Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 183 Official opening

Chongwenmen West Street.

A Jiefang truck was parked on the side of the road, and the brothers Li Zhe and Li Weidong got out of the truck.

Li Weidong looked around and said, "Hey, second brother, this place is pretty good. There are people and cars coming and going. It's much more lively than the alleys in Suzhou."

"The location is nice, but the rent isn't cheap either," Li Zhe replied, and walked straight into the shop.

Tan Jingya, Han Xianjin, Yan Hongfang, and Wang Jianjun were sitting around a table in the lobby talking. When they saw Li Zhe enter, they all stood up at the same time.

"Mr. Li."

"Everyone's here? Sit down and let's talk." Li Zhe greeted them with a smile, then pointed to Li Weidong next to him and said, "Let me introduce you, this is my brother, Li Weidong."

Li Zhe then introduced Li Weidong: "This is Chef Han, and this is Chef Yan. These two used to be head chefs in state-run restaurants. Their dishes are delicious, fragrant, and beautifully presented; their skills are impeccable."

Li Weidong said with a smile, "When I have the chance in the future, I will definitely try the cooking skills of the two chefs."

The two chefs also greeted Li Weidong with smiles.

Li Zhe turned to Tan Jingya beside him: "Sister Tan, how did your discussion go? Do the two chefs have any requirements regarding kitchen equipment, decoration, and the purchase of tables and chairs?"

Tan Jingya replied, "The two chefs feel that since the restaurant area has doubled, there will be more customers ordering food during peak hours, and two chefs may not be able to handle it all. We may need to hire more staff."

This was also a concern of Tan Jingya's—once the store area was increased, not only the rent would increase, but all other costs would also increase accordingly.

Li Zhe nodded. He had considered this point beforehand. In fact, it wasn't just the number of chefs that needed to be increased; the number of kitchen helpers, waiters, and general laborers would also need to be increased accordingly. But given the restaurant's positioning, the necessary expenses still had to be made.

"With the restaurant's increased size, we definitely need more staff. If anyone has suitable candidates, please recommend them to me." Li Zhe also wanted to place his own people in the kitchen, but he hadn't thought of any suitable candidates yet.

Li Zhe continued, "The kitchen utensils and equipment will be based on the opinions of the two chefs. You two should make a purchase list first, and then Sister Tan and I will discuss it later. If there are no problems, we will buy according to the list."

Han Xianjin nodded: "Okay, this afternoon, Master Yan and I will make a purchase list together."

Li Zhe tapped the table in front of him with his finger. "Where did this table come from?" He remembered that there were no tables in the shop yesterday.

Han Xianjin laughed and said, "I happened to have a spare table at home. I saw that the shop was empty and there was nowhere to put things, so I moved it here."

"You're very kind," Li Zhe said politely, then continued the conversation, "Do you two have any suggestions regarding the tables and chairs?"

Li Zhe discussed this issue with Tan Jingya yesterday. In his opinion, tables, chairs, and benches do not need to be particularly ornate; they just need to look simple, clean, and elegant.

Yan Hongfang said, "Mr. Li, I think it's fine to just put square tables and benches in the main hall. You can find someone to make them yourself, and the price will be cheaper. It would be better to buy some square tables for the private rooms; it will make them look more stylish."

Han Xianjin echoed, "That's right, that's what I think too."

Li Zhe nodded. He did want to save money, but he also knew that everyone has their own expertise, and some things could be saved, while others couldn't...

Li Weidong stood by and listened for a while, but seeing that they were getting more and more into the details, he found it boring and wandered upstairs to the second floor.

He couldn't help but feel a little emotional: his second brother was really something else. He'd just opened a vegetable shop a few days ago, and now he was going to partner with someone to open a restaurant. But he was happy to see it happen; his younger brother was capable, and he, as the older brother, could benefit from it too.

Putting everything else aside, I'll definitely be eating and drinking at restaurants all the time from now on.

He walked around the second floor, stood by the window looking at the bustling streets outside, and thought to himself, "This is wonderful! I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to open a shop in Beijing..."

"Brother, what are you thinking about?" Li Zhe had also come up here at some point.

"It's nothing." Li Weidong snapped out of his reverie, as if remembering something, and said, "Jianjun told me that you took him out for Sichuan food a few days ago? It was spicy and delicious!"

"Let's try the dishes, see what those two chefs are up to, what's wrong?"

Li Weidong chuckled: "Remember to invite me next time you do a food tasting. I'd like to contribute my own ideas and offer suggestions for improvement."

Li Zhe joked, "No problem, but we usually do the food tasting at night, so you won't be able to leave then."

"Don't try to talk me like that." Li Weidong, a homebody, pouted. "Eating spicy food so late at night, no wonder you and Jianjun are both suffering from internal heat, serves you right!"

"Look at what you're saying. If everyone thought like you, would this restaurant even be able to stay open at night? If we just relied on lunch, wouldn't I lose money?" Li Zhe stopped teasing him and said with a smile, "Next time we do a food tasting, I'll invite not only you, but also my sister-in-law and parents, and let them give us their opinions."

A food tasting can't be done just once, and it really won't work if there are too few people.

"Hehe, you've got a conscience, kid." Li Weidong rubbed his hands together. "By the way, next month when I get paid, I'm thinking of exchanging some foreign exchange certificates and taking your sister-in-law around Beijing to buy some rare things. The last time she came to Beijing was when we got married." Li Zhe nodded thoughtfully: "Okay, I'll remember that." Li Zhe felt that his older brother wasn't the only one with this idea.

Li Weidong said, "Second brother, your shop hasn't been used for a while. How about I stay a little later this afternoon and help you tidy it up?"

“There’s no rush to fix it up now. The shop was going to be renovated anyway. I want you to go back and ask Dad and Uncle if anyone in our village can do this work. The doors, windows, and walls all need to be repaired, and the floor is going to be terrazzo. If someone in our village can do it, then let them do it; if not, I’ll find someone else right away.”

Li Weidong thought for a moment: "I remember there are a few people from our village working in Beijing, doing renovations. Now that it's cold, they probably don't have any work. I'll go and ask around when I get back today."

Afterwards, Li Zhe chatted with Li Weidong for a while, telling him about the shop's decoration requirements and area.

In the afternoon, Li Weidong returned to Daying Village in a Jiefang truck.

He was just about to go into the greenhouse to warm up when he reached the entrance of greenhouse number 3 and heard faint sobbing coming from inside.

He lifted the curtain and entered the greenhouse, where he saw his parents and uncle gathered around a girl of about sixteen or seventeen. His wife was patting the girl's back, trying to persuade her.

"Nian Di? Why are you crying?"

This girl was not an outsider; she was his second cousin from his aunt's side, Niandi.

His aunt has three daughters: Ma Zhaodi, Ma Niandi, and Ma Pandi. Ma Niandi is currently attending high school in town and is a promising student.

The Malaysian man stood up and led Li Weidong out.

Li Weidong couldn't help but ask, "Wife, what's wrong with Niandi?" Niandi is not only Li Weidong's cousin, but also his younger cousin from Malay.

The Malay girl looked rather grim: "It's all because of my biased uncle! My aunt is pregnant with a fourth child, and he only thinks about the younger one. Last night he told Nian Di that high school tuition is too expensive and that she should drop out after the New Year."

At this point, Malay Xiao was full of resentment: "My uncle and my dad have the same problem. They just want a son, and they're counting on him. We girls are like freebies; they feel bad if they spend a single penny on us."

"Sigh, what a mess this has become." Li Weidong sighed as well, and asked in a low voice, "What does our uncle mean by this?"

The Malay novel says, "Uncle said that as long as Nian Di is willing to go to school, he will support him and pay for his high school tuition. Mother also said that she will pay half of the money."

Hearing this, Li Weidong was filled with emotion: it is not easy for a rural family to support a high school student. If it were a year ago, even if his uncle and mother wanted to, they would not have been able to do so.

If you can't even take care of your own children, how can you take care of other people's children?
After working with the second brother for the past few months, everyone has made money. Not only have our living conditions improved, but we are also able to help those around us.

……

365 Vegetable Store.

Sun Tao arrived earlier than usual, opening the door at six in the morning.

Today is the first day of official business. Sun Tao had insomnia last night and only managed to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning. He had something on his mind, so he woke up at five o'clock in the morning, quickly washed up, ate something, and rushed to the vegetable store to open.

Although he didn't get a good night's rest last night, he was in great spirits and even seemed a little excited.

Around 6 o'clock, three middle-aged women who were sorting goods also arrived, and under Sun Tao's direction, they started loading the goods together... In fact, they had prepared in advance yesterday, and today the sorting speed was even faster than usual.

Around seven o'clock, a truck stopped by the roadside, and Sun Tao ran up to it. "Brother Li, how many off-season vegetables did you haul today?"

In the past, off-season vegetables would sell out in advance. Yesterday, Sun Tao begged Li Zhe for a long time, hoping that the other party would send out more off-season vegetables today, so that there wouldn't be enough to sell on the first day of the official opening.

"Don't worry, it'll definitely be more than yesterday. Are the rest of the goods ready?"

"The meat delivery guy hasn't arrived yet, I guess we'll have to wait a while. I ordered another ten jin of Qin Chuan hybrid beef yesterday, I reckon we should be able to sell it all today." Sun Tao's tone was quite confident.

"Okay, you handle it." Sun Tao is the manager of the vegetable store. He has a certain degree of decision-making ability, which is a good thing for Li Zhe.

Sun Tao went to the back of the truck to help unload the truck and saw Li Weidong move several vegetable baskets to the back of the truck. There were two more vegetable baskets than yesterday.

He would check every vegetable basket that was carried down from the ground.

When he lifted the last basket, he saw two round, green melons inside and exclaimed in surprise, "Watermelons!"
Brother Li, you've grown watermelons too?

Li Zhe laughed and said, "Today is the official opening of our vegetable store, so we should have some different products, right?"

"Hey, that's awesome!" Sun Tao gave a thumbs up. He really didn't expect that this vegetable greenhouse could even grow watermelons.

This thing is extremely rare!
(End of this chapter)