Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 290 Homecoming
In the evening, the area in front of Quanjude Heping Store was bustling with activity.

A six-story modern building stands on the street, with two straight white stone pillars at the entrance. A red plaque with gold lettering reading "Quanjude" hangs in the middle, and two red lanterns hang below the plaque, their light casting a warm glow on the wall.

A long queue stretched out at the entrance, including families carrying gifts, businessmen in suits, and a few foreigners with high noses. Everyone was standing on tiptoe to peer into the store, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.

Li Zhe stood at the store entrance, glanced down at his watch, and saw it was 6:55.

He glanced at the crowd and quickly spotted a familiar figure: Section Chief Ma, wearing a gray shirt and black-rimmed glasses, stood out in the crowd with his slightly plump figure and was walking briskly toward him.

Li Zhe greeted him with a smile, extending his hand to shake hands with the other person: "Section Chief Ma."

Section Chief Ma smiled and said, "Mr. Li, I ran into an acquaintance on the way, which delayed me by a few minutes. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"I just arrived too, let's go in first." Li Zhe gestured for him to enter and led Section Chief Ma into the store.

He knew in his heart that Lin Weimin's role in securing the shops in the Asian Games Village at a low price was one factor, but the real key was still Section Chief Ma.

The reason I invited Section Chief Ma to dinner this time was twofold: firstly, to express my gratitude, and secondly, to ask him to find a reliable renovation team. Renovating a supermarket of over 500 square meters is no small matter, and only a professional team can save us a lot of trouble.

As for inviting Section Chief Ma to dinner, he had mentioned it to Lin Weimin beforehand, which was considered a way of making arrangements.

The two entered the lobby on the first floor, and were immediately greeted by a noisy atmosphere.

The hall was full of guests, with people gathered around each table. Some were raising their glasses to toast, while others were discussing how to eat roast duck. Waiters in white uniforms moved about among the guests, carrying trays and walking briskly. Occasionally, you could hear people saying "Excuse me."

The air was filled with the aroma of roasted duck and sweet bean sauce, whetting one's appetite.

"I've booked a private room on the second floor." Li Zhe led Section Chief Ma up the stairs. The second floor was much quieter than the first floor, with calligraphy and paintings hanging on both sides of the corridor.

The two entered the "Fu Shun" private room they had booked in advance. The room was small but very elegant, with a lotus painting hanging on the wall, a white tablecloth on the table, and a potted plant in the corner, exuding a sense of comfort.

The waiter quickly followed into the private room, handed over a menu, and brewed a pot of jasmine tea, which he then gently placed on the table.

"Section Chief Ma, please take a look. Order whatever you like." Li Zhe pushed the menu in front of Section Chief Ma.

Section Chief Ma didn't stand on ceremony. He flipped through the menu and ordered "Salted Duck Liver" and "Braised Pork Knuckle," then pushed the menu back to him: "Boss Li, I only like these two dishes. You can order the rest."

Li Zhe took the menu and ordered "Squirrel Mandarin Fish" and "Stir-fried Seasonal Vegetables". Finally, he said to the waiter, "Give me another signature roast duck, and make soup with the duck carcass."

The waiter noted down the menu and left the private room.

Li Zhe poured Section Chief Ma a cup of tea and casually asked, "Section Chief Ma, I see you walked here. Do you live nearby?"

Section Chief Ma picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "That's right, it's just in that alley over there, only a ten-minute walk from here."

"Your place is so convenient. Whenever I want to eat roast duck, I can just walk over," Li Zhe said, continuing the conversation.

Section Chief Ma waved his hand, a hint of helplessness in his voice: "This roast duck is delicious, but it's too expensive. We only bring the kids here to try it during holidays; we can't eat it often."

Just then, there was a light knock on the door of the private room, and a waiter pushed a food cart in. On the cart were two cold dishes on a wooden plate—a plate of wasabi duck feet and a plate of crystal duck tongue.

The waiter placed the cold dishes on the table and explained with a smile, "Mr. Li, my manager Han specifically instructed that you are a distinguished guest of our restaurant, and that you should be treated well no matter when you come. These two cold dishes are complimentary from the restaurant. Please enjoy them."

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Ma's eyes flickered slightly—he knew that the manager of Quanjude Heping Store was of a high rank and usually entertained foreign guests and important figures. The fact that Li Zhe could get the other party to specially order complimentary dishes showed that his connections were extraordinary.

Li Zhe smiled. The two dishes were nothing, but he was certainly being polite: "Please thank Manager Han for me. I'll pay him a visit when I have some free time in a few days."

The waiter responded and turned to leave.

Section Chief Ma's attitude warmed up even more, and he poured Li Zhe a cup of tea: "Mr. Li, are you very familiar with Manager Han?"

“There are some business dealings.” Li Zhe said, taking out a bottle of Moutai from the bag next to him, unscrewing the cap, and pouring a full glass for Section Chief Ma. “Section Chief Ma, we really owe you a lot for buying the shop this time. Let me toast you, bottoms up.”

"Mr. Li, you're too kind!" Section Chief Ma quickly picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Li Zhe's, and took a big gulp.

The aroma of Moutai spread in his mouth, and he couldn't help but smack his lips: "Hey, this liquor is still the best!"

Li Zhe put down his wine glass and said, "Section Chief Ma, don't be shy, start eating."

Section Chief Ma picked up a piece of wasabi duck foot, put it in his mouth and chewed it: "The wasabi flavor is strong, and the duck foot is crispy. It's even better than the one I had last time!" He then tasted a piece of crystal duck tongue and praised it highly: "The sauce is authentic, fresh but not salty. It's great."

After eating a few bites of food, Li Zhe took out a thick kraft paper envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Section Chief Ma: "Section Chief Ma, I appreciate all the hard work you've put into buying the shop. This is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Section Chief Ma quickly waved his hand: "Boss Li, we're all friends, why be so polite?"

"Don't think it's too little." Li Zhe smiled and stuffed the envelope into his pocket. "I do some foreign trade business and have some foreign exchange certificates. You can use them to buy some rare items for the elderly and children in your family."

Section Chief Ma touched the envelope in his pocket, knowing it was quite heavy: "This is too much trouble, too much trouble."

After exchanging a few polite words, he accepted the gift as a token of his gratitude.

Soon, a waiter pushed a cart of roast duck into the private room. The freshly roasted duck was glistening with oil, its skin a deep reddish-brown. The chef, wearing a white hat, skillfully sliced ​​the duck with a knife, each slice of skin evenly thick and still steaming.

The waiter placed the sliced ​​roast duck on a plate, then served the side dishes, and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, the roast duck is ready. Please eat it while it's hot."

The two picked up lotus leaf pancakes, rolled up roast duck, scallions, and sweet bean sauce, and put them in their mouths. The crispy duck skin mixed with the tender duck meat, and then coated with the salty and savory sweet bean sauce, created a rich and layered taste.

While eating, Section Chief Ma exclaimed, "Hey, when it comes to Peking duck, you have to go to Quanjude!"

The two ate roast duck, drank and chatted, and the atmosphere became increasingly lively.

After a few rounds of drinks, Li Zhe raised his glass again and toasted Section Chief Ma: "Section Chief Ma, I'm inviting you to dinner today because there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Section Chief Ma put down his wine glass and said readily, "Brother Li, just say what you need to say. I'll definitely help if I can."

"After buying the shops in the Asian Games Village, I plan to open a supermarket, but I'm currently worried about finding a reliable renovation team," Li Zhe said. "You have a wide network in this field, I wonder if you could introduce me to a professional one?"

"Hey, I thought it was something difficult!" Section Chief Ma laughed, patting his chest and saying, "It's simple. I know a friend who used to work in a state-owned enterprise. Now he's started his own construction team. He's skilled, his prices are fair, and he's experienced."

I'll give you a call later and have him contact you. I guarantee you'll be satisfied.

"Thank you so much, Section Chief Ma!" Li Zhe quickly raised his glass and toasted him again.

Next, Section Chief Ma asked about the supermarket's size and main product categories, which Li Zhe answered one by one. The two chatted more and more congenially, from the renovation to the development of the Asian Games Village, and then to future cooperation. Before they knew it, it was past eight o'clock.

After dinner, Li Zhe drove Section Chief Ma home. When they arrived at the alley entrance, he took a bag out of the trunk and handed it to Section Chief Ma, saying, "Section Chief Ma, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please take it."

Section Chief Ma glanced down and saw two bottles of Moutai and two cartons of foreign cigarettes in the bag. He quickly declined, saying, "Brother Li, you're too kind. I've already accepted the envelope, but you can't take the cigarettes and alcohol."

"Don't be so polite with me." Li Zhe stuffed the bag into his hand. "We're all friends, this is just a small token of my appreciation, please take it."

Section Chief Ma couldn't refuse, so he had to accept it, saying with a smile, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. If you need anything in the future, just let me know."

After watching Section Chief Ma walk into the alley, Li Zhe drove away.

Section Chief Ma returned home carrying the bag—it was an old-fashioned tenement building, the stairwell cluttered with miscellaneous items, the dim light bulbs flickering on and off. He knocked on the door and called out, "Wife, open the door!"

The door opened quickly, and Mrs. Ma poked her head out—she was about thirty years old, wearing a floral shirt, her hair casually tied back, with a hint of reproach on her face: "Why are you making so much noise? The child just fell asleep, aren't you afraid of waking him up?"

"I forgot my keys." Section Chief Ma chuckled sheepishly and went inside.

This is a two-bedroom apartment of over 50 square meters, crammed full of furniture, with children's toys piled up in the corner.

"You're always so forgetful, always forgetting to go out drinking," Mrs. Ma complained, taking the bag from his hand. "Who did you go out drinking with this time?"

"It wasn't for drinking, it was dinner with friends to discuss business," Section Chief Ma said casually as he changed his shoes. "Having more friends means having more options, and it'll be easier to get things done in the future."

"You're such a smooth talker." Madam Ma rolled her eyes at him. "Hurry up and take off your clothes and wash your face. You reek of alcohol; it's disgusting."

"Okay, okay," Section Chief Ma replied, picking up a basin and towel, preparing to go to the public bathroom to wash his face.

He had just reached the door when he heard Mrs. Ma's startled cry from inside: "Old Ma! Come quick! What's this?"

Section Chief Ma's heart tightened, and he rushed back into the house: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Mrs. Ma held the brown paper envelope in her hand, her face showing a mixture of surprise and delight. She closed the door and lowered her voice, "Why are there so many foreign exchange certificates in here? Count them, there must be two thousand, right? Is this real? Or is it fake?"

Section Chief Ma took the envelope, counted the money, and was surprised to find that there were indeed two thousand foreign exchange certificates. He had been too embarrassed to count them in person, and he hadn't expected Li Zhe to be so generous.

"Of course it's true." Section Chief Ma lowered his voice. "I helped a friend with something, and the gift he gave me was all legal and compliant. Don't overthink it."

Mrs. Ma was still somewhat worried, so she quickly closed the door and asked in a low voice, "Are you sure it's alright? Will you make a mistake?"

"Don't worry, nothing's wrong." Section Chief Ma waved his hand. "My friend runs a legitimate business, he's not short of money, and he's also very generous. This little bit of foreign exchange certificate is just a token of his appreciation."

Hearing "It's alright," Mrs. Ma finally relaxed, her face instantly lighting up with a smile: "That's great! We can get a new color TV by the end of the year! Last month, my colleague got a 14-inch color TV, which is much clearer than our black and white TV. The kids don't want to leave the set!"

Section Chief Ma was both amused and exasperated: "You spendthrift woman, the foreign exchange certificates have barely arrived and you're already thinking about how to spend them?"

"Then why not keep them to have babies?" Madam Ma rolled her eyes at him, then picked up the cigarettes and alcohol from the bag. "These two bottles of wine and cigarettes look pretty good. Give them to my father for the New Year; it'll save us money on New Year's goods."

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Ma quickly snatched the bag away and placed it on top of the cabinet: "No, no, no! These foreign cigarettes are weak, and Dad doesn't like smoking them; this liquor is soy sauce flavored, and the taste is too strong, Dad can't get used to it."

I'll buy Dad a case of Erguotou later; he loves that.

Mrs. Ma rolled her eyes at his nervous look: "Alright, alright, whatever you say. Go wash up! The smell of alcohol is awful!"

Section Chief Ma chuckled and didn't reply—he was calculating in his mind that he would save the Moutai and foreign cigarettes to give as gifts to his superiors, as he would need these "hard currencies" to advance his career.

……

At eight o'clock in the evening, the sky was completely dark, and a faint layer of darkness covered the dirt road in Wan'an Town.

A man was carrying two bulging cloth bags and a baby wrapped in a floral cloth on his back. He walked slowly, stopping to rest every few steps. Beads of sweat on his forehead glistened in the moonlight, clearly indicating that he had walked a long way and was quite tired.

After walking for nearly twenty minutes, the man finally arrived at the north of Daying Village. He stopped, forced a smile on his tired face, and whispered to the baby in his arms, "Daughter, we're home. Just bear with it a little longer, and we'll be able to rest soon."

He leaned against an old locust tree by the roadside for a while, and was about to continue walking when his gaze was drawn to a scene not far away—where there had been an empty lot last spring, now stood a magnificent house with red brick walls and lit windows, looking to be several hundred square meters in size.

The man frowned, thinking to himself, "Damn, when was this built? There was nothing here when I left, how come there's such a big house now after just over a year?"

He put down the cloth bag in his hand and walked curiously toward the house. The further he walked, the more surprised he became. Not far from the house, there were rows of black buildings, each taller than a person, arranged neatly and looking like large tents.

The man wondered to himself, "What is this thing? It's dark and big, and it's kind of scary."

He mustered his courage and walked toward the black building. When he got closer, he could see that it was a series of large pits, each tens of meters long and seven or eight meters wide. Bamboo poles were used to build frames over the pits, and black cloth was placed on top of the frames, like an umbrella over the pits.

Just as the man was about to reach out and touch the black cloth, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Who's there? What are you doing wandering around here so late at night?"

The man was startled and quickly turned around, only to see Li Jiugang walking towards him with a flashlight, the beam shining directly into his face. The man instinctively moved the baby in his arms closer and covered the child with a floral cloth.

"You are...Quick-Tongued?" Li Jiugang approached with a flashlight, and upon seeing the man's appearance, exclaimed his name in surprise.

Kuai Zui recognized Li Jiu Gang and breathed a sigh of relief, laughing, "Oh, it's Brother Jiu Gang! What are you doing in the fields so late at night instead of going home to rest?"

"Heh, I haven't even asked you yet, and you're already asking me." Li Jiugang put away his flashlight and said with a smile, "Quick talker, you've been gone for over a year, finally decided to come back? Making a fortune in the south, huh?"

As the two were talking, footsteps came from not far away, and several figures carrying flashlights walked over. The one leading them was Zhao Bing.

He approached, saw Quick-Tongued, and paused for a moment before exclaiming in surprise, "Hey, isn't this Quick-Tongued? When did you get back?"

"I just got to the village entrance and was heading home when I saw something interesting over here, so I came over to take a look." Quick-talking pointed to the black building behind him and asked curiously, "What's that black thing? It looks rather strange."

"This is a shade shed, used for seedling cultivation," Li Jiugang explained from the side. "It's hot now, and the seedlings are afraid of the sun. Covering them with this black cloth can block the sun and keep them moist. Once the seedlings are strong, they can be transplanted into the greenhouse."

"What seedling cultivation? Does it have to be so complicated?" Kuai Zui was still completely bewildered—when he left, there were only a few households in the village that specialized in growing vegetables, and they had never seen anything like this before.

Just then, the baby in Kuai Zui's arms suddenly started crying, the sound not loud, but exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

"Good heavens! How come there's a child here?" Zhao Bing was startled, his eyes fixed on the floral cloth bag in Kuai Zui's arms. The other militiamen also came over, their eyes full of surprise.

There, wrapped in a floral fabric, was a dark-skinned girl with sparse, yellowish hair and a thin, malnourished face.

The quick-tongued man took a step back, and said with an awkward laugh, "This...this is my daughter."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief—the quick-talking wife wandered around the village every day, chatting with everyone, showing no signs of being pregnant at all. How did a daughter suddenly appear?
Zhao Bing frowned, his tone becoming serious: "Quick-talker, don't joke with us. This kid is no joke. Tell me honestly, where did you get this kid? Don't do anything illegal, or it'll be a big deal if we find out!"

In his haste to speak, he quickly retorted, "Zhao Bing, don't talk nonsense! How could I do anything illegal? If I really did something bad, I wouldn't dare to bring it back so openly!"

He lowered his voice and explained, "The child's parents had four or five daughters, and they were so poor that they couldn't afford to raise them anymore, so they wanted to find a good family to give them away."

Seeing how pitiful the child was, and considering that my wife and I had never had children, I gave the mother 100 yuan for nutritional expenses and brought the child home.

After saying that, Kuai Zui picked up the cloth bag from the ground and said anxiously, "Alright, my wife is still waiting at home. I'm going back now. We can talk about it tomorrow." After saying that, he walked quickly towards the village.

Zhao Bing wanted to ask a few more questions, but Li Jiugang stopped him.

Li Jiugang whispered, "Zhao Bing, forget it, don't keep asking. Which village doesn't have a few women who can't have children? There are plenty of cases of children being adopted. As long as the child is legitimate, let's not get involved."

Zhao Bing was still uneasy and asked, "Brother Jiu Gang, how do you know this kid has a legitimate background?"

“If it weren’t for the legitimate reason, it wouldn’t be a girl.” Li Jiugang smiled and waved his hand, saying, “It’s getting late, everyone should disperse and continue the patrol.”

Zhao Bing thought about it and agreed. He then waved to the other militiamen, "Alright, everyone disperse. Continue your patrols and be careful not to let outsiders in."

(End of this chapter)