Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 208 Training
We had lunch at Li Weidong's house.

The Li family then arrived at their homestead in the north of the village.

This area is newly designated residential land, close to farmland. Only a few families have built new houses here, and most of the land is still vacant.

The homestead that Li Zhe just applied for was adjacent to his uncle's homestead. In the presence of the village secretary and Li's elders, two documents were written to exchange the homesteads. Now both homesteads belong to Li Zhe.

A single residential plot is 12 meters wide and 16 meters long; two plots of land joined together are 24 meters wide and 16 meters long.

Li Zhe walked around the two plots of land and felt that the area was not large enough. The total area was only 384 square meters, which was smaller than the area of ​​a courtyard house in Beijing.

"Dad, I see that the surrounding land plots are still vacant. Can we spend money to buy one or two more plots?"

Old Li was quite happy, standing on his new house plot, thinking that he could build a two-story house this year. But when he heard his son's words, he asked in surprise, "Aren't two house plots enough? Besides, didn't we want to build a two-story house?"

When you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city; when you're rich, even distant relatives come to visit you in the deep mountains!
This statement may sound a bit snobbish, but it also illustrates a point: when you have money, you don't need to invite people; a group of people will gather around you.

"Dad, you and Mom share a room, but Xiao Na will need her own room when she grows up; my second uncle's family will need two rooms when they come back. And when my business associates come to visit, we'll need at least two or three guest rooms, plus a storage room and a study. It's simply not enough..." Li Zhe shook his head.

"While we haven't started construction yet, and the neighboring houses haven't started construction either, you can ask around to see if anyone is willing to sell, even if the price is a little higher, we can buy them and build houses together."

Old Li stroked his chin, thinking that what his son said made some sense: "I asked the village secretary before, and he said that people from our village can buy the homesteads of other villagers, but we don't know if any of our neighbors are willing to sell."

Li Zhe changed the subject: "When can we start building the new house?"

"We have to wait until the weather warms up and the permafrost thaws, which I estimate will be around mid-March. Too early will affect the quality of the house construction, so we can't rush it." Old Li had also worked with construction teams before, so he was considered a semi-expert.

Li Zhe said, "There's still a month before construction starts on the new house. While we're at it, you can try to find out more and buy one or two more plots of land. Even if we don't build now, we can keep them. We can add more later if needed."

Old Li knew his son was thinking ahead, and the price of the homestead wasn't expensive: "Okay, I'll ask around."

Although Lao Li agreed, he wouldn't be a sucker if someone tried to take advantage of the situation and ask for a higher price. If all else failed, he could just add more floors. If he could build two floors, he could build three. There are seven or eight-story buildings in the capital.

Li Zhe did some quick calculations and figured that construction would begin in mid-March and the house would be ready by the end of June. The schedule was a bit tight, so he instructed, "Dad, since you've decided to start construction in mid-March, find a construction team and buy the materials in advance. Also, the construction team should hire more people so that the house can be built as soon as possible."

Li Zhe was eager to finish building the new house, naturally worried that the torrential rains in July would wash away the old house. But he couldn't say that, so he made up an excuse and said, "I heard that the new brick house has a thick roof and good insulation. Let's try to move into the new house before the weather gets too hot."

Old Li laughed and scolded, "You little rascal, all you do is assign me tasks. Now you're expanding the greenhouse by ten acres and building a new house. I wish I could be split into two people."

Li Zhenguo said with some envy, "Brother, it's a good thing that the second brother is capable. I hope that Huijing can be as capable as the second brother when he grows up. No, I would be satisfied if he had half of the second brother's ability."

Li Zhe turned to his cousin and said, "Huijing, study hard. Our family is lacking a college graduate." Li Zhe added in his mind, "After you graduate, you can work for my company..."

……

Early morning of the fourth day of the lunar new year.

Li Zhe returned to the capital with his second uncle's family.

Second Aunt and Li Huijing sat in the front row, while Li Zhe and Second Uncle sat in the back.

Besides the uncle and nephew, there were also eight workers in the back of the train who were going to renovate the Shuxiangju restaurant in Beijing; with them on board, even the militia could be spared.

The leader of the renovation team was surnamed Ma. He was a man in his fifties, not very tall, but very sturdy. He was from the neighboring Yangma Village and had some connection with Li Zhe's uncle, Wang Rongsheng. Li Zhe called him Uncle Ma.

Inside the train carriage, Li Zhe chatted with the other party about the construction progress. The original plan was to start construction yesterday, but due to a shortage of personnel, it had to be postponed to today.

Uncle Ma rubbed his calloused hands together: "Boss Li, it was our fault for delaying by a day. But don't worry, we will work overtime to ensure the job is finished on time."

Li Zhe waved his hand: "Uncle Ma, it doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or later, as long as the quality of the project is guaranteed."

Uncle Ma assured him, "Don't worry about that. I've known your uncle for so many years, I definitely won't cut corners. In our line of work, reputation is everything. People who try to cheat and cheat won't last long."

Listening to the conversation between the two, Li Zhenguo was initially puzzled, but later he understood: his nephew had quietly opened another restaurant!
Is it really true that self-employed individuals can make so much money now? He felt the urge to quit his job again.

He quickly suppressed the thought. It wasn't that it was easy for an individual to do the job; it must be that his nephew was capable. Thinking of this, Li Zhenguo couldn't help but sigh inwardly: We all have the surname Li, so why is there such a big difference?
Upon arriving in Beijing, Li Zhenguo and his family of three retrieved their bicycles from No. 7 Suzhou Hutong. After saying goodbye to Li Zhe, they rode their bicycles home.

The truck drove directly to the Shuxiangju restaurant. It unloaded the workers and tools there. Li Zhe and Tan Jingya exchanged a few pleasantries before following the truck to the 365 Vegetable Store.

The truck was parked on the side of the road. Sun Tao ran out of the shop: "Brother Li, you're here today too?"

Li Zhe responded and helped Sun Tao carry the vegetables into the vegetable shop. Afterwards, Wang Jianjun left in the truck, while Li Zhe stayed at the shop. He walked around the shop for a bit and then asked Sun Tao, "How's business these past few days?"

"It's going well. We have more off-season vegetables than before, but they're basically all sold out before closing time. Other items are also selling well. Especially the Qinchuan hybrid beef, which sells out promptly at 6 a.m. every day. I'm thinking of increasing our order by another 5 kilograms. What do you think?"

"Don't rush, hold out for a while longer. If the supply still can't meet the demand, then increase the order volume."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Seeing that the other person looked tired, Li Zhe said, "You haven't had a break since the shop opened. Take a day off tomorrow, and I'll keep an eye on things at the shop."

Sun Tao hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Let's talk about it later. Wang Ting and Chen Ju are both resting, and Lin Zhixia is the only one in the shop right now. I'm not comfortable letting you rest now."

Li Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Didn't you say before the New Year that you were going to recruit another college student from the Mona Lisa Restaurant? Why didn't they come?"

"They went home for the Chinese New Year and probably won't be back until after." Sun Tao sighed. "College students are indeed cultured and have good manners when receiving guests. But the thing is, their work enthusiasm isn't very high."

Li Zhe had also thought about this: "Tomorrow we'll put up a job posting at the store entrance. Requirements: female, 18-25 years old, junior high school education or above, full-time. English is preferred, but it's okay if you don't know English, we can train you ourselves."

“Then these college students…” Although Sun Tao didn’t say it explicitly, Li Zhe understood what he meant.

“These college students can do part-time jobs, and we can continue to use them. But they can only do part-time jobs. We need to cultivate our own people, people who can work long-term. Even if you're not in the store, you can confidently entrust the work to them.”

Li Zhe patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "I know you're capable, but you can't stay in the shop every day. You still need to rest when you need to."

"I understand, Brother Li. I'll put up the job posting in a bit." Sun Tao had been practicing English every day lately. Although he still couldn't have a normal conversation with foreigners, selling vegetables was no problem for him.

As Li Zhe said, they can also hire shop assistants, and provide specialized training if they don't speak English. The downside is that the shop assistants need to learn English to start working, but the advantage is also obvious: they can be trained long-term. Once they learn English, they will be more proficient than college students.

Keep in mind that it's still holiday time. Once school starts, college students will only be able to work part-time in their spare time, and things will only get more complicated then.

Sun Tao said, "Brother Li, how many people do we need to recruit?"

Li Zhe asked, "What are your thoughts? You're in the shop every day, how many people do you think would be suitable?"

Sun Tao held up three fingers: "If you ask me, let's hire three first. Let them compete for the positions, and in the end, only two will remain. What do you think?"

Li Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Then let's hire three. Let's not have any competitive selection process. If all three are suitable, hardworking and willing to learn, then let them all stay."

If during the trial period, someone doesn't put in the effort or can't adapt to working at the vegetable store, then we'll do as you said.

In Li Zhe's view, three English-speaking shop assistants are more important than three middle-aged women who are good at stocking shelves. If the middle-aged women are short-staffed, they can be hired at any time.

English-speaking staff are responsible for serving customers. If they leave or are delayed, it will affect the store's business.

The older woman can't do the work of a shop assistant, but the shop assistant can do the work of an older woman.

The reason for the clear division of labor before was because of their university student status. But the newly recruited employees are not university students, and their primary task is to follow the store's arrangements and fill in for any vacancy. This is the kind of talent the store truly needs.

"After we hire new staff, ask Lin Zhixia or Chen Ju if they would be willing to come in an hour earlier or leave an hour later to teach the new employees English. The store can pay them extra."

Sun Tao asked with a smile, "Brother Li, can I learn from him?"

“Don’t just say it’s you, even if the three aunties are willing to learn, that’s fine too. The more the merrier.” Li Zhe glanced at his watch and said, “Go ahead and get busy, arrange the business first. I’m going out to make a phone call, I need to meet a friend later.”

(End of this chapter)