Сhарtеr 11: Vegetаblеs
Еvеr sinсe she had а mеal at Si Dаd’s house оvеr thе wееkеnd, it had sоmеhоw beсomе a routinе fоr her tо go thеrе fоr dinner еvеry wееkеnd.
Тruе tо hеr word, Мs. Wen mаdе her favorite sрicу crауfish, thоugh thе craуfish in April wеrеn’t рlumр enоugh yеt. The реаk sеаson fоr crayfish wоuld bе frоm Маy to Seрtеmbеr.
Bу then, shе’d have tо stосk uр on a bаtсh herself.
Аfter dinner аnd sоmе сasuаl сonversation, Jiang Ci left.
Тhe first thing shе did uроn rеturning hоme wаs call a сraуfish farm tо resеrve the plumpest crayfish for the peak season.
Then she spent the afternoon reading novels at home and only went out in the evening to collect supplies.
The next morning, Jiang Ci visited a slaughterhouse to collect a batch of chicken, duck, goose, rabbit, beef, lamb, and pork.
In the afternoon, she went early to the regular vegetable suppliers.
She was about to embark on a long trip, so she informed them that they wouldn’t need to prepare vegetables until she returned. She’d resume the orders once she was back.
To reassure the suppliers that she wasn’t skipping out, she settled all her accounts with them in advance.
The suppliers had no objections—after all, the customer is king. They even offered to increase the quantities once she returned.
With everything arranged, Jiang Ci collected the day’s vegetables and returned home early to pack her luggage.
…
S Province International Airport.
A delicate and beautiful girl walked out of the exit, pulling a small black suitcase.
Walking briskly, as if gliding on air, it was Jiang Ci.
S Province was a major vegetable-producing province in the country, and W City was a national vegetable production base.
After getting off the plane, Jiang Ci took a taxi straight to W City.
By the time she arrived, it was already late. She found a hotel, checked into a room, and rested for the night.
She had prepared thoroughly before the trip. As soon as dawn broke, she took out her phone and contacted the person in charge of the vegetable production base.
The person in charge, surnamed Xu, was a slightly plump middle-aged man.
When they met, Mr. Xu was surprised to see such a young and beautiful girl negotiating such a large deal with him.
Naturally, he felt a bit uneasy, but he didn’t show it and warmly greeted Jiang Ci.
Instead of getting straight to business, he chatted with her about various unrelated topics.
Jiang Ci wasn’t foolish. She could tell that Mr. Xu thought she was too young and unreliable, and didn’t trust her.
She didn’t call him out on it either, instead engaging in casual conversation with him.
Mr. Xu was incredibly patient, chatting with Jiang Ci for a full hour, practically digging into her family history for generations before finally feeling reassured.
From initially thinking the young girl was too inexperienced to be reliable, he now started trying to set Jiang Ci up on a date.
It was both amusing and exasperating for Jiang Ci.
After she politely declined, Mr. Xu still wouldn’t give up, urging her to reconsider.
First, they finalized the types of vegetables. Jiang Ci wanted them all—every variety available.
Cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, bok choy, spinach, baby cabbage, lettuce, water spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, round cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic sprouts, green beans, long beans, loofah, carrots, white radishes, red radishes, green radishes, rapeseed, leaf lettuce, yellow chives, scallions, spring onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, taro, pumpkin, winter melon, water chestnuts, choy sum, pea shoots…
Next, they settled on the price: wholesale by the ton, with a flat rate of 10,000 yuan for five tons, regardless of the vegetable variety.
Finally, they determined the quantity.Jiang Ci thought it over and decided to order 500 tons of vegetables.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, an adult in China should consume 300–500 grams of grains, 400–500 grams of vegetables, 100–200 grams of fruit, 100 grams of dairy, 50 grams of legumes, 50–100 grams of meat, 50 grams of fish and shrimp, 25–50 grams of eggs, and 25 grams of oil per day. Based on this, each adult would consume 1,100–1,575 grams of various foods daily.
Calculating further, each person would eat 400–575 kilograms of food per year, roughly 0.5 tons.
Assuming an 80-year lifespan, a person would consume 32–46 tons of food in their lifetime, not including beverages.
Jiang Ci rounded it up to 50 tons per person over a lifetime, so 10 people’s worth would be 500 tons.
That was more than enough—in fact, it was excessive—since she wouldn’t be eating only vegetables her whole life. She had calculated it as if she were consuming vegetables exclusively for a lifetime.
The vegetables cost 5 million.
Jiang Ci spent another afternoon scouting and finally rented two large warehouses in the suburbs. They were both in remote locations and far apart from each other.
At the end of the month was Ms. Wen’s birthday. She had promised Si Dad to attend, so she could only stay here for seven days before rushing back.
Boss Xu was highly efficient, delivering 100 tons of vegetables to the warehouses daily. The job was estimated to be completed in five days.
Jiang Ci instructed Boss Xu to alternate deliveries between the two warehouses: deliver to Warehouse No. 1 today, Warehouse No. 2 tomorrow, then back to Warehouse No. 1 the day after, and so on.
Her reason was that her own people needed to reload the vegetables onto trucks for transport out of the province, and having both sides there at the same time would be too chaotic.
Boss Xu didn’t think much of it and followed Jiang Ci’s instructions.
Every night, Jiang Ci would sneak to the warehouses to collect the vegetables into her space.
She had scouted the locations beforehand. There were no surveillance cameras near the warehouses, only inside. After renting them, she naturally turned off all the cameras.
Even if someone grew suspicious, she wasn’t worried. There was no evidence, and besides, she’d be leaving in a few days.
During the day, she wasn’t idle either. Since she was here, she couldn’t pass up the local delicacies.
Steamed buns, pancakes, flower rolls, baked flatbreads, clay pot chicken, iron pot stewed goose, tofu pudding, chicken congee, beef congee, plain porridge, baked wheat cakes, small five-spice cakes, lamb soup, small wontons, and more.
She also found four large restaurants to supply meals for her, making up for the days she’d be away and unable to collect vegetables on time.
Additionally, she noticed that the area was filled with vendors selling dried vegetables and dried fruits. These were made by dehydrating vegetables and fruits, preserving their nutrients while making them easier to store and keep for longer periods.
The dried fruits, in particular, were delicious—sour, sweet, and crispy—but extremely expensive.
However, she had money, so the price didn’t scare her. She found a processing factory and stocked up on plenty of dried vegetables and dried fruits.
On Saturday, March 27th, Si Jianhua sent her a message.
[Sweetie, come back for dinner tomorrow.]
Jiang Ci: [Si Dad, I won’t be able to make it tomorrow. My mom’s birthday is in two days, so I’ll come back then.]
Si Jianhua: [That’s fine too. Come back early on your mom’s birthday, okay? Your brother is taking leave to come back that day too.]
Jiang Ci: [Okay.]
After contacting Jiang Ci, Si Jianhua started bombarding Si Beichen.
[Have you applied for leave yet?][“You must come back on the 30th! Your sister is coming too!”
“If you dare make excuses not to come back, then don’t ever come back again!”
No one replied. Due to the nature of Si Beichen’s work, he was always unreachable. One could only wait for him to respond when he had time. Si Jianhua had long grown accustomed to this.
Last time, when they finally managed to get in touch, he said he had a mission at the end of the month and wouldn’t be coming back.
That brat didn’t even consider how long it had been since he last came home. He was practically an empty-nester!
Fortunately, he now had Yueyue and Xiaoci. Relying on Si Beichen was worse than relying on a dog.