1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 17 Return the favor

Two figures, a man and a woman, walked towards the vegetable field one after the other, appearing very small in the rain and fog.

Chen Jiazhi didn't dislike Liu Minghua. The two had a good relationship before, otherwise he wouldn't have lent him money.

But it is difficult to evaluate Jia Suzhen. She is a very unlikable person and is known for being petty even among women.

Among men, Jia Suzhen is a shrew. If she were a slightly stronger man, there would be fights at home every day.

That's when he met Liu Minghua.

Liu Minghua is honest, weak and timid, and has always been suppressed by Jia Suzhen. As far as he can remember, the two of them stopped growing vegetables after this year. But twenty years later, in order to buy a house for their son, the family started growing vegetables again, but because they wanted to pay the full amount, they missed the last chance to buy a house at a low price.

"Jia Suzhen can't bear it anymore, scholar, this time you should be proud, now is the time to give the fallen dog a beating."

At some point, Li Mingkun also came to the door and saw Liu Minghua and his wife, and started joking.

"No, I don't want to provoke her."

He was so bored that he had to argue with the shrew. He might as well use his time to think about how to grow vegetables.

The Flower City has had a lot of rain this year.

During the rainy season, the best way to grow leafy vegetables is to build a small shed, cover it with film when it rains, and uncover it on sunny days and at night for ventilation.

However, at this time, small arch sheds are generally used for early spring seedling cultivation, wintering of leafy vegetables, and off-season planting, and are rarely used to cope with plum rains.

Moreover, the cost of a small arch shed is not low. The cost of bamboo strips and film alone is at least four to five hundred yuan per mu. If labor is included, the cost will be even higher.

But the vegetable prices were expected to be good, so Chen Jiazhi had already made up his mind. Li Xiu should have about 1,600 to 1,700 yuan.

It is estimated that it will take two more days of selling vegetables to clear the field, and it will be no problem to make 1,200 yuan in two days.

Beans and melons cannot be grown in small sheds. Only 1.8 acres of land is needed for shed construction, and the cost is less than one thousand yuan.

We also need to apply base fertilizer, buy alternative pesticides and seeds. One thousand yuan is not enough here, but the remaining money can last for about twenty days and still allow us to live a relatively comfortable life.

This is the benefit of harvesting vegetables early.

On the other hand, other people cannot harvest much vegetables this season, and they have to invest in the next season's costs, so they can only live a very tight life.

At least the others sold vegetables yesterday and had a good meal today, but Liu Minghua and the other two were still holding their breath.

Chen Jiazhi is not so bored as to provoke others at this time.

Moreover, he saw Liu Minghua and Jia Suzhen squatting in the vegetable field cutting vegetables, and he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"It's too early to cut vegetables now."

At this time, several families gathered at the door, and after hearing what he said, they couldn't help but look at him curiously.

"Scholar, didn't you collect it like this a few days ago?"

Chen Jiazhi shook his head: "I didn't. It rained yesterday, so I took a two-hour nap at noon. My parents were watching me when I went out to pick the vegetables."

Li Mingkun nodded and said yes, and Chen Jiazhi continued, "It rained for so long, the vegetables are too wet and hot. Now they're stored in the baskets, and these ten hours or so have heated them up again. By the time we sell them in the evening, they'll be rotten."

Everyone didn't believe it at first, but then Yi Dinggan took a look at it from the door and couldn't help but talk about it.

"Damn, when I was in the company before, who the hell ever collected vegetables in the summer at noon? These two must be crazy!"

When working in the company, few people took it seriously, but when they heard it, they remembered that the time to harvest vegetables was indeed in the afternoon and evening.

They looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Chen Jiazhi: "Someone of you go and remind me, I'm going back to my room to sleep." The nap was actually not very comfortable. It was hot and humid, and my heart felt like I was holding my breath, but I had to sleep, otherwise I couldn't bear it.

While Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan were taking a nap, Li Xiu sat on a small bench at the door watching the rain. The rain was so heavy that she didn't dare to go to the fields to work.

Fortunately, her husband finally managed to hold on, otherwise she would have to go to work in the rain even if it rained.

I don't know how long it took before a gentle voice came from behind me: "I'm daydreaming."

"Yeah, I don't dare go out."

"I'll find you an easy job tomorrow that you can do inside the house."

"Okay!"

There is no entertainment and no one to chat with. It is really boring. I would like to have something to do to pass the time.

Li Xiu: "At noon, Aunt Juan went to persuade Jia Suzhen not to pick the vegetables so early. As a result, Jia Suzhen got mad and had a big argument with Aunt Juan, which made Aunt Juan very angry."

Chen Jiazhi looked up at the dam and saw two small boxes of vegetables already laid out, which should be Liu Minghua's.

"If you can't persuade me, forget it. Foolish people will be punished by fate."

They even dared to leave it in the dam to get wet in the rain. Although it was covered with a piece of cloth, the rain had already soaked through it. Chen Jiazhi felt that the vegetable would really rot if left there by evening.

After a while, Ao Dehai and his wife also came to work on time.

Chen Jiazhi did not rush the two to harvest the vegetables. Instead, he asked Ao Dehai to help clean up the accumulated water in fields 3 and 4, and Zhao Yu to clean up the dead branches and rotten leaves of bean and melon vegetables. These leaves carry pathogens, and cleaning them early can prevent the spread.

It was not until three or four o'clock that Chen Jiazhi asked people to go to Field No. 1 to harvest vegetables. When they went to the field, they happened to meet Liu Minghua walking towards them.

Liu Minghua was small and thin. He gritted his teeth and walked on the muddy road while carrying two baskets of vegetables.

Chen Jiazhi couldn't help but remind them, "The humidity is too high and the temperature is too high. The vegetables won't survive. When you get home, make some space at home and spread the vegetables on the ground to dissipate the heat. Otherwise, they will all rot by the evening."

Liu Minghua paused as she picked the vegetables. Chen Jiazhi then said, "As a favor to you for lending me 50 yuan, we will go our separate ways from now on."

After saying that, he went to harvest the vegetables without caring whether Liu Minghua listened or not.

As expected, it rained all afternoon. The time to harvest vegetables was boring. I couldn't even hear people chatting when it rained.

Chen Jiazhi estimated that he could still harvest about 1,000 kilograms from this piece of land. If he harvested it today and then harvested it again tomorrow, it would be cleared out.

However, there were a lot of yellow leaves at the roots of the vegetables today, and Chen Jiazhi didn't ask them to be cleaned too thoroughly, so he mixed them in and sold them together.

In the current market, as long as the vegetables are not rotten, buyers can only accept the fact that they have some yellow leaves.

Moreover, he will have no vegetables to sell for the next twenty days, and he will definitely lose his customers. Why bother with the details? The important thing is to make more money.

In the evening, Ao Dehai and his wife stayed for dinner. They had pig intestines for lunch. Chen Jiazhi went to the village to buy some braised dishes. After eating, they went to harvest vegetables in the dark. Only then did the rain gradually subside.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Ao, Sister Zhao. I'll need you to help me harvest the vegetables for another day tomorrow. Just come at about the same time as today."

"it is good."

After collecting the last basket of vegetables, the three of them stretched their waists in the field. Chen Jiazhi also talked about tomorrow's work, and Ao Dehai and the others readily agreed.

Working for Chen Jiazhi at night is considered overtime, and the salary is 50% higher than usual. Dinner is also provided, and the food is also very good. Both of them are very happy.

Chen Jiazhi was also very satisfied with the two of them. After returning home and putting down the vegetables, he suggested to Brother Yi that the vegetable workers should be given a raise.

But Yi Dinggan refused without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)