1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 122 The Crows Sing at Dusk
The vegetable farmers returned home one after another, and smoke rose again from the stoves at the back door. Smoke was also sparse under the eaves in front of the house. The men sat in a row smoking and listening to the radio.

"Where did Jiazhi and Xue Jun go? Why haven't they come back yet?"

Yi Dinggan said, "I'm going to check out the market."

“Sigh, him too.” Li Mingkun shook his head. “Why make things difficult for himself? It’s so much better to just sell vegetables in this market. He has such a good reputation, and his old customers all support him. If he changes markets, he’ll lose everything.”

Guo Mancang also said, "I don't understand either. He's been sowing and transplanting recently, and the vegetables will be plentiful soon. Changing markets at this time is unwise!"

Besides the two of them, there were other vegetable farmers selling vegetables in other places, but none of them were optimistic about Jiazhi changing markets.

For vegetable farmers, a stable market is also very important.

Not to mention that Chen Jiazhi is now very famous in the market; when it comes to vegetables, many people will think of him.

Even though he consistently sells his vegetables at higher prices, he still has loyal customers.

Moreover, the market director personally came to invite him to rent a stall. Given all that, they couldn't understand why he would refuse.

Each person said something, and Yi Dinggan found it a bit annoying.

“He has a lot of vegetables now, 700 jin a day, but who among you sells them faster than him? No one, right?!”

Li Mingkun and the others had no way to refute it.

Yi Dinggan added, "Don't worry about him. Take care of yourselves first. If the market really needs to be renovated, we'll have to consider where we'll sell our vegetables in the future."

Li Mingkun asked worriedly, "The market shouldn't force us out, right?"

Yi Dinggan: "They probably won't kick us out, but the fees will likely go up."

Guo Mancang cursed, "Even if the price goes up again, I'm planning to leave. I heard that some newly opened wholesale markets are only charging two or three yuan to attract customers, but this lousy market is charging five yuan!"

"I want to leave too..."

"Yi Dinggan, stop chatting and come back for dinner."

"Jiazhi and Xue Jun haven't returned yet?"

"Let's not wait for him. He told Li Xiu before he left that he might not be back by noon."

Yi Dinggan patted his bottom and went home for dinner. Chen Jiafang, Chen Jiaying, and Li Xiu were all waiting for him inside. Yi Long was already gnawing on a chicken leg.

"You little rascal, you didn't even call me for dinner."

"If Mom calls you, I won't call you anymore."

The meal was plentiful, including a pot of braised chicken with taro, which smelled delicious. However, apart from Yi Long, the three women didn't seem to be very interested.

"What's wrong? You guys weren't talking about Jiazhi changing markets while you were cooking, were you?"

"What do you think?" Chen Jiafang rolled her eyes at him.

"..."

He muttered "gossip" to himself, then ignored the three of them and ate meat heartily with Yi Long. After they finished eating, Yi Long picked up the storybook Jia Zhi had bought and started reading it again.

Yi Dinggan secretly praised: His son is quite smart; he can understand story collections even before graduating from elementary school.

He had no choice but to sit by the door and smoke again.

Since Jiazhi wasn't home at noon, and there was no one to talk to, it was indeed a bit boring. I should have gone with him...

Ok?
Yi Dinggan suddenly frowned. Damn it, Jia Zhi didn't seem to have called him when he went there!

They only called out Xue Jun's name!

They even rode off with his bicycle!
day!
Yi Dinggan stomped his foot hard and stubbed out his cigarette, startling the white paparazzi who happened to be passing by.

……

The sun was high in the sky, and the two men, drenched in sweat, were panting and groaning as they rode along the road.

"We'll be there soon, Brother Jun."

"Yeah, it's really hot in Huacheng. You'd die of heat doing farm work in this weather."

"That's how it is in the South; you just have to leave early and return late."

"Selling vegetables is more comfortable. If your third sister agrees to come with you, I'll go sell vegetables with you, okay?"

"It depends on how much food there is."

"Wow, you're being modest in front of me. I did go last night, and Yi Ge and the other two practically told me all about your great achievements. You never seem to run out of food."

"..."

After turning a corner, we entered the gravel road of the market. The sun was shining brightly, and the market was very quiet. The farmers were probably all taking a nap. But in front of one of the houses, a person sat alone, staring at them.

"Brother Yi, why are you sitting here?"

Yi Dinggan looked at him resentfully, "Why didn't you call me when you left this morning?"

Chen Jiazhi put the bicycle away and said, "I was just thinking that Brother Jun had nothing to do, so I asked him to come along. It's easy for one person and one bike."

"They didn't even tell me." Yi Dinggan got up and went back into the house, leaving them with his back turned.

Xue Jun was a little confused. He was angry. When he turned around, he saw that Jia Zhi was already putting the bicycle inside the house.

"Are you alright, Jiazhi?" He pointed in Yi Dinggan's direction.

"It's nothing, he's just a little stingy. He'll be fine after a nap." Chen Jiazhi shook his head and laughed. He didn't take a nap at noon just to wait for them to come back and say a few words. This is the kind of thing Brother Yi would do.

Such a great opportunity to slack off, and you didn't even invite him?

But if we bring him along, not to mention the extra work, given his personality, it will definitely take a long time, and we don't know when we'll get home.

"Go take a shower."

"You go first." "We're all men, why are you dawdling? Finish your shower sooner and get some rest."

As soon as the two entered the room, Li Xiu and Chen Jiaying opened their eyes briefly, then went back to sleep.

Chen Jiazhi went into the bathroom, took off his clothes and pants, and started swinging his giant pendulum as he took a cold shower. But the water wasn't cold, and he kept glancing at Xue Jun.

Yeah, not as big as his.

Xue Jun asked in confusion, "What?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Let's test it out. If you want to stay, you'll have to get used to it beforehand. Everyone will be watching you from now on. It's alright, not too big."

"..."

Xue Jun's pupils widened as he recalled how Yi Dinggan had looked him up and down the same way last night. How shameless!

After taking a shower, the two of them went back to bed.

There were three beds in the room. Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu each had one bed, while Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun shared one. One slept on the top bunk and the other on the bottom bunk. It wasn't too crowded, but it was very hot.

Chen Jiazhi remembered that he had forgotten to put a shade net on the roof.

When Chen Jiazhi woke up, he felt full of energy again. He checked the time and it was six o'clock. He had slept for a little over four hours. He had slept for more than two hours after coming back in the morning, so he had slept for six or seven hours in total.

In his past life, he was like this all the time. His schedule was different in winter and summer, but as long as he slept seven hours a day, he could maintain his energy. He just wasn't as energetic as he is now.

Young is good.

Besides him, Xue Jun was also sleeping in the room, snoring loudly.

After getting up, Chen Jiazhi washed his face, lit a cigarette as usual, picked up two notebooks, and started thinking about his plans for the next few days. He remembered that the first typhoon was on July 7.10th.
"Uncle, I've finished reading the story collection. Are there any other good books?"

"That's all, I only bought one copy of Story Collection."

Lost in thought, Yi Long ran in, already changed into a loose T-shirt, athletic shorts, and plastic sandals.

"Did your mom take you to buy new clothes?"

"Yes, it looks good, doesn't it? I bought it at the village market this morning. My mom also bought me a pair of sneakers. My third aunt and my aunt-in-law went too, and they bought a chicken. I ate a big chicken leg for lunch."

"Gan chang" is what locals call "chen xu". In Dongxiang Village, there is usually a market on the 2nd, 5th and 8th of the lunar calendar, while in Dashi Town, the market is held on the 3rd, 6th and 9th. The markets are generally very lively.

After showing off his knowledge for a while, Yi Long squatted down and looked at Chen Jiazhi's notebook.

Chen Jiazhi then asked, "Can you understand Story Collection?"

Yi Long said, "I'm not illiterate; I've studied for more than five years."

Chen Jiazhi was speechless. "You have the nerve to say that? You didn't even graduate from elementary school. You don't recognize many words and can't even read stories properly."

"What's the big deal? We'll just guess."

His outburst put Chen Jiazhi out of the mood for further research. "You can play by yourself, listen to the radio, read magazines, whatever you like. I'm going out to work."

As they were talking, Xue Jun woke up, greeted them, and Chen Jiazhi carried the sprayer to apply herbicide.

There are about 2.5 acres of empty land left in the field.

However, more than one acre of land was cleared after the vegetables were harvested yesterday and today. We need to apply herbicides to kill the weeds and vegetable roots as soon as possible so that we can then plow and sow the next crop.
The pesticides were stored in a small warehouse and arrived in just a few minutes. The doors and windows were all closed properly, and there were no signs of tampering.

After spraying the medicine, it was already past seven o'clock. The clouds were half-red, and seven or eight crows flew by, cawing loudly.

"With so many crows, it looks like it's going to rain heavily."

Chen Jiazhi was carrying a sprayer and pesticides towards the small warehouse when he ran into Guo Mancang. Both of them looked up at the crows flying low overhead.

Without accurate weather forecasts, vegetable farmers often have to rely on experience to judge whether it will rain.

Crows are one of them.

The proverb says that when crows caw at dusk, there will be continuous wind and rain. Similar proverbs include ants blocking the way, spiders reeling in their webs, and fish leaping out of the water.

It may not be accurate every time, but it can alert vegetable farmers in advance.

Chen Jiazhi took the cigarette from Guo Mancang and said, "Looks like we'll have to put the sunshade back on later. It's such a hassle to take it off and then put it back on again."

"I don't even have many to cover."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Guo Mancang asked, "How did your market visit go during the day? If it's suitable, I'd like to switch with you later."

Chen Jiazhi said, "I went to Baiyun today to check out the market that He Qiang and the others went to. It's a bit far; it takes an hour and a half by tricycle. Tomorrow I plan to go to other places to take a look. I will definitely tell you before I change markets."

"Hmm~"

After a few seconds of silence, Guo Mancang said again, "You should have more vegetables coming in soon, right? Actually, you can wait another half month, sell this batch of vegetables, and then replace them. There's no rush."

"I know what I'm doing, and I'll only switch markets when I'm confident."

"Sigh, I can't persuade you. Just let me know if you need any help."

Guo Mancang is a very experienced vegetable farmer who also likes to wander around in his vegetable fields.

Especially when Chen Jiazhi uncovers the shade netting to let in fresh air, he would come over and take a walk around.

Don't be fooled by Yi Dinggan's claim at noon that Chen Jiazhi sells 700 jin of vegetables every day. While that's a lot, his vegetables are the fastest-selling.

But Guo Mancang knew that 700 jin was just a small number for Chen Jiazhi. If he couldn't sell more than 1000 jin of bok choy every day in a few more days, he might not be able to keep up with the growth of the bok choy.

As the season progresses, the bolting time for the Chinese cabbage becomes even shorter. From budding to bolting, a batch of cabbage has only two or three days, or even one or two days, for harvesting.

Chen Jiazhi sowed the seeds densely and transplanted several batches of Chinese cabbage.

Just looking at it made Guo Mancang a little uneasy; changing markets at this time would be unwise.

(End of this chapter)