Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 207 Changing Houses
The second day of the new year.

According to the custom of Yangma Village, women return to their maternal home on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

In previous years, Ma Changhe would bring his wife, Wang Huilan, back to Daying Village. But this year, because of his wife's pregnancy, he had a falling out with his brother-in-law, Wang Rongsheng, and his sister-in-law, Wang Xiulan, and stopped mentioning going back to Daying Village.

Actually, even if they hadn't had a fight, he wouldn't have gone this year—his wife is in such a state that she can't possibly go out in public.

So, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, I simply invited my eldest daughter and her husband to my home for a meal.

Although it was called a hospitality event, the eldest daughter was actually the one who did most of the cooking.

His wife, Wang Huilan, was heavily pregnant and had difficulty getting around, so Ma Changhe was worried that she would get too tired. His second daughter was upset about dropping out of school and always had a long face, which annoyed him. His third daughter was still young; she was fine running errands or fetching things, but expecting her to cook was pointless.

Around nine o'clock in the morning, my eldest daughter arrived on her bicycle. The back seat was loaded with a lot of things, including fish, meat, a bag of apples, and a bag of pears.

Ma Changhe peeked behind him and asked, "Where's Qingshan?"

The eldest daughter, Ma Zhaodi, said, "Dad, someone can't leave the greenhouse. Qingshan won't be able to come over until noon."

Ma Changhe snorted: "He thinks he's so capable! The greenhouses can't grow crops without him?"

Ma Zhaodi quickly took the blame, saying, "I'm the one who asked him to go. He gets triple pay for these few days of the New Year, so every extra day is a day better than nothing. He can't cook at home, so it's better for him to go out and earn money. He'll definitely be back by noon, and I'll have him have a few drinks with you."

"sister!"

"Miss!"

Ma Niandi and Ma Pandi also came out of the house to greet them.

Ma Zhaodi said to her two younger sisters, "Second sister, third sister, help me move my things inside."

Carrying meat and fish, Ma Niandi asked, "Where's my brother-in-law?"

“He was an eyesore, so I sent him out to work. He won’t be back for lunch.” Ma Zhaodi led her two younger sisters into the house and saw their mother getting off the kang (a heated brick bed) rather clumsily, supporting her back with one hand and the floor with the other as she walked out.

"Mother, don't move. I'm not an outsider." Seeing her mother like this, Ma Zhaodi felt both heartache and anger—what kind of situation is this?

Around noon, the three sisters prepared lunch.

Ge Qingshan also returned, carrying two bottles of Xifeng liquor: "Dad, Happy New Year!" Ge Qingshan placed the Xifeng liquor on the table, kowtowed directly to his father-in-law, and then went into the inner room to kowtow to Wang Huilan, "Mom, Happy New Year!"

"Alright, alright, get up quickly." Wang Huilan, being clumsy, waved to signal the other person to get up.

Ma Changhe asked, "Qingshan, is it still so busy in the greenhouse? Don't you even take a break during the New Year?"

“Yes, this kind of greenhouse is different from other jobs. People celebrate the New Year, but vegetables don’t; the greenhouse can’t be without people. Right now, whoever has something to do goes, and when they’re done, they go back to help.” Ge Qingshan said simply, without mentioning the greenhouse again—after all, his father-in-law was still having a falling out with the other side.

Ge Qingshan chatted with his father-in-law for a few words and was about to get up to go to the kitchen to see his wife when he was stopped by his two sisters-in-law as soon as he stepped out of the main room.

The two sisters-in-law said in unison, "Brother-in-law, Happy New Year!"

"Okay, Happy New Year to you all too. Where's your sister?"

Ma Niandi replied, "It's in the kitchen."

Ge Qingshan tried to bypass his two sisters-in-law to get to the kitchen, but Ma Pandi blocked his way again. She said, word by word, "Brother-in-law, Happy New Year!"

Ge Qingshan smiled, immediately understanding what he meant. He took out two pre-prepared red envelopes from his pocket and said, "One for each of you. Don't spend them recklessly."

"Thank you, brother-in-law!" the two sisters said in unison.

Ma Pandi was young and didn't have many reservations. She opened the red envelope directly and exclaimed with delight, "Wow! Two yuan! Thank you, brother-in-law!"

The little girl was overjoyed; this was a huge sum of money for her!
Ma Niandi felt that his envelope was rather thick, so he opened it and saw that there were three ten-yuan bills inside. He asked in a low voice, "Brother-in-law, did you put the wrong thing in there? Why is there so much money in here?"

Ge Qingshan glanced at the main room and whispered, "That's right. You're a senior in high school this year, and you'll need money for many things. If you don't have enough money, just talk to your sister."

Ma Niandi's eyes were red-rimmed as he whispered, "Thank you, brother-in-law."

"We're family, why are you talking about this?" Ge Qingshan knew that Wang Rongsheng and Wang Xiulan were going to stop supporting Ma Niandi's education, and as the older sister and brother-in-law, they couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

"Put the money away carefully, I'm going to check on your sister." Ge Qingshan said, then went straight to the kitchen. He saw several dishes laid out on the kitchen table. "Wife, you're so capable! You cooked so many dishes all by yourself!"

“I did all of this myself; Niandi and Pandi helped too,” Ma Zhaodi said to her husband. “Bring the dishes inside; we’ll be eating soon.”

The food was set on the table, and the family sat down to eat together. Ma Changhe opened a bottle of wine. Ge Qingshan took the bottle, poured a glass for Ma Changhe first, and then filled his own glass.

Ge Qingshan raised his glass: "Father, Mother, I'd like to toast you both and wish you a Happy New Year!"

"Okay." Ma Changhe tilted his head back and downed the wine in one gulp.

Wang Huilan said, "Let the men drink, we'll eat." After a few drinks, Ma Changhe became more talkative: "Qingshan, you've worked for the Li family for so long, if you were asked to build your own greenhouse next year, do you think you could handle it?"

Ge Qingshan put down his chopsticks, unsure of his father-in-law's meaning, and replied perfunctorily, "I really haven't thought about that. Father, do you have some ideas?"

Ma Changhe picked up his wine glass and took a sip: "I've worked in greenhouses for a while now, and I think it's not that difficult to build a vegetable greenhouse. I'm thinking of starting one for the two of us this year, what do you think?"

Ge Qingshan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said, "Dad, building a greenhouse is not cheap!"

Ma Changhe replied, "I've saved some money over the years, and we can take out a loan from the credit union to cover the remaining shortfall. As long as we're of one mind, isn't that better than you working for someone else? That's not a long-term solution."

Seeing her husband's hesitation, Ma Zhaodi said, "Dad, you should eat first, otherwise the food will get cold. We can talk about the chores later."

Ma Changhe was displeased and said sternly, "These are men talking, what right do you, a mere girl, have to interrupt!"

Ge Qingshan raised his glass, trying to change the subject: "Father, let me toast you again."

Ge Qingshan is doing very well at the Li family's company, and everyone takes good care of him. Li Zhe also held a meeting to discuss investment and shareholding. Ge Qingshan is now wholeheartedly working for Li Zhe and has no intention of going it alone.

Ma Changhe took a sip of his drink, pointed at Ge Qingshan, and said, "Don't be so short-sighted, kid. Just because you're paid a lot doesn't mean you can give up this job. We'll build our own greenhouses and sell the vegetables ourselves; that's how we make big money!"

"Dad, you're right. I'll think about it again later..."

Before Ge Qingshan could finish speaking, Ma Changhe interrupted him: "What else is there to think about? It's settled then! You work for him first, learn as much as you can. Once everything is ready on my end, you can quit your job there."

Ma Changhe raised his glass and said to Ge Qingshan, "Come on, let's have another one, you and me!"

……

January 8th, the third day of the Lunar New Year.

A military green jeep was parked outside the Li family's greenhouse. The passenger door opened, and Li Huijing jumped out, his chubby face jiggling.

Li Zhenguo and Chen Shuping also got out of the car.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the family of three spent it with Grandma Chen. On the second day, the eldest sister, Chen Shufang, and her family went over for a meal, so the day to return to Daying Village was postponed to today.

Hearing the commotion, Old Li and his family came out. Old Li hadn't seen his nephew for a while, and said with a smile, "Huijing, you've finally decided to come back!"

Li Huijing scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "Uncle, I'm in junior high school now, and I'm quite busy with my studies, so I don't come back as often."

“Huijing has grown so tall, he’s almost taller than me now.” Wang Xiuying gestured with her hand, then glanced at her youngest daughter, Xiao Na, who had also grown quite a bit this year.

The group exchanged pleasantries.

The chubby boy pointed at the vegetable greenhouse and asked, "Second Brother, is that the vegetable greenhouse?"

“Yes, that whole area is like that.” Li Zhe patted his shoulder and said to his sister beside him, “Xiao Na, take Hui Jing inside to take a look.”

"Third Brother, come with me. The greenhouse has all kinds of vegetables, and it's so warm!"

Several adults also carried gifts into the greenhouse.

After chatting for a while, Li Zhenguo said, "Brother, I'd like to visit some of the elders in our families later."

“You should go. Here’s what we’ll do: let the second son take you and Huijing with you. After you’ve finished looking around, go straight to Weidong’s house for dinner,” Old Li said with a smile. “I heard your family was coming back too, so the couple went back early to cook.”

Li Zhenguo glanced at Li Zhe and said to Old Li, "Brother, I don't come back often, and the second brother is busy too. Today we've all come together, so let's just exchange the homestead today!"

Old Li nodded: "Then let's invite Secretary Wang and our stubborn old man to our house for lunch and have them be our witnesses."

Then, Old Li called Li Zhe over: "Second brother, take your uncle and Huijing to visit some of the elders' homes. I'll go and invite Secretary Wang over. Your uncle said he wants to exchange the homestead this afternoon."

"Alright, I'll go get Huijing." Li Zhe readily agreed. After his rebirth, he had changed his own destiny, but he hadn't changed Old Li's destiny yet.

He had been keeping this matter in his mind.

We need to finalize the land allocation for the new house as soon as possible, and start construction as soon as the weather warms up. The whole family should move into the new house before the end of June.

This way, we can completely avoid the crisis of the torrential rain in July. Even if the old house is still washed away by the rain, it will not affect the family.

As for the vegetable greenhouses, Li Zhe will also make some arrangements in advance to minimize losses.

For example, most off-season vegetables planted by the end of June are already past their harvest season. Li Zhe can simply remove the greenhouse film and store them in a safe place; other impacts will not be significant.

As for the vegetable supply to restaurants catering to foreigners, Li Zhe will definitely not cut off the supply. He can go directly to Xinfadi or Chongwenmen vegetable markets to purchase vegetables, even if he earns less or even no money, he will maintain the supply channels for these restaurants catering to foreigners.

(End of this chapter)