Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 77 Growing Mushrooms

After Zhu Yimin caught his breath, Zhu Wen continued, "Did you know that Grandpa's family is building a new house?"

"When was it built? Your mother didn't say anything!" He'd been focused on the greenhouse these past few days; he hadn't had time to care about other people's business. But then he suddenly realized, "She gave the money to your grandfather's family to build a new house?"

“They were talking behind my back, and I only overheard a bit. That day, my grandfather asked my mother if she had any money left, saying that she would be short of money after the house was built and the renovations were completed.”

“My mother said she lent him all the money, leaving only two or three hundred for household use. My grandfather said he was thinking of other ways. He also said he had reserved a room for my mother in the new house and asked her if she wanted to sleep on the bed or the kang (a heated brick bed).

Zhu Yimin's face flushed red. "Wenwen, why didn't you tell your father about this sooner?"

“You’re sickly and lying on the bed all day, how could I dare to talk to you? What if you get sick from getting upset? Besides, I’ve already lent out the money, what can I do if I talk to you? Tear down his house?”

"I...I..." Zhu Yimin felt his blood rushing to his head. He wanted to say something harsh, but he felt a sense of helplessness. This helplessness was not only physical, but also psychological.

Seeing Zhu Yimin's face turn red, Zhu Wen's eyes reddened. "Dad, please don't be angry. Take care of your health first!"

Zhu Yimin took a few deep breaths. "Wenwen, pretend I don't know about the loan. I need to think it over carefully. Your mother and we aren't on the same page..." He knew very well that once the money was given away, it would be difficult to get it back.

"Do you even need to tell me? I've been feeling really stifled these past few days. My mother is such a simpleton; doesn't she ever think about whether her uncle's new wife will be happy to move in, even if Grandpa leaves her a room?"

"Alright, alright, there's no obstacle we can't overcome if we're of one mind."

"Dad, you should rest for a while. I'll cook some noodles and poach an egg for you. Once you've recovered, we'll think of something else."

"Good girl, be careful not to burn yourself while cooking."

Zhu Yimin lay stiffly, the kang (heated brick bed) was warm, but his heart was cold. He was sweating profusely, and suddenly a shiver ran through him. "No, I'll get sick like this. I need to take good care of myself. What will happen to my daughter if I don't make it?"

……

Li family's land.

After discussing it, Li Zhe and Zhou Qinghe chose to plant oyster mushrooms in the uninhabited No. 2 shed.

Greenhouse No. 2 is planted with tomatoes and spinach. The spinach is almost ripe and will be ready for harvesting soon, which will make room for the mushrooms that will be planted in batches.

Zhou Qinghe plans to plant 150 mushroom logs in the first batch, which will take up about three square meters when piled up. The four batches of oyster mushrooms will take up a total of more than ten square meters.

At this moment, the Li family members gathered together, surrounding Zhou Qinghe in the middle.

Old Li said, "Qinghe, how do we prepare these mushrooms? You can give directions."

Zhou Qinghe didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, "The first step is to make the mushroom substrate. Uncle Li, have you bought all the materials I asked you to buy?"

"Everything's ready: 300 jin of cottonseed hulls, 60 jin of poplar sawdust, 20 jin of wheat bran, and 4 jin of lime. The large oil drums I bought from town have also been cleaned. I also bought timber to the dimensions you requested, but I don't know how to make the inoculation box."

"Don't rush with the inoculation box. First, prepare the mushroom spawn, sterilize and disinfect it before inoculation," Zhou Qinghe said to Li Zhe. "Cut the plastic bag into 50-centimeter lengths."

Before Li Zhe could respond, the Malaysian boy, while taking notes, said, "I've written it all down."

Zhou Qinghe continued, "Then let's get started. Uncle Li, you put the cottonseed hulls and sawdust together and mix them. Sister-in-law, you mix the lime into water and add it to the cottonseed hulls and mix well."

"Honey, should we put the wheat bran in and mix it in?"

"Sprinkle the bran last, and once the moisture has evaporated, it can be bagged."

As they were talking, Old Li had already started working. This kind of work was not difficult for people who were used to farm work, and in no time, he had finished it according to Zhou Qinghe's requirements.

Zhou Qinghe squatted down, grabbed a handful of the mixed material and squeezed it. "The humidity is just right, you can fill it now. When filling the bags, you need to press them down firmly in layers, but not too tightly, otherwise the mycelium will not grow. Let me demonstrate for you."

Zhou Qinghe picked up a plastic bag, tied the bottom of the bag with a rope, used a shovel to fill the other end of the bag with material, pressed it down slightly, continued filling, and then tied the top of the bag.

Li Jiugang laughed and said, "Is this really that difficult? I can do it too." After saying that, he also started packing the bags.

Zhou Qinghe stood up, clapped her hands, and watched Li Jiugang do it again. "Not bad, do it like this." Then she turned to Li Zhe and said, "Boss Li, let's go check the steamer. The key to the success of the mushroom sticks is sterilization." Li Zhe nodded. He understood this point well. In his previous life, he had mixed the ingredients and bagged them in the same way. The failure was probably because the sterilization was not thorough.

Two large iron pots were placed on the stove outside shed number 1. Li Zhiqiang was carrying a bucket and pouring water into the iron pots. There were also two cut-up oil drums next to them. An iron pipe was welded to the lower side of the oil drums to siphon water and prevent them from burning dry.

Zhou Qinghe glanced at the oil drum and the large iron pot and said, "Oh dear, there's a gap between the iron pot and the iron drum, so the heat retention might be a bit poor. We need to figure out a way to fix it. How about wrapping it with a layer of plastic sheeting?"

Li Zhe frowned. "Putting the plastic sheet on top is fine, but if you put it at the bottom, it will definitely melt."

Zhou Qinghe countered, "So what's your idea?"

Before Li Zhe could speak, Li Zhiqiang chimed in, "Uncle, how about we use loess, wheat straw, and mud to seal the seams?"

Li Zhe smiled and said, "I have an idea."

"Then I'll go get it." Li Zhiqiang put down the bucket and went to the side to mix the mud.

After making dozens of mushroom sticks, Li Zhe placed the prepared mushroom sticks on a grate on an iron pot, then covered it with an iron bucket, placed a second grate on top, and added another layer of mushroom sticks. He stacked the pot into four layers, arranging more than thirty mushroom sticks in total.

Li Jiugang started a fire to boil water. He smeared the seams of the iron pot and the iron bucket with yellow mud mixed with wheat straw, covered the top of the iron bucket with a cotton quilt, and then wrapped it with a layer of plastic sheeting. A sealed sterilizing steamer was ready. Although it was simple, it was cheap.

Once this batch of mushrooms makes money, Li Zhe will consider long-term cultivation of oyster mushrooms, and then purchase professional sterilization and disinfection equipment.

People always have to take things one step at a time.

"Glug glug..." The water is boiling, steam is rising...

……

Jin Baiwan's family.

The spacious courtyard has eight red brick and tile houses, and the courtyard is paved with cement. On the south side of the courtyard, there is a Dongfanghong tractor, its red paint shining brightly in the sun.

In the living room of the north room, a peony-branded television on a cabinet was covered with a white crocheted gauze, and the 18-inch screen was replaying "Journey to the West," specifically the scene of Sun Wukong's three battles with the White Bone Demon.

Three dishes were laid out on the octagonal table: a plate of scrambled eggs with scallions, a plate of glistening steamed sausage, and a plate of crispy fried potatoes. Jin Baiwan watched TV while eating, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Sitting next to her was a woman in her thirties with permed brown hair, a full figure, and a gold bracelet on her right hand. She was Han Yue, Jin Baiwan's wife.

Han Yue picked up a potato with her chopsticks and said, "What's so interesting about this monkey? It's not as interesting as Dream of the Red Chamber."

Jin Baiwan chuckled and didn't refute, "Dream of the Red Chamber hasn't been performed yet, so we'll just watch it for fun while we eat."

"Millionaire, are you free this afternoon?"

"No, what's wrong?"

"I saw Li Zhe tinkering with something in the field, do you want to go take a look?"

Jin Baiwan shook his head, "I'm not going."

“Since you lent him 2000 yuan to build the greenhouse, he should remember your kindness. You should visit him often, and maybe when the new vegetables are harvested, he can give some to our family to sell.”

“Wife, you don’t understand—don’t expect anything in return for kindness. If I hang around their place every day, they won’t be grateful; they’ll just be annoyed that I’m thinking about them. Besides, they don’t produce much food; even if they share some with us, it won’t be enough to cover their gas money. Going too far isn’t worthwhile, and going too close would just be stealing business from the Li family.”
Let's wait a little longer. Even if we don't have a chance to work together this year, there's always next year, isn't there?

"You've got a whole repertoire of arguments, I can't argue with you, do as you please." Han Yue suddenly remembered something, "What did you say to Zhu Yimin yesterday? They are a married couple after all, don't let people think you're trying to sow discord."

“I didn’t mention that at all, I just said I wanted to borrow money. He agreed and told me to come and get the money in a couple of days. I guess he doesn’t know what his wife did.”

Han Yue scoffed, "How much money do you think Zhou Yufeng gave to her family?"

Jin Baiwan sighed, "Anyway, money was given, otherwise the rumors in their village wouldn't be so vivid. Hopefully, Yu Feng is thinking clearly and hasn't given away all her savings."

(End of this chapter)