Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 239 Brand (Long Chapter)
March 15, backyard of No. 3 Hutong, Suzhou.

Morning light streamed through the window, casting dappled patterns of light on the blue bricks of the west wing.

"Meow meow..." A cat's meow came from outside. Tan Jingya opened her sleepy eyes, stretched, and her cotton pajamas were pulled up, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin around her waist.

After getting up and making the bed, she washed her face with warm water from the thermos, then opened the door and took the basin to empty the water. The north room used to have a washroom and running water, so she never had to go out to get water before, but things are different now.

She walked to the corridor in her slippers and saw Li Zhe standing not far away, feeding "Coal Ball" with steamed buns.

"Good morning, Mr. Li." Tan Jingya tidied her slightly messy hair, her voice soft and sweet from just waking up.

Upon hearing its owner's voice, Coal Ball meowed and ran from Li Zhe's feet to her, rubbing against her trouser leg.

"Good morning, Sister Tan." Li Zhe patted the bread crumbs off his hands and looked at Tan Jingya's fair and delicate face without any makeup. "I ordered a batch of furniture from the furniture factory. It will be delivered this afternoon. Take advantage of the time this morning to tidy up the house first."

Tan Jingya's heart skipped a beat.

When they were preparing to open the restaurant together, she rented this west wing room. Two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and now that Li Zhe is moving to the backyard, she really should find another place to live.

She said softly, "I've been too busy since the restaurant just opened, and I haven't had time to look for a place to live yet. I'll find a place to move as soon as I'm done with this busy period."

"What's the rush? Work is more important." Li Zhe glanced at the spacious backyard and said nonchalantly, "This yard is big enough, it won't be crowded with one more person. We'll talk about it when we find a suitable place. Don't let this interfere with the shop's business."

Tan Jingya leaves early and returns late, spending most of her time at the restaurant, and she always pays her rent in advance, making her a good tenant.

Tan Jingya breathed a sigh of relief, her expression softening: "How about I go to the restaurant and ask a few waiters to help you tidy up the room?"

"No need." Li Zhe felt it was better to keep public and private matters separate.

"Then I'll go change my clothes and lend you a hand." She turned and went back into the house, quickly changing into an indigo cotton jacket and neatly combing her hair into a ponytail. When she came out, she was carrying a rag and went straight to the north room: "Mr. Li, the north room is very dusty, I'll clean the windows."

"Okay!" Li Zhe picked up the broom and swept the floor. He turned around and saw her standing on a small stool wiping the window frame. Her cloth jacket outlined her slender waist, and her bell-bottoms tightened slightly when she squatted down.

She wiped it clean quickly and thoroughly, not even missing the cobwebs in the window cracks; she was much more efficient than him, a rough and unrefined man.

"Sister Tan, if our shop's waiters were as efficient as you, our sales would be at least 30% higher," Li Zhe joked, sweeping the floor with his broom.

Tan Jingya jumped down from the windowsill, dipped the rag into the basin, and said, "Practice makes perfect. I used to do a lot of housework." She wrung out the rag and asked with a smile, "Mr. Li, you've bought all this new furniture. Are you planning to get married?"

On the day the restaurant opened, Tan Jingya met Wang Ting once. She was very beautiful, with a good figure, a slim waist and long legs, and was also a top student from the School of Foreign Languages.

"No rush. She's only a sophomore now, she'll have to wait until she graduates," Li Zhe said dismissively.

“That’s what we should do. Studies are the most important thing.” Tan Jingya nodded and put the cleaned tables and chairs back in their places. “She looks exceptionally talented and is a good match for you.”

The two talked and tidied up, quickly making the north room spotless.

The wall clock pointed to nine o'clock. Tan Jingya glanced at the time and said, "Mr. Li, I have to go to the shop. I'll come back to help you after the restaurant closes this afternoon."

"Sister Tan, you just need to take care of the restaurant. My brother will be here soon, I'll have him help out." Li Zhe wasn't a diligent person, but he had helpers—if he was sweet-talking and thick-skinned, and could keep his two older brothers happy, there was no need to worry about who would do the work.
"Okay, just let me know if you need any help." Tan Jingya went back inside to change her clothes, slung her bag over her shoulder, said goodbye to Li Zhe, and left the yard.

……

Not long after Tan Jingya left, a dog barked. Wang Jianjun returned and led "Jinzi" to the backyard. The backyard was much larger than the front yard, and Jinzi skipped and hopped around happily.

"Zhezi, how's the packing going?"

Li Zhe replied, "The west room and living room in the north building have just been cleaned up, but the east room hasn't been cleaned up yet."

Wang Jianjun rolled up his sleeves and went into the east room to start tidying up.

Li Zhe took a break and pulled up a stool to sit down: "Brother, didn't my mom introduce you to someone who works at the town's cannery? Why haven't you met her yet?"

Wang Jianjun tied a wooden stick to the broom and said while sweeping the roof beams, "They said the cannery has resumed operations, so they don't have time."

Li Zhe said, "Nonsense. I asked Director Xie. They just received their wages a few days ago. A group of workers spontaneously organized to clean and maintain the machines. It's still a long way from when they start work."

Wang Jianjun stopped what he was doing and sighed, "Let it be."

He wasn't in a hurry to go on a blind date, but after returning home and hearing what his father and aunt said, he became more expectant. However, the woman changed her mind, and he felt a bit empty and uneasy.

Li Zhe said seriously, "Marriage is a major event and cannot be rushed. Better to have none than to have a bad one."

"Who's getting married?" Li Weidong walked in upon hearing the voice.

"No, they were talking about Jianjun's blind date." Li Zhe replied, and when he saw Jinzi join in the fun, she rubbed against his trouser leg and then lay down at his feet.

Li Weidong picked up a rag and washed it, saying as he wiped the door frame, "If you ask me, Jianjun shouldn't be going on blind dates in the village since he's always in Beijing. Even if he likes someone, they won't have time to spend together since they live in different places. He'd be better off finding someone in Beijing."

Wang Jianjun curled his lip: "Brother, you make it sound so simple. Do you think girls from Beijing would even be interested in me?"

"When I say 'find locally,' I don't necessarily mean girls from Beijing, but rather those who are also working in Beijing. There are so many people coming to Beijing to work now, and people from Jizhou make up a good portion of them," Li Weidong explained with a smile.
"You say all the girls working at your restaurant are from Beijing? I don't believe it. If you like the waitresses working there and you get along well, you can get along with them. It's much better than blind dates in the countryside."

He added, "Don't say things like that. If your sister-in-law hears it, I'll make you regret it."

“No way,” Wang Jianjun laughed. “Neither of us are gossips.”

After tidying up the north room, the three brothers then tidied up the east wing.

At noon, the three brothers grabbed a quick bite and rested for a while.

At 2 p.m., two trucks stopped at the door; Yijia Shangpin's furniture had arrived.

Each truck had two young men helping with loading and unloading, plus the help of Li Zhe and his brother and driver Liang, and the eight of them started unloading the furniture.

The north room has two suites on the east and west sides and a living room, while the east wing also has three rooms. There was a lot of furniture, and it took more than two hours to put it all in place.

After finishing his work, Li Zhe poured tea for the four masters and brought out some snacks, telling them to eat and drink well before leaving.

Li Zhe returned to the north room and looked at the fully furnished room, thinking: Now that's more like it. Although the furniture was newly bought, it wasn't newly made; he could move in after airing it out for a couple of days.

……

It's approaching noon.

A red Lada sedan was parked on the side of the road outside the Shuxiangju Restaurant on Chongwenmen West Street.

A round-faced young woman with curly hair stepped out of the driver's seat. She was dressed fashionably and, although not particularly beautiful, had an inexplicable sense of approachability.

She locked the car door and walked into the restaurant. The waitress next to her bowed slightly and said, "Welcome, how many of you are there?"

Is your boss, Mr. Li, here?

Li Zhe was chatting with Tan Jingya in the back kitchen when he heard the voice and turned around to look. He replied, "Second Sister, I'm here." He then gave Tan Jingya a few more instructions before leading Shen Yanan upstairs.

"Second sister, how's your driving?"

"It's fine. I'm just not very skilled at it, so I don't dare to drive too fast." Shen Yanan replied, then followed Li Zhe into the private room and asked, "Why did you think of inviting me to dinner here?"

Li Zhe invited her to sit down and brewed some Longjing tea that he had brought with him: "Don't you get tired of eating at Western restaurants every day? Besides, you have a car now, and my place isn't far from yours, so you can just treat it as driving practice."

Shen Yanan slapped her forehead: "You're right. Now that I have a car, finding a place to eat is just a matter of stepping on the gas." She's been eating at Western restaurants a lot lately and is already tired of them, so she dreads lunchtime.

Shen Yanan took the menu and asked while looking at it, "I've been eating according to your recipe recently. Do I look thinner?" Li Zhe examined her carefully and said, "Yes, you do."

Shen Yanan was somewhat skeptical: "Really? Then I'll ask Mati and Su Mingyuan, and they said they couldn't tell."

Li Zhe took off his coat, pulled up a chair and sat down. "You see each other every day, so you definitely wouldn't be able to tell. Now that you've controlled your diet, add some anaerobic exercise—70% diet, 30% exercise—and I guarantee you'll be as thin as lightning."

"Wow, your tongue's getting smoother and smoother, and you've gotten so thin!" The second sister's face lit up with delight, clearly she'd hit the nail on the head, but she still asked, "What kind of exercise is this anaerobic exercise?"

"Aerobic exercise is low-intensity exercise, such as jogging and walking; anaerobic exercise is high-intensity exercise, such as sprinting and strength training. Doing more anaerobic exercise can increase muscle mass, and muscle can burn calories." Li Zhe briefly explained some tips from later generations.

Shen Yanan listened attentively and even took out her notebook to write down: "Little brother, I will definitely thank you properly when I lose weight."

Li Zhe smiled but didn't say anything. Losing weight isn't hard; the hard part is preventing it from rebounding. You just have to endure it.

In his view, weight is closely related to body constitution. If one is prone to weight gain, then losing weight will become a lifelong pursuit.

My second sister ordered two dishes: a double-pepper fish head and garlic-flavored stir-fried lettuce.

These two dishes were a bit too bland for Li Zhe, so he ordered two more dishes and a soup.

After the two ordered their food, Tan Jingya personally carried the snacks and fruit platter to the private room. She knew that this was a distinguished guest invited by Li Zhe, so she greeted him and went out to place the order.

Li Zhe opened the briefcase next to him and took out two stacks of money: "Second sister, this 4000 yuan is the dividend for that elder, and the 5300 yuan is yours."

Shen Yanan put away the two stacks of money and asked, "Brother, now that the money has been distributed, what about the capital for the next batch of canned goods?"

Li Zhe replied, "Let's just put it together again. From now on, we'll settle the accounts every time a batch of canned goods is delivered, so as not to mess up the books."

Shen Yanan nodded: "That's fine then. How much money do we need to raise this time?"

Li Zhe suggested, "This time I plan to deliver 30 tons of canned goods, and the initial investment of 50,000 yuan should be enough. With Su Mingyuan joining us this time, should we adjust the investment ratio?"

After some discussion, the two decided that Li Zhe would invest 20,000 yuan, holding 40% of the shares; Shen Yanan would invest 15,000 yuan, holding 30% of the shares; and Jin Baiwan, Hong San, and Su Mingyuan would each invest 5,000 yuan, holding 10% of the shares.

Of course, the two-tenths of the profits given to the elders of the Shen family are also indispensable.

The door to the private room rang, and the waiter brought out dishes on a wooden tray: double-pepper fish head, Mapo tofu, stir-fried river shrimp, boiled beef, and poached meatball soup.

After the two ate for a while and filled their stomachs, Li Zhe continued, "Second sister, as you should have seen, the profit from canned goods this time is half that of the first time. The main reason is the lack of pickled cucumbers and green beans, which are two types of canned goods with higher profit margins. So I plan to grow some green beans and pickled cucumbers."

In fact, regardless of whether Shen Yanan could continue to receive orders from the Soviet Union, Li Zhe would still grow these two vegetables. The reason was simple—he knew that trade relations between China and "Soviet Russia" would continue in the future.

Even if the second sister doesn't get the orders, others will. They will still prioritize buying these two kinds of vegetables to make canned goods, so there's no worry about selling his vegetables.

However, what Li Zhe was about to say was related to his second sister: "Second sister, there are two more ways to lower the purchase price of canned goods, and I would like to discuss them with you."

"Go ahead, I'm listening." Who would turn down money? Shen Yanan also felt that the profit this time was much lower than before. If Li Zhe hadn't made another fortune by reselling timber, the profit would have been even lower.

Li Zhe said, "The first method is contract manufacturing. We order a batch of canned goods from a cannery in advance to reduce costs as much as possible. The advantage is that it is relatively worry-free, and we don't need to manage or operate it ourselves."

The second option is to lease a cannery, produce the canned goods we need ourselves, and establish a cannery company to use our own trademark.

The advantages are long-term development potential, control over quality and sales, and minimizing costs.

Shen Yanan thought for a moment, unable to make up her mind: "Which one do you prefer?"

Li Zhe tapped the table with his right index finger and said, "If your elder can only get this 100-ton order, we will stop after completing this 100-ton canned food order."

I think there's no need to consider either of those. Let's just do things the way we are now: do a business deal, settle the accounts once, and split the profits once.
If we complete this 100-ton order and receive more orders in the second half of the year, then in June, July and August, we can produce canned goods through contract manufacturing. This is a medium-term development.

If we can continue to receive orders from the Soviet Union, then we should plan for long-term development. We could consider establishing our own cannery and leasing factory buildings to produce canned goods under our own brand.

Once the canned food brand becomes well-known, it may no longer need to rely on export channels to make a profit!

Shen Yanan took a deep breath and frowned slightly: "How much capital would it cost to lease a cannery? Wouldn't the cost be too high?"

Li Zhe replied, "The current canned food market isn't doing well. Many canneries are stuck with inventory, facing cash flow problems, and have already stopped production. They can't find sales channels, so there's no possibility of them resuming operations. Renting a small cannery won't be too expensive, but it will require some effort to manage."

Shen Yanan put down her chopsticks. When she heard Li Zhe say that he wanted to produce canned goods under his own brand, she had an indescribable feeling. She was a little excited and a little expectant: "Brother, I'll go ask that elder about the progress of the Sino-Soviet negotiations and give you an answer in a few days."

Li Zhe ladled out a bowl of meatball soup: "No rush, let's take it one step at a time. I haven't even planted my pickled cucumbers yet."

I still need to figure out how to get some cucumber seeds tomorrow…

Shen Yanan asked subconsciously, "Why don't you go ask the foreign trade company? Maybe Manager Wu can import some seeds from the Soviet Union."

Li Zhe put down his soup spoon: "I asked, and he said they don't have any right now, but he can try to find out for me, though he's not sure when they'll arrive."

These pickled cucumbers and green beans have a planting season; they can't be delayed.

Shen Yanan nodded: "That's right, then you can think of another way yourself."

……

At 9 p.m., after watching the last table of customers leave the restaurant, Tan Jingya returned to the counter to continue checking the accounts.

Other tasks in the restaurant were also proceeding smoothly: Chef Han in the kitchen was responsible for checking the water, electricity, gas valves, and electrical equipment; Lin Qiaomei led the staff to clean up and remove the garbage.

They didn't finish cleaning up until after 9 p.m., then closed the restaurant door and everyone went their separate ways.

Lin Qiaomei and Tan Jingya rode their bikes to No. 7 Courtyard in Suzhou Hutong, where they saw a man standing at the front gate of the courtyard. It was Lin Qiaomei's husband, Zhou Yongqiang.

Zhou Yongqiang walked over, greeted Tan Jingya first, and then asked Lin Qiaomei, "Wife, are you cold?"

Lin Qiaomei stopped her bicycle: "It's not far, and it's not cold."

"I'll give you a ride." Zhou Yongqiang took the handlebars and let Lin Qiaomei sit in the back.

"Qiaomei, I'm going back." Tan Jingya called out and turned towards the backyard.

"Let's go back." Lin Qiaomei waved and watched Tan Jingya enter the backyard of No. 7 Courtyard. Then, she sat on the back of the bicycle and put her arm around Zhou Yongqiang's waist: "Let's go home!"

Zhou Yongqiang took a few steps forward and sighed softly, "Sister Tan has had a tough time too. I wonder how the Ji... family is doing?"

Lin Qiaomei snorted, "Why bring up that Ji guy again? He's gone abroad to enjoy life. Even Sister Tan could leave him behind, so why would you?"

"Yeah, what am I..." Zhou Yongqiang chuckled awkwardly, then turned his head and said, "I've figured it out now, it's only you, my wife, who are truly good to me!"

……

In the backyard of No. 7 Courtyard, Tan Jingya stopped her bicycle, took out her keys, and opened the door, only to hear a dog barking: "Woof woof..."

The barking didn't frighten her; instead, it made her feel a little more at ease. The barking must have come from the dog named "Gold" in the front yard.

She pushed her bicycle into the yard and saw that the light in the north house was on. The yellow dog named Jinzi was lying at the door of the north house. It looked up at her and then lazily lowered its head.

Tan Jingya involuntarily stopped in her tracks, her heart filled with mixed emotions, staring blankly at the north room...

(End of this chapter)