1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 103 Signs of Pest and Disease Outbreaks
The water accumulated on the ridges of the fields reflected the white clouds, like silver mirrors scattered across the fields.

Vegetable farmers wearing straw hats walked towards their homes where there was little smoke from cooking fires.

When I walked into the house, the women had just brought a pot of hot pot to the table.

Including the warehouse, there are a total of 6 rooms in the whole house where people live.

In a room on the right, the food in the bowl was a bit bland, and the aroma of meat smelled when cooking did not belong to them.

Hu Chunmei said, "Chen Jiazhi is hiring again. He needs four female temporary workers, paying 8 yuan a day. I'm going to ask."

Originally three families lived in their house, but now there are only two left.

Hu Chunmei and her husband Zhang Weidong, as well as Wu Qin and Li Bin.

Zhang Weidong obviously knew about it.

Li Bin was a little surprised, and Wu Qin asked directly, "He already has six people, right? Are they still hiring?"

"They said they couldn't keep up with the thinning and weeding, and they'll have to transplant the seedlings later."

"Oh."

"Wu Qin, do you want to go? Keep me company."

"Where are the vegetables in the field?"

"I planted a lot of vegetables, but they died. There aren't many. Weidong can handle it all by himself. I'll do some odd jobs to supplement the family income. Otherwise, life will be boring. The money from selling vegetables is not enough to buy fertilizer and pesticides."

The two families were in similar situations.

I made some money from selling recently, but as soon as I continued to invest, I hit rock bottom again. In the end, I ended up working at the agricultural supply store.

"Go ahead." Li Bin said.

Wu Qin hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, Chunmei, I'll go with you. Tell me, how did Chen Jiazhi suddenly become so successful? I heard he sold over 3,000 yuan last night. It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others."

Hu Chunmei: "Hey, everyone says he suddenly got the hang of things, and the vegetables he grows are getting better and better. There's no one better than him in the entire Dongxiang vegetable market. Didn't Li Bin grow up in the same village as him? He should be familiar with him, right? Why don't you go ask him later?"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it, but you guys have to follow along."

Li Bin was also afraid of being embarrassed if he went alone.

He actually looked down on Chen Jiazhi. They lived in the same village, and their houses were only separated by a paddy field. He knew everything about the family's situation.

Chen Jiazhi has been spoiled by his parents since he was a child and has become lazy.

The only thing he had was good academic performance, but good grades were considered an anomaly in their village, and he dropped out of school midway, so he was nothing.

After coming to Huacheng, if it weren't for his second sister and brother-in-law's help, he didn't know how miserable his life would have been.

Who would have thought that he would suddenly turn things around!

It's more than just a turnaround, it can be said that he has soared to the sky, becoming a ten thousand yuan household. There is no one who has such a high income in their village!
Besides, it has only been a short time. Even among the bosses in the city, not many can earn three or four thousand yuan a day, right?

Shock, envy, jealousy~
I've had all kinds of emotions.

Many of their vegetable farmers are also observing and imitating Chen Jiazhi's vegetable growing methods, but none of them can get it right.

The situation seemed to be getting better, but the continuous rain caused the production to drop again, but the price still had some hope.

But agricultural inputs are also rising.

They all earned their money through hard work, but they earned much less than Chen Jiazhi.

After dinner, Li Bin knocked on Chen Jiazhi's door and explained his purpose at the door.

Chen Jiazhi was originally listening to the news. After hearing what Li Bin said, he looked at Wu Qin and Hu Chunmei behind him.

Hu Chunmei is okay. I am not familiar with her now, but she worked with Brother Yi for many years. She is a small foreman and has decent abilities.

Wu Qin and Li Bin changed their careers. Moreover, Wu Qin was a bit aggressive, and Chen Jiazhi had not forgotten how she had seduced him a few days ago.

It's just that Li Bin and Li Xiu are distant relatives, and they are temporary workers~
Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "Okay, if you're willing, no problem. You can come to work in the afternoon."

Hu Chunmei took a step forward, not shy at all: "Then I'll come this afternoon. Boss Chen, you can arrange the work."

"You can follow Huang Juan to thin out the seedlings in the afternoon."

Chen Jiazhi went out and called Qi Yongfeng and Huang Juan from next door to communicate with them.

It was not until he returned to the house that Wu Qin called out shyly, "Boss Chen, I'll be working this afternoon too."

"Sure, Li Xiu will record your work."

Chen Jiazhi replied calmly, then looked at Li Xiu beside him and said with a smile, "The task of recording work has increased again."

Li Xiu smiled and said, "No problem, I can still do this."

Chen Jiazhi sat on the bed and said, "From now on, work record keeping, salary payment, and quality management of thinning and transplanting will all be handed over to you. You need to learn to change your role and not do all the work yourself every day."

Li Xiu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can also work with them during the day and come back to record at night."

Chen Jiazhi: “…”

The sky became brighter at noon, and light shone through the gaps in the window onto Li Xiu.

Chen Jiazhi was stunned for a moment: "Don't be so tired. It costs money to hire people to do the work. You have to make sure that the money is worth it."

Li Xiu: "I know that. I can just go to and from get off work with them."

"Well, just be careful anyway." Chen Jiazhi couldn't lose his temper with her.

...

In a cramped rental house.

"Sister Yu, did you and Brother Hai really get a thousand yuan salary last month?"

"It's not just salary, there are also commissions and bonuses. This time we're hiring temporary workers, so the basic salary is only 8 yuan a day. But since you've just started, it's best to find a job first."

"Your boss doesn't want to hire male workers?"

"From what I hear he means female workers are given priority."

There were a total of six people in the rental house, including Ao Dehai and Zhao Yu, as well as two couples. When they heard that female workers would be given priority, they were all a little hesitant.

Ao Dehai said to the two men, "Let Jinfeng and Xiaoxia come first. It's better to have something to do than nothing."

One of them replied, "This is the only way for now. Dehai, if you have a chance, tell us as soon as possible. I finally managed to escape from the factory, and I'm definitely not going back."

"Well, there's a chance."

Thinking about the amount of food Boss Chen serves every day, Ao Dehai feels that this day will not be too far away.

“Is it really that difficult in the factory?”

When this was mentioned, the four people who had experience working in factories were immediately filled with resentment.

"It's not difficult, it's dark. It's not a factory, it's a prison. I work 16 hours a day and only make two or three hundred yuan a month. I'm also detained for one or two months and my ID card is kept as a deposit.

Not to mention the working environment. Last year, there was a fire in a toy factory and many workers were trapped inside. It's still not resolved. I'd rather be farming and basking in the sun."

"Eight yuan a day isn't a lot, but didn't you say it? We only work eight hours, and we get overtime pay. It's much better than working in a factory." "Dehai, if Jinfeng and Xiaoxia do a good job, do you think they can stay and work long-term? The work in that factory is really not for human beings."

After hearing about the experiences of the four fellow villagers who came to the factory, Ao Dehai and Zhao Yu felt somewhat relieved.

Although working in the vegetable market is exposed to the sun and rain, to be honest, it is not dark, but very sunny. If you are unhappy with the boss, you can pick up your bucket and run away at any time.

Although the salary was very low at the beginning, it has improved now after meeting Boss Chen.

Although there is overtime, there are commissions and bonuses to be received, as well as holiday benefits, and there may be high temperature subsidies next month.

Compared with several fellow villagers, it is indeed much better.

Ao Dehai said, "If there's an opportunity, you can come in too. Our boss is very good at growing vegetables. He's made a lot of money recently and will probably expand."

"Okay, you have to call me when the time comes."

"Jinfeng, when you go there, study hard and try to stay. You can't go back to the factory."

"Ok, I know."

...

When he went to work in the afternoon, Chen Jiazhi met the two female workers brought by Ao Dehai and Zhao Yu.

He may be in his 20s, but he comes from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, has a dark complexion, and looks simple and hardworking.

Although they were novices, Chen Jiazhi still happily kept the two of them.

At the same time, I also learned that their husbands were nearby.

A husband-and-wife team of vegetable cooks is the most suitable and longest-lasting, but after thinking it over, Chen Jiazhi decided to wait.

Let’s first take a look at the qualities of these two people.

In addition, I don’t want to give away opportunities too easily.

For a vegetable market, both the management team and the worker team are very important. Now that there is an opportunity to lay a solid foundation, there is no need to rush.

With four more female workers, there were two more people weeding and pulling out vegetable roots, and two more people transplanting seedlings that afternoon.

There may be some problems temporarily, but with Li Xiu here, the long-term direction will not be wrong.

Chen Jiazhi also went to set up a frame for the cowpea seedlings in the afternoon. To prevent typhoons, the bamboo poles must be buried at least 20 cm deep in the soil and tied tightly, so it would be safer if two or three men worked together to set up the frame.

It’s definitely not possible to finish it in one day.

When Ao Dehai and Ao Deliang went to harvest the vegetables, Chen Jiazhi was left alone in the field to set up the trellis.

The clouds are still dark and there seems to be no sign of clearing up. It may rain again at any time.

The fertilizer spread two days ago has melted, leaving only white spots on the dark brown soil. The leaves of the cabbage seem to be greener and taller.

At about 5:30 in the afternoon, Li Mingkun hurriedly found Chen Jiazhi.

"Scholar, are your vegetables infested with pests and diseases?"

"No, look, it's still green and growing well."

When Ao Dehai and his companions were harvesting vegetables, the vegetable hearts looked very fresh after the sunshade net was removed.

Li Mingkun took a look and sighed, "My cauliflower is diseased and infested with insects. I think flea beetles are also on the rise. Is there anything I can do now?"

Chen Jiazhi looked up at the sky, which was still overcast. "Pray to God it won't rain. I'll spray the pesticides as soon as I get a chance."

Li Mingkun's face turned bitter. Who can guarantee that it won't rain now?

"Is there no other way?"

"It's hard."

The work missed on rainy days can be made up when the weather clears up, but the work missed on sunny days can only be made up by the weather.

Chen Jiazhi has always been unhappy with God.

So there is never any luck.

After the heavy rain in the early morning of June 18, there was only one day of opportunity to spray pesticides.

On that day, he took Qi Yongfeng, Ao Dehai and Ao Deliang to prepare all the dishes.

In addition to loofah and bitter melon~
Many people saw the spraying that day, and some people also sprayed the pesticides on the same day.

Some people may be doing other work and want to delay it, so they have delayed it until now.

Even someone as steady as Li Mingkun has suffered, so the others are probably not much better off.

These people still lack experience.

Sure enough, after a while, Yi Dinggan also came over, followed by Guo Mancang and two other vegetable farmers.

Although he sprayed the pesticide that day, he didn't finish it. The pesticide he sprayed later was washed away by the rain and its effectiveness was reduced.

Chen Jiazhi went to the Yiding dry field to take a look and found that there were insect holes on the leaves of the Chinese cabbage, as well as signs of lesions and soft rot.

So does the rest.

"It's a little difficult."

"Flea beetles prefer moist soil. Their eggs hatch quickly, and the adults emerge quickly."

"Let's take a gamble. Apply the pesticide now and see when it rains."

"If it rains four hours after spraying, the pesticide will still be more than half effective, and it will be relatively effective after six hours."

So Chen Jiazhi tends to gamble.

He also has his own selfish motives. The migration range of the adult insects will become wider, which will also pose a threat to his vegetable fields.

however,
After hearing his advice, the experienced Guo Mancang shook his head.

"Our pesticide isn't that effective. It shouldn't rain for at least half a day after we apply it, and ideally, a day without rain."

Chen Jiazhi was also speechless.

Forget about this.

Just because he has rain-resistant potion doesn't mean others have it too. He didn't spend all that money in vain.

Chen Jiazhi gave his own suggestions, but it seems that not many people are willing to adopt them.

His land is scattered and is under great threat from migrating pests. Although he has sprayed pesticides and the effects are long-lasting, he still needs to strengthen field management.

Except when thinning out seedlings and harvesting, the shade net is kept as much as possible. At the same time, we also hope that Hong Biao's insect-proof net will arrive soon.

It's not even July yet, and the typhoon hasn't come yet, but pests and diseases have already started to break out, and it's really difficult to cope with the situation later on.

Not only Dongxiang Vegetable Market, but vegetable farmers in the entire Flower City and even the Pearl River Delta and South China will face this problem.

(End of this chapter)