Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 2 Growing Vegetables in Winter
Wang Xiuying wasn't stupid; she was just blinded by the fact that he was a worker. She quickly realized, "Does he need money to get into the factory?"

"Why do you need money! Just ask the manager for a cigarette, and you can even get a sweet potato noodle bun for lunch."

"So she's just taking advantage of me." Wang Xiuying was so angry that her teeth chattered. A hundred yuan was enough to buy half a pig. "No way, I have to confront her."

Old Li quickly grabbed his wife's arm, "The money has been given away?"

"not yet."

"Never mind if you don't have her. Now that we know what kind of person she is, we'll just cut ties with her from now on."

Wang Xiuying shook off his arm, saying, "If you want to be a good person, you go be one. I can't swallow this."

"It's not about being a good person, but this matter is too complicated to resolve. If my talkative wife doesn't admit to wanting money and only says she was kindly helping us find jobs, she'll turn around and blame us."

Wang Xiuying calmed down a bit, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Old Li knows his wife too well. He won't let her vent her anger; this matter won't be over until she does. "That quick-tongued wife definitely didn't just cheat our family. We didn't pay, but there are others who did. Wait until those who paid come knocking on our door, then tell them about this. Let's see how she faces people in the village then."

“Hey, that’s a good idea. You Li family are so shrewd.” Wang Xiuying’s temper flared up quickly but subsided just as fast. She turned her attention to Li Zhe again. “The second son isn’t young anymore. He needs to find a proper job before we can find a good marriage partner. This time, I’ll have to keep my eyes wide open and choose carefully.”

Old Li glanced outside the door and advised, "Don't keep saying that, it's not good if the eldest son's wife hears it."

"I can say whatever I want. Is it wrong to carefully choose a wife?"

Li Zhe interrupted their argument, "Mom, don't worry about work. I have my own ideas."

"Speak up if you have any ideas, don't just speculate on them yourself."

"I want to grow vegetables in winter-warm greenhouses." Since his rebirth, Li Zhe has been thinking about making money; he doesn't want to live a day of poverty.

In his previous life, after his father passed away unexpectedly, Li Zhe quit his job at the fan factory to take care of his family. He farmed during the busy season and did odd jobs during the off-season, and he didn't have much money left over at the end of the year.

Life only started to improve in 2001 when they started growing winter-warm vegetable greenhouses.

In the minds of some young people, fresh vegetables are available all year round, and they can simply go to the supermarket to buy them if they want to eat them. But before the 1990s, there were only three kinds of vegetables available in northern China during the winter: potatoes, cabbage, and radishes.

The main vegetable is cabbage. Eating cabbage every day, at every meal, would make anyone sick of it. It's not that ordinary people don't want to eat other vegetables; it's that they can't buy them even if they have the money.

In northern regions, winter temperatures generally drop below zero, and the ground freezes solid. It's impossible to grow vegetables; even seedlings can freeze to death.

It wasn't until the 1990s, when winter-warm vegetable greenhouses matured, that fresh vegetables became available in northern China during the winter.

"What is that?" Wang Xiuying frowned. She was no stranger to growing vegetables, but what was a winter-warm greenhouse?
Li Zhe patiently explained, "This is a new vegetable growing technology researched by the state to solve the problem of people having difficulty getting vegetables in winter. A transparent plastic greenhouse is built in the field, which warms the ground with sunlight and keeps it warm at night, allowing vegetables to grow in the ground even in winter."

“Planting vegetables in winter? That’s just ridiculous.” In Wang Xiuying’s mind, growing vegetables depends on the weather. You have to sow and harvest according to the seasons. If it gets cold, the vegetables can’t grow.

Li Zhe said, "Times are changing, and technology is advancing. Decades ago, who could have imagined electric lights and telephones?"

Old Li, who had farmed all his life, had never heard of such a thing before. "Second brother, what exactly is this winter-warm vegetable greenhouse you're talking about?"

"A greenhouse typically occupies one acre of land. First, you dig a meter deep into the ground, then use the excavated soil to build three two-meter-thick earthen walls. The top and south side are covered with transparent plastic film and straw mats. During the day, the sun heats up the greenhouse, and at night, the straw mats are used to keep it warm." Li Zhe was worried that his parents wouldn't understand, so he only gave a brief explanation.

Wang Xiuying thought for a moment and said, "Isn't this just a large underground cellar with a transparent roof? How do you know it can grow vegetables?"

Li Zhe told a white lie: "Last winter, I went to Beijing to work, and an agricultural research institute happened to be hiring, so I went there."

They were researching winter-warm vegetable greenhouse technology. Their technicians were in charge of directing and recording, while we were responsible for the actual work. I participated in everything from sowing and seedling cultivation to fertilizing and treating diseases.

On Laba Festival, we also picked a batch of cucumbers—they were so fresh, tender, and crisp! Guess how much they cost per pound?

Mr. Li guessed, "Three cents?" Li Zhe encouraged him, "Be bolder."

Wang Xiuying guessed, "One piece."

Li Zhe gestured, "Ten yuan per jin of cucumbers." (Data source: price of winter cucumbers in Sanyuanzhu Village, 1989, with clear records)
"What! Ten yuan a pound? Did I hear that right? A pound of meat is only a little over two yuan, that's enough to buy four or five pounds of meat! What fool would waste money like that?" Wang Xiuying's eyes widened.

Old Li also found it unbelievable, "Second brother, you're not mistaken, are you? Summer cucumbers only cost eight cents a pound, this is more than a hundred times cheaper."

"Father, Mother, there's an old saying: things are valued for their rarity."

"In ancient times, this would have been a tribute to the imperial palace; money couldn't buy it." Li Zhe pressed his advantage, continuing, "I'm thinking of building a winter-warm vegetable greenhouse. What do you think?"

Wang Xiuying and her husband exchanged a glance and tentatively asked, "Building this greenhouse must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"Yes." Li Zhe couldn't remember the current prices and couldn't say the exact cost.

Wang Xiuying was a little embarrassed. "Second son, I support you in starting your own business, but I have to be honest with you. Your brother's wedding a couple of years ago cost a lot of money, and we only have a few hundred yuan left. We really can't afford anything more."

Li Zhe knew his family's situation; these days, it wasn't just his family who were poor, everyone was poor.

"Mother, this is not something to rush. Let me think about it some more."

"Yes, yes, good things come to those who wait, take it slow." Old Li chimed in, standing up. "The porridge is ready, it'll get cold soon, let's eat first. Third brother, dinner's ready."

It's so hot in the summer that the house is like a giant steamer, making it impossible to light a fire and cook.

Old Li set up a makeshift stove under the shade of a tree to cook and boil water.

When the weather gets cooler, we cook in the small kitchen next to the east room. The stove in the small kitchen is connected to the earthen bed in the east room, so it's warm to sleep at night.

There is also a stove in the main room, which is connected to the earthen kang (heated brick bed) in the west room. In winter, hot water is boiled and porridge is cooked. When the room is warm, the earthen kang in the west room is also warm.

Wang Xiuying carried the large iron pot into the main room, placed it on a stand on the ground, lifted the lid, and began to serve the porridge.

The village has electricity, but the Li family hasn't gotten into the habit of using lights yet, and they eat dinner promptly before dark.

Li Zhe sat down at the square table, which was very low, not even as high as his knees. He had to bend over to pick up food, which he was not used to.

He hadn't eaten his mother's cooking in a long time. He picked up a piece of green beans with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The only seasonings were salt and soy sauce, so the taste was a bit bland.

The corn porridge was a bit too coarse, and it made my throat feel rough. But I was hungry if I didn't eat it.

The little girl across the table didn't touch her chopsticks either, pouting, "Mommy, I want to eat tomatoes."

"There are some in the basket outside, go wash them yourself."

The little girl whispered, "I want to eat tomatoes with white sugar."

"We're out of sugar at home, but I'll buy some for you during the New Year."

"Mom is lying. It's winter by the New Year, there won't be any tomatoes left. I want to eat some now."

Wang Xiuying sighed softly, picked up a piece of green beans with her chopsticks and put it in her daughter's bowl. "It's too hot in summer, the sugar won't keep well. Be good, Xiao Na, when we buy sugar for the New Year, we'll make you some sugar buns."

The little girl swallowed hard, then lowered her head to drink her porridge without saying anything more.

Looking at his younger sister, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, Li Zhe felt a pang of sadness.

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(End of this chapter)