1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 186 Just a Little Bit More
In the stillness of the night, Chen Jiazhi drove on an empty road, chasing the distant, fading lights.

The wheels roll forward, and every car headlight in the night reflects the heart.
"Damn it~ There's something wrong with that car in front!"

Chen Jiazhi's cursing woke up Yi Long and Ao Dehai, who had been dozing off.

Ao Dehai asked, "What's wrong, boss?"

Chen Jiazhi: "Xiaolong, look at this car, doesn't it look familiar? Could it be the same car we went to the same market?"

Yi Long looked ahead and saw a truck, about the same weight as the Yuejin 131, filled with white foam boxes.

"That's it. It's the stall that was competing with us for business a while ago. They bring vegetables in this kind of truck, with this kind of packaging."

"Oh no, here we go again."

Chen Jiazhi and Yi Long both had a bad feeling. The collision was bound to affect the market!
"Uncle, what should we do? There's so much food in this truck!"

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "I can only disappoint the villagers for now. I have to lower the price tonight. Whether this record can be broken depends on luck."

Blue Leap Forward 131 followed behind, always in the same direction, and soon the vehicle in front entered the market.

As they were about to enter the market, Yi Long's eyes lit up, and he said, "Uncle, let me off at the door. I'm going to scout out some military intelligence."

"Okay, little spy, be careful."

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

"..."

I arrived at the market a little late today, but it was only a little past 1 p.m., and there weren't many people there.

After parking the car, while arranging the goods, Yi Long returned dejectedly.

"Uncle, the investigation failed. The boss knows me. I was exposed as soon as I asked about the price, and he told me to get lost."

Chen Jiazhi: “…”

Yi Long added, "But I did notice something: among the dishes they displayed, there were more mustard greens and kale, and less bok choy."

"Well done." Chen Jiazhi patted him on the shoulder to encourage him. "With this message, the mission isn't a failure!"

"Really?"

"Of course, it'll be very useful. Today I'm going to catch him off guard!"

He had 30 more bok choy today than yesterday, for a total of 120 pieces. The number of kale and mustard greens remained the same, at 70 and 50 pieces respectively.

The other side has more kale and mustard greens, making the competition more intense.

At the same time, the increase in total volume will also affect the sales of choy sum, so all three have to lower their prices.

As he was pondering the pricing, an acquaintance arrived at the stall sometime earlier. Old Wu was the first to arrive and began examining the carriage.

"Here you are, Mr. Wu."

Old Wu turned his gaze to Chen Jiazhi, crossed his thumb and forefinger, and teased, "Little Chen, how come you're always just a little short!"

Chen Jiazhi raised an eyebrow: "Almost?"

Old Wu pointed to the carriage: "Yeah, the train wasn't fully loaded again today, was it? Can you just be firm and show me this once?"

Chen Jiazhi was speechless: "Why do you worry about this every day?"

Old Wu said, "I don't know, it's just hard to watch. Such a nice car, it's been wronged to be with you."

Chen Jiazhi: "Whether you buy vegetables or not, the prices have dropped today, quite a bit. Bok choy, kale, and mustard greens are all 65 yuan per piece. If you want to buy, do it early."

Old Wu exclaimed in surprise, "Has the sun risen in the west? You stingy old man actually lowered the price!"

Chen Jiazhi took out paper and pen, "How much do you want? Hurry up and write down the order. Other customers are coming too, and we'll be too busy to serve you."

Both bok choy and Chinese kale have dropped by 10 yuan, while mustard greens have dropped by 15 yuan.

The price reduction was swift and decisive.

Although Lao Wu didn't know why, he still placed an order decisively and took more goods than usual.

After making several offers, Chen Jiazhi felt it was inconvenient, as this wouldn't attract people quickly.

Next time I need to get a small blackboard and write it down so that it's easy for people to see.

I mentioned it to Yi Long and asked him to remind him next time. After delivering the goods once, Yi Long turned around and brought back a small blackboard and chalk. It wasn't big, but it was enough.

Where did you borrow it from?

"I saw an empty space near the market management office, so I took it. I'll return it when I'm done."

"You cow!"

After writing the prices on the blackboard, he took an empty vegetable basket and placed it by the aisle, attracting the attention of passersby.

If you're interested, just come and pick up the goods.

As a result, Chen Jiazhi's sales speed was very fast for the first two hours after arriving at the market, especially for bok choy.

It was past 3 p.m. when the peak of the crowds arrived, and only 60 of the 120 packs of bok choy were left.

There wasn't much left of kale and mustard greens; basically, people who buy bok choy also buy one or two pieces of kale and mustard greens.

"Uncle, I went to that market again, and their sales volume is much lower than ours."

"Yes, keep an eye on it."

Chen Jiazhi felt that having Yi Long as a follower was quite good. Although Yi Long's Sichuan accent was particularly difficult to pronounce, it did not hinder him from gathering information.

Ao Dehai was also better than when he first came, and he was more talkative.

They often found themselves in an awkward situation where neither of them could understand the other, and sometimes Chen Jiazhi could sense his nervousness.

However, they were willing to put in the effort and had the strength to do so. They were very active in getting on and off the truck and carrying vegetables, which made up for Yi Long's shortcomings.

The three of them were busy working away with great enthusiasm.

When Xu He came to pick up the vegetables, he asked Chen Jiazhi for his thoughts, and Chen naturally agreed, and they arranged to meet on the 1st of next month to discuss it.

The food preparation slowed down around 4 p.m.

Yilong also brought new information: its competitors have also significantly reduced their prices.

They also used a very traditional way of selling goods: shouting.

However, Chen Jiazhi's vegetables were running low; only seven or eight pieces of kale and mustard greens remained, and all the bok choy hearts were sold out.

After haggling for a while, the price was lowered slightly, and the vegetables were sold to people who were looking for bargains on leftover stock.

The truckload of vegetables sold out without any major incident.

Yi Long made another trip to gather intelligence on the military.

Chen Jiazhi drove out and picked up Yi Long at the market entrance, learning the latest situation. The opponent had a few remaining, but not many either—about thirty or forty styrofoam boxes.

It's almost dawn, so we'll definitely have to sell it at a low price.

Clearly, they were initially taken advantage of by Chen Jiazhi's sudden price cuts and clearance sale.

Because Chen Jiazhi has a high and long-standing reputation in this market, people naturally choose his goods when the price is the same.

As a result, after he arrived in the market, he initiated a significant price reduction, with prices potentially lower than those of his competitors.

Naturally, they seized the initiative.

Chen Jiazhi praised, "Xiaolong, you're the number one hero for making today's sales go so smoothly!"

Yi Long felt quite pleased with himself. "I'm still pretty good, aren't I?"

"You're getting more and more impressive," Chen Jiazhi said with a smile. "But you need to practice your Mandarin more."

"How do I practice?"

Chen Jiazhi also felt a headache.

At that time, village primary schools in rural areas basically did not teach Mandarin, which made things difficult. He learned Mandarin quickly in his previous life because he was quite good at learning Pinyin, but Yi Long could not.

"If all else fails, listen to the radio more and learn from the announcers," Chen Jiazhi pondered. "It would be even better if you could study for another two or three years."

"Hmm~"

...

I arrived at the market a little after 5 a.m., and it was already light outside.

Upon hearing the familiar engine sound, one vegetable farmer after another came out of their homes.

As soon as Chen Jiazhi and his two companions got out of the car, they were met with a sea of ​​expectant eyes.

"Boss Chen, how's it going? Did you break the record?"

"It's definitely broken. That's 240 pieces of vegetables, 30 more than yesterday, 900 jin of vegetables."

"It depends on how much it is~"

Seeing the two adults and one child who remained silent, the vegetable farmers sensed that something was wrong.

"It's not broken?"

The three nodded.

Everyone felt a pity.

Chen Jiazhi said, "It's alright. The vegetables are sold out, but then a competitor came along and drove down the price."

Everyone still felt it was a pity; what they cared about was whether the record could be broken again, not how much money Mr. Chen would make.

Chen Jiazhi was actually a little disappointed, as he was only 400 yuan short of breaking his previous record of 16,000 yuan a day.

Just as Old Wu said, it was only a hair's breadth away.

If they harvest just a little more vegetables, they'll break this record.

Seeing that everyone had come out with great enthusiasm but was now leaving with little interest, Chen Jiazhi called out, "There are still vegetables in the field."

The group paused for a moment.

Chen Jiazhi touched the blue truck that had been with him for more than a dozen days and nights, and suddenly wanted to test his limits.

"If we finish drying all the vegetables in the field today, we should be able to fill a truck."

Everyone was stunned again.

Qi Yongfeng said, "Brother Zhi, won't this drive down the price even further, making it even harder to sell? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

Others also spoke up.

"Yes, there aren't many mustard greens left in the field, but there are still plenty of bok choy and Chinese kale!"

"Mr. Chen, there's no need."

"Making more money from it is more practical!"

"That's right, that makes sense."

Chen Jiazhi waved his hand and laughed loudly, "What's wrong with being willful sometimes? It's settled then!"

"Finish harvesting the vegetables in the fields today and fill the truck. We won't be harvesting vegetables tomorrow; we'll catch up on the work in the fields. You'll get paid tonight, and starting the day after tomorrow, you'll have three days off!"

Huang Juan asked, "Will we still get paid during the holiday?"

"Of course," Chen Jiazhi added, "Each group also has its own activity funds. You can manage them yourselves, just be careful."

Cheers immediately erupted in the courtyard, creating a lively atmosphere that left Yi Dinggan, Li Mingkun, and Guo Mancang, who had just returned, completely bewildered.

After figuring out the reason, one can't help but feel envious.

at the dinner table,
Yi Dinggan said, "Jiazhi, you're really generous, treating them so well."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "If you want to, you can. How about what I told you yesterday? Have you thought about it?"

"I'm afraid I can't do it."

"How can a man say he can't do it?"

"I'm not kidding. I've never managed such a large market before. What if I mess it up?"

"How could you even ask such a stupid question?!" Chen Jiazhi was radiating contempt, making Yi Dinggan grit his teeth in anger.

On the contrary, Chen Jiafang, Li Xiu, and Yi Long were all used to the slightly excessive jokes between the two.

"How is that stupid?"

"You didn't even cherish such a good opportunity to practice! Aren't you stupid?!"

"Practice? How can you practice?"

"Why not!" Chen Jiazhi said with exasperation, "Even if we lose money, what can she do to us? We can just rent land somewhere else to grow vegetables!"
You'll also gain management experience in a large market, expand your network, earn a high salary, and have a relaxed job. I've specifically reserved this great opportunity for you, what are you waiting for!

"But would she agree?"

"As long as you agree, this is the only condition for me to help Xu Wenxiang!"

"Okay, I'll go then!"

After a moment's hesitation, Yi Dinggan glanced at Li Xiu beside him, intending to give his brother some advice: "It's best not to let her get hurt. She trusts you so much that I'm starting to think she has some ulterior motive towards you."

As a result, Li Xiu completely ignored him.

(End of this chapter)