Chapter 261 Getting Straight to the Point
Zhou Yujie was so excited that he jumped up from his chair and nodded emphatically.
“Okay! Let’s do it this way! I’ll go back and prepare the list right away. I’ll set off first thing tomorrow morning to go find Aunt Pan and Xiao Yang.”
"We don't aim for instant success; we start with the smallest things, like picking a bunch of vegetables or keeping a record. As long as we persevere, one day the Zhou's Vegetables brand will stand proudly on this land, and everyone will give it a thumbs up!"
the next day.
Zhou Yujie got dressed and went out.
Aunt Pan was squatting between the ridges of the third greenhouse, bent over, one hand on her knee, her eyes fixed on the bright green bok choy leaves in front of her.
She stretched out her rough fingers, gently parted a leaf, and carefully checked the back for insect holes.
"This patch of plants is growing evenly and is very juicy; we should be able to harvest a batch today..."
Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching from afar. She turned around and saw that it was Zhou Yujie. She quickly stood up.
"Hey, Mr. Zhou! Why are you here so early today? Are the vegetables almost cooked and it's time to start harvesting? I'm keeping an eye on them, and I reckon they'll be ready to serve in a couple of days."
Zhou Yujie approached with a smile.
"Aunt Pan, I'm not here to collect vegetables. I'm here to discuss something with you."
He stood before her, his expression solemn, and spoke out the thoughts that had been brewing in his mind all night, word by word.
"I would like to ask you to take the lead in forming a picking team to be responsible for the daily picking of greenhouse vegetables. You would be the team leader, in charge of personnel, quantity, and quality, and every step of the process would have to be overseen by you."
Aunt Pan was stunned when she heard this.
She opened her eyes wide, pointed to the tip of her nose, and stammered, "I... I manage people? Boss Zhou, are you sure you're not mistaken? I'm struggling to manage my own little plot of land, how would I know how to manage others... Besides, I have to keep track of the numbers, report production output every day, and check the figures. I didn't even finish elementary school, and I have trouble even writing. What if I make a mistake and mess up the accounts?"
Her voice trailed off as she spoke, and her head drooped unconsciously.
Zhou Yujie smiled and took out a palm-sized hardcover notebook from his breast pocket.
He turned to one of the pages and handed it to Aunt Pan.
"Please take a look at this first; it's not complicated. This is a registration form I designed specifically for you; it's simple and clear."
“Every morning before starting work, the picking workers are divided into 3 groups, each group is responsible for 1 shed. After the picking is finished, the group leader first reports the total number, and then you personally go to the field to check it again. After verifying that there are no errors, write down the actual number of pickings here.”
He turned to the next page, which had several small slips of paper attached as category labels.
"As for quality, it's not hard to distinguish. Good, neat, and undamaged vegetables are all classified as Grade A and sent to high-end restaurants; those that are slightly crooked, small, or have yellowed edges are Grade B and sent to supermarkets or wholesale stalls."
He softened his tone: "You don't need to know everything from the start; you'll naturally gain experience as you go. The important thing is to have someone to lead you and to have rules to follow. I trust you, okay?"
Aunt Pan took the small notebook, her hands trembling slightly.
After a long while, she raised her head, and a thin layer of tears welled up in her eyes.
She spent her whole life growing vegetables, working from sunrise to sunset.
I never imagined that one day I would be called a team leader, and that I would stand on the field with a notebook, directing others to work.
What they never expected was that the vegetables they had worked so hard to grow might one day appear on the banquet tables of city restaurants.
She took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and nodded.
"Well... I'll give it a try. Please don't be offended if I don't do well. I'm willing to learn and I can endure hardship."
Zhou Yujie grinned.
"That's right! As long as you're willing to work hard, don't be afraid of going slow, the only thing to fear is stopping."
On the other side, Zhou Shufen also left early, carrying a well-organized salary plan and job description.
He walked through two alleys and arrived at Xiao Yang's residence in the east of the city.
When the door was opened, Xiao Yang was squatting in the yard repairing an old tricycle.
Upon seeing Zhou Shufen, he quickly stood up, wiped his hands, and asked with some surprise, "Brother Zhou? What brings you here?"
Zhou Shufen skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
"Xiao Yang, I need your help with something. I'm entrusting you with the vegetable delivery team."
Xiao Yang was unloading a truckload of manure with great effort, sweat streaming down his forehead.
He was panting heavily as he struggled to carry a heavy bag of fertilizer to the edge of the field.
Suddenly hearing Zhou Shufen say that he should take care of it, his hand trembled violently, and the sack on his shoulder almost slipped from his grasp and fell down.
"Really...really put me in charge? I used to drive a truck, delivering goods and running routes, that was fine, but leading a team and managing people, I've never done that before! I've never even been a squad leader, can I handle it?"
"You'll be in charge of the route for now."
Zhou Shufen spoke calmly.
She handed him a hand-drawn map.
The map is densely marked with dots and lines.
The main road is drawn in red, the village locations are marked in blue, and several temporary rest stops are circled in pencil.
“Every night, you have to make a list for the next day: which route is the smoothest, how much food to order from each restaurant, whether to avoid traffic jams or to order earlier during off-peak hours, and tell the driver all of this in advance. If you encounter any emergencies on the road, such as traffic jams, road construction, or customers adding orders at the last minute, you have to make a decision on the spot, don’t wait for others to urge you, and you can’t make excuses.”
Xiao Yang took the map with trembling hands, his fingers gripping the corner of the paper tightly.
His lips moved, and he kept his voice low.
"I promise! The truck will arrive on time, not a single vegetable will be left for even a minute longer, and I will protect all the leaves. I will never let any of the vegetables be damaged on the way!"
As the days went by, a familiar figure gradually appeared at the entrance of the greenhouse.
Aunt Pan carrying a hard-covered notebook.
She was not tall, her hair was gray, but her back was ramrod straight.
Every morning at six o'clock sharp, without fail, he appears in the loading area.
She immediately chased after the worker and asked who had packed half a basket of radishes less.
Xiao Yang has also completely changed, becoming what everyone calls a living map.
He no longer just drove blindly, but checked the weather and road conditions in advance every day.
I have several navigation apps saved on my phone, and I even downloaded a traffic radio app.
Before each departure, he would squat down next to the vehicle and carefully inspect it.
A thick layer of foam padding was laid at the bottom of the carriage, and then covered with a waterproof tarpaulin.
Secure the four corners with rope to ensure that water doesn't seep in when it rains and that the vegetables aren't damaged by bumps.
Sometimes, when passing through rugged sections of road, he would even get out of the car to check the road surface.
At the same time, Zhou Yamei also learned how to read contracts little by little from Zhou Miaoling.
At first, she couldn't understand the terminology.
But she refused to give up. Every day during her breaks, she would look through the samples Zhou Miaoling had given her and take notes with a pen.
Back in my dorm at night, I was still memorizing the client's specific requirements under the lamp.
Zhou Yujie saw all this and finally felt a little more at ease.
He knew that things were finally slowly getting back on track.
No longer did Zhou Shufen have to shoulder the burden alone; instead, she had a truly capable assistant.
However, Zhou Shufen had just transferred Zhou Yamei to the greenhouse to coordinate production and sales.
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