1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 452 Profit Sharing and Celebration
"Mr. Yi is right, it's all thanks to Mr. Chen's leadership."

"Without Boss Chen, Tongxingtai wouldn't have been so successful these past few months!"

After Yi Dinggan took the lead, Huang Jianyuan and Xia Youche also spoke up and led the applause.

Looking at their faces, Xu Wenxiang felt slightly uncomfortable. How could people flatter each other so naturally?
However, she also applauded, saying that breaking even in 5 months was indeed remarkable, as this was not a small roadside stall, but an agricultural project worth 20 million yuan.

She always believed that agricultural investment had a long cycle, so after her initial setback at the Jiangxin vegetable market, she thought she should persevere a little longer.

However, ever since she met Chen Cai Nong—no, Boss Chen—her understanding has been challenged time and time again.

To hell with long investment cycles, that's just an excuse the weak make for themselves.

Chen Jiazhi raised his hand, and the conference room immediately fell silent again, with all eyes waiting for him to speak.

"On such a joyous occasion, everyone should relax and not be so serious."

"Hahaha…"

Chen Jiazhi then explained the financial statements of Heli Farm in detail, and then talked about the next plan.

This year was the first year I planted 600 mu of late-season Chinese cabbage, and it immediately became a huge fire.

Based on the current momentum, there will definitely be another surge next year, so expansion is inevitable.

Chen Jiazhi asked everyone to share their thoughts.

Xia Youche spoke first: "President Chen, what's there to consider? All 3000 mu of land at Heli Farm can be planted with late-season bok choy in the second half of the year, and it will be completely sold out!"

"We need to rotate crops."

Chen Jiazhi asked Yi Dinggan to explain the importance of the next round of planting.

Yi Dinggan had thought about this point for a long time and spoke eloquently about it. He also cited the example of the Pengcun base, where the base chooses to fallow for two or three months every summer and applies manure for fermentation to allow the soil to rest and recover.

Ao Deliang happened to be there too, and we discussed the importance of climate, soil, and water source to the quality of vegetables.

In this respect, late-season mustard greens and chicken heart mustard greens have a lot in common.

Xu Wenxiang, Huang Jianyuan, and Xia Youche have gained a deeper understanding of the intricacies of planting.

Xia Yang listened intently, now he could eat raw vegetables with more peace of mind, and he wanted to go back and try what raw mustard greens tasted like.

Yi Dinggan added, "So this raises a problem: the summer rice rotation at Heli Farm will affect the stability of the summer supply, and other actions are needed."

Xia Youche said, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Yi, just do whatever plans you have. Tongxingtai will follow your lead in planting."

Chen Jiazhi stopped beating around the bush and explained his next plan.

The 3000 mu of land will not be entirely rotated. Half of the land with higher elevation will be used to continuously grow leafy vegetables, while the other half will be rotated with silk rice.

At the same time, another 1,000 mu of leafy vegetable base will be added, so the leafy vegetable base will be maintained at 2500 mu, and the supply of goods will not be affected.

Xia Youche asked, "Wouldn't it be too little if the planting area for late-season bok choy is only 1500 mu in the second half of the year?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "We will cooperate with farmers. After this year, the local government is more eager to promote this idea, and there are also many people who follow suit. Furthermore, promoting the development of farmers will also help us obtain policy support."

Xia Youche was persuaded.

He thought of Chen Guanye.

Actually, it wouldn't have mattered if we hadn't talked about it with him, but the fact that Boss Chen brought it up made him feel quite comfortable.

After discussing Heli Agriculture, Chen Jiazhi told everyone to rest for a while and then talk about Kaopu Fresh.

Xia Youche and his son were quite curious and wanted to stay and listen, and Chen Jiazhi agreed.

Huang Jianyuan, carrying a teacup, walked towards Xia Youche and his son. Xu Wenxiang followed. The group stood by the window, watching the tricycles passing by below. The Jiangnan Market was right next to them.

Huang Jianyuan said, "President Xia, congratulations! You've made a lot of money these past few months."

Xia Youche withdrew his gaze from the Jiangnan Market, turned his head and smiled, "Huang Ji Restaurant is doing quite well too."

Xu Wenxiang crossed her arms and said reproachfully, "So you guys are targeting me?"

"Nothing."

Huang Jianyuan and Xia Youche denied it repeatedly. They hadn't thought of it that way before, but Xu Wenxiang brought it up, so they were a little unconvinced.

Huang Jianyuan even felt a little upset, or rather regretful, because Yunshan's kitchen output had been very unstable recently, which had affected the business.

In order to increase their stake in Spruce, the two of them even sold their shares in Jiangxin Vegetable Market.

Thinking about this, Huang Jianyuan already had a premonition that the upcoming meeting with Kaopu Fresh might not be very friendly to him.

Of course, seeing that Xu Wenxiang was still there made Huang Jianyuan feel a little better, since he had at least enjoyed some benefits.

Meanwhile, Qi Yongfeng, Ao Deliang, Chen Zhengxu, and others gathered around Yi Dinggan, showering him with compliments that made him overjoyed.

When Chen Jiazhi returned from the restroom, he saw this scene.

"Alright, let's continue the meeting. After the meeting, we'll go to Yunshan for dinner, Mr. Xu. Have the private rooms been arranged?"

"Everything has been arranged."

Chen Jiazhi nodded and then had someone send out the recent financial statements of Kaopu Fresh.

There was a dividend distribution last June, and Chen Jiazhi only talked about the performance in the second half of last year and January and February of this year.

"A total of 8863.8 million yuan."

The meeting room erupted in chaos once again!

There was no acting involved, it was all genuine emotion, and the sales in just eight months were nearly 100 million!

Chen Jiazhi had anticipated this scene, so he didn't raise his hand or slam the table again. Instead, he let everyone vent their emotions before introducing them one by one again.

Having developed to this point, he felt it was necessary for people to have an overall understanding of the company, rather than separating the vegetable market from the vegetable market itself.

"Yunling Agriculture's greenhouse project is not yet finished, and the seed and seedling situation is also quite special, so it has not been included in the statistics for the time being."

"The prosperous vegetable market generated approximately 8 million yuan in revenue from July of last year to February of this year, with its main business coming from exporting leafy vegetables to Japan..."

From this point on, the meeting room became restless again. Before the expansion, the prosperous vegetable market only had 580 acres of land. Is the export business really that booming?

Chen Jiazhi raised his hand and pressed it down.

“彭村基地，去年10月开始出菜，10~12月收入约700万元，今年1~2月收入约1050万元。”

Yi Dinggan's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "Ten million in two months?!"

The others also realized that something was not simple and exclaimed in surprise. Chen Jiazhi's raised hand was no longer effective.

"Holy crap, how can he be so strong!"

"Old Ao, how did you do that?"

"Tell me honestly, did you gamble on the market again?"

Faced with everyone's persistent questioning, Ao Deliang calmly replied, "I admit there was an element of gambling involved."

Chen Jiazhi reminds me of a scene from a movie, but Ao Deliang and Da Congming are completely different styles!
Seeing that things were starting to go astray, Chen Jiazhi not only raised his hand this time, but also slapped the table.

"Alright, come down and ask me any questions."

After a pause, Chen Jiazhi added, "However, Deliang did a really good job this time, and he had a lot of ideas about the crop rotation period."

Yi Dinggan felt a lump in his throat, and his gaze would unconsciously drift towards Ao Deliang. "Wait, aren't you the most reliable one with your thick eyebrows and big eyes? Why are you also putting on a show of taking a gamble?" Xia Youche was also looking at Ao Deliang, and sighed inwardly, "Another fierce general."

After discussing the Pengcun base, they moved on to the Jiangxin vegetable market, with Xu Wenxiang and Huang Jianyuan both listening intently.

"Jiangxin Market's revenue from July to December was just over 10 million yuan, and it also reached 405 million yuan from January to February. Its performance in all aspects is very stable, and it is worth learning from by other markets. Stable supply is the most important thing in our industry."

Seeing the relatively calm expressions on Yi Dinggan's and Qi Yongfeng's faces, Chen Jiazhi realized he had miscalculated and should have mentioned Jiangxin Vegetable Market first.

But then I thought, if I put the Pengcun base last, wouldn't everything I said before be for nothing?
This is a somewhat unsolvable problem.

While stability is desirable, taking a gamble is clearly more exciting, more thrilling, and more memorable.

Chen Jiazhi observed everyone's expressions and it was clear that Yi Dinggan and Qi Yongfeng had expected Jiangxin Vegetable Market's performance and were not very surprised.

The most surprised people were probably Huang Jianyuan and Xu Wenxiang. Their expressions were priceless, showing not only shock but also heartache.

Xia Youche and his son were also somewhat surprised. Judging from their expressions, they probably thought, "How come everyone here is a fierce warrior?"

However, this is why Chen Jiazhi agreed to let Xia Youche and his son come down, to show off his strength to Tongxingtai.

Kaopu Fresh not only has forward-looking plans for planting, but also a group of people who can take root at the grassroots level.

When you put the sales figures of several vegetable markets side by side, it's easy to make a comparison.

Noticing everyone's fondness for the short-term explosive potential of the Pengcun base, Chen Jiazhi asked Ao Deliang to come out and explain his design for the crop rotation period of this batch of chicken heart mustard.

Its production capacity planning is excellent. It not only maintains a stable supply of vegetables throughout the cycle, but also presents a parabolic trend, with peak production coinciding with peak price conditions.

This design is very interesting.

Chen Jiazhi led everyone in an analysis that combined the ideas of 'stability' and 'taking a gamble'.

He felt it was well-suited for the future market, but this would put the market sense of the managers to the test.

Chen Jiazhi coughed lightly and turned his gaze to Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai.

"Besides the wet market, Kaopu Fresh has played a huge role in market expansion."

Everyone had a mental expectation, because even including Heli Agriculture's 3171 million yuan, the total revenue of all the vegetable markets would only be around 7100 million yuan.

The remaining 1700 million can only be the gross profit from delivery and stalls.

Because they are all within the same system, the price that the market charges the vegetable market is much higher than the price that the farmers buy directly from the fields.

Of this 1700 million yuan, a portion is the gross profit from selling vegetables from the Lianzhou cooperative vegetable base.

If we only consider sales revenue, it would have exceeded 100 million long ago.

Therefore, the gross profit margins for delivery and stalls are relatively low, which is exactly what the saying means: wholesalers are just movers of vegetables.

But no one can ignore the role of the market.

Being able to sell so many vegetable organizations is a skill in itself.

Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai also discussed their respective work, cooperation issues in various aspects, and directions for improvement.

Rapid business expansion naturally brings many problems. After deducting operating costs such as vehicles, transportation, and personnel, the net profit of the distribution center is very meager.

The gross profit margin is about 24%, but the net profit margin is only 2-3%, mainly because the expansion was too rapid.

The next six months or so will require refinement and consolidation.

At Chen Jiazhi's request, Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai talked about trivial matters, often using specific examples to explain to everyone.

During the discussion, Xia Youche and his son also joined in, as selling vegetables is an art.

Yi Dinggan, Qi Yongfeng, and Ao Deliang also asked questions from time to time; that's how they developed their market sense.

...

"Okay, next I'll talk about the new plans. The company has several new major investments to make."

Chen Jiazhi coughed lightly, his face serious. Seeing that everyone was a little confused, he changed the subject.

"Just kidding, let's talk about profit sharing now."

"Hey, Mr. Chen, this joke isn't funny." Huang Jianyuan patted his chest in a mocking manner.

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "We were a bit bored talking about selling vegetables earlier, and some of our friends were almost asleep. Let me wake them up."

Xu Wenxiang felt like she had been singled out.

She was indeed dozing off. The hotel business was having problems, making it difficult for her to get a good rest. On the other hand, she really had no interest in selling vegetables.

But now that the topic of profit sharing is being discussed, she sits up straight, since she still has 5% of the shares in Reliable Fresh.

Chen Jiazhi explained the profit-sharing plan in detail.

First, there was Heli Agriculture, which spent all of its initial investment of 2000 million yuan, but still has more than 2000 million yuan in its accounts.

More than 1000 million yuan has been reserved for operations and expansion, and 1000 million yuan will be distributed as dividends this time.

Kaopu Fresh received 800 million yuan.

Tongxingtai received 200 million yuan.

Although it was only one-fifth of the investment amount, Xia Youche's smile was as happy as if he had found 10 million yuan.

He originally expected it would take at least one or two years to see a return on his investment, but it only took five months.

Moreover, half of it was used for expanding production.

Most importantly, Tong Hing Tai also makes a lot of money in Hong Kong. If you include that, he has basically broken even.

Compared to Heli Agriculture, Kaopu Fresh only spent some money on adding 420 acres of land for Fanrong Vegetable Market. Other expansion plans were completed in the first half of the year, and there are no major plans for the future.

Therefore, the dividends are more generous.

A total of 2500 million yuan will be allocated for dividends.

Chen Jiazhi will personally receive 1750 million yuan, and after paying taxes normally, he will also receive tens of millions of yuan.

Xu and Huang each received 125 million yuan.

The other core management team members also received an average bonus of over 60 yuan. The highest bonuses this time were for Yi Dinggan and Ao Deliang, both of whom received over one million yuan.

In addition, Chen Jiazhi also significantly increased the daily salaries of the management team.

Actually, Chen Jiazhi still had some things to say, but as the meeting progressed, everyone except the two who were selling shares became emotional.

Last June, everyone received a dividend, and by March of this year, it had increased several times over. If this continues, it will be disastrous!
Uh… Chen Jiazhi noticed that Xu Wenxiang and Huang Jianyuan seemed to be getting emotional as well.

As the company grows and management salaries increase, the two men can imagine that in the future they will not only be marginalized in the company, but their income may also be surpassed. At this moment, they want to laugh but don't know how to laugh...

In conclusion, the meeting should now be adjourned.

Chen Jiazhi waved his hand grandly, exuding an air of heroic pride, "Let's go, eat, drink, and drink until we're drunk!"

Yi Dinggan said, "I won't drink any more alcohol. I need to get back this afternoon. The vegetable prices may be cheap, but we still have to buy some."

Chen Jiazhi looked at him incredulously. He had changed. He had changed. Between alcohol and work, he had actually chosen work.

What will other people think?
(End of this chapter)