Chapter 99: The Quality Is Quite High
Xu An had planned to go back to the village to let Aunt Hong know he’d need more vegetables like potatoes, edamame, and lettuce the next day.
But when he got to Aunt Hong’s house, he found the courtyard gate locked from the outside. Peeking through the gap, he saw the main door was shut tight.
He sent Aunt Hong a message but got no reply, and after several calls went unanswered, Xu An started to worry. ’Could something have happened to her?’
After some thought, Xu An decided to head over to the greenhouses to see what was going on.
A large box truck was parked on the main road outside the long row of greenhouses. Its rear cargo doors were open, as if waiting for a shipment.
Xu An parked his tricycle under a large banyan tree and walked toward Aunt Hong’s greenhouse.
He had only taken a few steps when he heard a heated argument coming from a nearby greenhouse. One of the voices, somewhat aged, sounded vaguely familiar.
"Why have the prices dropped again? Didn’t they just fall the other day?"
"Produce yields are high right now. When there’s a surplus, it’s not worth as much. The price will probably have to drop even further."
"Thirty-five cents a jin? At that price, you might as well be robbing me," the aged voice shot back, full of indignation.
"That’s just how the market works. It’s not up to me. I need to make a profit too, don’t I?" the other voice retorted, not backing down, his tone sharp and shrill.
"I’m not selling! I’d rather let it all rot in the fields before I sell at that price! Everyone knows the produce from my greenhouses is high quality—you’ve always given me top dollar before! All this talk about high yields and ’that’s just the market’—it’s just you, you son of a bitch, trying to play both sides! You’re already making a killing from your buyers, and now you want to gouge me, too. Don’t think for a second I don’t know what the real procurement prices are!"
The flap of the greenhouse was thrown open by a large, aged hand, and a sleazy-looking middle-aged man Xu An had never seen before emerged, his expression dark.
As he passed Xu An, he shot him a vicious glare. He strode over to the truck and slammed the rear cargo doors shut with a loud BANG. He then walked to the driver’s side door and turned his head back toward the greenhouse he had just exited.
"Lin Xingtao, mark my words! From now on, I won’t buy a single pound of produce from your greenhouses! You want it to rot in the fields? Fine! Let all the vegetables from your greenhouses rot in the damn fields! What a joke! Pah!"
Leaving a thick glob of phlegm on the ground, the sleazy man scrambled into the driver’s cab, slammed the door, and stomped on the gas. The truck shot forward like an arrow.
A wiry old man rushed out of the greenhouse, his arm outstretched, pointing down the road. He was just about to let loose a stream of curses when he realized the sleazy man was already gone, leaving only a young man on the road.
Only then did Xu An recognize the other party in the argument—Uncle Lin.
He had met him the last time he’d come to check on Hu Juan’s greenhouses. Uncle Lin had even enthusiastically invited him for a tour of his own.
Just then, two more people emerged from Uncle Lin’s greenhouse: Aunt Hong and Hu Juan.
"Anzi, what are you doing here?" Aunt Hong looked slightly surprised to see Xu An.
"I stopped by your house, but you weren’t there. When you didn’t reply to my message or answer my calls, I thought I’d come over here to check."
Aunt Hong pulled out her phone and saw the message and three or four missed calls. She couldn’t help but tap her forehead.
"I put my phone on silent for my nap and forgot to turn the ringer back on." Then, she read the message, and her expression grew troubled. "Oh, you need an extra fifty pounds of vegetables."
As soon as Aunt Hong said this, Hu Juan’s face also fell.
’What’s going on?’ Xu An wondered. ’Shouldn’t they be happy about an increased order? Why do they both look so troubled?’
Sensing Xu An’s confusion, Aunt Hong explained, "Between Hu Juan and me, we have five greenhouses, and you’ve basically bought up our entire yield these past few days. The greenhouses are full of nothing but unripe produce. We’ve already scraped together what we can for tomorrow’s order, so a sudden increase of fifty pounds..."
Hearing this, Xu An understood what she meant.
’His restaurant was consuming too much produce; their greenhouses couldn’t keep up with the demand.’
"It’s fine, just give me what you have. For the rest, I’ll..."
Before Xu An could finish, the aged voice cut in. "Boss, I’ve got seven greenhouses. I have as much produce as you could possibly want. How about considering my farm?"
Uncle Lin was just as enthusiastic as before. He grabbed Xu An by the arm and pulled him into the greenhouse.
"You saw for yourself the other day, the quality of my produce is excellent. I’m not asking for a special deal, the same procurement price you give Xiudie and her group is fine. I’m not greedy. You can buy from them first, and if that’s not enough, come to me. I’ll sell you whatever you need, no strings attached. How does that sound?"
He reached over to a nearby vine, plucked a cucumber, and handed it to Xu An. "Have a taste. This cucumber isn’t just crisp and refreshing, it has no bitterness at all. It’s delicious—top-quality stuff."
After speaking, Uncle Lin gave Xu An a thumbs-up.
It was an offer too kind to refuse. Xu An wiped the little spines off the cucumber with his sleeve and took a bite.
With a crisp CRUNCH, juice flowed into his mouth. A refreshing flavor instantly filled his senses, with a faint sweetness lingering on the tip of his tongue. As he chewed, the sweetness became more pronounced, and Xu An found himself chewing faster, devouring the entire cucumber in just a few more bites.
’Delicious! The quality really is outstanding!’
Even so, Xu An wanted to check the state of Aunt Hong and Hu Juan’s greenhouses before making a decision.
’When it came down to it, Aunt Hong was like family, while Uncle Lin was an outsider. Naturally, he had to take care of his own people first.’
He went into their greenhouses and saw it was just as they’d said. As far as he could see, there was very little produce ready for picking. What remained was either completely green, with no hint of ripeness, or ridiculously small...
Aunt Hong leaned in and whispered to Xu An, "If you think his produce is good, you should work with him. Don’t worry about us. Your business is growing bigger every day. I’m afraid that soon, even with Uncle Lin’s greenhouses, it won’t be enough to keep up with your demand."
Hearing Aunt Hong’s words, Xu An’s last bit of hesitation vanished.
’Aunt Hong was right. His business was doing better every day, and his order sizes were getting larger every day.’
’In the beginning, he was only buying seventy or eighty pounds a day, and even that had Aunt Hong worried he wouldn’t be able to sell it all.’
’Now, not even half a month later, his daily order had grown from seventy or eighty pounds to three or four hundred. Aunt Hong and Sister-in-law Hu’s five greenhouses combined couldn’t keep up.’
’And he was planning to expand into braised dishes next, which were mostly vegetarian...’
’With that, his demand for produce would only get bigger!’
"Alright." Xu An turned to Uncle Lin, whose face was etched with worry. "Uncle Lin, let’s talk about the details of a partnership."
"Yes! Absolutely!"
The terms in the contract they ultimately signed were identical to the ones in his agreement with Aunt Hong and Hu Juan, with no changes.
Uncle Lin looked at the contract in his hands, feeling a profound sense of relief.
He had thought that after their falling out, he’d have to find a new produce dealer to work with, all while worrying that the scumbag would conspire with other dealers to retaliate against him.
He never expected that just moments later, he’d be signing a contract with Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.
The price was higher than what the wholesaler offered, the demand was huge, and most importantly—it was stable!
That stability alone made it infinitely better than dealing with those wholesalers.
Xu An looked at the contract, feeling a bit dazed himself. He’d only come over because he was worried something had happened to Aunt Hong, yet he’d ended up signing another procurement contract.
Three families, a total of thirteen greenhouses, producing hundreds or even thousands of pounds a day. Back when he first opened the restaurant, he never would have dreamed he could go through this much produce in a single day.
He flicked the contract in his hand, and a brilliant smile suddenly spread across his face.
’But this feeling... it’s not bad at all!’