The appearance of Lin Feng and his companions naturally drew the attention of many villagers.
After all, in such an isolated and poor remote village, outsiders rarely came to visit.
"Village Chief, this is Mr. Lin, here to investigate the market!"
Led by a few villagers, Lin Feng met the old village chief, dressed in a blue cloth shirt.
The village chief's surname was Ge, and his name was Ge Changgui. He was in his fifties, but years of exposure to the elements made him look like he was in his eighties.
He held a large tobacco pipe, puffing clouds of smoke as he warmly shook Lin Feng's hand.
With explanations from the villagers, the chief understood the difference between Lin Feng and the people from the Tang Corporation, and also recognized Lin Feng's exceptional abilities.
"Mr. Lin, I didn't expect you to know Qinggong; truly a hero born of youth!"
Ge Changgui's face was filled with smiles, and he was full of curiosity about the young Lin Feng.
"Village Chief, take me to see your medicinal fields."
Lin Feng got straight to the point.
Ge Changgui wasted no time and led Lin Feng around the village.
Shen Xinyue and Lu Jingzhe became the most beautiful scenery in the village, drawing crowds of onlookers wherever they went.
Among them were mostly men, their eyes glued to Shen Xinyue and Lu Jingzhe, practically drooling.
They had never seen such beautiful women before, their eyes filled with amazement and admiration.
"Young Mr. Lin, this entire area is planted with medicinal herbs. We also have quite a few wild ginsengs in the mountains, all five to six years old."
Ge Changgui pointed to the vast expanses of medicinal fields surrounding the village. A rare look of joy and satisfaction spread across his wrinkled face.
He looked as if he were gazing at his own children, feeling an indescribable sense of fulfillment.
"Mr. Lin, the quality of the medicinal herbs here is exceptional. I've never seen such good medicinal herbs before!"
Lu Jingzhe squatted in the medicinal field, examining them closely. Even she, a genius in traditional Chinese medicine, couldn't help but give a thumbs-up.
"The quality is naturally good. The water used to irrigate these fields is natural mountain spring water, with no pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It's all thanks to heaven's blessings."
Lin Feng smiled. The medicinal herbs grown in Xishan Village would undoubtedly fetch the highest price on the market.
However, upon mentioning the price, Ge Changgui's smile gradually faded.
"Young Mr. Lin, the medicinal herbs here aren't as valuable as you might think."
"Calculated annually, each household's net profit is less than three thousand yuan."
The moment he said this, Lu Jingzhe and Shen Xinyue were both astonished.
Less than three thousand yuan a year in harvest, while in the city, the minimum monthly wage was three thousand yuan!
"It's like this, we don't have any roads here. To sell our medicinal herbs at a high price, we have to carry them out bit by bit by hand."
"As you can see, there aren't many young people here. With just this much manpower, we can't transport all these medicinal herbs out, so we can only be exploited by those capitalists."
"The people from the Tang Corporation came to buy our medicinal herbs, agreeing to transport them out by helicopter, but they also drove down the price considerably."
"At first, we weren't planning to sell to them, but they had already lowered the price of medicinal herbs in the town, so even if we carried them out ourselves, we wouldn't get a high price."
"This kind of stalemate can't go on. If it comes to it, we have no choice but to sell to them!"
As he spoke, a mist gradually formed in Ge Changgui's cloudy eyes.
On one hand, he felt sorry for the villagers; on the other, he was exhausted from being squeezed by capital.
"Haven't the town authorities ever thought of building a road for the village? I see you don't even have electricity. Is no one looking into this?"
Lu Jingzhe couldn't understand. It was her first time seeing such a struggling village.
"Build a road?"
"We've tried several times, but our village is surrounded by mountains, and mudslides are common. Coupled with the special terrain, it's impossible for them to build a road properly."
"Bringing electricity is even more impossible. Within a radius of dozens of miles, we are the only small village. Running power lines just for us would be too costly."
"Even if the authorities agreed, we don't want to be a burden to society."
Village Chief Ge had many considerations. He didn't blame society for its injustices; instead, he thought for the benefit of society.
"Then haven't you considered moving away from here?"
Lu Jingzhe felt a pang of discomfort, her heart aching for these people.
"The authorities have asked us to move several times, and they promised to arrange new homes for us."
"But we've lived here for so long, our ancestors have all worked and struggled on this land generation after generation, so we don't want to leave."
"Besides, the soil and water here are the most suitable for growing medicinal herbs. If we stopped planting them, this land would become desolate."
"Land is our life, our roots. We cannot leave!"
Ge Changgui said with a smiling sigh.
"Village Chief Ge, how about this: I'll buy all your medicinal herbs here, at the highest market price."
"From now on, we'll have a long-term cooperation."
Lin Feng said with a smile.
Ge Changgui was stunned, unable to react for a moment.