1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 383 United
"It's unusual to come here for drinks so early in the morning."

The noodle shop owner muttered to himself, but still brought out a case of beer and then went to prepare the vegetables and cook the noodles.

Chen Jiazhi, Li Cai, Li Xiu, Chen Zhengxu, and Xue Jun sat at a table and started chatting.

Li Cai described the scene from last night.

"Those regular customers were so kind of you. They usually come so late, but they came so early yesterday. They really gave us a lot of face."

"I was really moved at that moment."

Li Xiu joked, "You weren't secretly wiping away tears, were you?"

"Sister, how could that be? I'm not a child anymore." Li Cai continued, "But I am really touched. I never thought that selling vegetables could lead to such a relationship."

Li Xiu secretly glanced at Chen Jiazhi. She remembered that Jiazhi had the same experience, but he, who also loved to show off, was listening with great interest at the moment.

Nodding from time to time, as if he were empathizing with the character, made Li Cai speak with great enthusiasm.

From the shortage of mustard greens before the price increase, to the debates during the price hike, and the various market reactions afterward~
Li Cai described each step of the process in great detail.

"But if I had to say what impressed me the most," Li Cai said in a deep voice, "it would definitely be the business philosophy of Kaopu Fresh."

Why are chicken heart mustard so popular? Even though it's 6 cents per kilogram more expensive than the market price, many people still buy it.

"The most important thing is its excellent quality, which is truly unique."

"Secondly, the company's consistent business strategy of stability, reliability, integrity, and customer focus has earned us many loyal customers..."

Li Xiu watched her younger brother speak eloquently, seemingly radiating a different kind of light, as if he had gained a newfound conviction, and his whole being became more confident.

I seemed to see Jia Zhi's shadow in him. Once a man has something he is pursuing, he matures instantly and becomes more charming.

This feeling seems pretty good.

Chen Zhengxu listened attentively, occasionally chiming in with a few words, and he shared some of the sentiments as well.

During this period, he visited many unfamiliar cities, met many strangers, and built many relationships.

The bridge between nothing and something is mustard greens.

Chicken heart mustard can be replaced with other high-quality vegetables, and in certain groups of people, this is the best medium for communication.

However, he merely echoed Li Cai's sentiments and did not try to steal Li Cai's spotlight; today, it was Li Cai's turn to be the protagonist.

As he ate some side dishes, drank some wine, and ate a bowl of noodles, with his most important companion listening attentively, Li Cai felt completely refreshed.

It's so cool.

Even after reliving the whole experience, I still feel like I haven't had enough. Hmm, I can talk about it when I go back to my hometown next time.

And now... he shouldn't be the only one on this stage.

"President Xu, don't even think about letting me have it. I know you're very capable, and your men are very hardworking."

"The nickname 'livestock' is really unpleasant; please don't call me that anymore."

"Hey, I didn't come up with that name, it's what Little Bear and the others called it."

Chen Zhengxu took a sip of wine, feeling depressed.

The men under his command all have names containing "bear," or surnames like "Ma," "Zhu," or "Niu." They are all very dedicated to developing their respective delivery areas, and over time they have started jokingly calling each other "livestock."

Now it's all over, the news has spread.

He inexplicably became a target of ridicule.

"I've been doing alright these past few days, running around outside. I've established connections with major wholesalers in Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Dongguan."

However, prices are not as strong as they used to be. Except for a few that have raised prices on their own initiative, the rest are still at 2.5 yuan per jin.

From now on, we'll go by price. Compared to yours, my farm's mustard greens don't have much of an advantage."

Li Cai smiled and said, "We're all family, there's no point in arguing. I'll give it to you from now on."

Chen Zhengxu teased, "I can't take it from you, but you can give it to me willingly, is that what you mean?"

"Is there anything wrong?"

Li Cai shrugged, which made everyone burst into laughter. That damn competitive spirit!

Chen Jiazhi then raised his glass, "Let's stop fighting and giving away. I can't guarantee anything for the first half of the year, but for the second half, the supply of mustard greens will definitely be plentiful!"

He was also helpless, as he had originally worried that a 300-mu base might be too big, but it turned out to be not enough to sell.

While it has some connection to mustard greens, Chen Jiazhi believes the main reason is that under his influence, the team members have improved and have gradually built a distribution network.

This has resulted in the base construction failing to keep pace with market development.

Thinking of this, Chen Jiazhi asked Xue Jun, "How's the search for a base in Zengcheng going?"

Having just tasted success, Li Cai and Chen Zhengxu immediately listened attentively.

If we can further develop Zengcheng late-season cabbage, its potential is even greater than that of Shuidong mustard.

After all, Chinese cabbage is one of the best-selling vegetables in the Lingnan region.

Xue Jun first took a swig of wine before saying in a deep voice, "Besides Xiaolou Town, I also went to Paitan Town and Zhengguo Town. It's hard to find large, flat, contiguous plots of land, and most of them are planted with fruit trees. There are relatively few sites to choose from, and the irrigation and other infrastructure is also relatively backward."

Chen Zhengxu comforted him, saying, "Finding land is better than not finding any."

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment and then asked, "How profitable is it for local farmers to grow fruit trees?"

Xue Jun said, "It depends on the situation. Citrus growers haven't made money in the past two years, but lychee growers seem to be doing better."

Zengcheng is a famous fruit-producing area, and the four famous fruits of Guangdong—lychee, citrus, banana, and pineapple—are widely grown throughout the county.

Chen Jiazhi knew that Zengcheng's Guagreen lychee had become somewhat famous by this time.

However, at this time, lychee cultivation in Zengcheng does not seem to have become the dominant industry.

According to their on-site investigation, the area planted with citrus fruits is not much smaller than that of lychee trees.

However, the citrus industry across the country seems to be in a slump in the past two years.

He recalled that Wang Yongxiang's tangerines from Yuanmou didn't fetch a good price last year, and it seemed to be the same in the suburbs of Shanghai; citrus fruits were very cheap. Chen Jiazhi then asked, "Are there any flat areas in Xiaolou Town where citrus fruits are grown?"

"Yes, but the area is small, mainly sweet oranges," Xue Jun said. "But every few plots there is an orange grove, which breaks up the contiguous land."

Chen Jiazhi pondered, "Since citrus is not profitable, why not let the farmers cut down the trees and connect the land?"

Xue Jun was taken aback. "It can be like this?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "I think it's worth a try. Cutting down trees and planting vegetables on flat land is reasonable."

Is this reasonable?

Even Li Xiu blinked, feeling that this logic was a bit off.

However, for Xue Jun, this was at least a direction to explore, and he could try asking the local farmers if they were willing to cut down trees to grow vegetables.

Or they could rent out the land and let them clear it themselves.

After discussing Zengcheng cabbage, Chen Jiazhi turned to Li Cai and asked, "Mr. Cai, now that the stall is doing so well, do you have any other ideas?"

Li Cai pondered for a moment, "I want to go to Lianzhou to take a look. The cooperative base will be planting seedlings soon, and I'll also take the opportunity to relax. I'm getting moldy from staying in the wholesale market all the time."

Chen Jiazhi nodded and said, "That's fine. The grafted seedlings can be transported over in half a month at the latest."

Upon hearing that Li Cai wanted to go for a walk to clear his head, Chen Jiazhi didn't continue speaking.

He had considered opening another stall, but then thought better of it, since the sales at the stall were already booming.

Furthermore, there's the delivery service.

Moreover, Chen Zhengxu also made connections with wholesalers in other cities.

For the foreseeable future, our market distribution capabilities are sufficient.

The focus is still on the base.

They had eaten, drunk, and boasted about Li Cai's brilliant achievements. The alcohol was taking effect, and the group, who had worked all night, were exhausted.

Chen Jiazhi raised his last glass of wine, "To thank everyone for their hard work during this time, the company will distribute dividends mid-year. Everyone here will receive a sum of money, so you can start thinking about how to spend it."

The atmosphere immediately became lively again, and everyone liked receiving money.

Besides talking about relationships, Chen Jiazhi's most effective way to get the team working together is to give them money.

In this line of work, it's hard to find time to rest.

In his previous life, he grew vegetables for twenty or thirty years and was used to working year-round.

But in his eyes, these people were still newcomers. He needed spiritual strength, but he also needed to provide them with material support.

After Li Xiu paid the bill, the group slowly prepared to go back to rest.

The noodle shop owner even came out to see me off, saying, "Take care, come again next time!"

Even though Li Xiu hadn't been drinking, she could only pretend to be calm and suppress the urge to complain with her boss. Who drinks a case of beer first thing in the morning?

Let's eat noodles again.

This also completely shattered her worldview.

However, looking at the group of people still chatting away in front of her, she thought that this was probably why Jiazhi was able to gather so many people together.

After returning to the office building, Li Cai and the others went upstairs to their dormitories to rest.

Chen Jiazhi, on the other hand, walked towards his office.

Li Xiu said, "Jiazhi, do you want to go and rest for a while? I'll call you when I see the time."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "I'm fine. I only drank three bottles. I'm doing okay. I'll take advantage of the time I have to check on the situation here."

Li Xiu said, "This is a one-time exception. You can't drink in the morning anymore."

Chen Jiazhi walked over and put his arm around her waist. "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you this time."

Li Xiu patted the groping hand, "Stop messing around, there are so many people in the office."

Chen Jiazhi stood tall and proud, “What’s wrong with that? We’re a legally married couple. Nobody would dare say anything if we kissed in the street.”

Li Xiu was amused by his self-righteous appearance, but she also pulled the hand off his waist and took it in her own.

After entering the office, Chen Jiazhi took out the information about the distribution center and the stalls and started looking at it.

He had been keeping an eye on the situation at the stalls, but he only glanced at them quickly.

He focused on the customer statistics data that Chen Zhengxu had brought back.

In order not to overshadow Li Cai, Chen Zhengxu spoke very briefly while drinking.

In reality, he did quite a lot.

Take this list of cooperative wholesalers in various cities as an example; the information is very detailed.

In addition to basic information such as address, statistics are also provided on business type, daily sales volume, and customer base.

Soon, the customer group section caught his attention.

It clearly identifies several wholesalers that supply businesses to Hong Kong and Macau.

It's not necessarily a direct supply to Hong Kong and Macau; we just cooperate with wholesalers in Hong Kong and Macau, but it's still a channel.

There are one or two such markets each in Buji, Shenzhen, and Heping Logistics Comprehensive Market, Zhuhai.

Water mustard is a good medium.

Now that we've established a relationship, there will naturally be opportunities for future cooperation on vegetables such as bok choy.

This is a very important addition.

Chen Jiazhi smiled, wondering what Xia Youche would think when he found out.

(End of this chapter)