1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 219 Promise of Dividends
While Chen Jiazhi was pondering, the clients started urging him on again.

"Boss Chen, hurry up and collect the money! Are you not even going to take the money?!"

"Stop holding back, the price can't be held back any longer."

"Hurry up, get me two pieces of kale and three pieces of bok choy!"

"Hey~ Didn't you just complain that the kale was too small?"

"Small is better than none."

Chen Jiazhi and Yi Long were used to the sight of large and small vehicles arriving at their doorsteps.

The two men opened the carriage and began selling vegetables together again. Yi Long handed them out from inside the carriage, while Chen Jiazhi received them from below. They collected money for one person's vegetables and took one person's worth of vegetables, working together quite skillfully.

Delivery services have been temporarily suspended.

There's no way around it; the competition among customers is too fierce. Even regular customers have to order in advance if they want to get their food. If they want to sit back and enjoy the benefits, they're afraid others won't give them the chance.

While selling vegetables and collecting money, Chen Jiazhi also reminded everyone that there would be no more bok choy tomorrow, which angered everyone.

"Stop holding it in, or it'll really get bad!"

"The price is already high enough, isn't 75 yuan per piece enough for you to make a profit?"

Chen Jiazhi: "I'm not holding back. There really isn't any more bok choy. Once it's sold out today, it's really gone. It might take two months before we have any more."

The customers turned pale upon hearing this.

The supply of vegetables to the market has not improved recently. If the output from stall number 56 is reduced, then we will have to go through another ordeal.

And, two months!
“Chen Cai Nong, you’ve changed. You’ve become less sustainable.”

"And this kale, you've been holding back from harvesting and selling it for so long, and now you've brought such tiny kale?!"

"The bok choy doesn't last long, and the Chinese kale is small. How come you're getting worse and worse? You might as well just cut your own offal and sell it too!"

Old Wu arrived at the perfect time, bringing six pieces of bok choy and two pieces of kale. When he learned that there would be no bok choy again tomorrow, and that the shortage would last for two months, he was filled with resentment and launched into a long tirade.

Chen Jiazhi's face darkened.

"Just say you don't want to buy groceries, and I can take them back and give you your money back."

"If I ever buy vegetables from you again, I'm a dog!" Old Wu walked a few steps away, protecting the baskets of vegetables on his cart.

Chen Jiazhi: "Alright, I also have dozens of small kale florets tomorrow. I'll sell them to you, even if I'm a dog."

Old Wu's heart skipped a beat. He had spoken too soon; he should have said it tomorrow. But now that he had vented his anger, he couldn't back down and left without a word.

The others looked at each other, wondering how the two had fallen out. They used to work closely together!

But it wasn't just Old Wu; some other long-time customers, while not swearing, also looked constipated and uncomfortable.
Chen Jiazhi probably knew some of the reasons; he had set his expectations too high earlier.

The craftsmanship, packaging, appearance, and quality are all top-notch, and the supplier has been providing stable and long-term supply. I estimate that the downstream customers of our old clients have become quite demanding, and if the quality were to drop drastically, they would probably be criticized.

It's a bit like being engrossed in a novel, only to have the author suddenly abandon it. The deeper the love, the more painful the hurt; you're lucky if they don't send you razor blades!
But as long as the quality is good, once the vegetable supply resumes... I mean, once the supply is restored, most of the old customers will come back.

Maybe next time I see Lao Wu, he won't be so stubborn.

I've had this experience before.
I sold vegetables all night, and I also experienced a spiritual baptism all night.

Chen Jiazhi felt that he had indeed changed. In his previous life, he valued stability and reputation in business and would never go without food for one or two months like he does now.

But the times are calling. In his past life, he had no choice, but now he just wants to go all out!

As long as you consistently catch the right trend, the "it's actually pretty good" principle will always hold true.

It's not too late to seek stability two years later, when the market supply of vegetables has increased and there are fewer big price fluctuations.

Stall number 56.

"Phew~ Just one more day until tomorrow and I can rest again!"

With a bang, Chen Jiazhi slammed the car door shut and said to Yi Long with great excitement.

Yi Long wasn't so excited: "It also means I won't be earning a salary again."

Chen Jiazhi: "Your father said he doesn't need you to make money yet."

"It's different; money you earn yourself tastes the best!"

Yi Long grunted and walked towards the front of the car. Chen Jiazhi also got into the car from the other side and asked, "You've saved up three or four hundred yuan by now, right?"

"Hmm~"

"A lot."

“I told you I wanted to be a man who earns 10,000 yuan a month, and you said I was unambitious.”

"..." Chen Jiazhi silently started the car.

Yi Long: "Uncle, how many days in a row have you sold over ten thousand yuan worth of goods?"

Chen Jiazhi recalled for a moment and said, "Including today, it's been nine days in total."

"There was such a big truckload of kale last night..."

Thinking about all the money he's dealt with in the past two months, Yi Long has almost lost his sense of money.

Three hundred yuan used to be a huge amount in his eyes, and ten thousand yuan was even more unattainable. Now that he can see so much money every day, maybe ten thousand yuan a month is really a bit too little?

Early that morning, a total of 140 pieces of bok choy and 50 pieces of small Chinese kale were sold, generating an income of 15200 yuan.

He returned to Jiangxin Market. After having breakfast and taking a shower, Chen Jiazhi took the money back to his dormitory and hid it. Then he locked the door and rode his bicycle to patrol the fields.

There's really not much to patrol anymore.

The last few dozen acres of vegetables in the field had turned from lush green to a dull yellow in less than two months.

All we can do is take advantage of the still-high temperature and do a thorough turning over, then expose it to the sun for several days to disinfect, sterilize, and kill insects.

"Should we apply some organic fertilizer?"

In an open space, Chen Jiazhi grabbed a handful of soil, feeling its condition; it was rather ordinary.

The soil at the Dongxiang vegetable market is loose when you grab it by hand.

This is also a common problem in large vegetable markets nowadays. They prefer to use chemical fertilizers because organic fertilizers are troublesome to use, bulky, difficult to transport and store, require large amounts of application, and consume a huge amount of manpower.

However, leafy vegetables have a longer growing season in autumn and winter, and organic fertilizers continuously release nutrients, resulting in better effects.

After thinking for a while, Chen Jiazhi decided to observe Xu Wenxiang and the others' attitudes first.

This batch of vegetables is almost finished, and he wants to see the first dividend and also see the shareholders' sincerity.

After all, the agreement stipulated that he could only receive a 25% share of the farm manager's profits if the annual profit exceeded 500 million.

It hasn't reached that number yet, but it has generated more than two million in sales in just two months, almost three million. The profit per harvest is also very likely to exceed two million!

If he cannot distribute dividends at the 25% standard in advance, he will have to consider other options.

After inspecting the fields, Chen Jiazhi found Yi Dinggan, as well as Huang Rixin and Zheng Zhong, who had been in charge of harvesting vegetables for the past two days.

Today is coming to an end, and we should make it a perfect ending. It wouldn't be nice if something went wrong at the end.

After finishing up the farm work, Chen Jiazhi returned to his office, checked the accounts, and discussed the establishment of a canteen with Tong Gang, starting preparations as needed.
After finishing all that, he realized he hadn't seen Huang Chuan.

"Huang Chuan was in the warehouse early this morning; that young man is quite reliable."

The warehouse had four rooms, all quite large. Chen Jiazhi found Huang Chuan, who was covered in sweat, in one of the somewhat cluttered rooms. He stood at the door and watched him work for a while before coughing.

"Director Chen, when did you arrive?"

"I just arrived, let me rest for a while."

Huang Chuan's attitude made him feel comfortable. He had even helped out last night and was quite perceptive, so he planned to say a few more words.

"The warehouse work is actually not difficult. All you need to do is keep accounts. The rest, such as placement, retrieval and transportation, can be left to the team leader. There is no need to do it yourself."

"Oh, is that possible?"

"Of course you can. It's fine for you to do some simple tidying up of the warehouse occasionally, but your main job is purchasing. Just communicate with the team leader about warehouse matters. They have vegetable processing workers under them and will arrange the workers themselves."

"what?!"

"What do you mean 'ah'? I sent you to the supply and marketing cooperative, not to stay cooped up in the warehouse."

"Good~"

This was completely different from what Huang Chuan knew. As far as he knew, the previous warehouse manager was tortured to the point of death by Director Chen, and collapsed and gave up after working as a laborer in the warehouse for a few days.

Now, Director Chen says he doesn't need to do manual labor.

so good?
Maybe this is the benefit of helping to move the vegetable baskets last night. Director Chen is really pragmatic.

Then I remembered what I shared in the yard last night, and I felt like I had gained something.

Chen Jiazhi returned to his office, read a book for a while to help him fall asleep, and then went back to his dormitory to sleep. After waking up, he went back to his office for a short rest.

"cough~"

When he opened his eyes, he saw another beautiful face in the office. Chen Jiazhi sat up straight calmly and then looked Xu Wenxiang over again.

This woman always likes to wear white clothes, and today she's all in white again. Her long pants make her legs look even longer, and with her arms crossed, she exudes an imposing aura.

Chen Jiazhi calmly began pouring water and making tea. "When did you arrive?"

"Just arrived." Xu Wenxiang said, "Director Chen is living a pretty comfortable life. The vegetable fields are bustling with activity, and you can still steal a moment to relax here, sleeping and drinking tea."

Chen Jiazhi chuckled and said, "I've successfully completed my work. I can't very well take the team leader's job, can I?"

Having not received an invitation, Xu Wenxiang's face turned cold for a moment before she found a chair and sat down.

"Have you started preparing the next batch of vegetables?"

"I'm a very realistic person," Chen Jiazhi replied indifferently.

Xu Wenxiang smiled with a hint of self-deprecation: "President Huang was originally planning to organize a celebration banquet for you tonight."

Chen Jiazhi pushed a cup of tea in front of Xu Wenxiang, then looked up and said, "You should understand what I mean."

"So I canceled the celebration banquet. I know what you want, and I'm prepared." Xu Wenxiang stared at him. "But can't you be a little more humane?"

After pausing for two or three seconds, perhaps sensing something was amiss, he added, "At least on the surface, I have some affection for Jiangxin Market."

Does this mean the 25% dividend is going to happen?
Chen Jiazhi muttered to himself for a moment, then changed his expression again: "Of course I have feelings for Jiangxin Market, but I don't show it easily."

Xu Wenxiang couldn't help but pout. Money equals feelings, right? But at least having feelings on the surface is better than having none.

"Director Chen, we can start preparing for the next batch of vegetables. We'll start distributing profits once all the money has been received."

Xu Wenxiang slammed her hand on the table and said in a deep voice, "I'll give you 25% of the profits directly!"

(End of this chapter)