Gourd Farm Chapter 47
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 47: The Overgrowth of Greenhouses in the Village
Yang Feng arrived in town on the earliest bus, and it was just around 7:00 AM. He estimated that Xia Ying had probably just delivered her produce to the restaurant.
As he approached the restaurant, he saw the usual bustling chefs, all busy inspecting and receiving deliveries. A few chefs by the roadside were discussing the quality of the vegetables with the vendors.
"We don't need this variety of bok choy. Hurry and take it back and exchange it."
"Brother, let's make do with it for today. The type you want is out of stock, and things have been particularly tight lately."
The vegetable vendor handed a cigarette over, along with a lighter.
"Old Wang, you can't just make do with this one. Look at it; the older leaves are so tough, even a cow would struggle to chew them."
The young chef accepted the cigarette and picked up a piece of bok choy, squeezing it between his fingers.
"Fine, I'll take this bok choy back, but can we at least keep these tomatoes?"
Old Wang examined the bok choy and realized it did look quite old, so he didn't push the matter any further.
At that moment, Xiao Chuliang's head chef arrived with an order sheet.
"Old Wang, I've told you about these tomatoes multiple times. You need to find better varieties. These ones you've been delivering have terrible texture, and when we cook them, there's no tomato flavor left."
"I..."
Old Wang truly had no words. Just last month, the price for tomatoes was a little over three yuan per kilogram. Little did he know that in just a few days, the price of tomatoes had skyrocketed like a rocket. Even this subpar variety was being delivered because he had no other choice.
"If you keep this up, I'll switch suppliers. I've warned you before. If I do change, don't blame me for not giving you face."
"Okay, tomorrow, I'll find the best variety available in the market and send it over."
Old Wang gritted his teeth and promised with determination. This restaurant was his biggest customer, and he couldn't afford to lose their business.
"Hey, Yang Feng, where have you been these past few days? I haven't seen you coming to make deliveries," Li, the head chef of Xiao Chuliang, asked when he came over to pick up the order sheet and noticed Yang Feng was nearby, waving a greeting.
"I had some business to attend to in the county these past few days. I hope my absence didn't cause any delays in your deliveries," Yang Feng answered anxiously. He had been worried while in the county, constantly thinking about his greenhouse and whether the produce was being delivered on time.
"No, not at all. Where did you find such a capable girl?" Li asked.
"Oh, I met her through a friend when I was setting up my stall."
Hearing that there were no delays in the deliveries, Yang Feng felt relieved. Li then gestured for him to look ahead.
Turning around, he saw Xia Ying, a slender figure, riding towards them with a fully loaded cart behind her.
"Wow, you're back so soon?"
Perhaps because she was pleasantly surprised, Xia Ying, who had always been shy, didn't notice the people nearby and greeted Yang Feng with a friendly smile as soon as she arrived.
"Yeah, take a break, and I'll take over from here," Yang Feng replied.
Xia Ying's hair was a bit disheveled at this point, and her face had a slight blush from the wind. She used her hand to smooth out her tousled locks. "It's okay, let's get this done quickly together."
Yang Feng didn't object; they still had a few more deliveries to make.
In no time, the goods for Xiao Chuliang were checked and accepted. Yang Feng realized that it had been almost a month, and it was time to settle the accounts.
"Chef Li, can we arrange for the payment in the next couple of days?" Yang Feng asked as he was signing the paperwork.
Li, who was busy signing, heard Yang Feng calling him and put down his pen. "Sure, I talked to that girl about it yesterday. She said to wait for your return."
He glanced at Xia Ying, who nodded in agreement with what Li had said. "Alright, please use the same account as before."
This time, Yang Feng planned to use the sales to purchase a tractor. With the current scale of their operation, it was no longer feasible to rely on shovels as they did in the old vegetable garden. Borrowing equipment each time was not practical. After calculating, he realized that the combined earnings from the several restaurants over this period could just cover the cost of a tractor.
As they finished their deliveries and headed home, Yang Feng asked Xia Ying about the condition of the greenhouse over the past couple of days.
"The greenhouse is running smoothly, but it seems like a few more greenhouses have popped up in your village these days."
"A few more?"
It had only been two days since he left, and apart from Yang Meng, who built a greenhouse, Yang Feng couldn't think of anyone else.
"Yes, when I was working in the greenhouse yesterday, I saw a three-wheeler delivering a load of greenhouse frames."
In no time, the two of them arrived back in the village.
As they approached Zhang Fei's house, they saw Aunt Hua's family hurrying towards the back of their property with hammers, shovels, and other tools in hand.
"Oh, Xiao Feng is back."
"Yeah."
With a simple greeting, Yang Feng noticed that Aunt Hua seemed a bit different this time. Surprisingly, she didn't start her usual nagging.
Yang Feng didn't dwell on it and headed straight for the greenhouse. It felt like ages since he had last seen it, even though it had only been two days.
"Dad, the tomatoes are planted now. Is there anything else that needs to be done?" Yang Meng wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel hanging around his neck and asked casually.
At this moment, Yang Meng was dressed in a pair of leather boots, his hair was disheveled like a bird's nest, and he was covered in dirt from head to toe, quite unlike his usual appearance.
These past few days, he had been forced by his father to plant tomatoes in pig manure.
Looking at the rows of tomatoes covered with plastic film, they might not have the lush greenness of Yang Feng's tomatoes yet, but seeing the progress in these rows gave a sense of accomplishment.
"Yeah, for now, there's not much to do. Just keep an eye on the temperature, and in the mid-to-late stages, make sure to water regularly," his father replied.
"Dad, I noticed Aunt Hua's family built a large greenhouse, and they have two on the adjacent plot as well."
"These people just saw Yang Feng making money from greenhouse farming, and I heard that the village chief introduced some subsidy policy for him. Now, they all think they can get rich overnight."
"I think these folks are just doing this out of boredom, thinking they can strike it rich by building greenhouses."
"You don't understand. Haven't you heard the village chief say that we'll form a greenhouse farming base in our area, and there will be college students coming to teach us farming techniques?"
"Come on, don't fall for that old man's talk. College students coming here? In all these years, I haven't even seen a high school student around."
"You, get out of here. Go ride into town and buy a thermometer for me."
Yang Meng’s remarks pushed the father's patience to the limit, leaving him trembling with anger.
"Alright, I'll be back tomorrow then."
"Hmph!"
Yang Meng felt a tremendous sense of relief, throwing his gloves onto the ground before sprinting out of the greenhouse. This time, when he went into town, he intended to treat himself to some skewers and spend the night at Qiang's internet cafe. He was itching to play League of Legends.
"You dare not come back tomorrow, and I'll break your legs," his father yelled at the top of his lungs from inside the greenhouse.
All he got in response was his own echo; Yang Meng had long disappeared.
"Xia Ying, did you make these growth cycle records?"
As soon as Yang Feng entered the greenhouse, he noticed a notebook with specific dates, temperatures, and growth status records.
"I learned this from the internet. It's more scientific this way, and you can see everything at a glance," Xia Ying replied.