Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 139 Matchmaking
Chen family.

Around 9 p.m., after finishing his chores and quickly washing up, Li Zhenguo was finally able to lie down and rest in bed. He let out a long sigh: "Wow, resting at home for a day is more tiring than going to work!"

This noon, my nephew and niece came over, and he cooked a table full of delicious dishes to entertain the children.

In the evening, his sister-in-law and her husband also came. He cooked a table full of dishes, had a few drinks with his brother-in-law, and chatted and laughed for a while.

After finishing their meal and seeing the guests off, the couple spent time cleaning up, and they've been busy ever since.

Li Zhenguo stared blankly at the rooftop, as if he were daydreaming or deep in thought.

Chen Shuping also went into the bedroom, took out her pajamas from the closet and changed. Seeing her husband staring blankly at the ceiling without saying a word, she asked, "Are you exhausted today?"

Li Zhenguo remained silent.

Chen Shuping didn't pay any attention. She turned off the light, lay down on the bed, and said, "The vegetables that my second brother brought today are unusually fresh. My brother-in-law was so happy to see them."

Li Zhenguo came to his senses: "Those were all picked fresh this morning, so they must be fresh."

Chen Shuping asked curiously, "How much can those vegetables sell for?"

Li Zhenguo retorted, "Didn't you hear what Xiaohui said?"

"Sigh, my older sister and brother-in-law were both there when I got back, how could I possibly care?"

Li Zhenguo truthfully stated, "A total of 26 jin of vegetables can be sold for 76 RMB and 76 foreign exchange certificates."

"My goodness, how can 20-odd kilograms of vegetables be so expensive?" 76 yuan RMB is one thing, but 76 yuan in foreign exchange certificates is worth at least 100 yuan, which is equivalent to a month's income for an average worker! And these vegetables are only a small part of what Li Zhe sells. She doesn't even dare to imagine how much money Li Zhe can earn in a day, let alone a month.

"Hey, your Li family is really blessed this time, producing such a capable person. Why don't you join the second son in selling vegetables? You'd earn more than you do at the cannery, wouldn't you?"

Li Zhenguo had also thought about this. He said seriously, "Let's wait and see. The second son's business is our own, so we can go anytime. The factory is a one-person-one-job situation, so let's see how things are next year." In his opinion, if Li Zhe's business grows bigger next year, he will definitely need more people, and it won't be too late for him to go then; if Li Zhe's business is not doing well next year, then he shouldn't go and cause trouble.

“That’s right, then let’s wait a bit longer.” This is a big deal, and Chen Shuping felt it was better to be on the safe side. If something goes wrong next year and her second son stops making money, and her husband loses his job at the factory, she won’t be able to support the family on her own income.

She turned to look at her husband and found him still lost in thought: "Hey, what's wrong with you today? What have you been thinking about?"

Li Zhenguo turned to look at his wife, hesitating to speak.

The more her husband acted this way, the more curious Chen Shuping became. She nudged him and said, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Li Zhenguo finally said, "When I came back from grocery shopping today, I saw the three children chatting happily. The second son and Tingting are about the same age and are both of marriageable age. The two families know each other well..."

Although her husband didn't continue, Chen Shuping understood what he meant. She frowned and said, "Is this appropriate? Tingting is a good girl, and the second child is also good, but..." Chen Shuping hesitated.

Li Zhe did make money, but some things can't be changed in a short time. To be honest, the two families weren't even evenly matched; the gap between them was too big.

The Li family are from a rural area outside Beijing; Li Zhe's parents are farmers. The Wang family, on the other hand, are locals from Beijing. Wang Ting's parents both have regular jobs. Her father is the office director of a Beijing television factory, a proper section-level cadre. If he can be promoted to deputy factory director this time, it will be even more remarkable. In Beijing, they can be considered a well-off family.

Although Chen Shuping thought so, there were some things that even husband and wife couldn't say directly. She changed her words: "Tingting is a college student. I'm afraid she has high standards and wants to find a college student to date."

Having been married for many years, how could Li Zhenguo not know what his wife was thinking? He didn't respond, but instead said to himself, "I heard that the second son is going to buy a house."

"Buying a house?" Chen Shuping sat up, addressing her most pressing question. "What kind of house? Where is he buying it?"

"He is currently renting the front yard of a two-courtyard siheyuan in a hutong in Suzhou. The family that rented the house is going abroad, so the second son bought it directly. He has already signed a deposit contract and is currently going through the transfer of ownership."

Chen Shuping pressed further, "How much did you buy it for?"

“We paid a deposit of 6000 yuan, and there’s still 2 yuan left to pay. The house is over 600 square meters, and the second son even said that if we can’t fit it all here, we can move in with him.” Although Li Zhenguo said he wouldn’t move out, he was still very pleased to hear his nephew say that.

"Over 2! He made that much money selling vegetables." Hearing this number, Chen Shuping initially found it unbelievable, but then, thinking about the prices Li Zhe sold vegetables for, it wasn't so hard to understand. "Zhenguo, why don't you quit your job and start a business too?"

Hearing his wife's words, Li Zhenguo laughed: "You only see people eating meat, but you don't see people getting beaten. Aren't there many people from our factory who went into business? Sure, some made money, but even more lost money. Some even lost their underwear."

Factory jobs are hard to find these days, and feeding the whole family is a struggle. Right now, in winter, only the second son is selling vegetables; he has a monopoly, which is why he can make money. Do you think making money is as easy as it is for him?

He turned around and said, "If you're not happy about it, then forget what I said. I watched these two kids grow up, that's why I thought of bringing them together. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with it."

Chen Shuping thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense. The two girls know each other well, so it's not impossible for them to get along. When I have time, I'll talk to Mom and ask her to see if my sister is interested in that kind of relationship."

Li Zhenguo didn't say anything more: "Go to sleep early, you have to get up early to cook tomorrow."

Before long, Li Zhenguo's snoring began. Chen Shuping, however, couldn't sleep. She was thinking about Li Zhe and Wang Ting. To her, both sides were legitimate relatives, and it would be a good thing if they could become even closer through marriage.

……

"Ha ha……"

Inside the Mona Lisa restaurant, Shen Yanan laughed heartily and said in a low voice, "Brother Li, do you know how much money I've made these past few days? I'm rich!"

Although Li Zhe didn't ask for details, he could roughly guess. The restaurant's good business was one factor, but he estimated that even more money came from pre-paid customer deposits. Shen Yanan had many friends, all of whom were wealthy; if even a few were willing to deposit money, making over ten thousand yuan would be a piece of cake. If they could persuade foreigners to deposit, the money would come even faster.

He advised, "Second sister, the customers' prepaid fees cannot be used casually. It's like the customers paying for the meal in advance. If it's spent in advance, the restaurant will have to close down if the funds run out later."

"I know, I won't move, I definitely won't move." Shen Yanan muttered a few words, it was unclear whether she was saying it to Li Zhe or to herself.

Li Zhe didn't say anything more. He had already given the necessary reminders, but these kinds of things still depend on self-discipline.

"Little brother, your second sister has something to give you." After saying that, Shen Yanan turned and went upstairs. When she came back down, she was carrying a delicate bag. "See if you like it?"

Li Zhe opened the bag; inside was a white box with a picture of a black camera printed on it. The brand was Canon, the model was EOS, and it had a beautiful and stylish design. "Second sister, this camera must be expensive, right?"

He had previously looked at them at the Friendship Store; domestically produced cameras were cheaper, while these foreign brands were much more expensive, though of course, their performance was better in all aspects.

"It was a gift from my sister, it didn't cost me any money," the second sister said nonchalantly. "If it weren't for your help in coming up with ideas, would my restaurant be profitable? I can't let you just watch me eat meat. I know you're not short of money, so I thought I'd give you a gift as a token of my appreciation."

Li Zhe understood his second sister's temperament, and he genuinely liked this item, so he smiled and said, "Then I thank you, second sister."

"Don't mention it, whatever you like is fine."

Li Zhe's eyes shone with joy, and he couldn't wait to open the box: "To be honest, I originally wanted to buy one too, but I haven't figured it out yet."

“Perfect, take it back and study it slowly, there are instructions inside.” Shen Yanan took a bite of strawberry, then changed the subject, “Brother, today is December 29th, New Year’s Day is just around the corner, do you think I should organize another event?” Shen Yanan pushed the strawberry plate forward, “You have some too.”

Strawberries are something you can eat every few days, but Li Zhe really can't eat them every day. He took a sip of latte and said, "Of course we have to do it. Only by organizing activities can we attract more customers and give our old customers something new to keep them coming back."

Shen Yanan rubbed her hands together. "Hey, that's the same idea. Can you help your second sister think of how to organize this event?"

Li Zhe countered, "Second Sister, do you have your own plan?"

"I've written a plan, but I don't know if it will work..." After saying that, the second sister took out a handwritten draft from the black backpack next to her.

Li Zhe took it and looked at it. The handwriting was very neat, and the title was "Welcoming the New Year's Day Event." It was the same set he had done before: giving gifts, drawing prizes, and recharge discounts, but the dishes had been changed and the gifts had also changed.

"Not bad." Second Sister's promotional plan surpasses that of most restaurants catering to foreigners. In this era, most restaurants catering to foreigners were state-owned, and while they had a competitive spirit, it wasn't as strong as it is in later years.

The second sister pressed further, "Is there anything else that needs improvement?"

Li Zhe thought for a moment and said, "I think we should change the name. 'Welcoming the New Year's Day' is not very original. We can change it to 'New Year's Eve Event' and add a countdown lottery at midnight on New Year's Eve."

"New Year's Eve!" the second sister muttered. Although it was the first time she had heard it, she could roughly understand the meaning from the words. An excited look appeared on her face: "Little brother, how did you develop your brain? You were born to do business. Just by changing one word, the whole feeling is different."

Li Zhe smiled and said, "Actually, New Year's Eve events have been around for a long time overseas, but the information doesn't circulate, so it hasn't reached China yet."

"Second sister, I think we can add some more Chinese elements, which might be more attractive and novel to foreigners."

The second sister stroked her rounded chin and said, "How about some Chinese elements? Lion dance?" She then immediately disagreed, "No, it's too late for New Year's Eve, and lion dance is too noisy. How about Peking Opera?"

Li Zhe shook his head: "No, foreigners can't understand or speak Chinese fluently. Do you think they have the patience to listen to Peking Opera?"

"Brother, can you help me think of another way?"

"Second sister, have you ever seen Sichuan opera face-changing?" Li Zhe asked back, and continued, "It's when you wave your hand across your face, 'slap!' and you can change your mask. Foreigners would definitely like to watch this. It's fast-paced and the effect is obvious. Whether you understand Chinese or not doesn't matter."

“Yes, yes, I’ve seen face-changing once, it was really amazing, but it seems to be a Sichuan opera. I wonder if we can find it in Beijing?” The second sister pondered for a while and made up her mind. “I’ll go with Sichuan opera face-changing. I’ll contact my friends in a bit and ask them to help me find out where to go.”

Li Zhe glanced at his watch: "Alright, that's settled for today. Call me if you need anything."

Just as he was about to get up, a commotion erupted in the hall…

(End of this chapter)