1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 121 Little Karami's Jiangnan Market

Director Wang's eyebrows twitched: "Why don't you reconsider? We're only giving you this opportunity because you have a lot of food."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Let's give the opportunity to someone else; I don't need it."

Director Wang's expression changed, and he narrowed his eyes: "You don't need to rush to conclusions, young man. Think about it for a couple more days."

He then left with his hands behind his back.

The other vegetable farmers watched as well, and only began to whisper among themselves after the man surnamed Wang left.

From Director Wang's words, they could easily deduce that the vegetable farmer Chen wanted to rent a stall, which is why the people at the back of the stall blocked the entrance.

"Chen, why do you want to rent a stall? Did that guy surnamed Wang inform you in advance that the market is going to be renovated?"

Chen Jiazhi was still packing vegetables when someone came over. It was the three vegetable farmers who had been attacked from both sides by the stall owner in the early morning.

"I just found out too."

"Who knows? You've been growing a lot of vegetables lately, so it's not surprising that the market wants to keep you around to boost its popularity."

"I told you, I won't stay."

"Even if you want to stay, it's none of your business. Spit it out if you have something to say, or leave if you have nothing else to say!"

Yi Dinggan stood up and cursed, Xue Jun stepped forward and stood aside, and Li Mingkun and Guo Mancang also looked over.

The three of them had no choice but to leave.

Yi Dinggan said, "Jiazhi, don't be impulsive. Everyone knows it wasn't you. These people have been disliking us for a long time. Even without you, the result would be the same. The stall will still be rented."

“I’m not stupid.” Chen Jiazhi shook his head. “I plan to go and check out other markets. Staying here probably won’t make much of a difference.”

"Hurry up and sell the vegetables, I'm going to deliver them."

He was already someone who could have stayed but not stayed, and after this incident, even fewer small vegetable farmers would be willing to stay, so he's even less likely to stay.

This market was never very big to begin with; it evolved from a street market, and its popularity was brought by these people.

Besides small-scale vegetable farmers, the supply of vegetables is unstable due to the long-term exploitation of outside vegetable vendors by stall owners.

The presence of small vegetable farmers initially attracted buyers, but once they leave, the market may see a short-term improvement for vendors. However, in the long run, fewer and fewer vendors will be willing to come to the market to buy.
If the supply problem cannot be solved, popularity will only decline step by step.

The market operators know nothing; they just want to collect rent. They might as well just leave now.
While delivering the vegetables, Chen Jiazhi also told a few of his regular customers about his plan to leave. Some of the customers he hadn't met yet could only come back tomorrow.

Because it happened so suddenly, many customers were caught off guard and did not explicitly say they would continue to buy his vegetables.

Moreover, Chen Jiazhi's whereabouts were not specified.

Chen Jiazhi was not surprised; he was prepared to start all over again.

At worst, he can just go to the street market, and his two customers, Heiwa and Chen Ze, will probably continue to order his vegetables.

The transaction can be completed at any fixed location, or even delivered directly to Chen Ze's restaurant.
More than half an hour later, Chen Jiazhi finished delivering the vegetables and returned to the corner.

Yi Dinggan and the other two still had food left, while Xue Jun was smoking, looking rather bored.

"Brother Jun, shall we go back together first, or wait for Brother Yi?"

"Have him go back with you, don't let him go back alone," Yi Dinggan instructed.

The two left the market under the watchful eyes of other vegetable farmers; some gloated, others felt a sense of shared sorrow.
One was driving a tricycle, and the other was riding a bicycle. They couldn't communicate and ended up back at the market.

"Brother Jun, how are you feeling?"

"Isn't the 'vegetarian king' very powerful?"

Chen Jiazhi was speechless. "Those people have guns and knives. Even if you can fight, it's useless. Go to sleep early and stop thinking about these things. Just focus on making money."

In his previous life, Xue Jun relied on his good physique and acted bravely and fiercely. A few years later, in order to make money, he went to a construction site with someone, and eventually disappeared without a trace.

If I could stay and grow vegetables in this life, things might be different.

Moreover, Chen Jiazhi also sensed the unrest in other cities.

Old Wu mentioned Changsha today.

The largest vegetable wholesale market in Changsha in later generations should be Haijixing, headquartered in Shenzhen Haijixing, commonly known as the Haijixing system, with agricultural wholesale markets in many places across the country.

There are also Wanbang Group, Yurun Group, China National Agricultural Development Group (CNADC) Alliance, and CNADC Group~
But Haijixing hasn't even appeared yet; it should still be called Buji Agricultural Wholesale Market.

Other large wholesale markets are still in their infancy, and things are quite chaotic in various places.

Even Chengdu, where he once lived, is probably now a hub for food tycoons.

He returned to Chengdu late; the vegetable market bullies were gone, but he had heard about the eight vegetable market bullies of Qing Shi Qiao who had killed people and monopolized the market.
This time, Chen Jiazhi didn't sleep very well during his nap.

When Li Xiu got up, he also woke up. Xue Jun and his third sister were still asleep. The two of them went outside. The sky was still gray, and the cicadas had not yet woken up.

"You seemed restless when you came back. You tossed and turned in bed. Did the vegetables not sell well last night?"

"It sold very well and sold out quite early. It should have made around 1,600 or 1,700 yuan, but I'm planning to switch markets."

Where to switch to?

"I don't know yet. I'll try to go out for a walk in the next couple of days when I have some free time."

"Oh~"

Li Xiu took a wooden comb from the windowsill and combed her hair. Her hair was naturally curly, it was hereditary, and she had tried to straighten it many times, but it would curl up again in less than a month.

Chen Jiazhi stared at her for a long time.

Combing her long hair, Li Xiu asked again, "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing serious. Some people were causing trouble at the market this morning. I just felt that this market wasn't good, so I wanted to switch."

Chen Jiazhi explained everything to her, and there was nothing to hide. The more detailed his explanation, the more Li Xiu understood.

"Let's switch then. We've saved some money now. If it doesn't work out, we'll stop growing vegetables, and you can go back to school."

"..." Chen Jiazhi: "It's not that serious, don't worry, there's a way, we still have a few big clients."

For people like Chen Ze and Lao Wu, there's no need to repackage them; they just need to agree on a time and place to deliver them every day.

Other clients depend on the location, but it's not impossible.

Also, there's Heiwa'er; he seems to think that kid has a big appetite, and he even wanted more food when he left this morning.
So selling vegetables is definitely not a problem.

After chatting with Li Xiu for a while, Chen Jiazhi took his two wagging dogs to patrol the fields. Dewdrops bent the vegetable leaves, the sun slowly rose like a salted egg yolk, the air was fresh, and the vegetable fields were a beautiful sight.
The vegetables in the field also gave him great confidence.

Even if it's difficult to get started, it's still much better than in my previous life.

No matter what, as long as he has the skill to grow and sell vegetables, he won't be afraid to try again, no matter how many times he has to.

Just like taming adversity, it requires overcoming numerous difficulties, especially since he also has the memories of a prophet.

Keep moving forward, and if you make a mistake, start over. Besides, he believes he is right.

After inspecting the fields, Qi Yongfeng, Ao Dehai, and Ao Deliang also arrived at the fields.

He meticulously planned today's work, emphasizing the details even though much of it was repetitive.

"I'll leave the fields to you for now. I have to go out this morning and might be back late."

"Brother Zhi, you've explained it clearly enough. You can rest assured and leave it to us."

All three of them were quite confident.

However, when Li Mingkun and the others came out to work, Ao Dehai and the others also learned about what happened last night, and they couldn't help but have some doubts. If the vegetables couldn't be sold, they would definitely lose their commission.

Soon, everyone in the market knew about it.

"Jiazhi is being a bit impulsive!"

When Chen Jiafang found out, she was also worried and said to Yi Dinggan, "Why don't you try to persuade him? He has so many vegetables in his field!"

Yi Dinggan said, "It's not like we're going to change markets right away. Let's wait and see. If it really doesn't work out, I'll rent a stall!"

...

the other side,
After leaving the market, Chen Jiazhi went to Jushu to buy a city map, and then rode his bike with Xue Jun to Baiyun District.

He wanted to visit the Jiangnan Market of this era.

Luoxi Bridge is very congested during the day, with cars stuck on the bridge in long queues because they have to wait in line to pay tolls.

It costs 5 yuan for regular cars and 8-15 yuan for trucks.
In the late 1990s, the Luoxi Bridge collected over 100 million yuan in tolls annually until 2005, when the loan for the bridge's construction was paid off and it immediately became free.

However, bicycles are free.

Vegetable farmers who sell their produce in the evening usually don't charge a fee, but on very rare occasions when you're unlucky, they might.
Because they were unfamiliar with the area, it took the two of them more than two hours to find the Shijing Jiangnan Agricultural and Sideline Products Market, located in the northwest suburbs of Huacheng.

"Jiazhi, go inside and take a look. This market is huge!"

Upon arriving at their destination, Xue Jun was somewhat excited, while Chen Jiazhi seemed to have some inexplicable emotions.

It turns out that the Jiangnan Market is now just a small karaoke bar.

The two rode away on their bicycles.

The space was empty, but only part of the stalls were open, as the rest were still under construction.

Even those areas that have been opened to the public are simply paved over with a few meters of corrugated iron sheet roof.

After walking around, the entire site is estimated to be 4 square meters, which is quite large.

But the Jiangnan region in later generations was 10 times larger than this.

"Hey, Jiazhi, there seems to be a vegetable market nearby."

Xue Jun pointed to a crack in the wall, and Chen Jiazhi leaned closer to take a look. It really did look like a market.

"Let's go outside and take a look around."

This road is the Zengcuo section of the Guangqing Highway. After the two left the market gate, they did not walk far before they saw another market sign: Yuexiu Agricultural Wholesale Market.

Chen Jiazhi was immediately dumbfounded.

Damn, how come Yuexiu Market is here too?

To his further dismay, he soon spotted another wholesale market under construction: the Dongwang Vegetable Wholesale Market.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you mean?
...

After asking around from morning until noon, buying several packs of cigarettes, and visiting two market management offices, Chen Jiazhi finally figured things out.

In response to the "vegetable basket project," the Huacheng government has required the relocation of the city's wholesale agricultural markets to other areas.

Then Ye Canjiang rented a piece of land here and established the Jiangnan Market.

The state-owned Yuexiu Agricultural Wholesale Market and Dongwang Market subsequently settled nearby.

It is said that other markets may also be located nearby.

He seemed to have heard it mentioned in the news, but it was in Cantonese at the time, so it was easy to overlook.

That was brilliant.

It wasn't a single dominant force; it was at least like the Three Kingdoms period, or perhaps a struggle between seven kingdoms, but Jiangnan was the ultimate victor.

So Chen Jiazhi inquired about Ye Canjiang even more.

Ye Canjiang is 28 years old this year. His father is a driver for Huacheng Vegetable Company.

He started out in the clothing trade, and four years ago he started a vegetable business. He brought a truckload of garlic sprouts from Guangxi Province, but lost 1 yuan because he didn't have a trading venue.

He then rented a 60-square-meter space to set up a vegetable trading market, which he later expanded to 800 square meters.

The vegetable vendors who followed him also opened dozens of vegetable trading markets in the surrounding area, forming the vegetable trading market known as "Tian Guang Xu".

However, Tian Guang Market is located in the city center, and it is chaotic, crowded, and has vendors encroaching on the road...

Coupled with the changing policy environment, Ye Canjiang partnered with others to lease approximately 60 acres of land here and established Jiangnan.
Ye Canjiang's business partners and subordinates all knew this information, so it wasn't difficult to find out.

But it was a huge shock to Chen Jiazhi. If Ye Canjiang could do it, was it possible for him to do it too?
How to grow a successful business starting from a street market?
Chen Jiazhi smiled. Regardless of whether it was possible or not, the Jiangnan Market was still a 'small karaomi'.

If his business develops quickly, it might be worth a try, but for now, we should focus on growing vegetables.

"Jiazhi, are you going to sell vegetables here? It feels much farther than the market yesterday."

"Let's use this as a backup option. It should only take about an hour and a half to get there by tricycle."

This trip wasn't a waste of time.

(End of this chapter)