Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 9 Planting
Li Weidong's home.

The courtyard was very clean. There were three red brick houses on the north side and a sunshade made of urea bags on the east side. A woman in her early twenties was sewing shoe soles. The woman was short and stocky. She was Ma Laixiao, a woman from Li Weidong’s house.

Footsteps sounded outside. The Malay girl looked up and saw the man enter the yard with his head down. "Dad, why are you only coming home so late? Da Ya was making a fuss looking for you. I had to soothe her until my throat was hoarse before she finally fell asleep."

Li Weidong sat on a small stool to the side, speaking in a muffled voice, "I went for a stroll around the old house."

"What's wrong with you? You look like a wilted eggplant. Where's the shovel you took this morning?"

Li Weidong slapped his thigh, "Oh dear, look at my memory, I left it by the south wall of the old house."

"Did you listen to your mother and try to persuade your second uncle not to take out a loan? The two of them started arguing."

"No."

The young Malay woman threw the sole of her shoe into the wooden basket, glared at her husband, and said, "Then who are you giving that look to?"

“He didn’t give me the cold shoulder.” Li Weidong quickly repeated his brother’s words, afraid that his wife would misunderstand.

The Malaysian girl became increasingly excited as she listened, grabbing her husband's arm. "Dad, is what Uncle said true? Is it really possible to borrow an interest-free loan from the credit union and then lend it to other banks to earn interest?"

Li Weidong nodded. "The second son has already received an interest-free loan. Bank deposit interest rates are clearly marked, what kind of trickery could there be?"

“If it’s really like what Second Uncle said, with an annual interest of five hundred yuan and a five-year fixed deposit interest of two thousand five, we can pay off our debts and still have a lot of money left at home.” Ma Lai Xiao’s face was full of joy as she nudged her husband. “This is a good thing, why are you looking so downcast?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling, it’s just that I can’t understand it. I toil away farming all year and can’t even earn five hundred. Now, all I can do is transfer money through the bank and get this much for free. This world has become so weird.” Li Weidong couldn’t explain it, he just felt uneasy.

"You blockhead." Ma Lai poked his forehead. "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. If there's a way to make money, use it. Do you think your second uncle would cheat us?"

"Once the loan comes through, we'll buy some chicks to raise. If we can make money, we can start a chicken farm. That way, we won't be taking advantage of public funds."

Li Weidong still felt uneasy. "With such a large loan, maybe I should talk to my mother about it..."

"Stop!" Malay Xiao interrupted her husband. "When we divided the family property, the house belonged to us, and so did the famine. Your mother can manage your household, but she won't let you pay off the famine. Figure it out yourself, you blockhead." Malay Xiao picked up the basket from the ground, got up, and went back into the house.

……

The Li family's old house.

Wang Xiuying entered her home under the moonlight, locked the courtyard gate, and returned to the east room.

Li Na lay asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Old Li sat on a stool soaking his feet. He glanced at his wife, who was walking with a brisk pace, and asked, "Where have you been all day? Where have you been?"

"Is it any of your business?"

Wang Xiuying tucked the blanket around her daughter, glanced at the west room, and asked, "What mischief has the second son gotten up to today?"

Old Li muttered as he wiped his feet, "I'm watching right here, what kind of trouble could he possibly cause?"

Wang Xiuying asked in a low voice, "Has the eldest brother been here?"

"They've arrived. The two cats have been whispering to each other in the house for a while, but I don't know what they're saying."

"and after?"

"The eldest brother helped the second brother haul soil and do other work."

"Working?" Wang Xiuying thought she had misheard. "The eldest brother helps the second brother with work?"

"That's right, the soil in the yard was all brought in from outside by the eldest brother. When it comes to farm work, the eldest brother is the one who puts in the effort, just like me."

"You're such a blockhead." Wang Xiuying looked at him with disappointment. "You let your second son drink two bowls of honeypot, and he works harder than anyone else. You two are dim-witted."

Old Li chuckled and said, "As the old saying goes, 'Brothers fight tigers together, fathers and sons go to war together.' This isn't about helping outsiders."

"If you put it that way, I sound like a stepmother," Wang Xiuying snorted and sighed. "The second son is young and doesn't understand some things. But you, as his father, know how risky it is. If we can't repay the loan on time, the whole family will be implicated."

“I know, I’ve tried to persuade him, but he won’t listen. What can I do?” Wang Xiuying pointed at Lao Li with her right hand. “If you don’t listen to me, you’ll have your day.”

……

Westinghouse.

Li Zhe could vaguely hear his parents arguing.

He was aware of and could understand his mother's thoughts.

In the early stages of starting a business, the greatest support often comes from family, and similarly, the greatest obstacle also comes from family.

This is not a contradiction.

When you first start a business, you're not yet involved in industry competition. Whether you make money or lose money, the biggest impact is on your family.

No one is wrong; they just have different perspectives.

However, this does not mean that disputes are unimportant; on the contrary, the outcome of disputes can very likely affect the success or failure of a startup.

Many entrepreneurs are bosses outside the company, but at home they are used to listening to their parents. Parents can influence company decisions to some extent.

In the early stages of starting a business, everyone can work together, but as the company grows, problems arise.

When differing opinions or interests arise regarding the company's development direction, a question arises: who ultimately has the final say in the company?

This is not Li Zhe being overly pessimistic, but rather a common problem faced by entrepreneurs in the 1980s and 1990s.

Many family businesses have fallen apart due to similar problems; however, some have been reborn after resolving these issues properly.

To avoid such trouble, Li Zhe wanted to take the lead in the family during the early stages of his business. Wang Xiuying would manage the small matters at home, while Li Zhe would make the decisions on the big ones.

Only when the internal and external banners are united can the family's life improve under Li Zhe's leadership.

September 2nd.

After breakfast, the little girl went to school with her backpack.

Li Zhe also started to busy himself with his own things, taking down the hanging basket containing the seeds, lifting the thin cloth covering it, and seeing two-millimeter-long white sprouts growing from the yellow seeds.

Li Zhe exclaimed happily, "It's sprouted!"

Old Li also came over and turned over the sprouting seeds with his hands; it was the first time he had ever seen such a scene.

Previously, cucumber seeds were simply buried in the ground, and you could only see them after they sprouted. If some areas failed to sprout, you would need to replant. "So, can we plant them now?"

"Dad, you'll have to lend a hand today."

Each greenhouse covers about one acre, and Li Zhe plans to grow four kinds of vegetables, including about 1200 cucumber seedlings. He knows he can't manage to sow them all by himself, so he will have to ask his father for help.

Old Li wasn't sure if his son could grow vegetables in the winter, but he could see that his son was doing things in a down-to-earth manner and using more scientific planting methods, so he had a growing expectation for him.

"Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"It's similar to farming, just a bit more meticulous," Li Zhe said as he began to demonstrate.

He put the prepared soil into the seedling container, watered it thoroughly, making sure the soil was moist but not waterlogged, then put in the seeds that had sprouted white seeds, and covered them with a thin layer of soil.

This was no challenge for Lao Li, and he immediately started operating it.

The father and son spent a day planting 1200 cucumber seedlings.

After finishing his work, Li Zhe stretched. Although he was tired, he still felt a great sense of accomplishment looking at the neatly arranged seedling trays in the yard.

(End of this chapter)