Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 51 Accident
Zhu Yimin's home.

The walls of the main room were covered with blackened pages from the Hebei Provincial Daily, with only the headline "The Path to Wealth for Ten-Thousand-Yuan Households" barely legible. Zhou Yufeng was squatting in front of the stove boiling water, the pot bubbling and steaming, warming the room somewhat.

Zhou Yufeng got up and walked to the doorway, looking at her husband lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), "How are you? Is the kang warmer now?"

Zhu Yimin, wrapped in a cotton-padded coat, leaned against a pile of quilts and said weakly, "No one has lived here for many days, and it's burning."

Zhou Yufeng touched the kang (heated brick bed) and said, "It's not so cold anymore, I'll add some more firewood."

Zhu Yimin stared at the rooftop without replying, appearing somewhat absent-minded.

After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "Honey, how's my greenhouse doing now?"

"How would I know? I wouldn't dare go into that awful place." Zhou Yufeng walked into the house and sat sideways on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). "I'm thinking of finding a master to perform a ritual in the shed, what do you think?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? I was just overwhelmed by the fertilizer fumes, not possessed. Why are you performing some kind of ritual?" Zhu Yimin snorted, feeling both distressed and helpless. "That greenhouse can't be left unattended forever; the seedlings will all die of drought if it goes on too long."

"So what do you mean? You're having trouble even getting off the kang (heated brick bed). Even if I drive you to the greenhouse, what can you do?"

"Isn't your brother idle at home? Why don't you have him come and help out? I won't let him work for free; he'll get four yuan a day, how about that?"

"How about it?" Zhou Yufeng's eyes widened as she pointed at Zhu Yimin's nose. "You, Zhu Yimin, you're already like this yourself, yet you still want to harm my brother. If I help you pass on a message, my mother won't even let me into the Zhou family's house."

“How could I harm your brother? That greenhouse isn’t as dangerous as you think. I asked the doctor and thought about it carefully for two days. As long as you don’t apply too much fertilizer at once and make sure there’s good ventilation, there won’t be any problems. Li Zhe has been living in the greenhouse all along, and he’s perfectly fine.”

"Forget about my brother doing greenhouse farming. Even if I agreed, my parents wouldn't. I never agreed to you building greenhouses in the first place, and now look what's happened..."

Zhu Yimin was getting a little annoyed. "Alright, alright, stop talking. I'll figure something out myself."

"Oh, you're getting angry now. You kept the loan a secret from me, and I haven't even settled accounts with you yet. You dare to give me attitude? I've been giving you face."

Zhu Yimin's tone softened, "I don't want to argue with you."

"Who cares about arguing with you?" Zhou Yufeng stood up, making a move to leave.

"Wait a minute, the greenhouse can't be left unattended, I'm thinking of... renting it out."

"Heh." Zhou Yufeng sneered, "Do you think I'm a fool, or do you think everyone else is a fool? Who would pay to rent that thing?"

Zhu Yimin took a deep breath, somewhat unwilling, "Others may not rent it, but... the Li family will definitely rent it."

Zhou Yufeng thought about it and realized that it really made sense; otherwise, the Li family wouldn't have built a third greenhouse. "How much do you want to rent it for?"

Zhu Yimin thought for a moment, "I want to rent it to the Li family for six months, with a rent of no less than 1,200 yuan. After six months, I want to take back the greenhouse and grow the crops myself."

"A thousand two hundred yuan for six months' rent, that's two hundred yuan a month? Are you crazy, or is the Li family crazy?! Would they really give you that much?"

"What do you know? Do you know how expensive vegetables are in winter?" Zhu Yimin rubbed his temples, feeling a little dizzy, and didn't want to talk anymore. "Go ask them."

Zhou Yufeng thought it made sense; there was no harm in asking, so she added some firewood to the stove and went out.

……

North of Daying Village, Li Family Greenhouse.

Although he had rented a house in the capital, before he could even get bedding, Li Zhe returned to the village.

After getting up, I habitually glanced at the thermometer on the wall: 24℃.

After breakfast, he changed into his work clothes and inspected the vegetables in the greenhouse, observing everything from the condition of the leaves and the thickness of the stems to the development of flowers and fruits, in order to prevent plant diseases in advance. At the same time, he made timely adjustments to watering, fertilization, and pesticide application based on the condition of the vegetables.

The cucumbers in greenhouse number 1 are growing very well, and the yield has increased compared to before. However, the light green spots on the back of the leaves caught Li Zhe's attention. "Brother, come and take a look."

"What's wrong?" Li Weidong came running over.

Li Zhe pointed to the light green spots, "Look at these mold spots. If we don't take timely measures to prevent and control them, the entire leaf will wither in a couple of days."

"What should we do then?" Li Weidong asked nervously. This thing was very valuable, and the Li family was counting on it to turn their lives around.

"These past few days we've been reducing the humidity in the greenhouse, and closing it to raise the temperature during the hottest part of the day. We're spraying the undersides of the leaves with a solution of mancozeb and spraying the entire leaf with metalaxyl, alternating between the two pesticides."

"Okay, I've written it all down. I'll spray the pesticide in a bit." Li Weidong took out a small notebook and took notes diligently.

Li Zhe walked to the south edge of the greenhouse, squatted down and picked off the yellow leaves of the broccoli. "These side branches and old leaves will consume nutrients. After the broccoli heads are formed, the side branches should be removed so that the main branches can form the heads and the broccoli can grow big."

The tomatoes in greenhouse No. 2 have been transplanted and are currently in the recovery period, looking crooked and twisted. Around the tomatoes are more cold-resistant spinach plants, which have already grown two to three true leaves, 7 to ten centimeters tall, and are tender green.

Li Zhe picked up some soil from the ground and rubbed it, saying, "Spinach is prone to root rot, so water it less."

The watermelons, chives, and cucumbers in greenhouse No. 3 have already sprouted, but haven't grown true leaves yet...

"Aunt Wang, is Aunt Wang here?" A woman's voice called from outside the greenhouse.

"I'm here." Wang Xiuying lifted the curtain of the shed and saw a stocky woman standing outside. "Yu Feng is here. What's up?"

"Auntie, is my second brother here? I want to talk to him about something."

"He's busy in the greenhouse. What do you need him for?"

Zhou Yufeng opened her mouth, looking somewhat embarrassed, "My husband has been discharged from the hospital, and he specifically asked me to come and thank you two brothers."

Wang Xiuying was even more puzzled. Zhou Yufeng came empty-handed; what kind of thanks was this?

Hearing the commotion, Lao Li and Li Zhe both came out of the shed. Lao Li said, "Yu Feng is here. How is Yi Min's health?"

"I'm much better. I just got home from the town clinic today, and they insisted that I come over to thank you and your two brothers in person."

Old Li waved his hand, "Hey, there's no need to thank me. We're all from the same village, it's only right to lend a hand."

Li Zhe sensed that the other person had something else to say, "Sister-in-law, it's cold outside. Let's go inside and talk."

He led Zhou Yufeng into shed number 3. To avoid unnecessary trouble, outsiders were no longer allowed into shed number 1.

When Zhou Yufeng saw the bare ground of greenhouse No. 3 with only some tender sprouts, she originally wanted to praise the vegetables for growing well, but she didn't know what to say.

Li Zhe was too busy to waste time with her. "Sister-in-law, just say what you need."

"Second brother, it's like this, although my husband, Lao Zhu, has been discharged from the hospital, he is still weak. No one has been taking care of the vegetables in his greenhouse. I don't know how to grow vegetables and I can't manage it. I was thinking of renting out the greenhouse. You also grow vegetables in greenhouses and know a lot of people. Could you help me find someone who is willing to rent out the greenhouse?"

Upon hearing this, Old Li's eyes widened, and his body involuntarily moved forward.

Li Zhe asked, "How does the rental work?"

"My husband wants to rent out the place for six months... the rent is one thousand." Zhou Yufeng didn't dare to ask for more; she felt guilty even asking for one thousand, let alone one thousand two hundred.

"A thousand for six months!" Wang Xiuying couldn't stay calm any longer and shouted it out.

This made Zhou Yufeng even more uncertain. She knew that Wang Xiuying was also unwilling to build a greenhouse and worried that she would think it was too expensive, so she chuckled and said, "It's fine if it's cheaper."

(End of this chapter)