Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 109 Decisive
Great Wall Hotel.

The lobby was lavishly decorated, but Li Zhe had no interest in admiring it, leaning back on the sofa with his eyes half-closed. Expanding the vegetable greenhouses by ten acres at once kept him busy from morning till night, with only time to rest when he slept.

Yesterday, the foundation for the ten-acre greenhouse was dug. Li Zhe paid for the excavator and the workers' wages, and then treated the three excavator operators to a good drink before sending them off.

The greenhouse construction is not yet complete. Li Zhe wanted to stay in the village to oversee it, but new vegetables are ripening in the greenhouse, so he has to come out and find sales channels.

"Brother Li!" Purchasing manager Tang Demin walked over with a smile.

Li Zhe stood up and shook hands with the other person: "Manager Tang, has this affected your work?"

"Brother Li, taking good care of you is my most important task today. Come on, let's talk in my office!" Tang Demin led Li Zhe to the manager's office on the eighth floor.

The office was about ten square meters, furnished with a few simple pieces of office furniture. "Brother Li, would you like tea or coffee?"

"I'll have a cup of coffee." Li Zhe hadn't had one since he returned to this era.

Not long after, Tang Demin placed a cup of coffee in front of Li Zhe.

Li Zhe took a sip and exclaimed, "Wow, this tastes familiar; it's very similar to Nestlé instant coffee!"

Tang Demin sat down opposite Li Zhe: "Brother Li, what brings you here today?"

Li Zhe opened the bag in his hand, revealing the green peppers inside: "Manager Tang, a batch of green peppers in the greenhouse has ripened. I wonder if your hotel needs them?"

"Yes, definitely!" Tang Demin picked up the bright green bell pepper and smelled it. "Silly old man...that foreign chef always complains about the lack of vegetable variety, he'll be happy to see this. Brother Li, you don't know how difficult that guy is to please!"

"Manager Tang, how much do you want?"

"Twenty kilograms a day."

“The price is the same as for cucumbers, five foreign exchange certificates per pound, how about that?” Li Zhe paid for the cucumbers he supplied to the Great Wall Hotel with foreign exchange certificates, so the price was not increased.

"Sure." Tang Demin readily agreed, showing no intention of haggling. He then asked, "Brother Li, besides these vegetables, what other fresh vegetables do you grow in your greenhouse?"

“The oyster mushrooms and strawberries are almost ripe now. If your hotel needs them, I can give them priority.”

"Hey, you can grow strawberries? That's a rare thing. Brother Li, you're really skilled!" Tang Demin gave a thumbs up. "When the time comes, send them all over, I'll take them all."

Li Zhe enjoyed dealing with this kind of customer and said politely, "Manager Tang, you're busy, I won't bother you any longer. I'll deliver the vegetables to you on time tomorrow."

"Brother Li, don't be in such a hurry to leave. There's something else I'd like to ask you for help with," Tang Demin said, trying to persuade him to stay.

Li Zhe was puzzled, unable to think of any way he could help him, but still politely said, "Please tell me."

"Brother Li, a friend of mine wants to open a Western restaurant, but he's been worried about not having enough vegetables. He came here for dinner yesterday and saw that we have vegetables, so he insisted that I help him find a supplier. Since you're here today, if you think it's a good idea, I can help you make the connection and we can get to know each other."

Li Zhe thought for a moment: "Can your friend settle accounts using foreign exchange certificates?"

"No problem, their restaurants also accept foreign exchange certificates."

"Is your friend's restaurant privately owned or a joint venture?" Li Zhe inquired, and found that private restaurants were not allowed to accept foreign exchange certificates in those days.

"That friend's elder works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs..." Tang Demin didn't elaborate, but Li Zhe understood—where there's a will, there's a way; by affiliating with a state-owned foreign affairs unit, they could indirectly receive [the money].

Seeing that Li Zhe didn't speak, Tang Demin advised, "Brother Li, this friend is no ordinary person. You might have to thank me later."

"Okay, since you introduced us, I'll meet with you. But how much vegetables we can supply depends on the greenhouse's output."

"I'll tell her in advance, and thank you for giving me this face, Brother Li." After chatting for a few minutes, Li Zhe said goodbye and headed straight for Maxim's Restaurant.

……

Maxim's Restaurant.

The restaurant's office area has two manager's offices, one for the Chinese side and one for the foreign side. The two sides work together on a division of labor mechanism.

Take the procurement of ingredients, for example. The foreign manager is responsible for core ingredients, such as foie gras and truffles, which are imported raw materials; the Chinese manager is responsible for procuring local ingredients such as vegetables and poultry. In the Chinese manager's office, a plump woman is drinking coffee and reading a magazine. She has been feeling a bit down lately: a few days ago, she was away from the restaurant, and the foreign manager signed a vegetable procurement contract while she was away.

Although the restaurant did need those dishes, they required payment in foreign exchange certificates, resulting in excessively high premiums. She had a feeling something was amiss—Liu Zhiming might have been taking kickbacks behind her back!
"shameless!"

"Knock knock..." Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and a plump girl walked in, bearing a striking resemblance to her.

"Aunt, the person who sold broccoli and lettuce last time is here. He says he wants to see Liu Zhiming."

"How many times have I told you, call out job titles in the restaurant! Are you sure it's that person?"

"Confirmed, Manager!"

"Call him in, I want to talk to him."

"Okay, Auntie!" the chubby girl said, and left the office.

Song Yue'e shook her head: "This chubby girl, she's all flesh and no heart."

Not long after, the chubby girl brought a young man in a gray woolen coat into the office. It was Li Zhe, who had come to promote green peppers.

Li Zhe entered the office and noticed something was amiss: "I'm here to see Manager Liu Zhiming. Who are you?"

“I’m also the manager of Maxim’s Restaurant, Song Yue’e. You can talk to me about anything.” Song Yue’e gestured for Li Zhe to sit across from her at the desk.

Li Zhe had lived two lives, never eaten pork, but had seen pigs run. Wasn't it the same thing? Didn't he know the answer?

He didn't mention the green peppers, but asked with a smile, "How can a restaurant have two managers? How do you two divide your responsibilities? If there's a disagreement, whose opinion should you listen to?"

"Generally speaking, when it comes to local ingredients and vegetables, I have the final say."

Li Zhe countered, "If that's the case, why was Manager Liu and I the ones who signed the vegetable supply contract last time? Was the contract we signed valid?"

“I was in Shanghai for a few days to learn from others. Manager Liu was worried that you would sell the vegetables to other restaurants, so he signed a contract with you directly. Theoretically speaking, the contract is invalid.”

Li Zhe took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff: "So what do you mean now?"

"Comrade Li Zhe, don't worry, our cooperation can still continue, we just need to sign a new contract."

Li Zhe asked the question that concerned him: "What about the contents of the agreement? Do the vegetable prices need to be changed?"

“I think the vegetable prices are a bit high. How about I tell you a price? With the vegetable prices remaining the same, half will be settled in foreign exchange certificates and the other half in RMB.”

Li Zhe exhaled a puff of smoke: "I still want to cooperate according to the previous contract."

Song Yue'e shrugged, "But that contract is not compliant; it doesn't have my seal and it's not legally valid."

Li Zhe laughed: "Please show me the contract and tell me where it doesn't meet legal requirements?"

Song Yue'e opened the drawer and actually took out a contract. Pointing seriously to the bottom of the contract, she said, "This only has the foreign manager's stamp, but the vegetables are the responsibility of the Chinese manager, so it should be my stamp for it to be valid."

Li Zhe took the contract and looked at it carefully: "Why don't you stamp it for me, and we can continue with this contract?"

Song Yue'e leaned back, her expression serious: "Comrade Li Zhe, this isn't a problem with the stamp; the problem lies with the contract itself!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Zhe tore the contract to shreds.

Song Yue'e's eyes widened in disbelief: "Hey! What are you doing? Why did you tear up the contract?"

"If you don't say this contract has problems and is not legally valid, then why keep it?" Li Zhe kept the piece of paper with his signature and threw the rest into the trash can.

(End of this chapter)