Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

A crowd gathered around.

A woman carrying a shopping basket pushed her way to the front, picked up a mushroom, and examined it closely. "Is this mushroom really that good?"

Wang Dashan shoved the megaphone into Chen Ming's hand and strode over.

"Sister, look at these mushrooms. They're completely wild, with thick caps and a vibrant color. Smell them; they have a fresh, sun-dried aroma that's completely different from those grown in the ground."

The woman leaned closer and smelled it. "Hmm, it's fresh."

"Hey lady, buy a bag and try it. If you don't like it, next time you see me, throw mushrooms at my face."

The woman laughed. "You old man, you know how to talk."

She paid for a bag.

A middle-aged man next to him picked up a walnut and squeezed it. "The shell of this walnut is quite thin."

Wang Dashan immediately chimed in, "Thin-shelled, big kernels, you can crack them open with your hands. Brother, buy a bag, crack one open when you get home, and if the kernel isn't full, come find me. I'll stand here and let you yell at me."

The middle-aged man smiled and bought a bag as well.

As more and more people gathered, Wang Dashan's voice grew louder and louder, the redness on his face faded, and his voice became clearer and clearer.

Chen Ming stood to the side, holding a megaphone, his mouth stretched to his ears in a wide grin.

Yang Fan squatted down next to the truck, helping to unload the goods.

Someone asked him, "Did your factory close down and run away?"

Yang Fan raised his head.

"Yes."

"You didn't run away?"

"If they run away, who will sell the goods? Where will our wages come from! If we hadn't been quick, the creditors would have taken them and sold them for even more!"

The man paused for a moment, then laughed. "Okay, based on that, I'll buy two bags."

By noon, most of the goods on the truck had been sold.

Wang Dashan's voice was hoarse. He sat on the truck's footboard, drinking water from an enamel mug.

There was a dried sea buckthorn fruit soaking in the water—Yang Fan had given it to him that morning. He took a sip and looked up.

"Mayor Yang, this method is fucking effective."

Yang Fan remained silent.

Chen Ming squatted down and counted the money. He counted it twice, his hands trembling.

"Mayor Yang, we sold 5,204 yuan today."

Yang Fan took the money, counted it, and put it into his canvas bag.

He stood up and patted the dirt off his pants.

"We'll continue tomorrow! We were originally planning to sell in four different districts of the city, but with business so good, we'd probably lose money if we moved to another location."

Wang Dashan slammed the enamel mug onto the foot pedal.

"Walk!"

In the evening, the truck drove back.

Wang Dashan was asleep against the car window, still clutching the piece of paper in his hand; Chen Ming was holding a canvas bag, his eyes wide open, staring at the bag without blinking; Yang Fan sat in the passenger seat, looking at the road outside the window.

Driver Lao Liu turned his head and glanced at him.

"Mayor Yang, where did you learn this method from?"

Yang Fan smiled and said, "I came up with this myself. As long as the slogan is catchy, everyone will be a potential customer for our Qingping Mountain Delicacies!"

Old Liu didn't ask any further questions. He turned the steering wheel, and the truck turned onto the winding mountain road. The headlights shone out, revealing a dirt road full of potholes, with dark mountains on both sides.

It was late at night when the truck returned to the Qingping Township government.

A lamp was lit in the courtyard, and Geng Yan squatted under it smoking, the cigarette butt glowing and dimming.

Upon seeing the car lights, he stood up, not even bothering to pick up the cigarette that had fallen to the ground.

"How is it?"

Yang Fan jumped out of the passenger seat.

"We sold most of the truckload."

Old Geng paused for a moment, then walked to the back of the truck bed and peered inside through the partition.

The mushroom baskets were mostly empty, there were only a few bags of wood ear mushrooms left, the walnut boxes were almost empty, and the chestnut piles were much shorter.

"Most of the truck?"

"Um."

Geng Yan turned his head and looked at Yang Fan. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he opened it again.

"one day?"

"one day."

Geng Yan picked up the cigarette from the ground, stubbed it out, and put it back in his pocket, his hands trembling.

Wang Dashan climbed down from the back seat, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper scraping sheet metal.

"Secretary Geng, we have to go again tomorrow."

"Going again?"

"Go ahead, Township Head Yang said we need to make our name known. Quite a few people have asked us today, 'Where is the Qingping Mountain Delicacies Factory?'"

Geng Yan looked at Wang Dashan, whose face was flushed, whether from shouting or excitement, it was hard to tell. Geng Yan then turned his gaze to Yang Fan.

Yang Fan squatted down and scratched the ground with a twig.

"We sold 5,200 today. We'll be selling until we close next Monday, which is four days away. We'll aim for at least 15,000 in sales."

Geng Yan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Fifteen thousand."

"More than that."

After a few seconds of silence in the courtyard, Geng Yan suddenly turned around and shouted at the office building.

"Everyone out! Load the truck!"

The warehouse door opened, and some people carried bags, while others pushed wheelbarrows piled high with mushroom baskets. Women poured out of the yard, carrying burlap sacks, ropes, and tape.

Geng Yan stood next to the truck, making arrangements one by one.

"Old Li, pack another twenty boxes of walnuts; Old Zhao, pack thirty baskets of mushrooms; fifteen bags of wood ear fungus and twenty bags of chestnuts; pick the best ones, don't take anything of poor quality."

Stack the walnut crates on the truck bed, tightening the rope after each layer. Add the mushroom baskets one by one, and when they reach the third layer, Geng Yan calls a halt.

"That's enough, that's enough, any more and it'll tip over."

Geng Yan wasn't reassured, so he wrapped the rope around the wound twice more.

Chen Ming got off the car carrying a canvas bag, clutching it tightly to his chest. Geng Yan saw him and waved.

"Xiao Chen, where's the money?"

Xiao Chen handed the bag over, and Geng Yan took it, opened it, and counted it under the light: five thousand two hundred and four yuan.

After counting, he closed the bag and handed it to Chen Ming.

"I'll have to make a trip tomorrow morning to hand over the money to the township finance department. Secretary Ma said they've already given instructions that the funds should be used for their designated purpose."

Chen Ming took it and hugged it even tighter.

Yang Fan stood up and patted the dirt off his hands.

"Old Liu will drive again tomorrow, and Wang Dashan will continue. If that recording speaker really doesn't work, Xiao Chen should find some time to buy a new one tomorrow. Your Uncle Wang's voice is a precious asset!"

Geng Yan looked at him.

"Mayor Yang, wasn't the original plan to visit each of the four districts one by one?"

"I'm not changing it."

Why?

Yang Fan pointed to the cargo bed.

"We sell more than half a truckload a day, why would we change locations? We'll stay here and sell for five days straight. Even if the sales figures are a little lower, it doesn't matter. At least it lets people know about our brand."

Geng Yan was stunned for a moment.

"Five days?"

"In five days, once everyone in Ningzhou City knows about Qingping Mountain delicacies, suppliers will come knocking on our door."

Geng Yan fell silent. He took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and took a drag. The smoke dispersed under the light.

"OK."

They were loading the trucks until midnight.

The walnut boxes were stacked in five layers and covered with an oilcloth. The mushroom baskets were stacked neatly, with straw placed between them.

The women packed the wood ear mushrooms and chestnuts into new cardboard boxes, which were printed with the four large characters "Qingping Mountain Delicacies" and a line of smaller characters below: "Eat Qingping Mountain Delicacies, Enjoy a Healthy Life."

Geng Yan checked each basket one by one, and stopped when he got to the mushroom basket.

"The mushroom caps in this basket are a bit wilted."

Some farmers came over to look. "These were picked today, why are they wilted?"

Geng Yan ignored him, took the basket off the ground, and replaced it with a new one.

The farmer stood to the side, his mouth moved, but he didn't say anything.

Yang Fan squatted in the corner of the yard, flipping through his notebook. It contained today's accounts: how many mushrooms, how many wood ear mushrooms, how many walnuts, and how many chestnuts were sold.

Each item has its price listed next to it, with a checkmark next to the price.

Today's sales figures can be considered an initial success!