Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 578: Drawing a Big Pie in the Sky

"Woo~"

Two days later, at dawn, with the sound of a train whistle, Li Guoqiang appeared at Changxian Railway Station.

At this point, more than two or three years had passed since he first set foot in this place.

But the train was still the same train, and the street was still the same street, as if nothing had changed.

The only difference is that nowadays, all eleven production brigades in Chang County are contracted to raise bees.

Moreover, the first batch of income had already been deposited into their brigade's public account a week ago, averaging over ten thousand yuan in income for each production brigade.

In this way, even in some production brigades with nearly a hundred households, each household could receive more than a hundred yuan, which was much more than the income they would earn from farming for a year.

Perhaps they've already started preparing to hold a dividend distribution meeting!

Thinking of this, Li Guoqiang immediately turned around and walked towards the Agriculture Bureau.

When he arrived at Xu Guangfu's office, Xu Guangfu had just come to work from the dormitory.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

"Please come in!"

"Director Xu!"

Hey! When did you get back? I thought you'd gotten eaten by a tiger in the mountains!

Upon hearing Li Guoqiang's voice, Xu Guangfu abruptly raised his head from his desk, his face filled with a mixture of joy and anger.

We agreed that I would come back every ten days, but it's been almost four months now.

If it weren't for his belief in Li Guoqiang's abilities, and if it weren't for the vastness of the mountains behind Jinshanbao, he probably would have organized the militia to search for people in the mountains.

"Sigh! I didn't expect setting up a beekeeping research institute deep in the mountains would be so troublesome!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang hurriedly pretended to look distressed and began to explain.

"Hmph! You're finally learning what hardship is? Do you know that if I hadn't covered for you, everyone in the county and village would have thought you were dead!"

Xu Guangfu snorted coldly, then began to lecture him with a look of dissatisfaction.

"Yes, yes, it's my fault, I apologize!"

Seeing Xu Guangfu's expression, Li Guoqiang didn't bother to argue and immediately nodded readily, admitting his mistake.

Upon seeing this, Xu Guangfu's anger subsided somewhat, but he immediately became worried.

"Um, are your wife and kids alright?"

"Great, they're doing incredibly well. All they do all day is eat and sleep; they're practically turning into pigs!"

Li Guoqiang nodded, then answered earnestly.

"Go away, I'm serious, don't joke with me!"

Xu Guangfu's face darkened, and then he cursed in a somewhat annoyed manner.

"Yes! I'm serious! You can ask them yourself when they come back!"

Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow, then nodded with certainty and confirmed.

"Really?"

Xu Guangfu was slightly taken aback, then looked at Li Guoqiang with some suspicion.

"Really! How could I possibly lie to you about something like this!"

Li Guoqiang nodded, a slightly helpless expression on his face.

"That's true!"

Seeing that Li Guoqiang didn't seem to be bluffing, and remembering that he was Li Guoqiang's father-in-law, Xu Guangfu immediately believed him to some extent.

Then, he looked at Li Guoqiang's increasingly mature and handsome face, and a very gratified smile appeared on his lips.

If there's one thing he's done in his life that makes him smile even in his dreams, it's undoubtedly taking in such a promising young son-in-law as Li Guoqiang.

As he was laughing, he suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly took out a bunch of slips of paper from the drawer and handed them to Li Guoqiang.

"Take a look, these are all the notes from those ten production brigades inviting you to the profit-sharing meeting. I didn't reply to them before because you didn't come back."

Now that you're back, you can decide this matter yourself!

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang stepped forward, took the slips of paper, and asked as he flipped through them, "Did they invite anyone else?"

"Ha! Didn't you see it on the note? It's like they all planned it together. Besides inviting you, they also invited me and County Chief Qian."

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangfu immediately grinned, his face full of smugness.

Being invited to witness the profit-sharing ceremony is a very prestigious thing, and it will be remembered for a long time.

This also serves as an affirmation of his work achievements.

This is because he is too old, and he was promoted ahead of his peers.

Otherwise, based on these achievements alone, he could at least have moved up a notch.

Correspondingly, Li Guoqiang is the biggest contributor.

After this bonus distribution meeting, with solid achievements, he should be able to be promoted at least half a grade and become a section chief like him!

Thinking of this, he immediately stood up and pulled Li Guoqiang out of the office.

"Come on, while it's still early, come with me to give Qian County a proper report on our work, and while we're at it, let's discuss how to attend the profit-sharing meetings of those production brigades."

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and silently followed behind Xu Guangfu.

Soon, they arrived at Qian Weiguo's office.

When Qian Weiguo saw Li Guoqiang, he was stunned for a moment. Without saying a word, he stood up from behind his desk and quickly walked towards Li Guoqiang, his face full of excitement and enthusiasm.

"Oh my! Comrade Li Guoqiang, I'm so glad to finally see you! These past few months, you've been working so hard to set up the beekeeping technology research institute in the mountains. Look at your face, your hands... you've really matured a lot."

On behalf of all the people of Chang County, I would like to express my gratitude for your hard work.

As he spoke, Qian Weiguo stretched out his hands, grasped Li Guoqiang's hands tightly, and shook them vigorously up and down.

This shows just how satisfied he was with Li Guoqiang's achievements. You have to understand, when he learned that Xiangmizhai had transferred a total of more than 15 yuan to the Agricultural Bureau, Jinshanbao, and those ten production brigades in one go, the joy he felt was indescribable.

Although this 15 yuan is not as much as a brick kiln in the county earns in a quarter.

However, this 15 yuan is enough to enable nearly 700 households and more than 3500 people in eleven production brigades in the county to live a good life with plenty of food and clothing.

Moreover, if this trend continues, there may be 50 or even 100 more production brigades embarking on the path of contracted beekeeping, achieving an annual output of several million units, thereby driving economic development of tens of millions.

Moreover, compared to brick kilns and the like, beekeeping is arguably the lowest-cost, most profitable, and most widely applicable industry.

At that time, based on this achievement, it wouldn't be impossible for him to advance further, let alone take a few more steps.

The more he thought about it, the more eager his gaze became towards Li Guoqiang, wishing he could keep Li Guoqiang firmly by his side.

Seeing Qian Weiguo's enthusiasm, Li Guoqiang couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

As the saying goes, "All the world's hustle and bustle is for profit."

As long as you have value to others, they will praise you.

Soon, Li Guoqiang exchanged a few polite words with Qian Weiguo, then sat on the sofa and gave Qian Weiguo a thorough report on the development of Xiangmizhai and the Beekeeping Technology Research Institute.

Although the beekeeping technology research institute is still overgrown with weeds, there are already corresponding wooden houses and a new generation of bees in the small world.

Therefore, his report was entirely truthful.

In addition, he specifically explained Xiangmizhai's development plan, saying that the next step would be to contact China Resources Company to see if the honey produced in Changxian County could be exported abroad to earn foreign exchange.

This is tantamount to dangling a pie in the sky for the leaders of Chang County.

Upon hearing this, Qian Weiguo almost jumped up in excitement.

It's important to understand that these days, due to the scarcity of foreign exchange, it has essentially been listed as one of the most important development tasks.

If the honey produced in Changxian County can indeed be sold abroad and help the country earn foreign exchange, it would undoubtedly be a very dazzling achievement.

As the local official in charge, he will receive unimaginable rewards.

Once he had calmed down a bit, he immediately grabbed Li Guoqiang's hand and said in a deep voice, "Comrade Li Guoqiang, you can go ahead and do it with confidence. I will stand behind you and support you the most."

Whatever your needs, please feel free to tell me, and I will do my best to help you find a solution.

"Thank you, sir! I don't have any other requests at the moment!"

Li Guoqiang shook his head and then responded humbly.

Upon hearing this, Qian Weiguo pondered for a moment, then earnestly suggested:

"In a couple of days, I will bring it up at the Standing Committee meeting to upgrade the Beekeeping Technology Research Institute to the level of a full-fledged section chief. This will elevate your rank by one level, making it easier for you to guide beekeeping work in various townships in the future."

"Thank you for your guidance, leader!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang naturally didn't object and immediately expressed his gratitude.

At the same time, he was thinking that if things continued like this, he would probably at least become a section chief!

However, even so, it didn't have much effect on him.

He clearly remembered that after the reform and opening up, not only a department head, but even some bureau-level officials would gradually take unpaid leave to go into business.

Moreover, this situation will continue until after the millennium before it gradually changes.

By then, with the group of companies he owns, the people who can talk to him will probably be at least at the department level.

Therefore, he didn't show any particular expression on his face, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

Seeing Li Guoqiang's calm reaction, Qian Weiguo felt a mixture of admiration for Li Guoqiang's composure and nervousness, fearing that Li Guoqiang might have some objections.

However, for now, this is the greatest praise he can give Li Guoqiang.

If the height were any higher, regardless of whether he has the right to do so, Li Guoqiang's age alone would be met with opposition from many people.

Just as he was pondering in his heart how he could make up for Li Guoqiang's shortcomings, Li Guoqiang suddenly brought up the matter of going to those ten production brigades to witness the profit-sharing meeting.

"Sir, because I can't leave the Beekeeping Technology Research Institute for too long, I can't go with you and Director Xu this time. Please forgive me."

"Whoa!"

Qian Weiguo was slightly taken aback, then quickly waved his hand and said reassuringly, "Look at what you're saying! You're doing this all for your work. I'm too busy praising you to blame you!"

After speaking, he looked at Li Guoqiang's young and handsome face, and his admiration for him grew stronger.

He was initially worried that if he went with Li Guoqiang to witness the profit-sharing meeting in those ten production brigades, Li Guoqiang might steal the spotlight.

To his utter surprise, Li Guoqiang was so sensible as to use his busy work schedule as an excuse to decline the offer.

That's so thoughtful of them!
Afterwards, he showered Li Guoqiang with compliments until someone came in to remind him to go to a meeting. Only then did he reluctantly see Li Guoqiang and Xu Guangfu off.

After leaving the county government, Xu Guangfu looked at Li Guoqiang and asked with some regret, "Are you really not going to come with us to witness the profit-sharing meeting?"

"Ah!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang couldn't help but chuckle and replied, "Didn't you see how happy County Chief Qian was when he heard me say I wasn't going?"

"Oh! What a pity!"

Xu Guangfu shook his head and then sighed softly.

In fact, given his experience and shrewdness, how could he not see the main reason why Li Guoqiang did this?

He just felt that Li Guoqiang had sacrificed so much, and now that he finally had a chance to make a name for himself, he had ruined it because he wanted to avoid suspicion.

Little did they know, Li Guoqiang simply didn't want to waste his time on such meaningless things.

He would be better off using this time to set up the beekeeping research institute, so that he wouldn't be caught off guard and scrambling to catch up if a higher-up suddenly wanted to inspect it.

Not long after, Li Guoqiang did not go back with Xu Guangfu. Instead, he asked Xu Guangfu to arrange for Zheng Zhicheng, a coachman, to drive him back to Jinshanbao.

When he finally arrived at his home, which he hadn't visited for more than three months, it was exactly noon.

So, after seeing Zheng Zhicheng off, he didn't go inside. Instead, he carried the things that Xu Yuchang, Ma Hongjun, and others had prepared for their parents, and drove around the village before finally stopping at Xu Guangshou's house.

At the same time, Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and other brigade cadres, upon learning that Li Guoqiang had finally returned, disregarded everything else and dropped their tools, rushing towards Xu Guangshou's house.

(End of this chapter)