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墨書 Inktalez
Listening to Yang Chen's enthusiastic narration, Tai Man smiled and said, "I finally understand why you suddenly wanted to take me to the countryside for an inspection; you have an agenda."
"Your agenda is to show me the Cave you often visited as a child and to let me taste your family's Free-Range Chicken, hoping to develop these two projects."
"I knew it; nothing escapes the leader's keen eye," Yang Chen chuckled. "To be honest, after I graduated, I wanted to return to the village to raise chickens, but my mother nearly broke my legs when she heard my plan."
Yang Chen was the only college student from Minhua Village who had gone on to a prestigious university, yet he wanted to return home to raise chickens?
His mother couldn't understand, and neither could the villagers.
In the end, Yang Chen couldn't go against his mother's wishes and became a civil servant, working in the county and becoming his mother's pride.
"Although I couldn't return to the village to raise chickens, I've always kept it in mind. I even suggested it to the old cadre, but he thought it was unfeasible. He believed that once farming is scaled up, it loses its original advantages and becomes less competitive."
Tai Man nodded. "The old cadre's concerns are not without reason. Unless we can lease all the mountains surrounding Minhua Village and turn those three sides into a massive farm, it would inevitably harm the ecology."
The choice between wealth and ecological protection had to be laid out on the table.
"I've considered all of this. We can relocate some of the fierce beasts in the mountains, like wild boars and wildcats—those aggressive animals—to other mountainous areas, minimizing the impact on the ecological environment."
Tai Man sighed, "That's no small project, and it would require approval from provincial authorities."
"The secretary knows that provincial authorities won't agree, which is why he rejected my proposal. But that's okay; we can start by leasing a portion of the mountains for farming. Once we achieve a certain scale and have results, we'll have more leverage to negotiate with provincial authorities."
Tai Man didn't expect Yang Chen had already planned things so meticulously. "When we get back, draft a proposal, and I'll hold a meeting for discussion."
"Long live our leader!"
Yang Chen jumped up excitedly, as happy as a child.
The next day, Tai Man and Yang Chen left Minhua Village.
Before leaving, Mother Yang kept stuffing things into the trunk—home-picked vegetables, herbs, and four live chickens.
Yang Chen repeatedly urged his mother not to go up the mountain for herbs anymore, and she kept agreeing.
But Yang Chen knew that even though his mother agreed, she wouldn't actually follow through; she would be just like the villagers still in Minhua Village—whenever they had free time, they would head into the mountains until they could no longer carry their baskets or walk along the mountain paths.
To make them stop, he would have to find them new livelihoods.
On the way back to the county town, Yang Chen's mood was completely different from when he had come; he hardly spoke along the way.
Tai Man had also been away from home for a long time and understood Yang Chen's feelings. He comforted him: "You don't need to worry too much about your mother. Once we get this farming project off the ground, she won't have to go up the mountain for herbs anymore; even if she wants to go, she can't because those herbs will need to be saved for feeding the chickens."
Tai Man's words eased Yang Chen's mood. Afterward, Yang Chen took Tai Man around several rural roads to check on other townships before returning to Hualin County Town.
By the time they returned to the county town, it was already dark. Yang Chen initially wanted to prepare a meal with the ingredients his mother had packed to treat Tai Man, but Tai Man didn't want Yang Chen to go through too much trouble, so they ended up having a simple meal outside before heading home.
As the new work week began, Tai Man and Yang Chen quickly prepared two development plans for discussion at the upcoming development meeting. In this round of meetings, in addition to the previous attendees, they also invited Secretary Wang, as well as several directors from the Finance Bureau, Land Bureau, and Environmental Protection Bureau. Naturally, Yang Chen was also on the attendee list.
Before the meeting started, Wang Hongen asked Tai Man, "Secretary Tai, have you thought of a new development plan that you intend to announce at the meeting?"
"Before any announcement, I will definitely seek your approval, Secretary. I do have two plans that I believe are feasible, but whether they can be implemented will require further discussion."
Soon, everyone arrived and the meeting commenced. Tai Man began by briefly discussing the economic situation in Hualin County. The overall economy was still on a downward trend; while the GDP level was not at its lowest nationally, it was still in the lower tier.
"I came to Hualin because I do not wish to be idle in this position, and we cannot allow this declining economic situation to continue!" Tai Man signaled Li Lu to distribute documents. "Last weekend, Director Yang and I visited various places in the countryside and saw a cave in Heisha Township. The scenery inside the cave is breathtaking and could be developed into a tourist attraction that promotes tourism across the province and attracts visitors to boost our economy."
Wang Hongen casually flipped through the materials on the table. "The Black Sand Cave that County Chief Tai mentioned is known to us all. The county has had development plans for it before, but we lack funding; there are no allocations from the urban area, and no tourism companies are willing to cooperate on development. In the end, it had to be shelved."
Tourism Bureau Director Lu Wendong sighed, "The county basically has no tourism projects. If we could develop Black Sand Cave, it would indeed fill a gap in our tourism offerings and enhance Hualin's visibility."
"However, the surrounding environment is too poor and the tourism project is too singular; forcing development would certainly lead to losses and would not promote economic growth; rather, it might become a burden."
"I understand Secretary's and Director Lu's concerns. Therefore, I hope everyone can brainstorm together to try to get this project off the ground." Tai Man looked at Lu Wendong. "Director Lu, please send a few people to visit some well-known caves across the country to learn about their management experiences and see if there are any new insights."
"Additionally, go talk with some companies responsible for tourism development nationwide to see if any enterprises are interested in cooperative development."
"Understood, County Chief."
After discussing Black Sand Cave, Tai Man turned to Yang Chen. "I have another gain from my visit to the countryside; let Director Yang introduce it."
Yang Chen stood up and said, "Before I introduce it, let me first invite everyone to taste a dish."
"Director Yang, this is a work meeting; please don't joke around," Wang Hongen reprimanded with a serious expression.
Tai Man was also surprised that Yang Chen wanted to serve food during the meeting but thought that whatever dish he intended to serve must be stir-fried chicken.
Tasting it firsthand would indeed be more persuasive than mere words.
"Secretary, why not take a look at what Director Yang has prepared? Perhaps he can surprise us," Wang Hongen said upon hearing Tai Man's suggestion and decided not to say more.
"Alright then."
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