1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 261 Another Twist
When Chen Jiazhi thought of Hong Kong dollars, he thought of the residential complex he had visited a couple of days ago, Ming Ya Yuan. Each apartment cost one or two million Hong Kong dollars and could only be paid in Hong Kong dollars. He imagined that the people living there must be very rich and powerful.

Even if he had Hong Kong dollars, he couldn't afford to buy one, and he wouldn't spend that much money on a house anytime soon.

However, Hong Kong dollars and foreign exchange were outside his area of ​​expertise.

Was there anything being kept from him during this process?

For example, the government provides subsidies and preferential policies for exchanging Hong Kong dollars.

江心菜场去年10月份销售收入265万元，今年1月份也有257.5万，总共522.5万元的收入。

If converted to Hong Kong dollars, that's quite a lot.

The next morning, Chen Jiazhi called Xu Wenxiang.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Xu!"

"Happy New Year!" Xu Wenxiang asked, "What does Director Chen want with me about?"

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Can't I just call you to wish you a Happy New Year?"

“You’re not that kind of person,” Xu Wenxiang teased. “You have no humanity, you only care about money!”

“You’re wronging me,” Chen Jiazhi said, dissatisfied. “Ask the managers and cooks below, and not one of them will say that I’m humane.”

Xu Wenxiang: "Okay, I'll take your kindness as a consideration. I've already paid my New Year's visit, so I'll hang up now if there's nothing else. I have things to do at the hotel."

"Oh, there's one more thing," Chen Jiazhi said, "Is the payment for vegetables at the market in Hong Kong dollars?"

"Heh, you still have the nerve to say you're not all about money!" Xu Wenxiang sneered. "It was settled in Hong Kong dollars, but your share was all converted to RMB."

After a moment's hesitation, Xu Wenxiang said, "I know what you're thinking. You haven't been shortchanged a single penny of what's rightfully yours."

"Mr. Xu is very generous." Chen Jiazhi took a sip of tea and then asked, "Could you also help me open a Hong Kong dollar account?"

What do you need Hong Kong dollars for?

“Buy a house.”

“Sure.” Xu Wenxiang then asked, “But if you buy a house, will you still have money to invest in the new base?”

Chen Jiazhi: "I'm not buying it now, and I can't afford it anyway. I'll just keep it for now, and maybe I'll need it later."

Xu Wenxiang asked curiously, "Tell me, which property have you taken a liking to, but can't afford it?"

“Ming Ya Yuan,” Chen Jiazhi said irritably, “I heard it only costs Hong Kong dollars, how arrogant.”

Xu Wenxiang said in surprise, "You have good taste. The houses in Mingya Garden are indeed nice, but who told you that Mingya Garden can only be bought with Hong Kong dollars?"

"I heard it from someone else." Chen Jiazhi said in surprise, "So you mean you can buy it without Hong Kong dollars?"

“Of course, but right now you can only buy second-hand houses.” Xu Wenxiang smiled. “If you want to buy, I have a house over there that I can sell to you.”

"Wow, a rich woman!" Chen Jiazhi exclaimed, then added, "Forget it, you've got a good plan, but I don't want to work for you anymore."

Have you ever seen a wage earner receive millions in bonuses?

Xu Wenxiang sounded somewhat unhappy. She felt she had done everything perfectly, but Chen Jiazhi just wouldn't appreciate it.

"First, you're a shareholder; second, you're part of the core management team, entitled to a 25% share of the agreed-upon dividends. What more do you want?!"

"I'm not used to having people bossing me around," Chen Jiazhi said in a deep voice.

Xu Wenxiang was angry, but she knew she couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she could only hum twice.

Chen Jiazhi didn't hang up the phone. He stood up to add water to his teacup, deliberately holding the teapot high so that the sound of adding water could be heard on the other end of the phone.

"I'll leave you the Hong Kong dollars later." Xu Wenxiang breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "When do we talk about the new base?"

"Let's wait a bit longer," Chen Jiazhi said. "We'll have time at least after the Lantern Festival, when most of the vegetable workers have returned, or maybe next month."

Aren't you in a hurry?

“This can’t be rushed,” Chen Jiazhi said thoughtfully. “If everything goes smoothly, the new base will not start construction until the second half of the year.”

There was another brief silence.

Xu Wenxiang said, "How about I let you become a major shareholder of Jiangxin Vegetable Market?"

Um? ! !
Chen Jiazhi was shocked: "What do you mean?"

Xu Wenxiang repeated, "If we make you the major shareholder of Jiangxin Vegetable Market, we'll transfer a portion of the shares in Jiangxin Vegetable Market to you. Is that clear enough?"

Quiet.

Chen Jiazhi was genuinely surprised. "Why? Jiangxin Market is so profitable, why are you giving it up?"

Xu Wenxiang pondered for a moment and said, "Jiangxin Market was able to make money because of you. Now that you're gone, no one can guarantee that Jiangxin Market will continue to make money, or even return to its previous state of loss."

Chen Jiazhi said, "It's not that I would lose money; I'm not that heartless."

"I do not believe."

"..."

"What do you think?"

Will the other shareholders agree?

"You have to agree, whether you like it or not." Xu Wenxiang said in a deep voice, "The Spruce Hotel has been quite turbulent lately, and there will be a reshuffle. So, think about it first, there's no rush, no need to rush at all."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Jiazhi leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, deep in thought. He couldn't understand the connection between Yunshan's reshuffling and Jiangxin vegetable market, but he was indeed considering whether it was feasible.
It's definitely feasible.

Jiangxin vegetable market is already well-established, with perfect roads, ditches, water, and electricity. He has also put a lot of effort into adjusting the fields, and has applied organic fertilizer twice in the past six months. The situation is visibly improving.
Here, he also earned his first million yuan. He's a very sentimental person.
Is all that effort spent on inspecting the base just going to be wasted?

It seems there wasn't much loss.

This phone call, just to ask about Hong Kong dollars, caused such a big change, which really caught him off guard.

Therefore, there is indeed no need to rush.

After pondering for the time it takes to drink a pot of tea, Chen Jiazhi decided to wait and see how things unfolded, focusing on the present moment, which actually made things much easier.

Time continues to move forward.

The harvest of snow peas at Jiangxin Vegetable Market and Dongxiang Vegetable Market is gradually entering its peak season.

Sometimes it feels like even picking once a day isn't enough to keep up with the growth rate of the bean pods.

This also led to a stabilization in production.

The daily harvest at Jiangxin vegetable market has remained at around 10,000 jin, while the daily harvest at Dongxiang vegetable market has stabilized at around 350 jin.

Prices remained stable during the holidays and did not fall further, resulting in stable income for both markets, which entered a relatively stable period.

Stability is also relatively reassuring.

People like Xu Yao and Tong Gang really enjoy this stable work environment. They have plenty of time to drink tea, take walks, and walk their birds every day, and they live in the countryside. This is the kind of life that many urban office workers dream of in the future.

However, Chen Jiazhi was not fond of this kind of stability. In this turbulent era, we should forge ahead!
To put it bluntly, you should be more aggressive and try to capitalize on the market!
However, there is indeed no opportunity for a breakout at the moment. Apart from Jiangxin Market trying to make a comeback with sweet peppers, Dongxiang Market has also entered a period of stability.

After reviewing the production plan devised by Ao Dehai, Chen Jiazhi concluded that for the last four or five months, only one word stood out: stability!

The Dongxiang vegetable market has 50 mu of land, with 30 mu planted with Chinese cabbage hearts, 10 mu with mustard greens, and 10 mu with Chinese kale.

Moreover, the time distribution is very reasonable, inheriting Chen Jiazhi's initial concept of having a stable supply of vegetables over a long period of time.

This way, while preventing a surge in sales, it also distributes the daily sales pressure, allowing for better coordination with sales and delivery operations in the future.

On February 10th, Yi Dinggan and his family returned from their hometown with large bags and small packages, taking a taxi and bringing along several migrant workers.

They all came here to grow vegetables.

Chen Jiazhi had Yi Dinggan make the arrangements, while he sized up another sallow-faced, muscular young man: Yi Hu.

Besides being thin, Yi Hu's most striking feature is his pair of large ears.

There's a saying that if your ears are an inch bigger, you'll never be poor; people with big ears are generally considered to have a better fate.

If this statement were applied to Yi Hu, Chen Jiazhi felt it would make some sense.

Later, Yi Hu had a happy family, a successful career, and both of his children were admitted to key universities.

"Uncle, Aunt, Grandpa, Grandma..."

Like Yi Long, Yi Hu is also an extroverted person. As soon as he got home, he started greeting people and was very curious about everything there.

In just two or three days, Yi Hu became familiar with life at the market, and by the second morning he had learned to ride a bicycle. By the afternoon, he dared to ride on the street, his speed making Li Xiu and Chen Jiafang feel ashamed.

When the two went to ask for advice, Yi Hu pointed to the abrasions on his hands and legs.

"Mom, Aunt, don't be afraid of falling. You'll learn after falling two or three times. It's very simple."

Perhaps because he was bullied by his older siblings, Yi Hu developed a ruthless streak from a young age, and he was also intelligent and eager to learn.

Two days later, Yi Hu joined the group learning Mandarin.

Upon learning that he might not be able to leave Jiangxin Vegetable Market, Yi Dinggan angrily complained about Chen Jiazhi for a few minutes, and then took Yi Hu to contact the school.

Yi Long and Yi Hu are 18 months apart in age. Yi Long repeated a grade, but the two brothers were eventually assigned to the same class.

Yi Long had a ruddy complexion and a well-proportioned figure, while Yi Hu looked like a skinny monkey.

Fortunately, the conditions are now in place, and Peng Guozhen is thinking about what delicious food to make for him every day.

The already dwindling numbers of chickens and rabbits suffered another devastating blow.

Yi Dinggan hasn't been to work these past few days. Besides taking care of things at school, he also took Yi Long and Yi Hu to the city for a trip.

Before we knew it, the Lantern Festival had arrived.

In the morning, Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan went to the vegetable market to inspect the fields as usual. The smell of fermenting manure had already faded.

Lifting the small arched shed for seedling cultivation, one is greeted by vibrant sweet pepper seedlings.

Yi Dinggan exclaimed, "The sprouting is really good!"

Chen Jiazhi said, "It's mainly thanks to Yongfeng. He personally took care of every step, from preparing the nutrient soil, disinfecting, sowing, watering, and ventilating, providing the most suitable growing environment for the chili seedlings. These seedlings are worthy of his efforts."

"It's not that good." Qi Yongfeng scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

"No need to be modest, you really did a good job, that's your strength."

Chen Jiazhi also discovered that, apart from being a bit reckless and having brute strength, Qi Yongfeng was arguably the best among the group leaders in terms of hands-on work, along with Ao Deliang.

Whether it's heavy physical labor like moving goods, tilling the land, or ridging, or delicate tasks like sowing, spraying pesticides, or harvesting, he likes to do them himself.

In addition, he had been learning various theories and experiences from him since he started at the Dongxiang vegetable market, and through his daily accumulation, he made considerable progress.

During the Spring Festival, Chen Jiazhi and his companions who stayed at the vegetable market experienced a kind of joy akin to "my son has grown up."

(End of this chapter)