1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 148 New Goals

In just a short while, several people gathered in front of the Iron Tower, discussing the matter animatedly.

Li Mingkun had just gotten up and went closer to take a look, but he couldn't understand it.

"What the hell is this?"

Guo Mancang said, "I don't understand it either. It looks a bit like a car, but what use could a car possibly have!"

Ao Dehai had only been living there a short time when he was looking the iron tower up and down. It was placed in front of the owner's house, so the owner must have bought it. He immediately understood.

"It might be a mini... mini tiller?!"

He was a little unsure, but the voices coming from inside the house quickly confirmed it.

"It's a mini-tiller."

Chen Jiazhi pushed open the door and stepped out. Although there was no sun in the sky, it was still dazzling, making it difficult to look directly at him.

"Hmm~"

He yawned and stretched, and the onlookers, who had long been unable to contain their curiosity, watched.

"So this is the mini-tiller that Jiazhi has been talking about for so long!"

"How do you use it? It doesn't look like it can dig."

"We'll know once we try," Chen Jiazhi shouted. "Dehai, come and lend a hand, bring the blade."

The blades were pre-assembled and could be disassembled individually. Chen Jiazhi had kept them at home, and after taking them out, he hung them on the steel posts on both sides of the mini-tiller.

"Dehai, get the diesel fuel and try it out in your field. Deliang and Yongfeng, come along too. You all need to learn how to use it from now on."

"Okay, Brother Zhi!"

Qi Yongfeng responded with great energy. Recently, he had clearly felt that Ao Dehai was being valued more, which made him somewhat resentful.

Chen Jiazhi pushed the mini-tiller into the field like a rooster cart.

Curious, everyone, regardless of gender, followed.

This is a piece of land that has been treated with fermented pig manure and sun-dried for two days. A layer of dry pig manure is spread on the surface, and there is a faint odor.

Chen Jiazhi was preparing in the field. First, he replaced the two tires with blades, and suddenly it looked like a rotary tiller.

Li Mingkun looked at the jet-black blade and struck up a conversation with Yi Dinggan beside him.

"Hey Lao Yi, have you ever used this thing before?"

“No.” Yi Dinggan shook his head and said, “We dig the ground with hoes, why would we use any machinery? There are many ditches in the vegetable fields, so tractors are not suitable.”

Li Mingkun then asked, "Jiazhi, how much did this machine cost?"

Chen Jiazhi looked up and smiled, "It's not expensive, only 3800 yuan. You can buy one when you want."

"..."

Everyone gasped, their emotions written all over their faces. Zhou Yuqiong said, "Buying a machine for 3800 yuan like that, only you, Boss Chen, could say it's not expensive."

Bai Yan also said, "3800 yuan! That's enough to buy 10 brand new bicycles."

After hearing this, Yi Long corrected him, saying, "A new bicycle doesn't cost 380 yuan; a little over 200 yuan is enough."

Zhou Yuqiong joked, "Xiaolong, you know so much about this, did you secretly ask around and find out if you want to buy a car? Why don't you ask your parents to buy it for you?"

Chen Jiafang and Yi Dinggan glanced at Zhou Yuqiong one after the other, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

All three families have invested a lot of money in preparing for the next batch of vegetables, leaving them with little surplus food.

Yi Long said, "I can earn my own money, and I will buy a bicycle myself if I want to."

At this moment, Chen Jiazhi also stood up, adjusted the valves and throttle, gripped the rope handle tightly, and pulled it twice. The rope snapped back, making his hand slightly numb.

The gasoline engine sputtered twice and then stalled.

Everyone fell silent, watching intently.

Chen Jiazhi adjusted his position again, tightened the muscles in his arms, and pulled again!

The fuselage shook, and black smoke billowed out of the metal casing.

Chen Jiazhi then pushed the accelerator to the floor, gripped the lever, and the clutch clicked into gear, instantly causing the blades to spin and mud to fly everywhere.

Once launched, it immediately captured people's attention.

Chen Jiazhi pushed the handle and walked forward step by step. The machine shook violently, and his palms were numb from the vibration.

This is the feeling you want.

Ao Dehai watched intently. The newly turned ridges were about 1 meter wide and as straight as a foot. The soil clods were not fine enough, but turning them once more would be enough. In any case, it would be much easier than digging one hoe at a time.

Farming has always been a physically demanding job.

Chen Jiazhi pushed the machine from one end of the plot to the other, then turned around and went back.

When you stop in the same spot again, the turned-up furrows will be exactly the four sides of a rectangle. After walking back and forth to the center twice more, the initial turning of one side of the land is complete. All that is needed afterward is to tidy up the furrow surface, which saves a lot of trouble.

Yi Dinggan exclaimed in admiration, "Wow, the machine turns the soil really fast!"

The others also felt a ripple of emotion; turning the soil must be the most time-consuming and laborious task in growing vegetables.

Over the years, the calluses on the vegetable farmers' hands have grown thicker day by day.

If we had this machine…

"Brother Zhi, teach me how to play a game, I want to try it too." Qi Yongfeng volunteered.

“Sure, you’re tall and strong, so using a rotary tiller to till the land will be easy for you.”

The rotary tiller was shaking violently; the more force you used, the more stable the control. Qi Yongfeng was the strongest among the male workers.

"Dehai, Deliang, Pan Dacheng, Huangshan, Zhang Weidong, you should all listen to this as well."

"Don't get too close, or the blade might hurt someone."

Without his prompting, the four of them automatically stepped forward, while the others could only listen and watch from the outside.

"This is the accelerator, clutch, lever, reverse gear..."

Chen Jiazhi pointed to each part and began a basic introduction, briefly explaining the principles and how to adjust the main clutch, throttle, and reverse gear control cables.

Several people were completely confused.
Chen Jiazhi didn't expect to memorize it all at once. He figured he'd just have to wait until the machine broke down a lot and he repaired it a few more times before he could remember it.

That's how he trained in his past life.

The main things to pay attention to are the pre-use checks and how to operate the device during use.

"Grip the clutch lever firmly with your left hand, ensuring the clutch is fully disengaged, then push the lever forward with your right hand..."

He explained it in detail once more, then started the mini-tiller again. He stood by and gave instructions, letting Qi Yongfeng try it out. "It's so comfortable!"

“It’s so enjoyable!”

"It's much easier than digging with a hoe!"

"Brother Zhi, Brother Zhi, let me play one more round!"

Qi Yongfeng, Ao Dehai, and Ao Deliang tried it once in succession and praised it highly. Qi Yongfeng even wanted to try it again.

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment. He had to go to driving lessons in the morning, and he would need to use the rotary tiller again tomorrow morning, so he said.

“Okay, all three of you should try a few more times. Starting tomorrow, take turns tilling the land every morning, and then tidy up the furrows after you’ve tilled it.”

"Okay, okay, but how should we arrange the order?"

"You guys play rock-paper-scissors."

Qi Yongfeng immediately challenged Ao Dehai and Ao Deliang to a duel, but unfortunately he lost the first match and was left out in the end.

After watching for a while, the other vegetable farmers went back to their work in the fields.

Only the four of them remained to continue playing.

Ao Dehai went to get a hoe again. While Chen Jiazhi was instructing the others on how to till the land, he was tidying up the raised beds on the tilled ground.

The prepared soil is loose, so all you need to do is draw furrows and then rake the surface smooth.

It saves a lot of effort and is much more efficient than simply digging with a hoe.

After a while, the entire field had been worked up and down twice. All four of them were sweating, but they were still not satisfied.

Ao Dehai asked, "Mr. Chen, how long did it take to complete the land acquisition?"

Chen Jiazhi glanced at his watch: "We left at five o'clock, and it's only a little past six now."

Ao Dehai exclaimed in surprise, "This piece of land is about one acre, and it was all cleared in less than an hour! That's really fast!"

Qi Yongfeng also said, "It saves time and effort, Brother Zhi, you made the right choice in buying this rotary tiller!"

Chen Jiazhi smiled, feeling quite pleased. If he had known that domestically produced micro-tillers were available at this time, he would have bought one much earlier.

Imported goods are too expensive, while labor is cheap, making it not cost-effective.

But it's different for domestically produced ones.

He roughly estimated that a domestically produced micro-tiller could recoup its costs once it accumulated a working area of ​​450 mu (approximately 30 hectares).

From this perspective, it can not only significantly improve work efficiency and save labor, but also generate economic benefits if well maintained.

Even at worst, it can be used as a consumable item, and you can replace it with a new machine every year or two.

...

With the advent of mini tillers, land preparation work progressed rapidly.

Fermented pig manure arrives in truckloads, and after being applied with quicklime, the soil can be tilled.

Every day at noon, when Chen Jiazhi returned from driving practice, he would have cleared an additional four or five acres of land.

The 13 mu of newly rented land was turned over in just three days, and after drying, the surface was quickly leveled, with neat rows of beds drying in the sun.

The typhoon season in July has come to an end.

First, local bitter melon, loofah, cowpeas, and other vegetables recovered and were sold in large quantities. Then, vegetables transported from the north also arrived in the south.

Vegetable prices have fallen sharply.

Chen Jiazhi reduced the price of bok choy to 70 yuan per piece, mustard greens to 60 yuan per piece, and Chinese kale to 60 yuan per piece at the market.

It's still two or three cents more per kilogram than the market price, but there's always a group of people willing to buy it.

It's selling even faster than it did at the beginning.

Every day I go to the market, deliver goods one by one, and sell them all in no time before I call it a day.

The nickname "Quick Gunner" has resurfaced.

The vegetables for Heiwa were also cut in half.

They only have 200 jin of mustard greens and 200 jin of Chinese kale available each day, and the price has plummeted to 2.5 yuan per jin.

This led to a significant drop in daily revenue.

On the morning of July 20, after counting the money, Li Xiu's face showed both joy and regret.

"Only 3600 left!"

"We should be content."

Chen Jiazhi chuckled and said, "I did the math, and we've sold 62,000 since the typhoon started."

Li Xiu also said to him, "But the expenses have been high these days. The mini-tiller, the small greenhouse, and the fertilizer have cost more than 16000 yuan. Will the money we have saved be enough to buy a car?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "It depends on what kind of vehicle you buy. If it's the kind of small Jiefang truck that Hong An drives, I asked around, and you can buy one for 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, but it can only carry a small amount of cargo."

"Then let's buy a bigger one."

Li Xiu touched her increasingly round belly and said, "I just need to save up some more money."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "I'll be ready around the time I get my driver's license. Don't worry too much. This baby in your belly might just come out any day."

Li Xiu nodded.

Chen Jiazhi had long since stopped letting Li Xiu do any work.

No one can guarantee that their son will be born on the same day as in their previous life; what if he is born earlier?

It's a pity that Third Sister and Xue Jun didn't come back, otherwise Third Sister could have helped take care of them.

He was both somewhat surprised and seemingly took it for granted.

In rural areas, there is a common saying that "when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs benefit from it," but some people do not want to take advantage of their siblings' success.

This was true for Chen Jiafang and Yi Dinggan, and it was also true for Chen Jiaying.

Chen Jiazhi knew his family members well; they were all a bit concerned about saving face and their self-esteem.

Besides, growing vegetables is certainly not a glamorous job.

He couldn't worry about anything else now; he just needed to focus on managing his own little corner of the world and move on to his next goal.

The money in the savings account remained unchanged at 6.6 yuan, and there was also more than 8 yuan in cash at home.

Let's set a goal: get a driver's license and buy a car first. After that, the vegetables should be ready by the end of August or the beginning of September.

(End of this chapter)