Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 52 Greenhouse No. 4

Li Zhe winked at his parents, signaling them to be quiet.

He had visited Zhu Yimin's greenhouse, which was built according to his model. The greenhouse film was also purchased from Langfang City Plastics Factory. There were no problems with the greenhouse's insulation, and it could be used immediately after being rented.

A six-month lease for 1,000 yuan is a steal for Li Zhe; he'll definitely take it.

He was worried that his parents might overreact, so he didn't want to lower the price or for Zhou Yufeng to raise it; reaching an agreement smoothly would be good enough.

"Sister-in-law, is this your idea, or Brother Zhu's?"

"It was Old Zhu's idea."

"Brother Zhu, you don't regret it?"

"No, he has trouble even getting off the kang (heated brick bed), let alone getting out of bed."

"Alright then, don't bother looking for anyone else, just rent it to me."

Zhou Yufeng's eyes widened. "Brother, if you really want to rent my greenhouse, it'll cost a thousand yuan!"

"Yes, the contract can be signed this afternoon. We can then call Secretary Wang over and ask him to write a lease agreement."

When will you receive the money?

"I can give it to you once the contract is signed."

"Okay, let's not wait until the afternoon, I'll go find Secretary Wang now." Zhou Yufeng was afraid that Li Zhe would change his mind, so she quickly ran out of the greenhouse.

……

after an hour.

Zhu Family Greenhouse.

Li Zhe took a walk around the greenhouse, where green peppers, strawberries, and lettuce were growing. The seedlings looked a bit wilted because no one had taken care of them for a long time.

We need to take good care of this greenhouse after we rent it.

"Second brother, come out here, Party Secretary Wang is here!" Old Li shouted at the entrance of the shed.

Li Zhe lifted the curtain and stepped out of the greenhouse. He saw Wang Tietou and Zhou Yufeng huddled in the cold wind and asked, "Uncle Wang, sister-in-law, why don't you come in?"

Zhou Yufeng shrank her neck and said, "I won't go in. Let's sign a contract outside."

Li Zhe was both amused and exasperated; this person was genuinely frightened.

Wang Tietou exhaled white breath, "Zhezi, Yufeng said you want to rent her greenhouse."

"Yes, we would like to ask the village to be our witnesses."

"I can act as guarantor, but you've all thought it through. Don't try to renege on your promises later."

Li Zhe wrapped his blue coat tighter around himself. "Uncle Wang, don't worry, I definitely won't regret it."

Wang Tietou then turned to Zhou Yufeng and asked, "Where is your husband?"

“How did he get here while he was bedridden? I’ll put my fingerprint on his behalf to confirm it.”

Wang Tietou narrowed his eyes. "You think you can run the household?"

“Secretary, don’t look down on me. I’m the one who makes the decisions in my family.”

Wang Tietou was still a little uneasy. If she really could make the decision, Zhu Yimin could still get a loan to build greenhouses. "Does your husband really agree?"

“It was his idea to rent the greenhouse, so of course he agreed.” Zhou Yufeng pulled two folded pieces of white paper from her pocket. “Look, this is the document he wrote. I can’t read.”

Wang Tietou took the paper and examined it closely in the sunlight. It stated in black and white that the lease term was six months and the rent was exactly 1,200 yuan. "That's not right. Didn't you say the rent was 1,000 yuan? How did it become 1,200 yuan?"

"My husband wanted to rent it for 1200, but I was worried no one would rent it, so I lowered the price by 200. How about we use a pen to change it?"

Wang Tietou frowned. "That won't do. The lease agreement can't be changed casually. Either rewrite it or let your old Zhu revise it himself." Zhou Yufeng was a little anxious. "Damn it, why is it so troublesome? Secretary, could you please do me the trouble and rewrite it for me?"

She changed the price at the last minute without telling Zhu Yimin. Other things could be discussed, but Zhu Yimin became stubborn when it came to greenhouses, and she wasn't confident she could persuade her husband.

Wang Tietou noticed something amiss. The couple hadn't discussed it properly at all. If they signed it carelessly, Zhu Yimin would definitely cause a scene later. "Go back again and have Zhu Yimin write two more six-month leases with a rent of one thousand yuan each. Otherwise, even if he puts his fingerprint on it, it won't count."

Li Zhe took the contract and looked at it carefully. The rent and dates were clearly written. Zhu Yimin had prepared the contract in advance, probably because he didn't trust his wife.

Fearing that things might get complicated if he delayed, he picked up a pen and signed his name on the paper. "Don't bother with that. Just give me 1200. Brother Zhu has had a tough time too. Consider the extra 200 as his nutrition allowance. Getting well sooner is the most important thing."

Two hundred yuan is a drop in the ocean compared to the profits from the greenhouse. Signing the contract first is the most important thing. It would be ridiculous if the negotiations fell apart over two hundred yuan.

"Thank you, brother, I don't know what to say..." Zhou Yufeng's eyes reddened, and she pressed her red fingerprint on the contract with trembling hands.

Li Zhe carefully put away the contract, took out 1,200 yuan and handed it to Wang Tietou, saying, "Uncle Wang, this is the rent for the greenhouse for half a year."

Wang Tietou counted the money twice, the banknotes clattering as he spit. "Yu Feng, once you take this money, the agreement is effective. You can't go back on your word."

"Don't worry, I, Zhou Yufeng, am a woman of my word, and I definitely won't regret it." Zhou Yufeng held the money in her hand, counted it carefully three times, and then carefully put it into her pocket, smiling, "Secretary, Uncle Li, Brother Li Zhe, thank you for your trouble. When my husband gets better, I'll have him treat you to a meal."

Zhou Yufeng left happily, clutching the money in her pocket.

Li Zhe handed him a red plum blossom, "Uncle Wang, you've worked hard today. You can't leave at noon, we have to have a few drinks together."

"Let's do it another day, I have something to do this afternoon."

"Is something really wrong?"

"We have a Party meeting this afternoon to convey the documents from the Third Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee."

"Alright, I'll pick you up from the village committee tonight, and we'll have a good drink."

"Why did you pick me up? It's not like I don't have legs."

"Then it's settled. If you don't come, I'll bring some people to your house for a free meal."

Wang Tietou laughed and scolded, "Fine, I really can't do anything with you... Don't worry, I'll definitely come."

As soon as Li Zhe saw Wang Tietou off, the Li family all came to see the Zhu family's greenhouse. Li Zhe had previously prevented them from coming because he was worried it would affect the signing of the contract, but these people had been itching to come for a long time.

Li Weidong, Li Jiugang, and others went into the greenhouse, looking around.

Li Zhiqiang patted the rammed earth wall and said, "Uncle, this Zhu family's greenhouse is the same as ours. The materials for the rammed earth wall are even the same. Zhu Yimin has clearly copied ours."

Wang Jianjun laughed and said, "There's no Zhu family greenhouse anymore, it's called Greenhouse No. 4 now. He built it for us."

"Zhu Yimin is quite a figure, he set up the greenhouse all by himself." Old Li was somewhat impressed and said to Li Zhe, "Now that it's our greenhouse and we've paid the rent, we can't let it go to waste. Second brother, you decide how to manage it."

Li Zhe squatted down, picked up some soil from the ground and rubbed it. "I just checked, the soil is dry and white, and the seedlings are wilted. Water them first, make sure they're thoroughly soaked. If they can be saved, we can take good care of them. If they can't be saved, we'll pull them up and replant them."

Old Li said, "Alright, let's not sit idly by, let's get to work. Hei Jie invited Secretary Wang today, let's have a good drink together."

"That's great! It's been a while since I drank with Secretary Wang. I'll cover Hei Jie's drinks." Li Jiugang wasn't a stingy person, and he was especially generous when it came to drinking.

He received his wages from Li Zhe on time and had saved a considerable amount of money, which gave him confidence when he spoke.

Li Zhe said, "Everyone has worked hard these past few days. I'll go to the store and buy a few pounds of meat later. We'll have braised pork for dinner tonight."

"it is good!"

"Hehe, I've been craving this for a while now."

"Just hearing about braised pork makes my mouth water; I can never get enough of it."

With good wine and meat to tempt them in the evening, everyone was full of energy.

(End of this chapter)