After the divorce, he settled in Northwest China and became a Shennong (a legendary Chinese farmer).

Chapter 104 Oil Extraction: A Differentiated Approach

"Old village chief, thank you for your trouble. I'll invite you to try my rapeseed oil later."

Ilyas wasn't home at the moment, so Gu Tong sent him a message after returning home.

"I definitely have to try your rapeseed oil. Just by looking at the rapeseed, I know it's good stuff."

Ilyas responded, then remembered something else.

"By the way, Xiao Gu, the people from Jinfeng Group came to me the other day. They wanted to take over the village's harvesting services, but I ignored them. Our previous agreement is still in effect."

"Jin Feng is quick on his feet! Thank you for your trust, old village chief. We will definitely do a good job."

Gu Tong suddenly realized that he and Gu Lixian had encountered a car from Jinfeng Group at the village entrance that day; it turned out the other party was there to solicit business.

Ilyas now only recognizes Gu Tong and his four-person group, and he doesn't recognize anyone else.

Gu Tong was touched and said that she would definitely not let the other party down.

Ilyas nodded in satisfaction. Some things didn't need to be said; the two of them understood.

The next day.

Gu Tong got up early and first went to the alfalfa field for a stroll, then fed the sheep, horses, and dogs.

After breakfast, he prepared to start pressing oil.

"Family, the yield from my 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares) of rapeseed field is in, reaching 361.27 kilograms per mu. This result may not set a historical record in the local area, but it is definitely among the top levels."

He started the live stream and first reported on the production situation.

The day of the evaluation was chaotic, and some scenes were not convenient for filming, so fans do not yet know the specific data.

【Lonely Swordsman】: "You're really good at whetting people's appetites! Can someone tell me, what's the actual data?"

[I Don't Eat Donkey Meat]: "Quickly tell us, what were the results of the selection? Did you win?"

【Small Town Exam Taker 123】: "This yield per acre is amazing! A true farming master."

Fans have been waiting impatiently, wanting to know the exact yield per acre and the results of the selection.

"The selection process is still ongoing, and I'll definitely let everyone know the results as soon as they're available," Gu Tong replied with a smile. Then, she changed the subject and continued, "Today I'm going to press oil, just to show you all what it's like."

"What a great thing! Hurry up!"

The live stream chat immediately erupted in excitement. Many fans had been following the rapeseed planting process since it began, just to witness the final moment of oil extraction.

As everyone kept making noise, Gu Tong didn't say anything more and immediately turned off the oil press. The machine began to run smoothly, emitting a series of "humming" sounds.

Gu Tong then poured a large basin of dried rapeseed into the hopper. The glossy black rapeseed, with its plump kernels, slid down the funnel and into the depths of the pressing chamber.

The temperature in the pressing chamber rises rapidly, and the rapeseed is crushed and reorganized under enormous pressure, turning into a dark brown oil cake.

A moment later, a golden, viscous liquid dripped from the oil outlet, one drop, two drops... quickly forming a trickle that flowed into the oil collection bucket, where it gleamed like amber in the sunlight.

Gu Tong was captivated by the rich aroma of rapeseed oil.

Meanwhile, the oil residue, after being squeezed dry, was continuously being discharged from the slag outlet.

As the camera switched, fans got a clear look at the entire oil-pressing process, and even watching through the screen made their mouths water.

[Lonely Swordsman]: "Boss! I want to buy three barrels of oil. It looks much better than the rapeseed oil sold in the supermarket!"

"I want to buy one too..."

""

Fans witnessed firsthand the processes of tilling, rotary tillage, rapeseed sowing, aerial spraying, field management, and finally, the harvest. Looking at the rapeseed oil in front of them, they developed a strong desire to buy it.

Gu Tong had no choice but to explain the procedural issues.

"It's too late this year. If conditions are right next year, I will definitely get the SC (Special Permit) approved. Then I can openly sell rapeseed oil online."

【Lonely Swordsman】: "Are you kidding me? Please, boss, give me a bucket of rapeseed oil."

[Traveling with the Birds]: "I'm devastated! This is like a bolt from the blue!"

[I don't eat donkey meat]: "Okay, I won't even eat rapeseed oil anymore."

"Sigh, I really feel bad for everyone. Here's what I'll do: I'll hold a free raffle later. There are 10 barrels of rapeseed oil and 10 winners. Whether you win or not depends entirely on luck!"

At this moment, Gu Tong felt her heart was overflowing.

To quell the fans' unrest, he announced a giveaway.

The prize is 10 barrels of rapeseed oil, each weighing 5 kilograms. There are 10 winners, so one barrel for each person.

"The boss is brilliant!"

The gloomy atmosphere in the live stream room was swept away. It didn't matter whether you won or not, the important thing was to participate.

Gu Tong continued working and ended the broadcast an hour later.

By noon, all 840 kilograms of rapeseed had been fed into the oil press, yielding 320 kilograms of rapeseed oil, a yield of 38%.

1%.

Unfortunately, although his rapeseed is of very high quality, his oil pressing equipment and processes cannot compare with those of large factories, so this oil yield is already quite good.

The remaining oil cakes can be used as feed, but they must be detoxified first, otherwise they will be harmful to livestock.

After a busy morning, Gu Tong decided not to cook and drove to the countryside for lunch.

"Have you heard? In just a few days, Honghe has been forced to retreat under the attack of Jinfeng Group."

"Yes, I've heard about it too. I don't know how Jinfeng Group is so powerful. They targeted Honghe's major clients right away. It's said that most of these major clients have switched sides to Jinfeng Group."

Filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest, Gu Tong entered a small restaurant.

He ordered two dishes and a soup to treat himself, but while waiting for the food to be served, he overheard a conversation at the next table.

These days he has been busy with his own business. Jinfeng Group has lowered the price of its harvesting services to 50 yuan per mu, which even Honghe cannot withstand. He has no right to challenge Jinfeng Group.

He was puzzled when he suddenly heard about the outcome of the battle between Jinfeng Group and Honghe.

Honghe is a local power, having cultivated its territory in Nasu for many years. How come it suddenly can't even hold onto its own base?

Jin Feng Group targeted Hong He's major clients with its move, which is tantamount to precision strike. Are their intelligence gathering capabilities that good? Could there be a mole within Hong He?

Just as Gu Tong was lost in thought, the food was served.

He then put all these things out of his mind and focused on making a living. Whether Jin Feng Group or Hong He won or lost made no difference to him; they were both enemies.

Tang Guoxing shared the same judgment as Gu Tong, also believing that there was a mole within Honghe.

He hadn't figured out who the mole was yet, but Honghe's situation was getting worse day by day, and in a short period of time, the customer churn rate exceeded 10%.

Even those customers who had previously signed agricultural machinery service agreements with Honghe were clamoring to cancel their orders, since Jinfeng Group's harvesting price of 50 yuan per mu was very attractive, and they didn't care about anything else.

"When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down!" Tang Guoxing couldn't help but sigh, then called Li Yong: "What's your sales department doing? In just a few days, Jinfeng Group has poached so many major clients?"

"There's nothing we can do, Mr. Tang. Jin Feng is willing to spend money and can find out everything. Plus, their prices are incredibly low, so this situation isn't surprising. But please rest assured, we still have a group of loyal customers, and I will do everything I can to retain them."

In the phone call, Li Yong spoke passionately, acknowledging the difficulties they faced while also expressing his determination to fight Jin Feng Group to the bitter end.

Tang Guoxing remained silent for a while before saying, "I hope so! Li Yong, you've been with me for so many years, you should know my temperament. I hope you can be true to your word."

After saying this, Tang Guoxing hung up the phone.

He then sat silently in the chair, without saying a word, until his assistant came in and he moved slightly.

"How's it going? Did you find it?"

"Mr. Tang, Manager Li has been frequently visiting Yiwu City recently, but we haven't been able to find out who he's meeting with."

"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get busy."

After waving his assistant away, Tang Guoxing suddenly stood up, grabbed the phone, and dialed Ma Yucheng's number.

Beset by internal and external troubles, Honghe now has no choice but to take a desperate gamble to resist the Jinfeng Group's attack; inaction will only lead to its demise.

Gu Tong was unaware of the internal affairs of the company. After finishing his meal, he went to the express delivery receiving point.

Before coming to the village, he brought several buckets of rapeseed oil, intending to send two buckets each to Xu Zejun and Zhang Chen to try. He also planned to send one bucket to Sun Youcheng (Little Bird), since he had promised him before.

After sending the package, he drove to the county town and delivered a can of oil to each of Gulixian, Liangqin, Fanli, and others.

Gulixian and Fanli happily accepted the gifts, but Liang Qin refused to accept them no matter what, so he had no choice but to give up.

"What a stubborn person!"

Sitting in the car, Gu Tong couldn't help but shake his head.

However, Liang Qin was always like this; he would never go to a restaurant when invited to eat, and they only ate at home a few times.

He drove away from the county town and went to Bulak Village, where he found Wang Yu.

"This is homemade rapeseed oil. I brought you a bottle; take it home and try it."

Wang Yu lifted the oil drum and examined the quality of the rapeseed oil. He couldn't help but say, "This is really good oil! I'll take the goods, but I have to pay."

After saying that, he put down the oil drum, took out his phone from his pocket, and insisted on transferring money to Gu Tong.

Gu Tong couldn't refuse the other party's offer and finally symbolically accepted 30 yuan.

"Come on, I'll take you for a walk around the village. However, the salesperson from Jinfeng Group has already been here, so your price doesn't offer any advantage."

Wang Yu did not forget the important matter, and then accompanied Gu Tong to visit each household in the village.

He didn't have high hopes for the outcome of the other party's trip; it was merely to fulfill a promise.

"Don't bother going to the large-scale farmers' homes; it's pointless. Go to the farmers with smaller plots of land, and also to the farmers who need full-service land management."

Gu Tong knew perfectly well that he was no match for Jin Feng Group in a price war, and he would not change the current pricing system.

He came for two purposes: one was to specialize in small plots of farmland, and the other was to find clients who needed full-service management.

Wang Yu glanced at Gu Tong in surprise, then couldn't help but give her a thumbs up: "Keep calm under pressure, you're truly a remarkable person!"

Your thinking is correct; taking a differentiated approach is very clever!

Two hours later.

Gu Tong left Bulak Village. The trip wasn't in vain; although the plots were all small and fragmented, they added up to 200 mu.

mu.

These clients were all "households in need" certified by Wang Yu. Gu Tong gave them a 20% discount and provided harvesting services at a price of 80 yuan per mu.

They also promised to help them find buyers after the rapeseed harvest, and the price would be based on the publicly available market price. They would never deliberately lower the price or tamper with the weighing.

In addition, if you have any further needs for aerial spraying services in the future, we will offer appropriate discounts.

The most crucial and compelling point is that Gu Tong promised a loss rate of ≤5%, which is at least 3% lower than the loss rate of large-scale operations.

Don't underestimate this 3%. Taking a yield of 300 kilograms per mu as an example, an extra 9 kilograms of rapeseed can be harvested per mu.

Based on the average price of rapeseed (5.4 yuan per kilogram), the extra rapeseed is worth 48.6 yuan. The normal price for a four-person harvesting team is 100 yuan per mu. Subtracting this 48.6 yuan, it is almost the same as the price of 50 yuan per mu charged by Jinfeng Group.

If calculated based on the preferential price of 80 yuan per mu, the price for the four-person group is even more cost-effective than that of Jinfeng Group.

This matter needs to ferment slowly; once word-of-mouth has accumulated to a certain extent, it will explode completely.

Therefore, Gu Tong was not in a hurry at all. He didn't need to make a big fuss about it; he just needed to work hard quietly.

He drove to deliver a bucket of rapeseed oil to Kurban and Ilyas respectively, and then returned home.

Less than five minutes after entering, Chen Ye, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, shouted loudly at the door, "Gu Tong, come out quickly!"

When Gu Tong came out and saw this, he immediately burst out laughing.

The courtyard gate wasn't closed, but Little Stone squatted there without barking or making a sound, just staring intently at Chen Ye.

Knowing how formidable the sheepdog was, Chen Ye dared not barge in and could only yell at the door.

"Little Stone, go play somewhere else. Captain Chen, please come in."

Gu Tong shooed the small stone away, and Chen Ye then stepped into the yard.

"Gu Tong, I'm in a meeting in Yiwu City. I only managed to squeeze in a quick visit to see you. I have to leave soon. Where are those two purple herbs?"

Let me see.

"Oh, so you didn't come to see me, you came to see the purple gromwell! Come with me."

Gu Tong let out a long "Oh," and Chen Ye realized that there was something wrong with what he said.

However, he was really in a hurry, so he had no choice but to pretend to be confused and let the other party say whatever they wanted.

Gu Tong was just joking with Chen Ye, and then led him to Zi Cao.

The original two purple gromwell plants have been divided into four, each growing very robustly, showing no signs of being delicate, and every leaf exuding vigorous vitality.

"This... is simply unbelievable."

Chen Ye was stunned. Dividing plants is a difficult step in cultivating gromwell, with a very low success rate. Yet the other party's two gromwell plants successfully turned into four. Who could he reason with?

He then took out his phone and took at least a dozen photos from various angles.

Then, looking at Gu Tong, he said, "I really have something to do today. Here's what we'll do: once the county's purple gromwell breeding base is put into use, I'll take you there for a visit and we can exchange ideas with the base's technicians."

"Thank you! I'll cook right away. Why don't you eat before you leave?"

Gu Tong was naturally delighted to hear what the other party said. The successful division of the purple gromwell plant gave him great confidence, and he also intended to establish a relationship with the technicians at the breeding base.

Chen Ye waved his hand and then took his leave.

He came here to see the two revived purple gromwell plants with his own eyes, but the result surprised him even more, and he already had a vague plan in mind.