1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 289 Almost All in
Li Xiu was surprised and turned to look at Chen Jiazhi, who was focused on driving. "No way! The market was really good last June. I remember that in early June, bok choy and water spinach were selling for 2.5 and 2 yuan per jin respectively. By the end of June, premium bok choy was even selling for 3.5 yuan!"

"Do you remember why it's so expensive?"

There were two heavy rainstorms.

"I remember it very clearly. There was a heavy rain on May 25 last year. Before that, water spinach was only 50 cents and regular bok choy was only 80 cents. The price of vegetables skyrocketed after the rain. Then there was another heavy rain on June 18, and the price of bok choy rose to 3 yuan."

There should be heavy rains during the Dragon Boat Festival this year, but the period will be 20 to 30 days, so stockpiling goods now is very risky.

“But the Dragon Boat Festival is earlier this year!” Li Xiu said. “Brother Yi, Lao Beizi, and Lao Guo all said so. I also asked Jiang Lin, and it seems they have the same idea when they stock up on winter melons.”

Jiang Lin is Zhang Qiren's wife; the two are a married couple.

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "The Dragon Boat Festival is earlier than usual, but that doesn't mean the Dragon Boat Rain will come earlier. Besides, if everyone thinks that way, all the vegetables will be sold at the same time, and it's hard to say whether the market will pick up."

"Should we talk to Brother Yi and the others? I heard from Xue Jun that Ao Dehai also planned a lot of dishes in early June."

After Chen Jiazhi's suggestion, Li Xiu softened somewhat. If it were just Ao Dehai and Yi Dinggan, that would be one thing, but the key issue was that there were others in the market who shared this idea.
"It's alright, there's no harm in taking a gamble."

What if the vegetables don't sell well?

"We'll definitely be able to sell them. Huacheng is developing so fast now. It feels like there are construction sites and factories starting work every day. We won't have to worry about selling our vegetables. At most, the price will be a little lower."

It's just that the times are good; otherwise, Chen Jiazhi would have corrected Yi Dinggan and Ao Dehai's behavior long ago.

Currently and for the next ten years or so, the lower limit of the vegetable market is relatively high, making it the most suitable option for gamblers.

Even if we fail, it's good to teach Yi Dinggan and Ao Dehai a lesson, even if it comes at a small cost.

"Besides, we also have cold storage, so there's no need to worry about not being able to sell them. If the price is low, we can store them in the warehouse."

"I wanted to stock up on winter melons as soon as possible because I had access to cold storage."

"There's no need. If you hoard winter melons and the market doesn't pick up in half a month, not only will the winter melons become even cheaper, but the bok choy won't be able to be stored either. You'll lose a lot of money. Besides, once the cold storage is up and running, the electricity costs will be quite high."

Winter melon and leafy greens should not be stored together, as they are kept at different temperatures in cold storage.

Li Xiu asked in surprise, "Is there such a thing?"

"Of course," Chen Jiazhi said. "The ideal temperature for leafy vegetables in cold storage is 0-5℃, while winter melon is around 10-15℃. So my plan is for the market's cold storage to only store leafy vegetables."

A large cold storage facility is also under construction at the Jiangnan Market. Once it's completed, when there's a need to stock up on goods, people can rent cold storage space at the market, and vegetables purchased from outside can also be chilled there.

While driving, Chen Jiazhi would occasionally share some common sense knowledge with Li Xiu.

Whether it's growing or selling vegetables, Li Xiu is like a blank sheet of paper now.

Younger, prettier, and with a more alluring figure, but lacking Chen Jiazhi's nearly 30 years of professional vegetable-growing experience.

Li Xiu's past experience in farming in the countryside was completely inadequate to cope with the current situation.

Like a student fresh out of school in later generations, she was naive and clueless, but Chen Jiazhi immediately put her on a big project, which made her very uncomfortable.
Since finishing her postpartum confinement, Li Xiu has been quietly studying.

Sometimes I work in the fields, sometimes I take photos to record meaningful moments, sometimes I sit in the office reading and learning about management, and sometimes I go to the market to sell vegetables.
Chen Jiazhi let her do whatever she wanted; she tried her hand at various fields including administration and finance.
However, the management is indeed a bit lagging behind. Chen Jiazhi's pace is too fast; he has one idea today and a new one tomorrow.

Before she could even adjust to one thing, another new change occurred.

But Li Xiu never caused any trouble; if she was unsure or there was any controversy, she would listen to Chen Jiazhi.

Chen Jiazhi adapted to her style. In fact, it was the same in their previous life; he was the one who made the decisions about planting and selling vegetables.

During their casual conversation, Li Xiu also took notes on how to stock up on vegetables and why it was not a good time to do so.

In short: blindly following trends is a bad idea.

By the time I got home, it was almost ten o'clock.

Li Xiuxian was sent home to rest, while Chen Jiazhi went to the market to inspect the fields.

The recent trend is a bit aggressive, with everyone trying to gamble on market trends. It's not that you can't gamble, but don't always follow the trend. You need to find your own rhythm to succeed in the market.

He also emphasized the need for a little restraint these past two days.

But based on his understanding of Yi Dinggan, not going all in was already a sign of restraint.

So he came to inspect the fields to see how far he had gone in gambling.

After parking his car in the yard, Chen Jiazhi put on a straw hat, rode his bicycle out the door.

After a few days of intermittent rain, the weather cleared up again, and the air was slightly muggy.

After a month and a half of harvesting, the 300 acres of green peppers no longer look as vibrant as they did in their youth. They have become somewhat unkempt like those of middle-aged people, and they don't look as fresh anymore. Withered branches and fruits can be seen on the plants from time to time.

According to normal management, today is a sunny day, so it's time to arrange for someone to prune.

However, Chen Jiazhi traveled westward from Group 3 in the North Area, and only when he reached Group 1 in the North Area did he see Ao Deliang organizing people to manage the green pepper fields. In addition to pruning, some people were also spraying pesticides.

If Groups Two and Three of the Northern Region are like greasy middle-aged men, then Group One of the Northern Region highlights the maturity and composure of middle-aged men. They are well-dressed, have a charming demeanor, and possess their own unique appeal.
Chen Jiazhi stopped and admired the scenery.

Ao Deliang noticed him too, and came out, wearing a straw hat, old short-sleeved shirt and shorts, his arm offering the cigarette and his exposed calves were tanned to a bronze color.

"Boss, is there a problem?"

"Take mine." Chen Jiazhi habitually took out a cigarette, then added, "No problem, the management is beautiful, unlike those two rough guys next to me~"

Ao Deliang lit a cigarette and said, "The yield of green peppers is declining. Yongfeng and Huang Rixin are both thinking about planting a crop of leafy vegetables as soon as possible. They are preparing the bamboo strips needed for the small greenhouses. The Dragon Boat Festival rains are coming."

"how about you?"

"I was thinking that nobody can predict the market price for the next batch of leafy vegetables, but the price of green peppers is still good right now, so I should try my best to manage them well, harvest for as long as possible, and pick as many as possible to put the money I can earn into my pocket first~"

Chen Jiazhi gave a thumbs up, "Reliable!"

This is the most down-to-earth approach, and since Dongxiang, Ao Deliang has maintained his consistent style, taking meticulous care of the vegetable garden. Beneath his simple appearance lies a refined heart.

Group 1 of the North Plot is also the storefront of Jiangxin Vegetable Market. When people come to the market from the city or town, the first vegetable field they see is Group 1 of the North Plot. It is not only practical, but also pleasing to the eye.

After passing the first group of the northern section and turning the corner, you will arrive at the first group of the southern section.

Under each of the open little arched sheds, there were lush green vegetables, row upon row, column upon column, nestled together yet maintaining a proper distance.

It is neither too crowded nor too sparse, forming a green ocean.

Farmers, dressed in T-shirts and straw hats, were busy in the fields, some standing, some sitting, and some bending over.

Thinning seedlings, fertilizing, weeding, watering, spraying pesticides... everything is done in an orderly manner.

It also gathers the most active people in the market.

Chen Jiazhi examined each vegetable patch one by one, observing the size of the vegetables.

It's mainly bok choy.

As far as the eye can see, apart from one patch of large-stemmed water spinach, the rest are all cabbage hearts.

Chen Jiazhi's loofah and bitter melon seeds from last year were repurposed for the next crop by Yi Dinggan.

The snow peas were taken off the trellis at the beginning of the month, and it took several days to prepare the land. Chen Jiazhi remembers that the first batch of bok choy was planted on May 7.

Counting the time, 15 days have passed since today. If we sow about 20 mu (approximately 3.3 hectares) per day, we'll finish sowing just right.
However, the vegetable garden was all green!
Where are the newly planted plots of land?

Not a single vegetable patch showed any color of soil; everything was lush and green.

Chen Jiazhi was momentarily surprised, but not entirely unexpected; this was indeed Yi Dinggan.

He ignored Yi Dinggan and Li Mingkun, who were walking out of the vegetable field, and continued riding forward.

Half-grown seedlings, half-grown seedlings, half-grown seedlings, thinning is underway, thinning is underway, transplanting seedlings~
He also saw Qi Yongfeng and Huang Rixin from the northern area in the southern area.

Damn it, they're saying everyone's moved to the south, so all the work's concentrated in one place!

Chen Jiazhi stopped at the third group of the southern section in the southeast corner of the market, and the group leader Zheng Zhong came out.

"Boss, patrolling the fields?"

"I'm asking you, what was the last day you planted the bok choy in this group?"

"number 15."

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment, "So that means at least 30 mu of land were sown that day?"

"More or less," Zheng Zhong said. "That's how Director Yi arranged it. He said the market was good last year, and there's a good chance it will be good this year too, so we have to take a gamble."

"Not only are they gambling, but they're betting big!"

While they were chatting for a few minutes, Yi Dinggan came over. He still maintained his habit of addressing people by their titles in the workplace, and addressed him as "General Manager Chen."

Chen Jiazhi joked, "Director Yi, it seems you're really confident about making a big splash. If you hadn't come to inspect the fields, I wouldn't have known you were about to go all in!"

Yi Dinggan chuckled and said, "I made some minor adjustments. When it comes to growing vegetables, you have to be adaptable."

I feel there's a great opportunity. It's been raining for the past few days, and the Dragon Boat Festival rains are coming soon. As long as we get through this, we can make a fortune.

I've made all the preparations, and with the small greenhouse, as long as there's no large-scale flooding, we should be able to get through this."

The "Dragon Boat Water" period is the time with the most and most concentrated rainfall during the pre-flood season (April to June) in South China, often experiencing several consecutive days of heavy rain, torrential rain, and extremely heavy rain.

It usually occurs from late May to mid-June.

Last year, there were two periods of heavy rainfall, around May 25 and June 18.

At this time, most of the migrant vegetable farmers had no concept of the Dragon Boat Festival rains.

But Jiangxin Market is different.

Last June, Chen Jiazhi sold his 6 mu of land for over 6 yuan in a month, thanks to the "Dragon Boat Festival rains," making a great success.

Yi, Li, Guo, Qi, Ao and others were all deeply impressed.

So I want to reissue it this year.

Chen Jiazhi wasn't too harsh on him; he certainly liked a refined and reliable employee like Ao Deliang.

But in essence, Chen Jiazhi was also a gambler among vegetable farmers, only later he was educated by society to be a steady person.

Since power has been delegated, Yi Dinggan's decision to gamble on market trends is not a big deal.

"By the way, is the tray seedling cultivation still ongoing?"

"Yes!" Yi Dinggan said in a deep voice, "There are plenty of seedlings in the planting trays for Chinese cabbage right now, we just need to make room for transplanting them as soon as possible."

The earliest harvest time for the bok choy is May 5.31st, so I'd like to clear out a batch of green peppers~

"That won't do!" Chen Jiazhi categorically rejected.

"Nobody knows which days the Dragon Boat Festival rain will fall. What if it comes very late? Green peppers can at least guarantee a minimum income."

Once the seedlings in the plug trays have grown large enough, we harvest them and sell them as vegetable seedlings, then sow the next batch. The key is to always have seedlings ready for transplanting.

Green peppers ensure income in the first half of the season, while seedlings in plug trays can catch up with the market in the second half.

No matter when the Dragon Boat Festival rains come, there is a guarantee of income; the worst thing is when they don't come.

However, Guangzhou's Dragon Boat Festival has a history of over a thousand years, and given the backdrop of global warming, Guangzhou's Dragon Boat Festival should be getting stronger year by year, so there's no reason for it to be absent this year.

(End of this chapter)