Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 82 Come to the door
A short while later, Tan Jingya carried a basin of hot water into the room and heard a 'creaking' sound.

She turned her head and saw that Ji Hongbin's cucumber only had a stem left.

Noticing Tan Jingya's gaze, Ji Hongbin coughed lightly, "I ate too many afternoon snacks and melon seeds, they're too sweet, this is to cleanse my throat."

Tan Jingya knew he was concerned about his image, so she didn't respond and put down the basin to help him take off his socks.

Ji Hongbin put his feet into the basin, and the slightly hot water made him gasp and feel comfortable all over. "I'm going to the south in a couple of days, so please take good care of things at home. If the old lady gets angry, don't argue with her. I'll stand up for you when I get back."

"Everything's fine at home, please be careful out there." Tan Jingya looked worried, then hesitated, "Although this business of trading treasury bonds is profitable, I always feel uneasy traveling all over the country. My heart has been pounding these past few days. How about... we find another job?"

“It’s a bit dangerous, but it’s also really profitable. Once the market is fully liberalized and the information gap disappears, it won’t be profitable anymore. I’ll bring Zhou Yongqiang with me; he’s trustworthy and hardworking.” Ji Hongbin patted her arm, comforting her, “You take care of things at home; I’ll handle things outside.”

Tan Jingya sighed softly, knowing she couldn't persuade them, and stopped talking. "By the way, when Mr. Li delivered the cucumbers, he said they wanted to start the boiler in the front yard and asked if we wanted to use the heating system together."

How much does it cost to operate a boiler?

“I didn’t talk to him in detail.”

Ji Hongbin rubbed his feet together. "What does the old lady mean?"

The old lady said it's up to you to make the decision.

Ji Hongbin thought for a moment, "The old lady is old and afraid of the cold, so let's turn on the heating. It's not like all the vegetable vendors can afford to have heating while our host family is freezing in the backyard."

"Okay, I'll ask him later how the expenses should be split between the two families."

“If I’m not here, you should talk to the old lady. She’s a woman of good judgment.” Ji Hongbin said, pointing to the chest of drawers opposite him. “Bring me the newspapers I’ve collected. I need to study them again so I don’t end up clueless when I go out.”

……

Entrance of Sujia Hutong.

Li Zhe yawned as he sat on the backward-facing donkey, his gaze sweeping over the passersby. Although the material conditions were not as good as in later generations, the people were in high spirits, radiating a kind of vitality.

"Clatter clatter..." A discordant tractor sound rang out.

Li Zhe knew without looking that Tie Niu was coming. Tractors were noisy and polluting, so he tried to avoid driving them into the alleys. Right now, Beijing was experiencing a vegetable shortage, and only tractors could enter the city if they were carrying vegetables. Once the shortage was over, it would only take a word to stop them from entering.

As soon as the tractor came to a stop, Li Zhiqiang was the first to jump off, shouting, "Uncle!"

Li Zhe was a little surprised. "What brings you here? Weren't you at home helping to grow mushrooms?"

Zhao Tiezhu laughed and said, "Brother, don't even mention it. Yesterday, when he heard that you were taking us out for hot pot, this kid got really hungry and insisted on coming along today."

Li Zhe patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, next time Uncle will take you to eat something even better, so they'll all be envious of you."

"Uncle, you have to keep your word and not lie to me!" Listening to Li Weidong recount the scene of eating mutton and drinking beer at Donglaishun, Li Zhiqiang felt like a cat was scratching at his heart, and he couldn't feel more uncomfortable.

“Uncle keeps his word; it’s definitely better than theirs.” Li Zhe finished speaking and looked towards the truck bed. “Did you bring the gold?”

"Here it comes, it's snuggled up in the blanket." Zhao Tiezhu lifted the blanket, revealing a small dog with a yellow head and white face.

"Woof woof..." The puppy barked a few times, its eyes scanning its surroundings.

"Jinzi, come here." Li Zhe stood beside the truck bed and beckoned to it.

During this period, after Li Zhe returned to the village, he would visit it whenever he had time and bring it some treats.

"Woof woof..." Jinzi ran over and licked Li Zhe's palm. "Come on, let's go home." Li Zhe lifted it off the truck bed, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Wow, it's gotten fatter again, it must weigh four or five pounds now."

"That's right, it's the biggest eater in that whole bunch." Zhao Tiezhu loaded the cucumbers onto the donkey, and Li Zhiqiang rode it home.

Seeing Zhao Tiezhu's face red from the cold, Li Zhe said, "Zhuzi, can you handle running back and forth like this?"

Zhao Tiezhu didn't take it seriously, saying, "Brother, I'm strong, I'll be fine."

Li Zhe thought to himself: It's fine when you're young, but you'll suffer when you get older. "Look at this group, see who can drive, and you can teach them. Then you two can take turns driving, so you don't have to suffer alone."

“Okay, I’ll ask around and see who’s willing to learn,” Zhao Tiezhu said as he got on the tractor. “Brother, you go back now, I’m going to unload the tractor.”

Li Zhe brought Jinzi home and let it get used to its surroundings in the yard.

Big Gold Tooth grinned and praised, "Wow! Your dog is really good. As the old saying goes, 'A yellow dog with a white face is worth more than gold.'"

"It's just a country dog ​​guarding the door," Li Zhe said politely, taking the money for the cucumber that Big Gold Tooth handed him.

Big Gold Tooth glanced at the vegetable basket next to him and asked, "Mr. Li, what's the price of spinach today?"

"The spinach production is small, and it was all bought up by one customer. We will share it with you when the production increases."

Big Gold Tooth was getting anxious. "Mr. Li, what price did you sell it for? I can pay that price too."

Li Zhe turned to look at him, "Six yuan a pound."

Big Gold Tooth opened his mouth, but the price exceeded his expectations, and he immediately deflated.

After everyone left, Li Zhe played with Jinzi for a while, fed it some food, let it run and play in the yard, and then went back inside to settle accounts.

Around noon, a voice called out from outside, "Brother Li! Is Brother Li home?"

Li Zhe opened the door and saw Zhou Yongqiang standing outside pushing a cart. "Brother Zhou is here. Come in and let's talk."

Zhou Yongqiang exhaled and rubbed his hands together. "I won't go in. Brother Li, are you free at noon today?"

"You're free, Zhou, what's up?"

"Brother Li, you've been in the capital for so long, yet you still don't know where my home is. I'd like to invite you to my house for lunch today so you can get acquainted with the place."

"That's great! You should have told me sooner so I could have prepared some things in advance."

"Hey! I was just worried you'd buy things beforehand, that's why I came to call you. You don't need to buy anything, I've got everything ready, just hop on your bike and come with me."

"Please wait a moment, I'll say goodbye to my family and then we'll be leaving." Li Zhe went back into the house to get two pounds of cucumbers and two cans of luncheon meat before pushing his bicycle out the door.

Zhou Yongqiang was displeased. "Hey! Brother Li, didn't I tell you not to bring anything? Why did you bring something again?"

"It's nothing precious, just for our own consumption. These cucumbers were cracked open; we never intended to sell them." Outsiders might find cucumbers fascinating, but Li Zhe's family really didn't care; they were already tired of eating them.

Li Zhe rode his bicycle to the pastry shop on the west side and stopped to buy half a pound of pea flour cake and half a pound of donkey roll. These things have a short shelf life, and buying too much would be a waste.

Afterwards, I followed Zhou Yongqiang on his bicycle to Chuanban Hutong.

(End of this chapter)