Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 96 Recruiting
No. 7 Hutong, Suzhou.

The morning mist carried a chill. Zhou Yongqiang stood at the back door, peering inside, and could faintly hear the old lady's words of advice.

A No. 3 bus was parked nearby, and a boy who looked somewhat like Zhou Yongqiang was sitting on it. "Brother, when are you coming back from this trip out of town?"

Zhou Yongqiang patted his younger brother on the shoulder, "It's been at least a week, but half a month has passed. Yongsheng, you're an adult now. After I leave, you'll be the only man in the family, so you have to stand up for yourself."

"Brother, don't worry, I'll take good care of things at home. You take good care of yourself while you're away."

"Don't worry, I'm more experienced than you." As the two brothers were talking, Ji Hongbin came out carrying a suitcase, Tan Jingya carried a canvas travel bag with the word 'Beijing' printed on it, and the old lady of the Ji family followed behind.

Zhou Yongqiang bowed and said, "Grandma, may you be blessed." He quickly took the canvas bag and put it on the tricycle.

The old lady was a bit listless and not in the mood to be polite to Zhou Yongqiang. "Qiangzi, this is Hongbin's first time traveling far from home. I'll trouble you to take good care of him."

"Grandma, please rest assured, I will definitely take good care of Master Ji. If he loses even a single hair, you can hold me accountable."

"That's fine then. You can go now, but don't miss your train." The old lady waved her hand, her eyes full of reluctance.

Ji Hongbin said to Tan Jingya, who was standing next to him, "Take good care of the old lady. I'll be back in a few days."

"Be careful on the road." Tan Jingya nodded obediently and watched the three of them leave.

Zhou Yongsheng had a cold face and hadn't said a word until a while before turning his head and asking, "Brother, come on up, I'll pull you along."

Zhou Yongqiang turned to look at Ji Hongbin.

“It’s still early. Beijing Railway Station isn’t far from here; we can walk there.” Ji Hongbin wasn’t keen on taking a pedicab, so he asked instead, “Has Li Zhe invested in you yet?”

Zhou Yongqiang shook his head, "The first time we talked, he said he would discuss it with his family, but I saw that he was too busy, so I didn't go."

Zhou Yongqiang's words were just polite talk. He didn't not go because Li Zhe was "busy". Rather, after talking with his wife last time, he felt that what she said made sense, or rather, her words touched his heart.

Trading treasury bonds could theoretically be profitable, but he had no practical experience in it. Li Zhe was very likely to reject him.

Therefore, he decided to first go with Ji Hongbin to figure out the ins and outs of trading treasury bonds before talking to Li Zhe about investment, then he would be more confident.

He brought 1000 yuan with him this time, not expecting to make any money, just enough to cover his food and lodging costs, treating it as an opportunity to gain experience.

Ji Hongbin frowned and said, "You only have 1000 yuan in funds right now. Even if I help you with your travel expenses, you still won't make any money."

Zhou Yongqiang replied, "I'm not here to make money; I'm here to learn from you."

Since Zhou Yongqiang was aware of this, Ji Hongbin didn't say anything more.

The three of them walked out of the alley and the tricycle in front of them stopped. Not far from the tricycle, they saw a young woman standing, who was Bai Xiaoyan, a policewoman from Jianguomen Police Station.

Zhou Yongqiang smiled and said, "Yanzi, are you here to see us off?"

Bai Xiaoyan didn't answer, but said to Ji Hongbin beside her, "I have something to tell you."

Zhou Yongqiang was a little embarrassed, but he still waved to his younger brother: "Master Ji, we're waiting for you up ahead."

As Zhou Yongsheng rode his bike, he glanced back and asked, "Brother, I heard that Officer Bai has always liked Ji Hongbin. Is that true?"

"Stop listening to gossip, ride your bike properly, and don't go too far. Just stop on the side of the road ahead," Zhou Yongqiang scolded, but he couldn't help but recall the past.

Just as her younger brother said, Bai Xiaoyan had liked Ji Hongbin since childhood, and the two were childhood sweethearts. Bai Xiaoyan had a good job, a good family, and was also good-looking, making her a good match for Zhou Yongqiang, who always thought they would get married.

One day, he suddenly heard that Ji Hongbin was getting married, but the bride was not Bai Xiaoyan; instead, he was marrying a waitress from a small restaurant. He was very surprised—although a waitress's job was acceptable, it couldn't compare to Bai Xiaoyan, and how could their relationship of so many years change so suddenly?
His doubts were only dispelled when he met Tan Jingya. Tan Jingya was beautiful, had a good figure, and spoke in a sweet, gentle voice. Although Bai Xiaoyan was also quite pretty, comparisons are inevitable. (At the Li family's field in Daying Village.)

The entire Li family was busy with the expansion of the vegetable greenhouse.

Early in the morning, Li Zhe went to the credit union to handle some business; Wang Rongsheng and Jin Baiwan kept an eye on things at the construction site; Old Li took Li Zhiqiang to Beijing to deliver vegetables; Zhu Yimin, Zhou Qinghe, and Ma Laixiao were responsible for taking care of the vegetables in the greenhouse; Li Jiugang was in charge of cooking; and Wang Xiuying helped out with the children.

Li Weidong rode his bicycle to visit relatives in a neighboring village.

Wang Xiuying has two siblings: she married into the same village, and her younger sister married into Yangma Village, a neighboring village, who is Li Weidong's aunt.

Yangma Village is located to the east of Daying Village, not far away. Li Weidong arrived in about ten minutes by bicycle.

Li Weidong's aunt's family was well-off; her husband was a bricklayer, and they had built a brick house a few years ago, complete with a surrounding wall. Li Weidong parked his bicycle at the door and knocked: "Knock knock..."

"Who is it?" a girl's voice came from inside the courtyard.

“Pan Di, it’s me.”

The door opened, and a thin, dark-skinned girl poked her head out: "Brother Weidong, what brings you here?"

"My mother misses you and sent me to see you and your aunt."

“I’ve wanted to go for a long time, but my dad won’t let me.” Pan Di stepped aside and pulled Li Weidong’s bicycle handlebars to go inside.

Li Weidong was a little puzzled: "Why won't my uncle allow it?" The two families have always had a good relationship and have never had any conflicts.

Just as Ma Pandi was about to say something, the curtain was lifted and a middle-aged man came out: "Oh, Wei Dong is here? It's cold outside, come in quickly."

"Uncle, I've come to see you and Auntie." Li Weidong was carrying a bag of urea and a paper bag of peach shortbread.

"You're here, why did you bring anything?" Uncle handed Li Weidong a chair and then said to Pan Di, "Go get your brother a cup of hot water."

"My family built a greenhouse this year and planted some cucumbers. I'm bringing you some to try."

"Cucumbers?" My uncle looked surprised, as if he had just realized something. "Your family grows cucumbers in Daying Village? I've heard some really weird rumors from outside, saying that people almost suffocated in the greenhouses."

"Uncle, don't listen to their rumors. Let my dad explain it to you in detail later." Li Weidong asked, "Where is my aunt?"

"You went to Zhao Di's house. How are your parents' health?"

"Everything is fine. My mom misses my aunt and wants to get together. She'll come to my house for dinner tonight."

The Li family's greenhouse is currently short-handed, and Old Li wants to hire a few reliable people, naturally prioritizing his relatives' household needs.

However, it's not appropriate for Li Weidong to bring this up. Old Li will talk about it during dinner tonight.

"It gets dark early in winter, so I won't go."

"It's alright, I'll drive you back in my tractor tonight. It's not a long walk, it'll be easy." Li Weidong took the teacup that Pan Di handed him. "Little sister, you should come along too. Xiao Na has been wanting to play with you for a while. She still has the White Rabbit candy your second brother bought for you last time."

Upon hearing this, Pan Di couldn't help but swallow hard and said eagerly, "Dad, I want to go too! I want to eat White Rabbit candy!"

After chatting for a few minutes, Li Weidong got up to say goodbye, and his uncle saw him out of the yard.

Li Weidong rode his bicycle back to Daying Village and saw the excavator working in the fields from a distance. There was also a tractor parked on his own land, where Li Zhe and his men were unloading things. Li Weidong went over to take a look and asked in surprise, "Second brother, what's that?"

(End of this chapter)