Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Tan Yong ignored these stubborn old ideas. When he had no other choice, he said that he had already signed a lease agreement and received the rent from the other party, and there was no way to go back on his word.

Under these circumstances, everyone could only let Tan Yong continue his "foolish antics".

No matter how arduous the process was, after half a month of hard work, Wang Dong finally managed to rent 260 acres of land in Tanjiazhuang.

Just after the autumn harvest, the sign for Dongjun Greenhouse Vegetable Company was hung up in Tanjiazhuang, along with a sign advertising Wang Dong's recruitment of workers in Tanjiazhuang.

According to the agreement, renting five acres of land to Wang Dong would secure him a job opening.

Wang Dong rented a total of 260 mu of land in the village and was required to provide 52 jobs for the villagers of Tanjiazhuang, as agreed.

However, for a newly established vegetable greenhouse, this number of workers is clearly insufficient.

Because the vegetable greenhouse that Wang Dong wanted to build was not an ordinary greenhouse, but a mud-walled greenhouse that was more suitable for cold regions in later generations. Both building the mud walls and constructing the greenhouse frame required a large amount of labor.

Upon learning that the greenhouse vegetable company had started recruiting workers, Tan Yong's family, who had staked almost all their savings on Wang Dong, reacted the fastest, immediately arranging for his wife and son to go to the recruitment point to register.

Upon learning that the company needed a large number of temporary workers to build the earthen-walled greenhouse, Tan Yong also signed up his own name.

As for the villagers who refused to rent out their land, Wang Dong could only apologize.

Although the company has a lot of temporary worker positions, it will definitely prioritize the families of villagers who rent out their land.

Three days later, a massive project was launched directly in Tanjiazhuang.

More than a hundred laborers toiled in the fields, building earthen-walled greenhouses.

Several large trucks shuttled back and forth between the county town and Tanjiazhuang, delivering various building materials to the fields.

In less than half a month, greenhouses covering more than 100 acres were built.

Wang Dong no longer needed to worry about planting vegetables.

To ensure the local people could see the benefits of greenhouse vegetables and that the first batch of winter vegetables would run smoothly, Wang Dong specifically sought out several agricultural experts in Beijing and hired them as company consultants. These experts provided hands-on training to company employees on how to grow vegetables in greenhouses, how to pollinate them, when to keep the greenhouses warm, and when to expose the vegetables and fruits to sunlight.

Over the past few months, the atmosphere in Tan Yong's family has become noticeably more relaxed, and they are no longer worried about not having enough money to get their eldest son married.

After working odd jobs for a month under Wang Dong, Tan Yong decisively went to Beijing to find long-term work. Although the jobs were all physically demanding, he could earn thirty yuan a month.

The eldest son not only became a long-term employee of the vegetable company, but was also selected for the greenhouse security team. He patrolled between the greenhouses every day to ensure that they were not damaged by human intervention, and his fixed monthly salary was thirty yuan.

Tan Yong's wife also got a job at the vegetable company. She worked for more than 70 days in the past three months and only earned a dozen yuan less than her husband.

Although there's nothing major happening in the vegetable greenhouses this month, they work one day and rest two days, with dozens of workers taking turns to work.

But the higher-ups had already given advance notice to the gatekeepers: the first batch of fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse would be ripe in another month, and then they would have to come to the greenhouse early every day to pick and pack the vegetables.

After the first batch of fruits and vegetables are all ripe, they will be busy for at least two months before planting the second batch, at which time they can earn another sixty or seventy yuan.

In addition, because the eldest son works near their home and can come home to help every day, Tan Yong's wife specially bought more than forty chicks after the autumn harvest, planning to raise them until the New Year to sell them for money.

At that time, these forty-odd chickens will bring Tan Yong's family an income of over a hundred yuan.

Several potential partners who initially looked down on Tan Yong's eldest son because they thought his family was too poor and didn't want to become his daughters-in-law have all changed their minds and want to marry him again. Tan Yong's eldest son, however, would never agree to these materialistic and snobbish partners.

Now that he has a stable job, finding a wife will be even easier, and he definitely won't go back to his ex.

As Tan Yong's family prospered in Tanjiazhuang, the villagers who had previously been firmly opposed to renting their land to Wang Dong gradually began to waver. Some even approached Wang Dong, wanting to rent their land to him and arrange for a family member to work at the vegetable company.

Wang Donglai welcomed all the villagers who were slow to realize the situation.

For a vegetable company to achieve long-term development, secure a steady stream of cash flow, and establish its own brand, it cannot rely on delivering a batch of fresh fruits and vegetables unavailable on the market every few months.

The simplest way to send a batch of off-season fruits and vegetables to Beijing every day is to increase the number of greenhouses and rotate the planting of different kinds of fruits and vegetables.

…………

Huai County Family Compound.

Wang Dong was busy preparing today's meal around the stove.

The vegetables were just brought back from Tanjiazhuang; there were tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, and green beans—all so green and vibrant. Just looking at them made me feel great.

As soon as Chen Jun, the daughter-in-law, entered the door, she smelled the aroma of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

He stood there stunned for a while before his eyes widened and he rushed into the kitchen.

Seeing her husband actually stir-frying tomatoes and eggs in the wok, Chen Jun couldn't help but salivate.

Although Dongjun Restaurant often has the lamb processing plant bring back some fresh fruits and vegetables for the family, tomatoes are something the children rarely see.

Seeing the stir-fried green peppers with pork, dry-fried green beans, and cucumber salad that Wang Dong had already prepared, a very bold idea instantly popped into her mind: "Husband..."

"Why are there so many fruits and vegetables today? Have the vegetable greenhouses in Tanjiazhuang already started harvesting?"

"This is the first harvest today..." Wang Dong replied with a smile.

"I had the convoy deliver a batch to the Dongjun Hotel, and asked them to help open up the market. In a few days, when production increases, there will be a steady stream of fruits and vegetables being evacuated to Beijing."

"Let's try some of the fruits and vegetables we grow ourselves every year."

"Although Dongjun Hotel delivers some vegetables to us from Beijing every day, they are mostly leafy greens, and rarely include cucumbers, tomatoes, or green beans..."

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we will be able to eat fruits and vegetables like cucumbers, green beans, and tomatoes whenever we want in the future."

My wife couldn't resist picking up her chopsticks and taking a bite of the scrambled eggs with tomatoes. A look of enjoyment appeared on her face, and she exclaimed, "It's so delicious..."

"I haven't had scrambled eggs with tomatoes in ages..."

"I want to eat this dish again tomorrow night."

Wang Dong smiled and replied, "The greenhouses are our own. The first batch of tomatoes planted can be harvested for more than a month. At that time, the second batch of tomatoes planted will be ready for harvesting, and so on until the Chinese New Year, and then the third batch of tomatoes."

"Starting today, you can eat tomatoes whenever you want." (End of Chapter)