NOVEL NEXT Chapter 528: Alive
Lin Fan, having some free time, went back to his old job and started delivering food again. On this day, he arrived at Lijing District, where he was stopped by Liu Mengjie.
Liu Mengjie was very happy to see Lin Fan. Recently, Yun City Music Academy had hired a full-time piano teacher, and with Lin Fan being quite busy, he hadn't been teaching as a substitute. So, Liu Mengjie hadn't seen Lin Fan for a while.
Liu Mengjie immediately invited Lin Fan to her home for a meal and mentioned that a group-buying trend had emerged in the community, making things very cheap.
Upon hearing this, Lin Fan realized that the Jiangnan Wei Family's community group-buying project had already kicked off.
"Is that so, how cheap is this group-buying?" Lin Fan asked curiously.
Liu Mengjie said, "Because of the platform subsidies, you can buy half a chicken for just 1 yuan, and vegetables are even cheaper. You can get a pound for 0.1 yuan. To snag these deals, the people in our district now all wait on the platform right on time every day to make the purchase. Because it's so cheap, everything gets bought up quickly."
Lin Fan sweated. Normally, half a chicken would be at least 30 yuan, and vegetables would normally cost a few yuan per pound. But with the prices at 1 yuan or even 0.1 yuan, it was indeed outrageous.
But this was indeed happening.
Lin Fan said, "With prices this low, wouldn't you all have no need to go to the market anymore?"
Liu Mengjie replied, "Why go to the market? Now with platform group-buying, not only is it cheap, but they also deliver to your door, saving the time it takes to go to the market."
Lin Fan furrowed his brow.
Liu Mengjie curiously asked, "Little Fan, what are you thinking about?"
Lin Fan said, "It's nothing, I just think while it's convenient for you and saves you a lot of money, this kind of thing can't last long. It's extremely damaging to the vegetable vendors. The Wei Family is burning money on subsidies to create a monopoly. Once they succeed, the subsidies will stop, and the vendors will be gone. Then, the cheap prices you enjoy won't be there anymore. This is what they mean by 'the wool comes from the sheep's back.'
Liu Mengjie paused, thought for a moment, and said, "Little Fan, I understand what you mean, and you're right. But since there are cheap deals to be had now, it's like taking advantage of the capitalists, so who wouldn't like that? I see everyone in the district is quite enthusiastic and thinks it's a good thing."
Lin Fan smiled and said, "Sister Mengjie, come with me to the market."
Liu Mengjie didn't know Lin Fan's intention, but since he said so, she didn't object. She nodded and took Lin Fan to the market.
The market.
At this time, it should have been the peak period for buying groceries, but it was surprisingly sparsely populated and appeared especially deserted compared to before.
The market stalls were filled with meat and vegetables, as if nothing had been sold.
Lin Fan said, "It must be because everyone is buying the cheap vegetables on the platform, so no one is coming to the market. Look, their produce isn't selling at all."
Liu Mengjie said, "Hmm, now that you mention it, they do seem a bit miserable, their business has been snatched by the platform."
Lin Fan walked over to a stall selling greens, and the vendor was an elderly lady in her sixties, her hair gray and looking like someone who had often been out in the wind and rain, a seasoned farmer.
"Madam, how much for the choy sum?" Lin Fan squatted down and asked with a smile.
The elderly lady, upon seeing a customer, was very enthusiastic, "Young man, buying vegetables, eh? The choy sum is very cheap, 3 yuan a pound. How much would you like?"
Lin Fan said, "Give us a pound."
The elderly lady grabbed a handful of greens, picked up the scale with her trembling hands, and weighed a pound of choy sum for Lin Fan.
Lin Fan asked, "Madam, how long have you been here today? Look, it's almost dark and you still have so many vegetables. What will you do if you can't sell them all?"
The question hit the elderly lady's sore spot. She sighed and said, "Don't mention it, business has been hard these days, and I hear it's going to be like this in the future. Look at what time it is, and there are so few people in the market, it's nothing like before."
"Do you know why this is, why there are so few people?" Lin Fan asked.
The elderly lady said, "I don't really understand, but I hear people say it seems like everyone is buying their groceries elsewhere, like online. Alas, nobody is buying from us anymore."
Lin Fan said, "So it seems like you won't sell all your vegetables today."
The elderly lady said, "I won't sell out. Before, I could sell out before noon at most. Today I've been sitting here all day, and it's still not moving."
Lin Fan asked, "What will you do with unsold vegetables?"
The elderly lady said, "With greens like ours, they can only stay fresh for two days at most. If they don't sell in two days, they go yellow and spoil, and we have to throw them away."
Lin Fan said, "Madam, you're not young anymore. You should be enjoying your retirement. If the vegetables don't sell, maybe you can stay home with your grandchildren instead of working so hard. It wouldn't be a bad thing."
The elderly lady sighed and said, "If I had children and grandchildren to support me, who would want to get up early and work arduously to sell vegetables? My children and grandchildren are not promising. At my age, I still have to rely on myself. These vegetables are all home-grown. I can't drive, and it takes me half an hour carrying them to get to the city..."
Touched by the sadness, her eyes reddened, the elderly lady wiped her tears with her rough hands and began to confide in Lin Fan. She was usually very lonely, with no one willing to talk to her. She kept everything bottled up, and it was rare for a young person to be willing to listen to her, so she poured out her troubles.
She was already in her late sixties, almost seventy. Her children and grandchildren were unreliable and couldn't even support themselves, so at her age, she still had to rely on selling vegetables to earn some money. The most tragic part was that sometimes, her irresponsible son would even ask her for money.
She could only sell vegetables. At her age, working elsewhere was impossible. Even street-sweeping jobs wouldn't hire her because she had no other livelihood; selling vegetables was all she could do.
If she can't even sell vegetables in the future, she would have no source of income, which would mean a dead-end for her!
"I don't know who these people are, but I've heard their vegetables are very cheap, and customers have all gone to them. We have no way to survive," the elderly lady sighed, looking worried.
This conversation caught the attention of the surrounding vendors, and hearing the elderly lady speak like this, the vendors were all downhearted.
Among them were grandpas and grandmas around the elderly lady's age, and middle-aged people in their fifties, all with no other way out, relying on selling vegetables to make a living.
If they can't sell vegetables in the future, they'd have no means to survive either, and they don't know what to do next.
"Those heartless ones, why are they taking our livelihood away?"
"Us ordinary folks rely on vegetable selling to support our families and make ends meet. They're trying to drive us to our deaths!"
"I don't know what we can do anymore. We're old, and no one will hire us. I asked the factory the other day, and they don't take anyone over 45, saying you're slow and more prone to accidents."
A chorus of sighs, negative emotions spreading, affecting everyone.
They lacked understanding and didn't even know who was taking their livelihood. They didn't know who to direct their anger at.
Seeing this scene, Liu Mengjie, standing next to Lin Fan, fell into silence. She finally understood why Lin Fan had brought her here.