1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 180 Market Rebound

After the typhoon, the vegetable garden was wet, flying ants got into the house, and the ice factory was closed, so Chen Jiazhi didn't go to the market.

The first time they had vegetables, they didn't go to sell them; instead, they led people to the field to focus on cleaning up the water stains.

However, Yi Dinggan, Li Mingkun, and Guo Mancang bought some water spinach to sell, and Chen Jiazhi asked them to deliver a message.

In the evening, I took some time to set up a ground cage with Yi Long and Yi Dinggan, and then came back for a nice nap.

When I woke up in the morning, I found that the basin of water in the middle of the room had drowned layer upon layer of flying ants.

Open the door and push open the window; it's a beautiful, sunny day.

Yi Long squatted at the edge of the yard, killing fish.

"Xiao Long, how was the haul last night?"

"The pond is overflowing! There are so many big fish, probably escaped from someone else's pond when the water level rose. There are so many!"

Chen Jiazhi walked closer and took a look. "Wow, not bad! This fish is good. We can eat it for a few days."

Yi Long said, "It's a pity you didn't go, Uncle. It was so much fun."

Hearing the commotion, Yi Dinggan also came out, boasted about his catch for a while, and then the topic turned to the market.

Vegetable prices have gone up.

And it rebounded quickly.

More and more people gathered in the courtyard, chatting about the market situation, and how everyone would benefit from this price increase.

Then they went to inspect the fields and arrange work. When they returned for breakfast, they inevitably talked about Xu Wenxiang, who had come the day before.

A family can also speak frankly and openly.

Yi Dinggan asked, "Jiazhi, what are you thinking? I think you mean you want to agree."

Everyone at the table was looking at him.

Holding the meat bun, Chen Jiazhi said, "I haven't thought it through yet. I'll think about it some more. Things aren't that simple."

Chen Jiafang said, "You need to think about it carefully. You just bought the car, and it hasn't even been a few days yet. If you leave, who will drive it?"

"Hmm~" Chen Jiazhi pondered, "Don't worry, I've thought of all of that. Let's sell this batch of vegetables first."

Xu Wenxiang may not know how much of this batch of vegetables there is, but Chen Jiazhi knows very well.

It's cloudy today.

This is the best weather for vegetables; after a day of drying, the water on the leaves has all dried.

The typhoon itself was not severely affected, and it eventually made landfall in Xuwen, Zhanjiang, more than 500 kilometers away from Panyu.

However, the impact is not small, as Zhanjiang and Maoming are both important vegetable production areas.

Starting in the afternoon, Chen Jiazhi instructed the vegetable workers to prepare for harvesting the vegetables.

After buying the car, I ordered a batch of vegetable baskets. Stacks of baskets were evenly distributed in the fields of bok choy, kale, and mustard greens, which looked quite spectacular.

Yi Dinggan roared, "Jiazhi, you're going to pull off something big today!"

Chen Jiazhi also replied loudly, "Today is only the first day. Let's collect 100 pieces of vegetables to warm up the market."

On the other side, Li Mingkun also exclaimed, "Wow, you've really become a boss! 100 dishes weigh 3000 jin, and this is just a warm-up!"

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Don't you think about how much land I own? Besides, you guys aren't bad either."

The atmosphere was pretty good.

Even the cooks enjoyed themselves; this time, three groups worked together to prepare the dishes.

That evening, the light truck was loaded casually as usual, and 100 pieces of vegetables were easily loaded.

Besides Yi Long, Chen Jiazhi also brought Qi Yongfeng along this time.

The light truck arrived at stall number 56 ahead of time, arranged its goods in an orderly manner, and quickly opened for business.

The first customer to pick up the goods was not Chen Ze, but a stranger.

Chen Jiazhi's initial prices were not low: 55 yuan per piece for bok choy, 45 yuan per piece for mustard greens and Chinese kale, and 1.8 yuan per jin for cowpeas.

The customer tried to negotiate the price down, but when he couldn't get it any lower, he quickly placed the order.

Six pieces of bok choy, four pieces of kale, and four pieces of mustard greens. The deposit alone was 280 yuan, and the total cost including the vegetables was 970 yuan.

The store opened with a huge order, which excited Qi Yongfeng, who had been away from the market for a long time.

Chen Jiazhi was also quite excited.

He finally got what he was waiting for.

The market performance that followed did not disappoint him.

After 2 PM, the 40 pieces of bok choy, 35 pieces of kale, and 25 pieces of mustard greens were visibly decreasing.

He was constantly shipping goods without a moment's rest, and just calculating accounts and collecting money made him break out in a fine sweat.

Qi Yongfeng and Yi Long, who were carrying vegetables up and down the stairs, were also panting heavily.

Fortunately, their almost assembly-line operation made them very efficient, and 100 dishes were really just a warm-up for Chen Jiazhi.

The income was extremely pleasing; by the end of the night, his bag was filled with a thick wad of banknotes.

My daily income has once again exceeded 5000 yuan!
Upon learning of this daily sales figure, Yi Long and Qi Yongfeng were so excited on the way back that they couldn't sleep.

Chen Jiazhi was driving at 60 or 70 miles per hour, but it felt like he was going 120 or 130 miles per hour.

However, it took the next two days for the market to gradually reach its climax.

On the morning of August 24, Chen Jiazhi delivered 155 pieces of vegetables to stall number 56.

The bok choy made up nearly half of the dish, and there was also a significant amount of Chinese kale and mustard greens.

The main vegetables of Cantonese cuisine are all here, in large quantities to fill you up, plus a few cowpeas to make up the numbers.

It immediately became the focus of the entire market, attracting a large number of new and old customers.

What shocked many was the surge in vegetable prices; in just one night, a single pack of bok choy increased by 15 yuan. Mustard greens and Chinese kale were even more outrageous, rising from 45 yuan to 75 yuan per pack, 5 yuan more expensive than bok choy.

Many people left in anger, cursing and swearing, but they gradually returned over the next two or three hours.

That night was wild.

This was the first time Chen Jiazhi went all out after the land area expanded to 30 mu.

With the help of light trucks, stall number 56 is like a godsend.

For the first time, Yi Long experienced the feeling of exhaustion. It was as if there was an endless supply of food to produce, and he was unloading one item after another without feeling tired, until his hands trembled slightly. He couldn't help but sigh, "So this is what it's like to be a porter."

Chen Jiazhi kept writing down information, but he couldn't remember how much money he had received.

The only thing that's certain is that another record has been broken.

And it broke records by a huge margin!

The stack of banknotes in my bag is two or three times thicker than yesterday's!
After delivering the last item of vegetables, they started collecting the vegetable baskets. Chen Jiazhi counted the baskets and found that 12 were missing, but thankfully they had collected the deposit.

After cleaning up the battlefield, I didn't dare linger in the market and drove straight home.

Yi Long and Qi Yongfeng chatted excitedly for half the time, then fell asleep together, leaving only Chen Jiazhi humming a song while pressing the accelerator.

Upon arriving home, the thick wad of banknotes caused Li Xiu to let out a suppressed burst of excitement.

She seemed to understand Jiazhi's reluctance to leave.

"11,650 yuan!"

Chen Jiazhi just gave Li Xiu a nonchalant smile, then took his two equally excited dogs to patrol the fields.

He was actually very excited, but he also knew that this was just the beginning.

Only by patrolling the fields every day can you know how many vegetables are left in the fields.

8 month 25 day,
Stall number 56 has reached its peak.

Eighty packs of bok choy, sixty packs of kale, and forty packs of bok choy made the 4.5-meter-long cargo box no longer seem empty.

With a daily delivery volume of over 5000 jin (2,500 kg), stall number 56 has become one of the top stalls in the market.

Chen Caixin's name became even more well-known.

Almost every vegetable buyer knew his name, and he was both loved and hated.

"Chicken heart is 75 yuan per piece, and Chinese kale and mustard greens are both 80 yuan per piece, no discounts!"

Hearing the price calls behind him, Chen Ze smiled knowingly and walked away satisfied.

During peak seasons, the price increase of vegetables he buys is always a step behind the market rate; this unique tacit understanding between buyers and sellers is very reassuring.

Old Wu, 377, Xu He, Curly Hair, and others shared the same idea.

Thankfully, we persevered.

Mr. Chen is a sentimental person.

After Curly took the vegetables, he felt like a daughter-in-law who had finally become a mother-in-law. After putting the car in the car, he deliberately went back to wander around the vicinity of stall number 56.

He is waiting for someone.

After a while, Fatty Liu, who had mocked him a few days earlier, finally came out.

An unexpected encounter.

Curly-haired man smiled kindly and asked, "After squeezing in for so long, how much did you get per piece of food today?"

Fatty Liu cursed, "That damn Chen is a double standard! He sold me 75 yuan for bok choy and 80 yuan per piece for kale! He's a real bastard!"

Curly Hair: "Then you can just not take his food!"

Fatty Liu: "With the price of vegetables going up, even vegetables at big markets aren't cheap anymore, so people don't come to these small markets at all. We just have to hold our noses and buy them."

"So, what did I tell you last time? You need to be reliable when it comes to grocery shopping." Curly-haired guy smiled and said, "You can't learn something just by teaching it to someone. How about it? I can get the groceries for you for a bit cheaper. Want me to buy them for you?"

Fatty Liu understood, and he also remembered the mockery he had shown to Curly a few days ago. He was furious!

"Idiot, who the hell needs you to buy it for them?"

Although he missed out on a deal, seeing others suffer the same setbacks as he had before made Curly feel inexplicably happier.

The light truck only had its tail section open; the other two sides were lined with high guardrails, so there was no need to worry about people stealing the cargo, which gave Chen Jiazhi a great sense of security.

Every single vegetable costs money; the accounting is exhausting, the loads of goods are so heavy, and the sheer volume of cash is nerve-wracking!
The three of them, two adults and one child, were like machines, unable to get a moment's rest, and unconsciously became somewhat irritable.

Throughout the night, Yi Long was scolded many times and witnessed another side of Chen Jiazhi that he had hidden.

But even with this intense work, Yi Long felt his mind becoming increasingly clear.

While carrying goods, he was able to accurately capture the information provided by his uncle amidst the noisy crowd.

In just one night, another 16 baskets were gone.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Chen Jiazhi comforted him, "It's okay, they should have collected the deposit."

Yi Long reminded him, "Uncle, if this continues, we might not have enough baskets to harvest the vegetables later."

Chen Jiazhi: "Use the bamboo baskets for now, and I'll order another hundred."

Qi Yongfeng wiped his sweat: "I'm too busy. I can't remember who returned the baskets and who didn't. It's inevitable that some old customers who didn't pay the deposit are dishonest and try to take advantage of the situation."

"Well, let's try to avoid it. If it's unavoidable, we'll just have to accept the loss."

Chen Jiazhi patted his bag and smiled at the two of them, "This little loss is nothing!"

Yi Long and Qi Yongfeng smiled as well, knowing that today's income would definitely be much higher than yesterday's.

"Let's go home. After we finish these few days, I'll give you all your bonuses."

Chen Jiazhi estimated that the vegetables should be sold out by September 1st.

(End of this chapter)