Chapter 951 Corner
Qi Tongwei suppressed his grief and comforted everyone, saying, "Fellow villagers, don't lose heart, we'll find a way. This is a natural disaster and we can't stop it, but we can sum up our experience and lessons and take precautions next time." With Qi Tongwei's encouragement, the villagers regained their spirits. Together they cleaned up the melon field, propped up the fallen vines, and took good care of the watermelons that were less seriously injured.
At the same time, toad breeding was not all smooth sailing. As the toads grew older, they began to fight with each other, and some weaker toads were bitten or even killed. After observation and research, Qi Tongwei and the technical staff found that the breeding density was too high. They quickly adjusted the breeding density, provided the toads with a more spacious living space, and set up some obstacles in the breeding pond so that the toads had a place to hide and live.
After a series of twists and turns, watermelon and toad farming finally got on track. When the watermelons are ripe, the melon fields are full of a good harvest. The big, round watermelons exude a sweet aroma that makes people salivate. The villagers are busy picking and carrying them, their faces filled with the joy of a good harvest.
Toad breeding has also achieved remarkable results. These toads are fat and strong, and the precious substances they secrete are collected and processed to become popular Chinese medicinal materials on the market. The village's income has increased significantly, and the villagers' admiration for Qi Tongwei has also increased day by day.
However, just as everyone was enjoying the harvest, a new problem arose: some people in the village began to envy the benefits of watermelon and toad farming, and in order to compete for the benefits, they sneaked into the watermelon fields and breeding ponds at night to destroy the watermelons and toads.
Qi Tongwei was very sad when he learned about this. He convened a meeting of all villagers and said seriously: "Our village can have the development it has today because of everyone's unity and hard work. Now some people are doing things that undermine the development of the village for their own selfish interests. We absolutely cannot tolerate this. We are a big family and we must prosper together. We cannot have conflicts because of a little interest."
Under Qi Tongwei's patient persuasion, the villagers who made mistakes realized their mistakes and apologized to everyone. The village has restored its former harmony and unity.
With the continuous development of watermelon and toad breeding industries, the village has become more and more famous. Many merchants from other places have come to discuss cooperation, and tourists have also come here to taste the special watermelons and visit the toad breeding base. Qi Tongwei seized this opportunity to further develop rural tourism. He led the villagers to build farmhouses and picking gardens, and also developed some special tourism projects related to toads and watermelons.
Today, this once-hard-won village has become a modern new countryside integrating characteristic planting, breeding and rural tourism. Standing at the highest point of the village, Qi Tongwei looked at this field full of hope, his heart filled with pride.
Tourists were also panicking and looking for shelters. Qi Tongwei organized the young and middle-aged people in the village to guide the tourists, the elderly and children to evacuate, while he and several cadres rushed to the low-lying area on the edge of the village where the houses were more fragile to confirm whether there were any villagers stranded.
The wind howled like the roar of a wild beast, blowing trees to and fro, and the iron roof was easily lifted up and swirled in the air. Trash cans and debris on the roadside were swept into the air and flew like hidden weapons. Qi Tongwei led the rescue team, struggling forward in the wind, and every step seemed to be fighting against the great power of nature. They knocked on doors from house to house to ensure that everyone was safely transferred. There was an elderly person in a family who was unable to move, and Qi Tongwei carried the old man on his back without hesitation, stumbling towards a safe shelter in the strong wind.
However, the disaster brought not only physical destruction, but also psychological shock. After the tornado, the village was in a mess. The sign of the farmhouse was blown off, the melon shed in the picking garden collapsed, many watermelons were smashed, and the protective facilities of the toad breeding base were also severely damaged, and some toads escaped. Even more distressing was that some villagers began to complain and even questioned Qi Tongwei's leadership.
"How can we live like this? Just when things were getting better, they were back to square one!" An old lady cried as she sat in front of her collapsed house.
"It's these tourism projects that have brought about the disaster!" an old man angrily accused.
Facing these complaints and accusations, Qi Tongwei felt mixed emotions. He knew very well that the villagers were fragile and exhausted after going through so many hardships. But he knew even more clearly that he must not back down at this moment. He called the villagers together again, standing in front of the ruins, with a firm and powerful voice: "Fellow villagers, we have been through so much, and we have survived every time. This time is no exception! The tornado destroyed our houses and facilities, but it cannot destroy our hope and unity. Let's rebuild together, and it will be better than before!"
In order to stabilize the villagers' emotions, Qi Tongwei first organized village cadres to conduct a detailed statistics of the disaster situation and comfort the villagers who were injured and lost their property. At the same time, he actively contacted external rescue forces and relevant departments to seek material assistance and technical support. While waiting for assistance, the villagers, led by Qi Tongwei, began to save themselves. Everyone cleaned up the debris on the street and propped up the fallen electric poles to prepare for the subsequent reconstruction work.
However, the road to reconstruction is full of difficulties. The shortage of funds is the biggest problem facing the village. A lot of money has been invested in the development of rural tourism and characteristic industries. Now that a tornado has hit, the village's finances are stretched. Qi Tongwei ran around, applying for disaster relief funds from government departments, contacting companies for sponsorship, and even mobilizing villagers to donate money and materials. He also organized villagers to replan the affected areas and optimize the layout of farmhouses, picking gardens and breeding bases to make them more solid and adapt to tourism needs.
During this process, some tourists heard about the disaster and lent a hand. Some donated money, some provided supplies, and some used their social media accounts to raise funds and promote the village. The warmth from the outside world deeply touched the villagers and strengthened their determination to rebuild their homes.
At the same time, Qi Tongwei was also faced with a thorny problem - how to find the escaped toads. These toads are not only an important source of income, but also related to the future of the entire breeding industry. He organized a search team composed of villagers and volunteers to go deep into the fields, ponds and woods around the village. The search process was not easy, as toads are good at hiding and have a wide distribution range. The team members struggled forward on the muddy land, pushed aside the dense grass, and carefully searched every corner where toads might be hidden.