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

"What could possibly happen? At most, Tao Tao will be coming here after the New Year to support agricultural production. His personal connections will still remain with the Science and Technology Department of the Agriculture Bureau, won't they?"

Fang Wei could roughly guess what was going on, so he casually offered his older brother a word of comfort.

Fang Ping had been a manager at the coal mine for years, so he immediately understood what the other party meant.

Going to the countryside is also for work, and as long as you are still a member of the provincial science and technology department, there is no problem.

After a while, Fang Tao and Xiao Ya, who had finished washing up, also came over. They were too embarrassed to just take the food for granted, so they had to help out in some way to feel at ease.

After a flurry of activity, everyone sat down together to eat their New Year's Eve dinner.

The Fang family didn't have many rules, but everyone still toasted Master Sun. He was an elder, and respecting the elderly and caring for the young were traditional virtues that the family valued highly.

Master Sun smiled and said a few auspicious words, then gave everyone a peace charm.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and Fang Wei didn't ask his nephew about work. Anyway, the other party wouldn't just stay for a few days after coming back for the New Year.

However, Fang Tao obviously didn't intend to drag it out for that long. After everyone had finished eating and drinking and went to turn on the TV, he explained to his uncle and father the reason for his sudden return.

“I had actually applied to my work unit a long time ago to carry out science and technology outreach activities in Xiangling area, but my work unit did not respond until just before the Spring Festival holiday. They suddenly approved my application and told me to contact Xinlin County after the holiday.”

The Science and Technology Department has many functions, and supporting the development of agricultural science and technology in grassroots units and guiding everyone to farm scientifically is an important responsibility of Fang Tao.

Since he went to the Science and Technology Department, he has spent most of his time running around in grassroots units and has done a lot of practical things.

Previously, the work was always assigned by the department, but this time he applied on his own initiative, which caused some delay. However, the outcome was still good, and the matter was ultimately resolved to meet his wishes.

"That's great! You're actually not suited for an office job; you're better suited for doing something practical. Bringing science and technology to the countryside isn't just a slogan; it requires people to put in real effort to see results."

Fang Wei couldn't help but sigh, his nephew had been very self-disciplined since childhood and was excellent in all aspects, but he wasn't very good at handling interpersonal relationships at work.

But it doesn't matter, with him backing Tao Tao up, the sky won't fall.

That night, Fang Ping's family all went home. Pan Lianhua received a call from Binbin and Xiaojie, and Fang Wei also made phone calls to several old friends.

A few days passed quickly.

Before they knew it, it was time to go back to work. Xiaoya and her child still had some time left on their holiday. Tao Tao went to the county to contact relevant departments and went to the relatively remote Tangjialing Township.

Tangjialing Township is mostly hillsides and terraced fields, and its economic development is relatively backward. He hopes to help farmers increase production and income through certain technical means.

On Fang Wei's first day at work, she received a report from the sales company, which compiled sales figures for cooking oil from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival.

Yaoling brand cooking oil has performed well overall, especially rapeseed oil, which has been the top-selling product in the domestic market for several consecutive weeks.

"Sales are expected to decline after the holiday, but this is determined by the overall market environment."

After reviewing the report, Yang Feng and Fang Wei shared their analytical conclusions.

Fang Wei nodded, then called Lin Bingkun and Lu Zhiwen to discuss the possibility of a price reduction for cooking oil.

Currently, the price of edible oil in China is high, while the production cost of Yaoling brand edible oil has been significantly reduced, which provides room for price reduction.

“Secretary, shall we take the lead in lowering the price? After all, Yaoling brand cooking oil is cheaper than the major giants, and its quality is even better than theirs. There is not much need for us to take the initiative to lower the price.”

Lin Bingkun was not in favor of lowering the price, and his reasons were quite valid.

"We cannot only consider the issue from our own perspective. The major giants previously engaged in a price war, and then took advantage of the rising prices of oilseed crops in the international market to raise prices significantly. In reality, they wanted to seize excess profits."

Previously, we adopted a follower strategy because our raw material preparations were insufficient. Now that this problem has been completely resolved, we must disrupt their plans.

Fang Wei felt that Lin Bingkun hadn't grasped the essence of the problem. The essence of this matter was that several major companies wanted to monopolize the market in order to seize excessive profits.

Therefore, Yaoling Group cannot let them have their way, since the two sides are inherently in a life-or-death relationship.

Once Lin Bingkun was persuaded, persuading Lu Zhiwen became much easier.

The group's senior management acted quickly. This was not a task that one company could accomplish alone; it required the collaboration of the group, Yaoling Agriculture, Yaoling Food, and the sales company.

If the company takes the initiative to lower the price of cooking oil, it could very well trigger a price war.

Therefore, the entire group must be on high alert.

After completing the preparations, Yaoling brand cooking oil suddenly announced a price reduction of 9%. This reduction is not small, and it seems to have a certain element of testing the waters.

Consumers have long been fed up with the ever-increasing price of cooking oil, so the sudden announcement of a price reduction by a cooking oil company has made many people very happy.

The period after the holiday is usually a slow season for consumption, but the price reductions alone have triggered a wave of retaliatory spending.

Sales of Yaoling brand cooking oil have once again surged, especially rapeseed oil, with the market performance even better than before the Lunar New Year.

Strangely, the major players didn't react at all. They neither followed suit with price cuts nor made any other moves, their silence was unsettling. Fang Wei instructed Lin Bingkun and the others to be careful and not to underestimate their strength; they might be preparing a major move.

As the weather gradually warms up, Yaoling Agriculture has mobilized all its staff to prepare for spring planting.

"Lotus, I'm planning a trip to Shenzhen. Once the meeting notice is issued, I'll head straight to Beijing for the meeting. What about you? Are you planning to stay home or come with me?"

Since leaving the bamboo ware factory, Pan Lianhua has completely cut off contact with the factory.

She spends her days at home reading and gardening, and sometimes she goes for walks around the village with her older sister. She lives a very leisurely life. Of course, she has the means to do so and doesn't have to worry about money at all.

Another thing is that she loves to travel and enjoys going out for walks from time to time.

So when Fang Wei planned to go to Shenzhen, he specifically asked the other party if they would like to go together.

“Okay, but I’ll go to Guangzhou after visiting my daughter. You’ll be going to Beijing for a meeting soon, and Xiaojie is busy every day. It’s not fun for the two of us to stay there.”

Pan Lianhua prefers Guangzhou to the fast-paced special economic zone.

At least when staying in Guangzhou, you can see Binbin's family almost every day, while Xiaojie is so busy that you can't see her for ten days or half a month.

"Whatever you want. You and your sister pack your things and we'll leave the day after tomorrow."

Fang Wei smiled, knowing that this was because the woman harbored some resentment towards her daughter.

The root of the resentment wasn't that Xiaojie was too busy with work, but that her partner always used being busy with work as an excuse not to have children. Since this couldn't be forced, Pan Lianhua could only suffer in silence.

Fang Wei also felt that her daughter's idea was wrong, but she didn't have such a strong resentment.

Two days later.

Fang Wei and the others headed straight to Shenzhen. Pan Lianhua and her sister settled down at home, while he went directly to the seawater rice experimental field.

When Wang Muqi saw him, he immediately took out the freshly harvested seawater rice seeds, his face full of pride, indicating that this round of cultivation had been very successful.

"Secretary, this round of cultivation has been very successful. The yield of seawater rice has exceeded 1000 jin per mu. Not only has its resistance been significantly improved, but its quality, taste and flavor have also made great progress."

Fang Wei could immediately tell whether something was good or bad just by looking at the actual item in front of him.

He then checked the planting records, and a smile gradually appeared on his face. This round of cultivation went very well, with a yield of 1080 jin per mu, and all the data were quite good.

"As usual, send some seeds to Professor Ma and his team for them to plant and verify. The results of this round are good, but they haven't met my standards yet, so we'll continue with the next round of cultivation."

Fang Wei then made arrangements for the fourth round of training.

The key to this breeding effort is to increase yield. Once other attributes are balanced, the only attribute to increase is yield.

At this moment, he missed Yao Village very much. The experimental fields in Yao Village were unique, which greatly increased the probability of crops mutating during the cultivation process.

However, the Yao village has no saline-alkali land or mudflats, so this road is temporarily impassable.

Two days passed.

Fang Wei received calls from Professor Ma and Professor Lin, who had already arrived in Shenzhen.

He quickly sent someone to the hotel to pick up the two professors and bring them to the experimental field. The two professors seemed very excited and kept asking Wang Muqi about various details.

“Secretary Fang, I didn’t expect you to actually make this happen! To be honest, we agreed to work together on the research of seawater rice, but we couldn’t help at all.”

Professor Ma was as talkative as ever, while Professor Lin remained as sparing with his words.

However, both of them shared the same sentiment: they felt indebted to the other. It wasn't that they were unwilling to help; they simply lacked the ability.

"What are you saying? Without your preliminary research, how could we have achieved this breakthrough? There's no need for formalities between us. I think this project will be fully successful by next year at the latest."

Fang Wei smiled and waved his hand, inviting the two into his office.

Professor Ma and Professor Lin only hold 30% of the equity in this project, given their significant upfront contributions. Therefore, Fang Wei didn't expect them to offer any assistance when the cooperation agreement was signed.

Professor Ma then said no more. They were all smart people, and there was no need to repeat himself since he had already made his point clear.

Next, the two saw the latest cultivation results: seawater rice with a yield of nearly 1100 jin per mu.

noon.

Wang Muqi specially arranged for someone to make sea red rice, and the staff delivered three bowls, along with four dishes and a soup.

Professor Ma and Professor Lin tasted it and were immediately stunned! (End of Chapter)