Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 11 Big Customer

After leaving Wan'an Plastics Factory, the two took a horse-drawn carriage to Langfang City Plastics Factory.

Langfang City is located at the junction of Beijing and Tianjin, only 40 kilometers away from the center of Beijing.

Zhao Tiezhu flicked his whip to point the way, "Langfang City is just ahead, and the clock on top of the department store can sing 'The East Is Red'."

Compared to later times, the city area was much smaller. Only Xinhua Road, Beimenwai Street, and the area near the old railway station were paved with asphalt, which were also the most prosperous areas of the city. Most of the other roads were dirt roads, which became muddy and impassable when it rained.

The Langfang City Plastics Factory is located south of the city center; horse-drawn carriages must pass through the city to reach it.

The carriage turned onto Xinhua Road, where there were many stalls and vendors. A young man in bell-bottoms swaggered around carrying a double cassette recorder, and Teresa Teng's singing mingled with the vendors' shouts, "Freshly slaughtered pork, two yuan a pound!"

"Cooling popsicle, two parts red bean and three parts cream."

"Selling vegetables! Fresh cucumbers grown at home, eight cents a pound. And bright red tomatoes..."

"Passersby, take a look at these newly woven willow baskets; they're sturdy and durable..."

"Delicious and chewy cold noodles..."

Four words came to Li Zhe's mind: the atmosphere of everyday life. He really liked this kind of atmosphere.

Li Zhe sat in the carriage, looking around as he traveled. As noon approached, he actually got quite hungry.

He passed by a shop with a sign that read "Xianghe Meat Pie". There was a large iron pot at the entrance, and the aroma of freshly made meat pies was so enticing that it made his mouth water.

"Zhu Zi, it's almost noon. Let's grab a bite before heading to the plastics factory."

"Whoa..." Zhao Tiezhu pulled on the reins. "Brother, what do you want to eat? I know this city well."

How's this Xianghe meat pie?

"I've never had this before. Don't let the small size of the shop fool you, it's incredibly expensive." Zhao Tiezhu gestured with his right thumb and little finger. "A meat pie costs six mao (0.6 yuan)."

These days, meat, flour, and oil are all rare commodities, so how could they be cheap?

"Come on, I'm craving this, let's try it." Li Zhe jumped off the carriage and asked the man kneading dough on the cutting board, "Boss, what kind of fillings do you have for your meat pies? How much are they?"

"Pork and scallion filling, six mao each, big pancakes with plenty of filling." The owner pointed to the porcelain basin on the counter, "Look, this basin is full of meat."

"Two, please."

"Alright, come in and sit down. There's millet porridge in the pot, help yourself."

Li Zhe ladled out two bowls of millet porridge, took a slurp, and found it to be watery and thin, with only a few grains of rice.

Not long after, the owner brought over two plates of meat pies. "They're fresh out of the pan, eat them while they're hot."

There were six meat pies on the plate. Li Zhe picked one up and put it in his mouth. The crust was very thin, the meat filling was thick and juicy, and the aroma of meat mixed with the aroma of flour was very satisfying.

Zhao Tiezhu finished a piece of pancake in two bites, grimacing from the heat, and mumbled, "It's so delicious."

Li Zhe ate three pieces in a row, still wanting more, and said to the owner, "Boss, two more, please."

The boss smiled, stood up, and went to work at the counter.

The two ate four meat pies and four bowls of millet porridge, rested in the shop for a while, and then drove away satisfied.

It was hot, so the two of them weren't in a hurry to get going. They found a shady spot to park and took a nap.

At 2 p.m., Zhao Tiezhu drove his horse-drawn carriage to the Langfang City Plastics Factory. The factory was very large, with three or four-story buildings visible from a distance, and a pungent, sour smell emanating from it.

The carriage did not enter the main gate of the plastics factory, but went to the north side of the factory, where a plastic products store was located on the street corner.

Zhao Tiezhu parked the car in front of the shop and put down his whip. "Brother, this shop is owned by the plastics factory. They sell all the products from the factory here. The variety of products is more complete than in Wan'an Town, and the prices are also higher."

Li Zhe walked into the plastic store. Behind the glass counter, a short, plump female sales clerk was knitting without even looking up. "Pick whatever you want, and come over to pay in a bit."

The shop is over 100 square meters in size and has a wide variety of plastic products, including daily necessities and some industrial plastic products.

Li Zhe walked around the store and saw four rolls of plastic film on the east wall: one black, one blue, and two transparent films.

The most common colors for greenhouse films are light blue and transparent film. However, this particular blue film is a bit too dark and has poor light transmission, making it unsuitable. The remaining two transparent films have good light transmission, but one of them is made of a softer material and is less durable. Greenhouse films need to withstand the test of natural environments such as wind, rain, and sun exposure, which must also be taken into consideration.

After looking around for a while, Li Zhe selected a transparent plastic film with a smooth surface, no cracks, no bubbles, and a moderate thickness, and asked the chubby salesman, "Comrade, how much is this plastic film?"

"Five yuan per square meter," the plump saleswoman said, then went back to knitting her sweater.

"Can you make it cheaper?" Li Zhe needed 600 square meters, which would cost 3,000 yuan, directly using up half of the loan, making him feel a bit of pain.

"No." The chubby sales clerk answered decisively. In this day and age, there wasn't much of a service mentality; it was take it or leave it.

If you can't negotiate the price, it's either because the salesperson doesn't have enough authority or the customer isn't significant enough.

Li Zhe changed his tune, saying, "I need 100,000 square meters of plastic film. Your price is too high; I can't accept it."

"100,000 square meters!" The chubby saleswoman put down her knitting needles, looked up at Li Zhe, and exclaimed, "That's hundreds of thousands of yuan!"

Major clients.

The plump saleswoman forced a smile. "My name is Chen Juan, and I'm the deputy manager of our sales department. Comrade, what's your name?"

“My name is Li Zhe. Our village plans to plant 200 mu of winter-warm vegetable greenhouses, and I am in charge of purchasing greenhouse film.”

"What is a vegetable greenhouse?" Chen Juan had never heard of it before.

Li Zhe waved his hand, "You wouldn't understand even if I explained. Call your factory manager over, and I'll talk to him directly."

"Wait a moment." Chen Juan pouted and left through the back door of the shop.

A short while later, a balding man was brought in. He had two pens clipped to the pocket of his Zhongshan suit. Chen Juan introduced him, "This is Section Chief Song from our sales department. This is Comrade Li Zhe."

Section Chief Song warmly stepped forward to shake hands, "Hello, Comrade Li Zhe, which unit are you from?"

“I’m from Daying Village. Our village is promoting greenhouse vegetable cultivation technology. We plan to plant 200 mu of greenhouse vegetables next year, and I’m in charge of purchasing the greenhouse film.”

Section Chief Song said, "I've heard of vegetable greenhouses. They use plastic film to keep the vegetables warm and extend their harvest period."

"Section Chief Song is indeed very knowledgeable. Our village is also actively responding to the Ministry of Agriculture's call to contribute to the 'vegetable basket project'," Li Zhe praised, then asked, "Section Chief Song, since we're all serving the people, can the price of the plastic film be reduced?"

"You really want 100,000 square meters of plastic film?" Unlike the planned economy of the past, the market is now open, and plastic factories have to find their own customers. The factory has accumulated a lot of inventory, and he, the sales manager, is also worried.

"Just a little more."

Section Chief Song hesitated for a moment, then said, “This material is mixed with imported resin from Japan. Five yuan per square meter is not a high price. However, since this is your first time visiting our factory, I’m not doing this to make money, but to make you a friend. I’ll give you the best discount, four yuan and fifty cents per square meter.”

"Section Chief Song, let me be frank with you. Although our 200 mu of vegetable greenhouses will be built next year, we will also have a few mu of experimental fields this year."

Each acre of experimental field will use film from different manufacturers; you are neither the first nor the last.

"I've been to Shimen as far away as the city, and even closer to Beijing. Your factory's products are of good quality, but the prices are too high." Li Zhe held up four fingers, continuing to try and lower the price. "I won't even consider anything over four yuan per square meter."

Section Chief Song gestured for him to come in. “Comrade Li Zhe, please come to my office. A friend just gave me a packet of excellent flower tea a few days ago. I would like you to try it.”

"I won't drink the tea. Just give me a straight answer. If it works, I'll buy several hundred square meters of plastic film for the experimental field; if not, let's not waste any more time."

Section Chief Song still did not give a direct answer, "If our film is successful in the experimental fields, when will your village purchase 100,000 square meters of film?"

He has great confidence in the quality of his factory's products.

"Next September."

"There's enough time, but our factory needs to purchase raw materials in advance and needs to pay a deposit." Since it was their first meeting and he didn't know Li Zhe's background, Section Chief Song didn't completely trust him.

"If everything goes smoothly, the deposit can be paid in June next year."

Section Chief Song felt much more at ease. "It's settled then."

“You’re happy to oblige, and so am I.” Li Zhe opened his green backpack, took out a wad of cash, counted out 2,400 yuan, and handed it over. “Let’s use 600 square meters of plastic film to build an experimental field first.”

(End of this chapter)