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

Three days after the plan to promote bagging technology throughout the township was approved, Zhou Dequan led the agricultural technology station staff to distribute 100,000 paper bags to various villages.

He is in his early fifties and has spent half his life promoting agricultural technology.

With gray hair and hands as rough as old tree bark, he held the "Apple Bagging Technology Manual" given to him by Yang Fan and looked at it over and over again.

"Does this stuff really work?"

"It works."

"Okay." Zhou Dequan put the manual in his pocket. "You teach me, and I'll teach the farmers."

Yang Fan followed Zhou Dequan to seven villages.

Wherever they went, Zhou Dequan would explain it once, and he would add to it once more.

The fruit farmers gathered at the edge of the field; some listened attentively, while others squatted nearby smoking, their eyes saying, "They're trying to scam us again."

Wang Dashan from Yangjiagou stepped forward.

"I put bags on my three apple trees, and the fruit sold for three times the price of previous years."

He tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe and said.

"Believe it or not, I'm going to release the whole thing before it's even finished."

The crowd fell silent for a few seconds.

A fruit farmer from another village raised his hand: "Station Chief Zhou, how do I put this bag on? Say it again."

Zhou Dequan glanced at Yang Fan.

Yang Fan took the paper bag, walked to an apple tree, picked a leaf and placed it in his palm to gently support the young fruit. He then tied the bag tightly with the opening facing down.

"Place the fruit stem in the middle of the bag opening, but don't tighten it too much, so that rainwater and insects can't get in."

The fruit farmers gathered around, craning their necks to look.

Someone took out a crumpled cigarette box, pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to them.

Someone squatted down, holding the paper bag and looking at it over and over.

Zhou Dequan patted the dirt off his hands: "Alright, one person from each family will contribute. They'll go to the township to learn tomorrow. The township will distribute the first batch of bags free of charge!"

Everyone gasped in surprise when they heard it was free.

Half a month later, all 2,000 mu of orchards in the township had been bagged.

Yang Fan rides a dilapidated bicycle around the villages every day.

The tires rattled and clattered on the dirt road, and the chain fell off three times.

Zhou Dequan sat in the back seat, holding Yang Fan's clothes with one hand and protecting a roll of technical documents in his arms with the other.

"Mayor Yang, if this batch of apples really sells, do you think it will be possible to establish a brand for our Qingping apples?"

"able."

"You're quite decisive."

"Once the job is done, the signboard will naturally follow."

Zhou Dequan didn't reply. The bicycle bounced over a pothole, and he almost fell in, frantically grabbing Yang Fan's waist.

"This road is a mess. Once we sell the apples, the first thing we'll do is fix it."

Yang Fan pedaled his bike without looking back.

"Sell it first to make money."

Three months later.

Yang Fan was organizing various reports in his office when hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

The door was pushed open.

Zhou Dequan stood at the door, clutching a bright red apple in his hand. His hand was trembling.

"Mayor Yang, please try some."

Yang Fan took the apple. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, a bright red, without a single blemish.

He took a bite, and juice dripped down the corner of his mouth.

Sweet! Crispy!

Zhou Dequan then took out another piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and found it covered with numbers.

"In Yangjiagou Village, Wang Dashan's three-mu orchard has an 87% rate of first-grade apples with bagging, nearly eight times that of last year. The purchase price is 1.2 yuan per jin, 0.8 yuan higher than usual!"

"Zhaojiaping Village, Li Erxiao, five mu, first-grade fruit rate of 85%, purchase price of 1.15 yuan per jin."

"The township-wide statistics aren't finished yet, but the data that has already come out shows that the average household income has increased at least fourfold!"

Yang Fan threw the apple core into the trash can and wiped his hands.

"Continue with the statistics."

"Okay." Zhou Dequan turned to leave, but stopped. "Mayor Yang, the county agriculture bureau called this morning."

"What did you say?"

"I don't know where they heard the news from, but they said our experiment has yielded results and they're coming down to inspect it."

People from the county's agricultural bureau arrived three days later.

A Santana car stopped in the courtyard of the township government, and three people got out.

The leader was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, Sun Guoqing, the deputy director of the county's agricultural bureau.

Two technicians, a man and a woman, followed behind, both carrying briefcases.

Ma Liangchen received them in the conference room.

Sun Guoqing sat down and adjusted his glasses: "Secretary Ma, I heard that your township has implemented an apple bagging technique, which has quadrupled the average household income?"

"The statistics are still being compiled."

"Four times!"

Sun Guoqing couldn't help but chuckle. "This number would be big news anywhere! I wouldn't dare make such a claim!"

"The data was reported by the agricultural technology station."

Ma Liangchen frowned and said in a deep voice.

"We came here because we saw the data." Sun Guoqing stood up. "Let's go take a look at the orchard."

Ma Liangchen glanced at Yang Fan.

Yang Fan stood up: "I'll lead the way."

In the orchards of Yangjiagou, apples hang heavily on the branches.

The paper bags have been removed, and the bright red fruit is exposed outside. When the sunlight shines on it, it looks like a tree full of little lanterns.

Wang Dashan squatted at the edge of the field, with several plastic baskets in front of him, filled with freshly picked apples.

Sun Guoqing walked over, picked one up, and turned it around.

"This is indeed of excellent quality."

"May I try one?"

Old Wang quickly handed one over, and Sun Guoqing picked one up and took a bite.

He chewed twice, said nothing, and slowly savored it.

The female technician pulled out her notebook: "Old Wang, how many acres of orchard do you own?"

"Three mu."

"How much did you earn last year?"

Nine hundred dollars.

"What about this year?"

Wang Dashan counted on his fingers for a while: "We haven't sold them all yet, but we've already received over four thousand."

The female technician paused for a moment.

Sun Guoqing chewed on a sweet apple, tossed the core into the grass, and clapped his hands: "What about the other villages?"

"Statistics are being compiled."

Current data shows that the percentage of first-grade fruit in the entire township has quadrupled compared to last year, with the purchase price being seven to nine cents higher, and the average household income is expected to increase by more than four times.

"An estimate? I wouldn't dare make such a bold claim!"

"Every household has a record."

Sun Guoqing gave Yang Fan a deep look and then said nothing more.

The inspection team stayed in Qingping for two days.

Zhou Dequan accompanied them to six villages, randomly selected thirty orchards, and picked, weighed, graded, and calculated the fruit on-site.

The female technician's notebook was filled with numbers, while the male technician's calculator was clicking away.

On the last afternoon, Sun Guoqing listened to a report in the township government's conference room.

Zhou Dequan spread the statistics table on the table and read it aloud one by one. When he read the estimated total output value of fruit trees in the whole township increased by more than 100,000 yuan, his voice trembled a little.

It's important to know that this is just the first batch of more than 20 fruit farmers in the experiment, with each household increasing their income by an average of about 5,000 yuan.

Half a million!

Even now, a household with ten thousand yuan is still very famous in rural areas!

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

Sun Guoqing took off his glasses and wiped them.

"We'll take the data back; the bureau will need to review it."

He stood up and glanced at Yang Fan.

"If the data is accurate, the experience of Qingping Township should be promoted throughout the county."

Ma Liangchen picked up the enamel mug, blew away the tea leaves, and took a sip.

Yang Fan sat in the corner without saying a word.

As the inspection team's car drove out of the township government compound, Zhou Dequan stood next to Yang Fan.

"Mayor Yang, do you think the county will actually promote this?"

"meeting."

"Are you so sure?"

Yang Fan watched the Santana disappear at the end of the dirt road.

"The data speaks for itself; unless he doesn't want GDP!"

Zhou Dequan paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Mayor Yang, you're really being rude."

Wang Dashan's apples were all sold out, and the news of his three-mu orchard netting him 6,000 yuan spread throughout the township. The fruit farmers who hadn't yet picked their fruit treated their orchards like their lifeblood, and some even slept on the ground at night.

The lights in Ma Liangchen's office stayed on very late.

The next morning, Chen Ming carried a stack of documents to the conference room. When he saw Yang Fan, he grinned.

"Mayor Yang, you are truly the god of wealth for Qingping. What are your plans for the next step?"

Yang Fan thought for a moment.

"Continue to find ways to increase farmers' income, and then, build roads!"