Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 67 Surprise
"Da da……"

The tractor bumped along the dirt road on the outskirts of the city. Zhou Qinghe, wrapped in a military overcoat, huddled in the corner of the truck bed, the biting cold wind seeping straight into his clothes.

Old Li called out, "Girl, put the quilt over yourself, or you'll freeze to the bone."

There were some stains on the quilt, and Zhou Qinghe was a little disgusted. She originally didn't want to use it, but it was too cold, so she draped the quilt over her military overcoat.

She peeked out with half her head, her small eyes darting around. This was the first time she had ever left the capital, and she felt both excited and a little scared.

The tractor drove out of the city, and now it's too late to regret it.

She asked loudly, "Uncle Li, do you run around here every day?"

Old Li replied, "Before, cucumber production was low, so we had to go to Beijing every other day. Now that cucumber production has increased, we will pick and deliver cucumbers to Beijing every day."

Zhou Qinghe tightened the quilt around herself. "It's too much of a hardship to earn money while being exposed to the cold wind every day."

Old Li said, "We farmers are not as precious as city people, we're used to it."

Once you reach the suburbs, the road is flanked by endless fields, and the villages in the distance are barely visible.

After the tractor passed the checkpoint, it drove for another half hour to reach the Langfang area. Only then did Zhou Qinghe get a close look at what the countryside looked like. Apart from a few brick and tile houses, most of them were adobe houses.

Zhou Qinghe's face showed no disgust, but rather a hint of envy. In the countryside, as long as the land was approved, houses could be built, which were much more spacious and bright than the crowded courtyards in Beijing.

"Daughter, we're almost at our village. Let's go home and have dinner. I'll have your aunt cook some of her specialties." Old Li's voice was excited. It was the first time in the village that a college student had been invited to his home.

"Never mind, I'm not hungry. Let's go straight to the greenhouse in the field."

Old Li was both amused and exasperated. "Who takes guests directly to the fields? That's not proper hospitality. If outsiders find out, they'll think the Li family doesn't know any manners."

"Uncle Li, don't be so polite with me. I came here specifically for the greenhouse. If I were craving something delicious, I would have gone straight to the Eighth Floor Restaurant. Why would I have come here?"

"Alright, let's go to the fields then. We have cooking utensils in our greenhouse. We'll make you whatever you want to eat."

"Huh, you can cook in a greenhouse?" Zhou Qinghe had never heard of this before. The greenhouses at their school were very precious, and no one dared to do it.

"You'll see when you get there." As he spoke, the tractor had already entered Daying Village.

You can see four large white greenhouses standing in the fields from a distance.

"That's the greenhouse?" Zhou Qinghe's tone was filled with excitement and doubt, as it was somewhat different from the greenhouse she remembered.

The tractor came to a steady stop on the dirt road in front of the greenhouse. Zhou Qinghe hurriedly stood up and almost tripped over the furrow when he jumped off the tractor.

These four greenhouses covered with plastic film are completely different from the greenhouses at the agricultural university. The university's glass greenhouses are square. In winter, the university also organizes students to build arc-shaped seedling greenhouses, but they are all very small, only a dozen square meters, and they are all oriented north-south. This is the first time she has seen a greenhouse oriented east-west with thick rammed earth walls.

Zhou Qinghe ran a few steps and patted the thick rammed earth wall. "How thick is this wall? What is it used for?"

Li Zhe replied, "The top is 1.5 meters high, and the bottom is 2.5 meters high. Firstly, it's used to insulate against cold air. Secondly, it can absorb solar heat during the day and dissipate heat and keep warm at night."

She touched the greenhouse film again, "This plastic film has good permeability. It can be heated by sunlight during the day, but it will freeze through at night."

Li Zhe pointed to the straw curtains on the top of the greenhouse, "We will lower the straw curtains at night to keep warm. In addition, we have other ways to keep warm. You can see for yourself when you go into the greenhouse."

Zhou Qinghe couldn't wait any longer. She quickly walked a few steps to the front of the shed, lifted the thick curtain, and a wave of heat rushed out, warming her up completely. Looking at the sunken foundation, she exclaimed in surprise, "My God, how come it's so deep in here?"

Looking at the lush green cucumber vines and heady broccoli in the greenhouse, Zhou Qinghe first felt incredulous, then felt that something was missing. The glass rooms at the agricultural university were always filled with the smell of kerosene, but this greenhouse had no smell of smoke at all.

What's even more peculiar is that the outside temperature is only a few degrees today, but the temperature here feels even higher than the temperature in the school's glass room. She was even more incredulous when she saw the thermometer hanging on the rammed earth wall reading 24 degrees Celsius.

She carefully observed the structure of the greenhouse and asked Li Zhe, who was standing next to her, "The greenhouse is dug such a deep foundation in order to use geothermal energy to raise the temperature."

Li Zhe nodded. "That's right. The main insulation methods for this greenhouse are sunlight to raise the temperature, thick earthen walls to dissipate heat, and geothermal insulation." "Who built this greenhouse? I'd like to meet him."

"I built it." There was no point in hiding it at this point.

Zhou Qinghe looked surprised and asked with a hint of doubt, "Who taught you how to build greenhouses? Is it the latest research from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences? No, I visited the Academy of Agricultural Sciences with my teacher in September, and they also used glass greenhouses."

Li Zhe smiled and said, "I just figured it out myself."

"That's impossible!" Zhou Qinghe thought Li Zhe was joking. "So many teachers and students at our university can't figure it out, and you can do it all by yourself?"

These days, college students are all the cream of the crop, and her tone naturally revealed a sense of superiority. It might not have been intentional, but Li Zhe felt it was necessary to make her face reality so that future cooperation could go more smoothly. "Zhou, let me be honest with you, and you might not like what I'm saying. You can learn systematic knowledge in college, but there's also a certain lag. Your textbooks and experimental equipment are several years behind the market, or even more."

Zhou Qinghe stared wide-eyed. Going to university was the greatest pride of her life, and she had always been proud of her alma mater. Li Zhe's words made her very uncomfortable. She wanted to refute him, but she didn't know how to start.

The process of building the greenhouse is not complicated; she can understand it now. The difficult part is the school's approval process...

Zhou Qinghe took a deep breath. "The school imparts not only knowledge to students, but also learning methods and thinking skills. We conduct research and innovation on accurate, stable, and systematic teaching knowledge. For example, we have been working with the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to develop new vegetable varieties that have higher yields and stronger disease resistance than those on the market."

Li Zhe said, "That's why I invited you to visit the greenhouse. You can provide newly developed planting theories and vegetable varieties, and I can provide the space for you to experiment."

Looking at the lush green greenhouse, Zhou Qinghe said generously, "Okay, I'm definitely going to be your friend."

"Dad, you take Zhou to visit the greenhouse, I'll just wander around inside." Li Zhe was genuinely worried about him since he hadn't been back for two days.

Old Li was a little nervous just now, afraid that his son's words would upset Zhou. "Go do your thing, I'll stay with Zhou."

"Uncle Li, please don't call me Zhou anymore, it feels awkward. Just call me by my name."

"Okay, then I'll call you Qinghe."

"Okay."

Zhou Qinghe was as excited as a child, wandering back and forth in the furrows of the greenhouse, touching the soil, looking at the cucumber vines, feeling the cucumber leaves, measuring the size of the cucumbers, and measuring the height and stem thickness of the broccoli plants...

Li Zhe ignored her and began inspecting the vegetables in the greenhouse, occasionally giving Li Zhiqiang a few instructions: "The cucumbers are a bit overwatered; control the water before harvesting. Add some cooked cow manure to the broccoli to promote head growth and a deeper color..."

Li Zhiqiang carried a small notebook, taking notes as he walked, afraid of missing anything.

In greenhouse No. 2, the tomato seedlings have passed the acclimatization period and have grown to 30 to 40 centimeters tall; some have already flowered.

In greenhouse number 3, cucumbers and watermelons have already sprouted and are growing quite well.

Greenhouse No. 4, which was also a key focus for Li Zhe, had recovered after several days of careful tending to the green pepper seedlings, strawberry seedlings, and lettuce. A few plants looked rather weak and had stems that weren't thick enough, so Li Zhe pulled them out and planned to replant some broccoli later.

These past few days, Li Zhiqiang has been taking care of greenhouse number 4. He couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, greenhouse number 4 and our greenhouse number 2 were built at the same time. The tomato seedlings in our greenhouse number 2 were cultivated in advance in greenhouse number 1. Logically, they should grow faster than the seedlings in greenhouse number 4. Why do they look about the same?"

The seedlings were a bit wilted before, but Li Zhe didn't notice it clearly. Now that the seedlings have recovered, Li Zhiqiang's words confirm that it's true.

“Zhu Yimin must have started seedling cultivation in advance.” Based on Li Zhe’s understanding of Zhu Yimin from his previous life, he had the ability to do so.

This person has a great idea. They planted three kinds of fruits and vegetables: green peppers, lettuce, and strawberries. The layout was also very good. Lettuce is a cold-resistant vegetable that grows at lower temperatures, so it was planted on the edge of the greenhouse.

Meanwhile, green peppers and lettuce are very important side dishes in restaurants, and they sell very well.

The situation with strawberries is more complicated. Experienced growers rarely use seeds to grow strawberries. Simply put, it's inefficient, has a high mortality rate, is laborious and time-consuming, and you don't even know what variety the strawberries will be. They usually buy seedlings and transplant them directly.

Judging from the maturity of the strawberry seedlings, Zhu Yimin must have bought the seedlings and planted them directly. In this era and at this time, it was not easy to buy strawberry seedlings, and Li Zhe did not have such connections.

Zhou Qinghe is a talented person, and so is Zhu Yimin.

(End of this chapter)