Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 107 Homecoming
Wan'an Town.

Sun Liguo left home earlier than usual, his footsteps crunching through the snow. He couldn't help but worry: Could Li Zhe's greenhouse withstand last night's snowfall and temperature drop?
Before he even reached the entrance of the credit union, he saw a green Jiefang truck parked in front of it, and he quickly walked over.

The truck's passenger side door opened, and Li Zhe jumped out: "Brother Sun."

"Brother Li, what brings you here? Did something happen to the greenhouse?"

"It's alright, everything's fine. I just came to check on the loan progress." Yesterday's snow wasn't heavy; we rake away each layer promptly, and we're using coal to heat the greenhouse. Today is sunny again, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Sun Liguo breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's go inside and talk." He walked to the credit union entrance, but the door was still closed. While taking out his keys, he complained, "These lazybones are getting more and more outrageous!"

The credit union lobby was cold and damp, not much better than outside.

Sun Liguo led Li Zhe into the office and touched the thermos: "Brother, please sit down. I'll boil some water."

"Brother Sun, don't bother me. I still have to deliver goods to Beijing. I'll leave after saying a few words."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you," Sun Liguo said with a smile. "Your loan has been approved. I wanted to let you know yesterday, but it snowed so I couldn't go."

"Brother Sun, how much was approved?"

"100,000! That's the maximum amount for someone like you. Although the vegetable cooperative is considered a collective, it's not classified as a 'collective enterprise' registered with the industry and commerce authorities, and there's no collateral or guarantee, so the support is weaker."

Li Zhe couldn't hide the joy on his face: With this money, we can build 20 mu of greenhouses, which is enough for now.

He knew the difference between vegetable cooperatives and collective enterprises: cooperatives are relatively loose organizations, farmers join voluntarily, and distribution is based on labor, with greater individual independence and fewer hidden dangers.

To put it bluntly, if Li Zhe decides he doesn't want to continue later on, he can quit at any time, take the money, and leave.

However, being affiliated with a collective enterprise is different. Ownership belongs to the collective, and accounting and distribution are unified, which may pose certain risks later on.

To describe it in two words: disgusting.

It's frustrating not to make money, but it's even more frustrating to make money. Why make yourself miserable?
“Brother Li? There’s something else I need to tell you.” Sun Liguo hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Yesterday I met Director Liu. She said that a leader at the Agricultural Bank of China is having a birthday party. That leader doesn’t like accepting gifts, so he wants to order some vegetables from you and send them over on his birthday.”

Li Zhe laughed and said, "Brother Sun, I may not have seen much of the world, but I do know how to get along with people. Whether it's Director Liu or you, just let us know in advance when you want to eat. I'd love for you to help promote our business. If you bring up money again, you'll just be scolding me."

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of Director Liu." Sun Liguo breathed a sigh of relief, as he was genuinely worried that Li Zhe was young and inexperienced.

After completing the loan procedures, Li Zhe kept a few kilograms of various vegetables and rushed to Beijing to deliver them.

The Li family's residence in a Suzhou alley.

Sun Tao and the others were getting a little impatient waiting in the living room.

Big Gold Tooth glanced at his watch: "Brother Wang, he usually arrives at 8 o'clock, but it's already past 9 o'clock today. Why hasn't he come yet? The client must be getting impatient."

Lu Dayou chimed in, "I heard from a friend that it seems to have snowed in Langfang."

Everyone tensed up upon hearing this. Snowy weather makes planting, harvesting, and transporting vegetables a real hassle.

Wang Jianjun also frowned. He couldn't communicate with his hometown from Beijing, so he didn't know much more than they did.

More than half an hour later, the sound of a truck was heard outside. Everyone hurriedly went out to check and saw Li Zhe getting out of the truck: "Sorry, guys, we're late today. It's snowing heavily in Langfang, the temperature in the greenhouse has dropped, and the roads are difficult to travel on."

Big Gold Tooth said ingratiatingly, "I understand, I understand. It's cold outside, Mr. Li. You should go inside and warm up."

Li Zhe entered the living room and poured himself a glass of cold water: "Brothers, there's something else I need to say. It gets colder after the snow, dropping below freezing during the day. Growing vegetables in greenhouses is more difficult, so vegetable prices will have to be adjusted upwards."

After learning about the snowfall, everyone was mentally prepared. Sun Tao took the initiative to ask, "So, how much do you think the price will rise?"

"Cucumbers will go up by one yuan." Li Zhe currently sells four kinds of vegetables: cucumbers, spinach, broccoli, and lettuce. The latter three vegetables have a shorter season and a higher premium, so Li Zhe doesn't plan to raise prices for the time being.

Sun Tao and the others had no objections. The vegetable market was in short supply, and they were sure they could make a profit by buying the vegetables from here for 7 yuan. It was just a matter of how much. Making less was better than making nothing.

Moreover, Li Zhe had mentioned the price increase beforehand, and with the heavy snowfall, they had no reason to refuse. After seeing Sun Tao and the others off, Li Zhe accompanied the vegetable delivery truck today to discuss the cucumber price increase with the managers of Quanjude and Donglaishun.

Because of prior communication and the snowy weather, there wasn't much resistance. Even if there were obstacles, Li Zhe wasn't afraid; there were plenty of people waiting to buy vegetables. If they couldn't afford it, he would reduce the supply and sell to other customers.

Around noon, Li Zhe returned to Suzhou Hutong in the car. Before even entering the gate, he called out, "Brother, is the coal loaded? We still have to go to the plastics factory, so we won't stay here any longer."

Wang Jianjun opened the door and said, "Zhezi, don't rush off, Uncle Zhenguo is here."

Li Zhe glanced inside and saw his second uncle sitting in the living room playing with the puppy.

"Second Uncle, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing his nephew wearing a woolen overcoat, Li Zhenguo paused for a moment before saying, "I came to see you. Your aunt knows there are a lot of people here, so she asked me to bring you some tickets."

"Second Uncle, please thank Auntie for me." Li Zhe wasn't short of tickets, but since his uncle had already handed them over, he couldn't very well refuse in person. He thought he'd tell his uncle later.

"Since you have other things to do, I won't stay any longer. I'll come back another day." Li Zhenguo stood up and made as if to leave.

Li Zhe called out to him, "Second Uncle, are you busy this afternoon?"

"Nothing's wrong, what's up?"

“I came here in a truck today. Why don’t you come home with me? My dad has been missing you for a long time.”

Li Zhenguo was stunned for a moment, walked to the door and looked outside. Sure enough, he saw a Jiefang truck parked outside: "Second brother, where did this truck come from?"

"I'm delivering cucumbers to Quanjude now. They saw that I was losing a lot of cucumbers when I used a tractor to transport them, so they helped me get a truck." As he spoke, Wang Jianjun put a basket of coal into the truck bed.

Li Zhenguo followed along and got into the driver's seat in a daze. The truck drove out of Beijing and he felt like he was dreaming.

As the car passed the checkpoint, two people waved from the roadside. The car stopped, Li Zhe greeted them, and the two men boarded the vehicle.

Li Zhenguo looked at the two men and they seemed familiar: "Are these two from our village?"

“They are the village militia. The roads have been dangerous lately, so Secretary Wang sent the militia to help us transport goods.”

Li Zhenguo asked in confusion, "Then why don't they go to the capital?"

“We can’t get in with our weapons on us,” Li Zhe replied with a smile. “Second Uncle, we need to go to the city first to load up the goods and bring them home.”

“Sure, I haven’t been to Langfang City for years, so I’ll take this opportunity to go for a visit.”

The car first went to the town's credit union to withdraw money, then drove to the Langfang City Plastics Factory. Li Zhe had ample funds and directly purchased 6000 square meters of plastic film.

Li Zhenguo was stunned by his nephew's extravagant business. He knew his nephew made money selling cucumbers, but he never imagined he could build such a large business. He had only been away for a few months; how could things have changed so much?

The closer he got to the village, the more anxious and expectant he became.

……

North of Daying Village, at the edge of Li Family's field.

Yesterday's snowfall wasn't very heavy. We covered the greenhouse with straw mats, scraped off each layer of snow with a rake, and lit the stove inside to raise the temperature.

Early in the morning, Lao Li organized people to clear the snow from the construction site to ensure that the three excavators could continue working. The weather was getting colder and colder, and the longer they delayed, the worse the construction would be.

After lunch and a short rest, Old Li told everyone to get back to work. They wanted to get as much work done as possible while it was still warm at midday; then they could finish work earlier as it gets dark sooner.

A truck approached from a distance, and Old Li walked to the side of the road. As soon as the truck stopped, a man got out of the passenger seat, his face lighting up with surprise: "Zhenguo! What brings you back?"

(End of this chapter)