Chapter 218: The Returning Person (You don’t need to subscribe to this, it has little to do with the main storyline.)
On January 2006, 1, the day before New Year's Eve, Guo Yang, who was on duty, arrived at the company early, wandered around the factory for a while, and then returned to the office.

After leisurely making himself a cup of tea, he clicked on the Huinong.com website which was still under internal testing.

Just one glance and I spotted the problem.

Imperfect functions are secondary
It’s not simple enough, nor beautiful enough, and that’s the main problem.

However, it has only been a short time since Weiguang Company established the Huinong.com team, so this progress is already quite good.

In his vision, Huinong.com is positioned as a digital service platform for agricultural industrialization.

It covers 11 major service functions including online transactions, agricultural market conditions, agricultural technology school, farmer circle, and agricultural optimization.

But the requirements are not that high at this stage. Let’s build the agricultural product trading network first and then gradually improve it later.

From this perspective, the mission is accomplished.

He was thinking about what needed to be changed and writing it down.

The color of Huinong.com ogo is wrong. As for agriculture, it is better to use green as the main color and highlight the concept of creating a green and healthy urban ecosystem.

The logo design also needs to be changed. After some thought, the two green leaves can be retained, but there should still be agricultural elements. Can the word "agriculture" be supported by the leaves?

The interface also needs to be adjusted, and the categories should be arranged in a vertical column on the left;

The position of market dynamics and purchasing data should also be adjusted;
The photos of agricultural products look like those taken by passers-by, so they also need to be changed...

Guo Yang is sorting it out bit by bit, and after some adjustments after the new year, the website can start trial operation.

But we also need to consider how to increase the number of users, as well as ensure a stable supply of goods, transportation and distribution, sales guarantees, and so on.

Moreover, due to the special nature of agricultural products, it is not easy to gain the trust of farmers.

He is not very good at the Internet, so Huinong.com still has a long way to go if it wants to develop.

After sorting out his thoughts for a while, Guo Yang decided to relax and started looking for novels to read online.

Jiahe had a holiday yesterday. Except for the people who stayed behind, everyone else should have returned home by now.

Seeing that Guo Yang had to be on duty, some of the senior management team actually wanted to stay, but they were all driven away by Guo Yang.

We have been working too much overtime recently, so those who need to rest should go back and rest.

Apart from factories, offices don't need so many people on duty.

……

Lu Hanbin's hometown is a remote mountain village in Tianshui, Longnan. To get from the village to the nearest road, one needs to walk over two mountains.

He is the third child in the family. He has two older sisters, both of whom are married. In a family that favors boys over girls, he has been spoiled by his parents since he was a child.

When I was a child, my family was very poor and mainly relied on growing potatoes and corn to make a living.

Although my parents work hard every day, they can only rely on the weather for food in the dry land of the Loess Plateau.

After being admitted to university, tuition and living expenses became a problem.

His parents put aside their pride and asked others to borrow money, and when he arrived at the school, he also learned about student loans.

People in poor areas place high hopes on studying to escape poverty.

It is not uncommon for students to go into debt to study and fall back into poverty because of education.

Walking on the dry loess road, Lu Hanbin was reluctant to drag the suitcase as it would most likely break down.

So he hefted the suitcase onto his shoulders, his heart filled with excitement.

In these three years, he only came back once, and that was the first time he saved money after working and paid off part of the family’s debt.

In the next two years, I sent some money home every year, and the family’s debt was paid off long ago.

Many people returned to their hometown.

In order to protect their luggage, people carry them in their hands, on their backs or on their shoulders.

A distinctive landscape is also formed on this road.

Entering the village, we saw 38 households scattered in a long and narrow valley. Years of drought had left only a few bare poplar and elm trees as vegetation on the ground.

Every household has put up Spring Festival couplets, and I got to know more acquaintances, which also caused the yellow dog in the village to bark.

While scolding, the host looked around to see whose family had returned.

Lu Hanbin also saw his own house on the edge of the ravine. It was dilapidated and crumbling, and the walls were as eye-catching as cracked persimmons.

If it weren't for a black donkey braying outside the wall, this place would be lifeless.

He also saw a familiar figure.

But the voice next to his ear interrupted his thoughts.

"It's Hanbin who's back."

"Yes, auntie."

"You've made a lot of money out there, right? Why did you come back?"

Lu Hanbin smiled and said, "I came back by train."

The aunt's smile widened, "Oh, trains are great. My daughter almost got airsick when she came back by plane."

Then he shouted loudly toward the house at the foot of the mountain in front of him, "Guangsheng, your Hanbin is back by train."

Guangsheng is Lu Hanbin's father.

This shout attracted the attention of the whole village.

During the Chinese New Year, many people return from other places, and most of them come back by train.

"Aunt Li is showing off again that her daughter came back by plane."

"What are you so proud of!"

"Han Bin is back too. He hasn't been back for two years."

"I spent the past two years trying to make money to pay off my debts. Seeing how shabby Guangsheng's house is, even thieves wouldn't want to patronize it."

"There's no way to build a house here, so it's better to leave it as it is."

"That's right. With a few acres of barren fields and dozens of dying poplar trees, there seems to be nothing else to do except wait for death."

"Education is the way out. Only by studying can you change your destiny."

"Just wait until the kids read it out."

"Tuition is expensive, too. It would cost a family a fortune to support a student like this."

"I don't know how Hanbin is doing out there."

...

Lu Hanbin was also made to laugh and cry by Aunt Li. Tianshui Maijishan Airport had not yet been opened for flights. Could he say that he came back by plane and then by train?
At this time, a young girl came out of the room. She was wearing a white down jacket and light blue bottoms. She had a pretty face and looked very young and beautiful. The girl greeted him, "Brother Hanbin."

Lu Hanbin nodded as a greeting. The girl's name was Li Pei. She was a few years younger than her and was also a college student in the village.

Their valley is one of the poorest and driest places, but it is also a famous "Doctor Village".

Every household has had college students and even professors who studied abroad.

Legends emerge one after another here, and it would be surprising if there were no college students here.

"Let's talk when you're free. I'm going home now."

The environment in the ravine was very empty, and he could hear the discussions of the villagers, as well as those of the two figures in the distance.

With a nervous heart and heavy steps, Lu Hanbin looked at the weathered face and shouted with a smile: "Dad, Mom."

"Ugh."

"Qiuwa La, how come you are so tanned and thinner?"

"Mom, I'm a lot stronger now."

"Come on, come inside and talk."

At this time, some people who were watching the fun also gathered together, and the parents took out some pine nuts, flour beans and other snacks to entertain them.

Lu Hanbin also put his luggage in a corner. When he saw the bare walls of his house, he couldn't help feeling sad.

The villagers asked all kinds of questions, and Lu Hanbin chatted with them at ease while checking the situation at home.

There was still a pot of tea heating on the charcoal fire in the house. Dirt kept falling into the pot from the eaves of the stove, and the earthen kiln had peeled off beyond recognition.

Seeing his expression, someone asked, "Why, Hanbin, are you thinking about the new house?"

Everyone's attention was attracted.

"If you ask me, this house is indeed a bit shabby, and it's not comfortable to live in."

"Building a new house in this mountain valley is not a solution. We still have to leave."

Lu's father Lu Guangsheng and mother Lu also seemed to be hesitant to speak. Their son has long reached the age to get married, but his career was not going well in the early years, and it has only been better in the past two years.

It's easier said than done to move out.

There are many promising people in their mountain valley, but there are also some who drag their families into the quagmire.

But building a new house at home is not a wise choice.

Lu Hanbin smiled and said, "No more repairs, Mom and Dad, you and I should move out together at the beginning of the new year."

"Where are you moving to?"

"The rent outside is expensive!"

"Hanbin, your father and his wife are both 60 years old. It's not easy for them to find a job."

Lu Hanbin looked at the two elders and smiled, "I saved some money this year and plan to buy a house in the city where I work."

"Buy a house in the city?" Everyone was surprised. After a moment of silence, they sighed again.

"It turns out that only by studying can one change his destiny!"

"The first-class people are loyal subjects and filial sons. The two things they do are studying and farming. This is what our elders taught us when we were young."

In a mountain valley with a lack of water, minerals and even wind, the best way out is to study and then move out.

When Lu Guangsheng heard his son say that he wanted to buy a house in the city, a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Good! Good!"

"The money you sent back in the past two years has paid off your debts, and we have saved some for you. We will give it all to you."

"Yes, buy it outside, and we two old people can just stay in the village." Lu's mother also said quickly.

Lu Hanbin frowned, "No, you have to go out with me, what are you doing staying at home?"

Lu Guangsheng said: "If we go out, won't it just add burden to you for nothing?"

"We also have a black donkey at home."

"If you guys don't go out, then there's no need for me to buy a house. My company provides housing for me now."

The two elders immediately became anxious and were about to quarrel. The villagers who were watching the show nearby asked Lu Hanbin, "Hanbin, what are you doing out there? Is it still the seed company?"

"No, I am now working in Minqin to control desertification."

“Can sand control make money?”

"There is a big boss investing in it. It's not profitable now, but it will definitely be profitable in the future."

At this point, Lu Hanbin turned his head and looked at his parents. "Mom and Dad, if you feel like you have nothing to do, or if you're worried about being a burden to me, you can come with me to fight the sand. You'll get paid every month, about 400 to 500 yuan per person."

"Four or five hundred a month?"

"That's pretty good. It's nearly a thousand dollars for two people."

Father Lu said, "Can others want us?"

"Yes, of course. I have the final say in our company now!" Lu Hanbin said confidently. This shabby house is really uninhabitable. It might collapse one day.

Seeing his parents' eager expressions, he added fuel to the fire.

"After buying a house, I still need money to renovate it. I don't have money to get married."

The two elders finally agreed when talking about marriage. Lu Hanbin persuaded them a few more times before they finally agreed.

During this process, he also introduced his work in detail.

He turned the desert into an oasis. At his peak, he had tens of thousands of people and hundreds of machines. He met senior leaders, appeared in the news, and appeared in front of the people of the whole country.

The villagers could not hide the surprise in their eyes, and the news spread quickly.

Pay off the loan, buy a house in the city, have a high income, become a big leader, manage tens of thousands of people... this can make the villagers gather together and discuss for a while.

In nearby villages, four years of tuition for a college student may cost thirty or forty times a family's annual income.

However, there are still countless examples of families going to school with debt, and commercial loans + student loans have pushed many people into despair.

Over the course of several years, Lu Hanbin not only paid off his debts, but also bought a house and moved out, becoming spiritual food for many people.

Lu Hanbin also felt that his parents had straightened their backs a lot. This feeling became deeper with every day he stayed in the village.

Lu Guangsheng no longer sits in a dim room smoking his pipe, but prefers to walk around and greet everyone he meets.

He also took the initiative to go to Aunt Li's house and gave her some snacks that her son had bought.

(End of this chapter)