1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 414 The company is making money like crazy.

From the evening onwards, stall number 63 was bustling with activity.

Truckloads of vegetables kept arriving, only to be emptied by throngs of customers, a cycle that repeated itself throughout the night.

Choy sum, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, water spinach... all kinds of vegetables are selling very well, and sales are constantly climbing to new highs.

When the sky began to lighten with the appearance of fish dew, the stall finally became a little quieter.

Zhang Qiren from stall number 62 walked up to Li Cai and said, "Boss Cai, you guys are even more aggressive today than the past few days. Where did you get so many hollow vegetables? You're selling them like they're picking up money off the ground."

Li Cai tossed a pack of unopened cigarettes to Zhang Qiren. In recent days, the truck from stall number 63 has frequently stopped at stall number 62.

"Where else could it be? Water spinach grown in our own market."

Zhang Qiren took the cigarette, opened it, and lit one for Li Cai, saying enviously, "Your supply is really plentiful and stable. You've been selling for so many days, and the vegetables are still piling up!"

Li Cai closed his notebook and said, "Your business is doing well too; you sold quite a few winter melons today."

Zhang Qiren laughed and said, "Thanks to your guidance, I was able to buy a batch of winter melons in Zengcheng. Apart from the distance, the winter melons from Xiaolou Town are very good."

After the last rainstorm, Zhang Qiren found it difficult to harvest melons in Sanshui.

In return for lending Zhang Qiren his stall, Chen Jiazhi provided him with information about winter melons in Xiaolou Town, Zengcheng.

Zhang Qiren therefore chose to purchase a batch of winter melons from Zengcheng.

“It’s all about mutual help,” Li Cai said. “Since you think the winter melons from Xiaolou Town are good, have you thought about finding a long-term cooperative base in Xiaolou?”

Zhang Qiren pondered for a moment and said, "The local planting is still relatively scattered, and there are no large winter melon bases. Most of them are planted by individual households. I owe my purchase to your company's help."

Zhang Qiren had investigated the small building; it was a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains.

However, the related industrial base is weak, and no contiguous winter melon planting base has been formed.

Organizing a supply of goods is already somewhat difficult, let alone establishing a long-term partnership.

"It is precisely because there is none that there is an opportunity."

Li Cai had longed to go fishing in Zengcheng, and he also knew that the company was building a base in Zengcheng, which, in addition to expanding production and promoting late-season cabbage, also had a poverty alleviation aspect.

Next to Lapu Village in Xiaolou Town, there are two other villages, clearly named Dongjing Village and Xijing Village.

Both villages are also suitable for growing late-maturing Chinese cabbage, and have a history of crop rotation with winter melon since the cooperative era in the 50s.

Last year, in 1995, Xijing Village was included in Huacheng's second-tier vegetable production base and began to introduce black-skinned winter melons.

It's just getting started, and the foundation for large-scale planting is indeed weak.

Li Cai shared what he knew, which piqued Zhang Qiren's interest.

According to what he has learned in the past few days, the fruits and vegetables in stall number 63 also come from cooperative bases with farmers.

He was very envious of such a stable and large supply of goods.

After packing up the supplies at the stall, Li Cai took a van back to his office and began to review the day's accounts.

With the addition of water spinach, the stall's revenue has reached a new high.

The gross profit accumulated recently has reached nearly two million yuan, and there are still ten days left until the end of the month.

"The dividend at the end of the month should be a sure thing now," Li Cai muttered, having been looking forward to it for a long time.

The Dragon Boat Festival atmosphere in Guangzhou is always very strong, with the Pearl River and various waterways serving as the main stage for the festival.

In places like Panyu, a large-scale dragon boat race is held every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, attracting tens of thousands of spectators to watch along the riverbank. Customs such as wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), eating dragon boat rice, and washing in dragon boat water are deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Chen Jiazhi strolled through the Jiangxin vegetable market, where farmers were still working in their fields. Only at noon and in the evening could one experience the festive atmosphere.

For Jiangxin Vegetable Market, the Dragon Boat Festival was also spent amidst a bountiful harvest of water spinach.

The 200 mu of water spinach being propagated by cuttings is decreasing at a visible rate every day.

As the most important vegetable for disaster recovery, water spinach has an unparalleled advantage due to its short growing period.

As night fell, the workers returned to their rented rooms one after another.

The lights were still on in front of the cold storage, and Qi Yongfeng was exchanging and summarizing today's work with several team leaders and technicians from the research department.

This had become a regular daily routine at the market, and had continued for nearly two years.

The techniques used in the market also accumulate and improve in this process, and continuous review always helps people improve faster.

After listening for a while, Chen Jiazhi felt that he could hardly get a word in edgewise on the details.

His ideas and planting habits have been analyzed countless times.

What stands out in particular is the planning regarding crop rotation periods, and the increasing value of taking a gamble.

After everyone else had left, Chen Jiazhi repeatedly emphasized to Qi Yongfeng the need to be cautious.

Qi Yongfeng smiled and said, "I will try my best to make them restrain themselves, but the allure of taking a gamble is indeed captivating."

After a pause, Qi Yongfeng continued, "Just like this batch of water spinach that was planted too early, 200 mu yielded more than 500,000 jin of vegetables, and it sold for one million yuan in less than 15 days. Everyone wants to take a chance like that."

The idea of ​​taking a gamble has taken root in people's hearts.

Chen Jiazhi felt a great deal of helplessness. He had brought this trend forward, and it was really not easy to reverse it now.

But if you put him in the position of manager, he might also be tempted to take a gamble.

At the Jiangnan Market, the congestion at stall number 63 has become the norm recently; having plenty of vegetables is considered a sign of wealth.

Market manager Wang Qi passed by here several times that night, and the trucks parked in the stalls changed one after another.

He searched the entire market, but couldn't find another market more bustling than No. 63. At daybreak, Ye Canjiang arrived at the market office, where Wang Qi immediately came to report the situation.

"Mr. Ye, out of the 133 stalls in the entire market, stall number 63 has recently ranked first in both transaction volume and transaction amount."

“I went to check it out last night too, and stall number 63 was doing a blast from start to finish all night.”

Ye Canjiang brewed a cup of morning tea and asked in surprise, "What is the daily trading volume?"

Wang Qi handed over a document and said, "80 tons of vegetables were delivered last night. The most we delivered in the past two days was 100 tons!"

Ye Canjiang nearly lost his grip on the teacup, spilling some tea.

The daily trading volume in the Jiangnan Market is currently between 3500 and 5000 tons. Based on the peak of 5000 tons, the average daily trading volume across 133 stalls is approximately 37 tons.

File number 63 is more than twice that number, and it's after the disaster, so how could Ye Canjiang not lose his composure?

Ye Canjiang took the document, which recorded the changes in entry data for file number 63 this month.

Starting about two weeks ago, the number of people entering the market for stock 63 has been rising steadily, and the increase has become increasingly exaggerated.

Vegetable prices have been very high lately, and the transaction amount at stall number 63 is also extremely high!

Looking at the abundant variety of vegetables on the document, Ye Canjiang couldn't help but ask, "Where does he get so many vegetables, and so many leafy greens every day?"

With the increasing number of wholesale markets near Zengcuo Road, Jiangnan Market is facing significant competitive pressure.

The source of goods is a key factor in attracting customers to wholesale markets, and Ye Canjiang has always paid close attention to the market's supply.

Wang Qi said, "They have their own vegetable market."

"I know that."

Ye Canjiang recalled the vegetable base he had visited in Panyu, "but they couldn't have been unaffected by the last rain."

"Moreover, the vegetable market in Panyu doesn't have the production capacity for so many vegetables."

Wang Qi was speechless for a moment, "I'll go ask them again."

Ye Canjiang thought for a moment and said, "Help me make an appointment with the owner of stall number 63 and tell him that I'm inviting him to have tea together."

...

In the office, Chen Jiazhi picked up a bright red Guiwei lychee.

Guiwei lychee is easy to identify; its surface has raised, sharp, prickly cracks, with a flat ring around the center, like a boundary line.

It smelled a bit like osmanthus, but after taking a bite, Chen Jiazhi felt it would be hard to like any other lychee.

But after tasting the glutinous rice cake, that idea was shaken.

Both types of lychees were brought back by Yi Dinggan. "How are they? Aren't they pretty good?"

Chen Jiazhi nodded and said, "It's very delicious. If all lychees can taste like this, there's no reason why they wouldn't sell well."

Yi Ding chuckled dryly and asked again, "Then how do we do this business?"

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "Fruits and vegetables have something in common, so the best way is to start with the wholesale market."

Wholesale markets have low profit margins, but they can generate high sales volume. More importantly, Reliable Fresh is quite familiar with wholesale markets.

Chen Jiazhi added, "This year is mainly an experiment, trying it out through distribution channels. We'll see how it goes next year before entering the wholesale market."

Yi Dinggan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Chen Jiazhi was rather cautious about new businesses he had never been involved in before, as the company's core business was still vegetables.

He took two more lychees and handed one to Yi Dinggan.

Yi Dinggan waved his hand, "You eat it. I've eaten too many lychees this month, and I've tasted no less than dozens of varieties. I'm tired of them all."

Chen Jiazhi joked, "That means you're lucky with food."

"You can do without this delicious treat. The difference between lychee varieties is greater than the difference between people. Some lychees just don't taste good. Even lychees of the same variety can have very different tastes."

Yi Dinggan then pointed to the lychees on the table, "I think the best-tasting varieties are Guiwei and Nuomizi, followed by Heiye, Baitangying, and Feizixiao."

But if Fei Zi Xiao and Gui Wei were released at the same time, I would definitely only eat Gui Wei.

Chen Jiazhi ate another Guiwei lychee and said, "Not bad, you know quite a lot."

Yi Dinggan shrugged and said, "You could do that too if you ate a different variety of lychee every day for a month."

Chen Jiazhi was practically eating lychees one after another, which made Yi Dinggan's mouth water. He couldn't resist peeling one and eating it, and once he started, he couldn't stop.

"You said you were tired of eating them and asked me to save two for you."

"Holy crap, why are you putting it away? I brought it back and I can't eat it anymore, take it out now."

"Do you still want your share of the profits?"

"I want dividends, and I also want to eat lychees."

In the end, Chen Jiazhi could only divide the remaining lychees in half among everyone.

Yi Dinggan ate the lychees he had snatched, finding them particularly sweet, and then asked, "Boss Chen, how much money do you plan to allocate for profit sharing and bonuses?"

"The exact amount depends on how much we can sell this month," Chen Jiazhi said, holding up one palm. "But it won't be less than that."

"atmosphere!"

"With this capability, the company makes money like crazy."

(End of this chapter)