Xu An originally wanted to go back to the village and tell Aunt Hong that he wanted more potatoes, edamame, lettuce and other vegetables the next day.
But when they arrived at Aunt Hong's house, they found that the gate was locked from the outside, and through the crack in the gate, they could see that the main gate inside the house was tightly closed.
Xu An sent a message to Aunt Hong but received no reply, and made several phone calls but no one answered. He was immediately puzzled. Could something have happened to Aunt Hong?
After thinking it over, Xu An decided to go to the greenhouse to check on the situation.
A large box truck was parked on the main road outside the endless greenhouses, with its rear door open, looking like it was waiting to be loaded.
Xu An parked his tricycle under the big banyan tree and walked towards Aunt Hong's shed.
I had only walked a few steps when I heard a very heated argument coming from a greenhouse not far ahead. The slightly aged voice sounded somewhat familiar.
"Why has it dropped again? Didn't it drop just a few days ago?"
"Now that the yield of fruits and vegetables is high, they become worthless because of the excess. It is estimated that the price will continue to drop."
"Three and a half cents a pound, you might as well rob us at that price." The old voice was impassioned.
"That's just how the market is. It's not like I get to decide. I need to make money too, right?" The rebuttal was equally sharp and forceful.
"I'm not selling! I won't sell them even if they rot in the ground! Everyone knows the quality of our greenhouse fruits and vegetables is excellent. We've always offered the highest price! You say we have a large yield and that's how the market is, but you're just a bastard trying to have your cake and eat it too! You've already taken the lion's share and now you want to take a small share from me. Don't think I don't know what the current purchase price for fruits and vegetables is!"
The greenhouse curtain was lifted by an old, large hand, and a sleazy middle-aged man whom Xu An had never seen before walked out of the greenhouse with a very gloomy face.
He walked up to Xu An, gave him a fierce glare, strode over to the truck, slammed the back door shut, and turned to look at the shed he had just left.
"Lin Xingtao, from now on, I won't take a single pound of your greenhouse produce. I'm saying this right now! Let it rot in the ground, huh? Then all the vegetables in your greenhouse will rot in the ground from now on! What a load of crap! I spit on you!"
After leaving a glob of phlegm, the sleazy middle-aged man quickly climbed into the driver's seat, closed the door, stepped on the gas, and the vehicle shot off like an arrow.
A gaunt old man rushed out of the greenhouse, stretched out his arm and pointed at the intersection. He was about to start cursing when he realized that the lewd middle-aged man had already left, and only the young man was left on the road.
Xu An then noticed the other main character in the argument—Uncle Lin.
I saw Hu Juan's greenhouse last time I visited, and he even warmly invited me to tour his greenhouse.
At this moment, two more people came out of Uncle Lin's shed; it was Aunt Hong and Hu Juan.
"Anzi, what brings you here?" Aunt Hong looked slightly surprised when she saw Xu An.
"I went to your house but you weren't there. I sent you messages and made phone calls but you didn't reply, so I thought I'd come over and check on you."
Aunt Hong took out her phone and checked it. Sure enough, she saw a message and three or four missed calls. She couldn't help but slap her head.
"I switched to silent mode during my afternoon nap and forgot to switch it back." Aunt Hong then opened the message, her expression becoming somewhat troubled: "Oh dear, I need another fifty pounds of vegetables."
Upon hearing Aunt Hong's words, Hu Juan also showed a troubled expression.
What's going on? Shouldn't we be happy about the increased procurement volume? Why do they all look so troubled?
Noticing Xu An's confusion, Aunt Hong explained, "Hu Juan and I have five greenhouses, and you've harvested all the produce these past few days. The five greenhouses are full of unripe fruits and vegetables. We barely managed to gather enough produce for tomorrow, and now this sudden increase of fifty jin..."
Hearing this, Xu An understood what Aunt Hong meant.
The family's fast food restaurant consumes too many fruits and vegetables, and the greenhouse production cannot keep up.
"It's alright, give me whatever you have, I'll cover the rest..."
Before Xu An could finish speaking, he was interrupted by an old voice: "Boss, I have seven greenhouses. I can produce as many fruits and vegetables as you want. Would you like to consider mine?"
Uncle Lin was as enthusiastic as ever, grabbing Xu An's hand and leading him into the greenhouse.
“You saw my fruits and vegetables the other day, the quality is quite good. I don’t need much, just the same purchase price as Xiudie and the others. I’m not greedy, you can buy from them first, and come back to me if you need more. I’ll sell you as much as you need, absolutely no hard selling, okay?”
Reaching out from the trellis beside him, he picked a cucumber and handed it to Xu An: "Try this. This cucumber is not only refreshing and crisp, but it also has no astringency at all. It's delicious and top-quality."
After saying that, Uncle Lin gave Xu An a thumbs up.
Unable to refuse such hospitality, Xu An rolled up his clothes, wiped the thorns off the cucumber, and put it in his mouth.
With a crisp 'crunch,' the cucumber juice flowed into his mouth from the broken end, instantly filling his mouth with a refreshing aroma and a subtle sweetness lingering on his tongue. As he chewed, the sweetness became more pronounced, and Xu An couldn't help but speed up his chewing, finishing the cucumber in a few bites.
Delicious! The quality is truly exceptional!
Even so, Xu An still wanted to check on the situation of Aunt Hong and Hu Juan's greenhouse before making any plans.
Strictly speaking, Aunt Hong is family, while Uncle Lin is an outsider, so naturally, family should come first.
Entering the two-person greenhouse, I found that it was indeed as they had said. Looking around, there weren't many fruits and vegetables that met the harvesting standards. The remaining fruits and vegetables were either completely green with no red at all, or shockingly small...
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