Chapter 129

·

·

·

Main Character:

Shen Yao

"The Host would actually selflessly contribute — truly surprises the System."

Shen Yao was speechless. "Surprised at what? Don't you think Cheng Shuang is a very good choice?

If she truly proves capable, in the future she could also become someone worth maintaining a three-parts-affection relationship with upon meeting."

I merely ran my mouth a few sentences — it won't cost me anything, so why not do it?"

Shen Yao deeply felt her perspective was broad enough; although helping Cheng Shuang might result in total loss, she trusted her own judgment and the facts she had seen.

Take the Cheng family sisters — aside from Cheng Xue, who was spoiled and had a few minor flaws, the others were all quite decent.

Because their original family had problems, Cheng Bing and Cheng Shuang craved the outside world even more.

Shen Yao privately believed the three of them would have even more intersections in the not-too-distant future.

After all, capable people — who wouldn't want to make friends with them?

……

May 5th

Shen Yao got up very early; the sky was still a dim gray when she was already in the vehicle leaving home.

Xie Ci'an carried the prepared packages, and all along the way he kept instructing Shen Yao to be careful on the road and mind her own safety.

Shen Yao always smiled and nodded very patiently; she knew Xie Ci'an was caring for her.

"Alright, I'll be careful. It's only half a month — I'll be back before you know it."

"Half a month — not long if you say it's long, not short if you say it's short. The main thing is you've never been to the countryside," afraid you won't adapt.

Xie Ci'an didn't speak that last sentence aloud, but Shen Yao understood his unspoken words.

"Who says? I went to Shen Family Village when I was little — the countryside is all pretty much the same.

We're invited to inspect this time; when we return, we might even bring back some good news."

Although Pingshan Town has developed quite well nowadays, some things can still be pursued further.

If Pingshan Town steps up another level, it can drive progress in even more villages and towns in the countryside.

On the surface Shen Yao acted purely for the public good, but privately she still wanted to accomplish a bit more practical work.

Even if the ultimate beneficiaries aren't herself, having the relevant experience means when she starts a business later, she definitely won't be completely in the dark knowing nothing.

With such excellent development prospects ahead, Shen Yao was determined to jump in and grab a share no matter what.

The young couple — one riding, one sitting — talked all the way until Xie Ci'an safely saw Shen Yao into the train station.

The train hadn't arrived yet, but Gu Wen Shu and the others were already gathered at the platform entrance.

Shen Yao carried her packages, waved at Xie Ci'an, then turned and joined the group.

"Little Shen, is that your husband?"

Gu Wen Shu glanced at Xie Ci'an, who hadn't left yet, his tone teasing.

Shen Yao nodded. "He'll be leaving in a bit. Group Leader Gu, once we reach Pingshan Town, do we go straight to Xiangyang Production Team?"

Trains are rather slow these days, and there are relatively few trains to Pingshan Town.

They need to transfer in between; all told it will take two days and one night.

"Right, we go straight there — perfect chance to observe on-site their harvesting of early-ripening fruit and their care of several breeding farms."

When work came up, Gu Wen Shu entered work mode in a second; the two of them used the time before boarding to conveniently coordinate the upcoming itinerary as well.

They directly kicked out the unreasonable parts, leaving more time for on-site inspection and visits.

The train's whistle sounded as it entered the station; Gu Wen Shu and Shen Yao stopped talking.

"Everyone hold your own luggage tight. Watch your safety boarding — don't get in the wrong carriage."

Gu Wen Shu reminded them with a stern face, then squeezed forward first as the train doors opened.

Seeing this, Shen Yao didn't yield excessively either — who let her have enough strength? Otherwise she couldn't have earned that much piecework pay at the canning factory.

She walked to her seat, sat down, put her luggage under her feet, pushed open the window, and waved at Xie Ci'an.

The two needed no extra words; Xie Ci'an smiled, turned, and left.

"You two have a good marital relationship."

Gu Wen Shu had long since married and had children, but because both spouses were very busy — their child was already working — he didn't see her off at the train station like Xie Ci'an did.

Shen Yao smiled, her gaze returning to Gu Wen Shu beside her. "Leaving home for half a month — reluctance is inevitable."

Before, no matter what, they could see each other every evening; now seeing each other means waiting for her return.

"Exactly — the elderly and children at home are worried, and who knows if they'll be taken care of properly."

"Whose family isn't like that? Hmph, I secretly wiped tears when I left today."

"……"

On trains at this time, people sit face-to-face — four seats squeeze six people.

Their side was all women; every household had more or less a pile of matters.

Shen Yao started the conversation, and the others chimed in smoothly — voices rowdy enough that they didn't even notice the train starting to move beneath them.

Shen Yao had nothing to do, so she figured taking this opportunity to chat more wasn't bad.

Everyone who could come on this trip were outstanding factory employees; this wasn't a pleasure trip — each carried all sorts of missions.

"We'll take shifts resting later; tonight we need to leave someone on night watch."

Gu Wen Shu had traveled on business quite a bit over the years; she knew train conditions well.

Like pickpockets, they're everywhere at all times; everyone's luggage must be watched closely.

Two people per shift, four hours per rotation, just right for a whole night.

Shen Yao was assigned the latest shift; Gu Wen Shu led by example and took the pre-dawn shift.

Seeing this, Shen Yao couldn't complain either; she hurriedly ate her fill of the biscuits and eggs she'd brought with hot water, then lay down, closed her eyes, and rested.

The daytime train wasn't bad; everyone took the opportunity to catch up on sleep.

When Shen Yao opened her eyes again, it was already afternoon. She rallied her spirits, went to the water room to fetch a thermos of hot water for later, and took out two pieces of red date steamed cake with a milder flavor, eating them in small bites until finished.

Eating on the train still isn't easy; next time I'll try not to go out.

Shen Yao wailed inwardly, not forgetting to keep a straight face and maintain her persona.

She was at least the Deputy Group Leader of the workshop; Gu Wen Shu didn't even frown while gnawing on steamed buns, yet she was whining while eating date cake — that would truly leave a bad impression.

"Xiao Han, Xiao Gao, you two are responsible for guarding the first half of the night; wake me when it's time."

Gu Wen Shu took a sip of warm water, conveniently swallowing the dry steamed bun in his mouth.

"Little Shen, if there's nothing going on, you all go to sleep first; stay alert tonight."

Hearing this, Shen Yao let out an "eh" and hurriedly summoned the System to do the work for her.

System: ……

The System was like a giant sucker, huffing and puffing for half a day without saying a word to Shen Yao, only able to serve as monitoring.

Shen Yao turned her body to the side, hugging her luggage in her arms, and with good sleep quality tilted her head and fell asleep.

As expected, an accident happened unexpectedly again.

In her sleep, Shen Yao vaguely felt someone tugging at the luggage in her arms; right at that moment, the System also started beeping *di wu di wu*.

Shen Yao was startled awake, lifted her head, and met the gaze of a strange woman.

"Everyone wake up, someone's stealing luggage!"

Shen Yao let out a howl; her extremely penetrating loud voice directly woke up everyone in the entire carriage.

Including Xiao Gao and Xiao Han, who were originally on watch; the two looked at the scene from earlier and their faces went pale with fright.

Hiss

How did we fall asleep on watch? We're dead!

The train aisle is narrow; once a thief is discovered in such a personnel-dense carriage, it's very hard to run out.

Moreover, this person was holding quite a lot of luggage; one look showed someone had already fallen victim.

The mass of people caught the thief along with several lookouts; when the train attendants came, they were directly sent off.

After this whole bustle, everyone finally had time to worry about their own luggage.

Shen Yao's luggage had been hugged in her arms the whole time; even when the thief tried to snatch it from behind, she didn't let go.

Gu Wen Shu's luggage was placed at his feet; the thief couldn't reach it in the pitch-black environment.

It was Xiao Gao and Xiao Han, the two on watch, whose luggage was taken away then recovered; besides a few boiled eggs missing from inside, there was no other loss.

However, obviously the supplies weren't lost, but in Gu Wen Shu's eyes the two had committed a major error.

Gu Wen Shu looked coldly at the two who had fallen asleep on watch, only saying one sentence: correct it next time.

At this time, Shen Yao sensibly didn't interject; she had just come to the Fifth Workshop and had barely recognized everyone.

Besides, undermining the leader's authority in a public setting — she wasn't that bored.

She continued hugging her luggage and slept past it, waking up sober right on time for her own watch shift.

Shen Yao performed exceptionally well during this two-day, one-night journey.

Even that shout of hers caught not just the thief, but also a human trafficker.

If they hadn't been busy with official business, they could have received a thank-you letter from the local police station.

Shen Yao: …… Not necessary, these are all normal operations.

"Little Shen, well done."

Gu Wen Shu found Shen Yao more and more perfect the more he looked; turning his head, he didn't forget to praise her to the others, "Everyone learn from Group Leader Shen's ability; when out and about, we can't lose face for the Canning Factory."

Having already gotten off the train, looking much more spirited, the wedding guests all nodded smilingly in agreement.

Xiao Gao and Xiao Han, who had erred earlier, had already recovered, looking like they didn't have half a heart or lung.

Shen Yao shook her head inwardly; once Gu Wen Shu returned, he should kick these two out of the key cultivation targets; they didn't do the work well and didn't reflect — their chances of moving up weren't great.

"We'll go straight out of the station; Pingshan Town's comrades are waiting outside."

Gu Wen Shu stretched out his hand to call out, and everyone picked up their luggage and followed forward.

The subsequent matters followed naturally; Pingshan Town had developed well these past two years, even the production team had several tractors.

This time they came by tractor to pick them up; among those picking them up was Zhao Yueyue.

Shen Yao openly chatted a couple of sentences with Zhao Yueyue, then a group of people were pulled off to Xiangyang Production Team.

"The houses have already been arranged; the spot is right behind the threshing ground.

Those are newly built blue-brick tile-roofed houses, guaranteed to let everyone live comfortably."

The Captain responsible for receiving them finished speaking, then introduced the surrounding environment of Xiangyang Production Team.

Not to mention, one look inside and it really has the taste of pastoral life.

Zhao Yueyue sat next to Shen Yao; two acquaintances meeting had even more to say.

If Shen Yao and Zhao Yueyue weren't both very restrained, they'd definitely be able to chat all the way.

But it doesn't matter much right now, because for the next period of time, Zhao Yueyue is here.

……

"Overall, Yueyue, your Xiangyang Production Team and even the whole of Pingshan Town are quite good.

However, some details can be further improved, including the breeds of livestock raised, the quantity of fruit trees planted, and the varieties of grain crops cultivated.

"The canning factory's model is, after all, singular; if Pingshan Town wants to continue developing, creating industrial diversity is one path."

"One day, Pingshan Town might even be able to push away the canning factory and conduct independent packaging and sales, forming an integrated model of raw material production and subsequent finished product output."

"Afraid Zhao Yueyue wouldn't understand, Shen Yao gave a separate example: for instance, selling to the canning factory, fruit of any kind counts as raw material, so you can only collect the raw material price."

"But if the fruit is made into juice, dried fruit, or fruit canned food by yourselves, then you can sell it at the finished product price."

"Our Xiangyang Production Team has a very good geographical environment, surrounded by mountains, with water in the forest."

"More importantly, there is also a faint, thin layer of spiritual energy here."

"Spiritual energy of this concentration is absolutely insufficient for people to cultivate and improve their cultivation realm."

"But for some spiritual plants that don't require much spiritual energy, it is a very good production area."

"Shen Yao had quite a few spirit plant seeds in her space; she planned to ask Zhao Yueyue to help plant them before leaving, and as long as they could grow smoothly, it would be good news for Shen Yao."

"Shen Yao, for this kind of finished product packaging, what we should best start with on our side is local specialty products."

"Build the reputation that should be there, and later there won't be a lack of orders coming in."

"Zhao Yueyue patted her palms, suddenly remembering that their Xiangyang Production Team had quite a lot of things."

"Chicken eggs, duck eggs, brewed rice wine and aged vinegar, pressed sesame oil and peanut oil, and the big soybean paste made by the villagers themselves, good-tasting soy sauce..."

"Hiss—"

"Thinking it over like this, the integrated model Shen Yao mentioned has great potential."

"Shen Yao, you really are too smart."

"Zhao Yueyue couldn't help but hug Shen Yao, her heart full of gratitude toward Shen Yao."

"Worthy of being good sisters; an idea she thought of herself, she just gave it away."

"Shen Yao patted Zhao Yueyue's shoulder, signaling Zhao Yueyue to calm down temporarily, 'Now that we have a lead, next is taking one step at a time, steady and solid."

"Yueyue, I believe you guys will definitely be able to do it.'"

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

"With such a group of passionate youths and villagers who don't forget their original aspirations and strive hard, Pingshan Town can definitely scale the peaks and create glory again."

"Zhao Yueyue linked arms with Shen Yao, 'Tell me, how should I thank you?'"

"Shen Yao waved her hand, 'If there really is something I need your help with, the environment here is good, help me plant some herbs."

"You also know, we're from the City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, herbs and such we've memorized since childhood.'"

"Shen Yao's words weren't boasting; their Little One generation really did memorize various herbs."

"Shen Yao was borrowing the name of herbs to plant some spiritual plants from the cultivation world."

"As for Zhao Yueyue not recognizing them after they grow? There are so many kinds of herbs, even famous old TCM doctors in Jing Shi might not recognize them all, let alone half-bucket juniors like them."

"Zhao Yueyue nodded directly without thinking, 'Okay, leave it to me."

"Right in front of the Knowledgeable Youth Point there are a few fen of vegetable plots; I live alone, the vegetables I grow are enough to eat, the remaining portion can all be used to plant herbs for you."

"But herbs take a long time to form; the ones you take will need several years to grow?'"

"Zhao Yueyue thought to herself that herbs are hard to grow, and artificially planted herbs have inferior medicinal properties compared to wild ones in the mountains."

"The back mountain of Xiangyang Production Team has dense forests, with quite a few herbs inside."

"She had nothing to do before and dug some up to sell, but the prices weren't high, just earning hard labor money; later she decisively threw herself into her career and didn't bother with these."

"They're all annuals, and you don't need to care for them too attentively either."

"Just like planting vegetables normally; if they grow it's their ability, if they don't then forget it."

"Shen Yao doesn't mind these few years, and since places with many mountains and forests have spiritual energy, after Reform and Opening Up later, would it be hard for Shen Yao to find such places?"

"Bringing it up now is just to experiment in advance with what these cultivation world spiritual plants will actually grow into in this world."