1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 177 Arrival
Xu He scratched his forehead, utterly puzzled. "What's wrong with working? Now you have to grow your own vegetables, work in the fields, and stay up all night to sell them. How many hours of sleep do you get in a day?!"
If you became the manager of Jiangxin Vegetable Market, you wouldn't have to worry about market sales; you'd only need to manage the market's daily production. The income would be higher, and the job would be much easier. You'd have plenty of time to spend with your wife and kids. You could go to KFC or a movie in the city whenever you wanted after get off work, and you could go fishing whenever you wanted. Wouldn't that be much better than your current miserable life growing vegetables?

These words were spoken with such sincerity that even Yi Long, who was standing to the side, was somewhat moved.

The main problem is that my uncle is too tired right now.

My parents both say that my uncle is a workaholic. He used to be so lazy that it was disheartening, but now he works so hard that it's unsettling.

He's been here for over a month, and the only time he's seen his uncle rest is during those few days when he's fishing for eels. Strictly speaking, it's not really rest, but rather entertainment, which also takes away from his sleep time.

If only I could make money so easily!

But he still saw his uncle shake his head.

"You do not understand."

Xu He's lips twitched, and he felt an urge to curse. Three words were all it took to get rid of him?
Chen Jiazhi then asked, "Do you want to pick up some vegetables today? The prices have dropped. Bok choy is 35 yuan per piece, and cowpeas are 1.5 yuan per jin."

"I'm already here, can I not take any food?" Xu He joked, "It's rare to see a tightwad like me lowering prices."

How much?

Seeing his expressionless face, Xu He felt a little discouraged and started to fumble for money. "Three pieces of bok choy and 20 catties of cowpeas, here you go, that'll be 135 yuan in total."

Yilong is already preparing for delivery.

Since they couldn't borrow a cart today, he and Xu each carried one piece over first, and then came back to get the cowpeas.

Chen Jiazhi originally wanted him to deliver the vegetables while Yi Long stayed at the stall, but Yi Long took the vegetable basket and left with Xu He.

He figured now that he had a truck, he should probably buy a handcart too.

Even after Yi Long returned from delivering the vegetables, the bok choy was still selling very slowly, while the more expensive cowpeas sold quite a lot.

However, after the price was lowered, nine out of ten people who inquired about the product were able to make a purchase.

So the dishes are being served gradually.

They are all small clients.

It wasn't until after four o'clock that Chen Jiazhi saw Lao Wu, Juanmao, 377, and another regular customer, a total of four people, come to the stall together.

Chen Jiazhi stood up with a smile, took out a cigarette, and said, "I thought you guys weren't coming."

Old Wu teased, "Isn't it because you, Boss Chen, have a lot of influence? There are still vegetables left in the market today, and the prices have to be lowered a bit."

"The price has already dropped; it's 35 yuan a piece." Chen Jiazhi shrugged. "It's your own fault for not coming sooner."

"..."

Old Wu, Curly Hair, and the other three felt like they were punching cotton.

The other day, the group went to great lengths to get him to lower the price of vegetables. They had to make sarcastic remarks every day to try and get him to lower the price even a little. Yesterday, they finally managed to get it down to 40 yuan per piece.

Originally, they thought that pre-chilled bok choy had arrived at the market today, so they wanted to try to bargain. However, since one person wasn't confident, the four of them decided to go get the bok choy later and try to lower the price further.

As it turns out, the price had already been reduced.

Damn, this doesn't seem like Chen Cai Nong at all!
Chen Jiazhi shouted, "Hey, what are you standing there for? Are you going to get the food or not?"

Old Wu was the first to come to his senses, and gave an awkward laugh. "I'm here to get vegetables. I'm taking three bok choy hearts."

Curly Hair then said, "I want four bok choy and 30 catties of cowpeas."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jiazhi looked up at Curly Hair and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, business is booming!"

Curly-haired guy chuckled: "It's alright, just enough to make a living. I'm off now~"

After quickly leaving stall number 56, Curly felt inexplicably guilty. After several days of trying to poach customers, he had finally made a small profit. Although he didn't make any money, he felt relieved!

"Old Mao, are you still buying Chen Caixin's goods?"

"Yeah." Curly replied subconsciously before he could see who it was.

Fatty Liu, who is also a catering purchaser, bought half a month's worth of bok choy from stall number 56 a while ago.

He also tried to poach Chen's vegetables, but to his surprise, not only did the other party not give him a chance, but they also stopped taking Chen's vegetables altogether.

Fatty Liu joked, "His vegetables are so expensive, and you're all rushing to give him your money. What are you thinking?"

Curly-haired guy said casually, "Just for stability."

Fatty Liu smiled disdainfully and said sarcastically, "We're all adults here, why are you still trying to be funny? In this wholesale market, where is there any stability? It's all about hitting a target and moving on to another place."

Curly-haired man choked on his words, shook his head, and left. He had thought the same way before.

Fatty Liu spat on the ground, "You've got something wrong with your brain~"

...

Four regular customers placed orders one after another. After the four of them took 12 pieces of bok choy, there were only 4 pieces left. Selling them all wouldn't be a problem.

After receiving the money, Chen Jiazhi went to stall number 6 and borrowed a pedicab to deliver the remaining vegetables before returning to the stall.

Two more dishes were missing, and Yi Long gave him 70 yuan.

"Uncle, next time let me try delivering goods by tricycle."

"You can ride a bike now?"

"I learned how to ride my old man's bike yesterday. It's just that my legs aren't long enough, so I have to stand up to ride it, otherwise my crotch gets stuck."

"..."

He hadn't noticed that Yi Long could ride a bike, and reminded him, "You'd better practice more. Be careful and don't get complacent, this is when you're most likely to fall."

"It's okay, riding a bike is quite simple. I've saved up enough money, and I'll buy a bike in a couple of days."

"That's great, young man. You must be the first person in your village to own a bicycle, right?"

"of course!"

Yi Long could barely suppress the smile on his face.

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Here, take this money, go buy some more food."

"Okay, leave it to me." The young man ran off quickly and disappeared in a flash.

There were still 3 dishes left, and it would probably take time to sell them. Chen Jiazhi sat on the cargo box and sorted out the money for a while. Yi Long then returned with two servings of rice noodle rolls.

"Uncle, here you go." "That's great, you even buy different kinds next time. It would be even better if you brought some chili peppers."

Actually, Chen Jiazhi didn't really like rice noodle rolls, but he wasn't picky, and he ate them with Yi Long.

They persisted until after 5 p.m. before selling the last three items of vegetables.

Selling vegetables like this isn't very pleasant; it's a bit tedious. Half a month ago, by this time, everyone should have already woken up after a nap.

The car started moving and only began to drive smoothly after leaving the market.

"Xiaolong, why don't you get some sleep?"

"It's okay, I'm not tired. By the way, Uncle, how much did you make today?"

"More than 1100."

"A bit too little~"

"Not a small number..."

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Chen Jiazhi saw that Yi Long was already asleep. He thought to himself, "This kid has quite the ambition, still thinking a thousand yuan isn't enough."

That's the good thing about being a vegetable farmer. Besides the freedom, you can see your income every day, which gives you peace of mind.

He thought of Xu Wenxiang again; that woman was rather persistent.

My brother's charm is just too great; he shines wherever he goes. For some reason, I was reminded of my past life when I returned to Chengdu and was working in the fields. Women in floral dresses would stop and chat with me, asking if I was married.

He even went back and bragged about it to Li Xiu~
Chen Jiazhi touched his newly-haired head and looked in the rearview mirror. He really did look good.

...

Spruce Hotel.

Xu Wenxiang looked at Xu He incredulously, "Chen Cai Nong refused?"

Xu He nodded and said, "He refused very decisively. He said he could never work and would never work in his life."

Xu Wenxiang was so angry she laughed. After a moment, she asked again, "What did you say to him?"

“Tell him you got him a great deal of pay. If he does a good job, it’s no worse than growing vegetables himself, and it’s easier. He won’t have to work night shifts and will have more time to spend with his wife and kids.” Xu He asked, “Any problems?”

"No problem." Xu Wenxiang was a little disappointed: "It's a pity about the plan I prepared for him."

"What plan?"

"In addition to basic salary, commission and bonus, we also plan to give him 5% of the market shares, but he will only receive dividends for the first 5 years, and he will lose them if he withdraws."

"Hiss~" Xu He exclaimed in surprise: "Will the other shareholders agree to this?"

Xu Wenxiang: "We had a fight, what could we do if we disagreed? We've already invested so much money, we can only try anything as a last resort."

Xu He sensed that things weren't as simple as they seemed. "So what do we do now?"

Xu Wenxiang: "I'll go see him again and hear his thoughts. What do you think?"

Xu He pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "The conditions are already very generous, but based on my understanding of Chen the vegetable farmer, there's absolutely no chance of him being tied to the market for five years."

"How long do you think is appropriate?"

"A year is good for both sides. If neither side feels it's not working out, they can withdraw at any time."

"Hmm, I'll talk to the shareholders again. How about tomorrow? Tomorrow you'll come with me to find Chen the vegetable farmer—no, I mean, Boss Chen!"

She emphasized the words "Boss Chen" very much. Not wanting to work for someone else—doesn't that mean she wants to be her own boss?!

...

The sky was high and the clouds were light; it was a bit muggy.

The radio inside the house was blasting loudly, and vegetable farmers sat on the steps, surrounded by swirling smoke.

Yi Dinggan said, "Jiazhi, according to the news, the typhoon seems to be quite far away from here!"

“Yes, it’s several hundred kilometers away,” Li Mingkun said. “If this typhoon hadn’t come, my vegetables would have had to wait two or three days for nothing, and the price of vegetables would have dropped again this morning.”

Guo Mancang took a puff of his cigarette, smacked his lips, and said, "The vegetables in the field have grown quite a bit too."

Chen Jiazhi was also puzzled. There was news about the typhoon, but it was from a great distance, and the news only issued a symbolic disaster warning.

"I still want to wait a little longer and endure it for two more days."

"You keep cooking," Li Mingkun said. "I'm too tired to cook anymore. I need to harvest more vegetables today."

On this day, Yi Dinggan, Li Mingkun, and Guo Mancang all harvested more vegetables than they should have, and privately complained to Chen Jiazhi.

Even the people from Jiangxi, who live not far away, have many complaints.

If it weren't for him, a group of people wouldn't have gone out to clean the ditch, and the vegetables wouldn't have been left for a couple more days.

Chen Jiazhi knew perfectly well what was going on.

But they persevered, and only managed to collect 25 packages of bok choy that night. Even if it wasn't this time, there would definitely be other typhoons later.

It's impossible that he, like a butterfly, could have blown away the typhoon that was supposed to come.

When I returned the next morning, some of the rapeseed flowers in the field had already bloomed.

Li Xiu was also getting anxious.

Chen Jiazhi remained unmoved, spending the entire morning alone in the field inspecting and filling in any gaps.

Around ten o'clock, it got hot, so I went home and ladled out a bowl of cooled mung bean soup from the kitchen to drink.

While I was drinking, the sound from the radio suddenly became urgent.

"Urgent warning: Typhoon Fred has suddenly turned north in the South China Sea, its path has changed abruptly, and it is expected to make landfall in Zhanjiang in six hours."

"Emergency warning..."

The process was repeated over and over again, and one by one, the vegetable farmers came out of their homes, instantly making the entire market noisy.

At that moment, a black sedan also turned onto the gravel road in the market.

(End of this chapter)