Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 74 Come to the door
Suzhou Hutongs.

The front gate of courtyard number 7 was wide open, and a cart was parked in front of it, piled high with neatly stacked coal briquettes. A sturdy young man was bending over and shoving the coal briquettes into the courtyard.

The coal shop was located in Hougou Hutong. A few days ago, Wang Jianjun bought a few briquettes to use, and they burned quite well. Today, he had the shopkeeper deliver a whole truckload to keep for later use. The burly young man, judging from his accent, seemed to be from Hebei Province. He was wearing a military overcoat whose original color was indistinguishable, and his smile had a simple and honest quality.

The young man worked quickly and efficiently, arranging the coal briquettes neatly against the wall. After finishing his work and collecting the final payment, he hurried off to deliver to the next customer.

When Li Zhe first moved, he borrowed a few coal briquettes from his neighbor. Although they weren't valuable, it's easy to borrow again if you return what you borrow. He filled a basket with the coal briquettes to deliver them, but the main gate was locked, so he had to go around to the back door.

He had just finished packing the coal briquettes when he heard a shout from outside, "Second brother, second brother, look who's here!"

Li Zhe put down the winnowing basket, stood up and clapped his hands, and then saw Li Weidong leading Li Zhenguo through the door.

"Second Uncle?" Li Zhe was a little surprised. He had just visited Li Zhenguo's home yesterday, and he didn't expect Li Zhenguo to come over for a visit today.

Li Zhenguo entered the front yard and, looking at the spacious courtyard and impressive rooms, was speechless. In his memory, his elder brother's family had always lived a frugal life in the village. His eldest brother had just gotten married a couple of years ago, incurring considerable expenses, and his second brother was about to build a house and get married as well, a time when money was tight. His elder brother simply farmed the land in the village, with no other source of income, and their life was far from comfortable.

The scene before him shattered his expectations. On the way back, Li Weidong had already mentioned that the four or five rooms in the front yard were all used by the Li family. These detached private houses were very expensive to rent, and ordinary people in Beijing simply couldn't afford them; otherwise, he wouldn't have been staying at his mother-in-law's house.

Everything before his eyes was so real that he couldn't help but believe it.

Cucumbers! He must have made his money selling cucumbers. He felt he had found the source.

While Li Zhenguo was still in a daze, Li Zhe had already led him into the living room. "Second Uncle, you must have been freezing when you came, right? Quickly sit down and have some tea." There was hot water in the thermos, and Li Zhe brewed a pot of tea.

Li Zhenguo took the teacup, but couldn't help asking, "Second brother, did you really rent this house? How much is it per month?"

"It costs 70 yuan a month. The yard is big and there are many rooms, which can be used not only for living but also as a warehouse."

"So...did you really grow the cucumbers?"

"Yes, I built a greenhouse on our land. The cucumbers I brought yesterday were from that greenhouse. How did they taste?"

Li Zhenguo put down his teacup. "That stuff is precious. I couldn't bear to eat it, so I brought it back. You can sell it at your stall later."

"Second Uncle, those cucumbers are grown by ourselves, they're not precious at all. Why did you bring them back? What will my aunt think if she finds out?" Li Zhe didn't care about the Chen family's thoughts, he was just worried about putting his uncle in a difficult position.

"It's alright, your aunt and the others don't know. Little Fatty doesn't like to eat vegetables. He didn't eat more than two cucumbers all summer. Even if cucumbers are precious in winter, he still prefers to eat meat."

Li Weidong laughed and said, "Haha, that's right. How many kids like to eat vegetables?"

Li Zhe also realized that the chubby boy didn't like cucumbers, and even though Grandma Chen and his second aunt wanted to eat them, they couldn't. Li Zhe didn't try to persuade his second uncle much about what he was doing.

He only took a quick look around yesterday and didn't delve into the details, but he could roughly understand his second uncle's situation. For one thing, even the old man who led the way treated his second uncle like a son-in-law who had moved into his wife's family.

Looking at his second uncle, Li Zhe felt a pang of heartache.

After Old Li passed away in his previous life, his second uncle would subsidize their family whenever he returned to the village. Li Zhe had never been to Beijing and was unaware of his second uncle's situation; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have accepted his money. Li Zhe couldn't even imagine how his second uncle had secretly managed to save the money under such circumstances, or what risks he had taken.
Of course, there is another possibility: the second aunt probably knew something, and although she might not have supported it, she tacitly approved of the second uncle's behavior.

Hearing the commotion, Zhao Tiezhu and Li Zhiqiang, who were in the guest room, went to the living room to greet Li Zhenguo. Li Zhe called Li Zhiqiang over and stuffed a stack of bills and change into his hand, saying, "Zhiqiang, buy some more food and drinks, we'll have a good meal at noon."

"Second brother, just have something simple for lunch. It's not a holiday, so don't buy too much stuff."

"Second Uncle, don't be so polite. You gave us the beef vouchers last night, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to eat them even if we wanted to." Li Zhe instructed Zhiqiang, "Go buy two more bottles of Fenjiu." Li Zhenguo grabbed Li Zhiqiang's arm, "Zhiqiang, don't listen to him. Just get two ounces of loose baijiu from the alley entrance. Why drink Fenjiu when it's not a holiday? He really treats me like an outsider!"

Li Zhiqiang glanced at Li Zhe, then at Li Zhenguo, seemingly unsure who to listen to. Li Zhenguo said, "Stop looking around, listen to me. Go."

Li Zhe didn't say anything more. Fenjiu was indeed expensive these days, 28 yuan a bottle, 56 yuan for two bottles, which was equivalent to half a month's salary for an average person. Even if Li Zhenguo drank it, he might not feel comfortable, so it was better to let him drink something that would make him feel better.

Li Zhiqiang rode his bicycle and quickly returned with the groceries. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got to work together, some cutting meat, some picking vegetables, some heating the pot, chatting and laughing as they prepared lunch.

In the living room, four dishes were laid out on the octagonal table: stewed beef, cucumber salad with pig's ears, pork stew with cabbage, and stir-fried shredded potatoes. Although there weren't many dishes, the portions were generous. Li Zhiqiang, being the youngest in the family, carried a white plastic bucket and filled everyone's glasses with wine—a task he had been doing since childhood.

Li Weidong raised his glass and proposed, "Let's all toast Uncle Er."

"Cheers!" Everyone raised their glasses.

Li Zhe drank a glass of wine and pointed to the plate in the middle, "Second Uncle, how about trying my stewed beef?"

Li Zhenguo picked up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth. "It's delicious and tender."

Li Zhe thought to himself: It's a pity we don't have a clay pot at home, otherwise the stew would be even more flavorful.

Li Zhenguo said regretfully, "It's a pity your father isn't here, otherwise it would have been quite a lively affair."

Li Weidong put down his chopsticks. "Second Uncle, this is simple. We can set a date and have my dad come over, right? He's worried about the business here with my second brother, so he'll definitely come over in a few days."

Li Zhenguo said happily, "That's great! Let's set a date. It's been a while since I've seen your father."

Everyone chatted and laughed, and the meal lasted for two hours. Except for Zhao Tiezhu, everyone else drank quite a bit. Zhao Tiezhu was very envious and wanted to have a drink to warm up, but Li Zhe stopped him—these days there are no drunk driving checks, but you have to be responsible for yourself, and you definitely can't drink and drive.

Knowing they would have to return to Daying Village, Li Zhenguo chatted for a while after dinner before riding his bicycle away.

Li Zhe chased after him and handed him a woven bag. "Second Uncle, I packed some cucumbers with cracked skins for you. These won't fetch a good price, they're just for our own consumption. Take them back and try them."

Li Zhe couldn't help but think of his second uncle's feelings, since his uncle still had to live in the Chen family.

Li Zhenguo opened the woven bag and saw that it was indeed full of bumps and bruises. Without further ado, he said, "Okay, I'll take it. You guys go back, I'm leaving."

"Second Uncle, come over and sit down whenever you have time. I have plenty of good wine and meat!"

As Li Zhenguo disappeared into the alley, Li Zhe turned to go home when he saw Sun Tao riding up on a tricycle, with a round-faced girl with a hooked nose sitting on the back—Zhou Qinghe.

"Hey, what brings you two here at this hour?"

Sun Tao complained, "Brother Li, you'll have to ask her. I was forced to come here as a helper!"

Zhou Qinghe jumped out of the car and pointed to two baskets covered with thick quilts, "Boss Li, guess what's in here?"

Li Zhe wasn't going to waste words with her. He directly lifted the quilt and saw bags of grayish-white bacterial cultures inside...

(End of this chapter)