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

Yang Fan had just sorted out the tea business when he set his sights on mountain products.

The mountains of Qingping Township are poor, but they are not stingy.

Mushrooms, wood ear fungus, walnuts, and chestnuts are abundant on the mountains during their season.

Things that would fetch high prices in later generations are now unwanted in the market.

Each household would gather ten or eight catties (5-4 catties) and carry them to the market to sell; any unsold produce would rot at home. Old Wang once said, "There's plenty of stuff in the mountains, but nobody takes care of it."

Yang Fan decided to make the arrangements.

He got on his bicycle and started traveling from village to village.

This time, we visited not only Nangezhuang, Zhaojiaping, and Lijia Kiln, but all nine administrative villages.

Our first stop was Zhaojiaping. Village Party Secretary Zhao Min was squatting at the village entrance smoking a pipe when he saw Yang Fan's bicycle bouncing along the dirt road. He stood up, his pipe tapping against the sole of his shoe.

"Mayor Yang, the tea trees have already been planted, what are you doing causing trouble again?"

"mushroom."

Zhao Min was taken aback. "What's the big deal about mushrooms? They grow naturally on the mountain; it doesn't matter who picks them."

"If each household collects individually, the quantity is small, and buyers won't come. If the whole township collects together and sells to big cities, the price will go up."

Zhao Min put the pipe back in his mouth but didn't light it.

"How much more can we sell?"

"At least double."

Zhao Min took the pipe out of his mouth and stared at the township head, who hadn't stopped since arriving in Qingping Township, for a long time. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Each household picks mushrooms and wood ear fungus, dries them, and delivers them to the village. The village then sends them to the township, where they are sold. High-quality mushrooms fetch higher prices. Adulterated mushrooms damage the village's reputation and are rejected outright."

Zhao Min nodded. "Okay. I trust you."

The second stop was Lijia Kiln. Village Party Secretary Li Dayao was even more difficult to talk to than Zhao Min.

After Yang Fan finished speaking, he squatted on the threshold, smoking one cigarette after another, and remained silent for a long time.

Yang Fan didn't urge him, but squatted down and smoked with him. He didn't smoke, so he just held the cigarette and watched the cigarette butt glow and fade.

Li Dayao stubbed out the third cigarette butt and stuck it into the ground.

"Mayor Yang, you said you'd collect and sell everything uniformly. But where's the money? Does the township have any money in its accounts? Who's responsible if it rots?"

"Each village sends someone to keep an eye on the sales in the township, and then they distribute the goods together upon their return."

Li Dayao lit another one.

"What are you after?"

Yang Fan handed the unlit cigarette back to Old Li.

"I'm so glad the people of Qingping have money in their pockets, and that my trip to Qingping Township was worthwhile!"

Li Dayao paused, cigarette ash falling onto his trouser leg. He stubbed out the cigarette and stood up.

"I have two acres of walnut groves on the mountain, and I'll start cutting grass tomorrow."

The third stop, the fourth stop, the fifth stop. We visited nine villages, a full month in total.

Yang Fan returned to the township government and took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which numbers were densely written.

Zhao Jiaping is expected to produce 3,000 jin of mushrooms annually.

Lijia Kiln is expected to produce 2,000 jin of walnuts annually.

Wangjiaping is expected to produce 1,500 jin of chestnuts annually.

The total volume of mountain products from the nine administrative villages in the township is expected to reach 30,000 jin next summer.

Yang Fan added another line to the paper: Unified brand, unified packaging, unified sales.

Xiao Chen craned his neck to take a look.

"Mayor Yang, what's the brand called?"

Yang Fan paused for a moment.

"Qingping Mountain Delicacies"

That autumn, the mountains of Qingping Township changed.

In previous years at this time, there would be only a few people picking mountain products on the mountain.

This year is different. Before dawn, there were already people on the mountain road. Some were carrying baskets, some were carrying loads on shoulder poles, and some were pushing wheelbarrows.

The mushrooms were drying on the roof, one after another, like a grayish-white blanket.

Walnuts were piled up in the yard and covered with an oilcloth. Chestnuts were packed into burlap sacks and stacked under the eaves.

Zhao Min cleared out a warehouse in the village specifically to collect mountain products.

His wife said he's now even more meticulous than when collecting grain taxes; he opens every bag to check it, and returns any that aren't in good condition on the spot.

"Don't blame me for being strict, Mayor Yang said that we can't do anything that damages the reputation."

Li Dayao of Lijia Kiln was even more ingenious. He had people grade the walnuts by size, putting the large ones in one bag, the small ones in another bag, and the broken ones in a separate bag.

"Sell the large ones at a high price, the small ones at a low price, press the broken ones for oil, and use the remaining residue as animal feed. Not a single pound can be wasted."

Yang Fan went down to collect data once a week, and Zhou Dequan followed him, taking notes in a notebook.

How many kilograms of mushrooms, wood ear fungus, walnuts, and chestnuts?

The numbers are getting bigger every week.

Someone told Yang Fan, "You're always on the go, don't worry about it too much, we're watching."

Yang Fan didn't say anything. He knew in his heart that it would be worth making a trip to Ningzhou City only when the quantity of mountain products increased.

Prices only go up when you go to the city, or even Jingzhou.

Only when prices go up will farmers be willing to expand harvesting and planting operations.

Only when the scale expands can we have the confidence to build roads.

If any of these hardships were to be overcome, Qingping Township would revert to an era where "doing nothing is better than doing something right."

This is his belief.

-

After the Lunar New Year, in mid-February, mountain products began to accumulate in large quantities.

When Zhou Dequan reported the preliminary data, his hands were shaking. What if he couldn't sell all this stock?

The township produced 6,000 jin of mushrooms, 3,000 jin of wood ear fungus, 10,000 jin of walnuts, and 3,000 jin of chestnuts, totaling 22,000 jin.

Yang Fan took the statistics sheet and read it from beginning to end.

"continue."

"What are you continuing?"

"Continue collecting from the countryside, and at the same time contact the buyers to bring over the government's only large truck; we're preparing to head to Ningzhou City!"

Yang Fan wrote an article.

It's not an official document, not a report, it's a story.

He wrote about the mountains of Qingping, the autumn fog, the winter snow, the spring wind, the women who went up the mountain to pick mushrooms before dawn, and the old men who squatted on the roof to dry mushrooms.

Li Dayao, who wrote about Lijia Kiln, squatted in the warehouse, measuring walnuts with calipers and sorting them by size one by one.

The story describes a child from Wangjiaping running home to get a piece of wire, saying, "My dad asked me to help him."

At the end of the article, he wrote: Qingping Mountain Delicacies are born in the deep mountains and grow in the clouds and mist, without fertilizer or pesticides.

Every mushroom is sun-dried, and every walnut is hand-picked.

He added: "Eat the delicacies of Qingping Mountain and enjoy a healthy life."

After reading the draft, Zhou Dequan scratched his head.

"Mayor Yang, after reading what you wrote, I want to buy it too."

Yang Fan put the manuscript in an envelope and mailed it to the provincial newspaper.

The last time I promoted tea, I received the draft through a senior student I contacted at the school, and he called me.

"Junior brother, not again?"

"Um."

"You, the deputy township head, are neglecting your duties."

Is promoting agricultural products considered a legitimate job?

The senior brother smiled.

"You little rascal, I've read the article. It's well-written, especially that line 'Eat the delicacies of Qingping Mountain, enjoy a healthy life,' it's brilliant. It'll be in the paper next Wednesday."

"However, I still feel that your tea description carries more emotion, but why didn't you mention the brand name?"

Yang Fan thought to himself, "My factory isn't even built yet!"

Yang Fan hung up the phone, then made three more copies: one to the city newspaper, one to the county radio station, and one to post on the bulletin board at the entrance of the township government.

Next Wednesday, the provincial newspaper will publish it on page four.

The title has been changed to "Treasures Hidden in the Deep Mountains: Qingping Mountain Delicacies".

The accompanying photo showed Li Dayao squatting in a warehouse, sorting walnuts, his face wrinkled like a walnut shell.

The city newspaper also published it, placing it on the front page of the economics section.

The county radio station broadcast it for three days, and when the anchor read out "Eat the delicacies of Qingping Mountain, enjoy a healthy life," his voice rose by half an octave.

Ma Liangchen read the newspaper twice, picked up the enamel mug, and blew away the tea leaves.

"Xiao Chen."

"Why!"

"Make fifty copies."

"Fifty portions?"

"Send them to various bureaus in the county. Send them to the municipal supply and marketing cooperative, and the provincial fruit company will also send a copy."

Chen Ming ran off with the newspaper in his hand, while Ma Liangchen looked at Yang Fan.

"Where did you learn that saying, 'Eat the delicacies of Qingping Mountain, enjoy a healthy life'?"

Yang Fan paused for a moment.

"Just thinking about it."

The newspaper was mailed out, but Yang Fan didn't wait.

He folded the newspaper, put it in a file folder, got into the old van from the village, and started running to buy goods from buyers.