Li Xiucheng found a hotel and called his home phone number.
Last time, after he bought a mobile phone, he installed a landline phone at home so that he could contact his family easily.
"Xiaomeng, I have something to do in Tao County tonight, so I won't go back. I will bring you delicious food tomorrow."
When Duoduo heard that there was something delicious, she was so happy that she shouted into the phone.
"Dad, dad, come back early, come back early."
Li Xiucheng's heart melted when he heard his daughter's voice. He silently felt that it was really difficult in this era without video calls.
"Okay, daddy will come back early tomorrow!"
Xiaomeng held the excited Duoduo in her arms and said, "Duoduo, be good, daddy is busy. When daddy is done, he will come back to accompany Duoduo."
"Xiaomeng, I'm going to find a treasure and bring it back for you to try tomorrow."
"What baby is it? Can you still eat it?"
"Hahaha, keep it secret, you will know tomorrow."
"Okay, then be careful outside and stay safe."
"Well, you can take Duoduo to bed. I'm hanging up."
After hanging up the phone, Li Xiucheng felt that he was full of motivation. In the past, he didn't even have anyone to call when he was on a business trip. Now, he can live a life like this.
Early the next morning, Li Xiucheng drove to Tongxian County.
He first went to the market and found that there was no one selling Gastrodia elata in this market.
Li Xiucheng began to wonder if he had remembered the place where Gastrodia elata began to be artificially grown.
Li Xiucheng quickly asked an aunt who was shopping for groceries.
Only then did I remember that the first two years of artificial cultivation of Gastrodia elata were all arranged by the government.
Because Gastrodia elata is a cash crop, not a food crop, even if the technology of artificial breeding is developed, not many people are willing to grow it.
Not only is it time-consuming and labor-intensive, it is mainly because sales cannot be guaranteed. If all the land is used to grow gastrodia elata and the crops are not sold well, the whole family will have no choice but to starve to death.
Therefore, in the early cultivation and development process of this kind of cash crop, the government took the lead, arranged land planting and purchased it uniformly, and basically did not circulate to the free market.
This is the case for Gastrodia elata in Tong County. The Forestry Bureau of Tong County makes unified arrangements. The Gastrodia elata grown by farmers can only be purchased by subordinate units of the Forestry Bureau.
Pricing based on quality, top grade is 2 yuan per pound, medium grade is 1 to 1.5 yuan, and low grade is 7 or 8 cents.
The purchase price is quite good. After a busy season, you can earn two to three hundred yuan, which is almost a year's income source for farmers.
Therefore, in recent years, more and more people are willing to grow Gastrodia elata, and Gastrodia elata has initially taken shape in Tong County.
However, because the Forestry Bureau has a monopoly and there is no supervision from higher-level departments, prices are often lowered during acquisitions.
Squeezing the top quality into the middle quality, and the middle quality into the low quality, makes everyone feel dissatisfied and complain.
Li Xiucheng was transferred from Tongxian County to a village below Tongxian County. According to the uncle, this is the village that grows the most Gastrodia elata and has the largest yield in Tongxian County.
Li Xiucheng parked the car at the intersection. The roads in the village were so bad that the car could not drive in.
Looking around, I saw a very wide tile-faced house not far away, with big words written in red paint on the outer wall. It looked quite new, a bit like the village committee of this village.
"Is there anyone? Is there anyone?"
Li Xiucheng shouted twice, looking for someone to ask about the situation.
An old man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies came out of the noodle shop and looked towards Li Xiucheng.
"Uncle! I'm from out of town and I'm lost here. Please give me some directions."
Li Xiucheng did not tell his purpose directly for fear of causing unnecessary trouble.
The old man was wearing a faded sapphire blue tunic suit and a matching hat on his head. He walked toward Li Xiucheng step by step with his hands behind his back.
"Young man, where did you come from? Where are you going?"
The uncle came over and looked at Li Xiucheng's car, and then looked at Li Xiucheng's clothes.
"Uncle, I'm from Da Nan Province. I came to Tong County to find a relative, but I didn't expect that I got sidetracked. Where are we?"
"This is Hongmiaozi Village, Tong County. Do you know where your relatives live?"
"My relatives live in the county. When I came here, I got sidetracked and may have ended up here."
"When you go to the county, you walk from here. When you go outside, you see a main road. Once you get on the main road, go straight and you can see the county seat."
"Thank you, uncle! But I've been driving for a while and I'm a little hungry. Can I go to your house for a meal?"
"Don't worry, I won't eat for free, I'll give you money."
With that said, Li Xiucheng started to take out his wallet from his bag.
The uncle glanced at Li Xiucheng, put his hands behind his back and said coldly, "Let's go."
Li Xiucheng followed the uncle, feeling a little scared for no reason.
When they were about to reach the wide tile house, the uncle shouted something into the house.
"Damn it, Dongzi, cook, there are guests."
Only then did Li Xiucheng see clearly that there was a shorter thatched house next to the wide tile house. A thin and short old lady came out of the thatched house, holding a melon gourd used to feed pigs in the countryside.
"Who is it?"
"Those who are passing by, hurry up and cook. People are in a hurry."
The old lady responded, put down the melon gourd in her hand, rubbed her thick black hands on the apron in front of her, and entered the thatched house again.
The uncle followed him in and came out with two old wooden stools in his hands.
He put down one, went to Li Xiucheng, put the other next to him, and sat down.
"sit down."
After sitting down, the uncle took out a cigarette pot from his bag and started lighting it.
Li Xiucheng felt that although this man didn't talk much, he seemed to be the kind of person who was cold yet a little warm. He was not very good at expressing himself, but he was actually very warm.
"Uncle, are you growing Gastrodia elata in this field?"
Sitting down, Li Xiucheng also jumped into the topic and started asking about Gastrodia elata.
"Do you still know Tianma?"
"Uncle, you are right. I often go to the coast to do business. Everyone there uses this soup. I have tasted it several times. It is really good."
"But they told me that Gastrodia elata can only grow wild? It can't be raised artificially. Why do you grow so much here?"
"In the past few years, the county has introduced methods to us and asked us to plant them. In the past few years, half of them lived and half died. But it has been much better in the past two years."
"Then you can make a lot of money. Selling Gastrodia elata along the coast is terrifyingly expensive."
"Look at how much such a big field like yours is worth!"
"How much does it cost?"
"A good one would cost more than ten or twenty yuan!"
"real?"
The uncle's cloudy eyes shone with anticipation.
"Then there's a good reason. Many of my friends love to eat this gastrodia!"
