After repeated consideration, Qian Shulan finally decided to hold a cadre meeting.
The current situation in Wangjia Village is that the women and children in the family are responsible for taking care of the hens, while the men are responsible for weeding in the fields.
These days everyone is so busy that they fall asleep as soon as they hit the pillow at night.
It's just night time now and everyone is exhausted and has backaches.
We should have been lying in bed and taking a good sleep, but we were called to a meeting instead. Everyone was a little uninterested.
A member looked at Qian Minghua, who had been silent, and asked curiously, "Captain, what do you want us to do?"
Qian Minghua glanced at the crowd and said, "Not everyone has arrived yet. Please wait a moment."
The man's face darkened, but he felt even more itchy in his heart.
After a while, all the brigade cadres arrived.
Qian Minghua gave up his seat to Qian Shulan. "I requested this meeting. It's really because the matter is quite important, so I must first seek everyone's opinions and then hold a general meeting of all members."
When everyone heard how serious she was, their eyelids, which were originally too sleepy to open, immediately opened up and their whole bodies trembled.
Wang Shouquan had just rushed over from home, so he didn't know what Qian Shulan was going to say, but he instinctively felt that his third aunt was going to make a big fuss this time. He coughed lightly and said, "Third aunt, tell me, what's the matter?"
Qian Shulan did not speak directly, but asked, "Before I speak, I want to ask you a question. Do you think that if all our county raises chickens, will we have trouble selling our eggs?"
Everyone was stunned, and then carefully considered her words.
It may be okay in winter, but it’s not okay in summer.
In the summer, eggs tend to lose their yolk and become smelly, and their shelf life is only about seven days.
If the eggs are transported to other provinces, the cost will undoubtedly increase. First, there is the toll and then the uneven streets. Long-distance transportation will damage many eggs, and people may not be willing to come here to transport them.
Besides, they should be more willing to transport to the production teams that are closer to their province, and the Wangjiacun production team is actually located in the north of the center of Liuguan County, not the closest to them.
Everyone felt that things were getting serious at this moment. “It’s possible that we can’t sell it.”
One of the ladies slapped her thigh and regretted, "I should have known not to help them hatch the chicks. Isn't this just teaching the apprentice to starve the master to death?"
Another person immediately agreed, "Yeah, I thought we could get rich by the end of the year after hatching so many chicks. Love is a pitfall."
One after another, people are venting their dissatisfaction.
The first person they complained about was County Magistrate Jiang. If it weren't for him, their production team would have no trouble selling eggs.
The second one should be the factory director Qian Shulan. If she doesn’t agree to help hatch the chicks, County Magistrate Jiang will have no chance of developing the chicken farm even if he wants to.
However, no one dared to say in front of Qian Shulan, the factory director, how much power she had.
How could Qian Shulan not feel it? Once everyone's interests were violated, they would definitely be dissatisfied.
Maybe when the factory director is elected at the end of this year, she may be replaced by someone else.
Qian Shulan likes to be at the forefront of everything. If she is really replaced by someone else, then all her hard work over the past ten years will be in vain. How could she allow such a thing to happen
Wang Shouquan knew Qian Shulan well, so after a moment of hesitation, he asked directly, "Aunt, do you have any ideas?"
Qian Shulan took out her notebook and said, "My idea is that we should add new projects. The nearby production teams are all driven by us, so we can't compete with them for food. We should take a long-term view and not compete with them for the small businesses in the county."
This was a very grand statement, but Wang Shouquan didn't understand it. He raised his eyebrows slightly, "What do you mean?"
Qian Shulan crossed her hands and looked at everyone, "The Spring Fair is coming soon. I suggest buying an imported vacuum packaging machine from abroad."
Speaking of plastic, it is already sold in department stores in Liuguan County, but it is very scarce.
However, Linyang Province opened a plastic factory in 1964, specializing in the production of plastic films, plastic basins, plastic buckets and the like.
Plastic films like polyester and polyethylene are rarely produced. But it is possible if they come to your door to make custom orders.
Someone asked weakly, "What is a vacuum packaging machine and what is it used for?"
Qian Shulan smiled and explained, "The vacuum packaging machine can reduce the oxygen content in the package, prevent the packaged food from getting moldy and spoiling, maintain the color, aroma and taste of the food, and extend the shelf life. As long as we package it, we can sell the eggs abroad."
There was an uproar among the crowd.
Another person raised a question, "Aunt San, you are too funny. It's not like foreign countries don't have eggs. Why do they buy ours?"
Qian Shulan waved her hand and said, "We don't sell eggs directly, but stewed eggs and dried eggs."
She is good at making braised eggs, so nothing is difficult for her.
Things like egg jerky are even simpler. Homemade egg jerky is popular in her hometown, and it is almost the same as those sold on Taobao.
Everyone immediately thought of Qian Shulan's skill in braised meat, which tasted really good.
Qian Shulan glanced at everyone's faces, taking in their expressions, and asked softly, "Does anyone have any questions?"
Someone asked the most critical question, "How much does that vacuum packaging machine cost?"
In fact, Qian Shulan wasn't sure how much the machine cost. From what she knew in her previous life, a bad vacuum packaging machine cost about 20,000 yuan, while a good one cost hundreds of thousands. But she didn't know much about this era, so she gave a number, "A conservative estimate is more than 10,000 yuan. I don't know the exact amount either. I need to ask someone to find out."
"It's so expensive?" Everyone felt pain in their heart. They were reluctant to lose so much money all of a sudden.
Qian Shulan made a detailed calculation for everyone, "More than 10,000 yuan, each person will only get a few yuan. But in the long run it is still very beneficial. There is no gain without sacrifice. There is no such thing as a pie in the sky in this world."
Someone immediately raised their hands to vote, "Aunt, I agree with this!"
Several people raised their hands one after another. They were all people who had a good relationship with Qian Shulan, such as Cao Chuanzheng's parents. Because they were also coordinators, they were also considered team cadres.
Qian Shulan's eyes darkened. More than half of the people still hadn't raised their hands.
Qian Shulan pondered for a long time and finally used her last trick. "Before buying the machine, I will ask a big boss in Hong Kong I know to taste the braised eggs and egg jerky I make. If he signs a contract with me, I will order the machine. This way I won't lose money. Everyone knows that the price can be doubled when selling abroad."
There was no need to worry anymore, and everyone raised their hands.
Wang Shouquan gave Qian Shulan a thumbs up. Third Aunt's strategy of taking every step carefully was brilliant.
Qian Shulan smiled bitterly. In fact, she was quite tired.
These people are so afraid of being poor that they don’t even have the slightest spirit of adventure and just want to maintain the status quo.
If she didn't know Li Shirong, this matter would most likely have been ruined.
But you can't blame these people, they are honest farmers who like to take things slow and steady. People like her who don't play by the rules are the odd ones out in the production team.
But she still felt a little aggrieved. If this was her own factory, she could make her own decisions. Unfortunately, she could only think about it now.
This will not be possible in the next few years.
The brigade cadres have already voted, and the next step is to hold a general meeting of all members.
This time there was no suspense. About 80% of the people agreed to this. I guess everyone felt relieved after hearing that Qian Shulan had already thought of a way out.
Many people would also do the math. More than 10,000 yuan, with a total of 1,300 people in the production team, means that on average they would receive less than 10 yuan less than before, which is still acceptable to everyone.
After the decision was made, Qian Shulan couldn't wait to open a food processing factory.
The factory site could not be chosen next to a chicken farm, mainly because it was too dirty, and hygiene must be strictly controlled. She was mainly frightened by the unscrupulous workshops in later generations.
She has applied for ten acres of land from the team, which is located in the vacant lot on the right side of the village entrance.
I originally planned to use that piece of land to grow sweet potatoes in the spring, but now it’s ready, so there’s no need to plant them anymore.
Opening a food processing plant requires not only solving the problem of machinery, but also electricity.
Without electricity, it would be useless even if she brought the equipment.
So Qian Shulan took the application she got from Qian Minghua and went to the commune to find Director Ma to request electricity.
Last time they dug a well, this time they connected electricity, the Wangjia Village has been going through more and more troubles each time. But the people there are indeed getting better and better.
Director Ma looked at her application report, then glanced at the unlit oil lamp on his desk. He also wanted to have electricity.
Unfortunately, it had only been a short time since the electricity was fully connected to the county town, and the production teams below were still waiting in line. Because they were arranged in alphabetical order, their Wanghe Commune was relatively late and had to wait until the end of next year.
It was only March, and Director Ma felt he had no confidence in getting to the front. Of course, the most important thing was that he didn't even know the leaders of the power supply bureau.
Director Ma said a little embarrassedly, "Aunt Qian, although I really want to help you, I really can't make the decision on this matter."
How could he, a small leader of a rural commune, have the ability to order the power supply bureau around? They were higher in rank than him, and they probably wouldn't even bother to pay any attention to him. Even if he sacrificed his reputation to please them, he might be accused of bribery, which was too dangerous and not worth it.
Qian Shulan immediately understood what he meant. "Okay, I won't make it difficult for you. I'll go ask County Magistrate Jiang for help."
Director Ma smiled immediately. He liked Aunt Qian's straightforwardness. She was not at all like those old country ladies who liked to make trouble.
Just as Qian Shulan was about to leave, Director Ma stopped her again, "Aunt Qian, when you go to apply for electricity, can you also apply for electricity for our commune? We want electricity, too."
Qian Shulan looked at him sideways, "The commune is quite far from our production team. Is it inconvenient?"
Director Ma put his hand on his chin and didn't force it. "Give it a try, maybe it will work."
It is probably not possible to provide electricity to all the production teams under Wanghe Commune. After all, it is a production team, so it is not advisable to go too far, so it is still feasible to only arrange one production team plus the commune in the town.
Qian Shulan thought about how much he had helped her after all, and nodded, "Okay, I'll tell you while I'm at it."
After returning home, Qian Shulan immediately went to the chicken farm to pick up a basket of eggs, preparing to visit her in-laws in the county town the next day.
The author has something to say: China’s first plastic factory was opened in 1952.
The world's first vacuum packaging laminator was invented in 1950.