A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

"What should we do?"

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "If I refuse, I'm afraid of losing this hard-won resource; if I accept, there's nowhere to plant so many saplings, and I can't just watch them wither and die."

As he hurried toward the Ninth Company, he racked his brains for a solution, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with a reliable one.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the village entrance. Li Chao strolled around the village slowly, his eyes constantly looking at the fields of each household, wondering: Who has any idle land?

Are there any vacant plots of land in the village?

Where can we find more land to plant these saplings?

He walked past the threshing ground at the east end of the village and looked at the open space next to it.

They circled around to the pasture road at the west end of the village and looked at the abandoned barren slope.

But the more I looked, the colder I felt. Either the land wasn't suitable for planting trees, or it already belonged to someone else, and I couldn't find a suitable place at all.

"Are we really going to take the saplings back and pile them up in the yard?"

Li Chao sighed, his inner turmoil intensifying.

Just as he was sighing and scratching his head over the saplings, he suddenly saw two herders hurrying towards the village committee. From their conversation, he learned that there would be a meeting in the village soon.

Li Chao arrived at the village committee with a belly full of worries.

Upon entering, I found village officials and many herders sitting haphazardly in the room.

He glanced at the crowd and a thought suddenly popped into his head: Isn't this a perfect opportunity?

Why not recruit growers on the spot while everyone is here!

Who knows, someone might be tempted by the conditions and be willing to try planting it? Even if we only recruit a few households, we can still share some of the seedlings.

As soon as the meeting ended, Li Chao stood up, took two steps forward, and said loudly, "Fellow villagers and cadres, may I take a few minutes of your time? I have something I'd like to say to you all."

Today I brought back the cold-resistant saplings that I mentioned to everyone before. This variety can withstand temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, and it won't freeze even during the coldest days of winter here.

The yield is 30% higher than the old variety, and professional technicians will provide on-site guidance throughout the process.

I know that everyone suffered losses last time and has concerns, so today I want to recruit a few families here who are willing to try planting it.

I'll provide the saplings for free, and I'll provide technical support throughout the process. Even if something goes wrong and we lose money, no one will have to bear any losses; I'll shoulder all the risks.

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Everyone looked at each other, their faces filled with hesitation and doubt, and no one spoke.

Li Chao was getting anxious and wanted to add a few more words to emphasize that he would take full responsibility for the risks, when a young and fiery voice suddenly exploded: "Li Chao, how dare you recruit here? You're shameless!"

Li Chao looked up and saw that the speaker was Musa, the son of Ismail Maimaiti.

Musa's face was ashen, his eyes filled with rage: "The saplings you introduced last time cost my family several thousand yuan. My dad was so heartbroken that he couldn't sleep well for several days."

Now you've brought in so many lousy saplings, and you want to get all the villagers to plant them? Are you trying to rip us all off and make us all suckers?

"Moussa, calm down, let me explain!"

Li Chao hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, "These saplings are completely different from the last ones. They are a specially developed cold-resistant variety. I personally went to Tacheng to investigate them and even hired technicians..."

"I won't listen to your explanation!"

Musa flung his hand away, raising his voice to interrupt him, "What's the difference? None of the people you bring in are reliable."

Don't be fooled by him.

Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?

Have you forgotten how your money went down the drain? Don't believe his nonsense anymore.

As soon as Musa finished speaking, the scene erupted in chaos.

Several herders who had previously suffered losses were immediately agitated, echoing, "Yes, we can't trust him anymore! We lost money last time because we listened to him!"

"Stop letting him lie here, kick him out right now."

"We'll never fall for that again."

Li Chao opened his mouth, wanting to say something in rebuttal, but looking at everyone's faces full of doubt, anger, and resistance, he couldn't utter a single word.

Village Party Secretary Aini Abdusay, who had never supported him to begin with, looked even more displeased at the chaotic scene and impatiently waved his hand: "Alright, Li Chao!"

Stop causing trouble and delaying the meeting. You created this mess yourself, so figure out how to resolve it.

Just as Li Chao was racking his brains in worry, his phone suddenly rang, and the screen showed that it was Researcher Lü.

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly walked out of the conference room and answered the call anyway.

"Li Chao, have you found a buyer for the saplings? Can they come and pick them up tomorrow?"

Li Chao felt a pang of anxiety and his nose stung with tears.

He really couldn't bear to disappoint Researcher Lü, who had always supported him, nor did he want the other party to know that his promotion efforts had been so disastrous.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and told a white lie: "Researcher Lü, everything is arranged!"

Several villagers are willing to try planting it, and we plan to start preparing the land and planting tomorrow.

Don't worry, I will keep you informed of any developments during the planting process.

After hanging up the phone, Li Chao leaned against the wall and slid weakly to the ground, feeling utterly drained.

He tried every possible method and ran to every place he could, but he still couldn't find a solution.

After thinking it over and over, he had no other choice but to take out his phone and dial Zhou Mingyu's number.

"Director Zhou, are you free right now? I'm in big trouble and I need your help."

Li Chao grasped at this as if it were a lifeline and explained the whole story in detail.

Before Li Chao could finish speaking, Zhou Mingyu immediately rejected the idea: "Xiao Li, this idea won't work. You absolutely mustn't do that."

Li Chao hurriedly asked, "Why? I really can't find anywhere else. At least if we take them to Shihezi, they can survive."

"Listen to me, there are two key issues here."

First, if the saplings are planted in other places, which are too far away from you, the subsequent management simply cannot keep up.

Think about it, watering, fertilizing, pest and disease control, and most importantly, frost protection in winter—none of these can be taken lightly.

You can't manage it all by yourself. If something goes wrong with the saplings, it will only make things worse.

Li Chao thought Zhou Mingyu's words made sense, and then asked, "And the second point?"

"This cold-resistant variety was specifically selected by Researcher Lü based on data from our Ninth Company's weather and soil conditions, and it has the best adaptability."

In a different location, the climate and soil conditions are different. Even if the saplings survive, they may not be able to withstand the harsh winter, let alone achieve high yields.

"At that point, not only will the advantages of the variety not be apparent, but the villagers will also become even less trusting of it. Wouldn't all your previous efforts be wasted?"

After hearing this, Li Chao's hope vanished completely. He hung his head and sighed, "Now that you mention it, I know this idea won't work."

But I really have no other choice. Researcher Lü is urging us to move the saplings as soon as possible, but we can't find any land in the village. What am I going to do?