1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 188 The End
As soon as Chen Jiazhi got out of the car and went to the back of the vehicle, he saw Lao Wu's figure.

"Old Wu, how are the vegetables today?"

"Not bad, it's starting to look decent." Old Wu asked with a smile, "How much are you planning to sell today?"

Chen Jiazhi knew what he was thinking about, and said, "The price will be reduced by 5 yuan per piece compared to yesterday, all items will be 60."

"That's pretty much it."

"However, we will be out of stock starting tomorrow and will have to stop for a while."

"Are we running out of vegetables?!" Old Wu raised his voice unconsciously: "If you're out of vegetables, then go find some!"

Immediately, Chen Jiazhi felt that people from the stalls opposite and next to him were paying attention to him.

Especially Mr. Hu on the other side, he had already walked to the middle of the passage.

Chen Jiazhi shook his head and said, "We've all been too tired lately. Let's take a break first. It's getting easier to buy vegetables outside, so you won't have trouble getting supplies."

Old Wu said, "Your vehicle and stall must cost a lot every day."

Chen Jiazhi chuckled.

Old Wu immediately understood: the other party didn't care, and this kid had indeed made a lot of money recently.

Mr. Hu stepped forward, offered him a cigarette, said hello, and went back to his own stall. He had mixed feelings. The good news was that Mr. Chen didn't intend to compete with him for business, but the bad news was that Mr. Chen was out of food, which would affect the flow of customers.

Just as Lao Wu was about to place his order, Chen Ze arrived.

As always, he was decisive and efficient. He was also taken aback when he suddenly learned that Chen Jiazhi would be without vegetables for a long time.

I only asked when the vegetables would be available again before paying and leaving.

Meanwhile, while delivering vegetables to Lao Wu, 'little spy' Yi Long went to gather intelligence again, and found that there were still more competitors for kale today.

"It seems that the main vegetable they're featuring this time is kale."

"Uncle, should we do it?"

"What should we do?" Chen Jiazhi shook his head. "The other party hasn't arbitrarily lowered prices, so we can't act recklessly either. Engaging in a price war will only lead to self-destruction. Apart from them, there shouldn't be any other competitors in this market."

Yi Long reminded them, "My dad and the others also have bok choy today!"

Chen Jiazhi curled his lip: "Small fry, nothing to fear!"

Yi Long: "..."

Familiar faces kept arriving, and stall number 56 gradually became more popular, with sweat and voices mingling together.

Chen Jiazhi patiently explained that there were no more dishes available today.

Perhaps the competitors also knew about this news, which is why the price remained unchanged today.

Once Chen Jiazhi finishes shipping his goods, he'll have most of the market to himself, so there's really no need to lower prices today.

A little while later, Curly arrived, looking incredibly anxious.

"Mr. Chen, are you out of food?!"

Chen Jiazhi had just finished attending to another customer and was taking notes when he heard this. He looked up and saw that Curly Hair was sweating a lot and looked a little anxious.

Despite his doubts, Chen Jiazhi still said, "Yes, it might take about a month."

Curly-haired guy quickly asked, "So long!"

There were a few other people around, so Chen Jiazhi explained a few more things.

"There's no way around it, the work has been too intense lately. The fields are a mess, and the workers are exhausted. We need to take a break."

If he could, he wouldn't want to stop selling his food; if he did, it would be hard to say how many of his existing customers would remain.

However, given the current reality, the climate and environment of Guangzhou are indeed quite different from those of Chengdu.

But why did he feel that Curly was even more upset than he was?
This guy took a total of 10 pieces of bok choy, 8 pieces of kale, and 6 pieces of mustard greens today, which cost him 1440 yuan!
Before they knew it, they had become his biggest customer.

I have a feeling that something is amiss.

When it came time to pay the bill, he could sense that Curly was unwilling to accept it, but he didn't want to show it.

Curly was really uncomfortable walking on the dusty passage. Even the usually reliable Chen Cai Nong was out of vegetables?

So what's wrong with him?

During this period, I went to great lengths to poach Chen Cai Nong's customers, and I almost didn't earn any money while running errands for him. That's how I managed to get a few orders for purchasing on his behalf, and I'm thinking of gradually developing them into private clients.

As a result, he ran out of food!

Should we substitute other people's dishes?
That won't work either. People who know the vegetables well can tell at a glance whether they are Chen's vegetables or not, and it will be easy to be exposed over time.

Why should someone else buy it for you, since it doesn't matter where they buy it?

If only he had more time, he might have been able to take over the entire vegetable delivery business.

It's a pity that all our efforts were in vain.

All that work for nothing these past few days, why is it so hard to make things difficult for Chen the vegetable farmer!

Chen Jiazhi had no idea that Curly had suffocated before he could even fire a shot, thanks to his unintentional act of cutting off his food supply.

It's okay to break up now; it's not bad to have some temporary pleasure.

Tonight, we sold 285 items of vegetables. It was so satisfying and exhilarating to sell them all. Watching the truck gradually empty out and my empty wallet slowly bulging made me feel that all my efforts and sweat had paid off.

After dragging a stack of vegetable baskets back, Yi Long sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

"I'm exhausted, it's finally over."

"Haha, go back and get some rest for a day. I'll give you a bonus tonight." Chen Jiazhi smiled and then, together with Ao Deliang, lifted the vegetable baskets from the ground onto the car.

"Uncle, do I get a bonus too?" Yi Long stood up happily.

Chen Jiazhi turned around and said, "Of course there is. I already said you're a hero, how could you not get a bonus?"

Yi Long darted up the carriage in two quick steps and began stacking the vegetable baskets, soon finishing the final touches.

"That's a wrap! That's a wrap!"

"Time to go home for vacation!"

Two shouts echoed through the passageway, attracting the attention of many people, and the light truck drove out of the market without hesitation.

In the car, "Uncle, how much did you sell today? Did you break the record?"

"I haven't calculated it yet."

"Then let me try?"

"The notebook is in my bag."

Yi Long took out his notebook, looked at it for a short while, then frowned and silently handed it to Ao Deliang, who then silently closed the notebook.

"Why not?"

"The car is shaking too much!"

"Oh, then take a nap."

Actually, he just didn't quite understand it, but Chen Jiazhi didn't expose him, letting him figure it out himself.

The car fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of the engine breaking the silence.

Chen Jiazhi was also silently calculating the costs in his mind.

The prices of bok choy and mustard greens remained unchanged today, so it's easy to calculate: 60 yuan per piece. There are a total of 130 + 46 = 176 pieces, which amounts to 10560 yuan.

Due to the large quantity of Chinese kale and its status as a competitor's main product, the price of Chinese kale dropped midway through the period.

However, the average price should be 55 yuan per piece, and with a total of 110 pieces, the total would be 6050 yuan.

Total: 16610 yuan.

There may be some errors, but breaking the daily record should be no problem.

When we arrived at the market, a group of people came to the courtyard and asked about what had happened the night before.

Chen Jiazhi frankly stated that breaking the record satisfied everyone's expectations and was also an explanation for his efforts over the past month.

He and Li Xiu went into the house together.

There was a stack of letter papers on the wooden table. Chen Jiazhi walked closer and took a look. They were this month's salary and commission.

Li Xiu said, "I've almost finished calculating. You can check it again after dinner and distribute the bonuses. We'll pay the wages tonight."

"Okay, hard work."

"You're not the one who's having the hardest time."

After lunch, Chen Jiazhi didn't go to inspect the fields. There wasn't much to inspect anymore; it was all empty land. The workers were doing their final finishing touches: spreading peanut husks, sealing the sheds, and pulling up the mustard greens.
Li Xiu ate breakfast and went out.

Yi Long and Ao Deliang, who had stayed up all night, went to sleep.

Chen Jiazhi brought his son to the table and put him down, then started calculating the month's accounts.

A total of approximately 69500 jin of vegetables were produced, generating a total sales revenue of 149750 yuan.

其中8.23~8.31这10天就出了49830斤菜，收入了118495元。

The majority of the work is done at the end of the month, which is why it's so tiring.

The only regret is that the yield of the later batches of vegetables did not reach the optimal level, because they were originally expected to be on the market in early September, but they were brought forward a little.

Overall, the expected goals were achieved, which was perfect. Chen Jiazhi couldn't help but nod when he looked back.

Now it's time to reward those who have made contributions.

He carefully checked Li Xiu's salary and commission calculations, making sure not to underreport the amount.

Some food workers also keep records of their attendance, and it wouldn't be good if they made a mistake.

Fortunately, it's generally reliable.

The combined wages and commissions of the 12 vegetable cooks and temporary workers amount to about 7000 yuan, and he plans to give out 5000 yuan in bonuses, which is more than the basic wages.

The total was 12000 yuan, accounting for about 8% of the sales revenue for the month.

The average monthly income of the 12 vegetable workers has reached the 1,000 yuan mark, and the couple who are team leaders earn more than 2,000 yuan a month.

At that time, the average monthly salary in Huacheng was about six or seven hundred yuan.

However, most migrant workers are being averaged out. For example, vegetable workers earned only 7.8 yuan a day a few months ago. Although the wage has increased recently, it is still far below the average level.

The combination of salary, commission, and bonus offered by Chen Jiazhi far exceeds the current level.

But it's worth it.

People are working so hard at the end of this month in order to earn a higher income; this money cannot be saved.

In addition to the bonus for Yi Long, Chen Jiazhi also plans to give him an extra month's salary.

After thinking about it, I estimate I'll need to buy two truckloads of peanut cake, cover the expenses for the trip, and some small items. I'll budget 4000 yuan for now.

That's a total of 16,000 or 17,000.

The money from today's sales was just enough, and with what we had left over from yesterday and before, we now have about 35,000 yuan in cash at home, which is more than enough.

After clearing his mind, Chen Jiazhi began to distribute the bonuses.

There's no doubt that the three group leaders will definitely receive more.

The others will be ranked according to their usual performance, and he will have to play the villain for now.

However, as long as the overall level is high enough, such complaints are actually limited; at least most people are reluctant to leave directly.

However, this kind of judgment is still too subjective.

Even Chen Jiazhi can only rely on his memories, and he spends relatively little time in the fields during the day. In the future, it is necessary to standardize the process and delegate authority to the team leaders.

He then made another note in his notebook.

After finishing all that, it was still before eight o'clock, so Chen Jiazhi went to buy a truckload of fermented peanut brittle and made a phone call back home while loading it.

After waiting for a while, the brigade leader, Huang Feng, finally arrived.

"Oh, it's Scholar Chen. What can I do for you?"

"Great news, Captain! I need to hire some workers and I'd like to ask for your help."

"You little brat, you think you can fool me?"

(End of this chapter)