Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 206: Agricultural Cooperative

Ding Kaifang took out the draft contract he had prepared. "We'd like to start by signing a ten-year agreement with you. The guaranteed minimum rent is five thousand yuan per mu annually, with any surplus shared based on yield. You'll be in charge of day-to-day management, and the cooperative will provide technical guidance."

Just as Zhou Xiaolin was about to nod, Li Xu suddenly asked, "Brother Zhou, how many years have you been growing watermelons on this plot of land?"

"Huh?" Zhou Xiaolin was taken aback. "This plot... it's been over ten years, I guess. I've grown watermelons every year... But don't worry, I always practice crop rotation."

Zhou Xiaolin's father had been a watermelon farmer, and he himself had been growing them for many years.

He was quite knowledgeable about the basics of growing watermelons.

Li Xu frowned, somewhat puzzled. "I heard the watermelon fields on the east side of your village aren't doing well. Don't they know about crop rotation?"

Zhou Xiaolin scoffed. "Of course they know. But if you rotate to corn or other crops, you only make a thousand yuan per mu. After costs, the profit is only two or three hundred yuan. That whole bunch of people over there couldn't bear to take the hit, so they don't rotate. Heh heh, now the quality of the watermelons coming out of their fields is nothing special."

"So that's how it is."

Li Xu realized.

'There's no way farmers who've grown watermelons for years don't know about crop rotation.'

'In their pursuit of short-term profits, they'd stubbornly worked the land to the point it was no longer suitable for growing watermelons.'

Zhou Xiaolin then thought of something. "If I join the cooperative, will my land need crop rotation? If so, how will my income be calculated...?"

"During the rotation period, the guaranteed rent will be paid regardless," Ding Kaifang immediately cut in. "Besides, we'll be leasing more land in the village, so we can guarantee you'll have watermelons to grow every year."

This assurance put Zhou Xiaolin's mind completely at ease.

He was about to sign when Li Xu added another request. "Brother Zhou, I need to ask you to keep something confidential. We'll be signing contracts with the other farmers in the village next, but the terms for each person might not be exactly the same..."

"I get it, I get it!" Zhou Xiaolin nodded repeatedly. "Everyone's soil quality is different, so of course the prices will vary. Don't worry, Old Zhou here has a tight lip!"

At ten in the morning, when Zhou Xiaolin pressed his red thumbprint onto the official contract, Ding Kaifang's tense shoulders finally relaxed.

This was only the first step. Next, they had to persuade the other watermelon farmers in the village.

He had learned before coming that Zhou Village was home to over a thousand people.

It had a total of 1,220 mu of land.

If it were all planted with watermelons, they could produce enough Watermelon Frost.

"Brother Zhou, could you take us to see the village chief?" Li Xu asked, putting the contract away.

'For the sake of time and efficiency, having the village chief get involved would be the fastest approach. Otherwise, it would be far too slow for the two of them to negotiate with each family one by one.'

Zhou Xiaolin slapped his chest. "No problem! Zhou Changshun is my cousin. I'll take you to him right now."

The Village Committee office was a large building in a courtyard. A sign hanging by the entrance read, "Zhou Village Party and Community Service Center."

The moment the three of them stepped inside, they heard a booming voice.

A burly man in his fifties was on the phone, his eyes sharp and bright beneath thick eyebrows.

"...I've seen the document from the township. Agricultural cooperatives are definitely a good policy, but the people have their concerns..." The man saw the visitors and quickly hung up. "Xiao Lin? And who are these two?"

Zhou Xiaolin quickly made the introductions. "Brother, this is Boss Li and President Ding from the city. They want to start an agricultural cooperative and lease our village's land to grow watermelons!"

Zhou Changshun's eyes lit up. He strode forward to shake their hands. "Welcome, welcome! I'm Zhou Changshun, the chief of Zhou Village. The township was just pressing me about this cooperative business!"

Ding Kaifang briefly and concisely explained their intentions and the cooperative model.

The more Zhou Changshun listened, the more excited he became, nodding nonstop. "A minimum of five thousand, with a share of the profits bringing it up to ten thousand? That's way better than what independent growers make! Our village's watermelons are high-quality, but our sales channels are unstable. Last year, some of them even rotted in the fields..."

"Village Chief, could you call a meeting with the villagers? We'd like to get this settled as soon as possible," Ding Kaifang said, his tone urgent.

Zhou Changshun agreed readily. "You got it! I'll call everyone over the loudspeaker right now."

He walked to a corner of the office and switched on the PA system. "Attention all villagers, attention all villagers! There is an important announcement in the Village Committee courtyard. It's about an agricultural cooperative leasing our land. This concerns every family's income, so please have one representative from each household come to a meeting immediately!"

The announcement echoed across the village, and in less than half an hour, nearly a hundred people had gathered in the Village Committee courtyard.

Men and women, young and old, carried small stools and sat around in a circle, the air filled with the buzz of their conversations.

Li Xu noticed that many of them were still holding farm tools, having clearly rushed over directly from the fields.

Zhou Changshun stood on the steps and clapped his hands loudly for quiet. "Folks, today we have two businessmen here to talk to you all about a partnership. This is President Ding, and this is Boss Li. They want to form an agricultural cooperative and lease our village's land to grow watermelons!"

Ding Kaifang cleared his throat and stepped in front of the crowd. "Hello, everyone! Our Harvest Agricultural Cooperative plans to lease land here in Zhou Village to specialize in growing large, black-rind watermelons."

He took a few sample contracts out of his briefcase and had the villagers in the front row pass them around.

"The specific terms are as follows: the cooperative will lease the land for a guaranteed minimum of five thousand yuan per mu per year, with any surplus shared based on yield. We've calculated that in a normal year, the total income per mu can reach about ten thousand yuan."

Ding Kaifang scanned the crowd and saw many of the villagers begin to whisper amongst themselves, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

Li Xu added, "Farmers who join the cooperative will also get priority to be hired as field managers and receive a monthly salary. The cooperative will provide high-quality seedlings, organic fertilizer, and technical guidance."

"Can one mu really bring in ten thousand?" a gray-haired old man called out. "I've been growing watermelons for thirty years, and in my best year, I only made six or seven thousand."

Ding Kaifang smiled and nodded. "Sir, we're in this for the long haul. As long as the quality of the watermelons meets our standards, we can guarantee that income level."

Just as the atmosphere grew lively, a gruff voice called out from the back of the crowd, "I don't agree with that price!"

Everyone turned to look, and a stout, barrel-chested middle-aged man pushed his way to the front.

He was wearing a plaid shirt and had a prosperous look about him, making him stand out among the plainly dressed villagers.

"Zhou Dafu, what's your problem?" Zhou Changshun asked with a frown.

Zhou Dafu snorted. "Village Chief, I'm growing the new 'Golden Beauty' variety. Last year, my wholesale price alone was five yuan per jin, and my income per mu was almost twelve thousand! They're only offering ten thousand? That's too low! It should be at least fifteen thousand!"

His words were like a stone tossed into a calm lake, instantly sending out ripples.

Many of the villagers started whispering. Some nodded in agreement, while others shook their heads in doubt.

Ding Kaifang's expression faltered. He whispered to Li Xu, "What if... we raise the offer a bit? Spending a little more is better than having a shortage of raw materials."

Zhou Xiaolin couldn't stand by and watch. He whispered to the two of them, "Don't listen to his nonsense. He does grow Golden Beauty, that's true, but the quality is poor. He had to beg the distributors to buy them, and he barely managed to sell. And it wasn't for five yuan a jin, it was two."

Li Xu turned and asked, "Whereabouts in the village is his land?"

"On the east side of the village, over by the reservoir!" said Zhou Xiaolin.