A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

"Dad, what did you say?"

Musa was the first to react, "You process it yourself? You can?"

Sima Yi Maimaiti's face turned red: "If we don't know how, we can learn. If the juice factory won't accept our juice, we can buy a small machine and make our own juice."

Dried fruit is even simpler; my aunt's house has a drying room.

"Where's the money?"

The old accountant adjusted his reading glasses. "Where will the money come from to buy the machines and build the drying room?"

"Use cooperative funds!"

Sima Yi Maimaiti spoke so quickly that he almost choked, "I've calculated it, the cold storage doesn't need to be big, let's start with a small one to store the top-grade fruit."

Once we sell it for a good price, we'll recoup our costs!

Zhao Dachui scoffed, "Easy for you to say! What if we lose money? That little bit of money in the cooperative is the hard-earned money of the whole village!"

"That's still better than letting it rot in the ground!"

Li Chao remained silent.

He walked to the warehouse door, lifted the curtain, and looked outside.

"President, are you sure you can learn it?"

"Yes! Give me half a month, no, ten days."

I took a few people to the county for training.

"What about the machine?"

"I have a friend who can rent a used mini juicer, it's cheap!"

"Okay. But let's do it in two steps."

President, take three people to learn the technology and rent the machines.

Musa, come with me to the juice factory again, not to sell fruit, but to discuss a partnership. They'll provide technical guidance, we'll handle the fruit processing, and we'll split the profits!

"Would they agree to that?"

Li Chao grabbed his coat. "How will we know if we don't try? Let's go now!"

"etc!"

The old accountant stood up. "Li Chao, this is no small matter. What if..."

"There's no 'what if'."

Li Chao had already reached the door. "Either sit and wait for the fruit to rot, or take a gamble."

"Old accountant, you know the math best. Now, is it more worthwhile to accept the loss or take a gamble?"

The old accountant opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. Finally, he slowly sat back down and took out his abacus.

Three days later, things started to look promising.

Simayi Maimaiti returned from the county with two young men, carrying back a large bag of documents and several bottles and jars.

As soon as he entered the hospital, he exclaimed, "I've learned it! I've memorized the preservative ratio and temperature control."

Meanwhile, Li Chao and Musa returned from the city. "It's settled!"

As soon as Li Chao entered the meeting room, he grabbed a water jug ​​and took a big gulp. "The juice factory promised to send technicians to provide guidance. We will provide the fruit, process it into juice, and they will buy it at the market price."

"The split is 20/80, we get 80%."

Some people were so excited they were wiping away tears. Zhao Dachui slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's amazing!"

Don't be too happy yet.

Li Chao put down the jar. "They have conditions: the first batch of samples must be produced within half a month, and if the quality is not up to standard, there's no point in discussing it."

"Let's do it!"

Simayi Maimaiti rolled up his sleeves, "I've already had my aunt's house clear out the drying room, and it can be converted into a dried fruit workshop tomorrow!"

In the days that followed, the cooperative worked like a clockwork toy.

Sima Yi and a few young men set up a makeshift shed next to the warehouse and put rented second-hand juicers inside.

On the first day of testing, the machine roared to life, but when apples were thrown in, the pulp that came out was extremely murky.

"No, no!"

Sima Yi Maimaiti was sweating profusely with anxiety, exclaiming, "The filter is too coarse!"

On the other side, the old accountant was biting his pencil stub while doing the calculations. After finishing one, he sighed, "The quotes for cold storage equipment are too expensive. The cheapest one is at least 30,000..."

"Let's use the traditional methods first!"

Li Chao said, "President, didn't you learn about simple food preservation?"

"Use it for now, we'll figure out what to do with the cold storage money once the first payment comes in!"

The most difficult part is selecting the best fruit.

According to the standards brought back by Sima Yi Maimaiti, the best grade fruit must be over eight centimeters in diameter, without any dents or bumps, and be completely red in color.

The women sat in the yard sorting through the items, picking out a bunch of "unacceptable" ones.

"Isn't it perfectly fine? It's just a small spot!"

Sima Yi Maimaiti took it over and looked at it, then shook his head: "No, this kind won't keep for long. We have to pick the most perfect one."

Musa clicked his tongue in distress, "How much of this will we have to throw away?!"

"It's not about throwing it."

Li Chao picked up a grade 2 fruit. "Let's make juice from it."

On the seventh night, the first batch of apple puree was produced.

Sima Yi Maimaiti carefully filled a bottle and rode his motorcycle to deliver it to the city.

Li Chao waited in the courtyard until midnight, smoking cigarettes all over the ground.

At one o'clock in the morning, the sound of motorcycles grew louder as they approached.

Sima Yi Maimaiti rushed into the courtyard, "It's passed, the sample is passed."

The juice factory says the quality is even better than they expected!

The dozen or so people who had been waiting for news in the courtyard all jumped up at once.

Only the old accountant remained seated under the lamp, the abacus beads clicking away: "If we maintain this quality, all the second-grade fruit can be processed into pulp, plus the premium-grade fruit can be preserved until the New Year for sale, and then there's the income from dried fruit and candied fruit..."

"Officer Li, this year... we might not earn less than last year."

Li Chao didn't say anything; he walked to the pile of top-grade fruit.

The apples glistened in the moonlight. Simayi Maimaiti walked over and handed him a small spray bottle: "This is preservative. I mixed it according to the instructions."

Spray once a week and store in a cool, well-ventilated place; it can last for three months.

"Three months..."

Li Chao took the spray bottle. "Perfect timing for the New Year."

The next morning, all members of the cooperative set out.

The women continued sorting, the young people operated the juicers, and Simayi Maimaiti led a team to renovate the drying room.

The courtyard was steaming, and the aroma of apples mixed with the smell of coal fire wafted far and wide.

Another small truck arrived at the village entrance.

Old Sun rolled down the car window and stared at the lively scene for a long while.

Li Chao was helping to move boxes when he saw him, so he straightened up and wiped his sweat.

Old Sun got out of the car and walked over, offering a cigarette: "Officer Li, this is..."

Li Chao didn't accept the cigarette. "The processing workshop. We handle the fruit ourselves."

Old Sun chuckled twice: "You have guts, you have guts."

Well... we still have to sell the first-grade fruit, right?

Chinese New Year is early this year, so it's not too late to sell now. How about 1.3 yuan?

Li Chao smiled and pointed to the boxes of premium-grade fruit in the warehouse: "Those are to be stored until the New Year."

"Save it until Chinese New Year?"

Old Sun seemed to have heard a joke. "Li Chao, apples aren't wine; they lose value the longer you store them! You'll regret it when they rot!"

"Want to make a bet?"

Li Chao looked at him and said, "Come back during the New Year and see what price these fruits can fetch."

Old Sun stared at him for a long time, then shook his head, turned around, and got into the car: "Fine, I'll wait and see!"

The truck drove away.

Musa leaned closer: "Officer Li, can you really save enough to last until the New Year?"

Li Chao didn't answer; he walked towards the warehouse.

Simayi Maimaiti is adjusting the spacing between the boxes inside to ensure ventilation.

Seeing him come in, she looked up and smiled: "Don't worry, Brother Chao."

I come to check the temperature and humidity every night.

Outside, the juicer is roaring again.

The scent of apples in the air grew stronger and stronger.

After the Spring Festival, the cooperative's yard was piled high with empty baskets.

The old accountant's abacus clicked away, and after finishing the last account, he said, "Cadre Li, I've got it."

"I earned 20% less than last year, but more than double what I made selling it to Lao Sun for 1.2 yuan."

There was a moment of silence in the courtyard, then cheers erupted.