Chapter 697: Trivial Matters
When purchasing the special fabrics needed for cultural and creative products, Wang Xiaoxue found that if she only wanted to buy cheap fabrics, the fabrics she bought would be of poor quality and the handicrafts she made would not be able to sell at all; and if she blindly pursued high-priced "imported goods", the cost would far exceed the budget, and the villagers would have to pay for their work in vain. She ran around, compared multiple suppliers, and repeatedly communicated with craftsmen about their needs before finally finding fabrics with high cost performance. At that moment, she first experienced the difficulty of Qi Tongwei in making decisions.
When organizing a parent-child rice planting activity at the farming experience camp, she originally thought that she could just arrange the venue and tools casually. As a result, on the day of the activity, the children were in a mess. Some slipped in the mud and cried, and some played with the seedlings. The parents also complained. Wang Xiaoxue was in a panic and could not cope with it at all. Thanks to the timely help of experienced villagers, who replanned the process, explained the rice planting techniques, and arranged for someone to take care of the children, the activity went smoothly. This experience made her fully realize her ignorance and recklessness, and understood that behind every seemingly simple project, there is a lot of hard work and wisdom.
As she got more involved in these tasks, Wang Xiaoxue gradually changed her attitude. She stopped being unreasonable and began to learn from everyone. Seeing her sister's transformation, Wang Daxue felt relieved and decided to stay in the village, using the connections she had accumulated while working outside to help the village connect with more sales channels and promote cultural and creative products to a wider market.
The village has regained its atmosphere of unity, the smart agriculture system has been successfully built, and sensors in the farmland monitor soil moisture and nutrient content in real time, automatically controlling irrigation and fertilization, greatly increasing crop yields. The rural cultural and creative market is becoming more and more prosperous, and the unique handicrafts have attracted many tourists to buy and collect, becoming the village's new cultural business card.
Qi Tongwei looked at the vibrant village, his heart filled with relief.
However, fate always plays tricks on people. When one storm is over, another undercurrent surges. Although Wang Daxue is determined to take root in the village and help development, the temptations of the outside world and the complex human heart have become new obstacles.
As cultural and creative products emerged in the market, some foreign merchants smelled business opportunities and extended olive branches to Wang Daxue, intending to buy out the exclusive rights to the products at a high price, or plagiarize the designs in the name of cooperation. A representative from a seemingly wealthy handicraft company was eloquent and painted a blueprint for Wang Daxue to get rich: "As long as you nod and authorize the popular cultural and creative designs in the village to us, you and your fellow villagers will count the money until your hands cramp. Why do you have to work so hard to guard a small market and look for scattered customers everywhere?" Wang Daxue was unmoved at first, but after repeated lobbying by the other party, ripples gradually appeared in his heart. After all, after years of wandering outside, he knew the difficulty of accumulating wealth. Now there is such a "shortcut", how can he not be tempted?
At the same time, the village invested a lot of money in the smart agricultural system, expecting to continue to increase production and income, but unexpectedly the equipment maintenance costs became increasingly high. Some key parts need to be imported from abroad, which not only has a long supply cycle, but also often encounters price monopoly, causing production costs to soar. Some villagers began to complain, thinking that this advanced thing is flashy and a bottomless pit of money. It is better to return to traditional farming, which may have lower output but saves trouble and effort.
Qi Tongwei noticed these concerns and was extremely anxious. He found Wang Daxue and said earnestly: "Daxue, we can't be blinded by the immediate benefits. Those merchants only want to squeeze out our creativity. Once the license is given out, the foundation of the cultural and creative market will be gone, and our cultural heritage will also be cut off. We have to protect the long-term future of the village." Wang Daxue looked embarrassed: "Secretary Qi, I know what you said makes sense, but the development of the village requires money everywhere. The temptation is too great. I also want to make more money for everyone quickly..."
In order to solve the dilemma of smart agriculture, Qi Tongwei traveled around and contacted domestic research institutions to seek alternative solutions for localized parts. He studied technical materials day and night, and took experts to visit farmland again and again to test the performance of newly developed domestic parts. After months of hard work, he finally found suitable and cost-controlled parts, which greatly reduced maintenance costs and put the smart agriculture system back on track.
But before one crisis is over, another one arises. The village was preparing to expand the scale of the cultural and creative market and applied for a loan from the bank, but the approval process was slow due to cumbersome procedures and harsh guarantee conditions. Some people from neighboring villages, who were jealous of the village's development, took the opportunity to spread rumors behind the village, saying that the village's financial situation was worrying and the investment risk was huge, in an attempt to ruin the loan. Qi Tongwei argued with reason, bringing detailed development plans and financial statements, explaining to the bank again and again, showing the village's potential and prospects.
During this difficult time, Wang Daxue finally came to his senses after seeing how hard Qi Tongwei worked for the village. He rejected all bad merchants and devoted himself to finding channels and running sales. He organized villagers to form an e-commerce team, and displayed the handicraft production process through live broadcasts on the Internet, attracting a large number of orders; he established friendly cooperation with folk culture villages in various places, promoted customers and exchanged experiences, making the cultural and creative market famous.
As the village resolved numerous crises, its development reached a new level.
However, beneath the calm, new challenges came one after another, like surging waves of light, impacting the village's forward path and once again setting off a wave of disputes over interests.
After the cultural and creative industry in the village became popular, the distribution of benefits became an urgent problem to be solved. At first, everyone worked together and did not pay too much attention to the details of the benefits, but now that the pie is getting bigger and bigger, differences are gradually emerging. Some handicraft makers believe that they are the ones who made the works stitch by stitch, carve and polish, and they should get the lion's share.
The young people in charge of live streaming and operating the e-commerce platform emphasized that without their promotion, even the best works would be left in obscurity, and they cannot lag behind others in the book of credit; the villagers involved in market management and logistical support also stood up and said that operating the venue, maintaining order, and providing materials, all of which depended on their efforts, and that distribution according to work is fair.
Each party held its own view, and the debate intensified. Some villagers even stopped their work in anger, resulting in shortages and delayed shipments at the cultural and creative market. Tourists complained one after another, and the good reputation that had just been accumulated was in jeopardy. Qi Tongwei saw it and was anxious. He called everyone to meetings for consultation many times, but each time it was deadlocked. The former unity seemed to be washed away by the torrent of interests.
This represents all of these, integrating so many things from beginning to end.