Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 58 Prospects
Chuanban Hutong.

In the large courtyard, the Zhou family of six had only two rooms. Zhou Yongqiang and his wife lived in the east room, while the west room was divided into two rooms with wooden boards. Zhou's mother and younger sister slept in the inner room, and the younger brother had a cot set up in the outer room.

The crooked little kitchen in the corridor was filled with fumes, and Lin Qiaomei was crouching down, stir-frying the ingredients.

Aunt Chen, who was passing by, sniffed and said, "Oh, what is Qiaomei cooking? It smells delicious."

Lin Qiaomei wiped her hands with her apron. "I made some fried sauce. We'll have fried sauce noodles for dinner."

Aunt Chen craned her neck to look at the cutting board. "Wow, you bought cucumbers? They're so precious this time of year. Yesterday they were six yuan each at the market, but I couldn't bring myself to buy any."

“My family couldn’t afford to buy them either; they were a gift from Yongqiang’s friend.” Lin Qiaomei was a thrifty person. She kept some of the cucumbers Wang Xiuying gave her and took the rest to the state-run restaurant where she worked, exchanging them for pork and flour.

Lin Qiaomei cooked a pot of hand-pulled noodles, topped with meat sauce and vegetable garnishes, and the whole family enjoyed the delicious food.

These days, there aren't many entertainment options at night, and it gets dark early. After Lin Qiaomei finished cleaning up the dishes and washing the clothes, the whole family was already asleep.

Lin Qiaomei tiptoed to the edge of the bed, took out the bundle her mother had brought, and opened it to find two thick cotton-padded coats inside, one large and one small.

The larger cotton-padded coat was made of blue-and-white floral fabric with fine stitches, clearly hand-sewn. The smaller one was a red-based floral jacket with two butterflies embroidered on the cuffs...

Lin Qiaomei's eyes welled up with tears. She hugged the clothes tightly to her chest, feeling that they were a little uncomfortable. She opened the cotton-padded jacket with blue floral patterns and found a small sewn bag inside. She cut the thread and a wad of banknotes was revealed inside.

Lin Qiaomei could no longer hold back and began to sob, her voice choked with emotion, "Waaah..."

Zhou Yongqiang was startled awake and nudged his wife, "What's wrong so late at night?"

Lin Qiaomei handed over the bag, "My parents gave it to me..."

Zhou Yongqiang took the money and counted it; it was five hundred yuan in total. He smiled and said, "Hey, when I make money, I'll definitely take good care of my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiaomei suddenly felt a pang of regret. The whole family depended on him to earn money; her own parents were nowhere near that level...

The front courtyard of No. 7 Courtyard in Suzhou Hutong.

In the hall.

Old Li and his son were warming themselves by the coal stove.

In the afternoon, the father and son saw Zhao Tiezhu and his group off, then went to the vegetable market to set up their stall. They sold a total of 12 jin of cucumbers. Seeing that it was past the time for cooking and the weather was getting cold, the father and son packed up and went home.

This courtyard house had been uninhabited for a long time, and it felt even colder than the Li family's old house. The father and son were too lazy to move. They had eaten a full lunch and weren't too hungry in the evening. So they decided not to cook and each drank a bowl of spilled malted milk powder.

While warming himself by the coal stove, Li Zhe said, "It's getting colder and colder. I see the small boiler in the kitchen has radiators connected to it. Why don't we turn on the heating?"

Old Li frowned deeply. "It's only been a few months and they're already turning on the heating? We've never used that stuff before. Who knows how much coal it will take?"

Li Zhe continued to persuade, "That small boiler can not only provide heating, but also cook. Besides, people can withstand the cold, but vegetables can't. As the weather gets colder, it will be too much of a hardship to deliver vegetables by tractor in the morning, and we won't be able to keep up with the demand."

We might have to change the schedule to picking up vegetables at noon or in the afternoon and selling them early the next morning; the vegetables need to be stored in the warehouse overnight, it's too cold inside and they'll freeze.

Old Li thought for a while and said, "You're right. The stall owners said today that we delivered the vegetables a bit late. They didn't get the vegetables until after 10 o'clock. If we deliver them to the customers then, we won't be able to make it in time for lunch."

Li Zhe pressed his advantage, saying, "Then it's settled. I'll buy some coal in a few days and get the small boiler running."

Old Li suggested, "Why don't we ask the backyard? If they also use heating, the two families can share it and save some money."

"Okay, I'll return the coal briquettes in a couple of days. I'll ask them."

Old Li instructed, "This coal stove must be placed indoors. Make sure the exhaust pipe is properly installed and there is good ventilation to prevent poisoning."

"Yes, I've got it." Li Zhe replied, pouring his father a cup of tea. "Dad, what are your plans for the future?"

This question stumped Old Li. "What do I do? I'm just an old farmer, I farm the land, what else could I do?"

"Dad, you can't farm anymore." "Hu Qin, I'm perfectly healthy, why can't I farm?"

“Dad, I’m not saying you can’t get out of bed,” Li Zhe changed his question, “How much money did you make today?”

"1158." Old Li grinned, showing his back teeth.

"Can you earn this much by farming for a year?"

Old Li's smile shifted. "Let alone a year, even two years would be difficult," he said. "Then... how about I help you grow crops in the greenhouse from now on?"

"Great, I'd love to. I just wanted to ask you, how do you plan to help me in the future?"

"What's wrong with you today, kid? It's just growing vegetables, what's with all the fancy stuff?" Old Li, annoyed by the question, retorted, "Then tell me, what do you want to do in the future?"

Are you asking about your immediate thoughts or your long-term thoughts?

"I'd like to know too, let's see what kind of excuse you can come up with?"

Li Zhe held his teacup and took a sip. "The cucumber yield in the greenhouses has been increasing, and the broccoli is almost ripe. The spinach and tomatoes in greenhouse number 2 are also almost ripe, and the vegetables in greenhouses number 3 and 4 will ripen one after another."

Although winter vegetables will definitely sell well, greenhouse vegetables have high costs, so they need to be sold at high prices to break even.

We need to expand new sales channels and find more customers with demand. Only when the demand for vegetables exceeds the supply can we guarantee a premium price and maintain a healthy sales system.” Li Zhe paused, then continued,

“I will be staying in the capital more often from now on to be in charge of market development and control of sales channels. Someone also needs to keep an eye on things at home. I don’t trust anyone else but you, so you have to step up.”

Upon hearing this, Old Li lost his confidence. "Second brother, that won't do. Those greenhouse vegetables are very precious. Without you, we can't take good care of them."

“How could I not go back? I’ll go back every two days. But you have to take care of things while I’m away.”

"This...can I do it?" Old Li was a little unsure.

Old Li is thoughtful and intelligent, so Li Zhe isn't worried about his abilities; it's just that his personality is a bit soft. But that's not something that can be changed in a few words.

Li Zhe was also worried, but there was no one available.

Old Li didn't give a definite answer either, and then asked, "Second brother, what are your long-term plans?"

"We need to keep hiring. They don't need to be super smart, just honest and hardworking. Next year, we need to expand our vegetable greenhouses to over 100 acres. If we don't have enough people, we simply won't be able to keep up."

"What? One hundred acres!" Old Li was so shocked that he could barely speak. "One acre... costs six thousand, one hundred acres would be six hundred thousand! Even if you sold our entire house, we still couldn't come up with that amount of money."

Li Zhe said, "The greenhouses made money this year. Next year, as long as I give the go-ahead, someone will provide the money and the land. What people value is our technology."

Old Li felt his son was a bit obsessed and advised him, "Second son, you can't get fat in one bite. Don't always think about big things. Living a down-to-earth life is better than anything else."

“Dad, some things are hard to turn back once they’re done, and growing vegetables in greenhouses is no exception. As vegetable production increases, our influence in Beijing will grow, and more people will benefit. Even if we don’t want to grow them next year, these people will urge us to.”

Old Li snorted, thinking his son was exaggerating. "At worst, we'll just go home. Do you think they'll be able to find the village?"

"Dad, after making such a commotion, do you think you can just go back and hide?" Li Zhe retorted, then continued, "When we first started growing vegetables in greenhouses, quite a few people were watching us. Later, Zhu Yimin got into trouble, and the villagers were scared, so they quieted down. Now our family sends vegetables to Beijing every other day, how could the villagers not see it? Our village is so close to Beijing, the price of cucumbers will eventually reach the village."

"If the villagers knew that greenhouse farming was so profitable, what would they do next year?"

"I..." Old Li dared not think about it.

Li Zhe rubbed his hands together. "Believe it or not? If you say you won't grow crops in greenhouses next year, Secretary Wang will be the first to object, and our doorstep will be trampled flat by the villagers."

Old Li's aversion to trouble kicked in again. He rubbed his temples and asked, "What should we do then?"

"What should we do?" Li Zhe breathed a sigh of relief. "We not only have to plant, but we also have to get the villagers to plant together."

(End of this chapter)