1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 132 Back to buy vegetables again.

"Due to the influence of the strong warm and humid jet stream along the typhoon, heavy rains fell across southern my country, and torrential rains also occurred in Wuhan, Changsha and other places in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River..."

"Drip drop~"

Xu Wenxiang first turned off the TV, then got up, took a few steps, and answered the phone.

"Hey."

"Mr. Xu, Jiangxin Market is closed."

"How much was the loss?"

"It's all over. We have to start all over again. Director Liu said it will take at least a month to resume vegetable production."

"Let him not have to go to work tomorrow."

"Ah, didn't Mr. Huang say..."

"I said, no one can protect them!"

"Okay, beep beep~"

Whew~ Xu Wenxiang came to the window and looked down from the sky. The city hadn't been this bright in a long time after the rain, but she couldn't feel happy at all.

After a long while, she returned to the table and dialed a phone number.

"Mr. Huang, Jiangxin Market is finished again, and the losses are huge."

"Liu Feng just called me. Sigh, typhoons are natural disasters, there's nothing we can do about it."

"I think we don't need to wait any longer. Let's take advantage of the opportunity to start over and replace Liu Feng."

"Haven't we found a suitable candidate for the farm manager yet?"

"If no one chooses it, let the market remain empty. This typhoon has passed, but there's no guarantee there won't be another one. If we invest now, the more we invest, the more we'll lose. It's better to stop for now and wait until the typhoon season is over, by which time we should have found someone."

After a moment of silence on the phone, Huang Jianyuan's voice came through, filled with regret.

"Then change it."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Huang."

Huang Jianyuan chuckled. "I'm not sorry for Liu Feng. He's just a small farm manager. It's no big deal to replace him. I'm sorry that we don't have any vegetables now."

How much are the dishes in Hong Kong now?

"My employees were discussing today that a pound of bok choy costs HK$13 to HK$14, and green beans seem to cost HK$12 as well."

At the current exchange rate, choy sum costs about 15 yuan per jin (500g), which greatly shocked Xu Wenxiang.

"Why is it so expensive? Isn't there a supply guarantee channel?"

"The people from Hexing and Yonglong secretly stockpiled a batch of vegetables for supply in a cold storage in Zhuhai before the typhoon. They haven't released them yet, just waiting for the typhoon. They only went to Wenjindu to declare the vegetables today. They're going to make a fortune!"

Huang Jianyuan's tone was full of envy.

The vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and Macao mainly come from three regions: South China, Hunan and Hubei in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and Shandong and Hebei in North China.

Currently, South China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are suffering from wind and rain damage, and can only be transported from the north.

The season is relatively long, and most of the vegetables are durable and can be stored for a long time, so there is a shortage of leafy greens.

Furthermore, the vegetables delivered through the supply channels must ultimately reach the citizens via vegetable markets.

Huang Jianyuan said, "Dongsheng Company has had vegetables all year round. Liu Feng came from Dongsheng, so I always had high hopes for him, but I didn't expect it to be like this."

Xu Wenxiang asked in surprise, "Dongsheng always has vegetables?"

"Have."

"Can Yunshan get vegetables from Dongsheng?"

“They specialize in the Hong Kong and Macau markets. They might have been interested in the mainland market originally, but with vegetable prices rising so much, they probably don’t want the hassle…”

The implication is that they will not target the mainland market.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Wenxiang also felt a headache. How could a mere vegetable sell for 15 yuan per jin? It was simply insane.

At the same time, spruce trees are also troublesome.

In recent years, Hong Kong and Macao businessmen have also been investing heavily in the vegetable sector, investing in and building at least several hundred vegetable bases in the Pearl River Delta region.

Besides vegetable vendors, many catering businesses are also involved.

Originally, Yunshan's investment in the vegetable market was also intended to follow the trend and establish its own vegetable supply base.

As a result, the company suffered losses for a year, and Spruce's vegetable supply chain remained fragmented...

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. Let Xu He worry about it."

Xu He was indeed very troubled. The moment the Jiangxin vegetable market was completely wiped out, the problem was once again in front of him.

Where to buy groceries?
Especially leafy green vegetables.

He scratched his head, his forehead, which already had a few short hairs, became even shinier. He couldn't understand why the hotel had so many green vegetables. Couldn't they eat less? Would someone die if they didn't eat them for a day?

...

A gentle evening breeze blew by, rippling the vegetable leaves—it was beautiful!
You can't actually see the food at all.

It was late at night, and although there was a moon and stars, I still needed a headlamp to see each vegetable clearly.

But Chen Jiazhi simply believes it to be beautiful!
Several vegetable workers were squatting or bending over in the vegetable field, feeling quite content. Thank goodness, there were still vegetables to harvest.

Chen Jiazhi, wearing a headlamp, walked closer, and the others looked up at him.

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, I was quite critical of this dish a few days ago, but now, compared to others, it's absolutely top-notch!"

These are the first batches of transplanted Chinese cabbage.

At plot number 6 in Aodehai.

The leaves and stems look a bit old, but the posture is straight. When viewed alone, it looks like a miniature pine tree. From the perspective of each row, a row of cabbage hearts looks like a Chinese military contingent lined up for inspection, upright and heroic.

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Let's hurry up and harvest them. I want to cut some mustard greens to sell."

"Aren't the mustard greens a little too small?"

Ao Dehai asked, "When I worked at the company before, I also grew mustard greens. Some of the big ones weighed half a pound or eight ounces each. They looked beautiful and were easy to harvest."

"It's hard to say what will happen next, so it's better to secure the profits sooner rather than later."

"Okay, I'll go cut it now."

"Hmm, no need for more, let's cut two baskets to try first."

"Okay, Mr. Chen, you can go back and get some sleep first. I'll call you when we're done harvesting." The mustard greens are indeed still small, but the humidity in the ground is too high. It may be due to the structure of the vegetables that, under high temperature and humidity conditions, the larger the mustard greens are, the more easily their core rots.

In the Pearl River Delta, mustard greens are sold almost as well as bok choy and Chinese cabbage.

Like bitter melon, it is also a bitter vegetable, and in some regions it is also known as the "longevity vegetable".

Mustard greens can be further divided into leaf mustard greens, stem mustard greens, root mustard greens, and seed mustard greens.
For example, mustard, which many people know, is made by grinding mustard seeds and is one of the oldest condiments in China;

Another example is the root mustard greens called 'mustard tubers', which Sichuan people like to call 'big head vegetables', with Yibin big head vegetables being the most famous.

The most common stem mustard greens are the stick mustard greens, which are also descended from mustard greens; another one is the baby mustard greens, also called baby mustard greens, baby mustard greens, etc.

In short, mustard greens are a specialty vegetable of my country and can be found all over the country.

Chen Jiazhi grows large-leaf mustard greens, the most famous of which is the Shuidong mustard greens from Guangdong, which are less bitter and more sweet and crisp.

Yi Dinggan had already bought mustard seeds, but then said the climate wasn't suitable. As a result, Chen Jiazhi went to buy some and also bought Shuidong mustard.

In his previous life, Chen Jiazhi had also been growing water mustard in Chengdu for a long time. However, the summer climate in the two places was quite different, and he was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to make it through.

By the time it grows up, the inside of the calyx may have rotted.

Therefore, harvesting mustard greens in advance and using them to make soup, stir-fry, or blanch them makes for a delicious dish.

The six vegetable pickers were divided into two groups. Ao Deliang led the harvesting of the bok choy from plot No. 8, which was of better quality.

Ao Dehai took the lead in harvesting the transplanted bok choy, which wasn't very crisp and tender. He planned to sell it all to Heiwa'er at a high price.

Good dishes should be kept for self-development in the market.

After confirming that the harvesting work was going smoothly, Chen Jiazhi strolled back home.

The night after the storm was extremely cool, and both my body and mind felt very comfortable. I wanted to hum a couple of songs, but I didn't want to annoy anyone.

Leafy vegetables grown outdoors are in a pretty bad state.

Even Yi Dinggan, Li Mingkun, and Guo Mancang looked more worried in the afternoon, as they hadn't fully covered themselves with shade nets.

After returning home, the house was tidied up. Li Xiu leaned against the wall, sat on a stool, and read a book.

"What are you looking at?"

“I see your notebook is almost finished. I’ll go to the village tomorrow and buy you a new one.”

"I didn't go to sell vegetables again this morning, what's there to see?"

"Can't I at least review it?"

"Haha, then you can study slowly. I'm going to take a nap first. You should go to sleep early too."

"Go to sleep, go to sleep."

"Oh, right, remember to buy an envelope. I need to write a letter to my dad. Li Bin is going back soon."

"Good~"

When they got up again, Ao Dehai and the others were already loading the truck. The amount of vegetables they were going to eat today might not break the record, but the baskets were stacked to about the same height.

In addition, Qi Yongfeng would also go to the market.

Li Xiuji came to the door in her slippers, looking around anxiously.

After tying the rope around and around to make sure it was secure, Chen Jiazhi slowly set off, with Qi Yongfeng following behind.

The road was flat and wide, with no flooding or road closures, but it was still enough for Chen Jiazhi to drive carefully.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Heiwa by the roadside.

Heiwa held a cigarette in his hand, looking at the cart full of vegetables, his smile wrinkling up.

"Chen, vegetable farmer, can you pack a little more vegetables today?"

Chen Jiazhi also liked his simple and unpretentious smile, and said with a smile, "You've experienced the typhoon too, the vegetable prices have gone up, huh?"

Just name your price!

"Three yuan and fifty cents!"

"Hiss~" Blackie's teeth ached a little. "Seventy cents more all of a sudden?"

This price also made Qi Yongfeng, who followed along, feel a little uneasy, but when he heard Heiwa say that it had increased by 7 cents, he blinked again. How could this be different from his calculation?

Chen Jiazhi didn't take it seriously and smiled, "If you're not going to buy, I'm leaving."

He was actually planning to get on the bus.

Heiwa'er got anxious again: "Hey, don't go! Buy it, buy it, I'll buy it, okay!"

"Okay, then pack the vegetables. I can give you 500 jin today."

"Can you have more?"

"No."

Unloading is also a technical job. Chen Jiazhi, being the lightest, got on the truck while Qi Yongfeng took over below. Fortunately, each basket was lightly loaded, and in no time, the 12 baskets of 'transplanted bok choy' that had been planned in advance were weighed and loaded onto the truck.

Heiwa slammed the car door shut.

Chen Jiazhi had already calculated the bill: "498 jin, I'll charge you 1743 yuan."

"Okay, here you go."

At this point, Heiwa was also decisive and secretly pleased. In his opinion, a 7-cent increase was not much, far less than the increase in Hong Kong.

What's more, this is 500 jin of vegetables; they could earn even more in a day!

But to his surprise, Chen's vegetables actually increased in quantity after the typhoon!

It's unimaginable.

He was initially worried that Chen's vegetable fields had been damaged by the disaster and that he wouldn't be coming today.

But to my surprise, he not only survived the typhoon, but also had even more vegetables. That doesn't make sense!
When he transported 500 jin of vegetables to a small dock, Hong Biao, who took over, was also stunned for a moment before muttering something.

“Ah Zhong is right, Chen the vegetable farmer is no ordinary vegetable farmer.”

On the other side, Chen Jiazhi drove on with a group of customers, and the truckload of vegetables looked incredibly appetizing.

At first, Mr. Hu, the owner of stall number 55, was quite excited when he saw the dense crowd at the intersection, thinking that they had come to buy tomatoes and bell peppers.

But when they saw the Shifeng tricycle peeking out, they realized it was there to buy vegetables again.

You got excited for nothing.

(End of this chapter)