Driving to the plant base, the farmers hired from nearby were busy reclaiming the wasteland. Zhenzhen used her consciousness to look around and found that the wasteland had been basically turned over. Seeing Zhenzhen coming, the leader came over and said, "Manager Li, the land you rented is not very good. It is too poor and the soil is hard. I think it is not good for growing crops. Can you grow delicate flowers?"
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "I asked someone to buy some fertilizer specifically for soil nutrition. It will definitely be fine."
He just thought Li Mingzhen was a good person, so he gave some suggestions based on his own experience to avoid wasting his efforts. But when he heard that the boss had already made preparations, he was relieved: "Okay, we have finished clearing the land in this area, so we will go to open up the wasteland in the mountains. Well, do you need people to farm? We have some old women at home who can do this job."
Zhenzhen thought about it and shook her head: "It's okay, I have someone to do it here."
When the man heard this, he stopped forcing them to leave the field and headed straight for the barren hills nearby. The reason why there are such large areas of barren hills and wasteland here is mainly because there are no people living nearby, otherwise it would have been able to survive with sowing and fertilizing over the years.
Zhenzhen looked at everyone who had left, and used her consciousness to check that no one else was coming within a few miles, so she stomped her feet lightly, and the ridges of land automatically turned over, turning the fertile soil deep underground to the top. The originally rough clods of earth turned into fine soil, and in almost the blink of an eye the land became suitable for farming.
In fact, Zhenzhen could have used her special powers to plow the soil herself instead of hiring anyone, but since it was such a large area and a government-focused project, she had to find some people to do the work openly.
After the ground was turned over, Zhenzhen took out a dozen bags of seeds from the space, unsealed them, and the seeds floated out with Zhenzhen's consciousness and were evenly scattered on the ground. The moisture in the soil wrapped the seeds, and they took root quickly under the blessing of the supernatural power. Zhenzhen used her consciousness to check the state of the seeds, and estimated that tender shoots would emerge in seven or eight days.
After leaving the flower garden, Zhenzhen drove to a small village. Because this village was too remote, it had not kept up with the times at all, and its living standard was still the poorest in the 1960s.
When the car stopped at the entrance of the village, a group of half-naked children ran over curiously, happily circling around in this rarely seen car. Zhenzhen was not angry when she saw them climbing up and down in the car, and walked directly towards a group of elderly people in the village.
Seeing a beautiful girl coming to the village, the elders all greeted her warmly: "Where are you from?" "Who are you looking for?" "Are you thirsty? Why don't you go to your aunt's house and have a drink of water?"
Zhenzhen squatted down, and her eyes were level with the old people sitting at the door. "Grandpa and aunt, my name is Li Mingzhen. This is what I have contracted. I plan to plant some flowers and plants and Chinese medicine on a barren mountain and wasteland more than ten miles away. I need someone to help me water them and so on. I want to hire a few people. Do you think there are suitable people in the village to do this job?"
"It's not hard work, why should I be paid?" An old lady said and shouted into the house: "Dasheng, when you finish your housework, go help this girl water the plants or something."
Zhen Zhen quickly waved her hands and advised: "Auntie, this is not something that can be done in a day or two. It will take several years. I think if you young people who are unable to leave home can help me take care of the flower garden and earn some money to supplement the family income. They can also take care of any problems in the village."
Seeing that Zhenzhen really wanted to hire someone, the elderly looked at each other and said a little embarrassedly, "Look, it's not a big job, and you're still paying for it. How embarrassing."
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "We can't always ask you to help us for free, this is the only way to keep it going for a long time."
"Okay, then, tell me how many people you want." Seeing that Zhenzhen was sincere, the elders stopped being polite with her and said, "We will pick the most capable and reliable people for you."
Zhenzhen thought about it and said, "A dozen or so will do. Young girls and boys are fine. Young and strong brothers and sisters are also fine."
Several old men insisted on having so many people, and quickly called the village chief to make a decision. When the village chief saw that the girl wanted to find people from her own village to work, he was overjoyed and quickly asked people to call all the young people out. The village only had such a small piece of land, and there was no water or electricity. Now it has become a well-known poor village. At the same time, the situation outside is good, and there are many ways to make money. Many young people chose to leave the village because they were afraid of living in poverty. Now, except for a dozen young people who have family ties, the rest are old, weak, sick and disabled. If these young people can find work near their homes, it will solve the big problem of the village.
The remaining fifteen young people in the village were called over. Among them were newly married couples and young men in their teens and 17s. Zhen Zhen nodded in the expectant gaze of the village chief: "If there is nothing going on at home, I can keep all of them."
The village chief was so excited that he almost cried: "Thank you so much, Director Li. You don't know how worried I am about this matter. I even wrote letters to the district and city a while ago, hoping that the leaders would help us find a solution."
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Mayor Xi specifically told me to hire people from your village first. Mayor Xi has also arranged the subsequent water and electricity supply work. You just have to wait."
"Mayor Xi is such a good man." The simple villagers immediately expressed their gratitude and thanked Zhen Zhen together: "Girl, you are also a good person. Thank you so much."
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Let's go to my land and take a look. You may need to build some houses over there, and also a row of fences. I have asked someone to buy bricks, tiles and wood." Zhenzhen realized that she had to find a leader for this group of people. She couldn't stay here for a long time. Someone had to arrange work and shifts for her. Zhenzhen's eyes swept over these people and said, "Who among you is more capable?"
Hearing this, the young people turned to look at a man in his early thirties: "Usually it is Dasheng who leads us to work. Dasheng knows how to farm and build houses, and we all listen to him."
“Okay, then you get in the car with me first, and I’ll take you to see the place.” Zhenzhen pointed at three sturdy young men and said, “You three should come with me first, and the rest…” Zhenzhen hesitated, as she really couldn’t carry so many people.
"There is a big cart in the village." The village chief said immediately, "I will drive the big cart to take them there."
"Okay then, thank you for your help, Village Chief." Zhenzhen said with a smile.
"You're welcome, you're welcome. We are the ones who are bothering you." The village chief waved his hand happily at the young man and said, "Xiao Wu, go to my house and drive the cart out. Hurry up and don't delay Boss Li's business."
Everyone in the village knew about the wasteland and the barren mountain, so Zhenzhen didn't need to stay behind to lead the way. She drove the five young people to the wasteland first, pointed to the soil that had been sown with seeds, and introduced: "This is the land I contracted. I have hired someone to turn the soil and sow seeds. You just need to water it regularly, weed it, and take care of it."
Dasheng looked at the area. Although it was large, the work was easy and effortless. It didn't require fifteen people to do it. Dasheng thought Zhenzhen was here to help the poor. He looked at her hesitantly and said, "In fact, two or three people can do this job. Don't waste your money to help us."
Zhenzhen smiled and pointed to the barren mountain next to her: "That mountain is also mine. After the reclamation of that mountain is completed, I will go to that kind of medicinal herbs. By then, I am afraid that you people will not be enough for me."
Dasheng smiled with relief, and immediately asked energetically: "So what shall we do today?"
Zhenzhen led him to the edge of the wasteland, where there were a lot of materials needed to build a house: "You build a few houses. After the plants and flowers grow, I will also need someone to be on duty at night. When the time comes, you can arrange your shifts. There must be no less than five people on the field at night." Zhenzhen said and went into a canvas tent next to it. After a while, Zhenzhen came out and said to Dasheng: "There are stoves, pots and pans in here. You have to cook for yourselves."
Dasheng followed Zhenzhen into the tent after hearing what she said. Because it was a tent specially used for the construction site, the space inside was very large. In addition to a single bed, it also had all the cooking utensils. In the corner, there were more than a dozen bags of rice and flour, and next to them were several barrels of oil and baskets of vegetables. Zhenzhen opened the curtain on a basin, which was filled with a basin of steamed buns: "These are only enough for you to eat today. You will have to cook for yourself tomorrow."
Dasheng felt warm in his heart. He didn't go out to work because he missed his old mother at home. But the young men who went out to work in the village came back during the Spring Festival and talked about the hardships outside. They slept on wooden boards and ate rotten leaves. When it was hard, they drank cold water to fill their stomachs. The bosses they met wanted to work day and night without providing meals. How could there be such a good boss? He even prepared rice, flour, vegetables, and even big white steamed buns for them. He was worried that they would be hungry on their first day of work and would not have time to cook.
As they were talking, the carriage behind them arrived. Zhenzhen came out and gathered everyone together, saying, "It will take another seven or eight days for the seedlings to sprout, and it will take some time for them to grow. During this time, one of you can stay in the tent at night to watch over things, and the others don't need to stay here. But if you have time during the day, you must hurry up and build the house, because you won't be able to live in the tent when it gets hot." Zhenzhen took out a stack of money from her bag and distributed it to everyone one by one, "I know your families are not having a good time, and you won't be able to take care of your families when you come out to work this time. Here's a one-month advance on your salary. Starting from next month, we'll pay you on the last day of the month."
Dasheng held the five big unity notes in his hand, and the 1.80-meter-tall man's eyes were red: "Boss, you don't have to give so much to take care of us."
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "I believe you are worth the money. Don't think our job seems to be nothing special. After doing it for a long time, you will know that caring for flowers and plants requires not only patience but also professional ability." She looked at the dozen people and said, "I will come here regularly to talk to you about the maintenance techniques of flowers and plants. I hope you can study and think about it seriously and take good care of my plants."
"Don't worry, we will definitely do a good job." Dasheng shouted, and the others also said in unison: "Don't worry, boss, we will definitely not let you spend your money in vain."
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Okay, you guys go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the mountain over there to take a look and say hello to them."
Dasheng responded and called a few young men to measure a flat area and prepare to start building a house. Zhenzhen drove to the foot of the barren mountain. It had only been half a day, and the barren mountain had not been reclaimed much. Zhenzhen looked at the progress and estimated that it would be summer after the mountain was reclaimed. She didn't know if it would be possible to grow medicinal herbs at that time.
"I have hired people from Dayan Village to look after the wasteland below. This is also the intention of the city." Zhen Zhen knew that the nearby villages were usually fighting overtly or covertly, so she made it clear: "You guys can open up your wasteland, and when you are done, I will hand it over to the people from Dayan Village to manage it."
The leader thought of the situation in Dayan Village and felt a little sorry that his village missed out on such a good job: "I can understand the city's decision. Dayan Village has indeed been in too much trouble these years." He sighed and took the opportunity to improve his impression of Zhenzhen: "But the people in our village are not bad at work. Look at how well the land is developed. If you have any work in the future, think of us first. If you don't have enough people in Dayan Village, don't forget to come to our village to hire."
Zhen Zhen nodded: "Don't worry, as long as you do a good job, I will definitely give you priority in hiring in the future."
With Zhenzhen's assurance, the group of people worked even harder. They knew the area of the land and knew that if they could grow crops in the future, the few people in Dayan Village would not be enough. If they performed well now, they would have more ways to make money in the future.
This person always feels that time flies when he is busy. Zhenzhen feels that half a month has passed since he returned to the city. Zhenzhen used her consciousness to look at the seedlings in the flowerbed. Under the irrigation of the villagers, the seedlings have grown to more than one finger. However, these people did not know much about flowers and watered them too much.
Zhenzhen drove to the flower garden and as soon as she stopped the car, she saw the houses that had already been built. Since they were not where they would live on a regular basis, each room in these houses was not very big and could only accommodate a bed and a table. In addition, two large rooms were built separately, one for storing farm tools and the other as a kitchen and dining area.
Dasheng was leading the villagers to eat. When he saw Zhenzhen coming, he quickly put down his bowl and said, "Boss, you're here."
Zhen Zhen nodded: "You guys go eat, I'll check on the seedlings."
Dasheng said quickly, "We've almost finished eating, so it's a good opportunity for us to walk around with you. Um, boss, we don't know much about flowers and plants. Can you take a look at the seedlings and see if they are growing well?"
Although Zhenzhen had never learned to grow flowers, she could feel the condition of the plants most directly. She squatted down and touched the seedlings at her feet, then stood up: "I watered them too often. They are a little waterlogged."
Dasheng and the others were a little nervous, fearing that their mistakes would cause damage to the flowers. Zhenzhen saw them sweating and smiled, "It's okay, it's not serious. I haven't taught you before, and you've done very well. So, I'm free today, so I'll tell you about the maintenance of the seedlings."
After hearing this, Dasheng hurried back to the house to get paper and pen and followed Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen took them to the first field, bent down and touched the delicate seedlings, and said, "This field is planted with roses, which are cold-resistant and drought-resistant..."
Because the cosmetics factory not only produces plant-based skin care products, but also various essential oils needed by beauty shops, there are many kinds of flowers planted in this flower garden. People at that time didn't understand it very well. If it were in the future, someone would probably be wondering why flowers and plants from different places were planted together. However, these are not a problem for Zhenzhen. She will come here regularly to adjust the planting method according to the needs of the plants, and work with this group of villagers to explore a set of methods to grow flowers without supernatural powers.
Zhenzhen took them around the entire flower garden, introduced the plants there in different categories, and asked them to observe what state was a lack of water and what state was overwatered. She also emphasized the different maintenance methods based on the preferences of different seedlings. Dasheng listened and quickly took notes on paper. Sometimes he would miss a word and ask quickly, for fear that missing something would delay the growth of the seedlings.
Zhenzhen paid attention to Dasheng's actions and saw that he was down-to-earth, able to convince others, and most importantly, very motivated. Only then did she feel relieved. After all, the flower garden had a reliable manager, and she would be much more relaxed in the future.
Zhenzhen walked around the flower bed and the seedlings became more energetic. Although Zhenzhen did not use her special powers to affect their growth, for the flowers and trees, just having Zhenzhen here was a kind of natural nourishment.
As the seedlings gradually grew, the first batch of the full range of skin care products was also produced. However, Ling Xiulan was always cautious. She did not rush to market, but sent samples to relevant departments for testing. After getting the qualified report, she selected hundreds of employees in the factory who volunteered to participate in the product testing for trial use. After a six-month trial period, Ling Xiulan compared the skin of the 100 employees before and after. None of the employees who participated in the test had allergies, and their skin quality had improved significantly. Ling Xiulan then announced that Lanzhen skin care products were on the market.
Lanzhen skincare products have been positioned as high-end since the beginning. At that time, most people only bought a bottle of vanishing cream for face washing, but Lanzhen's two series include a full set of skincare products such as nourishing water, essence, eye cream, day cream, night cream, etc. These bottles and jars alone are not what ordinary people are willing to choose. Therefore, in addition to the counters in shopping malls, beauty salons are the main sales locations for this batch of cosmetics.
Beauty salons have all changed their skincare products to the Lanzhen brand. In the past two years, getting a beauty treatment has become a very prestigious thing among women. Anyone who gets a beauty treatment must show off everywhere after work. Therefore, as soon as these two sets of cosmetics were launched, they were sought after by beauty salon customers. After buying them, they can proudly say, "My skincare products are the same brand as those used in the beauty salon."
As the first batch of products sold in large quantities, the second batch of cosmetics also began to be put into production. At this time, the first batch of plants in the flower garden had reached maturity, and Zhenzhen took the initiative to invite Ling Xiulan to inspect the flower garden. The car stopped outside the flower garden, and when the wooden fence door was opened, a sea of flowers appeared in front of us.
Ling Xiulan went into the rose garden first. The roses swaying in the wind were not only bright in color but also large in size and fragrant. They were much better quality than the ones she had ordered from outside before. Lavender, chamomile... all kinds of flowers gathered into a sea of flowers that made people feel relaxed and happy.
Ling Xiulan looked at the fascinating scenery in front of her and couldn't help but sigh: "Zhenzhen, Mom doesn't know how to praise you. You can succeed in anything you do."
A breeze blew by, and Zhenzhen tucked the hair that was blown onto her face behind her ears: "I'm just lucky."
"It's not easy to succeed just by being lucky." Ling Xiulan looked at her with appreciation: "You also need to be serious and courageous."
"Who made me born in such a good era? There is gold everywhere. It just depends on whether you bend down to pick it up." Zhenzhen smiled and said, "I am the kind of person who bends down more diligently."
Ling Xiulan couldn't help laughing when she heard Zhenzhen's analogy: "That's good. We have our own flower garden, and the quality of our products is more guaranteed. By the way, I heard you say you also grow medicinal herbs?"
"Yes." Zhenzhen pointed to the mountain not far away: "They are all planted on the mountain, but there is not much experience to learn from in artificially cultivating medicinal herbs. I still need to gain experience. In addition, the growth period of medicinal herbs is generally long. I estimate that it will be next year before we can gradually replace the medicinal herbs purchased from outside."
"This is already very good." Ling Xiulan looked at the endless flower garden and felt very comfortable: "To be honest, I never dared to think of building my own plant base before. I always felt that it would involve too much manpower, material resources and energy. I also comforted myself by saying that it would be the same if I bought them from outside. However, after purchasing only two batches of raw materials, I found that this matter was not as simple as I thought, especially for flowers, which are easily damaged. Once it is found that the quality of the flowers provided by the other party is not up to standard, it is difficult to immediately find a replacement supplier. Fortunately, you thought of this matter in advance. We have our own plant base to ensure the quality of the raw materials, and thus ensure the quality of our skin care products."
"It's mainly because mom is too serious." Zhenzhen blushed when Ling Xiulan praised her, and she also started to praise her mother-in-law: "It's because of your seriousness and hard work that we can expand from one beauty salon to eight beauty salons, and now to the skin care products factory and plant base. Mom has made the greatest contribution."
"Alright, alright, let's stop flattering each other." Ling Xiulan smiled and patted Zhenzhen's hand: "I have to quickly arrange for someone to pick the flowers. Tomorrow we can put the freshest flowers into the production line."
Zhenzhen couldn't help with the picking, so she stayed with Ling Xiulan for a while before returning to the city. Recently, there was a rumor in the city that a piece of land with a good location was going to be auctioned. This was the first time that the capital city had publicly auctioned land for residential construction. If the real estate company took over the land, it could build commercial housing for sale. This was different from building public housing by obtaining a bid. Building public housing was at most the level of a construction company. Only when you get the land and build commercial housing, you are a real real estate company.
As soon as she returned to the office, Zhen Zhen couldn't wait to call her newly hired assistant: "Is there any news about the land auction?"
"The city has already issued a notice that the public auction will be held in ten days." The assistant handed the documents to Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen took it and quickly scanned it, then breathed a sigh of relief: "Hurry up and sign up, and ask if there are any precautions. We must not miss this auction."
"Okay." The assistant responded, and just as he was about to leave, he remembered something and immediately turned back and said, "Manager, your family just made a few calls, and it sounded like something urgent."
Zhenzhen's heart trembled when she heard this. The first thing she thought of was whether something had happened, because her family knew that she was busy at work and would not call her workplace unless there was something special. Zhenzhen immediately used her consciousness to take a look at the situation at home. She saw the twins sitting on the bed, giggling with building blocks, Wang Sufen and Old Lady Li talking while watching the children, and Li Muwu sitting next to them drinking tea. It didn't seem like anything had happened.
Zhenzhen was about to look away when she suddenly saw Xi Junjie was actually at home at this time, and he was still packing his luggage. Zhenzhen immediately picked up the phone and called her room. Xi Junjie put down the shirt he was folding in his hand and answered the phone: "Hello?"
"Junjie, I heard you called me?" Zhenzhen asked while holding the phone, "Is there something wrong at home?"
"No." Xi Junjie rubbed his nose, looking a little tired: "I may have to go on a business trip for a while."
Zhen Zhen looked at Xi Junjie's expression and had a bad feeling in her heart: "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Pakistan to pick up overseas Chinese and handle some diplomatic affairs." Xi Junjie's voice was a little uneasy, as if he was worried that Zhenzhen would not agree: "I know it might be dangerous there, but I'm not going alone. There are seven colleagues with me, and we have soldiers accompanying us. Don't worry, it will be safe." Hearing silence on the other end of the microphone, Xi Junjie added helplessly: "You know that we who work in diplomacy will inevitably encounter such situations."
The author has something to say: I wrote quickly on the train today, and added another paragraph before we meet in the evening. I can relax and have fun at night, haha. I will take the train back home tomorrow, so the update may be a little late.