Chapter 283: Abdication and Passing the Torch

Wang Daxian, who had been insisting on giving up the position, now winked at Jing Shu. Jing Shu wondered if he knew something in advance.

Maybe he knew her tobacco would be needed, so he wanted to make friends early? After all, whether he wanted the position or not, he was the pre-decided vice president. This was just a formality, so it was fine to prepare her in advance. Jing Shu shook her head and put the thought aside for now.

“Ahem, the information above is like this. Looks like everyone will have to work overtime again. I won’t say much about the importance of this document. The headquarters’ competition happens once a year, deciding the allocation of strategic resources and your benefits. Pass the preliminaries, get more resources and better benefits; fail, and resources will be scarce—you know the deal.

“Alright, let’s decide the vice president first, then talk about other things. Jing Shu, you continue, say a few words, don’t waste everyone’s time. There’s a lot to do. As usual, the more you accomplish, the bigger your share. Whoever plants more gets more resources,” Zhou Bapi said, showing his big yellow teeth.

“Okay.” Jing Shu smiled. At that moment, she felt victory was assured. She hadn’t expected such help from fate. She thought she’d have to wait at least a month for the insects to run rampant, but the document came early to prevent that.

In her past life, Wu City hadn’t passed the preliminaries. Would she change history this time?

“There are dozens of herbs required, but I don’t have seeds for any of them. I’m doomed.”

“Since the seed storage was flooded, the rescued seeds are damp, with less than 10% germination. Should we try our luck again?”

“There’s no time to wait. Let’s beg Jing Shu for some seeds? Her seeds are really good. Not to mention her planting skills, but she’s really lucky to have five shelves of mature tobacco. The preliminaries probably depend on her.”

“Can’t help but admire her. With tobacco, she has to be vice president.”

The noisy crowd gradually quieted.

Jing Shu cleared her throat, “I’ll say a few words. I accidentally planted too much tobacco. You can see the seeds are plump and have a high germination rate. If you choose me as vice president, I can distribute tobacco seeds and help with guidance if problems arise. By the way, those who said my tobacco was worthless won’t get seed distribution. That’s all.”

Pharmacist Liu’s face turned dark. This person really held grudges!

Excited shouts rose from the crowd. For them, who became vice president didn’t matter much, but if Jing Shu became vice president, she could distribute seeds and provide guidance. Nothing could be better.

Wang Daxian took the microphone, smiling, “Chairman Zhou, I think no need to vote. Waste of time. Just pick Jing Shu as vice president. She really knows tobacco planting. If everyone plants tobacco with her guidance, no need for other herbs. We can make insecticides directly and probably pass preliminaries easily.”

Zhou Bapi chuckled, “That depends on the leaders inspecting today.”

Director Zhang, with his elderly belly like the KFC Colonel, smiled, “I agree Jing Shu should be vice president. She really knows her stuff. With her, Wu City’s medicinal association will gain a lot of resources. This merit can make up for other shortcomings.”

Pharmacist Liu forced a smile, “We still need to ask if anyone disagrees.”

Zhou Bapi grinned widely, “Anyone disagree?”

Who would be foolish enough to disagree? Don’t want seeds?

“I do!” Jiao Jiao stood up and walked to the stage. Her “I” attracted everyone’s attention.

Zhou Bapi frowned, “Why do you disagree?”

“Chairmen, what Jing Shu plants belongs to the medicinal association. So the tobacco she plants should be decided by the association. It’s supposed to be collected and redistributed. Isn’t that the right thing to do?

“If we don’t vote for her, can we still get tobacco seeds? It belongs to the association. Why should it need her approval? Then the vice president selection has nothing to do with this. Wang Lao is more authoritative. I think he’s better to lead us,” Jiao Jiao said fluently, with a hint of pride.

Everyone understood Jiao Jiao’s point: the association’s plants belong to the association, so Jing Shu has no right to distribute seeds.

Wang Daxian stood up, smiling, “Young lady, why don’t you come work and contribute without salary?”

“That’s not possible.”

People work for salary, otherwise who would work?

Jing Shu stepped forward, smiling, “The association’s rule is: if you use your own seeds, the harvested herbs count as contribution points, but the seeds produced belong to the owner. Sorry, these seeds are mine. I can contribute tobacco for points, but the seeds remain mine. I’m not obliged to share.”

Jiao Jiao frowned, “Impossible. When was this rule made?”

Jing Shu smiled slightly. She had asked Zhou Bapi about this two months ago. She accepted that planted herbs belonged to the association, but seeds from her own seeds should belong to her.

Later, Zhou Bapi said to encourage workers, the new rule allowed seeds from self-brought seeds to belong to the owner. Most workers didn’t know this because they couldn’t get more seeds anyway.

“This was added two months ago, agreed by all three vice presidents,” Zhou Bapi said.

Jiao Jiao’s face turned pale, and she slumped back. Complaints rose from the crowd, saying Jiao Jiao meddled and angered Jing Shu, who might refuse to distribute seeds.

“Any more objections? Good. Now Chairman Tie has an announcement,” Zhou Bapi said with a grin.

Chairman Tie took a deep breath, “After today’s assessment, we know Jing Shu is capable of being vice president, and Wang Lao is also qualified. But Wu City’s quota is limited. I can’t let the association decline, so I decide to abdicate! I’ll step back to work in the pharmaceutical factory and hand over the heavy responsibilities to more capable people.”

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