1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 200 Team
Many more days passed, and before we knew it, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The sun was still shining in the afternoon.

On the second-floor corridor of Jiangxin Market, Cheng Tiantian, dressed in a floral dress, leaned against the second-floor wall, watching Tong Gang ride his bicycle back.

"Brother Gang, you're back?"

"Yeah~" Tong Gang replied with a smile from downstairs, "Today went pretty smoothly, we recruited five more experienced vegetable cooks."

A little while later, he also went upstairs.

Cheng Tiantian turned to face the stairs, crossed her arms, and said, "I don't know why you're so eager to do this. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Director Chen and Xu Yao went out and haven't come back yet. They've probably gone back to their respective homes. We should go back and celebrate the festival as soon as possible."

"Maybe he'll come back later."

"Tch, he did the same thing last time. He went out to run errands, but ended up dropping Xu Yao off halfway through, and then went home himself. He's really good at skipping work."

"Let's wait a little longer," Tong Gang advised. "Besides, you have to wait for the workers to return the tools."

Cheng Tiantian complained, "They're not helpless, they can put them back themselves. We've been working overtime every day lately, and the workers don't get back until after dark. If they come back any later, they won't be able to get back today."

Tong Gang said, "Then you go back. I'll keep an eye on things for you later. I'm not planning to go back today."

"Forget it, if you don't leave, how dare I leave?" Cheng Tiantian said sarcastically. "I'm not like Director Chen, who can skip work anytime. If he keeps appearing and disappearing like a dragon, the market will go out of business sooner or later."

"I'm quite confident."

"Haha~"

Tong Gang shook his head, went inside to work for a while, and then went out to the vegetable field to hand over the work to the new vegetable workers.

Cheng Tiantian watched from the corridor, resting her chin on her hand. Both of them were locals, and their homes were not too far away. They also had dormitories near the market.

But Tong Gang has been very proactive at work lately, which makes the lazy Cheng Tiantian very unhappy.

Especially after Tong Gang said that Director Chen asked him to find a new warehouse manager, Cheng Tiantian started to complain about the two of them.

She has recently been reporting on Chen a lot, saying that he skips work every now and then, but unfortunately, all her reports have gone unanswered.

Everything above is waiting to be served.

This made Cheng Tiantian a little panicked. She wasn't stupid; she watched from the second floor every day, and the vegetable garden changed almost every day.

Half a month has passed, and the hundreds of acres of land have become well-organized, even possessing a unique kind of neat beauty.

The first patch of seedlings planted looked especially lush and green from the second floor.

As the sun began to set, Cheng Tiantian gazed at the busy figures in the vegetable field and suddenly felt even more panicked.

She glanced at the warehouse subconsciously, remembering what Tong Gang had said a few days ago: "Give in your softer and go tidy up the warehouse."

impossible!
The moment the idea popped into her head, she rejected it. "At least you, Director Chen, should say something," she thought.

It would be so embarrassing to slunk away and tidy up the warehouse myself.

“Drip, drip, drip.”

Two long horns sounded on the highway, and the white light truck returned, which surprised Cheng Tiantian.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, why aren't you skipping work again, Director Chen?
The light truck drove into the yard, and Tong Gang and Yi Dinggan ran back after it.

Chen Jiazhi got out of the car, opened the back door, and took out boxes one by one.

Tong Gang took a box: "Manager, what did you buy?"

"Mooncakes," Chen Jiazhi said. "After get off work, let all the workers come and collect mooncakes so we can celebrate the festival together."

Tong Gang asked in surprise, "They give out mooncakes at our market too?"

"We're all human, why can't we post this?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that giving out mooncakes is too extravagant, they cost more than ten yuan a pound!"

"If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it. I'm counting on the workers to work hard. Why don't you go work in the fields for a couple of days, Lao Tong?"

"Hey, Manager Chen, I haven't been slacking off. I've hired five vegetable workers with two years of experience today, bringing the total number of workers to 208!"

Chen Jiazhi's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Hey, Lao Tong, you did a great job today. I'll give you an extra two mooncakes later."

Tong Gang said, "I don't need to go do the work in the fields, right?"

Chen Jiazhi: "Haha, I was just kidding."

After chatting and laughing for a while, the group placed the box containing the mooncakes on the first-floor corridor.

It was getting dark when Xu Yao ran into Cheng Tiantian upstairs. Cheng Tiantian asked, "You went to buy mooncakes? I thought you weren't coming back again."

Xu Yao raised an eyebrow, nodded slightly, and went into the office.

Cheng Tiantian felt even worse.

But he didn't dare to get angry with Xu Yao, who controlled the finances and was a major shareholder.

However, among the elderly people, they all became distant from her, and even the two group leaders have been working overtime lately.

By the time I got off work, it was already dark, and a full moon was already hanging in the sky.

Recently, there has been less rain, and the sun has been shining brightly every day. The autumn heatwave is quite intense.

Every evening, the vegetable fields are filled with people watering their plants.

As the team leaders called out to wrap up work and collect their mooncakes, Jiangxin Market entered its busiest time of the day.

The vegetable workers entered the courtyard one after another and went to the corridor to collect their mooncakes.

One person, one jin, one jin, 5 yuan, so each jin cost 15 yuan. That night, Chen Jiazhi gave out 3000 yuan.

However, he believed it was worth doing. All 208 vegetable workers were migrants from Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan.
Most people don't know Chen Jiazhi, and most of the vegetable workers are also unfamiliar with him, so they don't have a deep impression of each other.

It's also difficult to have deeper interactions with them, and he can't understand the accents of many people.

Even the team leader struggles to communicate with them, often relying on gestures and hands-on demonstrations.

However, everyone is familiar with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The simple act of giving out mooncakes instantly brought them closer together.

Chen Jiazhi also experienced the charm of various local dialects.

From familiar dialect expressions like "谢寡了" and "谢了哈",
Then came the phrases I could barely understand: thank you, thank you so much, I'm tired, and I'm sorry to bother you.
Then there's the completely bewildered Bie Sha and Xie Cun...

They are all actually expressing gratitude.

Occasionally, I'll even get a compliment from someone from Guangxi: "What a handsome guy!" It makes me feel really good.

Currently, the Mid-Autumn Festival is not a statutory holiday, so ordinary vegetable workers don't enjoy much of it.

They don't usually spend much money on mooncakes, so this perk was a pleasant surprise for the vegetable workers.

They offered some small consolation for their bodies after working overtime.

After distributing the vegetables to the workers, they then distributed them to the team leaders and managers, ensuring that everyone received one.

After sending it, it got even darker.

Chen Jiazhi and his five friends had a small get-together cooking in their dorm room.
Sweet potato noodles and dried rabbit brought from my hometown, peanuts still covered in mud, a little wine, and a chat—that's life!
Li Mingkun asked, "Jiazhi, why didn't you go home today? Your family is all here."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "I'm thinking about my brothers. While you're working hard to catch up on the progress, I can't let myself get lost in the pleasures of life."

"Huh~"

"It has to be the farm manager; he speaks so eloquently."

Qi Yongfeng: "It feels like I'm back a month ago, when Brother Zhi was making us work overtime every day too!"

Yi Dinggan, holding a wine glass, said loudly, "The progress is encouraging! There are still 5 days left. Let's all work hard and try to sow all the seeds!"

Li Mingkun said, "Hey, Lao Yi, this is what Director Chen should say. You're overstepping your bounds. Be careful he doesn't make things difficult for you."

"You, who's just drinking a beverage, shouldn't be so talkative," Yi Dinggan snorted. "Director Chen would love for me to cheer you on!"

Chen Jiazhi laughed heartily, "Come on, let's drink! If we can get through this month, there's next month too, and we'll all have a bright future!"

"Director Chen, this bright future should include both of us, shouldn't it?"

A melodious female voice rang out in the pitch-black night, and two figures walked to the door; it was Xu Yao and Tong Gang.

Tong Gang, carrying some things in his hands, said, "I've come uninvited. Would you mind having a drink with me?"

Yi Dinggan and the others were stunned and remained silent. Despite having been there for half a month, they were not actually very familiar with each other.

Because they only need to focus on working in the fields every day, everything else that needs to be coordinated will always be prepared in advance for them.

"It was my oversight. Please sit down, it's just a little small."

Xu Yao and Tong Gang looked around at Director Chen's dormitory, which was no different from theirs.

It was simple: food was laid out on a small table, and a cardboard sheet was placed on the ground. Most people sat on the ground, and the only two small stools were given to them.

Despite its small size, their loud discussions and boisterous drinking sessions could often be heard from there.

"We apologize for disturbing you." Tong Gang took out the roast meats and other food he had bought.

Yi Dinggan handed the two of them beer and said in somewhat broken Mandarin, "You can both drink, right? If you can't, we won't force you."

Tong Gang: "Okay."

Xu Yao: "I can drink a little bit too."

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

Chen Jiazhi picked up his glass again and said, "Let's have a drink together. We're all on the same side. I'm not afraid to tell you, I'm here to make money. I have a feeling that we can hit the market hard with this batch of dishes!"

When the time comes to reward those who have made contributions, you will all be rewarded. Just keep up the good work this month!

"it is good!"

"Get fierce!"

"I want to be a man who earns a thousand yuan a month!"

"Yongfeng, is that all you aspire to?" Chen Jiazhi laughed and scolded. "Forget about the past. If you're going to be a man, be one who earns ten thousand a month!"

"Hahaha~"

"What are you laughing at!" Qi Yongfeng raised his head: "Besides Deliang, which of the three of you earns a thousand yuan a month?"

"Pah!" Yi Ding cursed, "When I was making several thousand yuan a month at the Dongxiang vegetable market, you weren't even here yet! Otherwise, would Jia Zhi have made me the deputy director?!"

"And then what? The Dongxiang vegetable market went out of business?"

"Hahaha~"

The accent was a bit hard to understand, but Xu Yao and Tong Gang could feel the vibrant and positive energy within it.

They occasionally clinked glasses with these people, but they noticed that these individuals were actually quite controlled in their drinking; some even drank soft drinks.
Gradually, they started analyzing the work again.

We discussed fertilizing, watering, spraying pesticides, and personnel allocation, and then moved on to sowing and work goals.
The two were suddenly shocked to realize that Director Chen planned to complete the sowing of the remaining 360 mu within the next 5 days!

(End of this chapter)