Sales channels
He had come back to farm and enjoy life, not work himself to death. Otherwise, what was the point of coming back?
"As for the price, regardless of variety, all these common vegetables are 50 yuan per jin," Ye Huan said.
"That's too high. We can't afford it. The organic vegetables we bought before only averaged a little over 20," Manager Du immediately cut him off.
"Can those compare to mine? Heh." Ye Huan was confident.
"That's still too high. The most I can offer is 30 yuan per jin!" Manager Du was a businesswoman, too.
"How about this? I'm still at the promotion stage, so I can give them to you at 30 per jin, but only for this year. Put that in the contract. Starting next year, we renegotiate all my prices." Ye Huan thought it over and nodded his agreement, but he had his own conditions.
"That works. If the market accepts them, we won't mind. Good products deserve good prices, after all." Manager Du nodded. As for whether Ye Huan was getting the better end of the deal, their restaurant was helping promote his organic vegetables, after all.
But how should one put it? It could only be called a win-win partnership. After all, they ran a private kitchen restaurant and had always held their ingredients to high standards. Their customers were all prominent figures in government and business.
Quite a few customers had already commented on the ingredients over the past few days. Compared with before, they were much worse.
There was no doubting these people's palates. If they said the quality had dropped, there was definitely something wrong with the recent ingredients. Manager Du had already lost her temper several times, and the supplier had thrown in the towel, too. Truly all-natural organic vegetables were simply too hard to find these days.
"All right, then. Let's go sign a contract. I have a condition, too. Before we renegotiate prices next year, you can't supply your vegetables to any restaurant in the county town except ours. Of course, outside the Ping'an County seat, I have no say." Manager Du stated her condition.
"That's fine. I wasn't planning to put large quantities on the market this year anyway." Ye Huan agreed, and the two went to the office to sign the contract.
"From now on, 200 jin before nine every morning. No problem, right? If we need a last-minute increase, I'll let you know. Oh, and is there any way you could deliver some today to tide us over?" Manager Du asked.
"No problem, but there's definitely no way to get them here by noon today. The round trip alone takes me a good four hours," Ye Huan said.
"I'll drive you back to get them." Manager Du acted swiftly and decisively.
"That won't help. You can get to our town faster, but on that road from town to the village, you couldn't go fast even if you drove your car into the ground." Ye Huan shook his head.
"Sigh... Then it'll have to be tonight. Can you deliver a batch this afternoon?" Manager Du had no other solution.
"That I can do. I'll just put in a bit more work. But we settle up daily. I don't do monthly payments."
Manager Du considered it. "Fine. If I'm not here, I'll have the staff tell me the weight and quality, and I'll transfer the money straight to you."
"Deal." Ye Huan left. When he reached town, he rode straight home without even stopping for lunch.
"An off-roader could probably just about manage it. This lousy road, heh!" Even riding his little electric scooter, he was jolted so badly he nearly threw up, never mind a car.
Back home, he ate at his grandfather's place. "How did it go?" his grandfather asked.
"It's settled. Two hundred jin a day, 30 yuan per jin, deliveries through the end of the year." Ye Huan shoveled down his food and soon finished. "I'm going to pick vegetables and deliver them this afternoon. They need them tonight."
"Mm, go on. Need my help?" His grandfather set down his liquor cup.
"No, Grandpa, keep eating. It's just a little job. I'll be done in no time. I'm off. Saihu, you stay home." Ye Huan went home and found a middle-aged neighbor to help pick vegetables, paying her 100 yuan for the work. He packed them into three large bamboo baskets. The villagers wove these themselves, and he had bought a few big ones.
His little electric scooter was charging, so he took his grandfather's electric tricycle, hauling three baskets of vegetables toward the county town once again.
"Sigh, I wanted to lie flat, but now I'm running around like everyone's grandson again. What can I even say?" Ye Huan grumbled as he rode.
"No, I need to sweet-talk Mom and Dad into coming home. Delivering vegetables suits Dad, picking them suits Mom, and collecting money suits me." Ye Huan was already thinking about roping his parents in.
By the time he reached the private kitchen restaurant, it was nearly five in the afternoon. There was no helping it; a round trip took him a good four hours at the very least.
After receiving the report, Manager Du came over to inspect the goods herself. "Very nice. Now these are all-natural organic vegetables. How much?"
"Manager, 150 jin excluding the baskets!" the person weighing them said.
"Four thousand five hundred. I'll transfer it straight to you. Starting tomorrow morning, 200 jin every day," Manager Du said after making the transfer.
"Don't worry. No problem." Ye Huan nodded. Supplying just this one restaurant was well within his ability, but he should still plant a few more mu when he got back. Then he could sweet-talk his parents into coming home, and he would be free.
There was no hurry on the return trip, so he rode leisurely home. It was dinnertime by then, and his grandfather had already cooked at home, so he did no cooking himself. He sat beside his grandfather and kept the old man company.
"Grandpa, I should call Mom and Dad home. Picking and delivering vegetables every day is definitely more than I can handle alone," Ye Huan said.
"Mm, all right. A grown man like him, and who knows what he's pointlessly busying himself with out there? Is there no food to eat at home?" Whenever his grandfather brought up Ye Huan's father, his belly filled with fire and his fists itched to move.
"Hehe, I'll call Mom!" Ye Huan took out his phone and dialed.
"Hello, son. What is it?" A husky voice came from the other end.
"Mom, what are you two doing? Have you eaten?"
"Not yet. We just got off work. We're not home yet!"
Ye Huan knew his parents worked at a garment factory, and it was quite hard on them.
"There's something I want to tell you. You and Dad should find a time to quit and come home. We're short of hands here," Ye Huan said.
"What's going on? Did something happen?" Ye Huan's mother asked.
Ye Huan no longer hid it and told his mother all about quitting his job and coming home to grow vegetables.
"You brat, you had a perfectly good job, and you just quit? What future can you have growing vegetables back home?" As expected, his father heard from beside her and blew up.
Hearing him, Ye Huan's grandfather took the phone. "Try yelling like that again! Are you trying to turn the heavens upside down? Xiao Huan has been working hard growing vegetables every day since he came back, and now he's found a regular customer. He asks you to come home, and what the hell are you spouting off for? Boy, I'll beat you!"
"Dad, don't listen to him. Is everything Xiao Huan said true?" Ye Huan's mother glared at her husband.
"Mm. Now he has to grow vegetables every day and pick them, too. That restaurant wants him to deliver 200 jin of fresh vegetables every day. Aren't you two going to come back and lend a hand?" His grandfather was not nearly as angry with his daughter-in-law.
"Really?" Ye Huan's mother was astonished.
"Thirty yuan per jin! Xiao Huan said what he grows are called all-natural organic vegetables. The boss is clamoring for them. He even said this price is only temporary, and they'll set a new price next year." When his grandfather spoke of his eldest grandson, he could not hide his pride.
Listening beside him, Ye Huan blushed. He stroked Saihu's head and smiled without saying anything.
"Really? Thirty yuan per jin? What vegetables cost that much? Dad, we'll go hand in our resignations right away. We'll come home and take a look. Don't let that little brat pull the wool over your eyes." Ye Huan's mother found it so hard to believe.