This time, Lin Yuxi didn’t plant corn in her space. It was already close to November, so she decided to use all the land to grow vegetables instead.
She went to the seed station and bought a large quantity of vegetable seeds. The young woman selling seeds was thrilled—after all, it was already too late in the season to plant anything this year. By next year, these seeds would be considered old stock and hard to sell, so she didn’t care what Lin Yuxi planned to do with them.
Lin Yuxi planted all the seeds, estimating they’d be ready for sale in about a month.
By then, the weather would be freezing, and people’s tables would be filled with nothing but cabbage, potatoes, large radishes, and pickled vegetables. Hopefully, these fresh green vegetables could fetch a good price.
She’d have roughly three months before the New Year to sell them. And vegetable yields per mu were far higher than grain.
Corn yields in her space were already comparable to those decades later. If vegetables performed the same…
Even at the low end, one mu could produce several thousand pounds; at the high end, ten to twenty thousand pounds.
With five mu of land, that meant fifty to sixty thousand pounds of vegetables. Selling that much in just the town wouldn’t work.
The town was too small, with few wealthy people. Not many would be willing to pay high prices for fresh vegetables.
It seemed that once the crops were ready, she’d have to make a trip to the county—or better yet, the provincial capital. Bigger city, larger population, more wealthy buyers—only there could her vegetables command a good price.
But she wasn’t familiar with the provincial capital, especially not with something like the black market—you couldn’t just ask around openly. She’d have to find Fifth Master again and see if he had any connections.
As the days passed, it grew colder and colder. Walking to and from school every day, Lin Yuxi felt chilled to the bone. But it was only early November—still a bit too early to wear padded winter jackets.
Lin Yuwei and her sister had thermal underclothes, so they didn’t feel the cold much. No one thought to buy any for her.
So she took care of herself. She went to the supply and marketing cooperative in town and bought two identical sets of thermal underwear to rotate between.
When the Lin family saw them, they assumed they were gifts from Jiang Xiuli. Since both sets were identical, others thought she only had one. When she wasn’t wearing one set, she kept it in her space.
Behind her back, the family scolded Jiang Xiuli for being wasteful, giving away such good clothes.
They had even thought about taking the clothes for themselves, but Lin Yuxi was no longer the obedient girl she used to be. They didn’t dare snatch them either—she was now close friends with Zhang Hongying, and they feared she’d report them to the production team leader again.
About a week before the vegetables were ready for harvest, Lin Yuxi went to see Fifth Master.
She brought along some early samples—small eggplants, cucumbers, and green beans—for him to inspect.
“The seller says these are still a bit small. In another week, they’ll be ready. There are also peppers, tomatoes, chives, celery, spinach, and bok choy.”
“They said each type has several thousand pounds. Since they cooperated with you before on grain, they wouldn’t bypass you this time.”
“Our town is small—it probably can’t handle this volume. And as it gets colder, transporting fresh vegetables won’t be easy.”
“They’re offering two options. One: if you can handle transportation, they’ll sell everything to you.”
“Two: you introduce them to contacts in the provincial capital’s black market, and they’ll sell part of the supply there.”
“For you, the purchase price will be discounted by 10%, and all vegetables will be supplied to you first. Which option do you choose?”
Lin Yuxi thought that if Fifth Master could take everything, it would save her a lot of trouble. If not, getting connected to the provincial capital wasn’t bad either.
Fifth Master thought it over. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided he couldn’t handle tens of thousands of pounds of vegetables. Unlike grain, vegetables were hard to store.
In cold weather, they could freeze; if left too long, they’d lose weight. It would be better to buy from Lin Yuxi as needed.
Besides, her offer was very tempting—lower prices and priority supply.
If she established direct connections in the provincial capital, there was no guarantee he’d still get goods.
With the demand in the capital—and the fact that black market bosses often controlled multiple markets—especially in winter, when these summer vegetables were scarce…
Tens of thousands of pounds would sell easily there. At that point, why would they bother supplying him?
Still, this girl had integrity—she remembered him when good opportunities came.
“Girl, I really can’t handle that much produce. But I know a big player in the provincial capital—he runs several black markets. I’ll introduce you, and you can talk to him directly.”
“Alright. I’ll come back tomorrow. Contact him and let me know then.”
“You’re going to negotiate yourself?” Fifth Master was surprised. How could the people behind her entrust such a big deal to a child?
“Yes, I’ll handle it. The fewer people exposed, the better. Besides, they’ve already given me the bottom price—I’m just relaying their terms.”
Fifth Master nodded. Sometimes he truly admired her—her maturity and wisdom rivaled that of adults.
The next day, under Fifth Master’s arrangement, Lin Yuxi met the contact. Surprisingly, the man came in person.
After introductions, when she heard his name—Cheng Jingtian—Lin Yuxi froze for a moment.
Was it that Cheng Jingtian? The future richest man in Liaoning Province?
She showed him the samples. Aside from being slightly smaller—or in the case of chives, spinach, and celery, a bit shorter—the vegetables were excellent.
She also assured him that in a few days, the delivered produce would meet normal standards.
Then they began negotiating prices.
In a normal season, these vegetables would cost just a few cents per pound, maybe up to one or two mao.
But now? In such cold weather, growing fresh vegetables required significant investment—everyone understood that.
After some bargaining, they settled on a uniform price: 0.5 yuan per pound, regardless of the type of vegetable.
Since none of these vegetables were available on the market right now, there was no distinction between expensive and cheap varieties. Once purchased, they could sell them at any price they wanted.
There were nine types of vegetables. Cheng Jingtian ordered 2,000 pounds of each—18,000 pounds total, worth 9,000 yuan. A massive deal.
He paid a 2,000 yuan deposit, with Fifth Master acting as guarantor. In one week, Lin Yuxi would deliver the goods.
She told him to prepare a warehouse and containers like baskets. Once she arrived in the provincial capital, she would contact him for the warehouse address.
She also reminded him that when they delivered the vegetables, she hoped no one else would be present. She was acting on behalf of others, and they didn’t want to be seen.
Cheng Jingtian understood. Anyone capable of producing such quantities of fresh vegetables in winter was clearly no ordinary person—it was only natural they wanted to stay hidden.
As for Fifth Master, he ordered 300 pounds of each type. He planned to keep a small portion in town and transport the rest to the county to test the market.
The county was close enough that, with some precautions, transportation would be manageable. He even had a house there—he could deliver the goods straight home.