Chapter Twenty-Four: The Charm of Travel

  "Hey! Everyone come over here, Zhang is coming." Liu Da Shu yelled loudly, stretching his neck.

  Before long, a group of people came to the tea ridge, including men and women, as well as children. The scene was bustling with chatter, but most people's attention was focused on Geng Shuang. Country folks rarely saw such a beautiful girl, and they all envied Zhang Qingyun's good fortune.

  "Fellow villagers, I've just returned from a meeting in the county. The county committee has instructed us that we will focus on developing our Li Zi Ping tea leaves from now on. This is great news!" Zhang Qingyun exclaimed loudly.

  "Alright, Director Zhang, I know you're a good person and have come up with many ideas for us ordinary people, but the tea leaves from Lizi Ping are really difficult to deal with!"

  "Wang Shu is right, now the village uniformly manages fertilizers and pesticides, especially pesticides. This disease and pest can't be prevented at all. After the spring tea was over last year, the pest disaster came, and our summer and autumn tea were all lost."

  "Yes, I heard that the Yanshan area has dug up all the tea trees and planted tobacco instead. Poor us in Lizi Ping, our land is sandy and can't grow tobacco either, how are we going to make a living in the future?"

  “……”

  As soon as tea leaves were mentioned, the villagers started talking in a flurry of voices, and the previous joyful atmosphere was swept away. Everyone's face turned gloomy, and some women had already begun to wipe away tears.

  Seeing the group of shabbily dressed ordinary people in front of her, Zhang Qingyun's good mood suddenly sank to the bottom. The tea leaves from Yongping were originally a pillar, but they had been messed up in recent years.

  First, it was the tea leaf cooperative, then there was organic tea. The ordinary people put in money and effort, while the officials above just clapped their thighs carelessly. Last year, the county tea office spent tens of thousands of yuan on fake pesticides, claiming they were sulfuric acid, but actually just water. How can this prevent pests and diseases?

  Furthermore, the county lacks planning for tea development. An investment of 2 million yuan is said to support tea enterprises, but there is a lack of supervision. Some processing plant owners who received support funds do not operate tea businesses at all, and instead engage in illegal activities such as reselling wood and medicinal materials.

  What's more, some companies took the money and simply stopped working, buying cars and houses for themselves, causing the tea leaves of ordinary people to sell poorly, many villagers worked hard all year round, but still lost money, and their enthusiasm was naturally gone.

  With an uncomfortable feeling in her heart, Zhang Qing's desire to sightsee also disappeared. After chatting with the villagers for a while, she led Geng Shuang and the two of them went down the mountain.

  "What's wrong? Are you worried about the Li Zi Ping tea leaves? This can't be blamed on you!" Geng Shuang drove the car and saw Zhang Qingyun's low mood, so he quickly spoke to comfort him.

  Zhang Qingyun smiled slightly, his bad mood was not just about the tea leaves, but more because he felt that his power was still too small, and in front of the ordinary people, he did not dare to make promises with a pat on the chest, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

  "Sorry, Sister Geng. I originally wanted to take you to see the beautiful scenery of Lizi Ping, but unexpectedly encountered this, which ruined your mood."

  Geng Shuang smiled and said with an unspoken charm, "Director Zhang, you are a leader, worrying about the country and the people, there's nothing wrong with that. How could I possibly blame you?"

  Zhang Qingyun shook his head, worrying about the country and the people was not his concern, Geng Shuang's bowl of soul-stirring soup had been poured a bit too much.

  "Alright, alright, I've told you before, don't call me Director Zhang anymore, just call me by my name, it's more natural that way."

  Geng Shuang's face turned red, but her heart was full of joy. She secretly glanced at Zhang Qingyun and said, "What did you call me last time? Do you still remember?"

  Zhang Qingyun was taken aback, clearly he didn't understand Geng Shuang's meaning for a moment. He stared at Geng Shuang for a long time, until the other party blushed bright red with embarrassment. It wasn't until then that he suddenly came to his senses, realizing that Geng Shuang was referring to the incident where he had pretended to be drunk that night. For a moment, he too felt very embarrassed.

  "Oh, cough, cough, wasn't Wu Zhiqiang there that day? I was also afraid of embarrassing everyone, Geng sister is so young and beautiful, who dares to say you're old? Then he must have a problem with his eyesight."

  Geng Shuangbai gave him a cold glance and said, "That person's eyes are not good, you see, you don't even agree with me, do you?"

  Zhang Qingyun burst out laughing, feeling a sense of relief, and the atmosphere in the car immediately became lively. The two then started chatting freely, Zhang Qingyun was originally an investment director in his past life, having seen and experienced much, being worldly-wise and tactful, Geng Shuang's curiosity grew as they chatted on, her heart filled with wonder.

  Zhang Qingyun is not only very familiar with the officialdom, but also extremely proficient in investment and corporate operations. Geng Shuang was originally a person who looked down on others, self-proclaimed as a talented woman, but when she met Zhang Qingyun, she clearly felt that she couldn't keep up, and suddenly admired Zhang Qingyun greatly.

  "Alright, thank you for accompanying me to Lizi Ping. Next time I'll treat you to a meal." Zhang Qingyun said with a smile.

  "Oh, ah?" Geng Shuang exclaimed in surprise, only to realize that they had already arrived at the county town. The two of them had been chatting happily just now, and she obviously still had some things she wanted to say.

  "The Spring Festival is approaching, are you going back to Yongping for Chinese New Year this year?"

  Geng Shuang's expression turned gloomy, and he shook his head slightly before saying after a long while: "I have a younger brother in Wude City. I'll go to the city to spend the holiday with them."

  Zhang Qingyun suddenly felt that she had said something wrong when she saw Geng Shuang's expression, and the question she asked was a bit silly, so she forced a smile and said:

  "It's good to go to Wude City, I'll also go to Wude to meet the county head after the new year, and I'll give you a call at that time."

  Geng Shuang gave Zhang Qingyun a glance, raised an eyebrow, and a smile spread across his face as he handed her a business card.

  "Screech!" The car came to a steady stop, Zhang Qingyun pushed open the door and got out, startled, and found that Yin Su'e's two elders were already waiting downstairs.

  "Green cloud, what are you dragging here? Ah, isn't this your luggage from Lizi Ping? How did you bring it back home?" Yun Su-eo asked strangely, but her eyes were on Geng Shuang, with a face full of kindness.

  "Oh," Zhang Qingyun was taken aback, only to realize that he hadn't told his family about his job transfer yet. Geng Shuang also looked at Zhang Qingyun in surprise, thinking that this guy was too low-key, not even telling his own family that he had entered the county committee.

  "It's like this, I've been transferred to a new job, and next year the organization has arranged for me to work in the county town."

  "Ah?" Yun Su-e and the other person exclaimed, then smiled with joy. At this time, Geng Shuang also got out of the car, and Yun Su-e hurriedly went forward to hold her hand:

  "Come on, Frosty, let's go upstairs and sit down. Let the men handle the luggage."

  Zhang Qingyun secretly smiled in his heart, his old dad and mom were really something, saying that he had been transferred to work, looking at how happy they were, if they knew he was now entering the county committee, who knows what kind of situation it would be?

  "Huh, Qingyun! This...this...how come there's so much rabbit meat? Ah, great guy, wild boar meat and roe deer meat are all here. Did you also bring these back from Lizi Ping?" Zhang Deyan said as he opened the trunk to clean up their luggage.

  Zhang Qingyun's expression changed slightly, and he muttered to himself: "It must be Secretary Wan and the others who set this up. It seems that this guy has been in the official circle for a long time and really has some skills. He is sowing discord!"

  "Oh, that was a gift from a colleague at Lìzǐpíng, I got transferred and they had to give me something as a courtesy!"