Chapter 308: Return to Panlong Town to Collect Hogs

"Honey, I'm going with Mayor Xu today to inspect the progress of the vegetable greenhouse construction in Clear Water County. Do you want to come take a look as an investor?"

"No, the company has assigned dedicated supervisors to both bases. If anything happens, they'll let me know."

"Chen Yang stretched. He had been very comfortable after Lin Wei attended to him last night, and now he just wanted to sleep a little longer to regain his strength."

"As for the vegetable greenhouse, he no longer has the energy to worry about it. The Clear Water County local government and company staff are in charge of supervision, so nothing major will go wrong."

"Even if there is a lapse in some link, the impact on the Ordinary People's Agricultural Products Trading Company is not significant."

"Because the company's reputation soared in Dongjiangsheng, it recently established cooperative relations with many medium- and large-scale agricultural product production bases in prefecture-level cities within the province. There is no shortage of supply at all."

"You invested over ten million yuan and only assigned two staff to oversee it—what a big heart!" Lin Wei saw Chen Yang unwilling to accompany her to Qingshui City and was a little dissatisfied.

"Chen Yang doesn't even bother to oversee his hundred-million-yuan company, let alone a mere ten-million-yuan project. But facing Lin Wei, he couldn't be too blunt."

"So Chen Yang smiled, softened his tone, and explained to Lin Wei: 'Dear, this vegetable greenhouse project is a key project personally overseen by Mayor Xu! Those local officials will surely give it their all for their political achievements, absolutely daring not to be negligent or cut corners. So even if I don't personally supervise it, the project will surely proceed smoothly.'"

"Just stay home honestly then." Lin Wei also knew this was just Chen Yang's excuse for not wanting to go, and she didn't want to press him further.

"After Lin Wei went to work, Chen Yang crawled back into bed to continue sleeping. But as soon as he closed his eyes, the phone rang."

"'Mr. Chen, is it convenient to take the call?' On the other end, Panlong Town Party Committee Secretary Zhou Zhengyang asked cautiously."

"'Secretary Zhou, why are you calling me so early? Is there a problem with the vegetable greenhouse project?' Chen Yang didn't expect that Lin Wei had just mentioned the vegetable greenhouse to him, and then Zhou Zhengyang, who was in charge of that project, called. This made him instinctively feel that the caller's purpose was related to the vegetable greenhouse."

"'The vegetable greenhouse project is going smoothly; it will be finished in a few days.' Zhou Zhengyang paused, then said: 'I'm calling to bother you this time mainly because I have another matter I'd like you to help with.'"

"Chen Yang had a good impression of Zhou Zhengyang and immediately asked: 'What is it?'"

"Zhou Zhengyang said: 'Mr. Chen, it's like this: two professional pig farming households in our town have signed cooperation contracts with the county pig farm. Now the live hogs are ready for market, but the other party keeps finding excuses to refuse acceptance. I know your meat company is also importing large numbers of live hogs; could you help buy the hogs from these two farming households?'"

"Chen Yang did not immediately agree to his request. The pig farm's refusal to accept the hogs surely has a reason. If the problem lies with the pig farm, taking in the hogs from these two households in Panlong Town would not be a big issue for him."

"If the problem is with the hogs from the farming households not meeting the pig farm's acceptance standards, he would have to weigh things. After all, the quality of the pork directly affects the quality of the ordinary people's sausage products. He didn't want to ruin his own reputation."

"So Chen Yang directly asked Zhou Zhengyang: 'Are you sure their hogs have no problems?'"

"Zhou Zhengyang immediately assured Chen Yang: 'Our town government has already had professionals inspect them; there is absolutely no problem.'"

"Chen Yang, after all, owed Zhou Zhengyang a favor. Hearing that the hogs were fine, he immediately agreed: 'Secretary Zhou, I'll bring two people from the company over shortly to take a look. If the hogs are indeed problem-free, we can buy them at market price.'"

"Upon hearing that Chen Yang was willing to come in person, Zhou Zhengyang repeatedly thanked him."

"Chen Yang sighed. It seemed he was destined to make a trip back to Clear Water County today."

"He called Song Yajun and briefly mentioned the hog procurement. The latter immediately arranged two staff members specialized in importing live hogs to accompany Chen Yang to Panlong Town."

"Before departure, Chen Yang specially invited Professor You as well. The latter is a professor at the Agricultural University, and his knowledge of pig farming far surpasses that of Chen Yang, a half-educated rural upbringing."

"Of course, Chen Yang invited Professor You not just to collect hogs; mainly he wanted to examine the other party's hog breed to see if it was suitable for long-term cooperation."

"Even if the large-scale pig farm of the Ordinary People's Meat Industry Limited Company were smoothly built, in the early stage they would not dare to undertake large-scale breeding recklessly."

"After all, the development of any new thing requires a gradual process of exploration and adaptation, especially for an industry like pig farming that carries relatively high risk."

"Moreover, if the hog breed raised by the pig farming households in Panlong Town happens to meet the procurement needs of the Ordinary People's Meat Industry Limited Company, it would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity."

"In that way, the company could engage in deep cooperation with the Panlong Town Government, developing more farming households to jointly share the supply-demand pressure of pork."

"Upon arriving in Panlong Town, Zhou Zhengyang had already brought people to greet them at the town government gate. Seeing Chen Yang and Professor You step out of the car, he hurried over to say hello."

"'Mr. Chen, I'm really sorry. For our town's affairs, I've troubled you to make another trip.'"

"Chen Yang introduced Professor You to Zhou Zhengyang. After exchanging pleasantries, he had the latter lead everyone to visit the two farming households' pig farms."

"Upon reaching the destination, Chen Yang caught a whiff of an unpleasant odor from afar. It was obvious that the other party's wastewater treatment was definitely inadequate."

"However, Chen Yang himself grew up in the countryside and had often smelled pig manure as a child, so he wasn't particularly opposed to it."

"By contrast, Professor You was somewhat dissatisfied. He advised Chen Yang: 'If we are to cooperate with them, this wastewater treatment issue must be written into the contract; otherwise, its impact on the lives of nearby residents would be significant.'"

"Chen Yang felt this problem was actually hard to solve. Generally, rural farming households have tight finances; the money for pig farming must be borrowed from rural cooperatives. Where would they get extra funds to purchase wastewater treatment equipment?"

"'Professor You, the contract still needs to be flexible. Rural farming households have limited conditions and no extra funds to buy wastewater treatment equipment. At most we can only require them to stay as far away from water sources and residential areas as possible.'"

"'If they can stay away from residential areas, that's also acceptable.' Professor You, who had also been sent to the countryside, understood some of the actual living conditions there. He also knew his idea might be a bit demanding for these farming households."

"While they were talking, they had already followed Zhou Zhengyang into the farming households' pig farm."

"The pig farm is not small, with nearly two hundred hogs."

"Chen Yang signaled the accompanying staff to check the condition of the live hogs in the pig farm."