Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 170 Time Difference

"He also shares the same surname as you, Li, and works at the Rural Policy Research Office of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, mainly researching rural reform, policies, and future development. I suspect he's particularly interested in vegetable greenhouses."

If you want to meet, I'll help introduce you. If you're not interested, that's fine too; I'll decline for you.

The waiter brought the lamb chops and pasta to the table. After the waiter left, Li Zhe asked, "Second Sister, what's his name?"

“I’ve never met Li Guoqing either. I heard he graduated from Peking University and published a book…” Second Sister recalled for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Oh dear, a friend mentioned it, but I can’t remember.”

“Li Guoqing…” Li Zhe muttered, feeling that the name was somewhat familiar, and then smiled and said, “Since it was introduced by my second sister’s friend, then I’ll meet him.”

“Okay, I’ll arrange a time for you.” Shen Yanan smiled. If Li Zhe was willing to meet the other party, she would also feel honored.

Li Zhe responded, as if remembering something, "Oh right, Section Chief Lin Weimin helped me complete the property transfer procedures. I've been wanting to invite him to dinner, and I'd like to invite him over to your place in a couple of days so we can all get together."

The second sister said, "Sure, the kid's happy as long as he can get free food and drinks."

Li Zhe took a knife and fork, cut the lamb chops into small pieces, and placed the plate in the middle of the table. "Tingting, Second Sister, these lamb chops smell delicious. You should try some too."

Li Zhe also forked a piece; it tasted pretty good, the lamb was very tender.

The lamb chops were small portions; after two pieces each, there was only a bone left. He secretly thought that when the weather got warmer, he would make a whole roasted lamb and some ice-cold beer—that would be so much better.

"Brother, there's something I'd like you to advise me on." As the second sister spoke, the other dishes were served.

Li Zhe ordered seafood risotto, while his second sister ordered a lasagna and a vegetable salad. The vegetable salad also included a communal salad tong.

"Okay, go ahead." Li Zhe picked up the salad tongs and put some vegetables on Wang Ting's plate.

The second sister said, "Today is January 18th, and there are only a dozen days left until Chinese New Year. We'll be resting for the New Year, but foreigners don't celebrate. I'm thinking the restaurant business can't stop, so how about we organize another 'New Year' event?"

Li Zhe did not answer immediately, but took two bites of seafood risotto.

I must say, the seafood risotto was quite generous with its ingredients, including mussels, prawns, and squid, and it was incredibly flavorful. The crispy rice crust at the bottom of the plate was just what he wanted. "How's business at your restaurant these days?"

"Not bad. There are people having coffee in the morning, the tables are more than half full at lunchtime, there's afternoon tea, and dinner is about 70-80% full." Listening to Shen Yanan's description, Li Zhe thought there was still a lot of room for improvement, and said:

"We definitely need to organize promotional activities for the New Year. Although foreigners don't celebrate the Lunar New Year, they are in China now and can still feel the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year. Moreover, these foreigners are different from us Chinese. They have better living conditions and more free time, and they are very enthusiastic about various activities and celebrations. If we give them an opportunity, I believe they will be happy to experience our traditional New Year culture."

Second sister, this time you have more time to prepare. I suggest you change all the restaurant membership cards and debit cards, like I said last time, make them out of plastic, the more upscale the better.”

"Yes, I had the same idea. I'll have Marty come up with a promotional plan later, and you can help me refine it."

"OK, no problem."

After lunch, Li Zhe and Wang Ting didn't leave immediately. The vegetable shop wasn't very busy in the afternoon, so they didn't need so many people.

The three of them sat in the restaurant and chatted for a while, and also had afternoon tea.

Through chatting, Wang Ting felt that her second sister seemed...not really that good at business.

After having afternoon tea, the two strolled back to the vegetable shop.

Li Zhe checked the store and found that all the missing stock had been replenished.

Around 4 p.m., the number of customers at the vegetable shop gradually increased, and everyone got busy again.

There were even more customers today than the previous two days. By 5:30, the off-season vegetables were sold out.

Li Zhe had a sign hung outside that read "Off-season vegetables sold out," so that guests wouldn't be upset if they came and found the vegetables were gone.

Li Zhe tallied today's sales figures, and overall, sales were higher than yesterday. Most of the short-shelf-life foods were sold out, with only three jin (approximately 1.5 kg) of Qin Chuan hybrid beef remaining.

Li Zhe plans to take it home and eat it himself today...

The door to the vegetable shop opened, and a blond, blue-eyed man walked in. He was wearing a black down jacket, green shorts, and sneakers, an outfit that stunned the shop assistants.

Lin Zhixia stepped forward and greeted, "Hello, sir, what would you like to order?"

The man said in somewhat broken Chinese, "I can understand Chinese. Do you still have spinach?"

"Sorry, we're sold out."

“I should have come earlier…” the man shrugged. “I also need beef and eggs.” Lin Zhixia led him to the meat section. “Our imported steaks are sold out. I recommend this Qin Chuan hybrid beef. The cattle are freshly slaughtered and sold only on the same day, so they are very fresh.”

“I know, I bought it yesterday. I want this kind of beef. I want all of this beef.”

Li Zhe walked over with a smile and asked, "Sir, what's your name?"

"My name is Wallace Parker, and I am from America."

"I'm Li Zhe, the owner of this store. I'd like to make a customer follow-up call with you, is that alright?"

“No problem, go ahead. I really enjoy communicating with you guys; it helps me learn Chinese. It’s really difficult; I’ve been studying it for a long time…” Wallace Parker shrugged, occasionally uttering an English word or two.

Li Zhe asked, "Mr. Parker, how did you learn about our store?"

“I saw the vegetables you had laid out when I passed by the door that day. I like spinach; it gives me strength.” As he spoke, Wallace Parker raised his right arm and made a gesture of bending his right arm.

After a moment's thought, Li Zhe smiled and said, "Popeye the Sailor Man."

Wallace Parker laughed, "Hey, haha, you've seen it too? I love this cartoon so much, I even bought the same pipe as Popeye, it's awesome."

Li Zhe guessed: "So, you like working out?"

“That’s right, I work out every day, my body fat percentage is very low, and I even have abs. Do you want to see?” Wallace Parker said, taking off his down jacket.

"No need, thank you." Li Zhe pointed to the Qin Chuan hybrid beef that the shop assistant had packed and asked, "What do you think of this beef?"

"Well, the beef is fresh and chewy, but the flavor is a bit lacking."

Li Zhe pressed further, "Is your reason for repeat purchases because of the affordability, or for other reasons?"

“Affordability is one aspect, but more importantly, I think this beef has less fat.” Wallace Parker raised his right arm again, making a bent-arm gesture. “High protein and low fat help with fitness and make me healthier.”

Li Zhe looked thoughtful; Wallace Parker's words had given him some inspiration. But he still had more questions and didn't dwell on them, continuing, "Mr. Parker, what other items do you think my store needs to add?"

Wallace Parker thought for a moment, “I think we can add some more seasonings, such as rosemary, which gives steak a special pine-like aroma when you put it on; and thyme, which is a must when you roast chicken.”

There are also some fish products, such as salmon and sea bass, which I absolutely love, but it's rare to find them in Beijing.

Li Zhe was about to write it down when he saw Sun Tao already taking notes in a notebook.

Salmon and sea bass were hard for Li Zhe to get, but he could manage to get fruits and vegetables. "Vegetables and fruits, is there anything else you'd like to eat?"

Wallace Parker thought for a moment, "I like snow peas, asparagus, and watermelon, but you don't seem to have those here. Also, the lemons in your shop are too sour, I don't really like them..."

The lemons in Li Zhe's shop are locally sourced from the south. He said, "We will try our best to increase these products, and we will also improve any areas that are lacking."

Li Zhe felt like something was missing, so after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you like avocados?"

Wallace Parker shook his head, looking resistant. "No, no, no, avocados are too high in fat. They're unhealthy, junk food. We rarely eat them in America."

Li Zhe frowned. In his memory, foreigners seemed to really like avocados and always touted them as a healthy food that could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Could it be because of a generational information gap...?

Li Zhe chatted with Wallace Parker for a while, gaining a more concrete understanding of America in that era. Combining this with his knowledge from later generations, he roughly figured out the whole story.

During this era, the United States experienced overproduction, which led to the establishment of a "high-sugar diet system" driven by capital. Per capita calorie intake soared, resulting in a sharp increase in obesity rates. Obesity was widespread among the lower classes, and fitness and low-fat diet cultures began to emerge.

After chatting for a while longer, Wallace Parker realized it was getting late and decided to go home. Li Zhe gave him a 20% discount and saw him to the store entrance.

Wallace Parker's words gave him a lot of inspiration. What Americans like to eat, or rather their dietary structure, is largely driven by American capitalism.

As Wallace Parker said, avocados were considered an unhealthy food in the 1980s.

However, in later generations, avocados, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, were touted as a health food. This was due to both technological advancements and the driving force of capital, such as changing the name, repackaging and promoting the product, and having a few experts from scientific institutions publish related health reports.

Over time, they managed to turn the foods on the blacklist into healthy foods for everyday consumption.

Li Zhe thought that since foreigners liked this approach, perhaps he could also use it to promote the beef in his restaurant...

(End of this chapter)