Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 131 Talent
In the afternoon, Li Zhe rode his bicycle to the Mona Lisa Restaurant.

He could see a green Christmas tree at the restaurant entrance from a distance, decorated with colorful ornaments and fairy lights.

Li Zhe parked his bicycle at the door and looked inside through the window. The interior was also decorated in bright red, looking very festive.

He pushed open the glass door, and two waiters dressed as Santa Claus bowed slightly and said in English, "Welcome."

At that moment, Shen Yanan was talking to a few waiters when she saw Li Zhe arrive and greeted him: "Brother Li, how's the property transfer going? Is Lin Weimin still reliable?"

"Second sister, I really have to thank you for this. Section Chief Lin has already come up with a solution, and we should be able to get the property sale completed before the landlord goes abroad." Li Zhe sincerely thanked her. If it weren't for Shen Yanan's connections, he might not have been able to buy the house at all.

"No need for thanks, we're friends, helping each other is only natural. As long as the matter is settled, that's fine." She greeted him, "I've already printed the flyers and membership cards, would you like to come and take a look?"

"So fast?" Li Zhe was a little surprised by Shen Yanan's efficiency.

“We have to hurry, Christmas is just around the corner. I asked a friend to expedite this at their workplace.” Shen Yanan picked up a flyer from the counter and handed it to Li Zhe.

The flyer has a bright red background and features elements such as Santa Claus, reindeer, and Christmas trees.

The sign above reads "Let's celebrate Christmas together" in both Chinese and English.

Below is a white background with black text at the top, advertising the restaurant's promotional benefits:
Benefit #1: All guests will enjoy a 8% discount on all items for three days before and after Christmas.

Benefit #2: Spend 99 RMB or more on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to participate in a Christmas lucky draw and win a premium Christmas gift.

Benefit #3: Recharge discounts will be offered during the Christmas season.
Top up 500 yuan and get 80 yuan free;
Top up 1000 yuan and get 200 yuan free;
Top up 2000 yuan and get 500 yuan free.

Benefit #4: Receive a free apple upon entering the store on Christmas Eve...

The first three comments seemed reasonable, but when Li Zhe saw the fourth one, he laughed: "Second sister, what's the meaning of giving apples on Christmas Eve?"

Shen Yanan said with a smile, "Brother, I thought you knew everything, but it turns out you have blind spots too. Foreigners eat apples on Christmas Eve. Last year, my friend and I went to the Jianguo Hotel, and they gave us apples on Christmas Eve. You know what, they tasted pretty good."

Li Zhe said, "Second sister, this is how I understand it. The word 'peace' and the character 'ping' in 'apple' are homophones in Chinese. Is it possible that after Christmas was introduced to China, people combined local culture with Western holidays to create the unique Chinese custom of eating apples on Christmas Eve?"

Li Zhe also had another theory: in the early 1980s, Christmas had just been introduced to China. Some people involved in foreign affairs wanted to celebrate Christmas, but due to scarcity of resources, the only fruit available in December was apples. Combined with the homophonic pun in Chinese, people ate apples to celebrate.

As for why this tradition has continued to this day, it is very likely that apple sellers, in order to promote their apples, used a deceptive tactic, vigorously promoting the idea of ​​eating apples on Christmas Eve, which facilitated the widespread dissemination of this custom.

"Holy crap, really? Foreigners don't eat apples on Christmas Eve?" Shen Yanan was a little confused. She had always thought that eating apples on Christmas Eve was a foreign custom.

Li Zhe glanced at the flyer: "Overall, it's not bad. The flaws don't detract from its overall excellence. Let's just distribute it like this. Maybe foreigners will find it interesting and want to try the Christmas Eve apples."

Shen Yanan then gave a few more instructions to the employees, telling them to wear Santa hats and go out to hand out flyers.

Shen Yanan pointed to a short-haired woman standing next to her and said, "Her name is Marty, and she's the restaurant's lobby manager. She helps with management when I'm not at the restaurant. You can look for her when I'm not there."

“Okay.” Li Zhe had already noticed this woman named Mati and discovered that she was in charge of managing the grassroots employees.

Shen Yanan then took out a stack of cards the size of business cards: "Brother Li, these are membership cards I just had printed. What do you think?"

There are four types of cards: The first type is a regular recharge card, with "Recharge Card" written on a white background in black letters, and the restaurant's logo is also printed on it.

The second one is also white with black lettering, but it says "Membership Card".

The third card has a white background with black text and a gold border, and it says "Gold Card" on it.

The fourth card is black with the gold logo of the Mona Lisa restaurant printed on it.

To be honest, Li Zhe thought it was just so-so: "Second sister, since it's already designed, let's use it for now. When there's a new event next time, I suggest we switch to plastic cards. They're less likely to get damaged and look more sophisticated."

Shen Yanan nodded: "This time it was indeed a bit rushed, we'll have to wait until next time." Then she took out a black card with the number 001 on it, "Brother Li, this card is yours, you'll get a 6% discount whenever you eat at the restaurant from now on."

Li Zhe laughed and said, "A 6% discount isn't enough, I want a 5% discount." As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of foreign exchange certificates from his pocket, "I'll deposit 2000 yuan first."

"Tsk tsk, Brother Li is really generous! Knowing you're rich, I won't stand on ceremony with you, haha." Shen Yanan laughed as she accepted the money.

It's worth noting that she spends over 400 foreign exchange certificates every day on vegetables from Li Zhe, and that's just for her one restaurant.

Whether it was due to the promotional flyers or the Christmas season, the restaurant started serving customers at 5 pm. By 6 pm, the tables were full, and some people were even waiting for seats in the lobby.

Shen Yanan stood behind the counter, trying her best to suppress her expression, but the pursed corners of her mouth still betrayed her true feelings.

This was the first time she had seen so many customers since the restaurant opened: "My God, am I about to become rich?"

She felt it was all a bit unreal, and a little out of place.

12 month 24 day.

It's approaching noon.

On Jianguomenwai Street, Zhou Qinghe rode his bicycle, struggling against the cold wind.

A bicycle followed behind her; it belonged to her agricultural university professor, Chen Shougeng.

The two rode to the Mona Lisa Restaurant. Zhou Qinghe parked the bike at the entrance, while Chen Shougeng, holding the bicycle with his right hand and adjusting his glasses with his left, looked at the Christmas tree and the "Foreign Exchange Certificate Settlement" sign at the entrance, his tone somewhat uncertain: "Qinghe, have we come to the wrong place?"

Zhou Qinghe looked at the sign above her head: "That's right, this is it." Zhou Qinghe looked inside through the glass window, "Hey, this restaurant looks pretty good, and it's full of foreigners."

Chen Shougeng whispered, "This is a restaurant catering to foreigners. Not only are the prices high, but they also use foreign exchange certificates for payment."

“It’s alright, we don’t need to treat you.” Zhou Qinghe pushed open the glass door and walked in confidently. Chen Shougeng hesitated for a moment, then followed her in.

"Welcome!" The waitress wearing a Santa hat asked with a smile. "How many of you are there? Do you have a reservation?"

“We are friends of Mr. Li Zhe, and he asked us to meet here.”

"Mr. Li is on the second floor of the restaurant. Please follow me." The waitress led the two up the stairs.

As Zhou Qinghe walked around, she found the restaurant's Christmas decorations and atmosphere novel; it was the first time she had ever been to a restaurant like this.

Chen Shougeng wasn't much better off than Zhou Qinghe. Although he was a university teacher, his profession rarely involved interacting with people, and he didn't have many opportunities to come into contact with foreigners. This was his first time visiting a Western restaurant catering to international guests.

The two went upstairs one after the other. There were fewer customers on the second floor than on the first floor, and some seats were not yet full.

Li Zhe was sitting by the window. When he saw the two of them come up, he stood up and waved: "Qinghe, over here!"

"My goodness, when did you develop such good taste? You actually chose such a high-end place." Zhou Qinghe sat opposite Li Zhe, touching the red tablecloth and feeling the softness of the leather chair. Everything about her seemed so amazing.

“This is a restaurant owned by a friend, so there are discounts.” Li Zhe replied, then looked at the middle-aged man next to him, “Is this Teacher Chen? Qinghe, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

"I forgot, I was so busy looking at the interesting things." Zhou Qinghe cleared his throat and said solemnly, "This is Professor Chen from Beijing Agricultural University. This is Mr. Li Zhe, the president of Daying Vegetable Cooperative."

Li Zhe extended his hand proactively: "Professor Chen, I have long admired your name. I have heard Qinghe mention you as an expert in vegetable breeding. I hope you will take good care of me in the future."

Chen Shougeng shook hands with Li Zhe: "President Li, you flatter me."

Zhou Qinghe interrupted their polite conversation: "Is there anything good to eat? Let's order something first." She then asked in a low voice, "Mr. Li, it seems like everything is settled in foreign currency. Could you be a little more flexible?"

"Order whatever you like, don't try to save me money." Li Zhe asked the waiter for another menu and handed it to Chen Shougeng. "Teacher Chen, what would you like to eat? Order whatever you like."

Chen Shougeng glanced at the menu and pushed it back: "I'm fine with anything. You can order whatever you like."

Zhou Qinghe suggested, "How about we get a Christmas set meal? It includes roast turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, and vegetable salad. For dessert, there's pumpkin pie and gingerbread house. That's enough for the three of us."

Li Zhe glanced at it and nodded: "Okay, let's order this set meal then. What would you two like to drink?"

Chen Shougeng said, "I'll just drink plain water."

Zhou Qinghe's eyes lit up: "I'd like a cup of coffee."

After ordering, the waiter left, and Li Zhe got straight to the point: "Professor Chen, what brings you here today?"

"I wouldn't dare to offer advice," Chen Shougeng said after thinking for a moment. "It's funny, the other day when Qinghe showed me her graduation thesis, I thought she had fabricated experimental data. Later I found out that she had actually cultivated a batch of mushrooms in your greenhouse."

What surprised me even more was hearing that your greenhouse uses unique insulation technology. Aside from needing additional heating during extreme weather, can it maintain a suitable temperature solely through sunlight and insulation? This energy-saving and environmentally friendly planting method is unheard of at our agricultural university. I wonder if I might have the opportunity to visit and learn from it?

Li Zhe looked troubled: "Teacher Chen, to be honest, apart from Qinghe, I have never invited anyone else to visit the greenhouse. So I'd like to know what your specific reason is for wanting to visit the greenhouse?"

During their conversation, the waiter brought coffee and hot water. Chen Shougeng took a sip of the hot water, leaned forward slightly, and a hint of enthusiasm appeared in his eyes:
"Although Qinghe did not go into detail about the specific construction structure of the greenhouse, I can roughly guess its characteristics: it forms a relatively closed environment with high humidity, and moisture is not easily lost; at the same time, the covering of the film will reduce the intensity of natural light; its soil environment and the pattern of disease occurrence are significantly different from those of open-field planting."

His tone became increasingly serious: "Most of the vegetable seeds currently being marketed are cultivated for open-field planting environments. In this special greenhouse environment, they often fail to adapt—their yield and disease resistance are greatly reduced."

At this point, Chen Shougeng's tone became somewhat excited:
"If what Qinghe says is true, and the greenhouses you built can stably produce winter vegetables, it means that you have the technical foundation to promote the large-scale cultivation of winter vegetables and solve the problem of having difficulty getting vegetables in winter."

My specialty is vegetable breeding. After visiting your greenhouse, I'd like to specifically breed new varieties adapted to the greenhouse environment to increase vegetable yield, enhance plant resistance to high humidity, low light, and specific diseases, and even optimize the growth cycle and shorten the ripening time…”

(End of this chapter)