Gourd Farm Chapter 53
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 53: The College Student Village Official
"Yang Feng, my friend, can you please send some over to me today?"
Li Yi finished the half-eaten tomato and quickly asked Yang Feng.
Yang Feng shook his head, "I'm really sorry, but I can't do that today."
He had already made arrangements with the vegetable vendor, and they were probably arriving soon. He didn't have the time.
"Why not? Don't worry about the price; I can pay a few extra cents per kilogram."
Li Yi clenched his teeth. Even if the profit margin was a bit higher, he would make it work somehow. He could figure something out later.
"It's not about the price. I need to go back to the wholesale market today as I've already made commitments."
Seeing Li Yi looking anxious, Yang Feng hurriedly explained. Most people who delivered vegetables went out of their way to please him, but when it came to Yang Feng, Li Yi had to consider the timing.
"Here's what we can do: I'll call one of my chefs later, and you can take him to your place. You can hand over the goods to him, and you won't have to deliver them yourself."
Li Yi felt relieved when he heard that Yang Feng would be going back to the wholesale market. If he couldn't get the goods, he would be in trouble.
"Alright, I'll finish delivering the goods to the other two restaurants, and then you can send your people to accompany me."
Yang Feng still had two more deliveries to make, and he didn't have time to linger. He reached out to grab the plastic bag of tomatoes, planning to give the other two restaurant owners a taste.
"Yang Feng, just take two; you don't need that many since you're just sampling."
Li Yi stepped back, a pained expression on his face, and handed two tomatoes to Yang Feng.
"Alright, having more would be a waste."
After saying this, Li Yi didn't wait for Yang Feng's response and went straight to the storage room.
Looking at the two tomatoes in his hand and then at the disappearing figure of Li Yi, Yang Feng shook his head in resignation. He hadn't noticed Li Yi's truly shameless side before, but now there was no choice but to go along with it.
He continued to deliver the remaining goods to the other two restaurants. He had initially planned to give the two restaurant owners a taste of the tomatoes, but when he arrived at the first restaurant, the owner's child had taken the tomatoes to play with.
It seemed he would have to bring some more tomorrow; the child was too young to understand, and it wouldn't be right to take them back.
*Ding, ding, ding.*
He took out his phone and saw that it was a call from Xia Ying.
"Hello, Xia Ying."
"Yang Feng, the vegetable vendor has already arrived."
"Yes, I'm on my way back. It'll take me no more than ten minutes."
Yang Feng pushed the throttle to the max. His vehicle was electric, and no matter how hard he pushed, it would only go so fast. But no matter how rushed he felt, there was nothing more he could do.
As Yang Feng arrived in the village, he noticed several people riding bikes heading towards the fields below, but he wasn't sure what they were up to.
Riding towards the greenhouse, he saw a red truck with a 4.2-meter-high cargo bed parked in front of his greenhouse. There were quite a few people gathered around.
"Yang Feng, come over here."
Xia Ying was worried and didn't know what to do. Besides the vegetable vendor, there were some unfamiliar people gathered around now.
"Let's just go in and take a look. What's the matter with this girl? We're all from the same village. Even if Yang Feng is here, there shouldn't be any issues."
"Yeah, aren't you just a worker? Why do you care so much?"
As Yang Feng approached, he saw several elderly women gathered around Xia Ying, chattering away.
"What's going on? Why are there so many people here?"
After parking the vehicle, Yang Feng walked over. He distinctly remembered that he had only contacted the vegetable vendor, so he was surprised to see this gathering, which made it look like a tourist attraction.
"They heard that we're selling tomatoes, so they all came over to take a look. But with so many people coming in and out, I'm afraid it might affect the tomatoes."
Xia Ying looked at the group of elderly women, and she was starting to feel overwhelmed if Yang Feng didn't arrive soon.
Originally, Xia Ying had brought the vegetable vendor to inspect the quality of the tomatoes. However, unexpectedly, a woman from Yang Feng's village passed by and, without any regard, rushed inside. Once inside, she started picking tomatoes to eat. When she saw a large truck approaching, a crowd gathered to watch the commotion. If all these women were allowed inside, it would be chaos.
"Hello, are you the vendor I spoke with yesterday?"
A middle-aged man with a briefcase came over next to Xia Ying and greeted her. His business card indicated that his last name was Qi.
"Yes, Mr. Qi, how is the quality of these tomatoes?"
Seeing Xia Ying approaching, the group of elderly women behaved more obediently. Xia Ying didn't know them well, so she had initially ignored them.
"Well, there's no doubt about the quality. What about the price?"
"When it comes to price, you're the expert. You name a price."
In business, everyone was shrewd. Seeing Mr. Qi's demeanor, Xia Ying understood he was testing the waters.
"Currently, the market price is four yuan per kilogram. Considering the quality and taste, I can offer you 4.5 yuan."
Mr. Qi said this seriously, and when he mentioned the price, he even clenched his teeth, as if he had made a significant decision.
"Mr. Qi, I've also done my research on the market prices. You won't find another batch like mine in the market. I'm asking for 5.1 yuan per kilogram."
"Well..."
Mr. Qi furrowed his brow and stroked his chin in contemplation.
"Wow, 5.1 yuan per kilogram, this young man from the Yang family sure knows how to demand a high price."
"He's making a killing. I bought tomatoes on the street yesterday for only 4 yuan per kilogram."
...
People around them started to discuss the matter. They were all greenhouse owners who had come to see what was happening.
"Alright, let's go with what you said for our first cooperation."
After thinking it over for a while, Mr. Qi bit the bullet and set the price.
Indeed, the quality of these tomatoes was top-notch. Over the years, they had seen many tomatoes of similar size, but they had never encountered this kind of flavor.
"So, can we start picking them now?"
"Yes, I have crates in my truck. Let's unload them together."
"Alright."
After Mr. Qi finished speaking, he turned and went to check his truck. Yang Feng needed to clear the stuff from the roadside to make space for unloading.
"Hey, Yang Feng, how could you forget about me?"
A chef from Xiao Chuang's three-wheeled vehicle in the back ran over at this moment.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Yang Feng slapped his forehead. He had been so focused on the business negotiation that he had forgotten about the chef who had come to pick up the tomatoes.
"Xia Ying, take this young man inside and help him pick a crate."
"Sure, come with me."
With Yang Feng, Xia Ying, the vegetable vendor, and the chef, they were all quite busy for a while. Xia Ying took care of picking the tomatoes while Yang Feng and the vendor loaded them onto the truck.
*Honk, honk, honk.*
A red car honked behind the delivery truck, which was currently parked while being loaded, and couldn't move for the moment.
After a few minutes, a young lady got out of the red car.
Dressed casually in sporty attire and sneakers, with her hair tied in a ponytail, she exuded a youthful and energetic vibe.
"Hello, is this Huangshi Village?"
The village didn't often receive outsiders, except for occasional deliveries.
"Yes, it is."
Yang Feng responded since the young lady had come over and asked. She walked closer, picked up a tomato from one of the crates, examined it, and nodded occasionally.
