Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 10 Greenhouse Film
"Boom..."

A muffled clap of thunder shattered the night sky.

The room was stuffy and hot. Li Zhe, who was already sleeping poorly, suddenly opened his eyes and took a few seconds to fully wake up.

Oh no, the cucumber seedlings are in the yard.

"Click..." Li Zhe pulled the light cord, jumped off the earthen bed, opened the wooden door of the main room, and walked out of the courtyard.

Outside, dark clouds loomed, the weather was gloomy, and a damp wind carried the smell of earth.

Seeing that it was about to rain, Li Zhe didn't dare to delay. He picked up a wooden board leaning against the wall, ran to the cucumber seedlings, placed the pots of cucumber seedlings on the board, and carried them into the house.

The wooden board is about one square meter in size and can hold nearly a hundred pots of cucumber seedlings at a time. It only takes about ten trips to move them all.

Hearing the commotion, Li's father also came out of the main room, looked up at the gloomy sky, and said, "It should have rained long ago."

He also picked up a plank and helped Li Zhe move the cucumber seedlings.

When the father and son worked together, their speed increased significantly.

"What are you up to in the middle of the night?" Wang Xiuying came out in her cloth shoes, looking at the cucumber seedlings laid out in the main room. "If they're all laid out in this main room, how can anyone walk around? Move two stacks to the west room."

Li Zhe made six or seven trips to move the cucumber seedlings into the house. Before he could even catch his breath, raindrops began to fall from the sky.

"Wow..."

The rain grew heavier and heavier, with raindrops the size of beans pouring down like a torrential downpour.

Li Zhe sat inside but didn't feel very safe. He glanced at the ceiling and then at the ground.

This adobe house is too old, and there are still underground tunnels. Li Zhe is very worried that it will collapse prematurely.

"Dad, is there still a tunnel under the foundation of our house?"

"Yes, every household in the village used to have tunnels, but they were all filled in a few years ago. Why did you suddenly ask about this?"

If the tunnel is not filled in, there are remedial measures.

The fact that the tunnel has now been filled in indicates that the backfill soil was not compacted, and the collapse was caused by rainwater erosion. If it needs to be repaired, the tunnel needs to be dug up again and the backfill soil compacted. Not to mention the huge amount of work involved, the excavation process itself could cause a collapse.

His parents would never agree to him doing this.

"Dad, our house is too old. The plaster peels off the walls when it rains, and there are tunnels underneath the house. I'm really afraid that a heavy rain will wash the house down."

"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you talking about?" Old Li's face changed. He knew all about the problems with the house, but unfortunately, he didn't have the money to build a new one, so he was helpless.

“Dad, if you’re not sleepy, come to the west room. Let’s talk about building the greenhouse. The cucumber seedlings have already been planted, so it’s safer to keep them in the greenhouse.” Li Zhe had been watching his father’s behavior these past few days and knew that his father’s lack of objection did not mean he supported building the greenhouse.

Building a greenhouse is a huge project that Li Zhe can hardly complete alone; he needs his father's support.

Old Li frowned, hesitated for a moment, but still followed his son into the west room.

The father and son sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Li Zhe said, "The cucumber seedlings have been planted and will be transplanted in about twenty days. I'm going to start building the greenhouse."

Old Li glanced into the east room and asked in a low voice, "What do you want to do?"

"I'll go buy the materials for building the greenhouse tomorrow. If I get back early this afternoon, the two of us can go to the field to check out the location and decide on the best spot to build the greenhouse."

"It's only the beginning of September, the corn in the fields isn't even ripe yet, and now construction is starting, what will happen to the crops in the fields?"

"Harvest early."

Old Li frowned and said, "Harvesting the corn now will definitely reduce the yield."

"I'll cover whatever losses there are."

"I'll talk to your mother about it. It's getting late, go to sleep." Old Li yawned, got up and left.

Li Zhe didn't expect him to agree to his request readily; that wasn't his style.

Although he hadn't seen his father for decades and couldn't remember some things, his brother's personality was similar to his father's. He had spent decades with his brother and knew his personality better than anyone.

His brother is the kind of person who is indecisive and lacks his own opinions. He rarely makes decisions and is either pushed along by others or by circumstances.

As long as he doesn't explicitly object, there shouldn't be a big problem.

This is why Li Zhe bought building materials first and then chose a location. Once the money was spent, there was no way back, so Lao Li had no choice but to follow him.

……

The air was exceptionally fresh in the early morning after the rain.

Taking advantage of the cool weather, Li Zhe went out without eating breakfast and went to the Zhao family's house behind the house. "Zhu Zi."

Seeing that the gate was half open, Li Zhe pushed it open and entered the yard. Da Huang was lying by the wall. He glanced at it, then lowered his head, looking listless.

Li Zhe noticed its belly was even bigger; it must be about to give birth.

"Brother, come in and sit down," Zhao Tiezhu greeted from the doorway. "Have you had breakfast? Sit down and have something to eat with us."

On the east side of the square table was a yellow bamboo steamer containing four steamed buns, each with two boxes of flour. Next to it was a dish of shredded pickled vegetables and pickled peppers.

Although the food was simple, it was much better than what the Li family had prepared.

Li Zhe didn't stand on ceremony with him. He sat down at the table, picked up two boxes of steamed buns, and ate them with pickled vegetables.

The pickled vegetables are mixed with vinegar, making them very refreshing.

Li Zhe ate two steamed buns and drank a bowl of hot water to smooth things over. "Did you find out anything about the plastic film I asked you to inquire about last time?"

"There's a state-owned factory in Langfang City, and a town-run factory in our town. I heard they used to be one factory, but later they split up. The one in the city is more respectable, with a wider selection of goods and higher prices. The one in town is probably smaller, but it's cheaper."

"I'd like to visit these two plastic factories. Are you free today? Come with me."

"Since we have some free time and it's still cool, let's go now." Zhao Tiezhu got up and went to the courtyard to get the carriage ready.

The two traveled by carriage to Wan'an Town. The weather in the morning was not too hot, with a gentle breeze carrying the scent of earth, which had a unique charm.

Wan'an Plastics Factory is located on the north side of Wan'an Town, in a somewhat remote location. If Zhao Tiezhu hadn't led the way, it would have been difficult to find it.

To the east of the plastics factory is a row of white walls with a banner that reads "Go all out for the Four Modernizations" hanging in the middle. To the left of the gate hangs the sign for the plastics factory, and to the right hangs the sign for the trade union committee.

The gate of the plastic factory was open, and an old man with gray hair was sitting outside the gatehouse.

"Whoa..." Zhao Tiezhu stopped the carriage at the door, threw the whip onto the carriage, and said with a smile, "Uncle Liu, you're busy, aren't you?"

Grandpa Liu looked up, the sunlight was a bit dazzling, and he squinted. "It's you, kid, here to pick up work at the factory again?"

"This is my brother. He wanted to buy plastic film, so I introduced him to our factory."

"That's great, I'll take you in." Grandpa Liu stood up, glanced at Li Zhe, and led the two into the plastic factory.

The three of them walked around the small flower bed in the middle and not far to the right when Grandpa Liu called out, "Little Ma, come out for a moment."

A young man in overalls walked out of the second office on the right, glanced at Li Zhe and the other man, and then asked Grandpa Liu, "Grandpa, what's the matter?"

“These two comrades want to buy plastic film, you can receive them.” After saying that, Grandpa Liu looked at Zhao Tiezhu and said, “You can talk to him about business matters, I’ll watch the carriage.”

"Thank you, Uncle Liu."

The old man waved his hand and led the carriage away.

The man in overalls greeted them, "Comrades, my surname is Ma, and I'm a salesman at our plastics factory. Let me know what products you need."

Li Zhe said, "We are here to purchase agricultural plastic film. We need it to have good heat retention, light transmission, be sturdy and durable, and have a thickness between 0.12 and 0.15 millimeters."

The salesman, surnamed Ma, said, "I'll take you to the sample room, where we have all the products our factory produces. Pick whatever you want."

The sample room is a small warehouse not far from the sales department. It contains all kinds of plastic products, mostly daily necessities such as basins, plastic buckets, and plastic cups, as well as some common plastic pipes, plastic sheets, and plastic films.

The salesman, surnamed Ma, pointed to the west corner of the sample room and said, "Our factory has two types of plastic film, which are displayed over there. The price is four yuan per square meter."

Li Zhe took a closer look and found that one type of plastic film was black with too low light transmittance, making it unsuitable for greenhouse film, but it could be used as ground film.

Another type is a transparent film, which feels a bit rough to the touch, and makes a dull sound when tapped with your finger.

Li Zhe picked up the transparent plastic film and shone it into the light. He saw that it contained many air bubbles. He put the film down and asked, "Can your factory produce other types of plastic film?"

The salesperson, surnamed Ma, shook his head. "There are no such plans at the moment."

“Okay, you go ahead and get busy, let’s discuss it.” Li Zhe winked at Zhao Tiezhu, and the two of them left the sample room.

Zhao Tiezhu asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhe, is this material alright?"

Li Zhe said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "That plastic film has an uneven surface, uneven thickness, and contains impurities, which will affect the film's light transmittance and strength."

Poor light transmission limits photosynthesis in vegetables, affecting their growth. It also leads to lower temperatures, compromising the greenhouse's heat retention.

Other building materials can be made up; for example, if there is no special seedling tray, Li Zhe can make one from newspaper, which will not affect the process.

However, greenhouse films are not acceptable; they must be strictly controlled, and light transmittance, heat retention, and durability are all indispensable.

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(End of this chapter)