the afternoon, and his older sister quickly heated up his food. After eating, he fully recovered.

In the following days, all units resumed normal production and life, and the implementation and cancellation of the contingency plans were carried out very quickly.

Fang Wei calmed down and finished her official duties, then continued to shuttle between the office, the research institute, and the Yao village.

While things appeared calm on the surface, the county had actually held several meetings to discuss in-depth cooperation with Yaoling Agriculture. In the past two years, various townships had experienced severe labor shortages, making the effective use of arable land a top priority.

"Secretary Luo, even if we are willing to cooperate with Yaoling Agriculture, we don't know what they think. Why don't we invite Secretary Fang over so we can all talk about it?"

While it's called cooperation, everyone knows in their hearts that there's only one way to cooperate: the Qianjin Township model.

However, opinions on this issue differ among the other townships. Some farmers are still willing to cultivate the land themselves and are unwilling to contract it out again.

Yaoling agriculture requires contiguous land; they don't want small plots of land scattered around.

Seeing that a stalemate had been reached on these issues, the director of the Agriculture Bureau suggested that Luo Zhimin invite Fang Wei to the county to talk.

"Okay, I'll make the call myself."

After thinking for a moment, Luo Zhimin got up and went to call Fang Wei.

When the call was made, the other party was not in the office; the staff said that Secretary Fang had gone to the research institute.

Fortunately, the matter itself wasn't that urgent. Luo Zhimin left a message, asking Secretary Fang to go to the county tomorrow morning, and then hung up.

Fang Wei has been closely monitoring the research on the new generation of rapeseed these days, and is also preparing for the market launch of the new generation of soybeans.

He plans to send all the materials to Sun Shili before the Dragon Boat Festival, and Sun Shili will complete the relevant review work as soon as possible.

Crop seeds produced by Yaoling Agriculture always receive the green light during the review process; almost all materials submitted are approved for market launch in a very short time.

In recent years, the management of many industries has gradually become more standardized, and Fang Wei is willing to use this standard to demand that Yaoling Industry meet its standards.

in the afternoon.

Fang Wei arrived at the Yao village, and the staff had already called ahead of time.

"Third Brother, the county wants you to go there tomorrow morning. They've even called me."

"Oh, I see."

Fang Wei didn't take it seriously. He then went to the experimental field and checked the soybean planting records for the past few days.

"Songlin, where is your secondary mutant strain?"

Checking the planting records is his habit, a routine, and generally there are no surprises.

But today, an unexpected event occurred: a secondary mutant strain was discovered in the experimental field.

"It's right over there, there's only one, and how should I put it, you should see it for yourself."

Before Wang Songlin could report the matter, he took Fang Wei to find the mutated strain.

This mutant strain grew alone in a corner, and physical isolation was specially implemented to avoid contamination of the variety.

Fang Wei walked over and immediately noticed the problem with this mutated plant. The plant looked shorter and droopy than the others, appearing half-dead.

It seems that this mutant strain is rather delicate, meaning it lacks resistance. If it were left outside, it might die from any accident.

"Third Brother, now you know why I didn't report to you in time, right? I think this thing is having a hard time surviving, it's really not as good as the species we're about to finalize. Maybe we should just eradicate it."

That makes perfect sense. If Wang Songlin hadn't strictly followed the rules and regulations, this thing might not even exist anymore.

"Don't touch it yet, go do your thing, let me think about it some more."

Although Wang Songlin disliked this mutant strain, Fang Wei had other considerations.

This plant undoubtedly has a congenital defect; simply put, its resistance is too poor, which is why its growth is affected. He can't currently assess other aspects of it, such as yield or oil extraction rate. But discarding it directly seems a bit wasteful, after all, mutant plants aren't like cabbages; obtaining them is actually quite difficult.

Fortunately, this mutant strain was isolated from its surroundings, so Fang Wei adjusted the properties of this small experimental plot to increase its resistance as much as possible, and then asked the members of the breeding team to pay attention to fertilizing this plot.

Continuing to cultivate this mutant strain would be a simple task for him. If it proves effective, the mutant strain could serve as material for breeding third-generation soybean varieties, or at the very least, provide another option.

After finishing this matter, Fang Wei left the Yao village.

The next day.

Fang Weiyi arrived at Luo Zhimin's office early in the morning.

"Secretary Fang, everyone wants to talk to you about further deepening agricultural cooperation with Yaoling. As you know, the Qianjin Township model has shown great vitality over time."

In contrast, grain production by farmers in various townships, after a rapid increase, has actually had little room for further growth in the past two years, and has even declined somewhat.

Without wasting words, Luo Zhimin got straight to the point after Fang Wei sat down.

His words surprised Fang Wei. The so-called Qianjin Township model was just a way to subcontract farmland from farmers to companies.

What's going on? Is the other party going to contract out all the farmland in the county to Yaoling Agriculture?

"This matter can be discussed, but there may be some troubles in terms of specific implementation. One is the company's funding, and the other is whether the county will encounter resistance in doing so."

Fang Wei did not immediately express his opinion. He needed to be cautious about this matter and would discuss it properly with Cai Tong and the others later.

His impulsive decision could bring unpredictable risks.

Another question is, if most of the farmland in Xinlin County were given to Yaoling Agriculture, would the higher authorities have any objections?
These are all things that need to be carefully considered.

"Okay, let's go have a meeting first, and you can hear what everyone has to say."

Luo Zhimin didn't rush him, and then the two of them went to the conference room together.

The county's key personnel all arrived, and a meeting was held shortly afterward. Everyone spoke and proposed various cooperation conditions.

Fang Wei didn't say anything. It was understandable that these people wanted to secure the best conditions for the county. However, they might have overlooked one thing: at this moment, Yaoling Agriculture was the proactive party, while the county was the passive party.

After everyone had finished speaking, Fang Wei finally spoke.

"Thank you all for your attention to Yaoling Agriculture, but the company is not as rich as you think. The company has developed very quickly in the past two years, and with the large dividends and donations, the company's funds are actually quite tight."

Therefore, we plan to slow down our development pace and consolidate our existing achievements. Acquiring so much land all at once would be very difficult for us, and the county would need to provide us with at least a loan.

Does Yaoling Agriculture lack funds? Actually, it does.

The so-called lack of money was just an excuse for Fang Wei, and his request for a loan was deliberate. He wanted to make it clear that Yaoling Agriculture had no reason to contract with other townships; on the contrary, it seemed rather reluctant.

He is only willing to negotiate according to the forward-looking approach and will not accept any additional conditions.

After Fang Wei finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.

Besides Luo Zhimin, many people in the county got their roles backwards. They thought Yaoling Agriculture desperately wanted more land to achieve extraordinary development, but Fang Wei told them that he wasn't really willing.

Seeing the awkward silence in the meeting room, Luo Zhimin quickly said, "Today's meeting is like a symposium. Everyone can speak freely, and it doesn't matter whether you're right or wrong."

Fang Wei smiled and said no more.

Shortly after, Luo Zhimin said a few words, and the meeting ended abruptly.

Fang Wei didn't linger; he got into his car immediately after leaving the meeting and returned to his office.

In his office, he called Cai Tong to discuss with the company the possibility of further expanding the contracted land area.

“Secretary, we do need to continue expanding, but we don’t necessarily have to cooperate with Xinlin County. How about this, I’ll hold an emergency meeting this afternoon and hear what everyone has to say.”

Cai Tong had no complaints about the county leaders, but he felt it was best not to put all his eggs in one basket.

Take the last flood as an example. Xinlin County was severely affected, while Yangshan County was only slightly affected, and Chenzhou was not affected at all.

There are also risks related to policies, personnel changes, and so on.

For example, what if Luo Zhimin is transferred in the future, and the new leader has other ideas? Although the contract is there, if the other party is determined not to support him, some things will be difficult to handle.

"Alright, you guys discuss it first, then report back to me later."

Fang Wei also felt that Luo Zhimin was being a bit idealistic. He thought that this matter should not be rushed and that it was best to proceed slowly.

The company also felt it was not advisable to invest heavily in Xinlin County, so Cai Tong and others went to Hengzhou to discuss a 30-mu rapeseed planting base project with the local authorities.

These days, investors are all big shots, and every region has a task of attracting investment. Cai Tong and his team received a warm welcome from the locals.

Fang Wei regretfully informed Luo Zhimin that the company did not plan to continue contracting land in the county in the short term. (End of Chapter)