Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 19 One-Off Deal
"We'll go pick more after we sell them all. We have seven acres of cornfields. Hei Jie went to the fields today, and we'll continue selling in Beijing tomorrow morning." Li Weidong was full of energy; he was young and had plenty of strength.

Wang Xiuying counted on her fingers, "Absolutely! Last year, the yield was over 400 jin per mu, and the purchase price was two mao (0.2 yuan) per mu. After deducting the cost of fertilizer and seeds, each mu only brought in about forty yuan. This year, selling fresh corn brought in two hundred and twenty yuan per mu!" She suddenly slapped her thigh, "Oh my! If you include the eldest son's and Zhuzi's families, that's a total of ten mu!"

"Two thousand two!" Li Weidong interrupted.

Neither of them calculated the labor costs. Harvesting corn normally requires labor, and even if the labor costs were split, they weren't given to outsiders; they ended up in their own pockets anyway.

Wang Xiuying got more and more excited as she thought about it. "Second brother, I think your brother is right. I didn't work all day today, but Hei Jie can still go to the fields to harvest corn. You can stay home and get some sleep, because you have to drive tomorrow."

Li Zhe didn't reply. "Dad, Zhu Zi, what are you two thinking?"

Recently, Zhao Tiezhu has been following Li Zhe around. Whether it's getting a loan, buying plastic film, or selling corn this time, Li Zhe's performance has impressed him. "Brother Zhe, I'll listen to you."

Old Li took a sip of his drink, smacked his lips, and frowned, saying, "I... can't be sure."

Wang Xiuying pouted, "I didn't expect you to come up with any ideas anyway. Second brother, I support you this time. Let's continue selling fresh corn. This money is much easier to earn than growing vegetables in greenhouses."

Li Zhe remained silent, but was interested in his father's reaction. "Dad, what are you unsure about? Tell us so we can all help figure it out."

Old Li took another sip of wine and said slowly, "Corn is nothing special. Nobody sold fresh corn before because they were poor and couldn't even get enough to eat. Who would dare waste food? Also, the season for fresh corn is short. If you pick it too early, it won't grow well, and if you pick it too late, it's too tough to eat. You can only sell it for a few days, so nobody pays much attention to it."

We made money selling corn today by taking advantage of this loophole. Now that the stall owners in the market see that we're making money selling corn, they'll probably stock up on some corn to sell too.

"We'll continue selling corn tomorrow, but sales will definitely be lower than today, and the price will have to be reduced."

Wang Xiuying understood, but still refused to give up on making money. "We can't sell this much today, but we can sell less. Earning less is better than nothing. What do you say, second brother?"

Li Zhe nodded, "What you all say makes sense."

Wang Xiuying pressed, "So what exactly do you mean? Give your mother a straight answer. Are you still going to go to the city to sell corn?"

Li Zhe continued, "Besides what you just mentioned, there's also the issue of costs. Regardless of whether you sell more or less, the rental fees for vehicles and stalls remain the same. If you earn a lot, these costs are negligible; if you earn little, after deducting these costs, there's not much profit left. If you engage in a price war with other vendors, the profit will be even lower."

People in this era lack innovation but have a strong ability to learn. If they see someone making money selling corn, others will follow suit.

A brief silence fell over the room.

They had just discovered a way to make money, but were forced to give it up after only one day. Everyone was unwilling to accept this, but they had to admit that Li Zhe's words made sense.

"These people are so shameless, why do they have to copy our family?" Wang Xiuying felt a little aggrieved.

“We can sell corn, and so can others. It just means this way of making money has a low barrier to entry. Once we grow vegetables in greenhouses in the winter, they won’t be able to learn it.” Li Zhe sold corn this time for two reasons: first, he didn’t want his family’s corn to lose money, and second, he wanted to explore ways to sell vegetables in the future.

Now there's another unexpected bonus: selling fresh corn has shown my family how lucrative business can be. Once people experience the thrill of making quick money, it's hard for them to stay content and work the land.

Simply put, he's become more ambitious, which is a good thing for Li Zhe. Li Zhe ate a piece of pig's head meat, which was fatty but not greasy and very flavorful. He continued, "Tomorrow, I want to hire a group of workers to clear that acre of land first, and then we'll break ground and dig the foundation trenches for the greenhouse the day after tomorrow."

Old Li asked, "Do you have a plan in mind? How many people are you planning to hire? How will you calculate the compensation?"

"We're recruiting twenty people. We probably won't be able to recruit them all on the first day, but we'll start working. It's four cents an hour, no meals included."

Old Li said, "I used to work with construction teams building houses, and they always paid by the day. This is the first time I've heard of being paid by the hour."

Li Zhe said, "That's different. Building houses is a technical job, and it can't operate if one person is missing. But my job is different. It doesn't require much technical skill. It's just digging soil. Anyone with strength can do it."

Come anytime, work anytime, leave anytime. Also, if you see anyone slacking off, pay them immediately and let them go; you don't have to pay them a day's wages for nothing.

Wang Xiuying sighed, "Isn't four cents an hour too much? If you work eight hours a day, that's three yuan and twenty cents. Otherwise, we can provide lunch and lower the wages."

Li Zhe shook his head. "There are too many people. We can't provide meals. It's not just a day or two. We'll be busy for at least ten days. We'll be exhausted just cooking and washing dishes every day. It's not worth it. The people who come are from our village and neighboring villages. They can go home for meals in time."

Wang Xiuying did the math in her head: eight hours a day would cost three yuan and twenty cents, and twenty people would cost sixty-four cents. Good heavens, how much flour would that cost? "I still think the wages are too high. How about three cents an hour? Eight hours a day would still be two yuan and forty cents, which is not bad."

Li Zhe said, "Other jobs can be done half-heartedly, but digging is hard work. I didn't plan to make them work for eight hours. Putting aside whether they can handle it, their work efficiency will also decrease. Seven hours a day is enough."

Besides, we're all neighbors; if you don't give enough money, people will talk behind your back, and there's no guarantee someone won't sabotage you.

Old Li took another sip of wine. "That's the way it is. When I work with a construction team, if the client is generous, I'm happy to do more work; if the client is stingy, there's no meat, not even a drop of oil in the bowl. We not only complain behind their backs, but we also have to hold back a bit when we work. Everyone has a scale in their heart, nobody's stupid."

"Hmph, I can't argue with you, so I'm not going to care anymore." Wang Xiuying felt upset. It was dozens of yuan a day, and no family could afford to spend like that.

Li Zhe glanced around and said, "If everyone agrees, it's settled then. If Big Brother and Zhuzi don't have any work, they can come and keep an eye on things for me, and I'll pay them the same."

"You want money to work for your own brother?" Li Weidong opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but glanced at Zhao Tiezhu and didn't say anything.

He definitely doesn't want this money. If he really accepted it, what kind of person would he be?

If Zhao Tiezhu hadn't been there, he would definitely have retorted to his younger brother, "You're the one who pays my salary, look at how capable you are."

But with Zhao Tiezhu present, he couldn't say that. If he didn't take it, how could Zhao Tiezhu take it?

“Brother Zhe, you need money right now, so I won’t ask for wages. If there’s work, I’ll go out and find some. If there’s no work, I’ll help out in the fields. Just provide meals.”

"Alright, I won't stand on ceremony then. When I make some money, I'll give you a big red envelope." Having known him for decades, Li Zhe understood his character and knew he meant it sincerely.

"Hey, I'm waiting for you."

(End of this chapter)