I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

Xia Lei was going to visit Zhao Jintao's home. With his wife's help, he bought two cans of food, a pound of brown sugar, and a pound of fruit candy.

The poor Minister of Agriculture, even with such a small amount of supplies, has exhausted the entire family's resources.

Xia Lei earns 95 yuan a month, his wife earns 43 yuan a month, and their son, who is in high school and lives at school, needs 30 yuan for food.

My parents are getting old and are constantly suffering from illnesses, so I send them 20 yuan a month.

With the remaining eighty-odd yuan, I could have lived quite well, but unfortunately, there was a group of poor students to support me.

The research institute often couldn't pay salaries, so he had to subsidize them privately, which resulted in his family being dirt poor even when he was over fifty.

Zhao Jintao moved out of the Ministry of Agriculture dormitory and rented a house for ten yuan a month.

Xia Lei admired his courage; he rented it for ten yuan a month without hesitation.

No. 212 Lengjiabao, what a big house, what a big yard.

Jin Tao's wife mends old sweaters. Is that profitable?

The gate to the courtyard was not closed. Xia Lei carried the gifts inside, and the sound of a sewing machine came from the east room, where a little girl was busy at work.

"Jin Tao!"

Xia Lei called out, and Zhao Jintao quickly came out of the house: "Teacher, you've arrived, please come in, please come in."

Zhao Jintao happily welcomed the teacher in and accepted the gift from Xia Lei.

"Not bad, Jin Tao, the house is very spacious." Xia Lei praised sincerely.

"The Ministry of Agriculture's dormitory is still more comfortable. This place is deserted and lacks human warmth. It's just that Fenglin is making clothes, and I'm afraid of disturbing the neighbors, so I have to rent a place," Jin Tao explained modestly.

Feng Lin, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen with a big smile and said, "Minister Xia, welcome. The house is a bit messy. Please come to the west room with Jin Tao. The food will be ready soon."

"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work, Fenglin. I'll just take a look around."

Minister Xia did not go to the west room, but went to the east room.

"Were all these clothes brought back from Shanghai?" Minister Xia asked, looking at the pile of sweaters and woolen coats.

"Yes, it was also a matter of chance. The clothing factory didn't have time to deal with these clothes, and I just happened to see them," Jin Tao said with a smile.

"You're a smart kid. Qiu Zhongyou also went to Shanghai, and he brought back a bunch of trendy things, but you brought back a bunch of junk. It looks like junk, but it's actually a path to wealth."

"Not at all, it's just that Fenglin works so hard at the garment factory, mending these sweaters is a little easier for him."

"There's no need to be humble in front of me. You are my student, and I know your abilities."

"Teacher, let's go to the west room for tea. This place is a mess, there's nowhere to even put our feet down."

"well!"

Tea had been prepared in the west wing. The teacher and student sat down, and Xia Lei took a sip of tea, letting out a long sigh: "This year is finally over."

Only Zhao Jintao understood the weight of those words.

Xia Lei racked his brains and owed money to various households to promote the new wheat and corn varieties to every household in the province before finally completing his task.

At the end of the year, Zhou Zhonghai sent another 200,000 yuan. Although the research institute had some complaints, at least they could receive some salary and have a good New Year.

Not too good, not too bad.

"Teacher, you've worked hard. Next year will surely be a bumper year. Tonggang County alone has increased its value by more than two million yuan, mainly due to agriculture," Zhao Jintao comforted him.

"Hehe, Jin Tao, the teacher doesn't want to keep cowering anymore, he wants to hold his head high too. Next year, next year will be a good year."

"Teacher, the most crucial task next year will probably no longer be worrying about not having enough money to buy seeds."

"What is that?"

"Sale."

"What do you mean?"

"Teacher, the crops from Tonggang County alone have to be transported to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Have you ever thought about how many crops a province has? Where do these crops go? If they can't be sold, they can't make money. Farmers can only solve their basic needs, not become rich."

"Aren't Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou designated as our province's hubs?"

"Teacher, even Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou will reach saturation someday. If they accept our crops, they will inevitably have to accept crops from other provinces as well. The central leaders all have their own favorites; some help Vice Governor Zhou, while others help governors from other provinces. With land distributed to individual households across the country, a large quantity of crops will flood the market next year. We can't just focus on Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou."

"Then, Jin Tao, what should we do?" Xia Lei was getting anxious. A bumper harvest, but not being able to sell the crops, was more worrying than going hungry.

"Teacher, I've come up with an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible?"

"Speak quickly, speak quickly."

"Exchange the item."

"How do I change it?"

"Teacher, I have a friend who is the county magistrate of Nanshan County. Their region is famous for apples. Their county is short of water, and the winters are long, so we trade vegetables for apples. This way, they have a market for their apples, and we also have a market for our vegetables. In addition, there are rapeseed, soybeans, pumpkins, and winter melons, which are also in short supply in Nanshan County."

After listening, Xia Lei excitedly slammed his hand on the table: "Jin Tao, you're so thoughtful! It would be great if we had more counties and cities to cooperate with. No, we have to sign a contract with Nanshan County, lest someone else snatch it away."

"Teacher, don't worry, we can't steal them. They're still worried about their apples not selling. Besides, County Chief Guo and I are good friends despite our age difference, he'll definitely cooperate with us." Zhao Jintao chuckled and scratched his head.

"No wonder Zhou Zhonghai values ​​you so much; you're quick-witted. While everyone else in the country is thinking about having enough to eat next year, you're already thinking about where to sell your crops after a bumper harvest."

"Teacher, you flatter me. What I can think of, Vice Governor Zhou must have thought of as well."

"Him? Can he think that far ahead?"

"Vice Governor Zhou's thinking is probably much further ahead than mine."

Xia Lei fell silent, though he kept cursing Zhou Zhonghai as a villain. In reality, Zhou Zhonghai was much more astute than him.

Yes, Zhou Zhonghai was thinking further ahead, but his approach was simpler and clearer than Zhao Jintao's. He wanted to send the crops directly to the army, which was a verbal agreement he made with Pu Weijie when sending Commander Pu's ashes back to his hometown.

This is also a bargaining chip to push Governor Feng to the central government, but Governor Feng is not yet aware of the plans Zhou Zhonghai has made for him.

Fenglin prepared a table of dishes, the most eye-catching of which were stir-fried pork belly with dried mushrooms and sauerkraut fish soup.

The pork belly was a gift from Zhou Zhonghai to Zhao Jintao, the dried mushrooms were brought by Qiaoqiao from Guquan, and there was also a large bag of Xiaoqi's pickled cabbage.

Fenglin lives in the provincial capital and doesn't have many food coupons. The side dishes are just enough for ordinary meals, and there's simply no extra food to make pickled cabbage.

In addition, there are fried peanuts, stir-fried eggs with chives, and stir-fried shredded radish.

A few simple dishes are all that Fenglin can offer.

Fenglin had some money, but supplies were scarce. Neither she nor Jintao were government employees, so they couldn't get tickets and couldn't buy good food even with money.

However, it was already quite a feast; just that one pot of fish soup made my mouth water just from the smell.

Fenglin told Miaomin to stop working, tidy up the messy kang (heated brick bed), and prepare for dinner.