Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 62 Cooperation
"These cucumbers are also specially supplied?" Old Li picked up a cucumber strip, took a bite, and said, "They're all wilted and not as fresh as ours."

Li Zhe examined the cucumber strip closely. The center of the cucumber was hollow, and it tasted somewhat bitter. The special-supply cucumber variety was definitely fine; it was just that it had been stored for too long.

"It must have been transported from the southernmost part of the country. It certainly can't compare to our fresh cucumbers." Li Zhe's tone was somewhat uncertain. As far as he knew, there were greenhouses in Beijing at that time, mainly used for scientific research and breeding. He wasn't sure if they produced cucumbers.

These greenhouses are mostly glass greenhouses that rely on coal for heating, which is too expensive and not suitable for large-scale promotion.

"My goodness, you came by train! No wonder these cucumbers are so expensive." Old Li had never ridden a train before, and his eyes held an indescribable mix of envy and something else.

Li Zhe smiled and said, "Dad, I'll take you on airplane rides from now on."

Old Li didn't respond. He was used to his son making empty promises every now and then. He muttered to himself, "We brought three cucumbers, but he didn't cut any of our own. Instead, he wanted us to eat the special cucumbers. Why is that?"

Old Li is known for his overthinking. Li Zhe hadn't thought about it too deeply before, but he thought, "Manager Liu might have kept our cucumbers to taste them before deciding on the price."

"These business people are so cunning, unlike us farmers who are honest and straightforward." As he spoke, Old Li ate another wrap, wiped his mouth, and said, "Maybe it's to lower the price and show that he has plenty of stock."

Li Zhe thought that was possible, but then he suddenly thought of another reason: could it be that the father and son were overthinking things, since this was originally the standard feature of the private rooms on the second floor?

Li Zhe shook his head; this wasn't something he should be thinking about. He asked in a low voice, "Dad, how much do you want to sell it for?"

Old Li took a sip of duck bone soup. "Those who can afford to eat here are all rich people. You can count them on one hand. I think it can't be less than seven yuan, otherwise Sun Tao and his gang will have something to say about it."

Sun Tao, Li Jinxia, ​​Hong San, and others are middlemen who buy goods from Li Zhe for six yuan each and then resell them at a higher price to make a profit. Regardless of where they sell them, the price shouldn't be lower than seven yuan per jin (approximately 0.5 kg).

In fact, Li Zhe didn't care about the middleman's opinion. He was the only one selling cucumbers in winter, so many rules didn't apply to him.

Old Li was right about one thing: Quanjude's customers have strong spending power, so the price of cucumbers can be appropriately increased.

But it can't be too high. In this day and age, the former store manager of Quanjude has a complicated identity. What if you offend him and he makes your cucumbers a special supply? Where can you go to seek justice?

After finishing the roast duck and fried meatballs, Li Zhe drank a bowl of duck bone soup to cleanse his palate, and asked contentedly, "Dad, are you full?"

"I'm full, but I'm missing a bit of wine. If I could have a couple of ounces of Fenjiu, that would be perfect."

Li Zhe patted him on the shoulder, "Old Li, keep up the good work. When we make money at the end of the year, I'll treat you to roast duck and Moutai."

Previously, his son said he would treat him to Moutai, and Old Li thought he was talking nonsense. But now that he thinks about it, it's not that far off. In fact, a thought popped into Old Li's head: why wait until the New Year?
Li Zhe left the private room and asked the waiter to invite Manager Liu over.

Manager Liu glanced at the bare plates and asked with a smile, "Are you two satisfied with your meal?"

Old Li praised, "Manager Liu, your roast duck is really good, it truly deserves to be called a specialty of Beijing."

"Comrade Li, thank you for your praise. You are welcome to come again anytime."

"Your place is great, but you have to wait in a long line."

"Next time you come, just mention my name, and you won't have to wait in line."

"Oh, that's great, thank you so much."

"Don't mention it, practice makes perfect." Manager Liu said politely for a moment, then his smile faded. "Old Li, I mentioned to you before that our store uses a lot of cucumbers, and winter is the off-season for vegetables, so cucumbers are in short supply. We'd like to buy some cucumbers from you."

Old Li countered, "Manager Liu, how much do you want?"

Manager Liu opened his right palm and said, "Fifty catties a day, and they must be fresh cucumbers."

With a plentiful cucumber harvest, 50 jin (25 catties) shouldn't be a problem, Old Li turned to look at his son.

Li Zhe chimed in, "Manager Liu, I'd be more than happy to sell cucumbers to Quanjude. But most of my cucumbers have already been pre-ordered by customers who have paid deposits in advance, so I can't come up with that many right now."

Manager Liu pressed further, "How much can you raise?"

Instead of answering, Li Zhe asked, "How much do you want to pay?"

Manager Liu seemed to have already thought it through, and said directly, "Five yuan per pound."

Li Zhe stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality today. Let's work together again in the future."

Manager Liu gestured with his right hand, "Comrade Li Zhe, there's no rush to leave. What do you think is a suitable price?"

Li Zhe sighed, "To be honest, cucumbers are hard to grow in winter, and the costs are extremely high. Even if I sold them to you for five yuan, I would still lose money. I owe the credit union a mountain of loans, and I'm counting on selling cucumbers to pay them off."

If you really want it, I'll charge you seven yuan per jin, cash on delivery.

Manager Liu pondered for a moment, "How many cucumbers can you provide at this price?" "Twenty catties."

"That's not enough. If you can give me forty catties of cucumbers, I can offer you seven yuan."

Li Zhe pretended to be troubled and scratched his head. After a moment of silence, he said, "Alright, I'll think of a way to get you a full forty catties."

Manager Liu extended his right hand. "Comrade Li Zhe, it's settled then. Deliver the cucumbers directly to the kitchen first thing tomorrow morning, and I'll receive them there."

"Our cucumbers are all picked fresh in the morning, and they won't arrive until after 10 a.m.

"can."

After reaching an agreement, Manager Liu personally escorted the father and son out of Quanjude.

Sitting on the back of the bicycle, Old Li began to ponder again, "The cucumber production has increased, and people want fifty catties, so why only give us forty catties?"

"Dad, didn't I say that only when supply falls short of demand can the price of cucumbers be guaranteed?"

"If cucumber production increases in the future, who will we sell them to?"

Li Zhe laughed and said, "Dad, there's more than one Quanjude restaurant in Beijing, and Quanjude isn't the only place that sells roast duck. Don't worry, once the news spreads, plenty of people will come to buy cucumbers."

Old Li chuckled, "That makes sense."

……

In the evening, Sun Tao rode his tricycle into the Chongwenmen vegetable market, parked it next to the willow tree in front of the management office, picked up a fertilizer bag and went into the management office.

"Sister Chen, I'm busy. Is Director Han here?"

"Oh, Sun Tao's here. Director Han's in his office. What do you need him for?"

"Qinghe is doing breeding research at the university, and she asked me to help her buy vegetable seeds. I'll have Director Han take them back to her." Sun Tao said this and headed straight for the deputy director's office.

"Dong dong."

"Come in."

Sun Tao pushed open the office door and saw a woman in her forties sitting behind the desk, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking at documents.

"Taozi is here. Please sit down for a while. I'll finish reading this."

"Aunt Han, please go ahead with your work, I'm not in a hurry."

After a while, Director Han finished reading the documents, put away his glasses, and asked, "Taozi, did you need something?"

"It's alright. Qinghe asked me to collect all the vegetable seeds, so please take them back with you." Sun Tao opened the fertilizer bag, revealing a bag of vegetable seeds and a few bright green cucumbers. "Here are a few cucumbers too, feel free to take them home and have a taste."

“Oh, this stuff is precious. I’ll keep two to try, and take the rest back to sell to buy medicine for your dad.”

"Are you trying to embarrass me? Why take it back after you've already brought it? Qinghe loves cucumbers, let her eat them." Sun Tao stood up, making a move to leave.

Director Han waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down. "How's your father's health lately?"

"Still the same old way, just keep raising them."

Director Han sighed softly and changed the subject, "I heard you rented out your stall to someone from out of town who sells cucumbers?"

"In winter, I only have the same three items, and I can't fill all the stall space, so I sublet half of it."

"You're quite the clever one," Director Han chuckled, continuing, "These past few days, vendors have frequently come to the management office complaining that their cucumbers are too expensive and are negatively impacting the market. What do you think?"

"They're just jealous. Why bother with them? Let them say whatever they want." Sun Tao snorted and lowered his voice. "Aunt Han, let's talk behind closed doors. Cucumbers are so precious in the dead of winter. Where can't they sell them? Even if we don't let them sell at the market, we still have no trouble finding a market for our cucumbers."

Director Han seemed to understand something, "That makes sense."

Sun Tao glanced at the clock on the wall. "Then you go ahead and do your thing. I have an appointment to meet a friend later, so I need to pack up and go quickly."

"Go ahead, come visit me sometime."

"Hey, if you weren't so busy, I would have come to your house for a meal a long time ago."

(End of this chapter)