147: County Magistrate Zifeng once made a pledge

Sensing the gazes of the few, Wan Guoliang continued, "At the time, many Comrades were worried that making the scale of the vegetable trading market so large would not only occupy too much land but also increase the investment funds required.

If it failed to achieve the expected results, not only would it have a negative impact, but it would also waste a large amount of funds and land.

Therefore, many people held opposing opinions. Even I, as County Party Secretary, was full of concerns and wanted to reduce the scale of the market.

It was County Magistrate Zifeng, who was the deputy secretary of the county party committee at the time, who insisted on his opinion and persuaded me and the other Comrades, which led to the current scale of the Miaoshan Town vegetable trading market.

Back then, County Magistrate Zifeng was even willing to sign a military-style pledge to make this project happen."

Wan Guoliang, who was an upright person, did not beautify his own actions and stated the general process of events directly.

"Having such thoughts is very normal; after all, there were certain risks involved, and it was a cautious move. That Secretary Guoliang can speak about it so frankly shows that Secretary Guoliang has a broad mind and a grand vision!"

Chen Yuanhua's favorable impression of Wan Guoliang increased greatly, and his tone became even gentler.

Wan Guoliang himself had not expected that his actions would receive such high praise from Chen Yuanhua, so he said happily, "Thank you for the compliment, Secretary Chen."

Chen Yuanhua nodded and looked at Lin Zifeng, asking, "County Magistrate Zifeng, how were you so confident back then that you could develop the vegetable trading market to its current scale?"

"Secretary Chen, to be honest with you leaders, I did not have 100% certainty at the time.

However, I felt that only with a certain scale could there be competitiveness and influence; small-scale operations could not achieve the goal of promoting local economic development.

Therefore, some risks were worth taking."

Lin Zifeng's answer was somewhat understated, but Wan Guoliang added, "Leaders, County Magistrate Zifeng did a lot of work back then.

He not only took other Comrades to other counties and cities to inspect other influential large-scale vegetable trading markets but also negotiated cooperation with many capable vegetable wholesalers and sought sales channels at major fresh food supermarkets.

He even employed a 'paying a high price for a horse's bones' strategy. In the first half-year after the vegetable trading market opened, for any vegetable wholesaler who came here to purchase vegetables, regardless of the type, our county treasury subsidized one jiao per jin of vegetables.

This subsidy policy lasted for a full six months.

Even after three months, when the transactions here had already reached a balance and some Comrades proposed canceling this subsidy policy, we insisted on not canceling it a single day early.

County Magistrate Zifeng was young and healthy, and during that time, he was so busy he barely touched the ground; that is the only reason the vegetable trading market succeeded."

"Secretary, you are praising me to the skies in front of the leaders. I dare not take all the credit. If it weren't for your support and the support of the County Party Committee, no matter how much I did, this vegetable trading market would not have succeeded!"

Everyone helps carry the flowery sedan chair; since Wan Guoliang was praising him so much in front of the leaders, how could he not reciprocate?

"It is evident that County Magistrate Zifeng has boldness in his work; he is daring yet meticulous, courageous, and resourceful, and he dares to think and act.

Secretary Guoliang is experienced and steady; while controlling the overall situation, he also gives young Comrades as much room as possible to display their talents.

This is the most fundamental reason for the rapid economic development of Yushu County over the past two years."

Cao Mingxiu spoke up, giving both men a very high evaluation.

"Secretary Cao's summary is excellent, but there is one point that hasn't been summarized fully: the leadership team of Yushu County is very united, and the Class Monitor and Vice Class Monitor cooperate very tacitly!"

After saying this, Chen Yuanhua laughed happily, and the others followed suit with hearty laughter.

Accompanied by the others, Chen Yuanhua walked out of the vegetable trading market and headed towards the vegetable greenhouses on foot.

While walking forward, Chen Yuanhua said, "In a moment, the rest of you don't need to accompany me. If there are too many people, it might scare the farmers growing vegetables in the greenhouses.

How about this! Just let my Secretary accompany me to walk around the front, and you don't need to follow me anymore."

Hearing Chen Yuanhua's instructions, the others had no choice but to agree.

Cao Mingxiu and Jiang Shiyu followed suit and left alone with their own secretaries.

Yang Yunhua also declined the company of the two and left with a Cadre from the Party School, leaving Lin Zifeng and Wan Guoliang to themselves.

They found a corner and began to chat in low voices.

Accompanied by Zhao Yulin, Chen Yuanhua strolled among the rows of neat greenhouses. Ten minutes later, an Old Farmer in his seventies walked out of one of the greenhouses.

He sat directly on the edge of the greenhouse, took out a dry tobacco pipe, and prepared to smoke while resting.

Chen Yuanhua's eyes lit up, and he walked towards the Old Farmer.

"Hello, elder brother. Why are you still working in the greenhouse at such an advanced age?"

Without any airs, Chen Yuanhua squatted down beside the Old Farmer and greeted him.

"One look and I can tell you're from the City Level; you don't know much about the situation in the countryside! In our countryside, as long as an elderly person is capable of working, they cannot sit idle.

Before, when we couldn't sit idle during the off-season, we would just sweep the yard or do what we could. We wanted to help the family earn some money, but there was no way.

Now it's different. I come to work in the greenhouse every day, and when the vegetables are ripe, I take them to the market in front and sell them for money.

Life is prosperous now. Every night when I return home, my daughter-in-law cooks two dishes and pours me two liang of wine. With that wine down, the exhaustion of the day is wiped away.

Compared to the past, life in these two years is just so comfortable."

The Old Farmer's face blossomed with joy, revealing a heartfelt smile. Seeing Chen Yuanhua talking to him, he opened up.

"Old man, you are at such an advanced age; shouldn't you be at home enjoying a life of leisure? Wouldn't that be more comfortable?"

Zhao Yulin couldn't help but ask.

"You young lad is wrong. These old bones of mine have been doing farm work all my life. If I just sat at home waiting to eat and drink, I'd get sick from boredom.

It seems you rarely come to the countryside! What you're saying is off-key. I reckon you are all leaders here for an inspection, right?"

The Old Farmer looked at Zhao Yulin with a bit of disapproval.

"Elder brother, you knew we were here for an inspection? Did the county or town notify you? Did they give you any tasks?"

Chen Yuanhua asked, frowning slightly.

"It's not really a notification, I suppose. It's just that the town Cadres came over this morning and asked us to put some farm tools into the utility room next to the greenhouse, not to leave them outside, as it would affect the overall layout of the greenhouse planting area.

They even helped! When some people asked out of curiosity, they said some big leaders were coming to visit and inspect.

Isn't this very normal? If our family knew ahead of time that relatives or friends were coming, we would have to tidy up the house and yard properly!

Since leaders are coming to visit and inspect, doing this is understandable! It didn't waste much of our time at all."

The Old Farmer said very frankly.