His uncle was known to be stubborn. Once he made up his mind about something, he would do it until he was satisfied. Otherwise, he wouldn't have learned from a farmer to become an agricultural technician.
When everyone did not think highly of him and poured cold water on him, he really did set up the agricultural company.
Technology was the number one productive force after all. Even though his uncle could not directly use the formula for Anti-Pest Genie, he had the technology and knowledge to optimize the original formula.
After his improvements, he was able to kill pests more accurately without harming the land.
Therefore, a year after the company was established, it had already done well and established long-term cooperation with many planting bases.
When business was getting better, his uncle did not only care about his own wealth. Instead, he immediately sent a message to Kong Xiuyao's parents to follow him to the capital, preparing to arrange jobs for them from nine to five. Compared to farming, it was much easier and more profitable.
However, Kong Xiuyao's parents wanted to wait for him at home. They were afraid that he would be sad when he returned and found no one at home, so they rejected him.
His uncle understood them and did not force them. He found some honest and reliable villagers in the village and asked them to follow him.
His parents accepted his kindness and naturally worked hard. As a result, there was a virtuous cycle within the company, and the business grew bigger and bigger. Gradually, he became the number one enemy of his old boss!
The old formula that had lost its technical optimization was like an old pot lid. It seemed to be useful, but it was not worthy of a new pot. Gradually, no one cared about it.
Since his old boss had lost the market, he naturally wouldn't sit back and watch his uncle monopolize the market.
"Some time ago, your cousin signed a cooperation contract with an orchard. The price the other party paid for pesticide was ridiculously high!" Uncle recalled.
His cousin, Kong Ke, was his uncle's only son. However, he was nothing like his uncle. He had been ignorant and incompetent since he was young, but he was ambitious. He was always in a hurry to succeed, thinking that he would become rich overnight one day, so he was a regular at the lottery station.
His uncle definitely could not let his son fall, so he detained him and urged Kong Xue to do something.
The business that had been negotiated with the orchard had been done independently by the orchard.
At first, his uncle thought that it was a little strange. After all, the orchard was not related to their company. Why should they pay a high price? However, Kong Ke patted his chest and guaranteed that there was no problem. In his own words, he had negotiated this price with his glib tongue. Even Zhuge Liang, who had a war of words, had to acknowledge him as his master.
When Kong Xiuyao heard this, he already felt that something was wrong.
His uncle covered his face and said uncomfortably, "I felt that something was amiss at that time, but this was also the first business deal that your cousin had negotiated. I didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so I prepared for the worst…"
For the sake of his son, his uncle was prepared to take a gamble even though he knew that there was a problem. The buyer sent by the orchard to negotiate the price was a rash person who did not know the market price. At most, he would lose some money and gain some reputation. He thought that as long as he could still move, he could always earn back these external items.
Just like that, the usually shrewd uncle fell into someone else's trap…
His uncle continued, "A week after the contract was signed, the owner of the orchard suddenly came to the door and said that he had used our pesticide, causing most of the fruit trees to die!"
When he first heard the news, his uncle was only puzzled.
Because he had modified the pesticide formula, he had deliberately changed the ingredients that would affect the land and replaced them with softer ones. They would definitely not hurt the crops themselves.
It was not his first day doing business. He told the orchard owner on the spot that there would be no problems with his pesticide and requested to enter the orchard to check the soil. If it was his responsibility, he would definitely compensate the orchard owner for his losses!
At this point, his uncle suddenly paused.
His uncle felt like a fishbone was stuck in his throat recalling the promise at that time. The breath he exhaled was intermittent. This was the beginning of a nightmare for him. Just thinking about it made him want to cry.
Kong Xiuyao saw this and felt sorry for him.
Coincidentally, Qiu Lingruo returned with water and handed it to Kong Xiuyao.
Kong Xiuyao held his uncle's head and fed him two small mouthfuls.
His uncle drank some hot water and calmed down. He continued, "Then I dug a little soil from the orchard and sent it for inspection. The results showed that it contained a large amount of strong pesticides such as paraquat. If the dosage of these pesticides was controlled properly, it would not be enough to poison the crops. However, the content of the soil in the orchard could directly fertilize the land. No seedlings would grow for at least five years."
Injuring saplings and soil was the equivalent of smashing a fruit farmer's rice bowl.
Facing the angry owner of the orchard, his uncle could not explain himself clearly. He could only talk about compensation first.
But as the saying went, "Misfortunate never comes alone."
During that period, Kong Ke got lucky and negotiated several deals in a row. There were corn fields, sugarcane forests, and citrus orchards. All of them were the same. After using the pesticide from Uncle's company, most of the crops died.
"I can't remember how I spent that time. The moment I opened my eyes, I heard the sound of people asking me to compensate them. There were debt collection banners all over the entrance of the company, and someone even splashed paint on the door." His uncle's eyes were listless as he stared numbly at the ceiling.
Kong Xiuyao advised, "Uncle, when there was a problem with the pesticide the first time, you should have called back the remaining pesticide and find out the reason for the dead seedlings. You shouldn't have given them money to settle the matter. With a bad start, the farmers who were harmed later must have decided that it was your fault and only wanted to ask you for money instead of finding out the truth about the dead seedlings."
Hearing this, his uncle smiled bitterly and patted Kong Xiuyao's hand. "Xiuyao, if your cousin had half your brain, he wouldn't have been used by others."
The first time something went wrong, his uncle wanted to use money to help Kong Ke smooth things over. In the next few times, even a fool knew that someone had dug a hole for him, but Kong Ke did not know. He even signed the contract behind his uncle's back, saying that he wanted to give his uncle a surprise.
He really wasn't afraid of a god-like opponent, but he was afraid of a pig-like teammate.
When Uncle finally reacted and found out that the mastermind behind all of this was Green Friendship Agricultural Farming Company, it was too late!
The victim fruit farmer was egged on again and destroyed the remaining pesticide samples in his anger. It was impossible for his uncle to recall the product.
Moreover, several agricultural production bases had been damaged, and his uncle could not fork out so much compensation for the time being. At that time, news of the demolition of Pingxu Village spread, and the people in the company were busy returning home to seize territory, so they resigned one after another.
Overnight, the originally popular company was empty, leaving only his uncle guarding it.
"Your cousin blamed himself and said that he went out to relax. I don't know where he disappeared to." His uncle sighed and said, "I was the only one left guarding the company. Two days ago, a group of fruit farmers who couldn't get compensation rushed into the company and beat me up…"