Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 144 Change of Owners
The young woman turned to look at her husband and said seriously, "Didn't our mother ever think of bringing Qinghe and the second son together?"

Li Weidong retorted, "Why should we try to match them up? Besides, don't they already know each other? What's the point of trying to set them up?"

"What's wrong with your Li family? Everyone's so slow to react, making me, as their sister-in-law, worry so much." Ma Laixiao looked at her with exasperation. "Qinghe is a college student, from Beijing, and has a good personality. Where can you find such a good girl?"

Li Weidong knew a little about this. "My mother doesn't really want to find a wife from Beijing for my second son."

"Why?" the young Malay boy asked, puzzled.

Although Li Weidong dotes on his wife, he doesn't want to talk about his second uncle behind his back, so he says perfunctorily, "She thinks the girls in the village are good at managing a household, hardworking, and can get along with each other."

“Hmph, Mother is just old-fashioned. She’s afraid that she can’t control a wife who’s married into a higher social class, and that it will be difficult for her to be a mother-in-law.” Ma Lai Xiao wasn’t stupid. She immediately guessed the reason and snorted, “She doesn’t even think about it. The second son has already bought a house in Beijing. How could he possibly marry a rural wife? Mother is only strict with us. The second son won’t listen to her.”

Li Weidong said, "Then Qinghe is even less likely to be included."

"What?"

Li Weidong joked, "The second brother is short-sighted and likes young, beautiful girls with good figures. He's not a good match for Qinghe."

The Malaysian girl said with a stern face, "Can being pretty and having a good figure put food on the table?"

Li Weidong laughed and said, "The second son is not short of money now. Whether he can eat or not is not important. Being pretty might even get him to eat an extra bowl of rice."

"That's what you think too," the Malay boy snorted.

Li Weidong quickly shook his head, "I'm different from him, I only like someone like you, my wife."

The Malay girl playfully punched her husband, asking, "What kind of person am I? Am I not pretty? Or do I have a bad figure?"

"No, no, I didn't mean that!" Li Weidong quickly retorted.

The couple playfully wrestled for a while, and the Malay girl wiped her feet and added some hot water. "My uncle might really quit."

Malay Xiao and Li Weidong are related by marriage; Malay Xiao's uncle is Li Weidong's maternal uncle, Ma Changhe.

Li Weidong sighed, "It's not that serious, it was just an argument."

“My uncle is also very concerned about his image. Just you wait and see, he probably won’t come again.” The Malay girl spoke with certainty, as if she had thought of something. After a moment of thought, she said, “Do you think… next year my uncle might build a greenhouse to grow winter vegetables himself?”

Li Weidong put his feet into the basin. "This... Uncle has only been here for a little over a month. Has he learned it yet?"

"Who knows?" Malay shook her head. She was just saying it casually, not out of concern. But she was thinking about her own family. "The six thousand yuan we borrowed from the credit union is still in the bank. Do you think we should withdraw it next year and build a vegetable greenhouse?"

She wasn't sure if Ma Changhe could learn it all, but she was certain she would by next year.

Li Weidong fell silent. He knew what his wife meant. But the problem was, if he, as the older brother, did this, then others would follow suit and build vegetable greenhouses. Who would be left by his second brother's side then?
"Let's talk about it next year and see what the second child's plans are."

The Malaysian girl nodded, feeling conflicted. Her second son had treated them well, and the couple had received a total of seven hundred dollars in bonuses and processing fees this month, something they never dared to dream of before.

But the problem is that growing vegetables in greenhouses is more profitable. One greenhouse can earn you 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and if you build two greenhouses, you can earn 40,000 to 50,000 yuan a year!

Malay's heart was pounding. Although she felt that this was a bit unfair to her second son, who wouldn't want to make more money?

……

Beijing, Suzhou-style alley, front courtyard.

Sun Tao sat in the front yard living room, holding a hot water tank and chatting with a few vegetable vendors.

Business was slow in previous years, and he didn't make much money at this time of year. But this year is different. Fifteen catties of cucumbers a day may not seem like much, but that's fifteen yuan a month. That's four hundred and fifty yuan a month. He can have a good year just from that.

He was genuinely grateful to Li Zhe, and at the same time, he secretly thought he was clever. The first time he saw Li Zhe selling corn, he was the first to approach him. If it weren't for this relationship, the two of them would never have met, and he wouldn't have earned the money from selling cucumbers.

But as time went on, Li Zhe's business grew bigger and bigger, and he vaguely felt a crisis. Brother Li's vegetable selling channels were becoming more and more numerous and stable, as if... he no longer needed him.

The contracts these distributors signed with Li Zhe were valid until the end of the year. With only a month left until the Chinese New Year, he wasn't sure if the cucumbers would still be able to be sold after the holiday.

He was truly reluctant to part with this income. If Qinghe were here, she would definitely have a solution.

Suddenly, a Jiefang truck pulled up in front of the gate. The door opened, and a girl wrapped in a military overcoat jumped out, tilting her head back and shouting, "Xiao Taozi, aren't you going to come out and greet me!"

Sun Tao rushed out, excitedly exclaiming, "Qinghe, you're back!"

Zhou Qinghe asked casually, "Haha, missed your sister?"

"Hehe, I definitely have to think about it."

"Really? Don't just think about it."

"Of course it's true. I'll treat you to lunch." Sun Tao then said politely to Li Zhe, "Brother Li, you should come too, let's have some drinks at noon."

"Maybe next time. I have something to do today, and I don't know if I can come back at noon." Li Zhe glanced around as if looking for someone, then waved his hand and said, "Come on, let's go inside and talk." After entering the living room, everyone exchanged a few pleasantries. After a few words, Li Zhe saw a figure flash past the door—Ji Hongbin.

"Boss Ji is here." Li Zhe got up and went out of the house. Not only was Ji Hongbin standing outside the door, but also the old lady of the Ji family. "Grandma, you're here too. Let's go together."

"I won't go; Hongbin can handle it for me."

"No need for that, you'd better go by yourself. We can get it done in one trip today, and everyone will be at ease."

Grandma Ji declined, saying, "I'm too old; these old bones of mine can't ride a bicycle."

“It’s alright, I’ll take you there in my truck.” Li Zhe pointed to the Jiefang truck next to him and continued without waiting for the old lady’s reply, “Please wait a moment, I’ll go get something and be right back.”

Li Zhe came out carrying his briefcase, greeted Wang Jianjun, and went out the door with Li Weidong.

He smiled and said, "Grandma, please get in the car."

With no other option, Old Mrs. Ji got into the car with her son's help. Ji Hongbin also wanted to get in, but Li Zhe patted him and said, "Mr. Ji, please sit in the back."

“I…” Ji Hongbin glanced at the carriage, his face showing displeasure, and snorted, “I like riding a bicycle.”

Li Zhe didn't tolerate his behavior. He wasn't the homeowner; he could come or not as he pleased. So he got into the driver's seat. He had things in his briefcase, and it would be safer for him to be in the driver's seat.

Ji Hongbin turned to walk home and happened to see Tan Jingya standing at the door looking out. He wanted to say something, but Tan Jingya turned and left without giving him a chance to speak.

……

After driving for about ten minutes, the truck arrived at the Dongcheng District Housing Management Bureau. Li Zhe helped Grandma Ji out of the truck, and the three of them, including Li Weidong, entered the lobby of the Housing Management Bureau.

Li Zhe walked to the service window and greeted the female employee with a ponytail with a smile, "Comrade Wang, we're here today to process the property deed transfer."

"Boss Li is here." Comrade Wang stood up and said warmly, "Section Chief Lin just mentioned you, saying that since you're here, you can just go straight to his office. Come on, I'll take you there."

Upon entering the section chief's office, after a brief exchange of pleasantries and verification of identification documents, Section Chief Lin instructed Comrade Wang to fetch the official seal, and they began working on the spot...

When Ji Hongbin arrived on his bicycle, the formalities were almost completed. Li Zhe handed over the remaining 20,000 yuan to Old Lady Ji. After counting it several times, Old Lady Ji returned 770 yuan of the rent and deposit to him.

Around noon, Li Zhe received the brand-new property deed for No. 7 Courtyard in Suzhou Hutong...

With the property deed in hand, Li Zhe felt completely at ease, finally having a home that truly belonged to him in the capital.

Li Zhe shook hands with Lin Weimin to say goodbye. "Section Chief Lin, thank you so much this time. If it weren't for your help, we don't know when the property deed would have been issued."

In a few days, let's set a time and invite my second sister over for a proper get-together.

“No problem, Second Sister, just give me a call and I’ll be there anytime.” Lin Weimin escorted Li Zhe to the entrance of the Housing Management Bureau. “The property deed has already been changed to your name. You can handle the rest of the procedures yourself. There’s no need to rush. Come whenever you have time.”

"Okay, that's settled then. You go ahead with your work, we'll see you another day." Li Zhe left the housing management bureau, and the truck that had delivered the vegetables was already waiting outside.

Wang Jianjun came up to him and asked, "Have the formalities been completed?"

"It's all done." Before Li Zhe could answer, Li Weidong patted his briefcase. "The new property deed for No. 7 is inside. The house now belongs to the second son."

Li Weidong couldn't hide his excitement. Although the house wasn't his own, it now belonged to the Li family, and he was genuinely happy for his younger brother.

Wang Jianjun chuckled softly, "Hey, I feel much more at ease living here now."

Ji Hongbin gripped his briefcase tightly and whispered something to Old Mrs. Ji.

After a while, Ji Hongbin came over and said with an embarrassed look, "Boss Li, could you lend a hand and have someone lift my bicycle onto the truck bed?"

Li Weidong joked, "Boss Ji, didn't you love riding bicycles? Why aren't you riding them anymore?"

Ji Hongbin was somewhat embarrassed, his face flushed, and he opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Grandma Ji stepped in to defuse the situation, saying, "It's not safe for an old lady like me to carry so much money. Let Hongbin take the car too."

“Alright, since the old lady has said so, I’ll lend a hand.” Li Weidong walked over and helped Ji Hongbin load the bicycle onto the truck bed.

Li Zhe generously gave up the passenger seat to the mother and son, preparing to sit in the back of the car with Li Weidong and Wang Jianjun.

Before getting into the car, Old Mrs. Ji stopped him, "Mr. Li, we can't leave the country until the end of the month, so we'll have to stay in the backyard for now." As she spoke, she took out seventy yuan from her pocket and tremblingly handed it to Li Zhe, "This is for rent..."

After saying this, Old Mrs. Ji seemed to have aged several years. With Ji Hongbin's help, she weakly climbed into the driver's seat.

Li Zhe looked at the seventy yuan in his hand. Although it wasn't much, it felt strangely different...

(End of this chapter)