1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 417 HeLi Agriculture
The countryside is bustling in September.

On a hillside in Paitan Town, autumn colors the mountain village, and persimmons hang heavily on the branches.

Farmer Quan Bo led Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan on a tour of his persimmon orchard.

"The persimmons can be picked at the end of the month. After picking, they will turn red in just four or five days. They will taste best when the astringency is completely gone."

Chen Jiazhi looked up at the lush green persimmons and said with a smile, "Uncle Quan, then it's settled in advance, we'll take care of your persimmon harvest this year."

"Okay, I'll definitely get it done for you."

Buying persimmons was just a side trip; it took nearly an hour to walk down the mountain before we finally saw a stretch of flat land.

After a month of land preparation, the vegetable base has taken shape.

Standing on the mountainside and looking down, Yi Dinggan said, "In another month, by early October, we should be able to transplant and sow the seedlings in full."

Chen Jiazhi nodded slightly, "Just do your best. It won't matter if it's a little late. Who knows, it might rain again someday."

The early rice was harvested in July, and by early August, Heli Agriculture had acquired all 3,000 mu of land.

Heli Agriculture is a name chosen by Huang Jianyuan and Xia Youche, meaning that cooperation brings mutual benefit.

Chen Jiazhi thought the name was alright and had a good meaning, so he agreed.

Even with good initial planning, the land preparation work did not go smoothly due to frequent rain; a single downpour could bring the progress to a standstill.

Fortunately, the funds were plentiful. In addition to the 10 million from Kaopu Fresh, the 10 million from Xia Youche also arrived in the account.

With ample funding, after working on it intermittently for a month, it has taken a rough shape.

But people were also severely affected.

Chen Jiazhi has been staying in Zengcheng since July, going up and down the mountain every day, and his skin has become tanned.

However, compared to Yi Dinggan and Guo Mancang, he was still relatively naive.

Finally, we arrived at the foot of the mountain. In front of us were high mountains, and behind us was the Paitan River. In terms of location, Heli Agriculture's three vegetable markets were all the best.

The names are simple and easy to remember: Xiaolou's thousand-acre vegetable market is Heli No. 1, Paitan is Heli No. 2, and Zhengguo is Heli No. 3.

Chen Jiazhi was appointed chairman of Heli, and Yi Dinggan was appointed general manager, responsible for the company's specific operations.

Chen Jiazhi originally wanted to put Xue Jun in Helilai as well, but Xue Jun refused, saying that he felt he was not capable enough and wanted to stay with Chen Jiazhi for a while longer.

The managers of the three markets are Guo Mancang, Wu Yong, and Wei Liangcai, respectively.

Guo Mancang is an elderly man who came from the Dongxiang vegetable market, while Wei Liangcai works in the research department and used to work at the township agricultural technology station.

Wu Yong is from Maoming and has worked as a worker and group leader at Jiangxin Vegetable Market. He was specially recruited by Yi Dinggan this time.

At this time, Wu Yong was also inspecting the base, directing the construction of roads and ditches and the tilling and drying of the land.

Upon seeing Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan, they quickly came over to offer them cigarettes.

Chen Jiazhi casually inquired about the progress, emphasized the desired effect, and then left with Yi Dinggan.

The two of them walked through the three sites countless times, and the most important roads and ditch routes were determined. Except for some plots with too large an elevation difference, they would not carry out large-scale construction and would preserve the topsoil as much as possible.

If this still causes major problems, then it's time to consider replacing the person.

It's not far from Heli No. 2 Farm to Lapu Village in Xiaolou Town, where Heli No. 1 Farm is located; you just need to cross two mountain passes to get there.

The scenery along the way is beautiful. Looking down from the mountain, you can see Helichang, with its fields stretching as far as the eye can see and the sounds of chickens and dogs echoing through the air.

The land in Heli Farm was originally flat and contiguous. After the paddy fields were drained, tractors were used to deeply cultivate the soil. After the soil was fully dried, base fertilizer was applied, and the seedbeds were prepared for transplanting and sowing.

In a corner of the market, there was a seedling nursery with a small arched shed and an insect-proof net.

The first batch of late-season Chinese cabbage seeds have been sown, and once the land is ready, they will be ready for transplanting.

Everything was arranged perfectly.

As the sun sets, the autumn air is crisp and clear in the mountain village in September, and wisps of smoke rise from every household's chimney.

Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan also started their journey home before dark.

Heli Agriculture's office building is still under construction, and they are currently renting a house in Lapu Village.

As the former site of the town government, Lapu Village has a history of over 800 years. It has relatively complete facilities such as a market, primary school, and middle school, making life quite convenient.

Moreover, this area is located in a hilly and mountainous region, which gave everyone a sense of being back in their hometown.

As soon as he entered the house, Li Xiu handed him a glass of water. "Drink some water and then wash your face and wipe off the sweat on your body. It's all covered in salt."

DouDou came over and called out, "Daddy, hug me!"

As he spoke, he tried to pounce on Chen Jiazhi, who had spent a lot of time playing with him in the countryside.

Li Xiu gently pulled him back and said, "Look how dirty Daddy is. If you keep hugging him, you'll become a dirty baby too."

"I want Daddy to hold me." Dou Dou reached out towards Chen Jiazhi, splashing around.

"Dad, go wash your face first, then you can hug me." Chen Jiazhi then casually asked, "Has Second Sister come back yet?"

“We’ve been back for a while,” Li Xiu said. “I’m boiling water in the kitchen. Take a shower as soon as you finish eating. Look at the state of your and Yi Ge’s clothes.”

Yi Dinggan looked around and muttered, "It's alright, not rotten."

Chen Jiafang then came out of the kitchen and said, "How dare you say that? You've worn out so many clothes in the past two months."

Chen Jiazhi tried to smooth things over, saying with a smile, "Work is all for the sake of work."

These past two months have been tough; building a base is never an easy task.
However, the clothes weren't very durable, mainly because Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan often had to trek through mountains and valleys, and occasionally even venture into the forest to find a good fishing spot. Cool well water splashed on his face, and Chen Jiazhi quickly wiped himself before returning to the house for dinner.

"I want to sit next to Daddy," DouDou called out, carrying her little bowl as she walked over.

Chen Jiazhi lifted him onto a chair. Recently, their relationship has warmed up rapidly because of activities such as catching fish and shrimp, and catching loach and eel in the rice paddies.

"Eat it yourself."

"Ok!"

The young man looked very serious and focused while eating. He wasn't picky about food and never cried or made a fuss while eating, which made him very easy to manage.

After finishing his meal first, Chen Jiazhi took a hot shower. When he came out, there were no men in the house.

"What about people?"

Peng Guozhen and Chen Jiafang were both so angry that they cursed and scolded each other.

"The old man ate his meal and then went fishing with his fishing rod."

"Your third brother Yi, I don't know where he got such a strong addiction. Can't he rest for a while after a long day?"

Chen Jiazhi was initially tempted when he heard that they were going fishing.

My mother and second sister each said something, and Li Xiu was also watching us intently.

Chen Jiazhi had no choice but to abandon his idea of ​​going out. "Don't look at me, I'm not addicted to fishing. I'm not going out today, I'll just stay at home."

Li Xiu said, "You only stayed home today, and you still have the nerve to say you're not addicted."

"Is there a problem?" Chen Jiazhi said innocently, "I go fishing every day, but that doesn't affect my addiction to fishing."

Li Xiu was giving Dou Dou a bath outside the door. The little guy was very restless in the tub, playing in the water and shouting that he was going to fish. After hearing Chen Jiazhi's words, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Look at you, you've all led our son astray."

"Don't you think he used to be too quiet? Boys should be more outgoing."

Li Xiu was stunned. It seemed to be true. This child had been easy to take care of since birth. He was quiet and easy to manage. Sometimes he could stare at ants for half an hour by himself.

Thinking about this, Li Xiu felt that Chen Jiazhi made a good point and that she should be a little more lively.

"DouDou, look at your dad."

Dou Dou turned to look at Chen Jiazhi standing at the door. Li Xiu suddenly splashed some water on Chen Jiazhi and commanded, "Quick, splash water on your dad."

Caught off guard, Chen Jiazhi fell victim to the trick, and Dou Dou had even more fun.

"Alright, you're trying to ambush me. I just took a shower. I'll flick your little pecker."

"Hey, so you know how to hide now~"

After playing around for a while, we finally finished bathing and dressing DouDou.

After helping to pour out the water and playing with his son for a while, Chen Jiazhi went back to his room to review his work for the day and listened to some English tapes.

Vegetable exports have been performing very well in the past two months, especially to Southeast Asia, where prices have risen sharply.

Chen Jiazhi's spoken English has also improved significantly, and he can now have simple conversations.

Several consecutive days of fine weather have accelerated the construction progress of the base.

In his office, Chen Jiazhi was also drafting the production technology regulations for Zengcheng late-season cabbage.

The regulations were formulated according to his understanding.

If the base covers a large area and aims to further benefit farmers, it needs a unified planting process and product standards.

After finishing writing it, Chen Jiazhi went through the "Technical Regulations for Late-Season Cabbage Production" at the morning production meeting.

"This year, only Heli Market has a task to plant late-season Chinese cabbage, but we should also find out about the other two markets in advance, and we can also refer to this approach for planting other Chinese cabbage and vegetables."

“Heli Agriculture is different from the previous Jiangxin vegetable market. The water quality, soil and environment here are better, and there are higher requirements for quality.”

“Strict standards must be followed at every stage. At the same time, the production technology procedures are not static. We must review the experience after each batch of vegetables and make timely adjustments.”

Chen Jiazhi has spared no effort in promoting Zengcheng late-season cabbage and making it a brand ahead of schedule.

Factors such as funding, policy, technology, and market have all been taken into consideration.

After all, this has influenced history.

Chen Jiazhi knew that Zengcheng late-season cabbage was worth planning ahead of time, as it was a vegetable brand with great influence in the Greater Bay Area.

Once he succeeds and reaps the initial benefits, it will greatly boost his vegetable business empire.

The meeting was brief, and after it ended, the market managers and supervisors from each market quickly dispersed.

With the good weather, progress is accelerating at all sites. Some plots are already being planted with vegetables, and the harvest could begin in just over a month.

Chen Jiazhi stopped going to the countryside and stayed in the office. The Zengcheng base was very important, but Kaopu Fresh was also making frequent moves.

The Pengcun base has been expanded to 1,000 mu, and the transplanting of chicken heart mustard is progressing smoothly.

The Lianzhou cooperative base is still working after more than two months, and the grafted seedlings are performing exceptionally well.

At the Yuanmou seedling nursery, winter and early-season vegetable seedlings saw their first hot sale.

(End of this chapter)