Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 106 First Snow (Fifth update, please subscribe!)

Daying Village, north of the village.

Greenhouse No. 4.

Zhu Yimin was bending over, tidying up the seedling trays, while a young man in a blue cotton-padded jacket was helping him.

This young man is named Ge Qingshan. He is Ma Changhe's eldest daughter's son-in-law, and can be considered Li Zhe's cousin's husband.

Ge Qingshan was quick and efficient, clearly someone who had been doing farm work since childhood. Zhu Yimin found him easy to work with and always kept him by his side: "Qingshan, the broccoli and eggplant seedlings are in this shed, don't mix them up."

"Don't worry, Brother Zhu, I'm being careful."

Just then, a voice called out from outside the shed: "Brother Zhu, Qingshan, are you there?"

Zhu Yimin straightened up and rubbed his back: "I'm in the shed, what's up?"

Li Zhiqiang lifted the curtain and walked in: "Hey, Brother Zhu, my second uncle is back and wants you all to come over."

"What do you want?" Zhu Yimin asked, glancing at the unfinished work.

"Good news, last month's wages have been paid."

"Brother Qiang, I just arrived, do I get paid?" Ge Qingshan rubbed the mud off his hands.

Li Zhiqiang replied, "My second uncle said that we would be paid for the number of days we worked last month. If I don't remember, you came on November 26th, so you should have received 25 yuan."

"Hey, that's great!" Ge Qingshan laughed. In previous years, he wouldn't earn this much in a month at this time of year.

"Let's go." Zhu Yimin quickly tidied up, washed his hands in the bucket, and wondered how much money Li Zhe would pay him.

Soon, Zhu Yimin and his two companions arrived at greenhouse number one and saw a group of people sitting together, but Li Zhe was nowhere to be seen. Zhu Yimin couldn't help but ask, "Where's Brother Li?"

Li Weidong said, "This kid is in greenhouse number three. He won't let everyone go over there at once. He says he'll call out names to collect wages. He's always causing trouble."

When Zhu Yimin heard this, he was initially puzzled and thought it was a bit troublesome. But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it wasn't a bad idea. However, he couldn't quite put his finger on why it was good. He decided to ask Baiwan another day, as he was a very thoughtful person.

……

Inside greenhouse number 3.

Seeing his father come in to collect his wages, Li Zhe got playful and said in a serious tone, "Comrade Li, as the core figure of our team, you've worked hard these past few days. Feel free to tell me any thoughts or opinions you may have."

Seeing his son's expression, Old Li also joined in the act, crossing his legs and sitting opposite him: "Boss Li, stop with the nonsense and hurry up and pay us! People outside are waiting, we can talk about it later."

Li Zhe took out a wad of cash and counted it: "Old Li, this is your wages from last month—150."

Old Li took it and then asked, "Boss Li, didn't you say there would be a bonus? You can't go back on your word, or I'll quit next month!"

Li Zhe said, "There is no bonus, but we can reward you with a case of six 500ml bottles of Fenjiu liquor."

Old Li's eyes lit up. The 150 yuan he earned was enough to live on, and he wouldn't even need it all. He didn't care about the bonus; it was just a joke with his son. But when he heard that his son had bought him a case of Fenjiu liquor, his mood changed completely: "Second son, you really bought me a case of Fenjiu?"

"It's on the truck, I'll unload it for you in a bit."

"Do I need you, kid? It's not like I can't move it!" Old Li said, getting up and leaving the greenhouse.

"Hey, call my uncle over here!" Li Zhe shouted from behind, but Old Li didn't listen at all, or rather, he didn't hear it.

Li Zhe had to go to shed number 3 himself to invite his uncle in. Facing his uncle, he dared not tease him anymore. He solemnly gave his uncle the money without mentioning the bonus, and said with a smile, "Uncle, my brother told me that your radio could not receive a signal and made a crackling sound, so I bought you a new radio."

"Hey kid, why are you wasting that money? My thing can still be used after some repairs."

“Your old one has been used for so many years, you can’t find the parts to repair it. Why don’t you use the new one I bought for you? It receives more channels and the sound is clearer, it’s better than your old one.”

"Okay, I'll use it if you buy it. It's better than that brat of yours!"

“Uncle, if you miss my brother, just take a truck to Beijing. It only takes two hours. There’s a place for you to stay there.”

"I'm not going, I'm fine at home." The old man was stubborn, and he turned his neck and went out.

The next person to come in was Uncle Ma Changhe. He had only been there for 5 days, but he had really put in a lot of effort by leading the construction of the rammed earth wall. Li Zhe gave him 25 yuan and a reward of 5 jin of pork.

The fourth person to come in was Wang Xiuying. She was just there to make up the numbers, and Li Zhe gave her 30 yuan as pocket money. Wang Xiuying didn't mind the small amount and left happily. The fifth person was Li Jiugang, whose wages were 150 yuan and whose reward was a case of Fenjiu liquor.

The sixth person to come in was Li Weidong, whose wages were 150 and bonuses were 200.

The seventh person to come in was a Malay boy, with a wage of 75 and a bonus of 100.

The eighth person to come in was Zhao Tiezhu, whose wages were 150 and bonuses were 400.

Zhao Tiezhu received the highest bonus among all the workers—last month, when there were no trucks available, he drove a tractor to transport vegetables, making him the hardest worker.

He's quite the jack-of-all-trades now. He usually delivers vegetables by truck, and sometimes he drives a tractor to buy supplies: yesterday afternoon he bought a truckload of fertilizer, this morning he hauled a truckload of cement pillars, and tomorrow he's arranged to buy bamboo and straw mats.

The ninth person to come in was Li Zhiqiang, who received 150 yuan for his wages and a 200 yuan bonus. After receiving his wages, he was even more motivated and ran to the construction site to continue leading the workers in building rammed earth walls.

The 10th person to join was Zhu Yimin. He worked for 10 days in November, earning a salary of 50 yuan and a bonus of 150 yuan.

The last one is Ge Qingshan, whose salary is 25.

Zhou Qinghe is not here, but I'll make a note of it for now.

Driver Liang's salary will be calculated separately.

Li Zhe didn't forget his sister either, and bought her a pound of white sugar and a box of chocolates.

Li Zhe also bought himself a prize: a box of dark chocolate and a Double Lion watch.

Li Zhe was a glutton in his past life, and he spent most of his money on food and drink. His favorite snack was chocolate.

Thirty years from now, when electronic products are ubiquitous, watches may be considered decorative items, but now they are truly useful; it's easy to make mistakes without one.

After receiving his salary, Li Zhe didn't rest. He changed into some old clothes and went with Zhu Yimin to check on the seedlings. These seedlings were planted on the 26th, and today is the 10th day. Some seedlings have already started to grow leaves, and others will be ready for transplanting in about a week. The construction of the greenhouse needs to be accelerated.

"Brother Zhu, are there any problems with the seedling cultivation?"

"No problem, everything went smoothly. I was just wondering if we could build some frames to put the seedling trays on top of each other, so that they would take up less space and be easier to place."

"That's a good idea," Li Zhe nodded. He had discussed this with Lao Li—Lao Li had worked in construction and knew carpenters, and had already contacted a carpenter to help with the construction.

Li Zhe chatted with Zhu Yimin for a while before going to the construction site to check on the progress. Today was the 11th day of construction, and the foundations for seven greenhouses had been dug and built. Old Li directed the people to backfill with topsoil, while Ma Changhe and Li Zhiqiang each led a group of people to build rammed earth walls.

Li Zhe thought he would go to the credit union tomorrow to urge them and see when the loan could be processed.

Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation on his nose. He looked up and saw fine snowflakes falling softly from the gray sky.

"Snowing!"

Old Li, standing nearby, called out, looking somewhat anxious. He glanced at Li Zhe, noticing his son's calm expression: "Second son, it's snowing, what should we do?"

Li Zhe reached out to feel the snowflakes: "Let's take a look first, and then we'll stop work when the snow gets heavier. Dad, I'll go back to the greenhouse and keep an eye on things."

"Can the greenhouse hold up?" Old Li asked in a low voice. This was his first time doing this, and he was unsure of himself.

"It's alright." Li Zhe has many years of experience in greenhouse cultivation, and as long as he handles it normally, it will be fine. "Dad, I've told you about the solution before, think about it carefully." His calm tone reassured Old Li.

When Li Zhe returned to his greenhouse, everyone else gathered around him, looking worried.

"A timely snow promises a bumper harvest, a good omen!" Li Zhe comforted him with a smile, then turned to Li Weidong and said, "Brother, take some men and lower the straw mat. Uncle, Brother Jiugang, come and give me a hand."

"Xiao Zhe, what do you suggest we do?"

"Find some long bamboo poles and some wooden planks, and make a few snow rakes. The planks should be light, and the edges should be sanded smooth."

"Understood, we'll do it right away."

The group split up and worked diligently without slacking off. They had just received their wages for the day, and the generous pay and bonuses came from the greenhouse behind them.

This was the first snowfall since the shelter was built, and everyone felt a little uneasy...

Li Zhe gazed at the snowflakes falling from the sky and muttered to himself, "It's time to raise prices..."

(End of this chapter)