My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 294: Different Paths, Same Destination

But the fact is that Wei Dong slowed down his pace because of this chance encounter.

Of course, it was not directed at the female doctor who suddenly became enthusiastic and positive.

It was when Weidong interacted with these grassroots doctors and local staff that he learned about many practical situations that he could never see from the outside.

It’s not very good. Considering some things that people in later generations know, the situation is really not very good.

As the mainland undergoes reform and opening up, these remote areas are also undergoing drastic changes.

Weidong had previously mentioned to Yu Songhai based on his impression that poverty alleviation in border areas cannot rely on subsidies or grants, but on economic development.

When I really started chatting with others, I realized that he was still too ignorant.

There are many questions.

Just like You Qili and the others could only talk big, but Weidong, just because of selling bacon, walked through so many factories.

Later, solving actual problems became more open-minded and easier.

Now he immediately realized that this was another kind of measurement and investigation.

So we chatted until almost midnight before reluctantly going to the hospital to take a shower and sleep.

The next day, we slowed down and followed the 212, traveling about kilometers to the hospital in the prefecture-level city, where we spent a lot of time investigating and understanding the situation.

I originally planned to find Yu Songhai anxiously within four or five days.

Now I have a solid understanding of it after watching it for ten days!

They hardly stayed in the provincial capital, which was the favorite place for literary men and women in later generations, nor did they visit those magnificent temples.

Go directly to the streets and feel it at the grassroots level.

After leaving the provincial capital, we walked more than 200 kilometers before saying goodbye to the doctors who had to travel to the border 2,000 kilometers away.

Tired and exhausted, he found one of the few public telephones in this border county town and asked Yu Songhai for directions: "I've come to the county town to see you. How can I find you?"

Including the journey from Jiangzhou, it’s a full three thousand kilometers!

The man in his thirties was stunned, and Weidong deliberately didn't tell him just to give him a surprise.

Standing in the yellow sand that was as desolate as the streets of a small town in a western movie, I waited for more than ten minutes and then saw Yu Songhai riding a horse at lightning speed.

It seemed like you could see the light in his eyes from far away!
This made Weidong feel that the 3,000-kilometer journey was worth it.

At this time last year, Yu Songhai went to Shangzhou to interview him for the first time, which laid the foundation for Weidong's bright future in business.

Without the participation of Sunshine Daily, the triumphant film, Olympic coverage, and even the entire development at the Pingjing level would not have been so smoothly implemented.

Even though Weidong was very cautious and kept a certain distance from the official, he would rather have a personal relationship with someone like Wu Xi, and never had any contact with the bigwigs he met at the economic meeting.

It is also undeniable that his explosion to where he is today in less than two years was started by Yu Songhai’s interview.

The big red horse, its long fur flying, flung itself to the finish line. Yu Songhai, wearing a robe wrapped over a shirt, jumped off the horse and hugged Rang Weidong tightly: "Thank you for coming to see me!"

The smell of ghee on the clothes is not strong, and even has a hint of sandalwood, which is very pleasant.

So Weidong desperately resisted: "Why are you holding me, a grown man? I want to ride a horse...hahahaha!"

Shitou and Mao'er had already gotten off the car with sly eyes, and helped to pull the horses with envy in their eyes.

Yu Songhai's eyes were obviously red, and he turned his head away embarrassedly: "Whatever, whatever, haha, you can ride whatever you want, come on, I'll take you to my house."

As he said this, he patted the broken van that was covered with scars and had a messy paint job, and sat in the passenger seat with satisfaction.

The two brothers squeezed onto the horse's back and discussed in an unskilled but methodical manner how to shift gears and how to start.

Wei Dong followed the direction indicated and saw a huge courtyard at the top of the building that was spread out in the shape of a "big" character. But what surprised him even more was that there was a racecourse next to it!

It is the same shape as the large and small heads of a bicycle chain box, three or four hundred meters long.

It was about the same width as the land where Rang Weidong built the sixth-level industrial building. He knew it at a glance.

I never expected that such a remote place could be so fun.

It is obvious that Yu Songhai's status is also very high, and everyone treats him with respect wherever they see him.

Also helped direct the horses to the berths in the back.

The car stopped in the courtyard. There were quite a few people there. Yu Songhai happily introduced everyone: "My younger brother, a very capable little brother!"

Let Weidong complain in his heart, you are the little brother, your whole family is the little brother.

But then he bowed to all parties and sat down in the open living room of the beautiful small building decorated with gold and silver.

People kept coming over and greeting him politely. Seeing their curious and enthusiastic eyes, Weidong simply asked the two brothers to move out the big bags of jeans.

It's on the steps in front of the living room. You can give one to anyone you meet, or you can take two if you like.

There were fifty pieces in a pack. He carried four or five packs when he left Jiangzhou, and distributed one pack at a hospital on the way.

Originally designed for miners, these rough canvas work pants are now even more reliable in harsh conditions. Everyone was amazed, and some even eagerly lifted their robes to change!
I ate about ten pounds of cooked food on the way, and there were still a few large bags left, so you can take whatever you like.

Forget about sanitary napkins, they are supplied every month. Now we are planning to send two machines so that we can make them ourselves. After all, the transportation capacity to the border areas is too precious, and the efficiency of transporting finished products is far less than that of raw materials.

Oh oh oh, I saw a lot of women crowded over there, and looked over curiously, and saw people changing their pants and making a fuss.

Weidong learned from the previous female doctor's lesson and gestured to Yu Songhai, who was also standing curiously beside him: "Here are two hundred bottles. You can keep them and give them away slowly. They have a repairing effect on the skin."

Yu Songhai is like a son-in-law. It is a rare occasion for a family member to come and give him enough face.

He had that doting and gentle smile on his face: "Another new product of yours? Come, let me teach you how to deliver..."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to raise his voice, so that Weidong would know at a glance that he had to avoid making the same mistake again.

She quickly hugged him and pressed his hand down: "No, no, Sister Dong told me well when I left the house, to go smoothly and come back safely, don't do anything weird to me!"

Yu Songhai winked at him and said, "You said that exercise is very effective. I think you can't practice it in vain."

Wei Dong was so angry that he slapped his thigh: "How can you be like this? Can't you stand the test? You still want to drag me down with you. I really misjudged you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes!"

Yu Songhai was so happy that he laughed out loud.

Anyway, everyone could see that he was happy. They had seen that sister-in-law near Rongdu before, and she brought a large group of female relatives with her.

Wei Dong immediately said seriously: "I have something very important to discuss with you."

Yu Songhai must not have been this happy for a long time: "Don't worry, don't worry, my brother, maybe we can become closer."

Weidong didn't want to be an ambassador of nationalities. He frowned and said, "From the situation in Chengdu, I have been traveling for ten days, from towns and counties to cities, and I have come into contact with various situations. I really think it is very serious."

The former Sunshine Daily reporter reluctantly put away his expression and went to talk to him.

But the eldest sister-in-law still took the initiative to take the chattering female relatives to have a look around.

They were all dressed in colorful dresses, ranging from middle-aged ladies to little girls.

Weidong even saw a big belly, which seemed to be the young sister-in-law he met last time. Old Yu, you are really busy.

We finally had some quiet time to have a detailed conversation, and it lasted three or four hours.

Simply put, relying solely on subsidies to alleviate poverty in border areas is of no benefit, and this kind of work also involves a large number of completely different cognitions and values.

It is completely different from the poverty alleviation in the mountainous areas of Shangzhou.

So what Weidong is proposing now is to build the cooked food factory as soon as possible, as well as the current sanitary napkin branch factory and even the jeans branch factory.

Yu Songhai was shocked. "You can say the prepared food factory is trying its best to sell to the inland areas and bring about economic development. The sanitary napkin factory is aimed at the plateau region to achieve self-sufficiency, which is understandable. But is this jeans factory necessary? Even if everyone wears these pants, there's absolutely no need to build a factory. What will happen to the factory after it becomes saturated? The market here is very small."

It is not a daily consumable item like sanitary napkins.

Weidong had learned a lot of information on the way: "Why is this place important? Because it blocks the only passage for South Asia to enter through the mountain crevices. Historically, this place resisted the entry of the British army, right?"

Yu Songhai nodded: "It is intended to defend against external enemies and to prevent leakage. Otherwise, I would not have agreed to come back here."

There are many factors to consider overall.

Rang Weidong shook his head. "It's better to open it up than to block it. Don't try to block it by any means. Look at the current trend of mainland Chinese people going abroad. What we really need to do is create more opportunities and value. Have you ever considered that if these jeans really become popular, some smart businessmen will develop foreign trade?"

Yu Songhai suddenly froze.

Indeed, without the influence of the commodity economy for forty years, it would be hard for anyone to imagine that finished products could be produced here and sold retail abroad.

Especially in this plateau area that produces almost no industrial products.

Wei Dong subconsciously believed that the mainland could crush the surrounding areas with industrial products. He was so ignorant and fearless that he didn't even know that the industrial manufacturing capacity of Southeast Asia at that time was the main area where European and American countries transferred labor-intensive industries.

South Asia is not bad either.

But what he said was exactly right about the region bordering this area, which is considered the north among those South Asian countries and is also the poorest and most backward region.

Any clothing factory or jeans factory with a little bit of industrial level can be crushed in this area!
It's a bit like playing an online game, where you build towers and open gold mines in areas where the overall layout is weak, accumulating strength for development.

"The goal isn't to make a lot of money, but to use this factory to support a lot of workers, and then rely on vendors to sell these things, and even sell sanitary napkins, prepared foods, and everything else that can be sold. This money will slowly flow in in various forms. Once you have the ability to attract money, many things will be much easier to handle, especially in a situation where you can only rely on subsidy policies."

Even forty years later, the only thing Weidong might think of for this area is tourism.

Unexpectedly, along the way, the doctors talked about the port one or two hundred kilometers south of here, which inspired Weidong to think about doing business.

Shangzhou's free market is like this: "It's not that the market is so great, but it provides opportunities for everyone to do business. After getting goods from the free market, everyone shows off their skills, and the business atmosphere is booming."

In fact, Weidong came up with this model because he had seen short videos of business scenes along the borders of Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and West and Central Asia.

But they don’t know that this is called border trade, and it only became popular in the late 1980s, with You Qili as the leader.

They all achieved the same goal by transplanting this economic model to the South Asian border.

Worth a try.

(End of this chapter)