Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 1999 - 1754: Sense of Social Responsibility
Honestly, Secretary Xiaozu didn’t think much of this matter.
This isn’t simply about promoting products; product promotion isn’t about undermining one’s own integrity.
The Sunshine Rose, a purely organic, firm-textured Japanese grape variety, has gone from being a sensation priced at over a hundred yuan per pound, to now being sold at a low price of ten yuan for three pounds, even on the streets of Qingxi Town.
The market chaos and change in public acceptance have become very clear.
Now, when Sunshine Rose is mentioned, people’s first reaction is not "that distinctly fragrant rose-scented sweet grape," but rather "that overly sweet, cloying grape with no real taste but a rather nice name."
If Qiaoqiao were to promote it, any misstep could tarnish his reputation, which Song Tan would not want.
However, this matter wasn’t up to her to decide alone. Seeing the leaders silent, she went ahead and called Song Tan.
She placed the half basket of peaches she had picked on the ground, casually picked two and handed them to Lun Chuan: "These two are delicious, I want to eat the one with the sharper tip."
Lun Chuan nodded, glancing again at Secretary Xiaozu’s expression: "It seems they need your help with something—go ahead, I’ll pick more, wash them, and bring them over."
The few people just now were too hasty; they washed the peaches with water from the dog’s bowl, a practice that Lun Chuan, with his meticulous nature, could never accept.
Song Tan walked over and smiled, "Is there something you need?"
Secretary Wang spoke first: "Yes, we’ve noticed Qiaoqiao’s strong ability to promote products and wanted to ask, what are the conditions to have him promote ours?"
He was much younger than the leader and had, naturally, spent time in livestream rooms. He heard that some top-tier streamers not only demand hundreds of thousands to millions for signing fees but also take extra commissions on each order...
Honestly, if Song Tan set such terms, they would have no choice but to give up.
Song Tan was taken aback, not expecting this to be the reason she was called.
Secretary Xiaozu, knowing her personality, wouldn’t rashly agree to anything just because it was the leader’s request, but he promptly followed up, explaining the known details to her:
"Baiyu County... Sunshine Rose... Supplier breach of contract..."
The leader only listened quietly, without interruption, and even appeared to be full of sincerity:
"This supplier issue isn’t merely about business."
It was actually about ambitious young cadres eager to make their mark here. They put in significant effort, inviting agricultural research experts, hiring professional planters, even importing good varieties at high prices, enforcing strict scientific management later...
But what was entirely wrong was that they were in too much of a rush to achieve a political milestone, and thus coordinated with certain businessmen for cooperation...
Even the high prices written in the contract turned out to be a chain of secret transactions.
The plan was well laid out: let farmers earn money this year, and he would gain political success.
Next year, upon being reassigned and promoted, any further development there wouldn’t be his responsibility.
Yet, he never considered what would happen if things went wrong?
Or, even if it truly succeeded, he would be transferred elsewhere, rising smoothly, while the farmers who tasted success the first year might not realize the market realities, increasing their investments instead, dragging more relatives and friends into this bottomless pit?
Young people might see this and judge them as greedy, deserving what they get.
But this is human nature, regardless of whether they’re farmers or elite professionals.
The same underlying logic exists for those who fall victim to scams, so how is this different?
The difference is, no one anticipated that a government-outlined bright future would turn into such a fleeting spectacle, quickly disintegrating.
Now, those farmers full of expectation, their emotions and livelihoods, are both utterly shattered, grounded.
The leader soberly said:
"The emotions of the local farmers are difficult to rein in now. Those scientifically-managed grapes are ripe, and any further delay is unfeasible."
Such local matters shouldn’t have been his concern, yet during last week’s inspection, seeing the aged farmers squatting in the fields, eyes blank, etched deeply in his memory.
Now, he earnestly spoke to Song Tan:
"I’ve tried the grapes there. They aren’t as tasty as your peaches, lacking in quality quite significantly. But I also bought grapes from premium supermarkets and street vendors."
By comparison, they’re weak in sweetness but have an extraordinarily intense rose scent, surpassing any I’ve tasted before.
Song Tan smiled at this point:
"Leader, actually, the lack of sweetness isn’t a disadvantage now."
No one knows when it started, but the quality of fruits seemed to be all about sweetness.
But in fact, in today’s world where sugar is not lacking, the pure "sweetness" is somewhat off-putting for everyone.
The top trending dessert reviews in recent years are those that "don’t taste too sweet," and fruits follow suit.
"If that’s truly the case..." She pondered briefly:
"If we can control the quality of all the grapes shipped out, Qiaoqiao promoting them is feasible."
Secretary Xiaozu widened his eyes in surprise.
It shouldn’t be! This is not Song Tan’s style.
Even the leader was somewhat surprised: "Are you sure?"
The Song Family’s characteristics were already around seventy to eighty percent clear to the leader after only brief contact.
Even without Secretary Xiaozu’s previous decisive assurance of refusal, he actually held minimal hope.
But now, how come...
Song Tan laughed:
"Helping farmers is a good thing. If he has the ability and is willing to do it, we should do it."
In essence, this is quite similar to promoting products for the villagers.
She looked over at Qiaoqiao, who was energetically eating peaches in the livestream—innocence forever remains, never having to understand the world’s troubles, and that’s perfect.
However, since the family doesn’t lack money nor Qiaoqiao lack happiness, Song Tan thought of having Qiaoqiao do more good.
Not for anything else, simply because he has the opportunity, and the family has the opportunity, and they should be doing such things.
But doing good also has its limits.
She emphasized: "Qiaoqiao’s prices aren’t cheap."
The money or not doesn’t matter to Qiaoqiao, but his fame is too great, his fans couldn’t sustain such consumption.
Money is a significant threshold.
"We young people refer to constant product promotion as ’cutting the leeks.’"
If he does it for free, next all manners of farmer support across various places, real and genuine, would come seeking him out...
"Qiaoqiao would have to sacrifice his reputation and trust, fans would have to expend their trust and money. But leader..."
Song Tan spoke honestly: "You know that the farmer support market is really quite chaotic now."
A couple years back, she bought some support-the-farmer nuts, and the price wasn’t cheap, but the spoilage rate was so high that calculating it, it was even more expensive than the full price at supermarkets.
Yet, the leader laughed:
"Your agreement, your willingness, already demonstrate a stronger sense of social responsibility. As for the promotional cost, business matters should be considered from a business angle."
As for chaos...
Even a village of a few hundred people has fights and disputes; with over a billion people in a country, it can’t happen overnight.
Things need to be done step by step, meals eaten bite by bite, problems resolved and plans thought out!
"Isn’t this how our lives progress step by step?"
