Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 293 Self-recommendation
After the meal, a cool breeze blew through the courtyard of the Li family's new house, dispelling the daytime heat.

The courtyard was lit up, and everyone sat on small stools, bamboo chairs, and small folding stools to enjoy the cool air. After clearing away the dishes, Wang Xiuying also brought over a bowl of tea and sat down.

Old Li spoke first, looking at Li Zhe: "Second brother, did you find any problems when you went to inspect the greenhouse this afternoon?"

Li Zhe nodded—he had indeed discovered quite a few problems, and then told him about finding cigarette butts in the greenhouse and Li Zhensheng's lateness.

"Hmph, this Li Zhensheng is getting more and more outrageous!" Old Li frowned, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction. "I told him before that he should be punctual for work, but he just let it go in one ear and out the other, he has no manners at all."

"If I had known, I would have made up an excuse not to let him join the company in the first place."

Li Zhe, fanning himself, said, "Father, no one can see behind their back. This is not your fault."

Li Zhenguo, sitting to the side, chimed in, "Most of the villagers have never had a proper job and haven't developed the habit of being on time. It's really not easy to get them to adapt to company rules all at once. We need to quickly establish a clear system with rewards and punishments to set up discipline."

Li Zhe chimed in, "That's what I was thinking too. We're planning to set up a human resources department specifically for employee training, daily management, and performance evaluation." He then looked up at the crowd, his tone shifting abruptly.
"Oh, by the way, I also inspected the greenhouses of the farmers who cooperate with our company. Guess what?"

Li Weidong chimed in, "Of course! It's definitely not as well-organized as our company's directly operated stores. I estimate there are even more areas that need improvement."

Old Li frowned slightly. He was responsible for providing technical training to farmers and helping them build greenhouses, so he knew their situation better. He said, "From what I understand, the farmers' greenhouses are doing quite well. After all, it's their own business, so they're all very dedicated. At least their attitude is impeccable."

Li Zhe nodded in agreement, saying, "Dad is right. I went to see the farmers' vegetable greenhouses and found basically no problems. Overall, they were even more organized than the greenhouses directly operated by our company. To be honest, after seeing them, I felt quite uneasy."

He sighed softly and continued, "Whether it was last winter or this spring, our company's greenhouses were always neat and tidy, and no one ever smoked inside them. How come such a big problem has arisen so soon after the greenhouses were expanded?"

After pondering for a moment, the Malaysian man asked, "Is it because the management of the new employees is inadequate? They didn't follow the rules, which is why these things happened."

Li Zhe nodded: "That's one reason. On the other hand, I'm also reflecting on whether we ourselves have been lax in our standards. If we, the senior employees and managers, don't hold ourselves to high standards, the new employees will naturally follow suit."

"So how do you plan to make the changes?" Li Weidong pressed, his eyes full of concern—if the company does well, his whole family can benefit.

"Once the personnel department is established and the rules are set, we'll start targeting exemplary cases!" Li Zhe said firmly. "Those who do well will receive bonuses and be recognized as outstanding performers at the end of the month; those who violate the rules will be criticized and have their wages deducted as appropriate; and those who repeatedly fail to correct their behavior, even if they are relatives, will be dismissed!"

After saying that, he looked at his father and brother and sister-in-law and instructed them: "Don't tell anyone about this. Just keep it to yourselves. Also, we family members have to follow the rules even more. If we make exceptions for ourselves, the employees below will be even more unruly."

Li Weidong immediately reassured her, "Don't worry, your sister-in-law and I will definitely support you and will never hold you back!"

Suddenly, the Malaysian boy became interested and leaned forward: "Second brother, what exactly does the personnel department you mentioned do? Tell me in detail."

Li Zhe explained with a smile: "The human resources department is like the company's 'housekeeper.' First of all, it has to formulate management systems, such as working hours, operating procedures, and reward and punishment methods, all of which must be clearly written down."

Then, they are responsible for employee training. New employees need to be taught skills and rules, and old employees need to learn new things regularly. They also need to monitor employee performance, record attendance, assess performance, and calculate wages and bonuses at the end of the month.
If anyone violates the rules, the HR department will handle it and punish them accordingly, so that we managers don't have to step in and offend people.

Simply put, it means consolidating all personnel management responsibilities so that production supervisors can focus on overseeing the work in the greenhouses.

After hearing this, the Malaysian boy's eyes lit up: "Wow, according to you, the personnel department has quite a lot of power! Who are you planning to put in charge of this department?"

“I haven’t found a suitable candidate yet, and I’ll most likely hire someone with experience from outside.” Li Zhe thought it over carefully—the people in the company were either relatives or lacked management experience, so there really wasn’t anyone who could take on this responsibility.

Malai glanced at everyone and suddenly spoke up: "Second brother, do you think I'm up to the task? I want to try managing the human resources department!"

Li Zhe was taken aback, not expecting his sister-in-law to volunteer. He looked at Li Weidong and asked, "Brother, what do you think?"

Li Weidong frowned and quickly waved his hand: "I don't think it will work! Your sister-in-law didn't even know what the personnel department was before, she only heard you say a few words, how could she manage such an important department?"
Besides, how can a woman like her manage so many employees?

"What's wrong with women?" the Malay girl retorted defiantly. "The elders have always said that 'women hold up half the sky,' so why do you look down on women? I may lack experience, but didn't the second brother say that?"
"We'll establish rules then, and I'll just follow them, right? Whoever breaks the rules will be punished. What's so difficult about that?"

“But that would offend too many people!” Li Weidong was still worried. “Take Uncle Li Zhensheng for example. He’s an elder in our family. If he’s late again, what are you going to do? Deduct his salary?”

Most of the new employees in the company are relatives or friends. If they all break the rules, wouldn't you offend half the village?

"So what if I offend someone!" the Malay man said firmly. "This company belongs to the second brother. As his older brother and sister-in-law, it's only right that we look after it for him. Besides, if no one dares to offend anyone, wouldn't the system be just for show? I'm not afraid, I accept it!"

Old Li chimed in from the side: "The second son originally wanted to hire someone from outside, but he was also considering that it would be difficult to offend his own people. If he let outsiders manage things, even if the relatives were punished, they wouldn't be blamed."

“Dad, I know it’s easier to get things done with outsiders, but outsiders are still outsiders!” Ma Lai Xiao quickly said, “The personnel department is such an important department, we need someone from the family to keep an eye on it for us to feel at ease.”

Even if outsiders can chant sutras, they still need to know where our company's "temple gate" is—they don't understand the local customs and traditions, and managing them might be more troublesome.

"I'm a member of the Li family, and I've worked at the company for so long. I know who's reliable and who's difficult to manage. Wouldn't it be better if I acted as a 'guide' and helped the new manager get familiar with the situation?"

She looked at Li Zhe, her eyes full of expectation: "Second brother, what do you think?"

Li Zhe pondered for a moment—he actually quite agreed with his sister-in-law's idea. Even if they hired someone from outside to manage the human resources department, the person would need to be familiar with the village's situation and the company's interpersonal relationships in order to carry out the work smoothly.

Moreover, the personnel department cannot be entirely staffed with outsiders; having a member of the Li family inside to oversee things would be more reliable.

Moreover, my sister-in-law has a fiery personality and is decisive in her actions, making her suitable for managing discipline.

So he said, "Sister-in-law, go back and discuss it with my brother. If he has no objections, I'll agree to let you go to the personnel department."

The young Malaysian man chuckled and quickly asked, "Second brother, what position are you going to assign me?"

Li Zhe smiled and said, "How about becoming the deputy head of the human resources department?"

"Holy crap! I'm a deputy manager now! Haha!" The Malaysian guy was so happy he couldn't stop grinning. He puffed out his chest and turned to Li Weidong, saying, "Comrade Weidong, you can't break company rules from now on, or I, as the deputy manager, will be the first to object!"

Li Zhe then turned to his father, Old Li, and asked, "Dad, you're in charge of a department, and you're the only supervisor. Can you manage it all? If you can't handle it, I'll give you two more deputies."

Old Li admitted frankly, "We have hundreds of farmers cooperating with us, and I really can't handle it all by myself. But if we add assistants, what tasks would they mainly be responsible for?"

"I've been thinking about this issue too. We need to carefully consider the specific division of labor. I'll gather a few key personnel from the company later, and we'll discuss it together," Li Zhe said.

In fact, this kind of work is also linked to the responsibilities of the human resources department, and the human resources department needs to help sort out the division of labor.

In his previous life, Li Zhe was just an ordinary farmer who had never been involved in management work. Now, asking him to develop a systematic and detailed management system and job division is indeed a bit of a challenge for him.

The group chatted for a while longer, and then Da Ya rubbed her eyes and yawned, looking sleepy.

Seeing this, Li Weidong and his wife got up to say goodbye to everyone and took Daya home. After arriving home, the two first settled Daya down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to sleep, and then sat down by the kang to chat quietly.

Li Weidong brought up the matter of the personnel department first: "Honey, do you really want to work in the personnel department?"

“Yeah! Didn’t I just tell the second brother? What, you still disagree?” the Malay boy retorted.

"Honey, didn't you always want to be a technician last year? Why did you suddenly change your mind this year?" Li Weidong asked, puzzled.

The Malay man explained, "As you said, that was last year's idea. Last year, there weren't many people who knew how to grow vegetables in greenhouses. Back then, everyone wanted to be a technician, because they thought technicians were highly valued."

But this year is different—in addition to the dozens of people in our company, hundreds of farmers are also learning greenhouse cultivation techniques. By next year, there will be even more people who understand greenhouse cultivation techniques, and technicians will become less valuable.

But the company's HR department is different; that department manages people, even technicians. Which do you think is more powerful?

Li Weidong still had some concerns: "I just feel that the personnel department is a job that offends people. Even the second brother himself doesn't want to get involved in this, otherwise he wouldn't have thought of hiring people from outside."

The younger brother, however, had his own plans: "Hey, I've thought about this before. Even if the second brother hires someone from outside, he can't completely ignore these troublesome matters."

Take Uncle Zhensheng for example. If the new HR manager fires him, do you think he would accept it?
I think he'll definitely be dissatisfied—in his eyes, the company belongs to the Li family, and an outsider manager's word doesn't count. He'll definitely have to plead with the second son later.

But the second son is the boss, a busy and important person, and he definitely wouldn't want to deal with this kind of thing; he'd avoid it like the plague.

But it would be different if I were in the HR department—I'm also a member of the Li family and a shareholder of the company. If Uncle Zhensheng pleads for me, I can help the second brother avoid this.

The second brother is afraid of trouble, but I am. I've helped him so much; how could he not appreciate my kindness as his sister-in-law?

Li Weidong pondered for a while and felt that his wife made sense—his younger brother was quick-witted and probably had the same idea. So he relented: "Alright, since the second brother has agreed to let you take the position, then go ahead and do it."

……

The aroma of food filled the Sijiqing Company canteen in the early morning.

Steaming hot steamed buns made from two kinds of flour were laid out on a long wooden table, piled up like small mountains in baskets. Next to them, there were refreshing pickled vegetables in an enamel basin, and a large bucket filled with rice water. The most anticipated item was an egg, limited to one per person.

This was a rare treat in the village, and many new employees were reluctant to eat it. They carefully put the eggs into their pockets, intending to take them home for their elderly relatives and children.

At seven o'clock in the morning, employees entered the canteen one after another. The veteran employees found seats with ease, while the new employees carried their trays with some restraint and found a quiet corner to sit down.

Including both veteran and new employees, there were more than forty people in the canteen. The canteen suddenly became lively, with the sounds of chopsticks clattering against enamel bowls and conversations mingling together.

Attentive employees noticed that an extra window had been opened in the cafeteria today, wafting a rich aroma of rice that was much more fragrant than the usual rice porridge.

Wearing a clean blue cotton jacket, Wang Xiuying stood by the window, holding a large ladle in her hand. She smiled and said to the employees queuing up, "This is freshly made eight-treasure porridge. I started cooking it at five in the morning and it took two whole hours. This is the only pot available. First come, first served, so please don't push."

Lin Xiaohu, being the most clever, was the first to run to the window, sniffed it, and his eyes lit up: "Auntie, your porridge smells so good, even better than my mom's millet porridge! Give me a bowl!"

"Okay!" Wang Xiuying picked up a rough porcelain bowl, scooped up a spoonful of porridge, and handed it over.

Lin Xiaohu looked down and saw that the porridge in the bowl was of just the right consistency and contained a lot of good stuff—red date petals, peanuts, red beans, mung beans, lotus seeds, dried longan pulp, as well as crystal-clear glutinous rice and corn kernels, a total of seven or eight kinds of ingredients, with beautiful colors that looked appetizing.

He took a sip; it was sweet but not cloying, the lotus seeds were stewed until soft and tender, and the peanuts were chewy and glutinous. He couldn't help but praise, "Auntie, your porridge is so generous with its ingredients! It's even better than the Laba porridge my family makes."

"This is a recipe I came up with myself, and it's free for everyone to drink. It has nothing to do with the company." Wang Xiuying added with a smile while serving porridge to the people behind her. "There's just one small request—after you drink it, if you think it's good or bad, please tell me and give me your feedback."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding employees quickly lined up to get their share of porridge, fearing that it would be gone if they were late.

In no time, the pot of porridge was empty.

Wang Xiuying went out of the kitchen and asked each employee who had drunk the porridge: Was the porridge delicious? Were there any shortcomings? How could it be improved?

Some said, "It would be better if there were more red dates," others said, "It would be smoother if it were a little sweeter," still others said, "If the lotus seeds had their cores removed, they wouldn't be bitter," and "Some people felt that there were too many ingredients, resulting in a mixed flavor"...

Wang Xiuying took out a small notebook and carefully wrote down everyone's opinions, even noting which employee made what suggestion.

Li Zhe sat at the table in the corner, holding a steamed bun in his hand and eating it with pickled vegetables. He couldn't help but smile as he watched his mother carefully taking notes. His mother had really put in a lot of effort to research the recipe for eight-treasure porridge.

He had almost finished eating when he saw the Guo brothers, Guo Yonghong and Guo Yongfu, walking over, looking somewhat uneasy.

Guo Yonghong, his dark face showing some unease, stammered, "Boss Li, we...we have something we want to tell you."

"Brother Yonghong, please sit down." Li Zhe pointed to the empty seat next to him and asked with a smile, "Have you eaten? If not, let's eat together."

“We’ve all eaten,” Guo Yonghong said, sitting down next to Li Zhe.

He rubbed his rough hands and said, "Boss Li, we've been with the company for three or four months now, and we've learned a lot about greenhouse cultivation techniques. Thank you for your continued support..." He stopped halfway through his sentence, seemingly embarrassed to continue.

Judging from their expressions, Li Zhe roughly understood what was going on and replied with a smile, "Brother Yonghong, you're planning to go back to Shouguang, right?"

Guo Yonghong nodded quickly, his tone tinged with guilt: "Yes, we've been away for so long, and no one has been taking care of the land at home. My wife keeps writing to urge us to go back. If we don't go back soon, our family will start to worry."

"Go back if you want, family matters are more important." Li Zhe nodded, showing no displeasure. "When do you plan to leave?"

"We want to leave first thing tomorrow morning," Guo Yonghong replied, feeling relieved—he was worried that Li Zhe would be unhappy, since the company was in dire need of manpower right now.

Li Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Okay, come to the small canteen to see me at 2 pm this afternoon. I have something to tell you."

"Okay, we'll definitely be there!" the two brothers quickly agreed, but they were a little uneasy—they didn't know what Boss Li wanted to say to them, or whether he would blame them for leaving halfway.

Watching the Guo brothers' departing figures, a smile appeared on Li Zhe's lips. In fact, the Guo brothers' departure was something he had expected.

The Guo Yonghong brothers are from Shouguang, Luzhou, a county that has always been a major vegetable-growing area. Taking the greenhouse technology they learned at Sijiqing Company back with them will not only help improve their family's life, but also lay the groundwork for Sijiqing Company's expansion in Shouguang.

In the future, Sijiqing Company wants to expand its off-season vegetable business to Shouguang, and the Guo brothers are the best "bridge" for this, which is a good thing for the company's long-term development.

(End of this chapter)