1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 118 My Little Brother Has Made a Difference

When Chen Jiazhi was born, Chen Jiaying was already nine years old. In her impression, her younger brother has been the love of his parents since he was a child.

The best always belongs to my younger brother.

It would be a lie to say that I had no resentment in my heart, especially when my younger brother, who was a good student and had the talent to study, chose to drop out of school because he couldn't bear the hardship. The resentment was even deeper.

My shoulders can't carry anything, my waist can't lift anything, I'm delicate and lazy, and I can't help with anything at home.
Even so, he came to Huacheng to grow vegetables. Can he do it?

Certainly not.

No one in his hometown was optimistic about him, even his parents were worried. This time, he wanted them to bring money.

Yi Long is not a child anymore, and he knows what kind of person his uncle is through what he has seen and heard.

Both aunts dislike it~
But at this moment, his old man told him that his uncle was a local tycoon, and three big question marks appeared on everyone's face.

I unconsciously looked at Chen Jiazhi for a while. He was darker, but also stronger, with a faint smile on his face.
Yi Dinggan pointed outside the house and said, "See that tricycle? Your uncle bought it for four thousand yuan. And he's still thinking of buying a new one."

"Is that my uncle's?"

"Why would I lie to you? When your uncle gets a new car, I'm going to buy it!" Yi Dinggan didn't forget to show off: "Your uncle is doing pretty well too!"

"I gonna go see."

Yi Long stood up, walked towards the door, and climbed onto the carriage with a somersault. Everyone followed him out.

"You're quite skilled, son."

Yi Long stood in the carriage, touching and looking at it, liking it very much.

Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun were also watching, their faces full of confusion and shock, with many questions in their hearts.
Just at this time, vegetable farmers who had just gotten off work came back one after another, and Li Mingkun and Guo Mancang were among them.

Yi Dinggan yelled, "Mingkun, Mancang, we're not cooking lunch, let's go out to eat. Jiazhi's treat. Damn, I took so long to bring him food, and now I can only afford to kill him today."

"okay."

"Oh, it wasn't easy, I finally got to the point."

"You're talking like I'm stingy. Aren't I always busy?"

Chen Jiazhi replied, and then he saw Ao Dehai, Ao Deliang, Qi Yongfeng's three families and four temporary workers also walking towards this side.

The ten people looked quite impressive. Then I remembered that we had agreed to pay the salary at noon yesterday, so I had to show off.

The others also noticed a group of people walking this way. It was hard not to notice them. There were so many people, and they kept watching them and talking and laughing.
Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun were a little confused. Are the people here so welcoming? They didn't bring much with them.

Just when the two were feeling uneasy, the group started shouting again.

"Boss Chen, we're here to collect our wages~"

"Brother Zhi~"

"Boss Chen~"

"Haha, there are quite a lot of people, it's lively."

A group of people were chatting and laughing, rubbing their hands, and they looked like they couldn't wait any longer.

"Li Xiu, take the money, pay your wages." Chen Jiazhi also shouted with a smile, and then said to everyone, "Let's have lunch together at noon. Wu Qin, Hu Chunmei, you two can also call Li Bin and Zhang Weidong to join us, so that we can have more fun."

"it is good!"

"Thank you, Boss Chen!"

"Boss Chen is generous!"

After a while, Chen Jiaying saw Li Xiu take out the money, which looked like a lot.
Facing so many people for the first time, Li Xiu felt a little nervous and wanted Chen Jiazhi to speak.

Chen Jiazhi just helped her hold the money, but still let Li Xiu speak.

"Ao Dehai, this one's on duty for 29 and a half days, Zhao Yu for 29 days, harvest..."

She gave him a rough breakdown and handed him a stack of bills, all in denominations of 50 and 100 yuan, which were easy to count. The couple had a total of 1000 yuan.

Then Ao Deliang, 800 yuan.

Qi Yongfeng, 1070 yuan~
Then there were four temporary workers.

By the door, Chen Jiaying watched the pregnant Li Xiu distribute wages to everyone. She seemed a little nervous, but the younger brother standing next to her was calm and composed, and really had the temperament of a boss.

Looking at the stacks of banknotes and listening to the conversations among those who received the money, Chen Jiaying found it hard to imagine what had happened in this year as 3000 yuan in wages had been paid out in just a short while. She couldn't earn that much in a year.

Changed, completely changed.

The younger brother seemed like a completely different person, which made her a little unbelievable.

But the indifferent expressions of others showed that all this was true.

He leaned to the side. Xue Jun, who was a head taller than her, was also surprised. The two families were separated by a large field, and they knew each other's character.

Chen Jiazhi is a well-known young master in the area. He has been spoiled since childhood.

I thought I could turn my life around by taking exams, but hey, I dropped out again.

To be honest, he had looked down on Chen Jiazhi since he dropped out of school. The young master had made a lot of jokes while doing farm work.
He was also afraid of being dragged down.

Although Chen Jiaying also complained and cursed in various ways, they were siblings after all, and it was impossible for him to ignore the two elders.
And now,

It seems that the young master made his fortune by growing vegetables?
Who would believe this if I told them?
If someone went back to the village and said that Chen Jiazhi had made a fortune by farming, Xue Jun couldn't imagine what the scene would be like, and no one would probably believe it.

But he believes it now.

This tricycle, these banknotes, and this salary payment scene are all right here, it’s impossible not to believe it!

The young master did not make a living by studying, but by farming.

Compared with Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun, Yi Long was much simpler. His eyes lit up as he looked at the banknotes.

How much food can I buy?
After the salaries and bonuses were distributed, everyone who received the money felt very good.

Chen Jiazhi observed the expressions of several people for a while before coming out and saying, "Thank you all for your hard work in June. In July, everyone's base salary has been increased to 12 yuan a day. Commissions will remain the same, but there will be no separate high temperature allowance."

"it is good!"

"Thank you, Boss Chen!"

Everyone cheered again, and the joy on their faces could no longer be hidden.

Chen Jiazhi added, "Hurry back, take a shower, change clothes, and go out for dinner later."

"Row."

"Boss Chen, can I have a couple of drinks?"

"Yes, just the right amount."

The crowd then happily dispersed. Chen Jiazhi turned around again and the others were still looking at him.

"Why are you still standing there? Get ready, take a shower, change your clothes and get going."

Yi Dinggan said, "Jiazhi, let's go to Dongxiang Wharf. It's closer and the river food there is pretty good."

Nanpu Island is surrounded by water. There were few bridges in the past few years, but there were many ferries and docks. There is a Dongxiang ferry to the west of their vegetable market, and there is a restaurant nearby that mainly uses river fish caught by fishermen as ingredients.

But now the pollution of the Pearl River is becoming more and more serious.

Chen Jiazhi shook his head. "Forget it. Let's go look for it near Jushu Lijiang Garden. You can go there by bike or by bus. I'll go over and order the food first. Brother Yi, you can bring the people over later."

"Okay, since you're the host, I'll do as you say."

"Yongfeng, notify Dehai later."

"Get it!"

Chen Jiazhi went home to get 1000 yuan, then pushed his bicycle and prepared to set off.

"Uncle, I'll go with you."

"Aren't you tired at all?"

"Why are you so tired?" Yi Long got into the car without any hesitation. "Old man, I'm going out with my uncle."

"Okay, ask your uncle to get you something to eat first."

Riding the train was very tiring, and they should have been allowed to rest for a while, but the conditions at home were indeed limited. Fortunately, none of the three suffered from motion sickness, and Yi Long was even more energetic, asking questions non-stop along the way.

In his heart, he only knew that his parents were in Flower City, but Flower City was just an empty concept. Even if he had heard someone describe it in detail, it was still gray, just like the footprints on the map in the future. Only when you went to that place and really got there, it would become full of substance, be illuminated, and become a three-dimensional real place.

This was also Yi Long's first long journey and his first time leaving the remote mountain village.

The Flower City began to come alive in his mind, with tall buildings, great rivers, and bustling traffic.
He also knew what the vegetable market where his parents worked was like.

He was very excited and curious about everything. Yi Long was very thin and light at that time. Chen Jiazhi pedaled his bicycle very fast, and occasionally he would sigh that time really changes a person.

Yilong still retains the simplicity of the village children, although not much, but there is~
At the same time, he is eloquent. There are many children in his hometown and they eat little. He cannot beat his older brothers and sisters, so he is full of cunning, but he should not be lazy.

The reason why there were so many changes later on was all because of the spoiling of my second sister and Brother Yi.

Yi Long has been much more romantic than Yi Ge throughout his life. He's been married four or five times, and now that his two daughters are almost grown up, he's found a college graduate with an English major, who gave him a son.
"Why don't you study anymore?"

"I learned it from you, uncle. You said that if you can't even get enough to eat, what's the point of studying? So I stopped studying and ran to grandpa's house~"

"..."

He really taught me this. His family was really struggling during his high school years.
It was only in the past two years, when my father reached a certain age and his company started giving him money, that things got a little better.

“I still need to learn more.”

"Uncle, I want to learn how to make money from you~"

"Okay, it's hard work."

"I'm not afraid of hardship."

At the age of thirteen, and having not even graduated from primary school, what can I do?

In fact, he could also be a small vegetable farmer, but Brother Yi and Second Sister were reluctant to let him go.

In the following year, Li Mingkun and others also brought their children out one after another. All of them graduated from elementary school at the age of twelve or thirteen, or left after studying in junior high school for one or two years.

Then, at a young age, I started thinning out the seedlings, watering, digging, and harvesting vegetables in the vegetable fields.
Yi Long was the only one who was loved by his parents. They didn't let him do anything. He just played all day long, all kinds of games, and he played for several years.

This naturally makes people lazy.

As they were chatting, they arrived at Lijiang Garden. The stylish houses made Yi Long's eyes widen, and then he saw a bicycle riding in.

Chen Jiazhi took out a cigarette and asked a security guard, "Brother, is there a good restaurant nearby? There are more than 20 people here."

"Lijiang Pavilion, go straight ahead and turn right."

Lijiang Garden is open on the outside, and has various supporting facilities such as restaurants, banks, cinemas, etc.

After a while, we arrived at Lijiang Pavilion.

In fact, it just has white tiled walls and a round table, and the waiters wear white uniforms, which is quite fashionable in that era.

The waiter looked at the person and frowned slightly, but still said, "Hello."

Chen Jiazhi noticed the waiter's gaze. He was fine. Although they were clothes he wore for work, they were still normal. Yi Long's clothes were just patched up.

He turned his head to look at Yi Long. Hey, this kid was staring at the waitress.

Chen Jiazhi shook his head and said, "Arrange three tables for me, about 25 people, they will be here soon."

He even took out the money and asked, "Do you want to pay first?"

"Oh, no, no, please come in~"

The waiter took the two to the hall and brought the menu.

"Yi Long, would you like to order some food?"

"I don't understand, uncle."

"Didn't your dad teach you? Just order whatever you like."

"Then I'll try."

Yi Long took the menu and frowned. What the hell are these dishes? I don’t recognize several of the words!

Fortunately, his father taught him to order whatever was expensive. He tried ordering two dishes, and his uncle didn't say anything, so he let go and ordered a few more dishes before stopping.

Chen Jiazhi took a look and saw that it was all meat, so he added two more vegetables.

One is blanched Chinese choy sum, and the other is stir-fried lean meat with Chinese broccoli. Try the quality of Lijiang Pavilion.

"Bring five more bottles of Pearl River beer, and two snacks first, to fill your stomach~"

"Okay, wait a moment."

When the snacks arrived, Yi Long didn't hesitate and ate one at a time. But after eating three, he stopped and said he was waiting to eat meat.

Most of the left-behind children nowadays are in a difficult situation. They are pale and thin, and their education and nutrition are not up to par.

Yi Long is better.

Yi Hu, who is still in his hometown, is as thin as a stick.

After sitting for a while, Chen Jiazhi asked Yi Long to wait in the store while he went to the main road to wait for someone.

Not long after, Li Xiu, Chen Jiafang and Chen Jiaying were seen from a passing bus.

The car stopped and a group of people came over.

"Jiazhi, where do we eat?"

"Inside, is everyone here?"

"Not yet. Brother Yi, Mingkun and the others are riding their bikes behind us."

"Here they are. The cyclists are here too."

Well, a group of twenty or so people followed them in and looked at everything in Lijiang Garden curiously.

This is where the city looks like.

When they came out, everyone dressed up and put on whatever good clothes they had.

But they still felt a little restrained, and gathered in groups of three or four to communicate.

Li Xiu changed into a floral dress and a pair of white sneakers. She looked tall and clear.

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "You'd look better in one piece. Xiu, are you carsick?"

"Fortunately, my second sister grabbed a seat for me, it's not far away."

After walking a few steps, they arrived at Lijiang Pavilion. Everyone was surprised and whispered to each other.

"Oh my god, how much does a meal here cost?"

"The scholar really spent a lot of money."

“This is much better than Dongxiang Wharf.”

"He's the only one who has this ability~"

Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun also followed the crowd and were also very surprised. This place felt that it was not cheap.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we chatted for a while and then the food started to be served.

Steamed Heshun fish, copper plate chicken, water spinach stew, soy sauce goose, sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried beef with bitter melon, steamed dried fish with olives, traditional fire soup~
The dishes started to be served one by one~
Chen Jiazhi was not so particular and just asked everyone to open the beer and start making it.

For the vegetable farmers, this meal may be the most satisfying one they have had since coming to the Flower City.

Everyone was happily chatting, bragging, and drinking.
Chen Jiazhi inevitably became the center of the crowd. Who could blame him for being so crowded? Every worker came to him to toast.
He also made an exception and didn't abstain from drinking today, but he didn't drink too much either because he had things to do in the afternoon.

What do vegetable farmers usually talk about when they get together?

What they talked about most was actually growing and selling vegetables. Men especially liked to talk about what they saw and heard in the market and brag loudly.

One thing can be talked about over and over again, every time you drink, especially those things that are rare.

Yi Dinggan was very happy today, his face was flushed, and he was chatting enthusiastically with Xue Jun.

"That night, as soon as we entered the market, a crowd surrounded us. It was so crowded that we couldn't get through. Jiazhi was getting anxious, and so was I. We kept shouting and cursing, but we couldn't move. Guess what happened then?"

"What's wrong?"

Xue Jun listened attentively, and Chen Jiaying and Yi Long were also attracted by it.

Yi Dinggan and Xue Jun clinked their glasses, drank a glass of wine, and then he said loudly, "There was a roar from the back of the crowd, and then a strong man rushed over dragging a steel pipe, followed by more than ten people. The crowd was frightened and scattered. Then Jiazhi, Mingkun, Mancang, and I rode forward under the gaze of the crowd. That night was really cool!"

Xue Jun and Chen Jiaying were mesmerized by what they heard, and Yi Long's face was full of admiration, as if he was there in person.

The other vegetable farmers had heard it many times, but they were still excited.

How many small vegetable farmers can have such a glorious moment? Even if you talk about this for decades, there will still be a market for it.
During the meal, Chen Jiaying and Xue Jun listened to several stories.

I also figured out one thing: I have really made it.

(End of this chapter)