Chapter 685 Warm reception
After the bloggers arrived, the villagers showed great hospitality. From the simple welcome ceremony to the carefully arranged experience itinerary, every link was carefully planned. The bloggers were immersed in it and recorded the beauty of the village with their cameras and words. Their reports caused quite a stir on the Internet. For a time, "To explore the most authentic farming, come to [village name]" became a hot topic, and tourist inquiries poured in like a tide.
Just when everyone thought that the clouds had finally cleared and the moon was shining, another problem loomed. The agricultural product market suddenly experienced price fluctuations, and the prices of the village's popular specialty fruits and vegetables dropped sharply. Buyers lowered their prices one after another, and some even canceled their orders directly. The growers looked at the warehouse full of harvests that were about to rot, and they were anxious, with anger and helplessness written on their faces.
"I've worked in vain this year! I can't even make back the money from fertilizers and pesticides, and I was counting on selling them to make a living." A fruit farmer squatted at the door of a warehouse, his head in his hands, his voice full of despair.
Qi Tongwei and Hou Liangping rushed to the scene and looked at the piles of fruits and vegetables with heavy hearts. Hou Liangping contacted agricultural experts to seek solutions, while Qi Tongwei organized a meeting of villagers to discuss self-help methods.
Experts suggest expanding sales channels, using e-commerce platforms to sell directly to consumers, and further processing fruits and vegetables to extend the industrial chain and increase added value. Although the villagers have only a vague understanding of e-commerce, they can only bite the bullet at this moment. Hou Liangping taught everyone how to register an online store, take product photos, and write introduction copy, and the young people took the initiative to take on the tasks of packing and shipping.
On the other hand, several skillful women in the village, under the guidance of technicians, began to try to make processed products such as dried fruits and vegetables and jams. They were busy day and night in the makeshift workshop, strictly controlling every step from selecting raw materials to packaging finished products.
After a period of hard work, the e-commerce platform gradually picked up, and orders gradually increased. The processed fruit and vegetable products were also popular in the market, not only in local supermarkets, but also exported to surrounding cities. The village once again overcame difficulties, and the villagers became more resilient in the baptism of wind and rain.
At another villagers' meeting, Qi Tongwei looked at the villagers who looked a little tired but full of hope, his eyes moistened: "My fellow villagers, our journey has been so difficult. We have encountered all kinds of difficulties, including natural disasters, man-made disasters, and market changes. But we have never been afraid, and we have never given up! Every time we fall, we can get up again, relying on the spirit of unity and courage of everyone. I believe that no matter how big the storm is in the future, we will be able to withstand it and live a prosperous life!"
In the audience, the villagers listened to Qi Tongwei's affectionate words, and many of them had tears in their eyes, which reflected the hardships along the way and also reflected their firm belief in the future. The applause lasted for a long time, as if to completely dispel the haze of the past.
However, under the calm lake, undercurrents are still surging. As the village's industries gradually diversify, the difficulty of management and coordination is also increasing. When the agricultural product processing workshop expanded its scale, it encountered technical bottlenecks. The taste and color of the dried fruits and vegetables produced were uneven, and some products encountered returns in the market. The e-commerce operation also lacked professional talents, the page design was simple, and the logistics delivery was often delayed, and the number of customer complaints increased.
Qi Tongwei and Hou Liangping were extremely worried and rushed around looking for solutions. They visited food processing experts and invited them to guide technical improvements; they contacted the e-commerce operation team and hired professionals at high salaries to optimize the village's e-commerce business. In those days, the two were so busy that they often went out before dawn and returned exhausted late at night.
Due to the high-intensity work and irregular diet, Hou Liangping's health started to show signs of trouble. That day, when he was discussing a plan with the e-commerce team, he suddenly turned pale, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and a sharp pain hit his abdomen. Seeing this, Qi Tongwei hurriedly supported him and shouted anxiously: "Liangping, what's wrong with you!" Everyone rushed to send Hou Liangping to the village clinic.
Hou Liangping was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. Long-term fatigue and mental tension made his stomach overwhelmed. Lying on the hospital bed, Hou Liangping was still thinking about the affairs of the village: "Tongwei, my illness has delayed things, the e-commerce training..." Qi Tongwei interrupted him: "Liangping, you can rest assured and recover. I will take care of the village affairs. The most important thing for you now is to take care of your health."
At the same time, rumors began to spread in the village. Some people questioned the ability of the village cadres, believing that the business was too big and problems would arise sooner or later. Others worried that the initial investment would go down the drain and everyone would return to the old path of poverty. Faced with these doubts, Qi Tongwei did not back down. He called together the village representatives and explained the current difficulties and solutions in detail to stabilize everyone's emotions.
While Hou Liangping was recovering from illness, Qi Tongwei shouldered a double burden. He shuttled between the processing workshops every day, learned from experts to improve the process, and personally debugged the equipment to ensure that each batch of dried fruits and vegetables and jams met the quality standards. He also communicated deeply with the e-commerce team, participated in page design, and formulated logistics optimization plans, striving to bring customers the best shopping experience.
In order to boost the confidence of the villagers, Qi Tongwei also organized a "Village Industry Achievement Exhibition", displaying the processed exquisite fruit and vegetable products in the exhibition hall and inviting the villagers to visit and taste them; he also demonstrated the e-commerce ordering process on site and displayed order information from all over the country. Seeing that the fruits of their labor were so popular, the villagers gradually dispelled their doubts and expressed their willingness to continue to support the development of the village.
After Hou Liangping recovered from his illness, he quickly returned to work and worked side by side with Qi Tongwei with full enthusiasm. After unremitting efforts, the processing workshop overcame technical difficulties and greatly improved product quality. It not only won back the local market, but also reached a long-term supply agreement with large supermarket chains; the e-commerce business was also on the right track, and the professional operation team created an attractive store page. The logistics and delivery were timely and efficient, and the order volume showed explosive growth. The village's characteristic agricultural products really went to the whole country.
As the village became more well-known, it attracted more foreign investment. A cultural tourism group took a fancy to the natural scenery and folk culture here and planned to invest in building a high-end homestay cluster to further improve the tourism quality of the village. Qi Tongwei and Hou Liangping seized the opportunity and negotiated with investors many times to strive to protect the interests of the villagers to the greatest extent so that everyone can benefit from the development.