this man is not calm

Chapter 522 Proving Ground

The main purpose of this trip to Yunmeng is to discuss some final matters before the wedding. The details of the ceremony with my future in-laws and my own parents have been finalized, and the procedures are almost complete.

Taking advantage of the holiday, I came to this small fourth- or fifth-tier county town to wander around.

Completely different from the cold and indifferent atmosphere of the New Year twenty years later, the festive atmosphere in this small town during the Spring Festival of 1999 was much stronger, even more lively than in the remote urban areas of western Beijing, which were rapidly transitioning from urban to metropolitan areas.

"Even though it's already in the fields some distance from the residential area, there are still a lot of people coming and going."

As Jin Shang sighed with these thoughts, a smile played on his lips. Li Leping, however, seemed about to light a cigarette but ultimately didn't, saying...

"Are you being strictly controlled now, old man?"

The sprightly old man, Li, waved cheerfully to passersby and casually replied:
"I had a physical exam in October, and the results showed my cardiopulmonary function was a bit weak. The doctor advised me to quit smoking and drinking. The kids were a little nervous, so we went to several large hospitals for follow-up appointments, but it turned out to be nothing serious..."

"As you get older, you still need to be careful."

Judging from his complexion, Li Leping looked quite well; however, he was getting on in years and couldn't carry the burden as easily as he had when he was younger.

I drink very little alcohol now, and I can't quit smoking anytime soon. I can only try to control it and gradually reduce my dependence. I don't usually carry a lighter in my pocket. I only offer a few cigarettes to people I meet, but I basically don't light them.

"It's not that exaggerated. If you can't eat or drink, what's the point?"

That being said, Jin Shang knew that Li Leping was just talking big, but in reality he was very careful about his health. At his level, what he couldn't accept was being unable to do anything well, being sickly, and causing trouble for his descendants.

The feeling of being incompetent, powerless, and useless is the most intolerable thing for a head of the family who has been strong-willed all his life.

As for why Jin Shang knows, his past life experiences and his grandmother Xian Guizhen in this life are similar. Although he usually appears indifferent and not very enthusiastic, he is actually a very emotional and sensitive person.

On the other hand, what parent who is even slightly normal doesn't worry about their children?

As a local tycoon who has been rooted in Yunmeng for hundreds of years, Old Man Li certainly has a lot of influence. Nearly half of the people on the street know him and greet him. When it comes to introducing Jin Shang, his prospective grandson-in-law, who only has a rudimentary understanding of the local dialect but can guess the gist of things, Old Man Li is quite proud.

These days, billionaires are still quite rare. Even if you met him in person, few people would believe it. If you say too much, people might think Li Leping is bragging. On the contrary, Jin Shang's identity as a pop star, singer-songwriter, and member of a well-known band is known to quite a few young people who have gone out to work and seen the world.

Anyway, Kim Sang doesn't need to bother with socializing; he can just put on a smile and get by.

The two walked and stopped along the way, arriving at an area dotted with ponds and neatly arranged fields. Standing by a small bridge, watching several old men fishing in the distance and the water plants, interspersed with water hyacinths, swaying in the wind, Jin Shang asked in surprise:
"Logically speaking, winters in northern Hubei are still quite cold, and the water surface may remain frozen for more than a month. Cold winds still blow frequently after the New Year, so how come the aquatic plants are so lush?"

The patchwork of withered and dark green aquatic plants provides abundant food for fish that forage when the water warms up at midday, making it the perfect time to fish for large crucian carp in these small streams.

"Ten years ago, almost every Spring Festival would bring extremely cold weather with snow up to knee-deep and thick icicles over a meter long, but these days are much less frequent. In addition, the successful introduction and trial planting of many cold-resistant plants have added a lot of greenery to the desolate winter."

Climate change is affecting not only the elderly, but also young people like Jin Shang.

When he was in elementary and middle school, Jin Shang rode his bicycle to school for a while. During the coldest days before winter vacation, even with thick gloves on, he would get frostbite from the cold wind.

Nowadays, it's obvious that the pond ice, which used to be so thick that people could walk on it and couldn't be broken even with big bricks, is now so thick that even children can't play on it. On the contrary, the summer heat is becoming more and more pronounced, with more and more days of high temperatures.

To put it simply, a phenomenon that might seem trivial to the average person is actually of enormous importance: a one-degree increase in the average annual temperature, or even slight changes in oxygen levels or air humidity, can lead to drastic weather changes in local areas or even globally. In the most severe cases, it can cause changes in the geographical environment, mass extinctions of species, and so on.

The cold, freezing period was originally only about twenty days, but it was reduced by seven or eight days, resulting in drastically different outcomes. You might not feel the difference after one or two years, but after ten or eight years, the difference becomes very obvious.

According to Li Leping, farmers here used to plant two rice crops a year, and in early spring they would lay plastic film for a long time to keep warm. Now it's not so strict, and the best sunny fields don't even need plastic film.

Half a century ago, two harvests a year were the skill of a good farmer and a hardworking family. Most families would only intercrop one winter wheat crop at most, making it three harvests every two years, and the yield was usually quite average.

Nowadays, with advanced technology, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, and seeds are being updated and improved rapidly, resulting in higher and higher yields. For ordinary villagers who farm to make a living, growing grain may not earn them much money, but it is no longer a problem to support their families.

"Many of the fields on both sides of the road are overgrown with tall, lush green grass. Is that... pasture?"

Jin Shang recognizes most common flowers and plants, but he can't remember the details.

"The imported and domesticated local improved forage grass is quite good. It has good overwintering ability and basically does not need to be replanted. It can also harvest grass to feed cattle in winter."

Since Jin Shang suggested that the Li family leverage their local advantages and maintain their leading positions in quarrying, sand mining, trade markets, transportation and logistics, bulk grain and oil channels, and food processing, they began to expand into deep processing and high value-added sectors.

It's actually quite difficult to make further progress in traditional sectors. On the contrary, agriculture and animal husbandry, which are not very profitable and no one wants to do them, can yield decent returns if done well.

Of course, the small-scale family workshop model won't work. Only local tycoons like the Li family, with large-scale investment and resource integration, can find a profitable opportunity. Those who make money outside and return to invest and give back to their hometowns, starting businesses out of sheer enthusiasm—nine out of ten projects fail. Rural investment is normal. Even if one succeeds by chance, it's difficult to cash out and exit unscathed. "Is growing pasture more profitable than growing grain?"

"It depends. Generally speaking, it's not as good as honestly growing grain, but..."

Li Leping smiled helplessly and said,

"Farming is hard work. It's enough to have enough to eat, but it's still a struggle to make ends meet. These days, with economic development, convenient transportation, and more open-minded people, many young people go to work in cities. A month's income there can be equivalent to a year's income from farming. As a result, most of the able-bodied people have gone to the cities, leaving behind mostly elderly people in their hometowns. They can manage to grow some vegetables in a small garden, but expecting them to cultivate and manage the fields meticulously is really asking too much of them. As for fodder, they might not make much money, but it saves time and effort. Each household can raise a few cows to graze, cut some silage every few days, and feed some chickens, ducks, and geese. That's pretty good."

"That's it!"

Jin Shang nodded knowingly.

The experience of large-scale farms and ranches in the North cannot be applied to farmers in the Central Plains.

The mountainous and hilly areas are not suitable for large agricultural machinery operations, so they can only follow the path of small-scale intensive farming. Fortunately, the weather here is relatively favorable, the land is fertile, and the harvest is very good, making it a true land of fish and rice.

With forage grass that can successfully overwinter, there will be no shortage of feed for livestock for several years. High-value chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, once grown up, will generally not result in a loss, whether for personal use or for sale.

That's good!
Twenty years later, people lamented that they could never return to their hometowns. In early 1999, it was the homeland in the hearts of most ordinary people, a solid ballast, a pillar of stability. If things didn't go well outside, they could always find food to eat when they came back.

Therefore, the local resource integration project initiated by Lao Li involved investing his own money to build a large-scale breeding farm, contracting wasteland and mountains to plant tea and grass, and simultaneously carrying out deep processing of non-staple foods, producing high-end tea seed oil, tea-flavored craft beer, organic feed, ecological fertilizer, etc., which is rooted in this place.

"For products like chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and pigs, our own factories only account for a little over one-third. The rest is outsourced to regional traders who collect them from the villages. My family can get cheap goods, and the villagers don't have to go through the trouble of selling them far away. They make a profit, and the traders also make a profit from the price difference. Then, they are centrally slaughtered, processed, sorted, and transported out with other types of goods by large trucks. Seventy percent are transported to Yangluo Port, and then transported north to the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing via rail-sea intermodal transport. Twenty-five percent are transported to Huashan Port, and then reach the Jiaodong Peninsula, Liaodong Peninsula, and even Northeast Asia via direct river-sea ships. The rest is consumed locally."

Jin Shang was aware of this. Specialty tea drinks, craft beer, and tea seed oil were popular among ordinary people who valued quality of life. Although they were a bit more expensive than their competitors, they were still considered worth the price.

"Aren't there any difficulties?"

"The technology is easy to solve, and we have no shortage of resources and connections. It's just that the local area is at its limit. The entire Yunmeng County has a population that is just under 300,000. It is an ancient cultural city, but it is also a relatively poor county-level city with limited capacity. Many large projects cannot be implemented."

For example, in the second half of last year, Jinshang added Yunmeng to the list of pilot cities for new energy buses and taxis in order to highlight its differentiation. As a result, the total investment of only tens of millions of yuan shocked the city.

In 1998, the national fiscal revenue just exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan. This figure is large, but it is not particularly exaggerated for a country with such a vast territory. However, for a small third- or fourth-tier county, an investment of tens of millions of yuan is already a large number, even if most of it is for high-priced new energy vehicles, charging piles, battery swapping stations, and gas (gas, alcohol) stations.

"Let's talk to the higher-ups and build an integrated new energy park. We can package together wind and solar power plants, energy storage and conversion, direct supply, ecological agriculture, tourism resources, and bioenergy, and then find a place to invest in it!"

"Can this make money? It probably won't even be worth a hundred or two hundred million..."

“I’ve already had someone prepare a budget of one billion! Actually, there’s no need to worry about losing money. Nowadays, as long as an investment project can be implemented and the results can be maintained, it will definitely not lose money in the long run. It’s just a matter of how much profit we make. Short-term gains are not important to me. On the contrary, the investment and operation of infrastructure is more valuable. Small places have their advantages. With a small amount of money, a whole operating system can be built.”

If this were in Beijing, a ten-figure investment would be considerable, but it wouldn't make everyone else fawn over you.

"Is it too much?"

"It's not like we're investing all at once within a year. We can invest the majority of it over three years, get it looking like a real project, and then produce results in batches."

Kim Sang said with absolute certainty,
"On the other hand, most of your family's businesses, which are based on agriculture and animal husbandry, are water and electricity consuming. Can you guarantee the supply?"

"It's difficult, but we can still manage. It's a small county town, and the supply of water, electricity, gas, steel, building materials, petrochemicals, and other products largely restricts the scale of industrialization."

Without electricity, industrialization and informatization would come to a standstill, and the consequences would be similar without water, gasoline, diesel, and other necessities.

"If you insist on investing here, it's not impossible."

Li Leping touched his freshly shaved chin, thought for a moment, and suggested,
"Your previous collaborations here, including the internet cafe chain cultural activities, the PHS (Personal Handyphone System) supporting projects, and the bulk agricultural product trading, went very smoothly. Everyone is happy to do business with reputable companies. I can't guarantee you'll make money here, but I can keep out any dirty tricks..."

"That's enough! The main focus should be on serving urbanization and industrialization. Let's start with a project for urban waste sorting, treatment, reuse, and incineration power generation, as well as a new energy high-efficiency utilization park, to demonstrate our capabilities. Then things will be easier."

To be honest, with Jinshang's current strength, it has already entered the markets it could enter. The remaining markets with real room for development face significant obstacles. On the contrary, in smaller places below the second or third tier, as long as there are acquaintances to introduce it and a foundation for cooperation is established, things are much easier to handle.

For example, deploying 1,000 new energy taxis and 200 electric buses in western Beijing is insignificant and has a limited presence. However, in Yunmeng County and its surrounding areas, even cutting that number in half would be remarkable. It would almost completely establish and simulate the scale and logic of operation, allowing the R&D team to quickly understand its advantages and disadvantages and provide strong data support for the next generation of product updates.

"Local summary reports are easier to write now, as they're all about political achievements."

The unique characteristics and highlights of urban development cannot be achieved in every place.

(End of this chapter)