1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 298 Another heavy bag of money
Inside the styrofoam box, each bok choy had been carefully arranged, neatly, without damage or disease spots, showcasing a uniform aesthetic.

"Sigh~"

Many people approached to examine the plants as if they had never seen anything like it before. Because they were graded, each plant was almost identical in size and length.

The people in this market can't withstand this kind of shock, and nobody mentions the high prices anymore.

Expensive reason.

While everyone was still hesitating, two regular customers who had followed from stall number 56 in Haizhu District were ready to place an order, but they were still complaining.

“It should have been done a long time ago. Chen Cai Nong can’t forget his roots. His handicrafts were already very beautiful when he was in Haizhu.”

"Now that they've switched to foam boxes, it feels like it's gone up a notch, but the price is painful!"

"Hey, are the prices the same for all sizes of bok choy?"

"The price is the same today, 45 yuan per item. We may adjust it later depending on the situation."

"The small-sized bok choy is a bit pricey. How about this, give me 10 small-sized bok choy first."

Those nearby secretly grumbled, "If you think it's too expensive, why did you take ten items?"

"Hey, why haven't the kale and mustard greens arrived yet? Are they the same standard?"

Xue Jun explained with a smile: "The kale and mustard greens will arrive a little later. The harvesting standards are the same, but that's the old base, so the packaging is a bit different, and there's no cold storage for pre-cooling. However, the price will be a bit cheaper."

"Okay, I'll come back later."

With someone taking the lead, the remaining people who followed also placed orders one after another, taking several or ten boxes of goods, not too many and not too few, and some even asked about tomorrow's goods.

"We'll also have bok choy tomorrow, though not in large quantities, but we've been able to maintain a stable supply for a long time recently."

The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, which coincides with Children's Day and the weekend. Although there is no holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival, the country just implemented a two-day weekend policy starting from May 1st this year, which is the beginning of the month.

Compared to last year, spending during this year's Dragon Boat Festival will undoubtedly reach new heights.

Many restaurants and hotels have entered the stocking phase, as leafy vegetables are not easy to keep fresh, and they usually only start stocking up in the last two days.

However, leafy greens can sometimes be hard to find.

"Give me a few more boxes." Hearing that the stock might not be enough, the man quickly added a few more boxes.

Li Cai chuckled to himself. Xue Jun looked rough and unrefined, but his mind was wicked. If there weren't many vegetables in the market, would he still be at the stall?

They went out to find goods early.

More than half an hour later, after the first wave of customers had been cleared out, He Qiang and the others finally had the opportunity to properly unload their goods into the stall.

Li Cai also took three boxes of samples, large, medium and small. After opening the boxes, he placed them in front of the cashier's table, where anyone passing by in the aisle could see them.

Everyone who sees it is captivated. Even if they don't buy it, they can't help but take a second look, just like when they see a handsome man or a beautiful woman. Such exquisite bok choy is a rare find.

"These vegetables are selling like hotcakes."

Li Cai stood in the passageway, constantly attracting the scrutinizing glances of passersby.

Xue Jun said, "That's why we brought you back to sell vegetables. You're good-looking, which matches our vegetables and the vibe of the stall."

"Hey, you're pretty good with words." Li Cai laughed. "Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to go out. I don't know how to use that thing. When we go on long trips, Brother Chen will definitely let you come along."

That thing naturally referred to a gun. Xue Jun understood immediately and realized that his large size was an advantage.

People started taking the bok choy one after another. 10 tons of bok choy only yielded 667 boxes. There were more people taking the goods than yesterday, but the sales speed did not increase much.

"Fewer people are taking it back for wholesale; it's mostly restaurant and canteen customers now."

"After all, the price is high. If we take it back and wholesale it, and then we can't sell it for a good price, we might lose a lot of money."

With another free moment, Xue Jun and Li Cai were taking stock of the customers' orders. Most of them were small and medium-sized customers buying a few boxes at a time, while the number of people buying a dozen or even dozens of boxes at a time had decreased significantly.

"Boss Chen hasn't come today yet? Hmm... this bok choy, this bok choy..." Curly-haired Mao Liangcai wanted to say how beautiful it was, but he swallowed the words back.

"It doesn't feel that new!"

Both of them knew Curly Hair. Li Cai said, "This is a new batch of bok choy. It was harvested for the first time this morning and has been kept in cold storage. It's very fresh. They even added ice packs inside. As long as you don't open the box, it will keep for four or five days without any problems."

Curly picked up a handful of bok choy hearts with his hands. They felt cool and smooth to the touch, and were all the same size. He pinched the head of the bok choy with his fingers and found it to be crisp and tender.

Seeing him picking vegetables, Li Cai felt a pang of heartache and asked, "Manager Juan, how much stock are you taking today?"

"How much?" Curly had already glimpsed the price listed on the foam board. "Is it the same?"

"The uniform price is 45 yuan per piece."

"That guy surnamed Chen really knows how to make trouble. He gave me 10 boxes of the same goods, which is 1350 yuan in total, right? Can I round it down to 1300 yuan?" Curly Hair had already started taking money out of his pocket.

Li Cai's face darkened. "I can't round it down. We've been working together for a long time, and you know the rules. No bargaining."

"That guy surnamed Chen has so many ridiculous rules!"

Neither of us has the surname Chen, Li Cai silently endured the resentment from Curly Hair, but he didn't lose a single penny.

Curly then organized a truck to pick up the goods. Looking at stall number 63, which was operating like an assembly line, he couldn't help but mutter "Holy crap!"

Vegetables are of uniform quality, packaged uniformly, weighed in standard quantities, and sold at a fixed price—there's no worry about them selling!
This guy surnamed Chen doesn't need to come to sell vegetables; he can just stay home and wait to collect and count the money.

He felt he could always find something new in Chen Cai Nong's methods, and they were quite effective, with many customers becoming deeply engrossed in them.

...

As time went by, every hour or so, a new truckload of goods would arrive at stall number 63.

It started with bok choy, then green peppers, and then water spinach, all in generous quantities, and it's rare to see such excellent quality after the storm.

Naturally, there were many goods and many people. As the market entered its peak period, stall number 63 became even more bustling. Moreover, Xue Jun, He Qiang, and others developed a habit of speaking very loudly, often shouting out their opinions, which frequently attracted the attention of nearby merchants.

"This is the third car!"

Seeing another truckload of vegetables arrive next to her at stall number 62, Jiang Lin muttered, "Vegetables still sell fast. Qi Ren, why don't you go and get some vegetables to sell too?"

"What are you thinking?"

"What else can we think about? If he's allowed to sell, why can't we?"

Zhang Qiren retorted, "Don't you even consider the quality of their vegetables? If they can maintain this quality and quantity, we can forget about even touching the heart of the cabbage; we can't compete!"

"Why don't you go find this kind of vegetable too!"

"I?"

Zhang Qiren exclaimed that his liver hurt.

He couldn't even find vegetables of the same quality and packaging; he'd never seen them before, and he didn't know where to look.

I'd rather stick to wholesaling other vegetables; that way I can still make money.

Just then, another car drove in and passed through the passage. Zhang Qiren saw Chen Jiazhi in the driver's seat, and it seemed that there were also vegetables in the truck.

"Old Chen, you've got quite a lot of bok choy and water spinach today!"

Chen Jiazhi rolled down the car window and said, "It's a holiday, so bring more food, just in case. Your winter melons are selling well, why don't you bring some more?"

Zhang Qiren replied, "Hehe, we're tired of eating winter melon, so we need to change things up. Selling some loofah and bitter melon would be a good idea."

"You're quite good at business," he said, feigning flattery, though he didn't actually think much of this unoriginal business approach.

The passageway was packed with cars and people. After dawdling for a while, Chen Jiazhi finally drove his car into the stall.

His truck was also loaded with water spinach.

As soon as the truck stopped, people couldn't wait to get on and unload the goods.

Chen Jiazhi asked, "Li Cai, did the previous truckload of water spinach sell out?"

"The previous truckload of water spinach didn't have much left; it sold out a while ago," Li Cai, who was taking notes, said without looking up. "People in Guangdong really like water spinach!"

"It should be said that I like to eat green vegetables. Just as no rabbit can leave Sichuan alive, no green vegetable can leave Guangdong intact."

Chen Jiazhi stood with his hands on his hips, watching the busy crowd. After changing the packaging, the efficiency of selling goods had increased by more than one level.

Moving goods, writing orders, collecting money—it was all done like an assembly line. With Li Cai and Xue Jun around, it seemed like there was nothing he needed to do.

"I'll go check on the delivery side."

"it is good."

You can easily calculate how much stock you have and how much it can sell for afterward. Although the market fluctuates, sales staff need to be flexible and adaptable, especially during market downturns when they need to lower prices and move stock in a timely manner.

However, the benefits of standardized processes are still obvious, leaving little room for fraud.

Chen Jiazhi doesn't need to limit himself to the stall all the time.

Just like the stalls, the distribution center was also bustling with activity, and even Jiang Xiaoyan was pulled in to help.

We are severely understaffed.

Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu had no choice but to join the sorting team. When Chen Zhengxu returned with the vegetables, Chen Jiazhi called out to him.

"Zhengxu, bring a few more people over from the Dongxiang vegetable market."

Chen Zhengxu wiped his sweat. "I asked Ao Dehai, and he said that Dongxiang is busy harvesting vegetables and transplanting cabbage seedlings. He said to wait two more days until this batch of vegetables is harvested, and then he would let me pick him up."

Chen Jiazhi said, "Let's bring your third aunt over this time too, so she and Xue Jun can have some company."

"What a coincidence, we had the same idea."

"Any news about the driver?"

Jiang Xiaoyan continued, "We contacted two drivers, but neither of them is willing to come and do this for us. It may take some more time."

“Uh…” Chen Jiazhi choked on his words.

Chen Zhengxu said, "It's alright, we'll have Xiao Xiong and the others deliver it by tricycle. We can manage for now."

Looking at the vegetables scattered on the ground, Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment and said, "Send someone to guide me. I'll deliver them today too. Tomorrow, I'll have Xue Jun come over and help drive and deliver the goods. We also need to recruit more people as soon as possible, and Xiao Xiong should learn to drive as quickly as possible. Once he can drive, we'll spend some money to bribe the magistrate."

"it is good!"

We're definitely a bit overwhelmed.

Chen Jiazhi checked today's delivery order volume and found it to be another 170 or 180 orders, totaling over 10,000 jin (5,000 kg).

It's true that business has exploded.

However, being too busy consumed Chen Zhengxu's energy, preventing him from continuing to expand the business.

While delivering goods, Chen Jiazhi was also thinking about what to do next. Delivery is a new thing nowadays, and there are very few people doing it. Due to various limitations, the range of coverage is also relatively small.

He felt that they should start with high-end catering, and Jiangxin Market did have a unique advantage in terms of quality.

Selling a large quantity of goods through stalls is slightly disadvantageous; this quality is more cost-effective for supplying Hong Kong and exporting.

Delivering goods through the streets and alleys, another busy night passed, and the banknotes piled up, forming another heavy bag of money, so much so that Chen Jiazhi felt a little guilty.

(End of this chapter)