1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 123 Resources at Hand

The crows were still cawing, the air was stuffy, and rain clouds were appearing on the horizon. Chen Jiazhi's intuition told him that it might rain that night.

Can I add fertilizer once?

The thought flashed through his mind, and he felt it was necessary. A typhoon was coming, so he should apply some compound fertilizer to enhance the vegetables' resistance to adverse conditions.

He checked on the workers in the field.

Qi Yongfeng was harvesting vegetables, Ao Dehai was transplanting the last of the kale seedlings with temporary workers, Ao Deliang was thinning the seedlings, and Li Xiu was also there, so I walked straight over.

The shade netting in the fields has been removed, revealing the green vegetable leaves, but we still have to watch out for flea beetles~
"Mr. Chen, what are the arrangements?"

Before he even got close, Ao Deliang saw him and stood up to offer him a cigarette.

Chen Jiazhi took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, and then handed him the warehouse key from his pocket.

"Apply fertilizer: 15 catties of compound fertilizer + 5 catties of urea per mu for seedlings, and 25 catties of compound fertilizer + 8 catties of urea per mu for mature seedlings. Apply it now. After fertilizing, water it once. If it doesn't rain tonight, water it again tomorrow morning."

“Small seedlings 15+5, large seedlings 25+8…” Ao Deliang repeated it once before he and Lai Guihui went to the warehouse to get fertilizer.

Li Xiu listened from the side while her hands continued to thin out the seedlings.

Chen Jiazhi said helplessly, "Xiu, do less work. Don't you feel uncomfortable sitting on this little stool for so long?"

Li Xiu looked up and said, "It's alright, I don't feel anything. This child isn't causing any trouble at all."

"We still need to be careful."

Just as Li Xiu said, the child was easy to take care of, but actually she was even easier to take care of. Others had all sorts of discomforts during pregnancy, but she was pregnant as if she wasn't pregnant at all. There was no difference, her tastes didn't change, she didn't feel anything, and she still did the same work every day.

In her previous life, she was still picking cowpeas in the field until an hour before the child was born. When she was about to give birth, she called her second sister home, and the child was born in less than half an hour.

Suddenly, he became a father.

Li Xiu said, "How did it go with finding the market this morning? Everyone was talking about it at noon."

Chen Jiazhi asked with a smile, "What do you mean? Does everyone say I shouldn't have given up on this market?"

Li Xiu paused, looked up at him, and said reproachfully, "Well, they say you're famous in the market and your vegetables sell for good prices, but there's no need to act impulsively. Besides, there are still so many vegetables in the fields. I can't argue with them."

Chen Jiazhi laughed heartily: "Feeling wronged? It's alright, once I sell all the vegetables, you can go and make them jealous!"

Li Xiu nodded: "That's what I was thinking too. Once you find a new path, I'll definitely come back to you."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problem."

Chen Jiazhi was overjoyed. Li Xiu was quite resentful; all the women in the market were formidable, and he figured his second and third sisters hadn't helped her. She couldn't possibly win an argument alone.
On the other hand, the men, while also thinking that his decision to change markets was unwise, mostly tried to persuade him otherwise.

Last night's Yi Dinggan, just now Guo Mancang, and now Li Mingkun walking towards us.

He also chatted with Li Mingkun for a few minutes, advising him to hold on a little longer since he had plenty of vegetables in the field.

He also said that if Chen Jiazhi changed markets, he wanted to go with him.

Although they haven't seen the announcement yet, they all agree that once the announcement is released, the market will raise the stall fees again, or force them to pay monthly rent, which includes not only the rent itself, but also management fees, sanitation fees, and other expenses.

Chen Jiazhi was well aware of Guo Mancang and the others' concerns that his change of market would affect their vegetable sales; no one knew the situation in his vegetable field better than him.

At the same time, I am also very relieved.

Guo Mancang and Li Mingkun both persuaded him first, and then said they wanted to go with him. These people are all trustworthy.

In this era, vegetable farmers from other places who work hard in other places can only stick together closely. Lonely people are often very miserable.

Their small group has a pretty good sense of cohesion.

In addition to Ao Deliang's No. 8 seedlings needing additional fertilizer, Ao Dehai's sown mustard greens and Qi Yongfeng's bok choy also need additional fertilizer.

Chen Jiazhi then called Ao Dehai, leaving Zhao Yu to lead four temporary workers in planting seedlings. A little while later, Li Xiu also went over.

The fertilization team consisted of four people: three applied the fertilizer, while Chen Jiazhi watered it from behind.

It might rain at night, and the fertilizer you apply might fall onto the leaves and into the center of the leaves, so you must water the plant first to wash the fertilizer off.

After fertilizing, the three people returned to cover the area with shade netting to prevent mechanical damage from the heavy rain.
By the time I finished, it was completely dark. I hadn't stopped working except for eating two steamed buns to fill my stomach and resting for a while.

Chen Jiazhi stayed behind to check everything one last time, and only after confirming that the precautions against the rainstorm were in place did he walk towards Qi Yongfeng in the dark.

There was no moon or stars, and it was pitch black, but after getting used to the darkness, he knew which way to go from the vague outline of the vegetable fields and the faint light from the distant fields.

For some reason, he thought of a sentence that Shi Tiesheng later wrote: "Take the stares of others as flickering will-o'-the-wisps and boldly walk your night path."

Changing markets is like walking in the dark; others may not understand, but you know it yourself.

You won't encounter ghosts walking at night, but you're more likely to run into takoyaki, mala tang, and barbecue stalls; changing markets might not only help you sell your vegetables, but also bring new opportunities.
"Yongfeng, how many vegetables are still outstanding?"

"Almost there, Brother Zhi. It's already five or six hundred pounds. Go back and rest for a while. Huang Juan and I can handle it."

"Let me try taking both hands out."

The crop being harvested now is a batch of bok choy sown on June 6.11th and 6.12th, which was planted over two days on one acre of land.

The hot and humid weather has had some impact, and the quality of vegetables is somewhat worse compared to May and June.

The roots and stems of the vegetables are often unclean, with yellow leaves and spots, which they usually call 'foot leaves'. These need to be removed after each harvest, which affects efficiency.

There are ways to avoid 'foot leaves': thin out the seedlings, remove weak and small seedlings, and ensure that phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied in a timely manner. These measures can reduce foot leaves.

In addition, transplanting Chinese cabbage helps control spacing and avoids weeds, so transplanted Chinese cabbage will have fewer 'foot leaves'.

Chen Jiazhi examined the root system again and, like the main body of the leaves, found no signs of pests or diseases. The insect-proof netting was quite effective, and the overall quality was good.
After harvesting several loads of vegetables, Chen Jiazhi had a good understanding of the situation in the field.

"Yongfeng, Huangjuan, you can thin the seedlings a little more sparsely recently, about 4cm apart is enough. Also, remove any weeds. Don't let them get too dense, as this easily leads to pests, diseases, and leggy leaves."

"Okay, Brother Zhi."

Qi Yongfeng and Huang Juan were slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that this was a problem he had noticed immediately after receiving the dishes, and he had even provided a solution.

The two of them had been harvesting vegetables for a few days, and they only knew that they were harvesting vegetables a little slower than Ao Dehai and others. Now it seemed that the vegetables might also be a factor.

After giving a few instructions, Chen Jiazhi headed home. The vegetable farmers, who had little land and went home early, had already turned off their lights and gone to sleep; only two lights were on in the entire house. It seemed that there were far fewer people at the market.

First, Liu Minghua and his wife left, then He Qiang's three families, totaling six people, went to work as porters. After a while, Li Bin and Wu Qin will return to their hometown.
Ten people have left in just over two months.

"Jiazhi, come and eat. Eat first, then you can take a shower and rest for a while."

As Chen Jiazhi walked into the dam area and was still looking at the baskets of vegetables, Li Xiu began arranging them for him one by one.

"Okay, okay, I know. You should rest now."

"How can I sleep if you haven't gotten it done yet?"

"I'm not a kid."

Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun were already in bed when they saw him return and greeted him one after another.

Chen Jiaying said, "Jiazhi, this kind of cooking is really hard work. You have to get up early and work late. Except for lunchtime, I haven't seen you get a proper rest all day."

"That's how it is with growing vegetables. If you want to earn more money, you can't be lazy at all."

Chen Jiazhi sat down at the table. A large bowl of thick mung bean porridge, served with pickled mustard greens and minced meat, looked very appetizing.

Chen Jiaying sat up halfway and leaned against the wall: "I heard from them that you used to be able to sell three or four thousand yuan a day."

"Hmm~ I still make about 1,600 or 1,700 yuan a day."

Chen Jiazhi did not deny it; the remaining people in the market should all know the truth.

"Hululu~"

Chen Jiazhi poured about half a bowl of pickled mustard greens and minced meat into the bowl, picked up the bowl and shoveled it into his mouth. The pickled mustard greens were not very sour, but crisp and refreshing, making them a perfect accompaniment to rice in the summer.

Li Xiu watched from the side, saying, "Eat slowly, no one will take it from you."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Second Sister's pickled mustard greens are really good. Our mustard greens will be ready in another half month. We'll pickle them and try them then."

"I'll listen to you, no problem, I'll take care of it."

"I'm craving sauerkraut fish. I'll buy a black carp tomorrow morning."

"Okay, okay, whatever you say~"

Chen Jiaying was watching the two of them from the side. Suddenly, she understood Chen Jiafang a little and envied Li Xiu a little.

Li Xiu's personality hasn't changed much, but Jia Zhi seems like a completely different person, not to mention his income, which shocked her.

At its peak, I sold three to four thousand yuan a day, and recently I've maintained an income of around two thousand yuan a day.

I've deposited money at the bank twice now, each time at least 10,000 yuan.

Either one of them felt incredible and unimaginable to her.
However, just by watching him work a full day, without experiencing it yourself, you can tell how hard it is.

There are also rumors circulating in the market…

As you learn about each and every one of these things, it seems as if he deserves it all, making you envious yet hard to feel jealous.

She wondered if she could endure the hardship of growing her own vegetables.

The answer was no surprise: he couldn't do it himself, and even with Xue Jun's help, it wouldn't work. Apart from being physically strong, Xue Jun knew nothing about growing vegetables.

So if you want to stay, the only option is to work for Jiazhi.

If I don't stay, I'll only be able to help my older sister plant flowers for others, which might not even be as good as planting vegetables.
"Jiazhi, give me the bowl. The clothes and hot water are at the door. Go take a shower and rest for a while."

After Li Xiu finished washing the dishes, she walked towards the back. Chen Jiazhi reminded her, "Slow down when you wash the dishes, and watch where you're going."

"I know."

Chen Jiazhi lit a cigarette after dinner before standing up and looking at Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun: "Third Sister, Brother Jun, this is all the family can afford, you should go to sleep early."

Chen Jiaying laughed and said, "Why are you saying that? It's good enough that we have a place to stay. Go take a shower."

After taking a shower, I felt refreshed again. It was past eleven o'clock, and I had less than an hour before I had to go sell vegetables.

Chen Jiazhi went to Li Xiu's bedside and whispered in her ear, "You go to sleep first, I'll go sit outside for a while."

Perhaps she was also sleepy, Li Xiu nodded.

Chen Jiazhi sprayed some floral water, took his headlamp, a city map, and a notebook, and went out. He casually pulled the rope next to the door, and the whole house was completely darkened.

Qi Yongfeng and his wife were still harvesting vegetables in the field, while Chen Jiazhi's output far exceeded that of others, so he naturally had to stay until the very end.

After the base is relocated and stabilized, a pre-cooling warehouse will be needed. We can build one using foam boards and compressors, and the cost should be manageable.

He made another note in his notebook.

I took notes on a lot of things, including pre-cooling warehouses, mini-tillers, insect nets, vans, boat-type water pumps, and micro-sprayers.

In addition, marketing and sales also need to be handled.

He did indeed grow a lot of vegetables later, in addition to regular sowing, there was also concentrated rush sowing: two mu of Chinese cabbage were sown from June 6.14 to June 6.17, and two mu of Chinese cabbage were transplanted from June 6.26 to June 6.30.

All four acres of bok choy will be harvested in the days following July 10th.

July 10th should be the day the typhoon makes landfall.

In its previous life, the Dongxiang vegetable market suffered very little physical damage. Apart from reinforcement, the main task was to prevent pests and diseases.

Chen Jiazhi believes he has done a very good job in preventing pests and diseases.

With the typhoon hitting, there's no worry about selling the remaining bok choy. And in mid-to-late July, there will also be kale, mustard greens, and cowpeas.
His immediate concern is how to maximize the value of the resources at his disposal.

Staying in this dead-end market is clearly a waste of resources.

The headlamp illuminated the map, mosquitoes swarmed around, and new routes began to emerge.

(End of this chapter)