PCJ – Chapter 357 Development Direction

“Good news! The provincial office just called. Our province has won the only Special Gold Award at this World Food Quality Evaluation Conference. The consulate has already sent a telegram to notify us. The Meizi’ao Tea Factory has received the Special Gold Award, which is the highest honor at the World Food Quality Evaluation Conference. This is equivalent to being the world champion!” Luo Changjun immediately shared this good news with Zhang Youping.

“Really?!” Zhang Youping was so excited he almost jumped up.

“Of course it’s true. Youping, you’re going to be busy now. With this Special Gold Award, our county’s tea industry will face a fantastic opportunity for development. If we seize this opportunity, our Xintian County will definitely become a renowned tea county, both in the province and even nationwide. But the most crucial thing is to get our county’s tea production companies going. The province said that important businessmen in the UK are already negotiating business cooperation with Director Zhao, and the Biyu Xianyin brand has opened up an export market. I believe that under the influence of the Biyu Xianyin brand effect, the Meizi’ao Tea Factory will definitely see a qualitative leap,” Luo Changjun said excitedly.

Zhang Youping understood this too; suddenly having a world-class brand like the Meizi’ao Tea Factory was a golden opportunity. If they couldn’t develop it, that would be too disappointing.

“Son, you have no idea how much pressure you’ve put on me!” A smile appeared on Zhang Youping’s face; he was indeed happy to have this kind of pressure. Who wouldn’t want their child to be successful?

“Youping, I want to discuss something with you. The county tea factory can’t keep going like this. Do you think the Meizi’ao Tea Factory could take over the county tea factory? Although the county tea factory is not very promising, it has been restored, and all the equipment is newly purchased, plus there’s a batch of skilled workers. If you take over, you can immediately increase the output of the Meizi’ao Tea Factory. It would be a very good option for Meizi’ao,” Luo Changjun still wanted the Meizi’ao Tea Factory to grow strong. Since the county tea factory seemed impossible to revive, it was better to drop this burden altogether.

“Director Luo, the factory matters have been handed over to Director Zhao. This decision must be made by him. If he thinks it’s feasible, I won’t oppose it. But I doubt Director Zhao will agree,” Zhang Youping said.

“Why?” Luo Changjun asked, a bit puzzled.

“It’s simple. Director Zhao just came from the Zijiang City Tea Factory, so he knows the county tea factory to some extent. Frankly, the management mechanism of the county tea factory differs too much from ours at the Meizi’ao Tea Factory. Those who are on the government payroll might not listen to us farmers. Anyway, we are mainly focused on the Biyu Xianyin brand right now. Let’s digest this brand first before considering anything else.” Zhang Youping didn’t want to wade through the muddy waters of the county tea factory.

“I see. That’s fine then. Steady development is indeed a safe approach. But one thing you must pay attention to is that the tea market in Xintian County will eventually open up. This will better protect the interests of the tea farms and tea farmers. You should layout early, signing long-term purchase agreements with the tea farms. In terms of pricing, you should offer corresponding discounts to the tea farms or tea farmers,” Luo Changjun reminded.

Zhang Youping wasn’t too worried about the supply of tea leaves because he knew that the quality of the tea supplied was closely related to the transformation of the tea farms. Without continuous support, the quality of these teas would eventually resemble that of ordinary tea. Moreover, because these tea farms had been managed very roughly, if this maintenance stopped, the tea farms would surely decline rapidly.

Also, Meizi’ao Village would soon have thousands of acres of tea farms, and the surrounding villages had even larger tea farm areas. Once these tea farms started producing tea, they would be enough to meet the demand of the Meizi’ao Tea Factory.

“I completely agree with the opening of the tea market,” Zhang Youping said without a hint of worry.

The exhibition group did not achieve the expected results, but winning the Special Gold Award for “Biyu Xianyin” was an unexpected gain. Moreover, “Biyu Xianyin” also received orders from the UK. Although the order quantity wasn’t large, the value of the order was astonishing. Everyone was asking what exactly “Biyu Xianyin” was. Previously, the bamboo tube black tea had won awards in the country but didn’t attract much attention. After all, some domestic awards had limited influence. But this time, winning an international award and obtaining such a large order made a significant difference.

When they arrived in the provincial capital, Shi Guoshu was excited to meet with Zhang Jiaohua and the group again.

“Jiaohua, this time you’ve done a great job! You’ve brought honor to our province. More importantly, you’ve pointed out the path for the development of private enterprises in our province. Our private enterprises can also go out and contribute to national exports!” Shi Guoshu was naturally very happy. This time, three tea factories from the province won awards. As the leader responsible for the exhibition group, he was beaming.

Zhang Jiaohua scratched the back of his head and smiled, “Actually, it’s all thanks to Uncle Zhao and Uncle Liu. If it weren’t for them, ‘Biyu Xianyin’ wouldn’t have made it abroad.”

“Haha, but if it weren’t for you making such great tea with ‘Biyu Xianyin,’ we wouldn’t have been able to win awards abroad, right?” Shi Guoshu laughed heartily.

“How does the Meizi’ao Tea Factory plan to move forward in the future?” Shi Guoshu then turned to ask Zhao Jinyuan.

“This time out, I’ve really broadened my horizons. I’ve seen the extravagance of the upper-class society in Western capitalist countries. I have some new ideas for the future development of our factory. I feel that some of our previous ideas were not entirely correct. Now that we have such a great brand as ‘Biyu Xianyin,’ we should make this brand even better. ‘Biyu Xianyin’ is limited by production, and the annual sales volume is very limited. But even with such a small sales volume, the sales revenue far exceeds the total of our ordinary tea products by dozens or even hundreds of times. This is the benefit of making boutique products. I believe our factory should focus on the high-end tea market and create an internationally first-class brand. The tea from Western countries has far less history than ours, yet they can create luxury brands. Isn’t it just because we lack brand awareness? The Meizi’ao Tea Factory has unique conditions, and we should take advantage of this to venture into the international top tea market.” Zhao Jinyuan was indeed stimulated quite a bit by Margaret Ross and had specifically asked Ji Jianming and Shen Bing to find a lot of materials about the luxury goods market.

“Your idea is good. Not blindly pursuing large scale, but focusing on creating boutique products is excellent. Our country’s tea production accounts for more than a third of the world’s total, yet we occupy only the low-end market, with negligible profits in the international market. Your development direction provides a new way of thinking for our tea industry. I fully agree with your idea. Jiaohua, what about you? What other thoughts do you have? You’re quite impressive to have gone abroad at such a young age,” Shi Guoshu was very interested in Zhao Jinyuan’s words.

“When we make money, I want to build roads,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Build roads? That’s a good idea! Are you talking about the roads in your village?” Shi Guoshu asked.

Zhao Jinyuan immediately replied, “Meizi’ao is a relatively remote mountain village. The road from the village to the town is twenty to thirty li, and it becomes muddy whenever it rains. Our tea transportation is very inconvenient, which can impact the quality of the tea. Now that we have received orders from abroad, the quality requirements for the tea are very high. Building roads has become very urgent.”

“Building roads! Yes, roads should be built. But your factory is just starting up. If you invest a lot of money to build roads, how can you develop quickly? I will report this situation to the provincial office. The provincial government will definitely support a star enterprise like Meizi’ao. I will strive to resolve your road issues!” Shi Guoshu immediately said.

“Thank you so much, Director Shi,” Zhao Jinyuan said repeatedly.

In fact, Shi Guoshu was also repaying a favor. The Meizi’ao Tea Factory had earned him a lot of honor, writing a beautiful line on his political path, and the Meizi’ao Tea Factory would still be one of his achievements in the future. So he was also happy to help the Meizi’ao Tea Factory.

Some families were joyous while others were sorrowful. Although they won a bronze award, Lu Yingxiang couldn’t feel any happiness; his wife, Ding Shuzhen, still couldn’t speak. As soon as they returned to the province, Lu Yingxiang hurriedly took his wife to the provincial hospital for an examination.

“Doctor, how is it?” Lu Yingxiang asked anxiously.

Sitting opposite Lu Yingxiang was Gao Zhirong, an expert in throat diseases at the provincial hospital. Gao Zhirong also found it strange, “I examined her carefully and didn’t find any problems with your wife’s throat. There can be many reasons for not being able to speak, including physical and psychological factors. I believe your wife’s inability to speak may be due to psychological reasons.”

“How is that possible? My wife suddenly lost her voice. There was nothing abnormal before; she just suddenly couldn’t speak. How could it be psychological?” Lu Yingxiang thought he could cure his wife at the provincial hospital. He didn’t expect the provincial expert to be unable to find the cause of her illness.

“Then you should go somewhere else for another examination. I can’t find the cause of her condition. Cases like hers are very rare,” Gao Zhirong said, dismissing them.