Volume 1, Chapter 32: Selling Vegetables on the Street

The vegetables were maturing a bit too quickly.

Without keeping an eye on them for a single night, all the bok choy was fully grown by the next morning. A small half-acre plot was filled with nothing but edible bok choy. Looking at them, the greens were uniform in size, resembling jade carvings neatly arranged across the field.

Guo Dong let out a sigh. He had tried his best to plant as little as possible, but it had still exceeded his expectations. If he harvested all of this now, there would be at least two to three thousand pounds. With such a massive load, by the time he finished selling them at a stall, the other vegetables would likely be ready for picking too.

This was a dilemma. But there was no other choice. He was now in the mindset of giving away what he could, so he began calling out to people in the village early in the morning.

"Uncle Rat, I'm harvesting bok choy today. If you're free, come over and take some home to eat!"
"Uncle Kun, are you home? The bok choy is ripe. Since it's my first harvest, please come by and take some!"

He went house to house, and for those he was closer with, he just called them directly. While he was giving them away, he had his own agenda: he needed help with the harvest. In rural areas, you usually don't have to pay people to help with work; giving them a little something in return is enough. Since the bok choy looked like a huge surplus and he knew he couldn't sell it all, simply distributing it to every household meant he could get help with the labor and build good relationships at the same time.

"You're harvesting everything so soon?" The villagers were quick to act when they heard there was free bok choy. They all ran up the mountain and were amazed to see the dramatic change in the bok choy overnight.

"Guo Dong, you’ve got a real talent for growing these, but they aren't easy to sell!"
"After you finish this harvest, you should just plant peaches. Look at those peach trees; they don't need much maintenance, and merchants come right to you to buy them. Much more profitable!"

With everyone chiming in, Guo Dong started to feel tempted. He didn't even know what he had been thinking at the time. Just because of a dream, he had gotten carried away and planted all sorts of vegetables. Now, he was stuck with produce he couldn't sell.

"Guo Dong, now that you've got some money, why don't you buy a small truck?" someone asked. "If you keep using that tricycle, you'll never finish hauling all this in one trip."

Guo Dong had been thinking the same thing; he really did need a vehicle. Although he could borrow Li Tianhu's truck, he would be using it often from now on, and he couldn't keep borrowing it every day.

"I'm planning to buy one. As soon as I clear out these vegetables, I'll get one."
"Buy one, you definitely should. Look around—who grows this much produce and doesn't own a small truck?"
"So, what kind are you planning to get?" people started teasing.
"I'll probably get a pickup truck. It's convenient for everything, and it can haul cargo, too." Guo Dong had considered the options, and after weighing them, a pickup seemed the most comfortable choice.

In less than an hour, Li Tianhu’s small truck was more than half full. Guo Dong wasn't sure how much he could actually sell, so he didn't dare to load too much.

He drove the small truck toward town by himself. He hadn't brought Meng Xiaohan this time; it was better for her to stay and watch over the fields. Besides, he wasn't very experienced at driving yet, so it was easier to go alone.

It was market day, and the town was quite lively. He found an empty spot and hung up the sign he had prepared in advance.

"Young man, how much for a pound of this bok choy?"
Just as Guo Dong had hoped, good wine doesn't fear a deep alley. No sooner had he hung the sign than someone came to ask.

"Five yuan a pound!"
"Five yuan?" The man looked at the bok choy, which looked like a work of art, shook his head, and walked away. No matter how beautiful something looked, it would be digested once eaten. In this small town, five yuan a pound wasn't just expensive; it was exorbitant.

"Brother, these greens are nice, but the price is a bit steep. Lower it to two yuan a pound, and I'll take some!"
Guo Dong gave a bitter smile. "Big brother, the bok choy in the market costs more than that. I can't sell it for two yuan."
"How about two-fifty? Look, these greens are mostly just nice to look at; I don't even know how they taste. If I buy them at such a high price compared to others..."

Guo Dong shook his head. "I won't sell for less than five. I grew them myself, just picked them from the field, and no pesticides were used!"

*Slap!* He tossed the bok choy back onto the truck and turned away. An hour had passed since he started selling. Everyone had just come to ask, and not a single person had paid.

Guo Dong took a deep breath. If no one bought any in a while, he decided he would sell them off at a low price. The produce couldn't be stored for long, and if it sat too long, it would only be fit for pig feed.

Sitting by the truck, he received several calls in the meantime, all from Meng Xiaohan checking on his sales. He had been too hasty. He should have gone to the wholesale market in the county town yesterday to check prices, but he had been so upset about the incident with Xianghe Hotel that he had completely forgotten.

He was idly scrolling through videos on his phone when a voice called out: "Guo Dong, why are you here? What are you doing—selling vegetables?"

Guo Dong looked up. "Sister Min!" He looked around and saw the red car nearby. "What are you doing here?"

Xie Minmin was dressed in her usual style, though today she was wearing sunglasses and a sun hat.

"I was just on my way to your village. You’ve moved too fast, haven't you? All the bok choy is ready to harvest?"

Guo Dong didn't quite catch on and asked, "Going to our village? Is something up?"
"To buy your vegetables!"

He stood by the truck, stunned for a long time, unable to utter a word.

"It's my fault, too. I should have called you yesterday. I thought it would take at least two more days!" Xie Minmin picked up a head of bok choy from the truck and examined it. It was just like what she had seen yesterday, perhaps even better.

"Sister Min, you’re joking, right? You haven't even seen the bok choy I grew, have you?"

Xie Minmin tossed the bok choy back onto the truck and said, "Who says I haven't? Pack it all up and take it back. What are you doing trying to sell them here? Five yuan a pound—you're the only one who would come up with that. Take them back; we'll renegotiate the price. I want all of your bok choy and that spinach. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the price. Also, I want to discuss a long-term partnership."

Xie Minmin was in a great mood today, as evidenced by her attire. Who wouldn't be happy when there was money to be made? She had received a call from her father the night before: Liu Yang wanted to collaborate with her, and the price offered was exceptionally high. All she had to do was speak a few words and sign a contract to take a cut from the middle. It was basically free money.

Selling bok choy on the street, failing to make a sale, and then running into Xie Minmin—Guo Dong spent the whole ride back thinking about the day's events. He still suspected that Xie Minmin had been following him. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? But why would this woman be tracking him?

Filled with questions, Guo Dong returned to the village. As soon as he arrived, he saw Meng Xiaohan hosting Xie Minmin and showing her around his vegetable garden. The garden was quite large—four or five acres, occupying the entire hillside. He couldn't help but wonder how much she would actually pay per pound if she bought the whole harvest.

He parked the truck, and just as he stepped out, he heard the sound of a horn behind him. He turned to see two medium-sized trucks parked at the entrance of the village, preceded by a black sedan. Two people stepped out of the car, one of whom Guo Dong recognized immediately: it was none other than Liu Lan.

"So soon?" Guo Dong frowned.