Chapter 501: Vegetables Are Almost Ripe

In late November, Hou Dali and his wife, along with his eldest son Hou Wenzhi and eldest daughter Hou Wenli, flew to Paris, the capital of France, to visit his relatives overseas.

Before Hou Dali set off, he specifically called Su Xinghui to express his gratitude and once again expressed his confidence in persuading the Hou family to return to their hometown for a visit.

Before Hou Dali left for France, the residents of Zhuangyuan Lane had all signed relocation contracts with the county government working group and had found temporary places to live, moving out one after another. After the first phase of the Nanmen Street residential area project was completed, they would be able to move into new houses.

The county government had also begun to clean up the old Hou residence. They wanted to demolish the illegally built shacks and then repair these courtyards. Of course, this kind of repair was protective, as these old residences in Zhuangyuan Lane were all cultural relic protection units in Shangjun County.

In Pengwan Town, some early-maturing cabbage varieties had entered the heading stage after more than two months of growth. Other greenhouse vegetables were also about to enter the fruiting stage. By the end of November, they would be maturing and hitting the market one after another.

Although the vegetables hitting the market at the end of November were only a small part, the people of Pengwan were all beaming with joy because they would soon be able to harvest the first income brought to them by planting vegetables.

On this day, Yu Gaoshan came to Pengwan Town again. He came to check on the vegetable planting situation because he heard Su Xinghui say that the vegetables in Pengwan Town were about to mature.

Before Yu Gaoshan came, he called Su Xinghui, and Su Xinghui waited for him in his office. After Yu Gaoshan arrived, Su Xinghui poured him tea and smiled, "You, Boss Yu, are busy now. It's really not easy to see you."

Yu Gaoshan said, "You're talking about me? You're the one who's busy. I passed by here several times when I went to Meng Hu Ling to collect goods. Every time I looked for you, you were either down in the village or back in the county."

Su Xinghui said, "Boss Yu is actually blaming me!"

Yu Gaoshan said, "Did I say it wrong? But then again, we are both very busy people now. You, the town mayor, are busy, and I am running around everywhere. Isn't it to find sales channels for the vegetables in your town?"

Su Xinghui said, "Okay, you've worked hard, Brother Gaoshan. How is the sales channel finding going?"

Yu Gaoshan nodded and said, "It's still very effective. I've run through many old relationships—restaurants, enterprises, supermarkets. The vegetables on the 10,000-plus mu of land I contracted should be no problem. I've also found some vegetable vendors and asked them to come here to collect vegetables. When the time comes, if my vegetables sell well, I'll strive to sell more."

Su Xinghui said happily, "Brother Gaoshan, you've solved a big problem."

Yu Gaoshan said, "By the way, Xinghui, a few days ago, the company bought two heavy-duty trucks, tractor-type. One trip can pull twenty or thirty tons of vegetables. A large part of the company's working capital was thrown into it."

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "This is as it should be. This belongs to the company's fixed assets."

Yu Gaoshan said, "I'm going to the villages that signed the exclusive sales contract with us last time to see when their vegetables can mature and hit the market. I'll bring trucks to pull the goods when the time comes."

Su Xinghui stood up and said, "Okay, let's go."

Su Xinghui went out and called Liu Yongjun. The two accompanied Yu Gaoshan and first went to Xiaohu Village. The thousands of mu of vegetable fields in Xiaohu Village basically signed exclusive sales contracts with Yu Gaoshan.

Arriving at Xiaohu Village, Su Xinghui first went to the village committee but didn't see Village Director He Yaofa. Su Xinghui asked and learned that he was in the vegetable field, so he drove to the field. After wandering around for a while, he saw He Yaofa, who was checking the growth of vegetables in a vegetable field with several people.

Su Xinghui asked Yu Gaoshan to stop the car, got out, and shouted, "Old He, Old He!"

While shouting, Su Xinghui walked toward He Yaofa and his party with Yu Gaoshan and Liu Yongjun.

He Yaofa turned his head and saw it was Su Xinghui. He said happily, "Town Mayor, you're here!"

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Old He, look who I brought."

He Yaofa also saw Yu Gaoshan behind Su Xinghui at this time. He was even happier and shouted, "Boss Yu, how are you!"

Yu Gaoshan said, "I heard from your Town Mayor Su that your early-maturing vegetables are about to reach the maturing season, so I came to take a look and prepare for the acquisition."

He Yaofa smiled and said, "Yes, our early-maturing vegetables are about to mature, and we are waiting for Boss Yu."

Yu Gaoshan smiled and said, "Are you waiting for my money?"

Everyone burst into laughter. He Yaofa said, "Waiting for money, and waiting for people. Let's have a few drinks at noon today!"

Yu Gaoshan said, "Let's not drink. I drove here myself today and can't drink. Next time I come to collect vegetables, I'll bring a driver and have a good drink with you."

He Yaofa said excitedly, "That's good. Next time you come, you must bring a driver."

Yu Gaoshan said, "Okay, let's take a look at the growth of the vegetables."

He Yaofa nodded and said, "Okay, come over and look at the cabbage in this field first."

The field where He Yaofa and the others were standing was planted with a type of early-maturing cabbage, which had basically started to head.

Yu Gaoshan asked, "Director He, what variety of cabbage is this? How many plants are planted per mu? What is the yield?"

He Yaofa said, "This cabbage is called Qiufeng No. 1, which belongs to the early-maturing type. It can be planted with 3,500 to 4,500 plants per mu, and the heading rate is over 95%. The weight of each cabbage is 0.8 to 1.2 or 1.3 jin, and the yield per mu is over 3,000 to 5,000 jin. This year, the climate is good, and this field also used drip irrigation equipment. The average weight of each cabbage is at least over 1 jin, and the yield is at least over 4,000 jin."

Yu Gaoshan said, "Then this is a bumper harvest!"

He Yaofa nodded and said, "It's a bumper harvest. This is all thanks to the experts from the Agricultural University. They often come here to guide our planting. Look, this is a student of Professor Huang, his name is He Changjun. Now that the cabbage is about to mature and hit the market, he is also here to see the growth."

Yu Gaoshan said, "That's right, we must farm scientifically now, otherwise we won't keep up with the situation."

He Yaofa said with emotion, "Yes, this year we have tasted the sweetness of scientific farming."

Yu Gaoshan said, "Then can the average yield of early-maturing vegetables in your village reach 4,000 jin this year?"

He Yaofa nodded and said, "In the past two days, Xiao He has turned around the fields in the village. He said that the average yield can reach at least 4,000 jin, and in some places, it might reach 5,000 jin."

Yu Gaoshan calculated, "Two tons per mu, then the vegetable yield of your village alone is several thousand tons. That's not a small amount."

He Yaofa asked, "This yield has gone up, but I don't know how the acquisition price of cabbage will be this year?"

Yu Gaoshan smiled and said, "Director He, don't worry. This autumn, there has been a lot of rain, and the temperature has been low. The varieties and quantities of vegetables on the Jiangcheng market are not many, and it is in a period of vegetable shortage, so the prices of Chinese cabbage and cabbage are relatively high. The acquisition price these days is around 0.15 yuan."

He Yaofa exclaimed in surprise, "0.15 yuan? That's great!"

0.15 yuan per jin, this price looks inconspicuous, but compared to the yield of several thousand jin per mu, this price is quite high. A mu of cabbage can sell for 500 or 600 yuan. If the yield can reach 5,000 jin, it can sell for 750 yuan, which is equivalent to more than 1,000 jin of rice, which means planting a mu of cabbage is worth two or three mu of rice.

What is this concept? In the past, what farmers rotated with rice was wheat, and the yield of wheat was pitifully low. After deducting the input, there was not much profit. That season of rice was the main source of income for farmers for a year. But now, the income of this season of vegetables is two or three times that of rice. Can He Yaofa not be happy?

This is indeed catching up with a good season. It is now the turn of autumn and winter, and the weather is getting colder. In the 1990s, there were very few greenhouse vegetables. The vegetables that could hit the market in this season were indeed pitifully few. Otherwise, the north would not have hoarded thousands of jin of Chinese cabbage every winter.

Although the south is a little better, the varieties of vegetables are not many. Then this cabbage can fill the shortage of the vegetable market. Can the price not be high?

Yu Gaoshan said, "Director He, don't worry. According to this trend, the price of cabbage will not drop in a few days, only the possibility of rising."