Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 64

Chongwenmen Farmers Market.

As soon as Lao Li arrived at his stall, he was surrounded by other vegetable vendors.

"Uncle Li, how many cucumbers did you bring today?"

"I didn't manage to reserve any the other day, could you spare some for me?"

"Uncle Li, please give me a few more pounds, I really don't have enough to sell."

"Everyone, let's speak one by one. If you all speak at once, who am I supposed to listen to? Cucumbers are hard to grow in winter, so the yield is limited. Just the 150 jin we ordered last time, that's all we have." Old Li pulled out his tattered notebook, opened it, and shouted, "I'm calling people from the order list now. Whoever's name is called, pay the balance and take your cucumbers."

"Sun Tao, I'm ordering 30 jin, the balance is 90."

"Uncle Li, I've already prepared everything." Sun Tao smiled and handed over the money with both hands. "Uncle Li, I also want to order thirty catties of cucumbers for the day after tomorrow."

Old Li stuffed the money into his canvas bag. "Oh, I almost forgot. From now on, to ensure the cucumbers are fresh, we'll pick and deliver them on the same day. Just pre-order a day's worth. The total pre-order amount for one day is 75 jin. Sun Tao, I'll write 15 jin down for you."

"Okay." Sun Tao paid another 45 yuan deposit.

Old Li called out, "The same goes for everyone else. Orders placed one day in advance will be halved. If you find that too much trouble, you can also order two days' worth."

"Mr. Hong, you ordered 15 jin (7.5 catties) last time."

Hong San handed over the money, "Uncle Li, I'll be placing orders every day from now on. I'll order seven and a half jin the next day. Hehe, it would be even better if I could make a full eight jin..."

Li Jinxia teased, "Old Hong, you're just dreaming about getting married. You're just daydreaming. Get out of the way."

"Haha." Everyone burst into laughter.

Sun Tao smiled and didn't say anything. Anyway, he was the first one. He loaded his cucumbers onto the tricycle, said goodbye to his mother, and prepared to leave on his bicycle.

"Taozi." A familiar voice rang out.

Sun Tao turned his head and saw a round-faced girl with a hooked nose. "Qinghe, what brings you here?"

Zhou Qinghe didn't reply, but said to Aunt Ma behind the stall, "Auntie, did you miss me?"

"I've been thinking about you, it's been a while. Are you tired from school lately? Let's go to Auntie's for dinner tonight, I'll make you braised noodles."

"Hey, I've been craving this for a while now. I need to talk to Taozi about something first, then I'll chat with you later."

"You guys go about your business, I'll just watch the stall here."

Sun Tao asked, "Qinghe, what do you want?"

Zhou Qinghe pointed at Old Li, who was selling vegetables, and asked, "Is that Li Zhe?"

"That's Li Zhe's father."

"Taozi, that's not fair. You just bought the vegetables from them and then you start insulting them."

Sun Tao was both amused and exasperated. "Brother Li is about the same age as us. He didn't come today. He's really an old man."

"Haha..." Zhou Qinghe grinned, revealing two white front teeth, "I want to ask you something, how do they grow their cucumbers?"

"do not know."

"Wow, you're really pulling this stunt on me. Are we even good buddies?"

"I really didn't know. They're not vegetable farmers; they source their produce from rural Langfang and bring it to our market to sell."

"It's not that far, you can make a round trip in a day."

"Zhou Qinghe, what are you trying to do?"

"I want to see how they grow cucumbers."

Sun Tao pulled her aside and lowered his voice, "Are you stupid? That's a trade secret. Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up if you see it?"

"What do you know? This is an agricultural technology exchange. I have scientific planting theories, and they have rich planting experience. We can discuss it and make progress together."

Sun Tao shook his head. "I know you well enough. Tell me, what are you up to?"

"I'm preparing my graduation thesis topic. I want to study the cultivation techniques of oyster mushrooms, but it's too cold to grow them. I can only collect data next March."

"Then let's wait until next year, isn't it graduation year?" "In September, our agricultural university participated in the research and development of a high-yield oyster mushroom mother culture, which has strong resistance to contamination by miscellaneous bacteria, a short growth cycle, and adopts a new type of mushroom bag and cooked substrate cultivation method, which reduces costs and increases yield."

"So many classmates are eyeing it; next spring they'll all be rushing to plant mushrooms. How am I supposed to stand out?" Zhou Qinghe glanced at Li's stall. "I just want to borrow a piece of land to do an oyster mushroom cultivation experiment. I can get the observation data before the new year. Who can compete with me then?"

"Zhou Qinghe, can you change this strong-willed nature?"

"It can't be changed, it's something I'll never change in this lifetime. If it were changed, would I still be Zhou Qinghe?"

Sun Tao sighed, "I remember your school had a greenhouse, didn't it?"

“That’s right, there is a precious gem. Do you know how many people are queuing up for that tiny piece of land? Even our teachers can’t get a spot. What am I doing there? No chance. Aren’t you close to the Li family? Can you put in a good word for me?”

Sun Tao was somewhat embarrassed. "Let's not even talk about whether they'll take you or not. Even if they do, their cucumbers are growing very well, and they're making money right now. Why should they let you grow mushrooms in a greenhouse?"

"Hey, cucumbers can make money, but my mushrooms won't? They're a new variety developed with the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. They have high yields, fewer diseases, and a short growth cycle. Mushrooms are also easy to transport, so they might not make less money than cucumbers. I just need to record the mushroom data, and all the mushrooms I grow will go to them."

"I'm already here, can you ask for me? It's just a matter of a few words anyway."

Sun Tao thought for a moment, "Here's what we'll do: you go to the management office and wait for news. If it works out, I'll treat them to lunch. If it doesn't, you should go home and rest as soon as possible."

Zhou Qinghe patted his chest, "No problem, lunch is on me."

Sun Tao said, "No need, I'm treating today. If you want to treat, we can do it next time."

"Alright, I won't waste any more time with you. Go to my mom's office and wait for you. Whether it works out or not, remember to let me know."

"understood."

"Auntie, you're busy, I'll be going now." Zhou Qinghe said goodbye and went straight to the management office.

Sun Tao felt somewhat helpless. He thought the plan was unreliable, but as Zhou Qinghe's good friend, he couldn't just not help.

Seeing that Old Li wasn't busy anymore, he walked over and said, "Uncle Li, my brother Li didn't come today?"

"I'm here. I have some errands to run. I'll be right back."

"Alright, I'll go out and deliver the goods first. I'll treat you and Brother Li to lunch." After saying that, Sun Tao rode away on his tricycle.

Around noon, Li Zhe and his cousin Wang Jianjun returned to Chongwenmen vegetable market. Along the way, Wang Jianjun seemed very excited, "Hey, brother, from now on we'll be delivering vegetables to Quanjude. This is the first time in our village."

"This is nothing. When we're less busy in a few days, I'll take my uncle out for a meal."

"That's great." The two returned to the south entrance of Chongwenmen Market and ran into Sun Tao, who was also returning from delivering goods.

Sun Tao stopped his tricycle. "Hey, Brother Li, what a coincidence, I was just looking for you."

"What's wrong? What's the matter?" Li Zhe parked his bicycle on the side of the road. This place was spacious and more suitable for talking than the vegetable market.

"Two things. First, I'd like to invite you and Uncle Li to lunch."

The second thing is that a friend of mine would like to meet you.

"What do you want to see me for?"

“My friend is a top student at an agricultural university. Yesterday, I delivered two pounds of cucumbers to her family to try. As a result, she came to see me this morning. She said she wanted to meet the people who grow cucumbers and exchange some planting experience.”

If you think it's appropriate, I'll go to the management office and call her, and we can have a meal together.

If you don't think it's appropriate, then we won't bring her.

Sun Tao's words contained a lot of information, and Li Zhe needed to think about them carefully.

These days, college students are highly valued, especially those from agricultural universities—they're really talented! Li Zhe would really like to get to know them.

Li Zhe understood the other meaning in the second half of the sentence: Why would Sun Tao's friend be waiting at the market management office?
Li Zhe cut to the chase, "Taozi, what's the background of your friend?"

“We’ve known each other since we were little. Back then, my parents sold vegetables at the market, and her mother was the market manager. We used to hang out at the market. If you’re not happy about it, I’ll just refuse her.”

"What does her mother do at the management office?"

"Her mother is Director Han from our management office."

Li Zhe smiled and said, "These days, anyone who can go to university is a talented person. I'd really like to get to know them."

(End of this chapter)