Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 181 Site Selection
The backyard of No. 7 Courtyard in Suzhou Hutong.

The door to the west wing opened, and Tan Jingya, wearing a red woolen coat, came out of the room. She glanced at the north room; people had been coming and going frequently these past two days, and the Ji family mother and son seemed to be moving furniture around. She felt both annoyed and amused.

She locked the door to the west wing and pushed her bicycle out the door.

As soon as she opened the gate, she heard footsteps outside. Peeking out, she saw a person in a military overcoat walking quickly away with their back to the gate.

She recognized the figure as a woman and tentatively asked, "Are you Officer Bai?"

The man in the military overcoat in front of them stopped in his tracks.

Tan Jingya closed the courtyard gate, pushed her bicycle over, and said, "Officer Bai, since you're here, why don't you come in?"

Bai Xiaoyan turned around, looking somewhat haggard, and asked, "I heard you and Ji Hongbin got divorced."

"Yes, the formalities have been completed," Tan Jingya said frankly without hiding anything.

Bai Xiaoyan took a deep breath: "He... he's really going abroad! To America?"

Tan Jingya said with a smile, "Why don't you go ask him?"

Bai Xiaoyan retorted stubbornly, "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. I was just asking casually. He can go wherever he wants. What does it have to do with me?"

Perhaps because of her divorce from Ji Hongbin, Tan Jingya suddenly found this girl's personality quite interesting: "He's going abroad. I don't know the exact date, but it should be soon. The house has been sold, and the furniture in the yard has been mostly cleared out."

"The house and furniture have all been sold!" Bai Xiaoyan's lips trembled slightly, as if incredulous. "He... he's not coming back?"

"He probably won't come back, who knows?" Ji Hongbin has already sold his house, and even if he does return, the two may never see each other again. Tan Jingya's heart was also filled with complicated emotions, and she didn't appear as relaxed as she seemed.

"Why did you choose to divorce Ji Hongbin instead of going abroad with him?" Bai Xiaoyan asked, voicing the question that had been nagging at her.

"Although I don't know much about foreign countries, I know Ji Hongbin's mother and sister. They might not take me abroad, and even if they did, I wouldn't have a good life..." Tan Jingya sighed, looking at Bai Xiaoyan with a sincere tone.
"Officer Bai, I know you don't like me, and you think I stole Ji Hongbin from you. But actually..."

Even if I hadn't married Ji Hongbin, he still wouldn't have married you.

"Nonsense! Ji Hongbin and I..." Bai Xiaoyan became anxious, glaring at Tan Jingya and asking, "Why? What did Ji Hongbin say to you?"

"Ji Hongbin didn't say anything, but you won't be able to get past his mother either..."

"I have something to do, so I'll be going now. The gate isn't locked." After saying that, Tan Jingya got on her bicycle and left.

Standing in the cold wind, Bai Xiaoyan recalled her past with Ji Hongbin, and the scene of meeting Old Madam Ji. It seemed...it seemed...the old lady really hadn't spoken to her on her own initiative...

"Hehe..." Bai Xiaoyan's voice was somewhat desolate, yet also somewhat relieved.

……

365 Vegetable Store.

After a few days of trial operation, the vegetable store is now doing quite well. Of course, many problems have also arisen in the process.

Li Zhe visits the vegetable store every day to promptly identify and correct any problems.

Li Zhe walked to the meat section and saw many ice packs on it. He could clearly feel a chill as he walked to the side.

Li Zhe picked up an ice pack and weighed it in his hand. "Who prepared this ice pack? It's a good idea."

Standing to the side, Sun Tao replied, "Brother Li, I prepared it. They have this at the Chongwenmen vegetable market. I asked Director Han for some. The weather is cold now, so it will freeze solid overnight. During the day, the temperature in our store is around seven or eight degrees Celsius, and at noon it can even reach 10 degrees Celsius, which is perfect for using ice packs to cool it down and keep it fresh."

"Your idea is good; it might be useful for a while." Li Zhe put down the ice pack, clapped his hands, and
"The cheapest imported refrigerated display cases cost over 2 yuan. I don't think it's necessary to buy such expensive equipment right now. I'd like to see if there are any domestic brands of refrigerated display cases. If you have time, you can also inquire about them. If we can get one for a few thousand yuan, we'll buy one."

Now that the weather is cold, ice packs can be used to keep food fresh; however, when the weather gets warmer, even with ice packs, the preservation effect won't be as good. A refrigerated display case is still necessary.

"Brother Li, I've got it. I'll go to the refrigeration equipment factory to inquire when I have time." The refrigerated display case is related to the vegetable store's future revenue, and the store's revenue is directly linked to his bonus, so he will naturally pay close attention to it.

The shop wasn't busy at the moment, so Li Zhe called out to everyone, "Everyone, please stop what you're doing. I have a few words to say."

Chen Ju asked with a smile, "Boss, are you giving us bonuses because you see we're working too hard?"

"Don't worry, I've remembered the bonuses, you'll all get yours," Li Zhe replied, then changed the subject...
"During the trial operation, I have observed everyone's performance and also noticed some minor issues. For example, the weighing and cashiering processes are inefficient, restocking is not timely, and there is a lack of attention to store hygiene."

Of course, these problems are not caused by subjective factors, but rather because everyone is new to this job and is not familiar with the operations.

After these few days of trial operation, I found that these problems have been improved. Therefore, I have decided that the 365 Vegetable Store will officially open the day after tomorrow!
There will also be some newly arrived fruits and vegetables, and the meat section will be stocked more frequently. As long as sales performance improves, everyone's bonuses will increase.

Lin Zhixia asked, "Boss, should we issue bonuses in foreign exchange certificates or RMB?" Li Zhe smiled and countered, "What do you want?"

Chen Ju quickly answered, "That goes without saying, it must be foreign exchange certificates!"

“No problem. As long as you work hard, you’ll all get foreign exchange certificates.” Li Zhe wasn’t a stingy person; as long as his employees worked diligently, he wouldn’t hesitate to spend money.

Li Zhe said a few more words, and when he saw that guests had arrived, he ended the meeting.

He walked up to Wang Ting and said, "Tingting, I have something to do this afternoon, so I'll be leaving soon. If you're tired, go home first."

Wang Ting nodded: "Go ahead and get busy, we're enough for the shop. Oh, by the way, I have some things to take care of tomorrow, so I might be a little late."

Li Zhe countered, "Do you need my help?"

"No need, I can handle it myself." Wang Ting didn't elaborate, and Li Zhe didn't press for details. He said goodbye to Sun Tao, then got on his bicycle and left.

Li Zhe rode his bicycle straight to Chongwenmen West Street. The shop's specific address was located on the eastern section of Chongwenmen West Street, which is the core area of ​​old Beijing, adjacent to the east side of Tiananmen Square, and only 10 minutes away from the Qianmen business district.

Wang Jianjun stood in front of a shop, wearing a blue down jacket with his hands tucked into his sleeves, and waved to Li Zhe, who was riding a bicycle: "Zhezi, over here!"

Li Zhe stopped his bicycle and asked, "Has Sister Tan arrived yet?"

“She’s talking to the person renting the room inside,” Wang Jianjun said in a low voice. “The person renting the room is also a woman, in her thirties, and she looks like an official.”

Li Zhe nodded. He had already inquired about the origins of the shop from Tan Jingya. The shop belonged to the Chongwen District Catering Service Company, and the person in charge of renting the property was likely the department head of the company.

When did they arrive?

"I just arrived."

Li Zhe had a plan in mind and stepped into the shop. Sure enough, he saw Tan Jingya chatting with a woman wearing a light blue down jacket. The woman was short and was holding a thermos.

Li Zhe greeted them with a smile: "I'm sorry I'm late, I've kept you both waiting."

Tan Jingya introduced the woman with the thermos cup: "Section Chief Wang, this is my partner, Boss Li."

She then turned to Li Zhe and said, "This is the Section Chief Wang I mentioned to you."

Li Zhe handed over a bag: "Section Chief Wang, it's nice to meet you. I brought you some small gifts. I hope you'll take good care of me in the future."

Section Chief Wang glanced at it and saw it was a bag from the Beijing Friendship Store. He was somewhat surprised, but he smiled and took the bag, saying, "Mr. Li, you're too kind. You're giving me such an expensive gift on our first meeting."

"Don't be so polite with me, I just love making friends." Li Zhe put a box of cookies and a box of wafers in the bag.

It might not mean much to him, but for ordinary people, these imported snacks are quite rare. They're suitable whether for children or as gifts. Li Zhe figured the other party would most likely choose the latter, so it wasn't his concern.

Li Zhe walked around the shop. The shop was partitioned off in the middle with wooden boards, suggesting it had likely been sublet before. "Section Chief Wang, what did this shop do before?"

Section Chief Wang replied, "It used to be a storefront of the Chongwen District Sugar, Tobacco and Wine Company. There was a grocery counter on the west side, a tailor shop on the east side, and a passageway in the middle."

Li Zhe wandered around the shop. There was a partition in the middle, which he tapped with his finger and found to be hollow. After removing the partition, the entire shop was square, perfect for opening a restaurant.

The shop's floor is worn, but overall it's fairly flat. Since it was previously rented out separately, the windows and doors need repair.

"Section Chief Wang, how big is this shop?"

Section Chief Wang recalled: "The floor below should be 108 square meters."

Li Zhe nodded. The shop was in a great location. He had been keeping an eye on the outside while he was inside, and there was a constant stream of customers passing by.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious: the area isn't large, and it's even a bit small for a mid-to-high-end restaurant. To put it bluntly, with such a small space, you can't even partition off a proper private room.

He noticed what appeared to be stairs in the middle aisle and asked, "Section Chief Wang, what's the second floor of this shop for?"

“It used to be a warehouse for the grocery counter and staff dormitory. Now that the grocery counter has been removed, the space above it is empty.”

Li Zhe became interested: "Section Chief Wang, how big is the second floor?"

"The second floor is a bit larger, probably over 110 square meters."

Li Zhe then asked, "Is your company considering renting out the second floor of your shop?"

(End of this chapter)