1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 291 Persistence is Meaning
The rain fell on and off for a day and a night.

Early in the morning, the sun, which vegetable farmers both love and hate, rose above the river.

When the sun comes out, the thin film has to be removed immediately, which is a recurring torment.

However, when the vibrant green cabbages sway in the wind, cheering and singing like elementary school students, all the hard work is worthwhile.

I didn't go to sell vegetables last night, but Chen Jiazhi arrived at the market at four o'clock in the morning and sent a truckload of seedlings in pots to Dongxiang very early.

As expected, seedlings will be sent over every day until around June 10th.

This will ensure that the Dongxiang vegetable market has enough capacity and that there are still vegetables available before the land is requisitioned, making the most of the land.
This also solved the problem of Jiangxin vegetable market not having any open space, and at the same time, it brought in a batch of income from selling seedlings, which at least allowed it to break even.

This creates a perfect cycle, and no matter when the rains come during the Dragon Boat Festival, the market can always maintain a steady supply of water.

As the vegetable workers gradually returned to work, the morning market was exceptionally vibrant, a lush and green scene.

Chen Jiazhi walked around the field, which was both work and exercise.

As the blazing sun rose, he turned back, and the installation of the cold storage and foam box factory entered its final equipment debugging phase.

Actually, neither of these is difficult; Chen Jiazhi had encountered both in his previous life.

However, the current costs are a bit high, and most vegetable farmers simply don't have the financial capacity to do so, and many vegetable markets are also unwilling to invest.

Another example is the small arched greenhouse. It's a very practical technology, but many people are unsure about it and the cost is high, so they hesitate to invest.

Once the situation becomes clear and people dare to invest, many will realize that all they can do is drink soup and water.

This is what happens when people follow trends without even understanding them.

After watching the installer work on it for a while in front of the cold storage, the compressor suddenly started running with a whirring sound.

Chen Jiazhi inspected the inside and outside of the cold storage, taking possession of the results that cost 50 yuan.

The cold storage is already being cleaned and disinfected. The interior is 20 meters long, 15 meters wide, and about 2.2 meters high, which is more than 100 cubic meters larger than the expected 500 cubic meters.

If the bok choy is stored in plastic crates, it can easily hold 200 tons, and possibly even 300 tons. We'll have to test it to find out the exact amount.

But it's perfectly adequate for now.

At the same time, the foam box factory also carried out trial production. In fact, it only needed a few sets of equipment, two experienced masters, and a few more workers to start operation.

The main raw material is polystyrene. According to the current mold design, it can hold 30 to 50 kilograms of vegetables. One ton of raw material can produce about 5000 foam boxes.

Polystyrene is a petrochemical raw material, currently priced at over 8000 yuan per ton, which is relatively expensive, but labor costs are low.

Overall, the cost of each foam box can be controlled at around 2 yuan.

Chen Jiazhi can accept this cost; it's much more cost-effective than buying from outside. Who knows, he might even be able to sell the foam boxes to outsiders in the future.

After acceptance, signing, and payment of the settlement amount, the two major facilities, costing a total of 100 million yuan, are ready for operation at any time.

...

As dusk fell, the light gradually became hazy and indistinct, mingling with the sunset on the horizon, igniting the clouds, and scattering oranges and tangerines all over the ground. The farmers also became silhouettes, disappearing from the surrounding area of ​​the market.

Next to the cold storage.

Chen Jiazhi is organizing tonight's debriefing meeting.

"Starting tomorrow, green peppers can be picked in the morning before the dew, and they will be packed in styrofoam boxes. They will be pre-cooled in cold storage first, and then loaded onto trucks and dispatched in the evening."

There are two key points: first, inferior fruits must be removed before they are put into storage; second, the preservation temperature should be set at around 8-12℃.

The storage temperature must not be too low. Once the temperature drops, the green peppers will darken in color, develop spots, taste worse, and rot more easily.

There are actually many other points to consider. For example, if you want green peppers to be stored for a long time, you need to use bleaching powder and peracetic acid to sterilize and disinfect them, but Chen Jiazhi only needs to pre-cool them for a short period of time.

"Mr. Chen, selling like this is fine. Pre-cooling adds to the cost of foam boxes and electricity. Where will we get the money for these extra costs?"

Qi Yongfeng's address of "General Manager Chen" caught Chen Jiazhi off guard. This group of people had all been corrupted by Yi Dinggan.

"What do you say?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled meaningfully.

Yi Dinggan immediately understood, "Of course it's because the cost is ultimately borne by the consumer, and they can raise the price when they sell it, right?"

"Of course! I provide a service, so naturally it has to offer corresponding value. Pre-cooling can reduce field heat in vegetables, inhibit respiration and microbial growth, extend shelf life, and increase commercial value."
With so many benefits, it's reasonable for me to charge an extra three to five yuan per dish, right?

"That makes sense."

The cold storage and foam boxes were still new to everyone, but they were also mentally prepared for it.

The equipment has been upgraded time and time again, from bamboo baskets last year to plastic baskets with ice packs later, and now to plastic baskets with pre-cooling storage and foam boxes.

It feels like a complete upgrade from a slingshot to a cannon.

Night fell, a gentle breeze carried a slight chill.

A day later, Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu embarked on their vegetable-selling journey once again. Li Xiu, who had rested and studied at home all day, spoke enthusiastically about the day's achievements.

Before long, we arrived at the market.

Yesterday, the production of green peppers was delayed by a day, but the yield did not increase.

Apart from the 7 tons sent to Hong Kong, stall number 63 only kept 8 tons of green peppers.

However, the Dongxiang vegetable market had 5 tons of green vegetables, and Li Cai also sent back a truckload of bok choy from another place, about 8 tons, for a total of 20 tons of vegetables.

When Chen Jiazhi arrived at the stall, all the vegetables except for the green peppers had already been unloaded.

Xue Jun stepped forward with some concern and said, "The truckload of bok choy that came back today isn't in very good condition. I just opened a few baskets, and they were quite moist."

Did it rain in Foshan during the day?

"I heard it rained when the vegetables were halfway delivered."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu immediately went to check on the bok choy. There were a few water droplets on the leaves, and the overall condition seemed normal, but the problem was in the lower layers. After selecting a basket, Chen Jiazhi took out the bok choy layer by layer, and the middle and lower layers were already showing signs of 'high fever'.

"Can't the market cool down yet?"

"No, I heard it won't be until August."

"By August, the daylilies will be too cold. Oh well, we can't cool them down even if we have water." Chen Jiazhi picked out another basket to check, and found the same thing.

What was the purchase price of this truckload?

"It costs 55 cents a pound, and the selling price is set at 70 cents, but nobody wants it. Customers would rather buy the cabbage hearts from the Dongxiang market for 1 yuan."

"Let's sell it at a low price, 6 cents per pound, and see if anyone wants it." Chen Jiazhi no longer hesitated.

Xue Jun felt a pang of heartache and said through gritted teeth, "Why don't we wait a little longer? Once the bok choy at the Dongxiang vegetable market is sold out, someone will naturally want to send the goods back."

"Reputation is more important than losing money," Chen Jiazhi emphasized. "Even with cheap products, you need to be clear about the details."

"If we explain it clearly, will anyone still buy it?"

"As long as it's cheap, people will buy it."

Newcomers are constantly entering this industry. There will always be some who are skeptical and greedy for cheap deals, and many others who lack experience.

Just like the truckload of vegetables that Li Cai sent back, he suffered from a lack of experience. When it rains, no matter what, the farmers should be stopped from continuing to harvest vegetables immediately.

If Chen Jiazhi were to source the goods from other regions, he would likely also focus on packaging, reducing the weight per crate, adding ice packs for freshness, and so on.
In summer, ensuring the safe transportation of leafy greens to the market is a crucial step in wholesaling them.

Therefore, most leafy vegetable production bases are now located in the suburbs of large cities.

How much are the green peppers today?

"Same as always, two yuan and thirty cents."

"Tsk, the price of green peppers just won't come down this year." The customer was a regular; after complaining, he still ordered several hundred kilograms of green peppers.

Xue Jun asked, "What about the other dishes? Do you want any more?"

How much are the bok choy?

"6 cents here, 1 dollar there."

"Take the 1 yuan ones, 200 jin." The regular customer glanced at them and, without hesitation, took the vegetables from Dongxiang.

Xue Jun sized up the newcomer, silently thinking to himself, "This is an experienced procurement person; I haven't even given him a heads-up yet!"

This is almost a microcosm of the entire night.

Green peppers are being shipped out with a clatter.

The premium Chinese cabbage from Dongxiang has no trouble selling. In addition to long-term customers like Juanmao and Lao Wu, it has also gradually accumulated new customers through word of mouth and quality.

The cheapest bok choy is the only one that gets very few customers; those who are interested are either novices or those who are very aggressive in negotiating the price.

Even by dawn, this truckload of smuggled bok choy was still not sold out.

Chen Jiazhi lifted the lid of another basket of bok choy, and some of the vegetables underneath had already begun to rot.

"Forget it, don't sell them anymore, just throw the rest away."

"what?"

"install?"

Xue Jun and Li Xiu were both a little incredulous. "There are still at least two thousand jin left. If this collapses, we'll suffer a huge loss today."

Li Xiu also said, "We'll lose at least two thousand yuan."

"Let it go, keeping it is just asking for trouble." Chen Jiazhi was quite optimistic, laughing, "If someone comes looking for me, I'll run first, okay?"

"What a pity!"

“In business, there are gains and losses. Learn from your mistakes and come back next time. Tell Li Cai not to send the cabbage back yet, or to come back and rest for a couple of days. He's been gone for almost half a month.”

For half a month, I was actually making money the whole time. Each truckload could bring in more than 2,000 yuan in profit. After deducting expenses, the net profit for the stall was about 400 yuan.

Even if this truckload loses money, there will still be a net profit of more than two thousand over the past two weeks.

Chen Jiazhi was quite satisfied.

After all, Li Cai and Xue Jun were complete novices before this, with no business experience whatsoever, let alone vegetable wholesale.

Chen Jiazhi didn't feel bad at all about throwing away the remaining two thousand kilograms of vegetables.

Compared to the income brought by green peppers, this loss is negligible.
However, besides Li Xiu and Xue Jun, there was someone else who felt great pity for him, namely Zhang Qiren from next door.

"Old Chen, leafy greens must be hard to cook these days, right?"

"It's quite difficult. You've brought in a lot of melons!" Chen Jiazhi said, looking at his row of winter melons, cucumbers, bitter melons, and cowpeas.

"Haha, it's alright, I can barely make a little money from hard work."

Chen Jiazhi didn't say much, remembering that it's easy to speak too frankly with someone you don't know well.

He felt that Zhang Qiren was selling too many different kinds of goods without any focus on a particular product; he thought it would be better to specialize in winter melons.

After painstakingly disposing of the vegetables, Chen Jiazhi went to the distribution center, while Chen Zhengxu went to visit clients.

He looked at Chen Zhengxu's visit records, writing page after page, and the delivery continued rain or shine.

No matter how much or how little you earn, as long as you keep moving forward, perseverance is the meaning.

After looking at the documents for a while and estimating the time, Chen Jiazhi dialed Xia Youche's number again.

"Hey, Mr. Xia, the bok choy should be available early next month. We'll also be making some adjustments to the packaging, just letting you know in advance~"

(End of this chapter)