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

The host first read out the bid from the third company, whose bid exceeded the reserve price by 43%.

What happened next was no surprise. Yaoling Agriculture won the bid with a price that was 50% higher than the reserve price. After on-site discussions, the county announced that Yaoling Agriculture had won the bid.

The members of the bidding team breathed a long sigh of relief, and Fang Wei congratulated them.

The result was not unexpected, except that he had to pay 50% more in contract fees. After the bidding meeting, he contacted Luo Zhimin.

"Are you satisfied now? We've truly suffered an undeserved disaster. The land contract fee has inexplicably increased by 50%. Are you trying to force the company out of business?"

Fang Wei was very unhappy. Although he had once again acquired 4 mu of land for the breeding center, this whole ordeal had increased costs considerably.

It's not that we can't afford it, it's just that doing things this way all the time is very unfriendly to businesses.

“Secretary Fang, my dear Secretary Fang, this really wasn’t the county’s idea. The contract fee is a small matter; even if it doubles, how much will it amount to? I promise you, the county will never raise the contract fee on its own initiative within the next five years.”

Luo Zhimin was afraid that Yaoling Agriculture would leave Xinlin County. Xinlin County is located in a remote area, and an industrial park and Yaoling Agriculture are definitely the two major economic pillars of the county.

Moreover, most of the profitable enterprises in the county are subsidiaries of Yaoling Agriculture.

If we offend Yaoling Agriculture, and they leave for other places, the entire county's finances will collapse.

"Within five years? Whether you'll even be in Xinlin County within five years is another matter."

Fang Wei didn't go too far; after expressing her dissatisfaction, she left Luo Zhimin's office.

He knew that this matter had little to do with the county, but if he didn't take this opportunity to say something, there was no telling what trouble might arise later.

Let's get this straight up in advance, so that some people won't keep trying to pull any funny tricks.

night.

Fang Wei had just sat down at home when he heard Pan Lianhua calling from the yard: "Third Brother, come help me move some things."

The two usually park their car outside the courtyard wall. There are only two cars in the village now, so they can park them anywhere without blocking the road.

"coming."

Fang Wei then got up and went out. When he arrived at Pan Lianhua's car, he was surprised to find that the entire trunk and back seats were packed full of daily necessities such as soap, laundry detergent, toothpaste, and salt.

They were all sold in whole boxes, it was enough to make my scalp tingle.

"Lotus, are you opening a convenience store?"

With so much stuff, the family couldn't even use it all in a year, so his suspicions were certainly justified.

"Why open a small shop? Everyone says that the prices of daily necessities are about to rise sharply. I'll just buy some and stock up at home to use slowly."

Pan Lianhua is quite proud of herself. I don't know where the rumor came from, but these past two days there have been rumors everywhere that prices are going to rise.

Many people sprang into action, buying whatever they could find, even bringing back boxes of matches.

She wasn't going to be outdone. She would just buy whatever daily necessities she used regularly at home, regardless of whether her family had money or not. What she saved was what she earned, and she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Fang Wei couldn't help but slap his forehead as distant memories surfaced; he had almost forgotten about the "buying frenzy."

In the years of price reform and price liberalization, many rumors have been circulating about prices, which gradually accumulated and finally triggered this buying frenzy.

People bought whatever they could find, from daily necessities to home appliances, and even tons of honeycomb briquettes.

This is a prime example of irrational consumption; it's said that some people have bought so much stock that it can last for several years.

"Girls really know how to manage money."

All the complaints turned into a single compliment, and Fang Wei carried several boxes into the house.

The couple went back and forth several times before they finally managed to empty the car.

Fang Wei had a piece of advice: never try to reason with your wife; it's pointless. Anyway, the house is big with lots of rooms, so there's plenty of room for all your stuff.

In fact, given our family's financial situation, what impact would a doubling of prices have on our lives?

His older sister cooked four dishes and a soup for dinner, all of which were Fang Wei's favorites, so he drank two cups of wine. Halfway through the meal, his sister-in-law, Tian Guihua, came in from outside.

"Lotus, I heard prices are going to go up a lot soon. I'm thinking of buying some things to store at home tomorrow. Do you want to come?"

After greeting everyone, Tian Guihua sat down next to Pan Lianhua.

She hurriedly ate dinner at home and rushed over, wanting to call up Pan Lianhua to go to the market early the next morning and buy more daily necessities.

Fortunately, there's no need to stockpile rice, cooking oil, and other groceries at home; otherwise, she would have had to buy several thousand kilograms of rice.

"I've already bought some, but I can go with you tomorrow to see if there's anything else we need?"

Pan Lianhua finished her dinner in a few bites and then pulled Tian Guihua aside to talk.

Later, the older sister also joined in; all three women were clearly very interested in the shopping spree.

Fang Wei silently shook his head, drank his wine by himself, and ate two large bowls of rice in the end.

After finishing his meal, he went to his study and called Zhang Wenyuan to inquire about the company's recent sales performance.

"Small appliances and electric fans have been selling well lately, and air conditioner sales have also increased slightly. Secretary, is there any new information?" Zhang Wenyuan first reported the company's sales situation in detail before asking his question.

Fang Wei smiled and told the other party about the recent rumors of price increases, adding that a buying frenzy was likely to occur soon.

"That's a possibility. I need to tell them to stock up on more goods as soon as possible."

Zhang Wenyuan immediately sensed a business opportunity. At present, only a minority of families buy air conditioners, but other home appliances are rapidly entering ordinary people's homes.

The company's electric fans and small appliances are already very popular, and we should be able to sell more by taking advantage of this trend.

The two chatted for a while before ending the call.

After making the call, Fang Wei left the study. Tian Guihua also left, and the couple went out for a walk together. He only needed to mention the panic buying to Zhang Wenyuan; he was too lazy to say anything more.

A few days passed quickly.

The panic buying frenzy intensified, with many distributors running out of stock. Some people were grabbing whatever they could find, and some even had enough salt to last them for eight to ten years.

Completely incomprehensible.

Fang Wei and Cai Tong, among others, made a phone call and decided to raise the prices of all kinds of seeds and varieties of rice, effective immediately.

In a short period of time, the prices of various commodities have increased to varying degrees. If they do not take action, they simply cannot withstand the pressure of costs.

The company has virtually no rice seed inventory, and its stock of seeds for other cash crops is also very low. However, the supply of vegetable seeds is more dispersed, allowing them to capitalize on the initial wave of profits.

Rice is a product that is sold continuously, making it the biggest beneficiary of this round of price increases.

The price surge coupled with panic buying quickly attracted the attention of relevant departments. After a number of policies were introduced, market prices stabilized and consumption returned to rationality.

However, prices that have risen are not going back to normal. They have fallen somewhat, but they will never be the same as before.

"Third Brother, I still acted impulsively after all."

Pan Lianhua looked at the various products in the room and was both amused and exasperated.

I don't know when I'll ever need all this stuff.

“It’s alright, I’ll bring some back from the village later. I’ll take this opportunity to visit the elderly living alone and the people receiving the five guarantees.”

The entire Yaoling Cooperative has tens of thousands of people, and what little they have at home is simply not enough to go around.

Fang Wei planned to take some as gifts to the Yao village, because he knew that these vulnerable groups would not rush to buy supplies.

Without further ado, the family took a large amount of supplies to the Yao village over the weekend.

He is the village head, and it is his duty to visit the elderly living alone and those receiving the five guarantees (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orphans). He does this every year during festivals and holidays, and he also visits them whenever he remembers.

Isn't it strange that there are so many people?

After returning from the Yao village, Fang Wei drove to the Hengzhou production base.

The Hengzhou production base has completed its spring planting while simultaneously undergoing construction. The land the company has contracted is quite good, but it requires the construction of related supporting facilities. The entire project is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

"Secretary, we are currently living in the recommended dormitory. The new office building and dormitory are under construction. The water conservancy facilities and irrigation system have been completed ahead of schedule, and facilities such as the granary will be completed soon."

The rice paddies are growing well, but the whole base still seems a bit chaotic.

Adhering to the principle of not delaying production, the construction of production facilities is prioritized, while other facilities, including employee dormitories, must be postponed.

"The staff dormitory cannot be delayed for too long; we must hurry up and get it built."

Fang Wei had no other complaints, except that the employees' living conditions were rather poor, which annoyed him.

"It was our oversight; we will correct this mistake immediately."

The base manager quickly admitted his mistake and subsequently adjusted the project schedule.

Overall, Fang Wei was quite satisfied. They hadn't had the land in Hengzhou for long, so the current state was already quite good.

But no matter what, he would never let his employees suffer, and he was never ambiguous about that.

night.

Fang Wei experienced the temporary dormitory for a while and didn't sleep well all night because there were too many mosquitoes.

Therefore, at the meeting the next day, the priority of the employee dormitory was raised again, and it was placed first in the order of priority. It is expected to be completed around the time of the summer harvest.

He stayed at the Hengzhou production base for three days before returning to his village.

He wouldn't go to other places, leaving the inspections to Fang Ping, which would give him some peace and quiet.

Two days later, he received news from Xiangshan that Xiangyang Locks' second production line had started operation. This was much faster than originally planned, which showed that Lu Zhiwen and his team must have put in a lot of effort.

He had confidence in Lu Zhiwen and his team. With the prestigious reputation of Yaoling Agriculture, they wouldn't be so easily defeated by Fan Zhipeng and his group.

Only then did Fang Wei truly make his move.

He called Wu Tianming and Jiang Shiyue separately about the foreign trade orders; both of them had connections and could indeed be of great help. (End of Chapter)