1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 388 Canton Fair

After returning to his office, Chen Jiazhi called Xu Wenxiang.

"Mr. Chen, I can't go. The Canton Fair is also the best time for hotel business."

"Let me recommend someone to you. It seems that Xue Chenglin from Malaysia is also going to the Canton Fair. You two can go together, and you can also talk about the broccoli business again."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Xu."

"It's okay, I'll tell him later that you should meet at the hotel before you go."

“Okay.” Chen Jiazhi then asked, “Mr. Xu, do you have any connections to buy temporary representative passes?”

"..."

At this time, private enterprises were not allowed to participate in the Canton Fair, but that did not mean they could not enter the venue.

Chen Jiazhi's plan was to find a loophole to get in and then distribute business cards and materials.

Xu Wenxiang was silent for a moment, then said, "I need to ask first, but it should be fine."

"Ok, I will wait for you."

After hanging up the phone and waiting for Xu Wenxiang's reply, Chen Jiazhi took a deep breath. "It seems I really need to pick up my English now."

Li Xiu asked, "What's wrong, Jiazhi? Isn't President Xu going?"

Chen Jiazhi shook his head. "The Canton Fair Hotel is busy, she's too busy, so she asked me to go with Xue Chenglin, a businessman from Malaysia."

"That's good too~"

“Xue Chenglin is a client after all. We’re there to promote our business, and we don’t have a booth, so we have to sneak in. How could we let him come with us?”

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "It's a deal, you two will go too, and the three of us will each find a spot to hand out business cards and information."

"Ah~" Li Xiu blinked, "Can't I go with you?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "Getting in requires paying money to qualify, and everyone who goes in has to play a role."

Li Xiu: "But I don't speak any English at all!"

Chen Zhengxu then said, "Mr. Chen, my English isn't very good either, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to communicate with foreigners."

Chen Jiazhi looked at the two of them teasingly, "You were so enthusiastic just now, why are you backing down now?"

Chen Zhengxu scratched his head. "Isn't it because I was afraid of delaying important matters?"

"It's okay," Chen Jiazhi said. "It doesn't matter if you can't speak. When you meet a foreigner, just give him your business card and information. If he's interested, he'll call."

Is everything alright now?

Li Xiu thought for a moment, then nodded emphatically, "Yes, I can do it, I'll give it a try."

Chen Jiazhi was somewhat surprised by Li Xiu's courage. "Okay, keep it up, no problem."

"Zhengxu, are you going or not? If not, I'll go find Li Cai."

Chen Zhengxu pondered for a moment and said, "Go. It's just handing out business cards and information. That's no problem for me. Besides, Li Cai has already gone to Lianzhou."

"Okay, it's settled then, just the three of us will go."

Just then, the phone rang; it was Xu Wenxiang who had found out the news.

"Temporary representative certificate: 300 yuan per day."

"Okay, I need 3 a day."

"..." Xu Wenxiang said with a wry smile, "President Chen, do you think this is wholesale? I can only give you one a day at most."

"Why wouldn't scalpers make money?"

"Others also took risks."

Chen Jiazhi shrugged at Li Xiu and Chen Zhengxu, "Oh ho, there's only one temporary delegate pass per day, so the three of us have to take turns going?"

This time, both Li Xiu and Chen Zhengxu shook their heads.

"If there's only one, Jiazhi, you should go. Your English is definitely better than ours."

"So you answer foreigners' calls in the office?"

"..."

"Just kidding." Chen Jiazhi chuckled. "Zhengxu, go to the university and recruit a college student who is good at English to be a translator."

His English is only so-so, and without a translator, even if there are orders, communication might be difficult.

"In addition, I need to find an advertising company to make some business cards and promotional materials."

"Xiu, find those photos you took before, pick out some good ones, including the market, vegetables, cold storage, packaging, processing, transportation, etc., they'll come in handy this time."

"it is good."

Li Xiu was very happy to be assigned a task, especially since the photos she had taken in the past could now be put to use.

How can I add a photo of broccoli if I don't have one?

“This is indeed a problem.” Chen Jiazhi scratched his head. “I’ll call Dehai and, if all else fails, have him find someone to make a trip and bring it back.”

The internet wasn't as developed back then, so he didn't even know how to post photos, let alone Ao Dehai.

Since there's no SF Express, all shipments are sent through the postal service, which is generally slower.

I might as well have someone make the trip.

The Canton Fair doesn't start until the day after tomorrow and will last for five days, so there should be enough time.

Then, Chen Jiazhi called Ao Dehai back and asked him to prepare the photos.

"Boss, the flower ball is still too small!"

"It's alright, just film it as it is. If we encounter a knowledgeable businessman who deals in fresh vegetables, he will naturally be interested."

"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible. Once it's done, I'll have Hu Chunmei make a trip. She's a team leader now and knows a lot about market management."

"Okay, let her fly back."

Chen Jiazhi was a little surprised, not expecting that Hu Chunmei would be brought back, and that she would already be the group leader.

But from this arrangement, he could see that Ao Dehai had done a pretty good job in personnel matters.

Chen Jiazhi was well aware of Hu Chunmei's potential. She was plump, capable, eager to work, and willing to do things, far surpassing her husband Zhang Weidong. She was more than qualified to be a group leader.

It's remarkable that Ao Dehai was able to see this on his own.

The next day, Li Xiu retrieved the saved photos and then went with Chen Jiazhi to an advertising company to produce business cards and promotional materials. "Handsome, adjust this photo again."

"The order of these two also needs to be adjusted."

"Add another photo of the application of organic fertilizer, Li Xiu, do you have a clearer one?"

"Yes, this one is good. It was taken from the rooftop, right? You know how to find the right angle."

By putting himself in the client's shoes, Chen Jiazhi clearly understood what others wanted to see.

So he had the advertising company create promotional materials that showed the entire process of vegetable cultivation.

Moreover, the production process, storage, and packaging of the vegetables all meet the standards for fresh vegetable exports.

He believed that as long as the promotional materials were given to industry professionals, they would definitely pique their interest.

After spending most of the day at the advertising company, Chen Jiazhi returned with two bags of business cards and promotional materials.

On the other side, Chen Zhengxu also temporarily recruited a female college student translator.

"This is our company's boss, Mr. Chen, and the lady next to him is his wife."

"Mr. Chen, this is Mi Ziqi from the University of Foreign Studies. She is a senior this year and speaks English fluently."

Chen Jiazhi nodded and said, "Student Mi, I'll have to trouble you this time."

Mi Ziqi has a delicate, girl-next-door look. "Mr. Chen, it's nothing. I'm just trying to make money."

"Okay." Chen Jiazhi smiled. "You won't be shortchanged. Here's the deal: for every deal we close, our daily wage will double."

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Mi Ziqi smiled as well.

Chen Jiazhi took out a printed promotional brochure and said, "Take this brochure back and take a look at it. Learn about our business, and you can start work tomorrow."

"it is good."

Mi Ziqi accepted the gift calmly, and then Chen Zhengxu took her back to school.

Li Xiu then said, "Jiazhi, why do I feel like Mi Ziqi is a bit pretentious?"

"They're the chosen ones, so it's normal for them to be a little arrogant."

“No,” Li Xiu said, “I feel like she just looks down on people and looks down on us vegetable sellers.”

"..." Chen Jiazhi shook his head, "As long as we can do our job well, we can't worry about anything else."

Lee Soo: "What if Jung-wook is interested in her?"

"Zhengxu probably wouldn't," Chen Jiazhi said in surprise. "They're not the same kind of people."

Li Xiu pursed her lips and said, "In matters like this, you're not as accurate as I am."

"Indeed, you're good at that."

Chen Jiazhi sat down and took out a flyer to familiarize himself with it, which also had some English words marked on it.

He was the only one who entered the venue, but he still had to bite the bullet and talk to people.

His English is poor, but he has memorized it for so long and occasionally listens to the radio, so he can speak a few words in a daze.

Even last-minute cramming is better than doing nothing.

This time, he studied English until late at night without falling asleep.

...

The Canton Fair opened on April 15.

In the morning, Chen Jiazhi walked around the venue, familiarizing himself with the various exhibition areas.

Nowadays, agricultural and sideline products are not highly valued, but some booths are grouped together, selling eggs, medicinal herbs, honey, and rice.

There were vegetables, but mostly mushrooms, dried goods, and processed vegetables; fresh vegetables were rarely seen.

There are also quite a few foreigners active in this area, and transactions can be seen being completed from time to time.

Chen Jiazhi wandered around the area and spotted one of the building entrances.

This place is relatively secluded, and many merchants coming out of the agricultural and sideline products exhibition area pass through here.

In the afternoon, Chen Jiazhi took his business cards and promotional materials and stood guard at the entrance of the building.

He would hand out a business card and a flyer to every person who came.

He handed out hundreds of flyers in one afternoon, and some people even talked to him after seeing the vegetables on the flyers.

Chen Jiazhi could only communicate with people through a combination of words and gestures, using his rudimentary English.

The more you talk about it, the thicker your skin becomes.

Although no deals were closed, he felt he had gained a lot.

They persisted for two more days, and Hu Chunmei arrived in Huacheng. When Chen Jiazhi met her in the office that afternoon, the information about broccoli had been completed.

"Mr. Chen, have you received any orders yet?"

"Not yet." Chen Jiazhi shook his head: "Forget about orders, we haven't even received a phone call."

At this moment, Mi Ziqi, who was also in the office, said, "No one called, so it's not my fault."

Chen Zhengxu, who was standing next to her, was somewhat taken aback.

Chen Jiazhi raised an eyebrow. "Mi, I don't mean to blame you. You'll get the money you're owed."

Mi Ziqi seemed to realize she had said the wrong thing. "If there's nothing else, I'll go home and head back to school now."

"Okay, Zhengxu, see Mi out."

"No need, I'll take the bus back."

After everyone left, Chen Zhengxu wanted to say something, but in the end he just shook his head and smiled.

Chen Jiazhi ignored him and started looking at the information about broccoli.

Jingle bell bell~
None of them paid much attention. Chen Zhengxu answered the phone, "Hello, this is Kaopu Fresh."

"&*&￥#..."

A burst of birdsong jolted Chen Zhengxu awake. "Mr. Chen, a foreigner is calling!"

(End of this chapter)