Chapter 31: Seeds and Vegetables

On the twenty-eighth day of the tenth lunar month, it was once again time for the bustling market at Ten Mile Camp.

The snow on the streets had been trampled by people, horses, and cart wheels, melting only to refreeze into sheets of ice under the biting north wind, making the walk treacherous and slippery.

Yu Yang wrapped himself tightly in a military cotton coat and wore a train conductor’s hat, hands tucked into his sleeves, cautiously trailing behind his second elder brother, glancing left and right.

Today, the market was crowded, and there were many vegetable stalls.

But, for some reason, the vendors’ shouts were quite different from usual.

“Another accident on the western expressway! Fresh potatoes destined for the capital’s chicken farms!”

“My celery? It’s specially ordered by the roast duck shops in the city. If not for that crash, would I sell cheap?”

“What’s wrong with the cabbage? If not for the expressway accident, could you really buy three jin for a dime?”

Walking further into the market, Yu Yang realized it wasn’t just the vegetable sellers shouting.

“Odor-resistant insoles supplied to the Darunfa supermarket in the capital… smell them, fresh and fragrant. Luckily, the expressway crashed, or we’d never see such good stuff.”

“Cashmere sweaters, shipment from Ordos overturned…”

“Brother, no need to hide it. These fleece-lined leather shoes are the latest designs from Wenzhou Leather Factory bound for Broadway in the capital. If not for the overturned truck…”

As Yu Yang listened, by the time he reached the middle of the market, all he could think about was this ‘expressway accident.’

“If you keep this up, and the leaders in expressway, transport, and road administration hear about it, I wonder if they’ll even be able to sleep.”

Of course, rumors come to an end with the wise.

The reason for this phenomenon might be deliberate by the authorities, using these fake crash stories to hide the ‘real’ disaster with the bean sprouts.

Yu Yang pondered this and felt that it was indeed quite possible.

He then followed his second brother through the crowded streets to the local seed station.

In the past, the seed station, along with the agricultural machinery station, forestry station, livestock station, water conservancy station, and power supply station, were all public institutions.

Later, many places reformed, turning seed stations into private enterprises, with technicians resigning to become small business owners.

In another time and space, Yu Yang had sought advice from these people on sprouting bean shoots, which helped him succeed.

The seeds used for their bean sprouts were also purchased here.

As for the vegetable sellers exchanging ‘ten jin of soybeans for one bundle of bean sprouts’ and accumulating many soybeans…

Most of those soybeans were actually unsuitable as seed.

This involved issues of variety, germination rate, pests and diseases, hybrid seeds, annual yield, and more—a complicated matter.

…

Entering the seed station, the former agricultural technician, now the shop owner, stood and greeted him:

“Boss Yu, what brings you here?”

“Just came to check on the seeds.”

“What’s wrong? The soybean seeds I gave you aren’t good?”

“They’re fine. No problems with current planting.”

“That’s good. The township has long reminded me that your bean sprout business is still in its startup phase. We must strictly control seed supply because any issues would be serious for you, for me, for the township, and for Ten Mile Camp people. So I personally go to the provincial city to select soybeans and bring them back myself.”

“Thoughtful of you!”

Yu Yang knew the man spoke earnestly and took out a box of Huaxia cigarettes from his briefcase, placing it on the counter.

He casually surveyed the pesticides on the shelves and the various seeds hanging on the wall.

“We’re all on the same side, so I won’t be formal—just speak frankly.”

“Go ahead.”

“That broken brick kiln has been handed back to the bank again.”

“I saw the news. They really do whatever they want. I was scared and withdrew the money overnight…”

“You’re worrying unnecessarily. Anyway, back to business. I plan to renovate the brick kiln and grow something there.”

“You’ve come to the right place in our township.”

“Of course. If you have any suggestions, just say them. We’re not strangers, and I wouldn’t mistreat you.”

“Inside the brick kiln, there’s no sunlight. If you stop firing bricks, it will probably get damper over time. If you want to maximize profits growing vegetables, I suggest mushrooms—especially varieties that can be harvested repeatedly.”

“Do you have the technology for that?”

“Han Gai has several chicken farms. You can buy their chicken manure. Our township has two lumber mills—you can buy sawdust and wood chips from them.

Then, I’ll bring pesticides and fertilizers to help you experiment. Once we find the right mix, we can package it into tubes, set up some shelves inside the kiln, and stack them in layers.

As long as we control temperature and humidity, yields shouldn’t be low.

Or, you could hire some specialized technicians from outside—like those who grow bean sprouts; they’re better than me.”

“Specialization is key. It’s already hard enough to recruit bean sprout technicians. Where would I find mushroom growers?”

Yu Yang sat down on a chair. “Any other suggestions?”

“Grow yellow chives… Plant chives in the light, and you get regular chives; in the dark, yellow chives; if exposed to light again and flowering, the flower stalk is called chive scapes.

If you grow just yellow chives and control conditions well, you can harvest at least five or six crops.”

The shop owner continued, “Garlic sprouts follow the same principle.”

Yu Yang nodded. “I just walked through the market. Yellow chives and garlic sprouts sell for five or six mao per jin. They’re profitable but still not as much as bean sprouts.”

“That’s certain. Yellow chives and garlic sprouts don’t need sunlight.

If you want to do business in this area, put some effort into digging a cellar or finding a cave, a pit, or even an old wartime air-raid shelter. Sow seeds or plant seedlings, and as long as there are no diseases, you can harvest a crop.

But knowing this and daring to do it—very few people can, at least in our Pingdong County. Even in the capital, only three or four businesses do it.”

Yu Yang was well aware of yellow chives and garlic sprouts and had eaten plenty. “Any other suggestions?”

“My expertise is limited; otherwise, I wouldn’t still be in the township—I’d have gone into business elsewhere long ago.”

“Think carefully.”

“Ginger?”

“Also profitable. Continue.”

“Our brick kiln has cave-like spaces that aren’t completely without sunlight. How about growing coriander?”

“Twenty cents for a large bunch—doesn’t make much money.”

“Green onions?”

“Try something rare, preferably off-season and not sold by others. That’s how you make big money.”

“You’re making this hard for me… Oh, how about lettuce?”

“Doesn’t need light?”

“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘bamboo shoots after rain’? They can grow well without strong light.”

“That’s true, but I don’t know if it’s profitable.”

“If you can grow lettuce, you should also be able to grow romaine lettuce. They’re different and taste different. The tricky part is, we need to experiment.”

Yu Yang wasn’t afraid of experiments. When the time came, he would build an improved plot of farmland and assign his five older brothers to maximize growth speed, then keep tinkering.

Just as he was about to press for more, his second brother’s mobile phone rang loudly.

His second brother answered first, “This is the Sanyuan Agricultural Office. Who’s calling?”

Uncle Six’s voice came from inside, “I’m Lao Liu. Is Sanyuan there? Tell him the county carton factory director is here, and he brought a lot of packaging.”

“Got it.”

Not long ago, when clearing snow in the county seat, they had also visited the biscuit and carton factories looking for packaging.

The carton factory director, eager to secure orders, planned to design large packaging that was moisture-proof, fresh-keeping, and load-bearing, agreeing to produce 100 trial sets and deliver them.

Unexpectedly, he came in person.

“All right, think it over carefully and make a list of anything else you need. If it helps me, you’ll become the seed manager of Sanyuan Agricultural Company, with a salary, and you can keep running this shop.”

“That sounds great. As long as you pay me, I don’t care if I run the shop or not.” The shop owner knew well the generous salaries paid by the Yu family village.

Technicians earned fifteen hundred yuan a month (originally a thousand, raised by Uncle Six).

Female workers harvesting bean sprouts could make over thirty yuan a day.

Male workers loading and unloading earned thirty to forty yuan daily.

Merchants all made good money.

Yu Yang said no more, circled around the market, and went to the outskirts to find a tricycle parked by the roadside. He hailed another similar tricycle and borrowed the handle to operate it.

Then, rattling and sputtering, he headed straight for the small Western-style house.

A little while later, he drove the tricycle into the yard and looked down at the ground covered with packaging boxes.

There were large and small ones.

The big ones resembled freezer boxes; the small ones looked like briefcases.

Unfortunately, the large boxes couldn’t bear much weight, and the small ones held too little—none seemed suitable for packing bean sprouts.

Thinking this over, Yu Yang glanced at the briefcase-like boxes and had a sudden idea, recalling the gift packages.

In fact, the brick kiln could grow many things, but since they wanted to earn more, they couldn’t find a single perfect vegetable.

What if they grew a bit of everything, then combined small amounts of each into “hot pot gift packs,” “health preservation gift packs,” or “New Year family sets”…

And created a catchy slogan: Export to Russia!

Come year’s end, how could it not be a hit?