1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 450 Abundance Every Year
Xia Yang thought he had done a good job, but he didn't expect his father to still find fault with him.

Buying clothes for the dog?
His casual joke was taken seriously by his father.

This world is truly magical.

After Xia Youche left, Tongxingtai worked for several more hours until dawn. Only then did Xia Yang sit on the scale with a cigarette in his mouth, checking the orders from the past few days.

An occasional gust of cold wind would make people shiver, but apart from occasionally taking a puff of smoke, Xia Yang's eyes never left the notebook in his hands.

Xia Yang suddenly understood his father a little better.

Looking at the endless stream of customer orders, page after page, each number seemed to pulsate like a heartbeat, a scene imbued with the aesthetics of selling vegetables.

While other vegetable stalls were closing up for the Lunar New Year, they were still making their final push.

The cold wind isn't cold anymore.

It was precisely because of the cold weather that the market suddenly exploded, and the reliable fresh produce supplier, which has always provided a stable supply, became Tongxingtai's strongest support.

Without the reliable Fresh Life and the ten million yuan investment from Tongxingtai in Heli Farm, everything we have today might only be a dream.

And now it's all happening to me.

Xia Yang was hungry, so he rummaged through the styrofoam box and found two late-season cabbages. He peeled them slightly, took a bite, and found they were even sweeter than if they hadn't been peeled.

This way of eating was taught to him by his father. In the past, vegetable wholesalers liked to use the method of eating raw bok choy hearts to judge the quality of vegetables when they inspected them at the market. However, since there have been more and more cases of vegetable pesticide poisoning in recent years, almost no one dares to do this anymore.

When he went door-to-door to sell his products, he dared to eat the food raw in front of his customers. The customers' first reaction was not that it tasted good as he had imagined, but that the food was definitely not poisonous.

This was something the workers told him while he was working, something he hadn't known about before. He was quite proud of himself; others wouldn't dare eat it raw, but he did!
However, the story of him "eating raw bok choy" is indeed widely known, and many of his former friends tease him about it.

It must have really shocked many clients back then. No wonder he was able to win over so many clients and even invite Cai Lan. This is what happens when a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. It was all a lucky accident. If it had been an unreliable dish, he might have been poisoned to death.

Sometimes when Xia Yang is busy and tired, he has nightmares at night. He dreams that when he is playing with young models, the models will suddenly pull out a late-blooming cabbage to tease him. This is a nightmare.

too frightening.

Xia Yang felt like he was poisoned by Chi Caixin, which made him not want to play with young models anymore.

As for Boss Chen, who was behind Chi Caixin's scheme, Xia Yang realized the gap between the two.

"Why didn't you just buy his dog some clothes back then?"

Xia Yang regretted it a little. He suddenly remembered the scenes from the first few times he met Boss Chen. He seemed to have cursed Boss Chen.

Xia Yang rubbed his greasy, tousled hair. Damn, where did he get the courage back then!

I don't think Mr. Chen is the type to hold grudges.
...

The car sped along, and soon after dawn, it arrived at the building of Kaopu Fresh.

The driver, Lao Yu, patted Xia Youche, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat, snoring loudly. "Mr. Xia, we've arrived."

"Hmm~"

Xia Youche struggled to open his eyelids, squinted and glanced at the four words "Kaopu Fresh," then sat up straight. After getting out of the car, he haphazardly rubbed his face with a bottle of mineral water before heading to get the gift box.

"Old Yu, what are you still doing sitting in the car? Get out and help me carry these things inside."

Feeling a little guilty, Yu Zhaokun asked, "Should I come in too?"

“Otherwise, there’s so much stuff, I can’t carry it all by myself.” Xia Youche frowned and said, “Old Yu, what’s wrong with you? When I asked you to drive, you were always hesitant.”

Yu Zhaokun scratched his head awkwardly and said, "When we were at Jiangxin Market before, there were two times when my attitude towards Boss Chen was... maybe... maybe not very good. He probably didn't want to see me, and it wouldn't be good if it affected his mood."

Xia Youche frowned and thought for a moment, then remembered that he had been there at the time.
He pondered for a moment and said, "It's not good to keep hiding. Let's go. I'll talk to Boss Chen later and see if we can clear things up."

"alright."

The two carried large and small bags into Kaopu Fresh. Workers were cleaning, but the bustling activity from the previous night could still be vaguely seen.

Xia Youche couldn't help but sigh inwardly. After giving Tongxingtai so many vegetables, Kaopu Fresh still had such a large supply of goods. Their strength was truly remarkable.

When Chen Jiazhi learned that Xia Youche had come to deliver gifts, he was a little surprised. But after seeing the bags and packages of gifts for everyone, he could only smile and say, "President Xia has really gone to great lengths."

Xia Youche said, "Of course, this year has been like a roller coaster ride. Thanks to Boss Chen, Tongxingtai was able to climb the mountain."

"As I said before, cooperation is mutually beneficial."

Chen Jiazhi invited Xia Youche to sit down and have a cup of tea. Both of them had stayed up all night, and a little tea would be good to refresh them.

Xia Youche took the opportunity to chat, which helped to shorten the distance between them.

Now, Tongxingtai only needs to cling tightly to the coattails of Kaopu Fresh to maintain its position in the Xiangjiang Vegetable Wholesale Market.

Moreover, he heard Mr. Chen ask many questions about the sales of Hong Kong lettuce, especially about Hop Hing and Wing Lung.

He guessed that Boss Chen might have another idea, but the timing wasn't right, or it wasn't convenient for him to say it now.

Thinking of this, Xia Youche glanced at Yu Zhaokun, who was sitting upright to the side, and started talking about the past.

Chen Jiazhi reacted indifferently to this. Of course, he still remembered Yu Zhaokun, who used to always have a high and mighty face, but now sat in the corner like a quail. This person also had an inextricable relationship with Jia Sufen and Liu Minghua.

With Tong Hing Tai's one-sided cooperation and the imminent handover, the drivers from both mainland China and Hong Kong could no longer pose any threat to him.

Therefore, Chen Jiazhi did not want to see this person.

He didn't say it explicitly, but Xia Youche understood his attitude, and the atmosphere became slightly quiet.

At this moment, Li Cai knocked on the door again and said, "President Chen, President Juan has also come to wish us a Happy New Year. Would you like to meet him as well?"

Which volume manager?

"Curly, you haven't forgotten about him, have you? Curly's stall is doing quite well now, he's an important secondary agricultural wholesaler for us."

"How could he forget? Let him come over."

Xia Youche also got up to say goodbye at the right time, letting Yu Zhaokun go downstairs first. Chen Jiazhi saw him off, saying, "President Xia, Happy New Year and may you prosper."

"May you be happy and prosperous."

Then Chen Jiazhi went to greet Curly.

After Xia Youche got in the car, he made some adjustments to Zhao Kun's situation. The drivers in the Hong Kong-Zhongshan area were not short of work, so they could just switch to another route. There was no need to provoke Boss Chen.

He also planned to go back and talk to Xia Yang.

Chen Jiazhi spent the entire morning welcoming and seeing off guests.

He also took the prepared gift boxes to give to some important people, which were mostly cigarettes, alcohol and tea, and occasionally he would slip them some other things.

Even in the afternoon, people were still delivering things to Kaopu Fresh, and many still mentioned late-season cabbage.

Chen Jiazhi immediately wrote down the plan for the late-season cabbage gift box in his work notebook, so that he would have another option for gifting next year.

At the same time, many bases, including Heli Farm, Jiangxin Vegetable Market, Pengcun Base, Fanrong Vegetable Market, and Yunling Agriculture, have entered the stage that workers are most happy to see.

Get your salary and bonus, receive red envelopes, and then go home for a good New Year.

Some people stayed behind to keep watch, and Kaopu Fresh completed all the preparation work.

After paying his New Year's visits, Chen Jiazhi picked out some gift boxes, loaded them into the car, and prepared to go back to his hometown with Li Xiu and Li Cai to celebrate the New Year.

Li Cai also brought his fishing gear, which had been sitting unused for a long time. "I've been baiting this spot for two months now, and I don't know how many fish have gathered there. Brother-in-law, you can't steal my spot."

Chen Jiazhi chuckled. "If you're going to lose, you'd better learn from our General Yi and go to the market to buy a couple of fish. It's almost the New Year, you need to have a good omen." "Trust me, I definitely won't lose!"

Li Cai was full of confidence.

Li Xiu said with dissatisfaction, "How old are you? All you know is fishing. You should be thinking about important life matters."

"I know, didn't I bring a female companion fishing last time too?"

"If you're going to talk, then talk seriously."

"Yeah yeah~"

Li Cai got into the car and started it without hesitation. He thought his sister would get carsick, but Li Xiu has gradually gotten used to it and kept urging him to get married on the way.

He had a good relationship with his fifth sister since childhood, and even when she nagged him, he didn't dare to complain. He wanted to talk to his brother-in-law, but he pretended to be asleep again.

Li realized he should have brought a female companion with him when he went fishing during the Chinese New Year. She was willing to come fishing with him during the holiday, which meant she was truly in love. This gave Li his own standards for dating.

Chen Jiazhi didn't get to sleep for long before he was woken up by the beeping of his mobile phone.

Huang Jianyuan called to wish Huang Chuan a Happy New Year. During the call, he also mentioned Huang Chuan's progress over the past year and said that the kid had received a big red envelope.

"Mr. Huang, it feels like you're implying that I didn't distribute dividends to shareholders during the Chinese New Year."

"No, no, I'm really happy for Huang Chuan. He's made a name for himself this year. He not only helped his fellow villagers make money, but he's also made something of himself."

The Lianzhou cooperative base also produced a lot of vegetables this winter, but most of them were not sold through stalls. Apart from those delivered, they were basically shipped directly from the base to reliable fresh food cooperative intermediaries.

The profit margin of Kaopu Fresh is only slightly reduced, but it is more convenient, and farmers have given positive feedback on the high-quality seedlings.

As introducers and contacts, Huang Jianyuan and Huang Chuan now enjoy considerable influence in the local area.

Chen Jiazhi was aware of these circumstances, but he still brought up the matter of profit sharing. Huang Jianyuan then admitted somewhat embarrassedly that he did want to ask about it, and he even brought Xu Wenxiang along.

Chen Jiazhi joked, "President Huang, from now on, you should talk about these things openly. You're making it sound like I'm being dishonest."

Huang Jianyuan smiled obsequiously. If it were before, he might have genuinely thought that Boss Chen was dishonest.

But not now. Not to mention that Mr. Chen has already generously shared his profits several times, the recent booming business of Huang's Restaurant has led Huang Jianyuan to tell Xu Wenxiang many times that "Mr. Chen is a man worth cooperating with."

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and then said, "Let's wait until March for the next dividend distribution, just in time for the late-season bok choy to be almost out of season."

"Okay, I'll do as you say. Congratulations on your fortune, Boss Chen."

"May you be happy and prosperous."

The cell phone signal was poor, but people still called every now and then.

This year went quite smoothly, and the people he worked with also fared well.

Upon arriving in Xiaolou Town, the festive atmosphere grew even stronger. Firecrackers could be heard frequently along the road, and children were chasing and playing with firecrackers.

At the village entrance, men and women gathered together to chat, crack sunflower seeds, or eat sugarcane.

As soon as a car drove in, everyone turned their attention to it.

"Wow... the driver's a handsome guy!"

"That guy in the back is even more handsome!"

Chen Jiazhi politely smiled at the discerning older woman.

"Those are Mr. and Mrs. Chen."

"Who is Boss Chen?"

"He's a vegetable grower, but don't let his vegetable-growing business fool you. I've heard he has close ties with the mayor. Think about it, they even share the same surname, Chen..."

Turning back, Li Xiu teased, "Jiazhi, are you hiding something from me? I had no idea your family had any relation to the mayor."

Chen Jiazhi's forehead was covered in black lines. "The highest-ranking official among my relatives is Baobao, who is the village accountant."

Li Xiu and Li Cai: "..."

Chen Guanye is from Yunfu. The two families have absolutely no connection. What relationship could they possibly have?

Chen Jiazhi looked back and saw the group of women still staring at him with mysterious expressions.

Upon arriving home, the house was filled with joy. On the door frame were Spring Festival couplets that read, "Peace and good fortune come from inside and outside, happiness and wealth enter the family," with the horizontal scroll reading, "Good luck shines upon you."

Chen Jiazhi knew from the handwriting that it was his father's; he had never been able to learn that kind of calligraphy.

My mother also came out to greet us, carrying Dou Dou. She was dressed in bright red, and her smile made the festive atmosphere even stronger.

With a shout, Yi Long and Yi Hu came out to help carry the things.

Wearing an apron and holding a spatula, Yi Dinggan shouted from the kitchen doorway, "Why did you buy so much stuff?"

"They were all gifts from others; there's still a pile in the office," Chen Jiazhi suddenly teased. "What, no one came to wish Boss Yi a Happy New Year?"

"Hehe, how could there not be?"

As Yi Dinggan watched Li Caiyuan unload gift boxes from the car, he suddenly felt a little insecure and went back into the kitchen.

After taking the items, Chen Jiazhi didn't go into the kitchen to demonstrate his cooking skills, mainly because he was afraid of discouraging someone.

Instead, he took advantage of the early hour to play with his son and let him experience his father's love.

As soon as Li Cai got off the bus, he started fiddling with his fishing gear, occasionally chatting with his father about the fishing situation.

A short while later, Yi Dinggan also came over and recounted his tireless experience of preparing bait, saying that he had consumed hundreds of kilograms of corn and fermented rice alone.

But he has never gone fishing.

Both of them were hoping to catch a big fish.

The reunion dinner was very lavish, with a table full of food and good wine. After everyone poured themselves a drink, I wanted to ask my father to raise a glass and say a few words.

However, in the end, his father asked Chen Jiazhi to bring it up, and Chen Jiazhi did not refuse anymore.

He thought of the Spring Festival couplets his father had written, which perfectly matched his New Year's wishes.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Jiazhi slept in for a while. Even after waking up, he was unwilling to get out of bed. He held the soft and fragrant Li Xiu in his arms, while his other hand kept wandering around.

The clock on the wall showed it was almost eight o'clock, but the house was quiet. It seemed no one was up. I've been busy harvesting and selling vegetables lately, and I'm very tired. It's good to sleep a little longer, and no one will bother me.

"Jiazhi, Jiazhi, come quick!"

Suddenly, Yi Dinggan's shouts rang out in the courtyard, followed by his mother's startled cry.

"Wow, what kind of fish is this, it's huge!"

"A big mandarin fish, this is the first time I've ever seen one this big. Li Cai caught it, but I was the one who baited the spot."

Chen Jiazhi overheard Yi Dinggan's words in the room and sensed that Yi Dinggan and Li Cai were somewhat eccentric.

Are you not tired?
He went fishing so early, but he didn't hear a sound or anyone call him to join.

Chen Jiazhi got dressed and got up. Since you didn't wake me up, don't blame me for using my boss privileges to take over the spot.

(End of this chapter)