Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 188 The Strange Guest
Beijing TV Factory Staff Quarters

The second floor is Wang Guangwei's home.

With a creak, the door opened from the outside. Wang Li entered the room, bringing with her a gust of cold air, and saw her father sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper.

The mother was busy mopping the floor.

"Lily's back," Wang Guangwei said, putting down his newspaper. "Your mother just mopped the floor, be careful not to slip."

"Dad, I'm not as delicate as you think." Wang Li changed her shoes and asked, "Did Tingting go out again?"

Chen Shufang replied, "Li Zhe's newly opened vegetable shop is doing well, so she went to help out again."

Wang Li sat on the sofa, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and said while cracking them open, "Mom, are you really willing to let your second daughter suffer like this?"

Chen Shufang straightened up, gripping the mop handle with both hands: "What suffering does she endure? She doesn't leave the house until after 10 a.m. every day. You come in and she's just left, maybe even later than you. Sometimes she comes back at four or five in the afternoon, but the latest she comes back is no later than 7:30. How tired can she be?"

Wang Li was somewhat surprised: "Is the work at this vegetable shop really that easy? I'd even like to go! How much do you get paid a month?"

"She didn't have any money; she was just helping out. If she had taken the money, would it have been so easy for her?"

Wang Li laughed and said, "Come on, you silly girl, all that work has been for nothing, hasn't it?"

“It’s not that bad,” Chen Shufang said, as if she had remembered something. “I’ve noticed that Li Zhe has bought her quite a few things. Speaking of which…” She put down the mop, went into Wang Ting’s bedroom, and came out carrying a bag. “Here, this is what your sister left for you. Try it.”

Wang Li took the bag and took out a bag of wafers and a tin box with yellow cookies drawn on it. "Wow, the things from the Friendship Store are really different; even the food boxes are so pretty." Wang Li looked at the cookie box again and again, her face beaming with joy.

She opened the cookie box, took out a cookie, and took a bite. It was crumbly and had a rich, milky flavor. "So delicious!"

Wang Li ate several pieces before stopping: "Mom and Dad, why don't you try some?"

Chen Shufang said, "I don't like these Western-style biscuits. I still prefer peach shortbread. If you like them, eat more. Tingting saved these especially for you."

Wang Li stopped eating, closed the metal box lid, and put it back in the bag.

She wrinkled her nose, faintly smelling a fragrance. She held the bag to her nose and sniffed, "Mom, what's this smell? It smells so good?"

Chen Shufang took the bag and smelled it, saying, "Oh, it smells like perfume. Li Zhe bought Tingting a bottle of perfume the other day, and I heard it was quite expensive."

Wang Li exclaimed with delight, "This fragrance smells wonderful. I've only ever heard of perfumes like this, but I've never actually seen one before."

“It’s on her dressing table in her room. That bottle is so pretty, you can recognize it at a glance.” Seeing her eldest daughter stand up and walk into the room, Chen Shufang reminded her, “Spray it sparingly, that stuff smells amazing.”

The two sisters grew up in the same room and had a very good relationship, sharing many things in the past. Wang Li didn't stand on ceremony at all; upon entering the bedroom, she saw an exquisite perfume bottle on the table.

She picked up the perfume bottle and sprayed some on herself, exclaiming with delight, "It smells so good! The products from the Friendship Store are really great!"

Wang Li put down the perfume bottle, somewhat reluctantly left the room, and held out her hand for Wang Guangwei to smell: "Dad, does it smell good?"

Wang Guangwei could easily see through his daughter's little scheme. "It smells good. I'll have Zhigang buy you a bottle too!"

Chen Shufang laughed heartily: "You naughty girl, still plotting something mischievous here!"

Wang Li said, "Dad, this perfume can only be bought at the Friendship Store. Even if Zhigang wanted to buy it for me, he doesn't have any foreign exchange certificates. Your son-in-law isn't as capable as you."

"How about you get 200 foreign exchange certificates for the New Year, and our family goes shopping at the Friendship Store?"

Wang Guangwei replied, "Even if I had connections to exchange foreign exchange certificates, I'd still need to use RMB. Where would I get the money? You'll have to discuss this with your mother."

Wang Li glanced at Chen Shufang beside her. She knew in her heart that Chen Shufang was not someone to be trifled with, and that she probably wouldn't get away with it without offering some financial assistance. "Mom, how about I give you 50 yuan? If you don't agree, I'll spend the 50 yuan as soon as I leave this room!"

"Hey, you brat, you really think you can get me by your skin!" Chen Shufang pointed at her and snorted.

Wang Guangwei smiled and said, "The point of the New Year is to be happy. Before the New Year, I'm going to deliver vegetables to the leaders, which will give me a chance to exchange for more foreign exchange certificates from the factory. How about we exchange 200 foreign exchange certificates and get you something too?"

Chen Shufang was also somewhat tempted: "How much money would it cost to exchange for 200 foreign exchange certificates?"

Wang Guangwei thought for a moment: "It should cost at least 300 yuan."

Chen Shufang looked at her eldest daughter beside her and said, "You take 100, or I won't take your Zhigang with me."

Wang Li countered, "How much will Tingting contribute?"

Chen Shufang said, "She's not married yet, and she doesn't have a job, so where would she get any money?" Wang Li pouted, "Mom, you're really biased. Fine, fine, I'll give you 100. But how much will I actually spend then?"

Chen Shufang had already planned it out, and replied, "40 per person, 80 for you two."

Wang Guangwei's family is well-off; ordinary families wouldn't dare to spend like that.

Wang Li thought for a moment and decided that she and her husband would each spend 80 yuan, giving her husband 20 yuan and herself 60 yuan. She could buy a bottle of perfume and a jar of cookies, which should be enough.

In later generations, with the development of information technology, we can learn about what we want to know through various channels, the simplest being to search online.

But times are different now; information is relatively scarce, and some people have a different understanding of what is "expensive." Sixty foreign exchange certificates are indeed a considerable sum for an average family.

365 Vegetable Store.

It was just past lunchtime, and the restaurant staff who had gone out to eat were returning one after another. Only then did Li Zhe take Wang Ting out.

At this time of day, very few customers buy vegetables.

Three middle-aged women sat on small stools chatting.

Lin Zhixia sat by the counter flipping through books, while Chen Ju lay down next to her for a nap.

Sun Tao was holding an English book and muttering to himself.

The door creaked open.

A man in his thirties entered the store. He had a Chinese face, wore a black wool coat and black-rimmed glasses, and looked very refined.

Sun Tao put away his English books, stood up, and asked, "Comrade, what would you like to order?"

As soon as the man entered, his eyes fell on the vegetable section near the entrance. "These vegetables aren't commonly seen in winter. Where do you get them from?"

"Grown in a greenhouse," Sun Tao replied casually, having answered similar questions many times before.

The man wearing glasses walked to the vegetable section, looked at it carefully for a while, and then walked around the store. He saw several plates of cut fruit in the fruit section and asked, "What does this mean?"

Sun Tao explained, "Sir, these are for you to try. You can buy them if you like them. There are toothpicks here, all disposable. And each toothpick can only be used once."

"That's quite interesting." The man with glasses took a toothpick, stuck a piece of watermelon in it, and put it in his mouth. "Hmm, not bad, tastes just like summer watermelon." He then picked up a new toothpick, stuck a piece of strawberry in it, and put it in his mouth. "Sweet and sour, tastes good."

He then walked to the vegetable section, pointed to the tomatoes and cucumbers, and asked, "Can I try some of these?"

Sun Tao: “…”

"Hehe, I was just kidding." The bespectacled man chuckled dryly and pointed to the vegetable section. "Give me two pounds of each, but no carrots or potatoes."

Sun Tao pointed to the sign in the vegetable section and reminded everyone: "Comrades, because vegetables are very difficult to grow at this time of year and the yield is limited, each person in our store is limited to purchasing four catties of off-season vegetables per day."

The bespectacled man stroked his chin: "Then bring me a pound each of tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and lettuce, just to try something new."

“Okay.” Sun Tao took some of each dish for him, weighed them separately, and said, “It’s 24 foreign exchange certificates in total.”

The man with glasses paid the bill and took the vegetables, but he wasn't in a hurry to leave. He took out a handkerchief to wipe the cucumber, broke off a piece, and started crunching on it, saying as he ate, "Not bad, crisp and sweet, much better than the special ones."

Then he picked a small tomato, wiped it, and ate it by himself, praising it highly as well.

Under the astonished gazes of Sun Tao and the others, he tasted all four dishes, then took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and hands: "The vegetables in your restaurant are very fresh, they must have been freshly picked."

Sun Tao said with a smile, "Our vegetables are all picked and sold on the same day, and they're sold out before evening."

The man wearing glasses asked, "Comrade, is your boss here?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk business with him."

“Our boss went out, and I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Sun Tao wasn’t just being perfunctory. Li Zhe and Wang Ting went out together, and even if they finished eating, they might not go back to the shop immediately.

The bespectacled man handed over a business card and said, "This is my business card. I'd like to invite your boss to a casual meal. Please be sure to pass on my regards!"

(End of this chapter)