PCJ – Chapter 333 Scenery at High Places

Although he was looked down upon by those three animals, Luo Changjun still climbed up at a steady pace. His speed was slightly slower, but the path was smooth and steady, without any danger.

Zhang Jiaohua, on the other hand, easily reached the top of the mountain. The soil at the peak was thin, so there were naturally no big trees, just strangely shaped rocks everywhere. There was still snow that had not melted, creating a white landscape as if they had returned to winter.

After a long wait, Luo Changjun finally climbed up, panting.

“Jiaohua, do you know why I wanted you to accompany me to climb this peak?” Luo Changjun asked after resting for a long time.

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. How could he know what Luo Changjun was up to?

“Jiaohua, look here!” Luo Changjun climbed to the highest and largest rock at the top, facing the strong wind, and shouted loudly to Zhang Jiaohua.

Zhang Jiaohua climbed up and looked in the direction Luo Changjun pointed. Wasn’t that Meizi Ditch? And Gezhuping Town could be seen from afar.

“Where is this?” Luo Changjun shouted loudly. The wind was so strong that with each word he spoke, the wind rushed into his mouth, quickly carrying his voice away.

“This is Gezhuping!” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“No, this is not just Gezhuping, it’s also Xintian County. Jiaohua, look at our beautiful mountains and rivers in Xintian County. Why do the people of Xintian County have to remain in poverty?” Luo Changjun asked loudly.

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head; this kind of question was too profound for someone his age.

“We have beautiful mountains and rivers, but we lack resources, and transportation isn’t convenient. All eighteen towns in Xintian County are below the poverty line. Your parents went to Guangdong last year. Do you know why they went to Guangdong? Because we are poor, and they can’t make money in Xintian County. Starting a few years ago, more and more people from Xintian County have been going south to Guangdong. This year, the number of people leaving has reached a peak in recent years. It’s likely to increase even more. Poverty leads to change! Staying at home means staying in poverty. If it weren’t for bamboo tube black tea, your parents would still have to go to Guangdong this year. You will have to endure the solitude of the night like those children whose parents also go to Guangdong. Do you remember that lonely pain? I know you ignored me before because I represented the county to persuade you. You still resent those people because of what happened last year. But, Jiaohua, do you know? I’m willing to accept this job not because I can get promoted, but because this tea industry revitalization plan can prevent many children like you from enduring that loneliness of having parents leave home.”

“But I’m the only one who can make bamboo tube black tea; others can’t do it. Whether I agree or not, what’s the use?” Zhang Jiaohua was no longer angry at Luo Changjun; he could sense his sincerity from Luo Changjun’s words.

“It’s different. If you can bring back the bamboo tube black tea brand for the county, we can use this brand to boost our own tea products. Then our county can control the future trend of the tea industry,” Luo Changjun explained.

“But aren’t we currently cooperating with the Zijiang Tea Factory? The county has a partnership with them as well. Last year, the demand for tea exceeded supply. The more we supply, the more they should want it,” Zhang Jiaohua asked, puzzled.

“Now, Director Zhao is in charge. He is willing to cooperate with us in Xintian County. But the tea factory is a municipal state-owned enterprise. Director Zhao is still young, so it’s natural that his career won’t stop at this director position. If Director Zhao gets promoted to another place, and someone else takes over the Zijiang Tea Factory, what if the new director terminates your cooperation? They might also have designs on your bamboo tube black tea. If we rely too much on them for our tea, what will we do when they deliberately lower the price?” Luo Changjun expressed his concerns.

Zhang Jiaohua frowned; he had never considered these things before. He had trusted Zhao Jinyuan too much. Fortunately, Zhao Jinyuan had never shown any intention to harm Zhang Jiaohua. Otherwise, with Zhang Jiaohua’s experience, he really wouldn’t have been able to deal with them.

In fact, Luo Changjun was absolutely right. Since the Zijiang Tea Factory’s “Meishan Maojian” won the provincial gold medal and their provincial gold medal product, “Bamboo Tube Black Tea,” was labeled with the “Zijiang Brand,” the Zijiang Tea Factory had turned a profit. Since then, many people in the city had started to stir. If it weren’t for Zhao Jinyuan continuously withstanding pressure from all sides, who knows how many people would have tried to squeeze into the tea factory jobs. Moreover, the city had begun to consider moving Zhao Jinyuan to another place. Zhao Jinyuan had always rejected the city’s “promotion” by claiming he understood tea. However, he couldn’t fight against the organization’s decisions, and if the city forcibly adjusted his position, he would truly have no way to refuse. Of course, that’s a story for another time.

“But I’ve already signed a contract with the tea factory,” Zhang Jiaohua scratched his head.

“I’ve seen that contract; your cooperation is signed year by year. Director Zhao might have thought of this long ago,” Luo Changjun said.

“Even if we put the bamboo tube black tea label on the Xintian County Tea Factory, will it really boost Xintian County’s tea production?” Zhang Jiaohua asked, confused.

“As long as we let others know that bamboo tube black tea is made from tea leaves of Xintian County, we will have succeeded halfway,” Luo Changjun said.

“Alright. Uncle Luo, I need to ask Director Zhao about this first. After all, I promised him initially,” Zhang Jiaohua said hesitantly.

“It’s fine. Uncle Luo knows you keep your word; as long as you have this idea, it’s good enough. Even if we can’t bring back bamboo tube black tea, the tea factory transformation still requires your hard work. The tea factory transformation will still follow the previous rules, but this time we won’t need the city tea factory’s participation. Our Xintian County tea has already gained a reputation. Even without cooperation from the city tea factory, we can still find sales channels. We can also launch our own tea brand,” Luo Changjun said.

“I can agree to the tea factory transformation,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“That’s enough. Let’s go down!” Luo Changjun hurried to leave, seemingly forgetting what he had just said.

Zhang Jiaohua was taken aback, “Aren’t we going to watch the sunrise?”

“It’s too cold. If I watch the sunrise, I might not be able to come down,” Luo Changjun shivered. There was still ice and snow at the top, and the wind was particularly strong. At night, the temperature would probably drop even lower. At this rate, Luo Changjun might really freeze into a popsicle.

“Then let’s go down,” Zhang Jiaohua also wanted to know what was special about watching the sunrise from the peak, so he sighed.

“Let’s wait for later. Summer is coming; the scenery up here should be even better. At that time, I’ll come back with you to watch the sunrise,” Luo Changjun smiled.

Climbing up the mountain is easy, but descending is difficult. It wasn’t easy to go down from this sheer cliff; in fact, it was even more dangerous than going up. For Zhang Jiaohua, it wasn’t too difficult. But for Luo Changjun, it was indeed not easy.

The mountain leopard, fat cat, and little fat monkey all rushed down one after another; it was too easy.

Zhang Jiaohua also descended the cliff very easily, while Luo Changjun could only move down step by step.

After Luo Changjun and Zhang Jiaohua descended the mountain, he immediately went to report to the county.

Interestingly, just a few days later, Zhao Jinyuan came over, bringing a lot of delicious food and a piece of news.

“I might be changing jobs soon. The organization has already spoken to me; I’ll be going to work at the Agriculture Bureau. I’m worried that the new director’s approach will be somewhat different from mine, especially regarding bamboo tube black tea. The contract we signed was only a temporary one, which ended at the end of last year. Someone will be coming soon to discuss a new contract with you. You must pay special attention to it. Don’t let yourself suffer a big loss,” Zhao Jinyuan came over because he was worried that Zhang Jiaohua still thought the Zijiang Tea Factory was the same as before.

“And last year, the purchase price was severely low, which caused you great losses. So, this contract cannot be continued,” Zhao Jinyuan added.

“If Uncle Zhao is no longer at the Zijiang Tea Factory, I won’t cooperate with them anymore. Our county plans to establish its own tea factory. I happen to be cooperating with them,” Zhang Jiaohua smiled.

“Then you must be careful,” Zhao Jinyuan quickly said.

“It’s Uncle Luo in charge. Uncle Luo is now the deputy county head,” Zhang Jiaohua mentioned Luo Changjun’s situation.

Luo Changjun and Zhao Jinyuan met because of Zhang Jiaohua; they happened to run into each other at Meizi Ditch.

“But in the future, your county’s tea factory won’t belong to County Head Luo. It might also face the same problems,” Zhao Jinyuan reminded.

“I know. I’ll conduct a thorough investigation of my cooperation with them,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

Not long after, Zhao Jinyuan was transferred to become the Party Secretary of the Agriculture Bureau of Zijiang City. The director of the Zijiang Tea Factory was appointed to Fei Zhenglu.

In the Zijiang Tea Factory’s conference hall, the new director, Fei Zhenglu, sat on the stage giving a report, making a fuss about some issues from his predecessor.

“Before I came, I heard that there were some inexplicable problems at our tea factory. We need to buy tea leaves at high prices for the tea fields we invested in and transformed. This is very abnormal. Moreover, we are not only sticking our trademark on someone else’s product, but we also receive not a penny of the profits from those products. We even have to spend a lot of money on promotions! This is very serious. Starting today, the tea factory will renegotiate with Xintian County. Previous cooperation projects will be terminated promptly. Also, if bamboo tube black tea wants to continue using our trademark, it must truly become our product,” Fei Zhenglu was making a strong stance as the new director.

At the tea factory staff meeting, many people were stunned by Fei Zhenglu’s words! It was as if others were begging to put the Zijiang Tea Factory’s brand on their products.