Chapter 708 The Flagship Product
Not a single one of these reporters knew Chen Yang's real name, nor did they have any photos. Yet, relying solely on the images etched in their minds, they managed to meticulously reconstruct Chen Yang's likeness.
Along with their sketches, they also brought back their own little stories to their newsrooms.
Meanwhile, Chen Yang had already arrived at the village with everyone else.
Old Zhao Tou’s face lit up with joy upon learning that Chen Yang had actually brought his boss to invest.
"Brother Chen, thank you so much. Without you, who knows when our village's poverty alleviation project would have ever started!"
Looking at the old men and women gathered around, Liu Ran felt a pang of nervousness. This was her first time undertaking such a project, and if it wasn't done well, it would be a devastating blow to these elders.
Liu Ran felt the pure gaze of everyone, their hope that she could save them.
Instantly, Liu Ran felt the immense weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
Although Chen Yang had spoken extensively about the village's situation, Liu Ran and Su Ya were still somewhat shocked when they saw the reality. It was hard to believe such a backward place existed in the southwestern region.
Even though electricity had reached every household, many families couldn't afford to use high-power appliances like refrigerators.
After leaving Old Zhao Tou’s courtyard, Liu Ran spoke with a hint of exhaustion, "Chen Yang, can we really pull this project off? I feel completely lacking in confidence."
Liu Ran felt that the proposal she had prepared earlier was practically worthless.
The investment company could front the initial capital, but Liu Ran and Su Ya had discussed it, and while the company could cover a portion, the villagers had to contribute more than half.
By this calculation, no matter how they looked at it, the investment needed for the village remained substantial.
Facing Liu Ran's sentiment, Chen Yang could only offer words of comfort: "Don't worry, don't we have Su Ya here!"
"I recall the Su family having undertaken many poverty alleviation projects. Even if Su Ya hasn't personally done one, she must have seen them, which is more experience than we have."
Su Ya, overhearing this, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. While she had indeed seen many poverty alleviation project proposals from her family, her focus had never been on that aspect.
She knew very little about that kind of work.
Su Ya had assumed Chen Yang had already made arrangements for this matter, but it seemed there were no arrangements at all.
However, meeting their expectant gazes, Su Ya could only pout and say, "I don't have much personal experience. But if everyone is stuck, I can ask my family, or they can directly send someone over."
The Su family's strength was not to be underestimated.
Zhu Sanqian, overhearing Su Ya, found it rather peculiar. What was Su Ya's background?
Zhu Sanqian knew Liu Ran. After getting acquainted with Chen Yang and learning about Yang Yang Yang Company, he had conducted a brief investigation.
Zhu Sanqian not only knew about the relationship between Liu Ran and Chen Yang but also Chen Yang's extraordinary status within Yang Yang Yang Company.
As for Su Ya, she was truly a mystery. Although Chen Yang had previously stated that Su Ya was the vice president of Yang Yang Yang Company and Liu Ran was the actual person in charge, from their brief interactions, Zhu Sanqian always felt that Su Ya held the upper hand.
This was even true of the journalists' earlier candid shots…
Chen Yang's words just now were more of a comfort to Liu Ran. The Su family's poverty alleviation efforts were different from those in the southwest. The regions they focused on were already well-off.
Compared to the southwest, the Su family's poverty alleviation projects were not much different from Liu Ran's proposal.
Chen Yang turned his gaze to Zhu Sanqian and asked, "Brother Sanqian, do you know anything about poverty alleviation in the southwest?"
Zhu Sanqian, having come from a small mountain village himself, was indeed very familiar with the affairs of southwestern mountain villages. Chen Yang had asked the right person: "Ah? I've heard Fifth Master Zhu mention it a few times. The main problem with poverty alleviation in this region is transportation."
"Many villages with only a dozen households are located deep in the mountains and forests, making access extremely inconvenient. The cost of building roads... is something that ordinary people simply cannot afford."
In Zhu Sanqian's personal view, Chen Yang's assistance in poverty alleviation for the mountain villages was undoubtedly a charitable act, but the problems involved were extremely thorny.
Otherwise, the southwestern families, led by the Zhu family, would not have remained so inactive.
Seeing that Chen Yang was truly determined to do this, Zhu Sanqian lowered his voice and continued, "Another very troublesome issue is the clan problem."
"The clans in the southwest, or more accurately, some old villages, each have their own vested interests. It's been better these years, but in the past, skirmishes were common. Even the Southwest Prefecture couldn't completely handle it and turned a blind eye."
"Old Zhao Tou's village is relatively okay; it's a village formed by the merger of a few former tribes."
Just then, He Lingyu, who had finished speaking with the villagers, also ran out and happened to overhear Zhu Sanqian's words.
"My village doesn't have many problems, but the surrounding villages are a bit more serious."
After speaking, He Lingyu noticed everyone's gaze was a little strange and quickly added with a smile, "Although I say 'serious,' for what we are doing, people won't obstruct us, as it's all for the sake of improving their lives."
"The previous skirmishes were due to some conflicts of interest. If everyone can share in the profits and the pie is big enough, we will definitely succeed."
He Lingyu had oversimplified the matter. To avoid disheartening her, Chen Yang smiled and said, "Indeed. However, I was just thinking, to make money, we must first build roads, but building roads is definitely not a matter of a day or two. There will be a lot of trouble involved."
"The roads need to be built, but during the road construction period, poverty alleviation must continue."
As they walked and chatted, with He Lingyu's imaginative ideas and Zhu Sanqian's practical experience,
A comprehensive plan soon emerged in everyone's minds.
During the road construction, Yang Yang Yang Company's online sales platform would handle the sales of all medicinal herbs and agricultural products from the villages.
Currently competing with the Zhou family's commercial platform, Chen Yang felt the need to come up with a flagship product that the Zhou family couldn't match.
The medicinal herbs of the southwest were the perfect flagship product!
Due to its unique geographical environment, the medicinal properties of southwestern herbs were superior to those from other regions, and among herbal merchants, they were definitely considered high-quality products.
However, due to scarce production and transportation difficulties, sales had never been strong.
If they could effectively address these issues, Chen Yang had no doubt they would be able to sell them.