Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 203 Sleepless Night

Chongwenmen West Street, Beijing.

Tan Jingya stood at the shop entrance, directing two workers to hang the newly made signboard on the door. The signboard had three large characters: Shuxiangju.

The moment the signboard was hung up, Tan Jingya felt a mix of emotions—excitement and trepidation. She owned 20% of the restaurant and had invested almost all her money in it.

If the restaurant investment fails, she will have nothing left. It is precisely because she has no way out that she devotes all her energy to the restaurant.

Lin Qiaomei stood to the side and said with a smile, "The moment this sign was hung up, the atmosphere was completely different!"

After discussing it with her husband, Lin Qiaomei decided to resign from her previous restaurant job. She was just a temporary worker anyway, so it didn't matter which restaurant she worked at.

Since that's the case, why not find a place where she's happy? Besides, with Li Zhe's winter vegetables, Shuxiangju's business will definitely be better than her old restaurant. Plus, with Tan Jingya's help, she certainly won't suffer any losses.

Tan Jingya paid the final payment, saw off the two workers who were installing the signboard, and went into the restaurant lobby with Lin Qiaomei.

The lobby was heated by a coal stove, making it much warmer than outside.

Lin Qiaomei took the kettle off the coal stove and poured half a glass of water for Tan Jingya. "The shop is almost cleaned up. Shall we come again tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, what's the point of coming over? Have you prepared all your New Year's goods?"

"Yongqiang has been handling all the preparations these past few days, it's almost done." Lin Qiaomei also sat down at the table, picking up an enamel mug to warm her hands. "Hey, where are you spending the New Year this year? Going back to your parents' house or something?"

"The shop will continue construction on the third day of the Lunar New Year, so I won't go back. I'll live alone and prefer some peace and quiet." Tan Jingya's father has passed away, and her mother lives with her brother and sister-in-law. Going back would only make her feel awkward, so why make herself uncomfortable?

"When will our restaurant open?" Lin Qiaomei almost blurted out.

"We initially planned to open around the tenth day of the lunar new year, but the exact date will depend on the progress of the store's renovation and the recruitment of staff."

The people renovating the restaurant were all hired by Li Zhe; they were all villagers from Daying Village, and Lin Qiaomei knew many of them. There were quite a few of them, and they worked efficiently. The doors and windows were mostly repaired, and the terrazzo flooring on the second floor was finished. However, the terrazzo flooring on the first floor hadn't started yet and would take a few more days.

Tan Jingya glanced into the kitchen: "Are the two chefs still busy?"

Lin Qiaomei whispered, "They're still putting things away in the kitchen. I went in to help, but the two of them weren't happy and kicked me out."

Tan Jingya laughed: "Cooking is like fighting a war; it's all about speed and efficiency. Kitchen utensils have fixed places and habits, so you have to arrange them yourself to make them convenient to use."

She paused for a moment, then said to Lin Qiaomei, "If you're not too busy after the New Year, come and help me keep an eye on things at the restaurant. You know all the workers, and you can talk to them. I still need to go to the market to look at the tables and figure out how to hire some workers."

"Okay, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on things so nothing gets delayed," Lin Qiaomei replied. Hearing the sound of a car outside, she looked up and saw a green Jiefang truck parked outside.

Tan Jingya and Lin Qiaomei left the restaurant one after the other, just in time to see Li Zhe getting out of the driver's seat of the car.

"Mr. Li, you've come to inspect the work?" Lin Qiaomei greeted him with a smile. Ever since she decided to work at this restaurant, she had taken the initiative to change how she addressed Li Zhe.

"Mr. Li," Tan Jingya greeted him.

"Sister Tan, sister-in-law," Li Zhe responded, looking up at the restaurant's signboard and saying with a smile, "Not bad, it looks quite decent!"

The three of them went back into the restaurant. Li Zhe looked around and asked, "Where are Chef Han and Chef Yan?"

"The two chefs are busy in the kitchen, I'll go call them." Lin Qiaomei went to the kitchen.

Li Zhe said to Tan Jingya, "Sister Tan, you've worked hard these past few days. Take a good rest during the New Year holiday, you'll be busy next year."

"It's good to be busy. As long as the restaurant can get going, a little hard work is nothing." She glanced towards the kitchen and said, "The restaurant is still short-staffed. What are your plans?"

Li Zhe has been very busy these days and hasn't really thought about this matter in detail. "Let's talk about it after the New Year. We can have a proper chat sometime."

After exchanging only a few words, Lin Qiaomei and two chefs came out of the kitchen.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Zhe took out three red envelopes from his pocket: "Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. With the New Year just around the corner, I've prepared a few red envelopes for you. It's not much money, just a token of my appreciation."

As they spoke, Li Zhe distributed three red envelopes to the two chefs and Lin Qiaomei.

"Thank you, Mr. Li!" the three said in unison.

Lin Qiaomei was somewhat surprised, after all, the restaurant hadn't opened yet, and she had only come to help out; she hadn't expected to be paid. She had to admit that Boss Li was generous, which made her even more excited about working at Shuxiangju in the future.

Li Zhe looked at Tan Jingya beside him and said, "Sister Tan, you are also a shareholder of the restaurant, so I won't give you this red envelope."

Tan Jingya smiled. Li Zhe had sent the red envelope in his personal capacity, and even if he wanted to give it to her, she would feel embarrassed to accept it.

As for why Li Zhe sent out red envelopes in his personal name instead of the restaurant's name, one reason is that the restaurant has not officially opened yet, and another is that sending out red envelopes in the restaurant's name is actually not cost-effective.

Tan Jingya is also the restaurant manager. If the red envelopes are distributed in the name of the restaurant, it would be more formal, and Tan Jingya, as the manager, would also need to receive one, with the amount being the highest among the four. Li Zhe is the major shareholder, holding 80% of the shares. If the bonuses for the four people are distributed in the name of the restaurant, Li Zhe would have to subsidize the rest. It's more efficient to distribute money in his personal capacity to win people over.

This wasn't Li Zhe deliberately being cunning; rather, all three of them had relatively close relationships with Tan Jingya. Li Zhe was cultivating these relationships to better facilitate future work.

With the year-end approaching, Li Zhe chatted with everyone for a while longer before telling them to close the shop and go home early.

……

February 5th afternoon.

Zhao Bing's home in Daying Village.

Zhao Bing's mother was stewing meat in the kitchen, while Zhao Bing's wife and sister were making dumplings inside the house, and Zhao Bing's father was sweeping the yard with a broom.

Zhao Bing, along with his two children, put up couplets, and the family chatted and laughed.

Lunar New Year's Eve comes every year, but this year is particularly different.

Zhao Bing's parents are both ill, and the family lives a meager existence. In previous years, they were lucky to have pork dumplings and a fish on New Year's Eve. This year, the Li family's welfare package included not only fish and pork, but also other types of meat.

Everyone in the militia praised the Li family for their kindness.
After Zhao Bing finished putting up the couplets, he noticed it was getting late and said, "Dad, Mom, I have to work the night shift, so I won't be eating at home. You two eat yours."

Zhao Bing's mother came out of the kitchen: "Da Bing, the beef in the pot is almost done stewing. It won't make a difference if we eat a little more before we go."

"Mom, the food they've prepared for us in the greenhouse has all kinds of meat. You can eat it yourselves, don't worry about me." Zhao Bing washed his hands, said goodbye to his wife and children, and went out.

Zhao Bing's mother complained, "The Li family is too demanding. They won't even let us rest for a day during the New Year."

Zhao Bing's father glared at her: "How can you be so ungrateful? They're paying you three times your wages for these three days of the New Year. Where else can you find such a good deal? I think you're just bored and have nothing better to do. You deserve to go hungry for a couple of meals!"

"My goodness, such a high salary, how come I didn't know?" Zhao Bing's mother did the math and realized that triple pay would be nine yuan a day. Her dissatisfaction vanished instantly.

"Why would a woman like you talk to me about this?" Actually, Zhao Bing's father couldn't understand why the Li family would spend so much money to hire someone to guard the greenhouse during the New Year. Logically speaking, everyone should be at home during the New Year, and thieves wouldn't be stealing vegetables at this time.

Zhao Bing rode his bicycle to the Li family's field.

As soon as he got off his bicycle, he heard someone call out to him: "Zhao Bing, come here! Everyone's here, you're the only one missing!"

Zhao Bing turned his head and saw that everyone was gathered around Li Zhe's greenhouse. He parked his bicycle and hurried over: "Hey, what are you all doing gathered around here? What's going on?"

"This is really a rare find, I guarantee you've never seen anything like it before! Haha!" The militiamen made way for Zhao Bing to squeeze in.

In the middle of the crowd, Li Zhe walked towards him, holding a red cylindrical tin can: "Brother Zhao is here, take a look too." Before he could reply, Li Zhe shoved the red tin can into his arms.

Zhao Bing looked completely bewildered. The red tin can had the words "sodium bicarbonate" written on it. He recognized the words individually, but he had no idea what they meant when put together: "Brother Li, what is this?"

"Brother Zhao, this is called a fire extinguisher, it's specially used to put out fires. Take a look at the structure of the fire extinguisher first, and when everyone arrives, I'll demonstrate how to use it. If the greenhouse catches fire, use this to put it out."

During the Spring Festival, Li Zhe hired people to patrol the night at a high salary not because he was worried about someone stealing vegetables, but because he was concerned about fire prevention.

The biggest concern for vegetable greenhouse growers is fire, especially during the Lunar New Year, when fireworks and firecrackers are the most likely cause of fires. This afternoon, people started setting off fireworks, and Li Zhe had given a heads-up beforehand, emphasizing the importance of fire prevention.

When most of the people had arrived, Li Zhe lit a tattered old straw mat. Once the fire was fully burning, he announced loudly, "Everyone watch closely, I'm going to use the fire extinguisher!"

He shook the red tin can violently, the clanging of the iron filings startling everyone, who took two steps back. "Don't be afraid, everyone. This is to prevent the dry powder from clumping together." Then, he pulled out the somewhat rusty safety pin, aimed it at the burning straw mat, and pressed down the handle to spray.

"Pfft!" Yellowish-white powder shot out three meters away, completely enveloping the straw curtain. The white powder drifted in the air, extinguishing the fire on the straw curtain completely.

"Here, who wants to try?" Li Zhe casually handed the fire extinguisher to Zhao Bing next to him.

This fire extinguisher was a near-expiration fire extinguisher that Li Zhe bought at a low price, just to demonstrate how to use it to everyone.

Some curious people took the fire extinguisher and tried it out. Of course, some others felt uncomfortable with it and preferred to use water to put out fires.

Li Zhe had also considered this situation and made preparations in advance. Outside each vegetable greenhouse, there were water tanks, buckets, ladles, and piles of sand. The water tanks were filled with water, and someone would break the ice on time every day.

If the greenhouse catches fire unexpectedly, it can be extinguished immediately.

In addition, Li Zhe also bought spare greenhouse film so that he could repair the greenhouse overnight and prevent the vegetables inside from freezing to death or being damaged by frost.

Inside the village, the sound of fireworks and firecrackers rang out again.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night...

(End of this chapter)