Chapter 56 (Stealing)
Su Tangtang's illness lasted for four or five days, with recurring fevers. She eventually received intravenous fluids for several days before her condition improved.
Huo Yizhou has been busy these past few days. He used a small corn kernel threshing machine to finish all the work, and he dried the threshed corn in time every day before packing it into bags.
The day the project was completed was overcast with low-hanging dark clouds, and it looked like it was about to rain. Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou borrowed a car and quickly transported the corn to town to sell. They made three trips back and forth before they could transport all the corn.
After weighing, the corn weighed nearly 8,000 jin (4,000 kg) and sold for more than 8,000 yuan. The income wasn't much, but it was still the result of this season's hard work.
In the afternoon, Zhou Yan borrowed their truck to transport corn to sell, and heard that the price they were selling it for was about the same as theirs.
After the corn was sold out, the wheat was sown, and everyone finally had a few days to rest. But the vegetables in the fields seemed to be growing rapidly, changing every day.
By mid-October, the vegetables they planted were ready to be harvested and eaten. Although they weren't very big, they were very tender and delicious.
By late October, the vegetables had grown to maturity and were ready to be sold.
If it weren't for the previous rainstorm that delayed things, this batch of vegetables would probably have been sold long ago.
That day, the director called everyone together.
“This time, we won’t be selling our vegetables through live streaming; you’ll have to find your own sales channels,” the director said bluntly. “And we’ll all be selling them together.”
“From now on, you are a team and you have to sell all the vegetables on these 40 acres of land.”
Everyone responded in unison.
The director continued, "We don't have much time left to film here. Once the cotton is harvested, the program will be nearing its end. In previous years, the cotton harvest usually begins in early November. Today is October 20th, which means you only have ten days to sell all the vegetables from these 40 acres of land."
The moment those words were spoken, the pressure began.
Ten days, 40 mu of vegetables.
On average, they have to sell four mu of land a day, with a yield of about 1,000 jin per mu. So, they have to sell 4,000 jin of vegetables every day.
This is no small amount.
And we also have to find people to pick and pack them.
If we were to harvest and sell at the same time, there simply wouldn't be enough time.
Just as everyone was racking their brains, the director saw them starting to come up with a solution and left.
"Let's divide the work," Su Tang suggested.
Qiu Nan asked, "How do we divide it?"
“Four people went to supermarkets in the surrounding towns and farmers’ markets in the county to discuss cooperation; two people drove to the countryside to sell; two people set up stalls on the street; and two people were responsible for contacting vegetable vendors and recruiting workers to pick the vegetables.”
After she finished speaking, everyone thought it was feasible.
Gu Qingke added, "When you go to the county and farmers' markets, you can also visit restaurants and hotels to ask if they have any needs."
Zhou Yan nodded, "That's fine."
Others also offered their ideas, and after everyone put together their thoughts, they began to assign tasks.
Finally, the division of labor was determined by drawing lots.
Shen Yingying, Gu Qingke, Qu Xian, and Zhou Yan were responsible for running errands at the town's supermarket and the county's farmers' market; Meng Meng and Ke Tangshu went to the countryside to sell vegetables; Qiu Nan and Lin Lang set up a stall in town every day for retail; while Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou contacted professional vegetable buyers and were responsible for recruiting workers and organizing the harvest.
After the tasks were assigned, no one was delayed and everyone immediately got to work. Perhaps realizing that this was the last time they would sell vegetables together during the show's filming, everyone was exceptionally dedicated and full of energy.
Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou returned to their residence first. As soon as the dog saw them return, it wagged its tail and followed them around affectionately.
While changing her shoes, Su Tangtang said, "We need to find some manpower first, and then go to the households that usually grow vegetables to ask if we can get the contact information of the vegetable buyers."
Huo Yizhou nodded, "Okay, let's do it that way."
The two tidied up quickly and then went out.
They went to Aunt Zhang's house first. Although she had left last time because another family offered a higher price, Su Tangtang took the initiative to visit her this time, considering that she was indeed efficient in leading the team.
Aunt Zhang was a little surprised and quite touched. "I thought you wouldn't look for me again."
Su Tangtang shook her head with a smile, "How could that be?"
Aunt Zhang quickly assured her, "Don't worry, this time it won't be like last time."
“I believe you,” Su Tangtang said sincerely.
Aunt Zhang was the backbone of the village team doing farm work. Once she was persuaded, the others were naturally willing to come as well. Su Tangtang continued, "Aunt Zhang, the weather is getting cooler now, and we have a lot of vegetables in our fields. Do you think we could find more people to help us? We won't treat everyone unfairly. Before, it was 100 a day, but now it's 120."
This price is considered high for farm work in the area; you wouldn't usually get this much from a vegetable garden.
After agreeing on the manpower, Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou went to Uncle Shuanzhu's house to inquire about vegetable buyers. However, the buyers offered a relatively low price, but the two still got their contact information, thanked them, and left.
After returning home, they called to inquire about prices, and the other party said that if they purchased in bulk, they could only get about one yuan per kilogram.
The price was far from ideal, so Su Tangtang said, "I'll think about it," and hung up the phone.
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, another day has passed.
The next morning, Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou went to town to buy a batch of bags and boxes for packing vegetables. In the afternoon, the workers went to the fields to start harvesting.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yan and Gu Qingke's negotiations were not progressing smoothly. Many supermarkets and farmers' markets already had fixed supply channels and were unwilling to change. In addition, the prices they offered were too high, so the other parties were not very interested.
Despite the unfavorable start, everyone remained undeterred.
The next day, everyone was as energetic as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they continued to throw themselves into the "battle".
In the vegetable garden, a lot of vegetables had been picked by the morning. Meng Meng, Ke Tangshu, Lin Lang, and Qiu Nan loaded half a truck and took it out to sell. The results were pretty good. Although not all of them were sold, it was still considered a successful start.
So the next day they packed another batch of vegetables and went out to sell them again. Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou went to several nearby villages to inquire about the prices of other vegetable buyers, but the results were all about the same.
Su Tangtang said helplessly, "It seems that this price was agreed upon by them."
Huo Yizhou nodded, "Yes, after all, everyone wants to buy low and sell high."
Su Tangtang sighed, "But this is too low. I saw that spinach is selling for ten yuan a pound in the supermarket, but the vegetable buyers are only paying us one yuan a pound. It feels like a huge loss. I wonder how Yan Jie and the others' negotiations went today."
Huo Yizhou gently took her hand. "Don't think about it now. Let's go back and ask them what happened when they get back."
Su Tangtang nodded, and the two rode their electric bikes back.
Having driven less than a kilometer, Huo Yizhou saw a crowd gathered at the intersection ahead and slowly slowed down.
Su Tangtang peeked out and asked, "What's going on up ahead?"
Seeing her curious expression, Huo Yizhou said, "I don't know, do you want to go and take a look?"
“Okay,” Su Tangtang replied.
Huo Yizhou rode his bicycle forward and stopped at the edge of the crowd.
As soon as the tram came to a stop, Su Tangtang heard a familiar voice.
"Stop pretending! We didn't bump into you at all!"
She was taken aback. "It's Meng Meng's voice."
Huo Yizhou recognized them too, "It's them."
The two squeezed into the crowd and saw an old woman lying on the ground, refusing to get up, with an electric scooter lying next to her.
Meng Meng was so angry that her face turned green, while Ke Tangshu, standing to the side, turned pale.
Su Tangtang quickly walked to Meng Meng's side, "Did you bump into someone?"
Meng Meng turned around and saw her, as if she had seen a savior. "She's faking an accident! We were driving just fine. She was riding her bike on the side of the road when she suddenly swerved into the middle of the road. Tang Shu braked quickly and didn't even hit her. She fell down with her bike!" She became more and more agitated as she spoke. "I'm sure we didn't hit her at all!"
Su Tangtang calmly asked, "Did the drone and the photographer capture any images?"
The production team provided each group with a cameraman and a drone.
"It's all clearly documented!" Meng Meng's voice trembled with anger. "But the old lady just won't admit it. She insists that we hit her. She even tried to argue that she swerved into the middle of the road because she saw our car wobbling. Isn't she just treating me like an idiot? The evidence is right in front of her, and she's still lying on the ground blaming us!"
Some people around tried to persuade the old lady to get up, while others whispered, "Just pay her some money and let it go."
Meng Meng felt even more aggrieved, "We didn't even bump into anything, why should we pay?"
At this moment, the old woman on the ground groaned and said, "You didn't bump into me, but I fell because of you." Then she cried out again, "I can't move my legs, and my back hurts terribly."
Su Tangtang was both amused and exasperated after hearing this; this attempt to stage an accident was simply outrageous.
She raised her voice and said, "In that case, let's call the police and let them handle it."
As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed that the old lady's body stiffened noticeably.
Meng Meng slapped her forehead, "I was so angry I lost my mind, how could I not have thought of calling the police! Su Tangtang, call them quickly, I believe the police will give us justice!"
Su Tangtang nodded, deliberately turning her phone volume up to the maximum. The crisp sound of the keys and the "beep beep" of the call being connected were particularly loud in the quiet crowd.
This tactic worked.
Before the call could even connect, the old woman on the ground suddenly panicked and scrambled to her feet. She probably hadn't expected these young people to be so serious.
Meng Meng pointed at her and exclaimed, "You're perfectly fine, aren't you?!"
The old lady blushed, stammered "I" for a long time, picked up her electric bike and hurriedly tried to leave. The onlookers tacitly made way for her.
Someone muttered, "Is this old lady not from our village?"
"I told you I'd never seen anything like it! There are no people in our village who stage accidents to extort money!"
"That's right, that's right..."
The crowd started discussing it amongst themselves.
Su Tangtang had a sudden inspiration and seized the opportunity to call out, "Would you all like to see the vegetables we just picked? They're incredibly fresh!"
This successfully diverted everyone's attention, and their eyes turned to the vegetables on the truck.
Someone asked, "How much does it cost?"
Meng Meng glanced at Su Tangtang and quickly quoted the price.
Finally, a small number of people bought some vegetables, but most villagers just looked around. Every household in the village grows vegetables, especially leafy greens, so there is basically no shortage of them.
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