Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 153 The storm arises

Donglin Village, Wanzhuang Town.

Donglin Village is not far from Daying Village. It took my quick-witted wife about ten minutes to get there.

She was wearing a thick cotton coat, wrapping herself up like a dumpling. After entering the village, she slowed down her bicycle, her small eyes constantly scanning her surroundings.

She's been really feeling stifled lately. She's got some huge gossip, but hasn't had a chance to share it with anyone, leaving her feeling like she's scratching an itch through her boots all the time. She really wants to find a group of people to have a good chat with, talking about all sorts of everyday things.

She really didn't dare go to the consignment store in Daying Village. That little rascal Lin Xiaohu was cunning and had truly terrified her.

Having exhausted all other options, she decided to go to a neighboring village to gossip. She figured a ten-minute bike ride each day would be her form of exercise. Plus, gossiping in a neighboring village meant she had fewer reservations. Otherwise, she wouldn't have felt comfortable discussing Zhu Yimin's family gossip in her own village.

The fast-talking wife had been to the consignment store in Donglin Village before. It was also a favorite gathering place for the women of the village, and it was her destination for the day.

The quick-talking wife parked her bicycle outside the shop, lifted the curtain, and entered the consignment store. The layout inside was almost identical to Zhang Yuzhen's family's consignment store, with glass counters and four rows of wooden shelves displaying all sorts of goods.

In the middle of the store, several elderly women were chatting around a stove, a familiar scene that gave her a sense of warmth.

The female owner of the consignment store was in her thirties, with round cheeks and a round belly, looking like she was pregnant.

The proprietress smiled and asked, "Ma'am, what would you like to order?"

The talkative wife's gaze swept across the shelves, finally landing on the sunflower seeds in the bag. "Boss lady, how much are these sunflower seeds?"

"Fifty cents a pound."

"You're not selling this for cheap."

The proprietress smiled and said, "It's the end of the year, so prices have gone up. Shall I weigh out two pounds for you?"

"Give me half a pound." The quick-tongued wife felt a pang of pain. She had never paid for melon seeds at Zhang Yuzhen's house before, and she thought to herself that she was really going to spend a lot this time.

The proprietress took out a scale and weighed half a jin of sunflower seeds. She even showed it to her quick-tongued wife, saying, "Look, the scale is quite high. Come again next time if you're satisfied."

"Don't tie your mouth anymore, it's too cold outside, I'll warm up here." The quick-talking wife took the yellow paper packet, picked up a pill and started knocking it out.

The proprietress greeted us warmly: "There are stools over there; sit by the stove to warm up. Ma'am, you look unfamiliar. What's your name? Which village are you from?"

The talkative wife grabbed a chair and sat on the outer edge of the group of old women warming themselves by the fire. She wasn't too happy with this spot; she used to sit in the middle. "My surname is Liu, and I'm from the neighboring Daying Village."

A tall woman in her forties said, "My sister married into Daying Village. Her name is Wang Erni. Do you know her?"

"Wang Erni?" The quick-tongued wife squinted her eyes and thought for a moment, then smacked her lips. "I don't remember her. Who did she marry?"

"Old Chu's family in the south of the village."

The quick-tongued wife thought fast. There weren't many people with the surname Chu in the village. She slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh dear, it must be Wang Dajiao!"

The tall woman, Wang Dani, smiled and gestured with her hands: "Yes, yes, my sister has big feet, so everyone in the village calls her Big Feet."

"Haha..." The talkative wife laughed, spitting out the sunflower seed shells from her mouth. "We all know Wang Dajiao in our village, but Wang Erni? I didn't really recognize her. Those big feet were longer than a man's..."

Many people in neighboring villages are related by marriage; knowing one person can connect you to a whole area, and they all live relatively close to each other.

Wang Dani felt a little embarrassed, pouted, and didn't reply.

An elderly woman with bound feet asked while sewing shoe soles, "I heard that some people in your village have built vegetable greenhouses, more than a dozen in a row. Are they making a lot of money?"

The quick-talking wife said, "Making money is a given, but that stuff costs money too. Building a greenhouse costs several thousand yuan, and you also have to hire people. I reckon all the money you earn will be poured into it."

The old woman with bound feet exclaimed in surprise, "My goodness, several thousand dollars! That's so much money!"

Seeing everyone looking at her, the talkative wife was in a great mood and continued, "Moreover, greenhouses can not only make money, but they can also harm people."

The proprietress, finding it eerie, also came closer, "Ah! What does that mean?"

The quick-talking wife said in a serious tone, "There's a guy in our village named Zhu Yimin who also built a greenhouse. One day, he was working in the greenhouse by himself and almost suffocated. Luckily, someone came by and saved him."

The old woman with bound feet listened intently. "My goodness, that's terrifying! How is he now?"

"The person was saved and took a month to recover, but they became so thin that they looked unrecognizable and sickly."

Wang Dani seemed to remember something. "I remember now, my sister mentioned it briefly, and it seems like there was such a thing. After this incident, I guess that guy surnamed Zhu won't dare to build greenhouses anymore."

Everyone else nodded in agreement; it did sound frightening.

The quick-tongued wife laughed and said, "You're mistaken! He not only works in the greenhouse now, but he also sleeps there at night!"

"Ah! What's going on? Has that person gone mad?"

"He's already been burned by greenhouses once, how dare he still live in one?"

"Don't his family members stop him? Aren't they afraid he'll die inside?"

"Yes, he's ignorant, and his family is ignorant too," several old women chimed in.

The talkative wife said mysteriously, "There's something... I can't tell you about this..."

Seeing their talkative wife like this, the women were at their wits' end. They had finally heard something interesting, so why did she stop talking?

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Yes, sister, what exactly happened?" "Is that person possessed by an evil spirit?" The women asked again.

The quick-tongued wife then reluctantly said, "He was forced into living in the greenhouse because he had no other choice..."

The talkative wife was surrounded by a group of older women, and they talked non-stop from noon until evening. After holding it in for so many days, she finally got to chat to her heart's content...

She also revealed all the details of Zhu Yimin's family affairs, which can be summarized in one sentence: During Zhu Yimin's illness, his wife secretly gave all the money he earned from growing vegetables to her family. After that, Zhu Yimin had a fight with his wife and was forced to move into the greenhouse.

The old women, who were used to gossiping and knew all the dirty secrets in the village, quickly summarized it in three words: "eating up the family fortune."

The old lady with bound feet was initially intrigued, but the more she listened, the more suspicious it seemed—the Zhou family of Yangma Village, with their eldest daughter Zhou Yufeng and son Zhou Yuhu.

His daughter-in-law is also from Yangma Village; her name is Zhou Yuxia.

The old woman with bound feet knew about her daughter-in-law's family situation; all the brothers and sisters had the character "Yu" in their names, so they might even be from the same family.

When she got home and mentioned it, it turned out there was indeed a connection: Zhou Yufeng was her daughter-in-law's cousin, and Zhou Yuhu was her cousin.

Upon hearing this, the old lady's face immediately fell, and she launched into a lecture on her daughter-in-law, inevitably offering her a few pointed criticisms.

Zhou Yuxia felt wronged, but she also knew that if this were true, her Zhou family would be in the wrong. If word got out, she, as a married-out daughter, would also lose face, so she returned to Yangma Village that very night.

When Zhou Yuxia arrived at her uncle's house, Old Zhou, Zhou's mother, and Zhou Yuhu were having dinner in their new house. Looking at the spacious new house, Zhou Yuxia felt more and more that the rumors might be true—her uncle's family hadn't been very well-off to begin with, so how did they manage to build a house all of a sudden?

But blood is thicker than water, and since they all share the same surname, they are family. She told her mother-in-law everything she had heard.

After hearing this, Old Zhou was furious and smashed the bowl and chopsticks.

Zhou Yuxia originally meant well, but after seeing this, she didn't want to stay any longer and left the Zhou family.

After seeing Zhou Yuxia off, Zhou's mother closed the door and complained, "That woman surnamed Liu has such a sharp tongue! She's ruining our family's reputation! Father, you need to make a decision about this!"

"Hmph, if you ask me, Zhu Yimin must have been behind this. Otherwise, how would that gossiping woman know so much?" Zhou Yuhu snorted, rolled up his sleeves, and cursed.

“That Zhu guy is so heartless! His family was so poor back then, and they were a single household, but we didn’t look down on him and even married my sister into his family. Now we’ve only lent him some money, why is he badmouthing us behind our backs? It’s just three thousand yuan, I’ll pay him back when I earn the money.”

Zhou's mother said, "Father, after we finished building the house, we still had some money left over. Why don't we take some of it and return it to the Zhu family?"

Mr. Zhou lit a cigarette and took a puff. "That money is saved for Yu Hu's marriage proposal next year. Shouldn't we buy some things for the new bride when she enters the family?"

Zhou's mother loved her son, but she was also afraid that her daughter would be caught in the middle, so she said, "If it really doesn't work out, we can wait for Yu Hu's marriage. Otherwise, if this matter gets out, not only will our Zhou family lose face, but Yu Feng will also be talked about behind her back."

"Mother, how old am I this year? You still want me to wait another year!" Zhou Yuhu protested, standing up abruptly and counting on his fingers. "I'm actually twenty-three, but I'm also twenty-four by the Chinese age reckoning. I'll be twenty-five by the New Year. I'm getting old in the blink of an eye. I can't sleep soundly at night, and I'm always drowsy while working. When will this end?"

Zhou's mother said, "Why are you throwing a tantrum at me if you can't find a wife?"

Zhou Yuhu said matter-of-factly, "Where am I supposed to find a wife? Every family in this world has had their wives arranged by their parents for generations..."

Zhou's father interrupted the two: "Stop arguing! The root of the problem still lies with Zhu Yimin. Let him move back home from the greenhouse first, then no one can talk about this. We can put the money issue aside for now. If your brother-in-law borrows money to get married, your sister and brother-in-law can help out, and no one can say anything about it."

Zhou Yuhu chimed in, "That's right! That money wasn't just Zhu Yimin's; it was my sister's too. I only borrowed money to get married; it's not like I'm not going to pay him back. He's already married, so why should I be a bachelor?"

Zhou's father took a deep drag on his cigarette and stubbed it out. "Alright, get ready and go to sleep. Mother, tomorrow you go find Yu Feng, and Yu Hu and I will go to the greenhouse to find Zhu Yimin and persuade him to come home."

……

Daying Village.

North of the village, Li's greenhouse.

In the afternoon, Li Zhe took a car back to Daying Village, ate a quick meal, and then, together with Teacher Chen, led a group of people to transplant the fruit and vegetable seedlings they had brought back from university into the greenhouse, working for half a day.

That evening, I had a few more drinks with Teacher Chen and arranged his accommodation.

Only now did Li Zhe have some free time, sitting at the table in shed number 3 to do the accounting.

Business is small now, so he can manage the accounts himself. But once the business grows, he'll definitely need to hire a professional accountant; otherwise, he'll be exhausted from doing the books every day.

Old Li came over carrying a basin of water for washing feet, and while soaking his feet, he said, "What are the arrangements for Teacher Chen's future? He can't stay in the shed forever, can he?"

Li Zhe didn't answer. He wrote for a while longer before saying, "That definitely won't work. Teacher Chen is just curious about it now. After a while, he'll lose interest. We'll find him a new place to live. I'll have my mother ask around to see if anyone has a spare house. We can rent it and tidy it up in advance."

“Reliable.” Old Li nodded, rubbing his feet thoughtfully. “A couple of days ago, Secretary Wang came by. I mentioned the homestead to him and asked him to help me apply for it. Also, I asked if I could spend more money to buy another homestead, but Secretary Wang said that the current policy doesn’t allow it, and he couldn’t say for sure what would happen in the future.”

Li Zhe still felt that one plot of land was a bit too small, and suggested, "How about we move our two plots of land together? I'll pay for the construction, and after you and Mom pass away, both houses will belong to me. I'll also contribute some money to help my brother out."

“Your brother is easy to talk to. Based on my understanding of your sister-in-law, she shouldn’t have any objections…” Old Li frowned: “However, there are no vacant plots of land around our old house. How do we plan to exchange them?”

Li Zhe suggested, "I plan to choose a new homestead near the north of the village, so why not exchange the old homestead for this one as well?"

"We've lived in this old house for so many years..." Old Li was a little reluctant to part with it.

Li Zhe could understand his father's idea: "Doesn't my uncle have a plot of land for building houses in the north of the village? He and my aunt don't come back to live here, so why don't we exchange it with my uncle's family? He can keep the old house, and then the two new plots of land in the north of the village can be combined to build a bigger yard."

Old Li hesitated for a while, then said, "Alright, it's all from our Li family anyway. I'll talk to your uncle about it later."

Li Zhe instructed, "Dad, please pay attention to building the house. Try to finish it by next spring and let it air out for a while. The new house will be cool, and we can move in during the summer."

Li Zhe couldn't feel at ease until the new house was finished.

(End of this chapter)