Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Jiang Weiwei could only watch helplessly as the gap widened, her anxiety growing unbearable. If this continued, she was destined to lose! Lose to a country bumpkin she utterly despised!

To be honest, Su Wanqing was quite looking forward to seeing what tricks Jiang Weiwei would pull next after being cornered.

The planting site was unusually lively today. As soon as Su Wanqing walked to the door, she heard a great deal of noise inside.

Squeezing inside, I was surprised to find that besides Mr. Shen and Jiang Weiwei, there were seven or eight men dressed in Zhongshan suits, all with anxious expressions on their faces.

"Mr. Shen, I'm not here for anything else today. Our oil refinery's canteen relies on these fresh vegetables to improve our meals! You should at least guarantee us two hundred catties of oyster mushrooms every week, right?"

"How many people does your oil refinery have? Our Suzhou textile factory, which is supporting Xinjiang, has over a thousand employees and their families! Each time we supply them, it's never enough—less than 300 jin (150 kg)! Mr. Shen, you have to give us priority!"

"I don't care how much your factories need, I manage seven or eight supply and marketing cooperative outlets around here! These days, people only care about freshness. If each outlet doesn't have dozens of kilograms of oyster mushrooms on the counter, they'll be sold out before they even hit the shelves!"

"Our state-run restaurant has already printed out the new menu items, 'Stir-fried Pork with Fresh Mushrooms' and 'Oyster Mushroom and Egg Drop Soup,' Mr. Shen, you can't let us down, you have to save some for us!"

Old Shen waved his hands repeatedly: "Alright, alright, stop shouting! The person in charge of the planting site hasn't been finalized yet! This batch of experimental yield is so small, how can it be enough for you all to divide up? Go back and wait for further notice!"

"Old Shen, that's not right! I see that the oyster mushrooms in your cultivation rooms are all mature, aren't they? Why are you hiding them?"

"Yeah, we've come all this way, we can't go back empty-handed, can we? How about we distribute the ripe ones today? We'll distribute them according to need, that's fair and reasonable!" The head of the oil refinery's logistics department had the loudest voice.

"Or is it that the oyster mushrooms at your cultivation site have been pre-selected? Are you deliberately using some kind of competition to fob us off?"

Jiang Weiwei stood on the outskirts of the crowd. She had only spread the word, but she didn't expect so many people to come!

It had to be this era, when resources were extremely scarce, that any fresh and high-quality agricultural products would be snapped up by various organizations!

Today she's going to put on a grand show. So what if she loses the competition? She's going to tell Su Wanqing that sometimes competitions don't determine everything.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, she took a deep breath and put on a polite yet slightly aggrieved smile:

"Actually, everyone has misunderstood Elder Shen. This oyster mushroom cultivation experimental site in our 65th Regiment was specially established with the help of my father, Jiang Zhiping—the production commander of Yili Prefecture. Originally, it was meant for me to gain experience at the grassroots level, but the regiment arranged for other comrades to participate, so we had to hold a competition to select the best candidate. Sigh, although the process was a bit bumpy, it's okay, it's all for the sake of the work! Once I get this spot, I'll ask my father to arrange several times more mycelium for our regiment to expand production!"

Upon hearing Jiang Zhiping's name, the crowd immediately began to scrutinize Jiang Weiwei, the daughter of a high-ranking official.

"No wonder she's Chiang Kai-shek's daughter; her ideological awareness is truly high."

"That's great! We'll be counting on Comrade Jiang to get us lots of oyster mushrooms!"

Su Wanqing had just arrived when she heard Jiang Weiwei putting on an act in front of so many people. She sneered and squeezed in, "Comrade Jiang Weiwei, the competition isn't even over yet, how come you've already secured your spot? And it seems like you had low output in this competition, you should have lost, so how did you get a place? Did you cheat or use connections?"

Jiang Weiwei hadn't expected Su Wanqing to arrive so early. She glared at her fiercely, then dropped the pretense and addressed everyone directly:

"Anyway, I can assure everyone that if I get the quota, the current production scale is only 800 jin per batch. But if I take the lead, with my father's support, I'm confident I can increase the yield to 2000 jin per batch! At that time, I guarantee to meet the needs of all units! If you don't believe me, you can ask Uncle Shen; he knows the strength of my father and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately erupted in uproar!

"2000 jin?! Really? The daughter of Leader Jiang certainly has the confidence!"

"If we can really get 2000 jin per batch, then if we divide it among our factories, we'll have a lot more to spare!"

"Yes! The key now is yield! Whoever can get more strains and increase yield should be in charge of this! Elder Shen, isn't this competition a bit too dogmatic? Why not just decide on Comrade Jiang directly and stop wasting time!"

"I support it! Whoever can bring in the resources to expand production should go for it! We need oyster mushrooms, not fancy flower arrangements!"

Seeing that many factory directors and managers were swayed by Jiang Weiwei's grand promises and resources, and were inclined to let her take direct control, a smug glint flashed in Jiang Weiwei's eyes. She looked at Su Wanqing provocatively, as if to say: See? In this era, connections and resources are the only true things! What is your meager output compared to absolute backing?

However, this was just the beginning for her.

Su Wanqing watched her performance coldly, inwardly sneering. So this was Jiang Weiwei's trump card—using her father's name to incite these units desperately in need of supplies, forcing Elder Shen to change the rules through profit and public opinion?

Just as Su Wanqing was about to speak, Shen Monong suddenly raised his voice.

"Enough! Quiet down!"

"Comrade Jiang Weiwei, please watch your words. This cultivation experimental site is not just about supplying oyster mushrooms to various units; it's also a crucial pilot project for the country to cultivate talent and promote advanced cultivation techniques! The final selection will be based on actual skills, not on who has the strongest father's connections or who can obtain more spawn!"

He then looked at the factory directors and supervisors, "I understand your feelings, comrades. You all want the workers to eat good food. But that's precisely why we need to select truly capable people to take charge! Otherwise, even if we acquire a lot of microbial strains, without solid technology and management, if production doesn't increase and the quality isn't up to standard, it's all for nothing! This is about delivering results to the nation, and even participating in national competitions!"

Jiang Weiwei's smile froze, replaced by embarrassment. She hadn't expected that after all the time she'd tried to appease Old Master Shen, he would still be so stubborn, showing her no respect at this crucial moment and instead siding with Su Wanqing! Just because she had a high output? This old senile man!

However, she bit her lip. It's okay, she still has a backup plan! The real show is about to begin!

Old Shen sighed and decided to deal with the immediate problem first: "Alright, since you're all here today, let's go harvest the first batch of oyster mushrooms now, according to the previous ratio! Su Wanqing and Jiang Weiwei, you two come along too, so we can record the final data for your second batch of mushrooms right here! The yield of the first batch will also be included in your final performance evaluation!"