1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 166 Borrowing
The market floor was uneven, covered with mud and water, and mixed with many rotten vegetable leaves.

This scene is unpleasant to look at.

This also left many grocery shoppers feeling heavy-hearted.

Yesterday, a rain started in the afternoon and continued intermittently until it finally stopped around 5 or 6 p.m.

Mao Liangcai arrived at the market early and looked at several vegetable stalls. Most of them had a high water content.

When Zhao Lao Er saw him passing by, he quickly called out, "Boss, take a look at the vegetables, they're one yuan a pound now."

Mao Liangcai stopped, picked up a handful of bok choy, and felt the moisture on the leaves.

"never mind."

"How about I give you 80 cents?"

"I dare not buy it."

After leaving three words, Mao Liangcai continued walking. When he reached stall number 56, he still didn't see the familiar tricycle, but he did see a few somewhat familiar people.

"Hasn't Chen the vegetable farmer arrived yet?"

"No."

"I don't know what he's up to. It's almost three o'clock and he still hasn't come."

“I asked the three vegetable farmers who were with him in the temporary alleyway, and they said he would come later today and that we should buy other vegetables first.”

At stall number 56, people came and went, some walked, some came, some stopped, and occasionally chatted for a few words. Mao Liangcai felt that Chen Cai Nong should be arriving soon, so he stopped and struck up a conversation with a somewhat young man.

"It's hard to buy groceries these days!"

"Yes, they spoil easily." Chen Ze recognized him and smiled, "These past few days, none of the vegetables I buy from Chen the Vegetable Farmer have spoiled, and the customer feedback has been good."

“Me too. It’s not rotten. Before Chen the vegetable farmer came, there was a time when I gave vegetables to a customer. The customer only used 3 jin (1.5 catties) and asked me to take the rest home to eat. I thought I could pick and choose and maybe it was still usable.”

"The results of it?"

"When I get there, it's turned into a pile of rotten vegetable mud."

"Hahaha……"

Once the topic was started, more people joined in, and they gathered together to talk about their experiences. They had encountered all sorts of bizarre grocery shopping experiences in the past few days, and had been ripped off in all sorts of ways.

Mao Liangcai quickly became acquainted with Chen Ze, but unfortunately, Chen Ze showed no intention of entrusting him with the restaurant's delivery services.

He wasn't discouraged. He figured that if he talked to her a few more times, he might have a chance.

He was quite excited to be able to poach Chen Cai Nong's employees.

After a few more cigarette butts appeared on the ground, the Shifeng tricycle finally arrived at stall number 56, where white plastic blocks were neatly stacked.

"Boss Chen, what's going on? Why are you so late today!"

"You're getting more and more arrogant."

"Shouldn't you lower the price? Many vegetables have gone down in price again today, it's unreasonable for you to sell it for 45 yuan per piece!"

"That's right, I think 40 yuan per piece is appropriate."

Before the car even stopped, many people started making noise. Mao Liangcai looked at the vegetable baskets and noticed something different: there seemed to be a black bag placed in the middle of each basket.

"Mr. Chen, what's that black bag in the vegetable basket?"

His shout drew the attention of others, who began to ask questions.

Chen Jiazhi stopped the car, got out, went to the back of the truck, unloaded a basket of vegetables, and then said, "Ice packs. I made these today to help the vegetables last longer, which is why I'm late."

Ice packs are familiar to everyone present; they are a common auxiliary cooling measure in vegetable transportation.

However, it is generally used for long-distance transportation.

For example, leafy vegetables transported from Yunnan in styrofoam boxes are lined with layers of ice packs.

"You even brought an ice pack for such a short distance?"

"I'm afraid the vegetables will rot." Chen Jiazhi smiled and added, "There's something else. The price of bok choy has gone up today, 50 yuan per piece."

"Damn it, you bastard! Everyone else is lowering prices, how dare you raise them!"

"Do you think you're the only one in the whole market who has vegetables?!"

"I'm not buying it anymore. Whoever wants to buy it can buy it!"

As the saying goes, a barking dog doesn't bite; those deterred by the price have already quietly left, leaving only those who genuinely want to buy.

Mao Liangcai said, "Boss Chen, you're getting this ice pack just so you can raise the price by 5 yuan, right?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "Not entirely. Yesterday's rain was so heavy it was unsettling. We dried the vegetables for several hours before harvesting, but the leaves were still wet, and the temperature wasn't low, so they would easily rot."

Then he went to the ice factory to buy ice blocks, went back and smashed them into crushed ice with a mallet, then put them in bags.

After a pause, Chen Jiazhi added, "Even without these ice packs, I'm still planning to raise the price."

Old Wu arrived too. After figuring out the reason, he snorted, "So you still want to say we made a profit, huh?"

Chen Jiazhi chuckled and said, "If you interpret it that way, it doesn't seem wrong."

"You're utterly shameless!"

"Just tell me if you want it or not."

Old Wu held his breath, his face contorted with anger. Everyone waited for him to unleash another curse before storming off.

The sound was loud enough, but the content was not quite right.

"Yes!" Old Wu shouted, "Take two items. If there's even the slightest problem with the food, I'll come after you."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Okay, Xiaolong, get the vegetables for Boss Wu, and also collect the vegetable baskets. Boss Wu, please settle the bill, 100 yuan for two items."

Despite the disdainful looks from others, Lao Wu was the first to give in and paid 100 yuan.

"Boss Chen, pack me three items."

Chen Ze didn't hesitate any longer and took three items of vegetables. The fact that the vegetable basket came with ice packs was actually better news for them.

Pre-cooling with ice packs not only preserves freshness but also further reduces losses during the process.

A price increase of 5 yuan is actually a good thing. Mr. Chen's act of raising prices against the market trend did not seem unacceptable to him.

Seeing Chen Ze generously take out his money and leave, Mao Liangcai couldn't help but think to himself, "Boss Chen is a really good customer!"

While everyone else was lowering prices, he was the only one raising them, which put Mao Liangcai in a difficult position.

Taking his vegetables means losing a few dollars in profit for no reason.

If I don't take it, it seems like I need some leafy greens, but I'm not entirely comfortable taking other people's vegetables either.

One by one, acquaintances took their dishes, and it wasn't until Xu He took his that he finally made up his mind.

"Boss Chen, I'd like two packs of bok choy and 20 jin of cowpeas. Cowpeas haven't gone up in price, have they?"

"No, the cowpeas are still 1.8 yuan, that's 136 yuan in total." After taking Curly's money, Chen Jiazhi joked, "I saw you hesitate for a long time, I thought you were going to leave."

Curly-haired Mao Liangcai chuckled and told Yi Long to deliver his and Xu He's dishes together. The two of them went first, with Yi Long following behind.

Mao Liangcai smiled at Xu He and said, "Mr. Xu, don't you find it tiring to come to Chen Cai Nong's place to get vegetables every day? How about I bring them to you from now on? It's on my way."

"Can you be so kind?"

"Hehe, you just need to earn some errand fees for me."

"Good grief, you've got your eye on me now."

"Isn't this because I don't want you to get tired?" Mao Liang smiled, suddenly feeling that poaching Chen Cai Nong's clients was quite interesting. They were indeed high-quality clients, and winning over just one would be a sure thing.

"Mr. Xu, what do you think?"

"not so good."

Xu He flatly refused. Was it for the food? Admittedly, that was part of the reason, but human factors played a larger role.

Curly Hair was turned away again, but he wasn't discouraged. With so many customers, he refused to believe that he couldn't make a single one!
...

"Phew~ Uncle, please raise the price. It's been so hard for me."

After delivering the goods, Yi Long pulled a cart full of vegetable baskets back and plopped down on them. "There were so many more people requesting deliveries today than yesterday."

"That's where your value lies."

"Shouldn't I get a raise? Look, I've become familiar with the market, I know all the customers' cars, I haven't made a mistake in delivering goods for several days, and I haven't lost any vegetable baskets lately. I'm doing pretty well, right?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "It's not bad. You're improving very quickly. You have a real talent for selling vegetables. With more practice, you'll be better than your dad."

"How does it compare to you?"

"It's not good to aim too high."

"Indeed, I'm not as thick-skinned as you are, and I haven't grasped the essence of it."

"Do you still want a raise?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Yi Long quickly said, "I don't need much, just one yuan more is fine!"

Chen Jiazhi did feel that Yi Long had done quite well recently, which was somewhat beyond his expectations of Yi Long.

He wasn't afraid of being tired or suffering, and he followed along every day without fail, often pulling a cart to deliver goods all by himself.

They weren't shy at all; since it was their own vegetable basket, they would wriggle and insist on taking it back.

It's just that their level of education is too low.

Last month, a unified license plate system was implemented nationwide, and Huacheng's license plate number is Yue A.

Yi Long pronounces "粤" as "奥".
There were also more English letters on the license plate that I didn't recognize, which led to the wrong delivery of vegetables once, but luckily Chen Jiazhi noticed it.

After thinking for a while, Chen Jiazhi said, "I'll raise the price by two yuan, but we might have to break ice blocks again in the future, so I'll leave this task to you."

Because the ice factory is far away, I buy large blocks of ice that I have to break and bag myself.

It takes a lot of physical effort.

It's impossible to let Li Xiu do it, but it's just right to let Yi Long do it. The young man also likes to play with ice cubes.

"Okay, from now on, give me the ice blocks!"

"Xiaolong, have you ever thought about going back to school?"

Yi Long remained silent and did not answer.

Chen Jiazhi didn't say much. Yi Long had only been out for a month, and there were many things he needed to experience for himself.

Compared to his previous life where he stayed at home doing nothing for several years, this was a huge improvement. The wholesale market also allowed him to see a lot of things.

The two began packing their things, and it wasn't until they were about to light the fire that Yi Long spoke in a low voice.

"Actually, I still want to study, but there's no meat to eat back home. Even Yi Hu knows the importance of studying, so surely I do."

"Then have your dad send the money."

“I have four older cousins, Yi Hu and two younger sisters. Sending a little money back home won’t do me any good. If I buy something, you’ll just snatch it away.”

"..."

Chen Jiazhi also felt heartbroken. Yi Long and Yi Hu had been his followers since childhood, but they were always very thin back in their hometown.

That's why he wanted to bring his parents over and keep his son with him to educate him, so he wouldn't become a left-behind child.

After calming himself down, Chen Jiazhi spoke again.

"Then you need to get your dad to grow vegetables and save up some money. When he has enough, he can arrange for you to study here temporarily, and he can also bring Yi Hu over."

How much does it cost to enroll in a school temporarily?

"I don't know, maybe one or two thousand a year."

"It's so expensive!"

Do you know how much money I made today?

"It seems like one day's tuition is enough for a year's worth of tuition."

(End of this chapter)