Song Tan's Notes

Huo Xueying was just stirring up trouble verbally.

In fact, she searched high and low in the house and even went to the supermarket, but in the end she didn't prepare anything.

I'm a little frustrated.

When you go to someone's house to freeload, how could you not bring anything with you?
But the food and drinks at Song Tan's house were countless times better than what one could find elsewhere. As for clothing, accessories, and other necessities, I knew from the last class reunion that she wore jewelry worth tens or even millions…

Oh!

Seeing that her boyfriend was about to get off work, she went to the jewelry store and spent some time thinking about it before buying a small, lightweight zodiac pendant.

The recent surge in gold prices has made her wince, but thankfully she has prepared a gift, so she can enjoy the food and drinks at other people's homes in peace!
When they met in the parking lot, her boyfriend Zheng Qu hesitated for a moment:
"Do you think it would be a bit too obvious for me to just go to the wholesale market and buy a stack of plastic crates right now?"

Huo Xueying blushed slightly: "Although we're going to eat and take some things, it's not really appropriate to be so direct..."

The two looked at each other.

Fortunately, Song Tan sent a message at this moment:

"You'd better bring a bigger car. Besides the local specialties we're giving you, please also take some for Zhu Xin's family before you leave..."

The fire department and the turnip (not a typo) took in someone else's retired dogs, and now the dogs are all sleek and shiny, frequently making great contributions.

For the sake of sustainable development, and to remember those who helped us, since someone has come all the way from Ningcheng, we naturally have to ask them to bring us some things.

Upon hearing his request, Zheng Qu glanced at his SUV and instantly felt relieved.

Even Huo Xueying had a smile on her face:

Just ask them to do something! If they have something to do, they can eat and drink there and take things with them, so they won't feel so embarrassed!

With express delivery so convenient these days, Song Tan must be trying to put their minds at ease by saying this, right?

The two relaxed, and Zheng Qu took out what he had prepared—

Like Huo Xueying, he didn't know what to give as a gift, so after thinking for a long time, he bought Qiaoqiao a live streaming gimbal tracking stand.

He scratched his head again: "I originally wanted to buy a drone, but I was afraid of breaking a low-quality one, and a high-quality one was way over budget..."

That's how humble working people are; they barely have any money left over after a year.

The two exchanged a glance. Since they had already shamelessly agreed, they stopped hesitating and set off immediately!
……

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the courtyard, which had finally been cleared out, Wang Qing also got into the car quickly. The leader sat in the back seat, having some things to take care of. The three of them set off in this simple and unpretentious manner.

"I've already booked the room. It's a top-tier room at the guesthouse run by Mr. Song's cousin."

The leader frowned, then relaxed: "If you're opening a guesthouse in that village, you're probably targeting tourists, so the price of the top-tier suite shouldn't be too high, right?"

Secretary Wang laughed.

"You really know your business—that's right. It's said that at first, the target customers were fishermen and those who occasionally stayed overnight, but now patients from rural clinics also like to stay here."

"The most expensive double room costs over two hundred yuan a night."

Even in Yuncheng, which is the price of a regular hotel on a weekday, the leader was indeed satisfied.

The driver's eyes flickered when he heard "clinic patient"—people are always afraid of infection issues when it comes to medical matters.

But before he could ask, Secretary Wang had already explained:

"Although there are many patients over there, we are not worried about infection or anything. After all, you know that Dr. Guo specializes in internal conditioning and health preservation, and that is his reputation."

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners generally don't travel long distances to treat illnesses if the treatment isn't right for the patient. The leader nodded: "You've always been very thorough in your work, I trust you completely. But I remember there are two guesthouses in the village, right? What about the other one? Is it profitable?"

That's a complicated matter.

The investment in homestays in Luchuan is considerable.

The construction alone cost over two million, and then there was the expensive interior decoration, bringing the total to at least five million.

If a hotel only cost this much, it must be small and run-down.

But this is a rural guesthouse, and he doesn't have many rooms to begin with, not to mention the two rooms on the top floor, which are his and Lu Jing's private residence.

With such a large investment, it's natural that there are no profit points to be seen right now.

but……

Very strange.

The average price of the rooms is over 600, yet since the opening, there have been people constantly booking them.

It started with the regular night-time vegetable pickers, then it became wealthy celebrities, and later, it became wealthy patients...

Because they don't hire many employees, they can still maintain a room occupancy rate of nearly 50% every month...

That's quite an absurd description.

Lu Chuan's original plan for this guesthouse was to take advantage of the situation and build a house for him and Lu Jing to live in.

The remaining rooms will be used as guesthouse rooms for Lu Jing's business.

I never even thought about making a profit; I just wanted to cover the basic operating costs of utilities and labor each month.

Surprisingly, after calculating it this way, there was actually a slight surplus!
Secretary Wang explained everything in detail, but now there was still a slight regret:

"Actually, the scenery at that guesthouse is exceptionally well-maintained. The various plants and flowers in front of the door are arranged aesthetically pleasingly, and many people in the village even go there specifically to take photos. It's just that those who don't book a room can only take photos from the outside..."

Most importantly, according to online reviews, there is afternoon tea and desserts every day when you stay there, all made with ingredients from Lao Song's family.

Just because of this, living there doesn't seem so luxurious anymore.

But since they now live with their superiors, such a nice place isn't really appropriate for them; they can only dream about it.

The leader was unaware of the complexities involved.

He had only two purposes for this trip: to take care of his health and to bring back some local specialties.

For example, the tofu products from Yunqiao Village, and the vegetables sold by local residents and villagers.

Go and chat with a few agricultural students from Songtan Mountain—there's also a well-known agricultural university in Ningcheng, our local area.

Every autumn harvest season, the school opens up a market to sell vegetables, which has even made the news a few times and is very popular with nearby residents.

The fact that Song Tan's family was able to keep three agricultural students is partly due to their high salaries, and partly because they must have achieved something that attracted them.

Ask about the development situation, observe more, and if you can find any unique features or pain points in the rural economy, then the trip will have been worthwhile.

In short, the driver drove in silence, while everyone in the car had their own expectations.

The driver just couldn't understand why the leaders would leave the local health care team's doctors unused and instead travel all the way to such a remote rural area.

For Dr. Guo to attract such a person as them, he must have white hair and beard, a youthful face, a rosy complexion, and look very long-lived and highly skilled in medicine!
If that's the case, since he's already here, shouldn't he also...? (End of Chapter)