By the way, there’s one more thing—

Secretary Xiaozu was in a dilemma:

"The leaders were quite satisfied when they visited the village before. But Director Wang quietly pointed out one thing—"

It’s not particularly crucial for the overall development of Yunqiao Village, but it needs to be addressed.

And that is, [the planting plans of each household are too chaotic.]

Current policies promote green villages and beautiful villages.

When Song Tan first came back, every household in the village had to keep the firewood neatly stacked in front of their homes.

Old and worn-out buildings that needed to be torn down or remodeled were addressed, and for those in bustling intersections, the government even provided subsidies to clean up their exteriors.

But this remote mountain village of Yunqiao lagged behind.

Looking back, the last big wave of house building in the village was twenty to thirty years ago.

Last year, only Old Song and his son built new houses, and later they started a homestay.

Seventh Uncle’s house was renovated, but the appearance stayed mostly the same.

Of course, now there are more restrictions in the village, and it’s closely monitored, so it’s not that easy to just tear down and remodel.

But the problem is, as people started seeing the benefits of vegetable gardening, the areas around houses became disorganized.

Take Zhou Maozhu’s house, for example, they initially had flowers on both sides of the entrance and a self-constructed concrete path in the middle.

But to grow more vegetables and for convenience, the flowers were uprooted, leaving a narrow strip cultivated in front.

During winter they planted radishes and cabbage, and in summer cucumbers and string beans.

They are diligent people, and their vegetable garden was well-kept, but with patches here and there!

In an attempt to grow a variety of vegetables and concentrate visitors to view the garden, they even opened up land behind the house.

This is the more meticulous example.

Then there are the careless ones, like Li Baoni’s family, whose husband works roughly!

The cucumber trellis assembled haphazardly with old bamboo and branches is right by the roadside.

As for the actual yield, despite the messy trellis, for the sake of earning money, the garden flourishes.

But this way, some plots in the front yards, others just cleared at the backyards, the overall impression is—

[Messy]

Secretary Xiaozu has been here for a long time, so she’s used to it and doesn’t easily notice this situation.

But for others coming from orderly cities, they’d immediately exclaim:

This village is quite primitive.

Song Tan thought about it too, it’s indeed a bit messy, but for the sake of earning, everyone is capable of maintaining neatness and order.

"What kind of planning do you envision? Copy-pasting each household?"

Places with copy-pasting are everywhere, it’s not intriguing at all.

"That’s the issue," Secretary Xiaozu complained.

Seeing Lun Chuan sitting down, she couldn’t help but tell him:

"Look at your homestay, a fairytale fortress with a colorful mushroom roof, so cute! So beautiful! The flowers and plants in front of your homestay are lovely, everyone loves taking pictures there, and it’s become an internet-famous spot, attracting a lot of people to our village."

Everyone in the village knows this.

Sometimes during evening strolls, villagers are reluctant to ask for a few plants they like. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

They’re afraid that if everyone takes some, the garden won’t look nice and tourists won’t want to come anymore.

Secretary Xiaozu said, "But outside your yard, isn’t that big concrete road’s sides yet another mess of plots opened up?"

That’s indeed the case.

For the love of earning, everyone, having tasted sweetness, spontaneously picked up the previously abandoned land.

It’s just that with different families having varying schedules for summer work and different vegetable planting plans, it results in a patchwork of messiness.

Secretary Xiaozu is a secretary with great ambition. Copy-pasting would be simple, and even given the current cooperation of the villagers, even if she makes a drastic rule, people might complain a bit, but with some persuasion, most would comply.

But she doesn’t want that!

"This is the unique charm of our Yunqiao Village, giving a sense of greenery, nature, and carefree living."

Plenty of villages have developed tourism over the years, but there isn’t much difference between each.

Switch to a different city or village, and it all feels the same.

"I don’t want our village to become like that, but you know how much money our village committee has, and hiring a professional for rural landscape planning... we can’t afford it!"

Such designs are never cheap, and they just escaped poverty this little mountain village can’t indulge in an ostentatious project like that.

This really troubled Song Tan and Lun Chuan.

As for Lun Chuan, his house was naturally designed professionally, but given his spending habits, his connections are definitely not affordable ones.

Song Tan, however, knows a reliable Zhao Fangyuan who participated in all the newly built structures in Yunqiao Village, her practical experience is proven and quite trustworthy.

But the issue is, she specializes in interior and architectural design, and this requires a different kind of expertise altogether!

Moreover, it has to be combined with specialized knowledge from agricultural experts like Yan Ran.

Finding such multidisciplinary talent is really not easy.

The three of them sat together munching on peaches, Secretary Xiaozu had already finished hers, and was now gnawing at the remaining flesh on the peach pit with her front teeth...

There was a long silence as they each scrolled through their contacts, and indeed, there was no such talent to be found.

Until Song Tan’s phone rang, it was a video call from Qiaoqiao’s cheerful face:

"Sister! Xiao Yang’s parents gave me so many gifts!! In the afternoon we’re going to operate an excavator! Uncle Yang said Xiao Yang doesn’t have a license, so he’s taking me!"

An excavator!

Song Tan was delighted too: "That sounds interesting, are you having fun at Yang’s house?"

Qiaoqiao nodded eagerly.

A moment later, he giggled: "Sister, Uncle and Aunt were hoping I’d bring some delicious food, but I didn’t bring any, they seem disappointed but try not to show it, they’re having a hard time!"