1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 124 Because I Want to Do Even Better
"Boom~"

The thunder roared across the sky, startling Chen Jiazhi, and the two dogs barked pitifully twice.

Right after the thunder, the lights in each of the dark houses were turned on one by one.

It's thundering, we need to hurry and get to the market as soon as possible. If we leave the vegetables we bought until tomorrow, they might just rot.

It's best to arrive at the market early. If there's a thunderstorm along the way, you'll have to find a way to avoid the rain. Some fearless people will brave the rain to keep going.

Just then, Qi Yongfeng and his wife hurried back: "Brother Zhi, the vegetables are all packed up."

"Okay, let's load it onto the truck."

He looked at the two of them; they were both exhausted. They couldn't keep working all night like this. Although they got commissions, they were still just employees.

They might feel motivated to make money for six months or a year, but that enthusiasm will fade over time.

The best solution to avoid staying up late is to build a pre-cooling warehouse.

It's still about 700 jin of bok choy.

While Chen Jiazhi and Qi Yongfeng were loading the vegetables, Yi Dinggan and the other two also quickly came out to load the vegetables, and Xue Jun happened to be pushing his bicycle out as well.

Yi Dinggan advised him, "It might rain today, so Xue Jun shouldn't go. If you go and get soaked, you'll likely catch a cold when you get back."

"Of course I'll go! How can I not go?" Xue Jun was in high spirits. "If you can do it, I can too."

Yi Dinggan: "Then let's not ride the bike. Jiazhi's tricycle can fit two people if we squeeze in. What do you say, Jiazhi?"

Chen Jiazhi was arranging vegetables in the truck bed. "I'll ride it. If it doesn't rain this morning, I plan to go check out other places and not come back. Brother Yi, could you help me bring the tricycle back? I'll ride yours, is that alright?"

"What could be the problem? You've seen me drive it before. It's just that you guys got caught in the rain and didn't come back to change your clothes."

"One set per person is enough."

After discussing it, and with the dishes almost packed, Chen Jiazhi and Xue Jun went back inside and each found a set of clothes.

"Jiazhi, I bought two raincoats when I went to the market during the day. They're in a plastic basin under the bed. You and Jun-ge should take them."

"Okay, you can go to sleep now~"

Chen Jiazhi buried his head, fumbled around for a bit, found the raincoat, and hurriedly went out.

Li Xiu had already woken up, and the women had also woken up, opening their eyes to look out the window. The muffled thunder that had just sounded was unsettling, but the tricycles and bicycles outside were still setting off one after another.

Yi Dinggan only realized this when he was riding on the road. How could he have agreed so easily? He hadn't asked me to come along!

Before he could think any further, the rain poured down. Fortunately, the thunder stopped and there was no lightning, otherwise it would have been terrifying.

In just over ten minutes, a group of vegetable farmers riding bicycles were soaked to the bone.

Xue Jun was initially quite pleased with himself for wearing a raincoat, but it wasn't long before the rain soaked through it; the rain was even heavier than back home.

The rain didn't let up the whole way, so Chen Jiazhi drove very, very slowly.

As he approached the market, he kept an eye on the roadside, and finally, in the same spot, he saw the van again.

After honking the horn several times, I could vaguely see Heiwa waving. We drove another four or five hundred meters before finding a place to shelter from the rain in another direction from the market.

The rain was so heavy that it pattered on the ground and the asbestos tiles. Heiwa wanted to say something, but Chen Jiazhi could only vaguely hear that the other person wanted to buy more vegetables. So he pretended not to hear, weighed the vegetables, gestured with his fingers, and then took the money and left.

302 jin of vegetables, still 2.7 yuan/jin, totaling 815 yuan.

In reality, prices dropped in the market last night, and Chen Jiazhi's ordinary bok choy could only sell for 2.3 yuan per jin.

After entering the market, he saw Chen Ze's van waiting alone in the pouring rain in a corner alley.

Chen Jiazhi drove over, honked the horn a few times, and then took him to Lao Wu's stall.

There were very few people and vehicles in the market, so the two of them could move around without any problems. Old Wu happened to be at his stall as well.

After getting off the bus, Lao Wu and Chen Ze wanted to say something, but the sound of raindrops hitting the asbestos tiles grew louder. Apart from the sound of rain, they couldn't hear anything else. The three of them could only stare blankly, and all their words turned into three cigarettes.

Unload the vegetables, weigh them, and collect the money.
Chen Ze's 80 jin and Lao Wu's 80 jin, a total of 160 jin of premium bok choy, at 2.5 yuan/jin, brought in a total income of 400 yuan.

Adding the 815 yuan from Heiwa'er, the total amount received was 1215 yuan before even reaching the designated location.

After paying the bill, the rain subsided a little, and Chen Ze shouted a couple of words into Chen Jiazhi's ear.

"Still 80 pounds tomorrow, waiting for you at the door~"

Chen Jiazhi nodded, and then Chen Ze drove off in the rain in his van. He had been eating 80 jin of bok choy a day lately.

Although it has declined significantly from its peak, it is still a very considerable sales volume, which shows that the restaurants Chen Ze delivers to have been doing very well.

Chen Jiazhi stayed at Lao Wu's stall for a while, looked around, and realized that Lao Wu was also short of supplies.

There weren't many vegetables on the stall today.
This is a common problem of this era. Overall vegetable production has not kept up, and transportation to other places is inconvenient, so vegetable supply mainly relies on suburbs and surrounding cities.

July and August are the two months with the weakest supply.

Not only are vegetables difficult to grow, but the bok choy grown in Huacheng during the summer suffers from a significant decline in both appearance and taste.

This is due to climate factors, and Chen Jiazhi is no exception, but he has been able to consistently have a stable supply of vegetables and relatively guarantee their quality.

This advantage is quite significant.

Although communication was difficult, Chen Ze showed through his actions that he would continue to take his vegetables, and Lao Wu also expressed his reluctance with his eyes.

After the rain subsided a bit, Chen Jiazhi went back to the corner, and there were a few more people in the market.

Chen Jiazhi still had over 200 jin of vegetables left, but even with that little bit, they still stood out from the crowd.

"Jiazhi, the market announcement is out. It is tentatively scheduled to be closed for renovation on July 8th. There are still 5 days left, and the renovation will be carried out in half."

As soon as he returned, Yi Dinggan, Li Mingkun, and Guo Mancang, who were already at the market, gathered around him.

"The announcement said that there are still many stalls for rent in the market, and the rent doesn't seem expensive, ranging from 100 to 180 yuan per month. Jiazhi, why don't we stay here? This price is even cheaper than the sanitation fee we pay!" Temporary stalls are 5 yuan per night, and the cheap stall rental price is indeed advantageous.

From this perspective, the market management wasn't completely stupid. Last night, they just wanted to appease the stall owners, but they didn't want to offend all the small vegetable farmers.

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "You can consider staying. I need to check the situation outside before making a decision."

After a pause, he added, "I have a tricycle, so I can go further. You might not get any better off following me. I suggest you stay here for now."

"Hmm~ Let me think about it some more."

Both Li Mingkun and Guo Mancang were somewhat tempted, as the conditions offered by the market were not too harsh.

Yi Dinggan asked, "Can you manage to switch markets all by yourself?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and patted Xue Jun on the shoulder, "Look, Brother Jun is with me too."

"Your third sister hasn't agreed yet."

"Third Sister is Third Sister, and Brother Jun is Brother Jun. How can a grown man be controlled forever? Besides, I feel that Third Sister will stay."

After the third sister and Xue Jun brought Yi Long over in their previous life, they stayed for one night and then went to the eldest sister's place.

Things have changed now.

...

Around 2:30 p.m., the rain gradually subsided, and the shoppers hurried along, some with umbrellas and others with raincoats, jogging between the vendors.

When it comes to leafy greens, small farmers have a wider variety and fresher produce.

In contrast, the supply of leafy vegetables in the stalls is even less. It's early July, and after the last batch of leafy vegetables from local farmers goes off the market, they will have to rotate to a season of rice and other crops.

Only small-scale professional vegetable farmers from outside the area and large vegetable markets will continue to grow leafy vegetables.
The supply of leafy greens will only decrease day by day.

After the market announcement, the small vegetable farmers calmed down and stopped selling vegetables recklessly, but the prices only barely stabilized.

It was a very difficult task.

Because of limitations in appearance and quality.

If some pests and diseases are not controlled, the leaves, yellow leaves, and even stems will be covered with spots, and the vegetables will not look good.
If the base fertilizer is insufficient and the top dressing is not followed up, the vegetable heads will have obvious white or hollow centers, severe fibrosis, and naturally poor taste.

Some have bolted. While Cantonese people like their bok choy with some flowers, they don't like it with tall flowers.
These various issues have forced prices to remain stable.

However, if the vegetable supply continues to decrease, even these 'rotten vegetables' will sell for high prices.

Despite the presence of many other vegetable farmers, Chen Jiazhi's bok choy still stands out as a rare gem.

The rain had only just subsided when a person appeared in front of the Shifeng tricycle. Chen Jiazhi, who was taking shelter from the rain in the driver's seat, turned around and saw that the person was wearing a dark green raincoat and only his face was visible. It was Curly Hair.

"Chen the Vegetable Farmer~"

No sooner had he finished speaking than more people arrived, crowding in front of the tricycle. Among them were two regular customers, 377 and Sister Zhang, as well as two other regulars.

Sister Zhang, holding a floral umbrella, asked, "Chen, I heard you're moving to a different market. Where are you moving to?"

Chen Jiazhi got out of the car, wearing a raincoat, and smiled at the group.

"It's not decided yet. I'll let you know when it's decided."

"Why change it when everything is fine?"

"I heard from people in the market that their Director Wang personally invited you yesterday. Why don't you stay?"

Chen Jiazhi didn't want to talk about this issue anymore. He took out paper and pen from his bag and leaned back in the driver's seat.

"Tell me, how much food do you need today? Let's finish quickly so we can all go home sooner!"

One by one, customers could only helplessly place their orders and pay their bills. No sooner had they finished collecting payment than more customers arrived…

Xue Jun, who had arrived by bicycle, followed Yi Dinggan and his group. There were other people who came to buy vegetables, but they were very picky, complaining about the disease spots and how old the vegetables were.
"Brother Yi, I'm going to help Jiazhi; he has a lot of people there."

"Go ahead, he's probably almost sold out."

Is it really that fast?

"You saw it last night, didn't you?"

Xue Jun walked over with doubts, and received an affirmative answer. The rain had only subsided for a short while, and the vegetables were indeed sold out. Two customers who came to inquire about the price also left disappointed, without even having the chance to complain.

"Jiazhi, the vegetables are selling so well, why are you changing markets?"

"Because I want it to be even better."

The two men busied themselves packing vegetables and delivering them. By the time they finished, it was nearly four o'clock, and the rain had completely stopped.

Chen Jiazhi took out the clothes he had brought from under the car seat and handed Xue Jun's to him.

"Brother Jun, change your clothes, then let's go get some noodles, and then we can go for a walk around the city."

"Shall we change here?"

"Otherwise, do you want to exchange it on the main street?"

"..."

"Haha, just kidding. Go change in the bathroom. It'll be a bit dirty, but I still have some self-respect~"

Despite his burly appearance, Xue Jun was still quite inexperienced when he first arrived at the wholesale market. Chen Jiazhi asked him to deliver some vegetables once, just two bags, but he hadn't returned for over half an hour.

When he went to look for him, he found him pacing around in the parking lot, his face full of confusion and sweat from anxiety.

(End of this chapter)