Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Seeing his wife's brows furrowing deeper with each thought, Wang Dong realized he had misunderstood and quickly explained, "Wife..."

"The kind of vegetable growing I'm talking about isn't the kind you usually see."

"The various vegetables grown are not consumed in the local vegetable market, but are sent to Beijing for sale."

“Every year after autumn arrives, the major vegetable markets in Beijing only have cabbage and radishes left, along with some fruits and vegetables that are transported from the south at high prices. No matter how much ordinary people want to eat them, they can’t afford to buy them.”

"But if we can grow fruits and vegetables here that are not available in winter, and then sell them in Beijing at prices lower than those in the south, the business will definitely be very good."

"With so many workers and cadres in Beijing, even if the entire Huai County were planted with fruits and vegetables that don't grow in winter, they could easily be sold."

"Planting fruits and vegetables that don't grow in winter..." The wife's tightly furrowed brows did not relax; instead, they furrowed even deeper.

Shaking his head, he replied, "Husband..."

"Do you have a fever...?"

"After autumn arrives, the temperature in Huai County begins to drop, and it will snow soon afterward... In this kind of weather, it seems that no other fruits and vegetables can grow except for radishes and cabbages."

"If Huai County could really grow fruits and vegetables in winter, the people would have done it long ago. Why would they wait for you to come and plant them?"

Wang Dong smiled and replied, "Wife..."

"It's impossible to grow cucumbers, cowpeas, and peppers that are only available in summer using ordinary planting methods in the dead of winter..."

"But we can grow it in greenhouses..."

"I've heard that quite a few places in China have already started greenhouse vegetable production..."

"No one around Beijing has started doing this yet, and Beijing has such a large market. Plus, our Dongjun Restaurant consumes a lot of fruits and vegetables every day. If we really get greenhouse vegetables out there, and Beijing can't sell them, we can send them to Dongjun Restaurant to consume ourselves."

"Greenhouse vegetables?" My wife, as a cadre, often visits rural areas and has even gone to surrounding counties to learn and investigate. Although she has never seen greenhouse vegetables, she has heard of them.

As a native of Beijing, Mr. Chen knows very well how expensive fruits and vegetables are in the market every year after winter sets in.

Ordinary people can only afford cabbage and radishes; they can hardly afford fruits and vegetables from the south.

Except for New Year's Eve when I'm willing to eat out, I'm usually reluctant to buy it.

If Huai County could truly grow fruits and vegetables that are only found in the south during the dead of winter and sell them at low prices in Beijing, the market would be enormous.

more importantly……

Growing vegetables is different from running a factory. It doesn't require much technical skill, and any ordinary person in Huai County can do it, although it does require a lot of labor.

If Huai County can truly cultivate greenhouse vegetables on a large scale, it will definitely help many people become wealthy.

All beginnings are hard.

Thinking about it is one thing, but actually doing it well is not as simple as it seems.

When his wife first heard Wang Dong's analysis, she was very happy, feeling that she had finally found a way to break the deadlock and that the people of Huai County would definitely increase their income by growing greenhouse vegetables.

But this joy lasted less than half a minute before it was replaced by a serious expression.

Looking at Wang Dong, she frowned, her face full of worry, and reminded him, "Husband..."

"You haven't been to the villages down there..."

"Although Tangshan Town, where I was the Party Secretary before, was the poorest town in Huai County, and the people were very poor," "the people in other towns in Huai County are much richer than those in Tangshan Town."

"But this wealth is only relative..."

"Although I have never seen greenhouse vegetables or really know anything about them, I have heard of them."

“To build a proper vegetable greenhouse, even with a bamboo frame, it would cost two or three hundred yuan. Given the limited resources of the people in Huai County, let alone two or three hundred yuan, they would struggle to even come up with a hundred yuan.”

"Moreover, people have been poor for so many years, and it's not easy for them to save up some money. They've never been involved in greenhouse vegetables before. Even if we guarantee them that growing greenhouse vegetables will definitely make money, I doubt many people would dare to put all their savings into it."

Wang Dong thought his wife was worried about something, but it turned out to be about money. He immediately relaxed, let out a long sigh, and replied, "Wife..."

"What kind of problem is this..."

"You forgot what I told you before..."

"The thing our family has in abundance right now is money."

“Ordinary people may not have money, but my family does. I can invest in building vegetable greenhouses and then hire local people to work for me, receiving wages on time every month.”

"in addition……"

"Growing greenhouse vegetables requires land..."

"I can also rent land from the local people to cultivate..."

“If one mu (unit of land area) can bring in fifty yuan in income for local people in two days, I will rent the land for forty yuan. The people don’t have to do anything and can get forty yuan for free every year.”

"In addition, any family member who is willing to rent me more than five acres of fertile land can send one person to work in the greenhouse for one yuan a day, and can work for at least two hundred days a year."

"After we no longer need to farm, the extra labor force can go out to work. Even if it's hard to find a job, we can definitely earn a hundred or two hundred yuan a year."

“A family of five can earn 200 yuan in rent by renting five acres of land to me. One person can earn more than 200 yuan by working in the greenhouse, and another person can earn more than 200 yuan by working outside. That adds up to 600 or 700 yuan.”

"If we have a lot of farmland, we can grow some food, raise a couple of pigs and a few sheep to ensure the whole family has enough to eat and drink..."

"That six or seven hundred yuan is their net income."

“After spending a hundred or so yuan to buy grain and pay the public grain tax, I can still save five or six hundred yuan a year, which is at least two or three times more than before.”

Wang Dong's words had somewhat persuaded his wife, but her expression remained unchanged.

The problem of funding for the farmers to grow vegetables in greenhouses has been solved, but their money doesn't grow on trees, and her husband will need a large sum of money to take over the steel mill. Growing vegetables in greenhouses requires not only renting land, but also building greenhouses, hiring people to farm... all of which require a huge amount of capital. If her husband loses money trying to help her out of this predicament, it will cause problems when she takes over the steel mill.

He immediately put on a worried expression and asked, "Honey..."

"After investing so much in building vegetable greenhouses, will we be able to make a profit in the end?"

“I know you’re helping me break through in Huai County, secure my position, and prevent me from being looked down upon.”

"But if investing in vegetable greenhouses in Huai County doesn't make money, I'd rather you do nothing at all..."

"Money is becoming less and less valuable these days..."

“In the past, taking over a steel rolling mill might have only cost a few million, but a few years later, even 10 or 20 million might not be enough.”

"If we lose all our money on the greenhouses, how will we take over the steel mill in the future... We absolutely cannot let helping me interfere with the important business." (End of Chapter)