1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 233 Long Summer
Li Cai and Chen Zhengxu were both quite excited. A large part of the reason they were willing to come to Huacheng was to learn to drive.

Seeing this car now is like seeing a precious treasure.

But soon after getting on the bus, Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai started taking off their clothes, first their coats, then their sweaters, and underneath they were wearing long sleeves.

"Why is it still so hot in Huacheng?!"

"I feel like I'm covered in sweat."

"Welcome to Huacheng!" Chen Jiazhi chuckled twice. It was only four o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was just setting.

Once the car started moving and a breeze blew in, the two of them finally calmed down.

"Brother Chen, I heard you bought this car for 68,000 yuan, is that true?"

"real."

Li Cai looked at the somewhat unfamiliar houses outside the car window, then glanced at his brother-in-law, who was skillfully controlling the steering wheel.

He exchanged another glance with Chen Zhengxu, who was equally intrigued by everything.

Previously, although Li Cai did not dislike his brother-in-law, his parents strongly opposed it, believing that his fifth sister had found a pretty face.

Who could have imagined that things would change so much?

Many people still don't believe it.

Li Cai didn't believe it at first either. The reason he didn't look down on his brother-in-law was because he was good-looking.

But now, having only just met him, he believes it all.

Along the way, Li Cai and Chen Zhengxu kept asking questions, filled with longing for the future.

In their occasional casual conversations, Chen Jiazhi also rediscovered memories of the two of them when they were young.

Chen Zhengxu is like his older cousin Chen Jiashun; he is very down-to-earth and steady, and has a strong learning ability. He will definitely have no problem learning to drive.

Li Cai, on the other hand, is more quick-witted.

Chen Jiazhi's father-in-law had been the village accountant for over ten years. Although Li Cai had studied carpentry, he had become quite familiar with accounting through his exposure to the field. It would be suitable for him to move into the procurement direction.

"Uncle, stop the car. I'm going to buy two short-sleeved shirts. It's so hot, and I didn't bring any."

"I'll go as well."

Upon arriving in town, Chen Zhengxu was surprised to see vendors selling short-sleeved shirts by the roadside, as it was already November and there were still people selling them on the main street.

Chen Jiazhi was worried that the two were not familiar with each other, so he also got out of the car, but Li Cai took care of things himself.

Feeling the warmth of the sun, Chen Jiazhi couldn't help but sigh that this year's weather was indeed a bit abnormal.

This summer is too long!
A few days ago, Xue Jun, who runs a market, also told him about the recent market situation, saying that vegetable prices had already dropped to a negligible level.

Because the rain alleviated the drought, and the weather was sunny and continued to be cool, the vegetables grew extremely fast!

Vegetables in the market gradually piled up like mountains, but fortunately, the trading volume was also large, and although the prices were low, they kept selling.

Many vegetable farmers who had endured the hardships of the past six months breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Jiazhi simply had long since looked down on this kind of ordinary market situation.
The roadside trees are still lush and green.

On the side of the road, Chen Jiazhi saw a familiar figure carrying a schoolbag and riding a bicycle back home. It was Yi Long.

"Drip~"

"uncle!"

After exchanging greetings, Chen Jiazhi turned back and introduced Li Cai and the other person.

A few days ago, Yi Long enrolled in school to repeat the sixth grade. He had dropped out in the second semester of sixth grade and said he could barely keep up with the pace, except for some language barriers.

I've been studying Mandarin lately.

Chen Jiazhi would also teach Li Xiu Mandarin from time to time in the evenings.

Soon they arrived home, and upon hearing the commotion, Li Xiu, Peng Guozhen, and Chen Shaochang all came out to greet them.

As for Yi Dinggan and Chen Jiafang, they are still working at the vegetable market.

Actually, there isn't much work to do.

The first batch of snow peas planted so far has just sprouted and does not yet require water or fertilizer management.

Since mulch has been laid, weeding is not necessary for the time being; only some simple auxiliary work can be done.

Chen Jiazhi didn't go to the market today; he stayed home to settle Li Cai and Chen Zhengxu.

There happened to be an extra empty room. We had also brought back two small wooden plank beds beforehand, and the two of us slept in one room without complaining. In our rural hometown, several people usually squeeze into one room.

After settling into his accommodation, Yi Long returned, greeted everyone, and began doing his homework.

Li Xiu and Peng Guozhen began preparing dinner, and Chen Zhengxu volunteered to show off his skills, as he had also studied cooking for a while.

Chen Jiazhi knew that his cooking skills were indeed good, so he let him take charge of the cooking.

When the meal was ready, Yi Dinggan and Chen Jiafang returned. They immediately offered cigarettes to the two men. "Jiazhi, Zhengxu just arrived, and you're already making him cook? That's not proper hospitality!"

Chen Zhengxu wiped his hands on his apron before taking the cigarette and said with a smile, "Son-in-law, I insisted on cooking myself. Didn't I want to show you my skills?"

"Oh, that's great." Yi Dinggan immediately laughed and said, "We all have to have a drink tonight. Jiazhi, you have a drink too. It's been a long time since we drank together."

Chen Zhengxu asked in surprise, "Uncle doesn't drink anymore?"

Chen Jiazhi: "I drive frequently now and I basically don't drink anymore. You should do the same in the future. You can't drink while working. Driving under the influence is very dangerous."

There are currently no penalties for drunk driving, and driving under the influence is still quite common.

However, Chen Jiazhi was well aware of the dangers of drunk driving and had to emphasize it in particular.

However, he has been quite a spoilsport lately. Every night, Yi Dinggan would accompany the two elders for a drink, and when it was time to pour the second drink, he would speak up to remind them.

After a pause, Chen Jiazhi added, "But we're happy today, so we can drink a little less."

"Hahaha, that's more like it." Yi Dinggan laughed twice and started pouring wine from the wine pot.

When they had drunk enough, Chen Jiazhi brought up the topic of learning to drive, and the two of them would also have to work temporarily at Jiangxin Vegetable Market.

Li Cai was in charge of the warehouse and also assisted Huang Chuan in purchasing bulk supplies, which was equivalent to learning from him.

They also arranged a job for Chen Zhengxu as a tricycle driver. He had previously worked at a feed mill and knew how to drive a tricycle.

The next day, Chen Jiazhi took the two of them to a driving school to register. It was the same driving school where he had learned to drive before.

The two quickly settled into a rhythm of working and learning to drive at the same time, and also took the initiative to join the ranks of those learning Mandarin.

...

On November 12, the temperature once again approached 30°C at noon.

It's already snowing in the north.

In Guangzhou, while autumn seems a long way off, the typhoons on the sea are working overtime to meet their targets.

There has been relatively more rain recently.

The first two batches of snow peas were all treated with foliar fertilization and pest and disease control.

"Director Chen, how long do you plan to wait before planting these bok choy?"

In the afternoon, Yi Dinggan knocked on the door and entered Chen Jiazhi's office. The latter was reading a book in the office, and Yi Dinggan immediately urged him to hurry up.

"You seem to have a very leisurely life."

"There's no use in rushing." Chen Jiazhi put down his book and poured tea for Yi Dinggan. "Where are the others?"

Yi Dinggan: "They're still playing cards under the tree. They've been so bored these past few days. Aren't the other shareholders worried at all?"

Chen Jiazhi pointed to the phone on the table: "I get calls from Xu Wenxiang or Huang Jianyuan every day or two now, I'm used to it."

Yi Dinggan said, "Looking at the weather this year, it's still so hot now, it doesn't look like there's going to be a cold wave!"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Is it possible that because it's so hot now, it will get really cold later?"

Yi Dinggan shook his head: "Forget all that nonsense, I just want you to give me a straight answer: when are we going to plant the seeds?"
If they work one day and rest one day like this, the workers will have to travel a lot more!

"Let's wait two more days and start sowing on the 14th." Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment, then said, "Still the same three varieties, 100 mu each, 60 mu a day, sowing will be completed in 5 days."

Yi Dinggan asked in surprise, "Isn't this too concentrated?"

Chen Jiazhi: "No, the growing period of late-maturing Chinese cabbage is 10 days longer, and if it is a cold winter, the vegetables will grow very slowly in those days, giving us enough time to harvest and sell them."

Yi Dinggan: "Yes, that makes sense."

Chen Jiazhi: "There's another matter. Yan Hao drove off to pick up a special planter for Chinese cabbage. This time, we'll test the effect by planting 100 mu with the machine first."

"Okay, I also want to try this thing you're talking about and see if it's really that amazing!"

Another day passed, and the perceived temperature seemed a bit lower than the day before.

But it wasn't until evening, when he heard the news on the radio, that Chen Jiazhi dared to believe that autumn had officially arrived in Huacheng.

According to reports, from a meteorological perspective, Guangzhou's summer lasted 234 days, making it the longest summer in its history.

There are only 365 days in a year!

Summer is almost two-thirds over!

What Chen Jiazhi didn't know was that this record wasn't broken until 30 years later, in 2024.

Starting from November 14th, Jiangxin Vegetable Market successfully completed the sowing of 300 mu of Chinese cabbage in just 5 days.

At the same time, the Dongxiang vegetable market also completed its sowing.

Less than a week after the choy sum seedlings sprouted uniformly in the two vegetable markets, a strong cold front began to move south, and the short autumn seemed to be coming to an end.

(End of this chapter)