1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 411 Return to the Countryside

The wholesale market at 3 a.m. is even more bustling than during the day, and today was no exception.

Only stall number 63 gradually quieted down.

Chen Jiazhi, Li Cai, Chen Zhengxu, and others sat in a row at the edge of the stall, smoking, catching their breath, and bragging.

I vaguely saw a shadow of two years ago, when a few vegetable farmers liked to squat by the alley, but now it's a different group of people.

Suddenly, a truckload of vegetables arrived at a nearby stall. Hearing that it was fresh bok choy, a group of people flocked over.

As soon as the truck door opened, the crowd nimbly climbed onto the truck to unload the goods, and within minutes, all the vegetables were gone.

People who would hesitate to buy even a single scallion in normal times might find it difficult to buy any vegetables here.

Chen Jiazhi saw a gaze from the crowd filled with complex emotions—a gaze that contained provocation, a triumphant sense of relief, and perhaps even fear.

Li Cai also noticed the gaze and said, "That's Zhong Chao, the owner of stall number 59. He also sells leafy vegetables, but his supply has never been as good as ours, and his business is not as stable. He's nothing to worry about."

Chen Jiazhi didn't take it to heart and joked, "The God of Wealth decides what happens at the stall."

Li Cai still didn't like the nickname, but hearing the light laughter of the others teasing him, he accepted it.

"Boss, you guys take a car back first, I'll walk around a bit."

Chen Jiazhi asked in confusion, "There aren't many dishes today, what's the improvement?"

Li Cai had already stood up, handed the bag of money he was carrying to Chen Jiazhi, and looked at the now quiet stall number 59, saying, "I want to hear people call me the God of Wealth."

Everyone realized what was happening and started teasing Li Cai, saying he was always vengeful and never held back his revenge.

Actually, Li Cai isn't that kind of person. He usually disdains to pay attention to others' provocative, envious, or jealous behavior, but not today.

Chen Jiazhi felt the bulging bag and laughed, "It's good to take a walk."

Li Cai walked to the side and exited stall number 63. There, he encountered Jiang Lin, who was at stall number 62. She asked him in surprise if he had sold out again today. Li Cai simply nodded and said yes.

Immediately, Zhang Qiren, who was busy selling winter melons at his stall, walked over to Li Cai's side and happened to see Chen Jiazhi sitting on the ground at stall number 63.

Zhang Qiren quickly took out his cigarette case, handed one to Li Cai, and walked towards number 63 while talking.

"God of Wealth, Boss Chen, if you have the same amount of vegetables tomorrow as today, you can park a car here and sell them. It's no problem."

Jiang Lin frowned and muttered a few words.

Zhang Qiren didn't take it seriously and said, "Many of the winter melons in Sanshui have also been flooded. I have less stock these days, so my stall is relatively empty. I can help you keep an eye on it."

Chen Jiazhi and Li Cai exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Okay, then we'll trouble you."

Stall number 63 was really chaotic tonight, affecting not only myself but also the nearby businesses.

Zhang Qiren said, "It's no trouble at all. Although there are few winter melons available these past two days and sales haven't been good, it's all thanks to your and the God of Wealth's guidance that many people now come to me first when buying winter melons."

Chen Jiazhi said, "It's mainly because you two are capable."

Winter melon is relatively cheap in Lingnan, sometimes costing only a few cents per kilogram when the market is bad, but it sells in large quantities and is one of the top-selling vegetables.

Zhang Qiren's goods mainly come from Foshan, which is very suitable for operating this category.

After realizing he didn't want to deal with winter melons, and wanting to maintain good neighborly relations, Chen Jiazhi suggested to Zhang Qiren that he be allowed to sell winter melons exclusively.

Now that they've tasted the benefits, they're simply returning the favor.

The matter was quickly settled, and Li Cai continued walking in a cheerful mood. The God of Wealth was popular wherever he went. He made a special stop in front of stall number 59 to chat with the merchants or customers he met, discussing the market situation of the past two days.

Perhaps after selling all the vegetables, Zhong Chao disappeared somewhere.

A Changhe minivan stopped in front of stall number 63, its body covered in dried mud. A spirited young man shouted from the window, "Big shots, get in!"

Chen Zhengxu patted the car door. "Wang Liang, go back and wash the car. It won't give people a good impression if it's dirty when you deliver vegetables."

Wang Liang saluted and, imitating a Hong Kong movie, loudly said "Yes sir," showing great spirit.

Chen Jiazhi waved to He Qiang and the others, then got into the back seat with his bag. Chen Zhengxu and Xue Jun followed him into the car, and they drove back to the brightly lit distribution center.

This is also a busy time.

Two delivery vehicles were parked at the entrance, one a van and the other an Isuzu light truck. Deliverymen were busy carrying goods back and forth, and the inside was bustling with activity.

It's a bit crowded.

Chen Jiazhi silently made a note of it, and then he saw Li Xiu chatting and laughing with her third sister Chen Jiaying in the sorting workshop. The two of them kept moving, putting neat carrots into plastic bags.

Chen Jiazhi guessed that Li Xiu had also stayed up all night, which would be absolutely impossible in the future.

After a brief pause, Chen Jiazhi went into the office, followed by Li Cai and Xue Jun. Chen Zhengxu had already gone to direct the work at the distribution center.

"There are plums and bayberries frozen in the cold storage. Who can go wash some and take them out to eat? Remember to also take some to the sorting workshop."

"I'll go."

Xue Jun knew he was going to have to count the money, but he always made mistakes and didn't really like this part.

After entering the small cold storage, Xue Jun found plums and bayberries in the corner, two or three baskets full. He could sell them for a hundred or two hundred yuan. The people of Lianzhou are really hospitable.

After washing, Xue Jun found a basket and a basin, first took the basket to the office, and then took the basin to the sorting workshop and placed it on the platform.

"I have some frozen plums and bayberries here. Take them and eat them when you have time." "Okay, thank you for your hard work, Brother Jun."

"Jun-ge is considerate; he put the fruit closer to Jia-ying."

"There just happens to be an empty seat here, you guys go ahead with your work~" Xue Jun had originally taken two plums to give to Chen Jiaying, but he put them back at this moment.

One woman said, "Jiaying, your Xuejun is much calmer now. He hasn't been fighting with anyone for a long time."

He's a really good person.

Chen Jiaying felt a little displeased, and then glanced at Xue Jun. His back was broad, but he was indeed composed.

The two families lived diagonally opposite each other in Xia Datian and grew up together.

The Chen family has three daughters and one son, while the Xue family has three sons and one daughter. Xue Jun is the eldest son. He was strong and muscular from a young age. He never lost a fight in the village or at school, and he often solved problems by fighting. Many people were afraid of him.

But Chen Jiaying wasn't afraid. She had seen Xue Jun secretly cry before. It was because their dog had died, and the old man wanted to skin it and eat the dog meat. Xue Jun refused and was beaten by the adults. He then hid in the bamboo forest and cried for a long time.

Chen Jiaying saw this and brought him some food. From then on, the two got along very well, but Xue Jun's habit of fighting never changed.

Later, people would often pay him to come, even after he got married.

However, after only a year or so in Huacheng, he seemed to have become a completely different person. He rarely got into fights or even arguments, and spent his days traveling all over the country with Jiazhi.

She knew that Xue Jun's changes were all because of Jia Zhi. This younger brother had lost his former impulsiveness and instead became more and more like a big boss.

Many people have become different because of him, and Xue Jun is just one of them.

In the office, Chen Jiazhi sorted out the last stack of money, then took a bite of a chilled plum, feeling a refreshing sensation.

"Frozen plums taste better."

Li Cai and Xue Jun each took a bite and chewed, while stacks of money lay on the desk in front of them.

However, all three of them were used to it. Selling vegetables meant they were never short of cash, and the two or three hundred thousand yuan they collected could actually be contained in just a small backpack.

After eating two plums and resting for a while, Li took out his calculator again.

"Reset to zero...reset to zero..."

After some calculations, Li said, "In total, the gross profit from selling vegetables from Lianzhou at the stall is nearly two cents, which translates to a profit of ten thousand yuan a day."

If we include supplies to Hong Kong and distribution, the gross profit is estimated to be over 30 cents, which amounts to more than 30,000 yuan a day.

Xue Jun took another plum and ate it, laughing, "Even though we've made so much money, the farmers in Lianzhou still give us fruit as a thank you."

Li Cai: "Because we skipped a procurement step and the market was good, we were able to make such high profits. If the market is bad, this will also become our competitive advantage, allowing us to sell at a lower price."

For small, isolated mountain villages, selling vegetables at a good price is a very difficult task.

Even if vegetable prices in big cities are sky-high, it probably has nothing to do with them.

The Lianzhou cooperative base has undoubtedly brought tangible benefits to farmers, so Kaopu Fresh doesn't need to feel guilty about making money from it.

Chen Jiazhi stayed in the market for two more days, and the market sales gradually stabilized and became clear.

Besides earning around 30,000 yuan a day selling vegetables from the Lianzhou cooperative base, the vegetables from the Fanrong vegetable market can also generate 270,000 to 280,000 yuan in profit, so getting paid out at the end of the month is a sure thing.

In the morning, after selling vegetables, Chen Jiazhi explained some things to Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai, and then prepared to return to his hometown with Li Xiu.

Chen Zhengxu said, "Actually, the boss can now come to the city to work, which would make management more convenient."

Li Cai nodded and said, "Especially when it comes to money, the market receives a lot of cash every day."

"I will think about it."

Chen Jiazhi looked up at the sign for Kaopu Fresh and thought to himself that he would come to the city once he moved offices.

Living in the countryside is comfortable, but it also has many inconveniences.

Money management is only one of the issues. The money for delivery and supply to Hong Kong can be directly deposited into the account, but the stalls also have a daily cash flow of two to three hundred thousand recently.

Seeing him looking at the office building, Li Cai said, "Let me show you the place first."

Chen Jiazhi teased, "You can't stand seeing me breathing fresh air in the countryside every day, and occasionally walking my dog, fishing, and enjoying the scenery, can you?"

"..." Li Cai said, "Once I'm done with this busy period, I definitely want to go fishing in Zengcheng!"

At this moment, Li Xiu reminded him, "Caiwa, remember to bring your female companion along."

Li Cai was taken aback. How did even his sister know about this? Although he had thought so, he remembered that he hadn't agreed to his brother-in-law's suggestion in person last time.
Chen Zhengxu asked in confusion, "What female companion?"

Li Cai: "I'm going fishing in Zengcheng. My sister and brother-in-law want me to bring a female companion. Do you want to come?"

Chen Zhengxu frowned. "What's the point of fishing? I'm not going."

Li Cai retorted, "Yes, yes, fishing is no fun. Go find your Miss Cai."

Chen Zhengxu asked in bewilderment, "Where did I get a Miss Cai from?"

Chen Jiazhi had already taken Li Xiu away. After arriving home, he first dropped Li Xiu off and then went to the market. The barren area that Qi Yongfeng had described was now showing signs of life.

(End of this chapter)