Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 145 Recruitment
The capital city, Cuihua Tower.

In a private room on the second floor, Zhou Qinghe and Sun Tao sat around a round table with two dishes and a soup on it.

Zhou Qinghe took a bite of the chicken slices with egg white and said, "Wow, that's really extravagant. It's just the two of us, and you still asked for a private room?"

Sun Tao ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to Zhou Qinghe: "Don't worry about how many people there are, buddy, we'll have a private room anytime you come."

"Look at you, talking as if this restaurant can't survive without you."

"Not really. But if it weren't for the cucumbers I sent, this restaurant definitely wouldn't be doing as well as it is now. Look at the crowd outside, it's packed like a market!"

"You're just bragging," Zhou Qinghe rolled her eyes. Fresh vegetables could certainly attract customers to a restaurant, but the problem was that Sun Tao had only delivered cucumbers to Cuihualou, no other fresh vegetables. It would definitely attract customers, but Zhou Qinghe felt it wasn't nearly as significant as Sun Tao claimed.

Of course, if Li Zhe could deliver a portion of all the vegetables he grew to Cuihua Restaurant, they would definitely treat him like royalty. But unfortunately, all he had were cucumbers.

Zhou Qinghe ate a few bites of food, put down his chopsticks, and asked, "Xiao Taozi, tell me, what brings you here today?"

Sun Tao was displeased: "What are you saying? Can't I invite you to dinner if there's nothing wrong?"

Zhou Qinghe laughed: "We grew up together, we know each other well, right? You said it's okay, but even if you need something from me later, I won't help you!"

"Hey, that's not what I meant." Sun Tao gave a wry smile. "I do have some things I can't figure out, and I just wanted to talk to you about them so you can give me some advice."

"Okay, this meal wasn't for nothing. What's up? Go ahead."

Sun Tao organized his thoughts: "Don't I get 15 jin of cucumbers from Brother Li every day? Our contract was until the end of the year. With only a month left until Chinese New Year, I'm starting to feel a bit uncertain. Do you think I can still get cucumbers from Brother Li next year?"

"Hey, I thought it was something serious, is this all?" Zhou Qinghe asked casually. "So what do you mean by that?"

Sun Tao leaned forward: "Then I definitely hope to continue getting supplies from Brother Li! It would be even better if we could get more vegetables."

Zhou Qinghe thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I doubt it."

"What? What news did you hear? Brother Li said he won't be supplying us next year?"

Zhou Qinghe took a sip of soup and put down the bowl: "He didn't say, but I guess... he probably looks down on your small-time operations."

Sun Tao sighed. He had actually anticipated this possibility. Li Zhe's dishes were currently supplied directly to state-run restaurants and hotels catering to foreign guests, so he had no shortage of sales channels. Moreover, they couldn't bring Li Zhe any additional value.

But thinking about the income of four or five hundred yuan a month, Sun Tao really couldn't bear to give it up: "Qinghe, seeing Brother Li's business getting bigger and bigger, what should I do to continue to connect with him and make some money with him?"

Zhou Qinghe felt that Sun Tao's biggest problem was that he didn't have a long-term vision. He had been working with Li Zhe for quite some time, but he only focused on his small plot of land—cucumbers and the vegetable market—and never thought to visit the vegetable greenhouses where Li Zhe grew vegetables.

Only when Sun Tao saw those dozen or so vegetable greenhouses with his own eyes could he truly understand how fast Li Zhe's development had progressed. To cooperate with Li Zhe, or rather, to make money under his guidance, one needed to understand his future development direction and leverage one's own value to align with his goals. As long as everyone's direction was aligned, opportunities for cooperation would naturally arise.

Zhou Qinghe asked, "Did you know that Li Zhe wants to open a vegetable store that caters to international customers?"

Sun Tao shook his head: "I've never heard him mention that. Opening a vegetable store that deals with foreigners must be difficult, right? Will the paperwork even be completed?"

Zhou Qinghe said, "I was the one who suggested this idea to him. If he were to open it himself, it would definitely be difficult, but we can cooperate with Chongwenmen Vegetable Market and have the vegetable shop affiliated with it. Then we can directly collect foreign exchange certificates, and the vegetable prices will definitely be higher than those at the market, making the profits quite considerable."

Sun Tao's expression was somewhat grim. If Li Zhe's vegetable shop really opened, he could sell his cucumbers himself, and there was indeed no need to cooperate with them next year. "Qinghe, then what do you think I should do?"

Zhou Qinghe retorted, "You're not planning to sell vegetables at the Chongwenmen Market anymore?"

Selling vegetables at the Chongwenmen market was profitable, but the difference was enormous compared to selling cucumbers in winter. You could earn a dollar per pound of cucumbers, but not a penny per pound of potatoes or cabbage. Given this huge disparity in profits, Sun Tao naturally knew which option to choose.

“My younger brother is older now and not cut out for school, so I’m planning to have him help my mom run a stall at the Chongwenmen market. I’d like to help Brother Li out, but I don’t know what I can do to help him.”

Zhou Qinghe nodded: "Your idea is right. Next year, when Li Zhe's business expands, he will definitely need to hire more people. You are an acquaintance, you are quick-witted, and you are familiar with the vegetable industry. Working for him will definitely earn you more than selling vegetables at the market."

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean! But right now I just don't know what I can do to help him, or what he needs me to do?"

Zhou Qinghe thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How's your English?"

"Huh?" Sun Tao was stunned by the question. "I... I haven't been to school in so long, I've almost forgotten everything!"

"Then go back and practice your English. I'll try to figure out a way to get you some work later..."

Sun Tao seemed to realize something and asked, "You want me to work at the vegetable store catering to foreigners?"

Zhou Qinghe didn't dare to speak definitively: "I do have this idea, but whether the vegetable store for foreigners can be opened depends on whether Boss Li and Director Han can reach an agreement. You go back and practice your English first, and I'll let you know when I have any news."

"Okay, okay, then keep a close eye on things for me!" Sun Tao said with a delighted expression. These days, as long as it's related to foreign affairs, money is easy to make.

...around 3 p.m.

On bus route 323.

Shen Yanan sat in the armchair with her eyes half-closed, yawning occasionally. For some reason, she had been having trouble sleeping for the past two days.

After lunchtime, Marty took two people to Beijing Foreign Studies University to recruit students.

Shen Yanan originally wanted to take a nap at the restaurant, but worried that she wouldn't be able to sleep at night if she slept at noon, so she simply changed her clothes and went to see how the recruitment was going.

Just then, the ticket seller called out, "Next stop, Weigongqiao Station! Those going to the Foreign Languages ​​Institute, get off here!"

Shen Yanan yawned, stood up, and walked towards the bus door. Many people got off at this stop, and most of them were young people.

Shen Yanan felt someone bump into her, but being a straightforward person, she didn't pay much attention and moved to the side.

However, when she moved aside, the person moved as well, still squeezing next to her. Shen Yanan sensed something was wrong and turned to look at the person next to her—a young man, not tall, very thin, with slightly uneven eyes, who lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with her.

At that moment, the bus doors opened, and the man with uneven eyes pushed past the person in front of him and was the first to run off the bus.

Shen Yanan felt something was wrong. Looking down, she saw that her black bag had been ripped open, and her wallet was gone! The wallet contained not only money but also her identification documents!

"It's a thief!" Shen Yanan shouted, squeezing off the bus as well. But her heels were too high, and she stumbled as she ran, unable to keep up with the man with the mismatched eyes. She could only run and shout from behind, "Stop the thief! Stop the thief in front!"

Shen Yanan's shouts startled pedestrians on the road, and the man with the uneven eyes ran even faster.

Shen Yanan was both anxious and angry. She stumbled, twisted her ankle, and fell to the ground, crying out, "Ah—!"

"Damn thief!" Shen Yanan trembled with rage as she watched the thief run further and further away.

Suddenly, a man running ahead of the man with uneven eyes stretched out his right leg and tripped him!

"Ah!" the thief cried out in surprise, falling flat on his face and dropping his wallet.

The thief scrambled to his feet, turned, and glared fiercely at the man. The man, over 1.7 meters tall, wearing a worn-out military overcoat, was nearly half a head taller than him, making the thief feel intimidated. Forgetting about picking up the wallet, he turned and ran.

The man in the military overcoat picked up the wallet from the ground, dusted it off, turned to Shen Yanan who was limping over, and asked with concern, "Comrade, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle. Thank you for helping me find my wallet," Shen Yanan said gratefully.

"Comrade, what's in your wallet? Let me check it first before returning it to you."

Shen Yanan thought for a moment: "My ID card, 200 foreign exchange certificates, and more than 100 RMB are inside."

The man in the military coat opened the wallet and looked inside. There was indeed Shen Yanan's ID card inside, and the foreign exchange certificates and money basically matched. He then handed it over: "Be careful next time, don't let thieves target you again."

After the man in the military overcoat finished speaking, he turned to leave.

Shen Yanan quickly called out to the other person, "Comrade, thank you! I don't even know your name?"

"You're welcome. My name is Lei Feng."

Shen Yanan "..."

Seeing the man in the military overcoat turn to leave, Shen Yanan hurriedly asked, "Which unit are you from? I'll write you a thank-you letter!"

"I'm not helping you out of gratitude."

Shen Yanan stared at the school badge on his chest and the Russian textbook in his hand, and asked, "Are you a student in the Russian Department of the School of Foreign Languages? What year are you in?"

"You're quite observant. If you had been this attentive, you wouldn't have been robbed," the man in the military overcoat said before quickly walking away.

Shen Yanan limped behind, unable to walk fast because of her sprained ankle: "Hey, wait a minute! I'm injured, can you walk me a bit?"

The man in the military overcoat turned to look at her and said, "Excuse me, I have a girlfriend."

Shen Yanan "..."

Watching the man in the military overcoat enter the west gate of the Foreign Languages ​​Institute and disappear into the crowd.

Suddenly, a strange sense of loss welled up in Shen Yanan's heart...

(End of this chapter)