Twenty years of cold chain

One morning in late March, a major event occurred in Tongxing.

The brightly colored banner read "Signing Ceremony for Aquatic Product Supply between Tongxing Cold Chain Distribution Center and Gannan, Zhengqu, and Donghe Agricultural Trade Markets." A lot of publicity was done for this event, and it was even published in the newspaper, quickly spreading throughout Qingyan City.

Meanwhile, Tongxing's refrigerated trucks were shuttling between Qingyan and Panzhu, carrying batches of frozen fish and shrimp into Tongxing's cold storage. This precise timing completely threw the vegetable vendors from the five counties north of the city into disarray!

We've been waiting anxiously for April, waiting anxiously for April, but the vegetable supply has been cut off. Tongxing can't supply the vegetables in April. For this industry, it's time to talk about what should be done and what has gone wrong.

But at the very end of March, Tongxing suddenly launched a seafood business, and in an instant, their trump card collapsed.

It's important to know that Qingyan, and indeed the entire Qingning region, has no shortage of vegetables. Further north of the five counties north of the city, and further south of Qingyan, lies a province renowned for its abundant vegetable production.

Therefore, for the three major farmers' markets and other vegetable markets, supplying vegetables has never been a problem, but aquatic products are a completely different story. If Tongxing can supply aquatic products on a long-term basis, it would be a real boon for the three major markets. The rarer the product, the more money they would make. It's no exaggeration to say that if Tongxing had enough stock, they could even make the market their main business, aquatic products.

But for the major vegetable vendors clinging to Tongxing Vegetable Road, this signing was a fatal blow. Tongxing had announced its opening in February, sending all the vendors into a panic. Hu Shutong's move had dragged them down for over two months, leaving them exhausted. Hearing about the seafood, Tongxing was certain it wouldn't be bogged down at this point; further entanglement was pointless.

They've never even faced each other head-on, yet they've already suffered a crushing defeat? That's a gross underestimation of these long-established vegetable vendors. There are no small matters in making a living, especially when it involves such a vast network.

On this day, a stranger in his forties or fifties came to Tongxing. Upon meeting Hu Shu, the man did not introduce himself but went straight to the point and stated his clear request.

"Boss Hu, there's really no need for Tongxing to go to the market. We'll deliver the vegetables to your doorstep ourselves, as many as you want. What do you think?"

Turning Tongxing into a storage base to welcome vegetables from all directions to the market in bulk is also one of Hu Shutong's ideas, and it would make everything simpler. But that requires a healthy and orderly environment. In the current environment of the five counties in the north of the city, which are deeply rooted, without access to local produce, Tongxing is like a large box without the ability to act, and it cannot escape the fate of being manipulated.

"If that's the case, why not deliver it directly to the three major markets for me?"

Upon hearing Hu Shutong's question, the other party forced a smile and said dryly, "If you really need it, it's not impossible."

Hu Shutong couldn't help but chuckle. "Then why did I build these factories?"

"Boss Hu, it's fine if we each go our own way, but I hope you'll take our advice regarding the future vegetable purchase price seriously."

"What do you mean?"

"Boss Hu, the five counties in northern Qinghai aren't actually that big, so coordinating things on the ground isn't difficult. If we use the same purchase price, then we can be transparent about who's who and who's in charge, and do business together. Why not?"

This person's words touched upon a crucial question: how are vegetable prices determined?

Essentially, apart from strong weather factors, vegetable prices are mostly determined by supply and demand, but in this era, human factors have a great deal of influence.

In the entire chain of vegetable farmers, buyers, wholesalers, and retailers, vegetable farmers, as producers, have the least influence on prices; even experienced individuals can only roughly gauge the trend. Retailers at the end of the supply chain, such as stall owners in vegetable markets, also cannot control prices. Therefore, in order to achieve a desired profit, they often resort to tricks such as shortchanging customers.

However, for vegetable buyers, some of whom are wholesalers, they don't ostensibly intervene in pricing, but they can manipulate the quantity of vegetables purchased. Especially in the special environment of the five counties in the north of the city, which has been controlled for many years, large vegetable vendors secretly observe and negotiate with each other. Years of operation have created a covert closed loop, making it not difficult to achieve the required quantity.

Once a fixed quantity is established, the price will consistently fluctuate within an ideal curve.

"If I agree, shouldn't the next step be to set a fixed quantity?"

The man laughed. "Tongxing is a major fish producer, and meat is very profitable. It's enough to supply vegetables for three markets. Besides, the profit margin on vegetables is so small, Boss Hu probably wouldn't even bother with it, right?"

At this point, there was no room for further discussion for Hu Shutong. On the surface, it seemed like a good thing that everyone was competing rationally by buying vegetables at the same price. But putting aside the long term, considering the losses incurred from their blockade of Tongxing over the past few months, a significant price reduction was inevitable to recoup previous losses. If Tongxing didn't cooperate, they worried that a large amount of vegetables would flow back to Tongxing. They had treated each other like tigers before; they couldn't afford to raise tigers themselves.

From Tongxing's perspective, without control over pricing and constrained by volume, it's no different from a shell.

Hu Shutong stared at the man and said, "Go back and tell them that lowering the price is impossible, but I'm willing to go along with raising it."

With fuel subsidies and a green channel as two major advantages, Hu Shutong is fully capable of handling this. Perhaps the other party has forgotten that the person in front of him is a genuine vegetable farmer's son. Trying to squeeze money out of vegetable farmers in front of him is really hitting a nerve.

These words made the man narrow his eyes deeply. He had thought that he had used some tricks, first saying something that was impossible to agree to, and then retreating to reveal what he wanted. But after hearing these words, he felt that things had not only not moved forward, but had actually regressed!

It was not hard to see from the beginning that the person in front of me was a man of skill, but what was even more frustrating was that, in addition to his leg and foot techniques, he also possessed a temperament that made him irresistible.

"Boss Hu, you're a bit confused! This is something that can get Boss Hu into the public eye. Once it's on the table, there's nothing that can't be discussed."

"I don't understand formalities; I only know that all dishes should be served on the table."

"What a pity about the name Tongxing."

"Tongxing means that those who share the same path will prosper."

……

On the night he parted ways with Yu Dajun, Hu Shutong drank too much.

The construction team and equipment had left more than 20 days ago, but Yu Dajun has stayed with them ever since.

As they clinked glasses, they reminisced about the past, about the little things they shared under the eaves of their house, and talked about the future, about the grand industrial park and massive projects, about boundless possibilities. But at this moment, neither of them wanted to talk about any of those things anymore.

"Based on my observations during my time in Qingyan, I have to thank my father-in-law a lot for those days when we ate dried fruit and bread with jam after drinking!"

"What father-in-law? You were the one who ripped me off back then. Just thank yourself for speaking out of turn."

"Shutong, shouldn't we think about some things? I've met Pingxin before; she's dashing and extraordinary, especially the way she looks at you—it's like she's watching a fish in a lake!"

"You don't need to worry about my affairs."

"If I don't worry, who will? My peers from the reform and opening up era, tsk tsk, just think about how old I am."

"Brother Dajun, you lived ten years before the Reform and Opening Up policy, where's your wife?"

"How could I compare to you! A top graduate student, a household name in the industry, it would be strange if you didn't have a wife!"

"I'm puzzled too. Someone who has worked diligently for so many years, speaks fluent martial arts stories, and is highly skilled and dedicated in everything he does, has actually reached the age where if he doesn't look for someone now, he might not be able to find another one."

The wine glass clattered to the ground.

"Let's get down to business. When will we start Phase Two?"

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.