Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 147 Diplomatic Apartments
The next morning.

The living room in the front yard of No. 7 Hutong, Suzhou.

Jinzi lay lazily by the radiator, gnawing on a large beef bone, having a great time.

The puppy was at the age where it was very playful, and Li Zhe didn't have much time to play with it, so he found a large beef bone for it to gnaw on. The little guy played with it for two or three days without getting tired of it, and even slept in his arms at night.

Li Zhe sat by the coffee table fiddling with the camera. After reading the instruction manual, he had a general understanding of how to use the camera.

Li Zhe pressed the button to open the cover, inserted the film, closed the back cover, and aimed the camera at the gold. The camera automatically focused.

Li Zhe pressed the shutter and took the first photo. The counter on the top of the camera changed to 36-2.

"Interesting." This was the first time Li Zhe, who had lived two lives, had ever taken a proper photograph with a camera.

Unlike the proliferation of mobile phone cameras in later generations, cameras were a rarity in this era. And precisely because of this, many meaningful things were not recorded.

"Knock knock..." There was a knock on the door. Li Zhe opened the door and saw Sun Tao standing outside, his cheeks red from the cold, stamping his feet incessantly. Li Zhe stepped aside: "Come in quickly, warm up."

"Brother Li, it's still most comfortable here." Sun Tao chuckled and sat down by the stove, reaching out to warm his hands by the fire.

Li Zhe poured him a cup of hot tea: "Have you finished delivering the cucumbers?"

"All delivered. Now, besides Cuihualou, I've found another restaurant. It's much easier than selling them myself before." He saw the camera on the coffee table and looked on with envy. "Wow, you bought a foreign camera? These things must be expensive!"

"It was a gift from a friend, I don't know how much it cost." Li Zhe put the camera into his bag.

Sun Tao rubbed his face with his hand: "Brother Li, when are we going to look for shops?"

Yesterday, Li Zhe went to see Director Han to discuss cooperation, and the discussion was almost complete. Director Han hoped that Li Zhe would give priority to hiring employees from the Chongwenmen vegetable market, but Li Zhe was not very willing.

At this point, Zhou Qinghe recommended Sun Tao. Although Sun Tao didn't speak English, he had a good relationship with Director Han and Li Zhe, and neither of them objected. Sun Tao was also quick-witted. This morning, when he came to pick up the cucumbers, he offered to help Li Zhe find a suitable shop.

With so many things to do, Li Zhe couldn't possibly handle everything himself; he definitely needed someone to run errands. Sun Tao was someone he knew well, so he readily agreed.

"No rush, let's go after you warm up a bit."

Sun Tao quickly said, "It's okay, Brother Li, I'm not cold."

Li Zhe looked at the sky outside and thought: You don't mind the cold, but I do.

Half an hour later, the sun rose higher and the weather warmed up a bit. Li Zhe rode his bicycle out of Suzhou Hutong.

Sun Tao followed behind and asked, "Brother Li, where are we going now?"

"Let's head to Jianguomenwai Street first. Wherever there are many foreigners, that's where we'll go." The location selection definitely needs to be a place with high foot traffic, and specifically, effective foot traffic.

There are many bustling places in Beijing, but most of them attract irrelevant visitors. To put it bluntly, there are indeed a lot of people in Beijing, but only a small percentage can afford out-of-season vegetables.

The two rode their bicycles around the embassy area, approaching any vacant shops they saw and asking about them. Li Zhe would also take pictures of the approximate locations of the shops.

This is one of the most bustling areas in Beijing, with very few vacant shops. Passing by the Mona Lisa restaurant, Li Zhe parked his bicycle in front and began walking around, searching for a suitable shop.

Around noon, the two went to a nearby restaurant and ordered meat pies with a nail-shaped filling and beef soup. The meat pies were very well made, with plenty of juice inside; you had to bite a small hole first to suck out the juice. If you bit into one directly, the juice would spray everywhere.

Beef soup, with a touch of chili and vinegar, makes you feel warm all over after a bowl, dispelling the chill.

After finishing lunch, the two rested for a while before continuing to look for shops along the street nearby.

They continued using the same method as before: they would go wherever there were many foreigners, and if they saw an empty shop, they would go up and ask.

Around 2 p.m., they found another vacant shop. This shop was located near the diplomatic apartment buildings. The buildings housed diplomats and their families. There were over a dozen buildings in total, and Li Zhe estimated that at least a thousand foreigners lived there.

Li Zhe peered into the shop through the glass window. Inside, there were only empty shelves; he couldn't see any people or goods. There was no sign or rental information at the entrance. This left Li Zhe somewhat at a loss.

Sun Tao also looked through the window and said, "Brother Li, this shop is quite large. We don't have many kinds or much of our vegetables, so we don't need this much space, do we?"

Li Zhe countered, "Does the Chongwenmen Market only sell vegetables?"

"No way. We sell vegetables, meat, seafood, groceries, and fruit..." At this point, Sun Tao realized something, "That's right! We can sell more than just vegetables, we can sell other things too!"

In Li Zhe's view, off-season vegetables are just used to attract customers. Foreigners can't just buy vegetables when they enter a store, right?
Once you obtain the permit for selling goods to foreign customers, getting the necessary licenses through the Chongwenmen farmers' market shouldn't be difficult. This small shop could easily be transformed into a convenience store catering to foreign customers. Of course, this needs to be done step by step; taking too big a step can easily lead to problems…

Just then, a patrolman wearing a red armband walked over and looked at the two men warily: "Who are you? What are you doing sneaking around here?"

Li Zhe pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and offered one to the man: "Comrade, would you like a cigarette?" The man with the red armband waved his hand: "Don't give me that. This is a diplomatic apartment building. There are security guards patrolling around. Hurry up and leave!"

Li Zhe continued, "We're not bad people. We're from the Chongwenmen vegetable market, and we're planning to open a vegetable shop nearby to cater to foreign customers. I noticed this shop is vacant, and I was wondering if it's available for rent?"

"This shop belongs to the Service Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its overseas missions. It was rented to a state-owned clothing store a few years ago, but it went out of business last year and has been vacant ever since. I don't know the specifics. If you can get in touch with them, go ask. There's no point in you staying here, so you should leave!"

"Thank you for reminding me." Li Zhe offered another cigarette, but the other person still didn't take it.

Li Zhe gave Sun Tao a wink, and the two left the shop.

Sun Tao asked in a low voice, "Brother Li, this shop has a good location, why don't you take a picture?"

"Didn't you see we're being watched? Taking photos at this time, aren't you afraid of getting arrested?" Li Zhe wasn't unwilling, but rather afraid.

Sun Tao immediately understood and said with some lingering fear, "Brother Li, this place is probably not easy to rent. We don't even know which way the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' door opens, so we have no chance at all."

Li Zhe also thought the shop was good.

The two walked to the Mona Lisa restaurant. He said to Sun Tao, "Taozi, you go back first. I'll ask a friend to inquire about that shop." Although Li Zhe didn't dare to take any photos, he noted down the address.

"You have friends in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?!" Sun Tao didn't expect Li Zhe to have such unconventional methods, but he didn't dare to ask for details and rode away on his bicycle.

After watching Sun Tao leave, Li Zhe pushed open the door and entered the Mona Lisa Restaurant. It was already past 2 p.m., and there weren't many people in the restaurant; two tables of customers were still drinking coffee.

"Mr. Li, welcome." A waitress recognized Li Zhe.

Is your boss in?

"The boss is on the second floor. Shall I take you up?"

Li Zhe waved his hand: "No need, go ahead and do your thing, I can go up by myself."

Li Zhe climbed the stairs to the second floor and saw Shen Yanan sitting at a table by the window, lost in thought.

"Second sister?"

Li Zhe greeted them.

Shen Yanan turned around and said, "Hmm? Little brother's here. Perfect timing, have a drink with your sister."

Shen Yanan stood up and limped toward the bar.

"Second sister, what happened to your foot?" Li Zhe thought to himself, how come it's like this after only a few days?

"It's nothing. I twisted my ankle while catching a thief yesterday."

Li Zhe placed the camera he was carrying on the bar: "Your things were stolen?"

Shen Yanan, not wanting to lose face, blurted out, "How could that be? I caught him stealing it. As soon as the bus doors opened, he ran off. I chased after him and kicked him so hard he fell flat on his face. My wallet fell to the ground, and the thief ran away without daring to look at me twice." As she spoke, a tall figure appeared in her mind...

These words sounded intimidating at first glance, but after thinking about it, Li Zhe realized something was wrong. He thought to himself: If you kicked someone down, how did you get injured?

"Second sister, since you're injured, you shouldn't drink anymore. Getting better is the most important thing."

"It's nothing. I just twisted my ankle. A glass of red wine will do the trick." As she spoke, Shen Yanan poured two glasses of red wine and handed one to Li Zhe. "Brother, what were you busy with this morning? You just dropped off your car and left without even showing your face."

Li Zhe then told her about his collaboration with Chongwenmen Vegetable Market to open a vegetable store catering to foreigners, and asked her to help him find out more about the store.

Shen Yanan thought for a moment, "This is easy to handle. I'll ask around for you in a bit. Whether it works out or not, we should have news by tomorrow afternoon."

"If I can get in touch with them, that's fine. If it works out, I'll rent it; if not, I'll look for another one. If I don't have connections, it's really hard to find out about these shops."

Shen Yanan said dismissively, "It's no big deal. Leave it to me. As long as it's a shop in the service center, I'll definitely help you get it unless there are special circumstances!"

"Second sister, then I'll take this opportunity to toast you." With Shen Yanan's words, Li Zhe felt more confident, picked up his wine glass, and downed it in one gulp.

He had just put down his cup when he saw Shen Yanan also tilt her head back and drink it all in one gulp.

Just as I was about to advise her to drink less, I saw Marty go upstairs to the second floor...

(End of this chapter)