"Guidance, huh?" Yan Fei hesitated for a moment.
He had thought about this issue before, about having others build greenhouses with him. But it wasn’t to grow off-season vegetables; it was for cultivating mushrooms and raising earthworms. He had invested more effort into mushrooms and earthworms, and now, if not quite a master, he could at least be considered a junior master. Besides, he had connections behind him, and could seek help if a problem arose.
As for off-season vegetables, he genuinely couldn’t muster any interest. Moreover, these people’s intent was still to have him ’help out’...
To be honest, ’helping out’ was a troublesome matter, and not just ordinarily troublesome.
The saying goes, help someone to the end. If you can’t help to the end, sometimes it’s better not to help at all.
To Yan Fei, the small amount of money for building a greenhouse might be negligible, but for these farmers, it was no small sum. Even if it cost less to build a one-mu greenhouse, it wasn’t easy for these people, who earned their living from the land, to come up with the money.
Seeing them bring the old party secretary over, Yan Fei understood. Apart from fearing his refusal, they certainly had another consideration: fearing that if the vegetables didn’t make money, or if pests and diseases appeared midway, they hoped the old party secretary would continue to help resolve these potential problems—essentially expecting the old party secretary to turn to him.
This was a sort of peasant cunning. Now, the old party secretary was leading them to build greenhouses. Later, if there were issues, they would still seek the old party secretary. Just like when the township encouraged everyone to plant apple trees—if the trees were fruitless or if there were problems with sales afterward, they would still depend on the township to resolve them.
Sometimes it seems quite unreasonable, doesn’t it? The county and township find ways to wealth, provide saplings for free, offer technical support for free, and in the end, the people still expect the township to help solve sales issues. Everyone takes it for granted, and no one thinks, ’The township has given me a way to become rich; I’ll plant the fruit trees well and figure out how to sell the fruits on my own...’
If Yan Fei now agreed to help, they would definitely come to him with issues later on, such as pollination, for instance. That was the first problem. Then there would be the issue of sales channels. You have connections, and more money than you could spend. You’ve already helped us build the greenhouse, and the vegetables are all grown. Helping us sell them would all be a piece of cake for you, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that all taken for granted?
It’s this sense of entitlement that’s the real problem...
What if something goes wrong along the way? When you did it yourself, you made money. Now we can’t make money; could it be that you deliberately did something, afraid we would all learn and then start competing with you for your wealth?
Even if Yan Fei explained to people that he really didn’t care about such trifles, they wouldn’t dare to offend him outwardly or say anything. But what they thought inside, who knew?
If you have nothing to gain from helping someone, and your good intentions lead to tears, is it really worth it to do such a favor?
The principle is the same as lending money to a friend for a business. Your friend borrowed your money for a venture, and at a crucial juncture, they need more capital and come to you again. If you happen not to have money or can’t lend it to them at that moment, then it’s down to your luck—if you’re lucky, your friend will remember it was your help at the beginning; if you’re unlucky, they might think, ’You supported my business in the first place, but now you won’t lend to me at this critical moment. Isn’t this kicking me while I’m down? Could it be that you’re jealous that my business is doing well? Or could it be...’
Moreover, by the end of the year, that’s when the cattle ranch is busiest. The first batch of cattle to be sold off should have people wanting to exchange them for money for the New Year. Busy to death on one hand, and bearing the risk of potential complaints on the other, Yan Fei really wasn’t willing to take on that task.
Of course, there was also the issue of how close the relationship was. If these people were his own relatives, it wouldn’t matter, but they had absolutely no connection to him, so why should he bear the risk?
After turning it over in his mind for a while, Yan Fei flatly said, "I’m not even growing vegetables myself now, so I can’t help you with this. When the time comes, if you have vegetables but no market, I can help you get in touch with someone; that’s not a problem, but, as you can see, I’m so busy now. School’s starting soon and I’ll have to go to First High School. I really can’t take care of so much anymore."
Old Branch Secretary, seeing Yan Fei pondering for so long only to refuse, knew that he had made up his mind. However, he still pleaded, "Boss Yan, we’re pretty much neighbors, and you see our relationship isn’t bad on normal days. If you’re worried about it taking up too much of your time, we can pay you some guidance fees. What do you think?"
Guidance fees and such, Yan Fei didn’t even consider them worthwhile. Taking money would be more of a hassle; accepting such a meager amount of guidance fees, these people would probably complain even more if they didn’t make a profit.
So he simply smiled and said, "I really can’t do it. Growing these things should be fine, the technology is mature now. You can consult with someone from the township or county technical guidance stations and just look up some materials. Last year, I was just trying my luck, and as you know, my main focus is on ranching. I really can’t be of much help in this matter."
"Alright then!" Old Branch Secretary struggled with difficulty for a while before finally uttering these words.
Doesn’t he know to seek guidance from the technical guidance stations? To say he doesn’t know would be a lie, but getting guidance from them is just that, guidance. You still have to treat them well, and eventually, whether they can guide you or not, they might just pat their behinds and leave without caring whether you make money or not.
This is precisely the difference between seeking help from an acquaintance and a stranger; an acquaintance might not help as much as a stranger. When a stranger comes, you have to beg them, and they don’t care about the outcome. But if you ask an acquaintance? If things go well, they take it for granted; if things go poorly, they might just hold a grudge...
Actually, this situation, if taken seriously, is akin to moral coercion, which is why it’s troublesome.
Yan Fei might have been drooping his eyelids, seemingly not looking at the people behind Old Branch Secretary, but even so, he could tell the expressions on their faces. Most wore a look of disappointment, yet there were still a couple of people, perhaps more hot-blooded, whose faces showed dissatisfaction.
He didn’t mind their dissatisfaction. On the contrary, he felt more assured about his decision—if they were dissatisfied now, just imagine if he had helped and didn’t do it well, the complaints would be endless!
Actually, if they really wanted to do it, they should prepare everything themselves and then seek Yan Fei’s technical guidance when they encountered problems, just like they would consult technical staff from the township or county stations. In that case, there would be no issue—Yan Fei wouldn’t refuse at that point; after all, it was just about providing guidance. He couldn’t promise to put in more effort than those at the guidance stations, but at least he would try to help as much as possible where he could.
Sometimes, a little difference can lead to a completely different outcome. So all Yan Fei could do now was watch Old Branch Secretary leave disappointedly with his group.