Chapter 121: Branding

  Feng Xi Yao suddenly called from overseas, Ye Ping Yu was very surprised and hurriedly asked her how her studies were going abroad and when she would be able to graduate and return.

  When Feng Xiyao heard Ye Pingyu's words of concern, she felt a warmth in her heart. Although the conditions abroad were much better than those at home, being in a foreign land made her miss her family and friends back home even more. Ye Pingyu's importance in her heart grew heavier, and now that he had called to chat with her, her mood calmed down for the time being.

  "Xī Yáo, I've become the village head now, and all aspects of work are keeping me extremely busy. How's everything going for you over there in America?" Ye Pingyu said with a hint of joy.

  Feng Xi Yao heard that Ye Ping Yu had become the village head and congratulated him, saying: "Ping Yu, you've been promoted again? That's great! Since I'm not in the country, I couldn't congratulate you in person. Take care of yourself usually!"

  Ye Pingyu thanked her and said, "Xi Yao, I'll keep that in mind. However, you need to take care of yourself even more when you're abroad. Yi Bo and the others must be worried about you."

  Feng Xi nodded and said: "I will, Sister Ruxue, have you seen her? I miss her too."

  Ye Pingyu's mind flashed and he replied: "I haven't seen her recently, she seems to be quite busy with work, you can all call each other or something."

  Upon hearing this, Feng Xiyao fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking: "Don't you guys keep in touch often?"

  Ye Pingyu was taken aback, thinking that he hadn't been in touch with Ping Xue recently. She didn't even know that he had become the village head, and once work got busy, there wasn't time to think about it. But Feng Xiuyao asked about it!

  "Haven't contacted her recently, if I do, I'll pass on your greetings, she's a nice person too!" Ye Pingyu replied.

  Upon hearing this, Feng Xiyao said in a low voice: "She's very good, you two are quite a match!"

  In the end, her voice became very low, and Ye Pingyu didn't hear clearly on the phone for a moment, so he asked again. Feng Xiuyao hurriedly covered it up and switched to another topic.

  After a dozen or so minutes of international long-distance calls, the phone bill must have been expensive too. After Ye Pingyu hung up the phone, he thought for a moment and felt that Feng Xiyao's mood on the phone wasn't great. As soon as she heard about his relationship with Ping Ruxue, she didn't seem very happy. Could it be that she had other thoughts?

  Shaking his head, Ye Pingyu didn't dare to assume that Ping Ruxue hadn't contacted him recently. Although she had come once and even visited his home, he absolutely didn't think of her as a girlfriend. It was possible that she just wanted to thank him for saving her life, so he shouldn't overthink it.

  But he didn't know that Ping Ruxue was now facing a bit of a situation. Although she had a good impression of Ye Pingyu, and her family didn't have the notion of social hierarchy, even if Ye Pingyu was a commoner's son, Ping Yuan Chao wasn't too concerned about it. However, when the people around her found out, they started advising her.

  Miao Mei Hui, as her closest friend, had also met Ye Ping Yu at the last gathering and thought he was a good person. However, when she found out that Ye Ping Yu was just an ordinary citizen's son, she looked down on him somewhat. As soon as she heard Ping Ru Xue mention that she had interactions with Ye Ping Yu, she immediately expressed her opposition, thinking that she shouldn't be so reckless.

  Seeing her opposing attitude, Ping Yuxue was surprised and said: "Mei Hui, don't you think that the children of commoners are not worthy of holding high positions?"

  "I'm not saying he's not worthy, but I think it's absolutely impossible. Unless that person is a genius, his family background and social status will determine how high he can reach. Ye Pingyu may be very smart, but he's just a rural-born official. No matter how smart he is, he'll only make it to the county level at most, or maybe even the provincial level if he's lucky, but by that time, he'll probably be ready to retire anyway? The thing is, his social circle and lifestyle are completely different from yours. You two aren't living together now, so you don't feel the existence of these problems, but once you start living together, you'll realize that one of you is in heaven and the other is underground. This is an insurmountable gap. Marriage isn't just about romance; it's not all sweetness and honey. You should be more realistic!"

  Ping Ru Xue widened her eyes, not daring to believe Mu Mei Hui's words. She looked at her and said: "Mei Hui, where did you get these theories from? My grandfather was also from the countryside, does that also count as being worlds apart?"

  "Even if we say that, we are all children of peasant origin, but saying those things is useless now. The key is the present, not what you said it was like before. Based on current conditions, I suggest you don't consider that aspect and just be friends instead. After all, he has helped you, so supporting him a bit and expressing your gratitude from the heart is enough. Just don't let him have any other ideas!"

  Ping Ruxue fell silent for a moment, she couldn't believe that even her closest friends didn't support her relationship with Ye Pingyu. Her parents hadn't expressed opposition, but neither had they shown absolute support, everything was just going with the flow. But Mu Mei's words made her sink into deep thought. Marriage is the graveyard of love, maybe it looks beautiful now, but what if they get married? Would Ye Pingyu's lifestyle be compatible with hers?

  Because she and Ye Pingyu didn't live in the same place, they usually just kept in touch by phone. After a long time, Mu Mei suddenly introduced her to a handsome guy named Ye Qingwei, who was very gentle and elegant. The sudden meeting made people's hearts beat faster.

  "Rouxue, do you know whose son he is?" Murui whispered to her.

  Ping Ru Xue asked in surprise: "Is he also a young master of a wealthy family?"

  "Goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mu Mei Hui, "He's the grandson of Ye Bing Chen and the son of Ye Dong Jue!"

  "Is he a member of the Ye family?" Ping Ruxue's eyes widened, "What is he doing now?"

  "Have you just returned from studying in the United States? Are you going into politics or business? Which one are you interested in?" Mu Mei asked with a smile.

  Ping Ruxue fell silent for a moment, wanting to say that Ye Qingwei was indeed good-looking and had a noble temperament. Compared to Ye Pingyu, there were many differences, but she always felt that Ye Pingyu had something that he didn't have. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but it existed, making her feel strange.

  After the introduction, Ye Qingwei was also attracted by Ping Ruxue and immediately launched a strong offensive. He had innate conditions, Mu Meiying helped him on the side, and compared to Nan Shao, he was much stronger, so Ping Ruxue didn't know how to face it now.

  Ye Pingyu was naturally unaware of these circumstances, but the number of times Ping Ruxue called him had clearly decreased, and he didn't dare to call her frequently either. The two seemed to still be on the same wavelength, but their interactions had noticeably decreased.

  Fortunately, he became the head of the village and was busy with all sorts of things, so he didn't think much about this issue, nor did he have anything to think about.

  After finishing the phone call with Feng Xiyao, Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and then threw himself into work again. The Jinhu tribute rice matter must be studied carefully. He had already communicated with Old Zheng, but Old Zheng's economic mind was not good. After talking for half a day, he didn't have any reaction. It seemed that this matter could only be done by him personally, without relying on others.

  Jinhu tribute rice has been planted in several nearby villages since Han Yuanqing's last purchase, and the planting area has expanded rapidly. Han Yuanqing sent people to buy again, but he can't consume much of it either, resulting in Jinhu tribute rice from other villages still being sold at a low price and facing difficulties in selling.

  If this problem is not solved, the common people's lives will be difficult to get on track. To solve this problem, we must expand our sales channels and create our own brand.

  Ye Pingyu specially called over Xiao Jianzhong to discuss, the two were after all economics graduates, at least they should understand more than other two committee members.

  After calling Xiao Jianzhong over, Ye Pingyu said: "Jianzhong, I have an idea. I want to promote our village's Jinhulu tribute rice brand. Do you have any good suggestions?"

  Xiao Jianzhong, who was in charge of agricultural work at the time, heard him ask and casually said: "I've heard of Jinhu tribute rice before. Do we need to brand it? Can't we just sell it directly?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "The brand you mentioned is different from the one I mentioned, that's past reputation, what I'm talking about is a commercial brand. Only by creating a commercial brand can we have market value. We're all studying economics, come up with some ideas, how to do it?"

  Xiao Jianzhong thought for a moment and said, "If you want to play the business card, at least you have to set up a company and register a trademark? I think this is basic. After doing this, let's talk about other things!"

  Ye Pingyu nodded and smiled: "Great minds think alike, I was thinking the same thing. But apart from this, what else needs to be done? Do you have any ideas?"

  Xiao Jianzhong racked his brains for half a day and said, "I really don't know what to do about the others, but I think that if we want to build a brand, we need to advertise, and advertising costs money. This is not a small expense, can our village afford it now?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "Old Xiao, your level has improved quickly, you've hit the nail on the head. Without money, nothing can be done. Although our designs are good, without money, we can't take a single step."

  Xiao Jianzhong said with embarrassment: "Ping Yu, don't praise me anymore. All of this is just my wild imagination. Don't actually do what I said."

  Ye Pingyu sighed: "Even if it's just a wild idea, you have to think about it in order to get things done. This is how we can take the first step and establish our company, register our trademark... but when it comes to choosing someone for this task, I don't know who would be suitable."

  Xiao Jianzhong said: "You mean who should be responsible for this company?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "That's right, the villagers are definitely not good enough, they don't have that kind of vision, we must have someone from the countryside to take charge, and the villagers will assist!"

  Xiao Jianzhong was silent for a moment when he heard it was this matter, on this issue, he really had no idea.