Reborn in 1994: Starting from the Autumn Harvest

Morning, east of the city, at the train station.

He Jianjun was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, chatting enthusiastically with a family of three, with a farm three-wheeler and a small tricycle parked beside him.

Upon seeing Chen Mian's tractor appear, they quickly shook their small three-wheeled vehicle to make way.

"Look over there." He Jianjun gestured with his head to the south.

Chen Mian frowned and looked out. He saw a small four-wheeled tractor parked a few hundred meters away, but the location wasn't very good.

"When did you arrive?"

"It took about ten minutes. Luckily I arrived early, otherwise they would have taken over this place."

Chen Mian nodded thoughtfully: "Thanks to you for this."

"Never mind them, let's just play dumb."

For Chen Mian, this situation was both reasonable and unexpected; it was only six o'clock, yet they had arrived earlier than her.

He Jianjun ordered 400 jin of melons, intending to set up a stall next to the Chengnan Textile Factory. He said he had acquaintances there and estimated that the price would not be low.

The family of three ordered 300 jin (150 kg) and wanted to set up a stall near the crossroads. They had acquaintances there and wanted to sell it according to Chen Mian's pricing.

Chen Mian specially borrowed a scale today. After receiving 91 yuan, the two brothers also helped to load the melons.

Seeing He Jianjun leave in a hurry, Chen Mian estimated that she still had about 700 jin left. Just as she was about to turn around and speak, she saw her elder brother standing with his hands on his hips, looking south with a worried expression.

"The price is down today, 15 cents a pound." Chen Mian patted his older brother on the shoulder, confident. "I had He Jianjun prepare this tricycle. We'll still deliver today, but the watermelons we deliver will still be at the original price."

Chen Liang didn't know what the outcome would be, but as soon as he heard his younger brother speak, he felt inexplicably confident and stopped worrying.

Then a new sign was put up, which, in addition to the price, also included the following: Delivery available for orders of ten or more near the station.

……

Around nine o'clock in the morning, crowds of people from all directions began to flock to the east of the city. As they passed by, they were inevitably attracted by the melon stalls. Among them was Yang Zhanguo, who came from Anping Village.

Yang Zhanguo was known in the village for his good fortune; his family had many possessions.

They had a four-wheeled tractor, a motorcycle, and three large, brightly and exquisitely decorated rooms. They also ran a small sunflower seed workshop in partnership with someone else.

She is sought after wherever she goes, but she rarely chats with people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Looking at the crowd of onlookers, he was filled with curiosity and couldn't help but lead his wife and children closer to the melon stall.

Chen Mian, with his keen eyesight, spotted a black Jialing 70 motorcycle among the unassuming crowd. It was both composed and unassuming, yet exuded a powerful presence.

In 1994, motorcycles were considered luxury items. The cheapest ones cost several thousand yuan, while the more expensive ones cost twenty or thirty thousand yuan. They were extremely eye-catching wherever they went.

While the villagers were debating whether to switch to a tractor or a three-wheeled vehicle, Yang Zhanguo became the first person in the village to buy a motorcycle in 1990, which sparked heated discussions throughout the village.

I heard that this car was bought secondhand for 4000 yuan, while a new car would cost seven or eight thousand yuan.

Back then, money wasn't worth much; 4000 yuan in 90 could be spent like 7000 yuan in 94.

Chen Mian called out to her elder brother to go and greet Yang Zhanguo, saying that she wanted to open a melon for the child to try, but was seriously stopped.

"We're all from the same village, let's not talk about this. Keep it and sell it for some money." Yang Zhanguo and Chen Hongguo were not really related, and they had no family ties, so he politely declined the offer.

Then, my gaze inadvertently swept across the area and was drawn to the large signboard. Ah, I see.

Yang Zhanguo was worried that he wouldn't be able to manage it, so he didn't plant any watermelons this year. But as far as he knew, everyone in the village who planted watermelons was busy digging them up and taking the seeds. Chen Hongguo's family was the exception, which caused quite a bit of gossip.

Many people laughed at Chen Hongguo for spoiling his child, but now that we see it, he really has brains.

The price at the farm gate is less than one cent, while the normal price for dried seeds is one yuan and fifty cents per pound. After 100 pounds of watermelons are harvested, the seeds are extracted, washed, and dried, only a little over two pounds of good dried seeds are produced.

The way the Chen brothers sell their products far surpasses selling melon seeds, and they make a considerable profit.

He asked curiously, "I heard today that your family goes to town to sell melons. So that's how you sell them. You must sell quite a lot in a day, right?"

"Just sell it as is, it's just a hard-earned profit." Chen Mian said, pointing to the north and east for Yang Zhanguo, "Look, we've already run into competitors as soon as we arrived, who knows what will happen in the future."

Yang Zhanguo looked around following the directions and found that there were indeed two other places selling melons, but their business was not as good as this place. However, Chen Mian and his brother were so busy that they didn't even have a place to stand.

On second thought, there must be melon vendors at the market as well, so the competition must be fierce.

Moreover, fruits and vegetables don't keep for long; if they're not sold today, they might spoil tomorrow. My initial surprise quickly faded.

Then Chen Mian changed the subject and talked about going to the market. After confirming that the couple had come to the market, she said kindly, "Uncle, why don't you leave the motorcycle here? It's too much trouble to push it in. I'll watch it for you."

Chen Liang chimed in, "Yeah, let's put it here. Just walking around inside is exhausting enough, let alone pushing a motorcycle."

"That would be great."

Yang Zhanguo was already looking for a place to park, and he was even happier when Chen Mian offered to do so.

Not wanting to delay the melon stall's business, he locked up his motorcycle and headed to the market.

After seeing Yang Zhanguo off, Chen Mian's gaze involuntarily fell on the motorcycle, her eyes filled with affection. She thought to herself that she would get one when she had the money.

……

As the sun grew stronger, the flow of people at the station increased significantly, but the melon stalls in the north and south presented two different scenes.

Liang Dazhu would occasionally glance north to compare the business situation of the two melon stalls.

He happened to pass by the station yesterday and was overjoyed to see Chen Mian selling melons.

After going back and doing some calculations, they thought of using price advantage to compete. But now, looking at the situation, there's already a group of people watching from the north, while they're only getting two or three customers despite trying to attract customers.

Just as Liang Dazhu was sighing that he should have arrived earlier today, his son came running in a hurry.

"Dad, the price has dropped over there, it's 15 cents a pound, and they even deliver if you buy a large quantity of melons for retail."

"What?!" Liang Dazhu never expected the other side to lower the price. He stared blankly at his own sign, which was five cents lower than Chen Mian's price yesterday. He was a little dumbfounded for a moment.

"That's not right. Why did he lower the price after only one day of selling? That's not how you do business."

Liang Dazhu's emotionally charged complaints also reached the ears of the onlookers. They all exchanged glances, curled their lips in unison, and scoffed inwardly.

Meanwhile, Chen Mian had no time to pay attention to Liang Dazhu. He rode his tricycle to a repair shop.

"Brother, these are the melons our repair shop ordered, 20 in total. Boss Wang has already paid for them."

Chen Mian explained it politely and in detail, which surprised the people in the courtyard. Someone asked curiously, "20 melons for only 12 yuan? Are melons this cheap now? I remember they were more than 20 cents a pound a few days ago."

Someone nearby chimed in, "The main thing is that they even delivered it to their doorstep; this business is really something..."

"Buy a lot and get a free gift." Chen Mian was breathing heavily, but she smiled brightly. Then she added, "I have a stall near the station. We're not far apart. If you want to know more, just come over and tell me. For areas around the station, I can deliver to ten or more people."