Now, behind the vegetable gardens, there were two large greenhouses for mushroom cultivation. Most people’s greenhouses were close to the village, but these two were closer to the town. These belonged to the only old man in the village who enjoyed the benefit of free Fungus Seedlings. His surname was Liu, and Yan Fei had always heard people call him Old Liu, assuming it was the common surname Liu. He did not know that his surname was the character for the willow tree, Liu.
Despite the old man’s age, he was still vigorous and ambitious. Yan Fei had initially thought he would just build a small greenhouse to try out, but the old man went ahead and set up two large ones, each nearly an acre in size—later comers certainly didn’t spend as much, with each family building one greenhouse of approximately an acre. A couple of families even built smaller greenhouses, just over half an acre.
But no matter the time, each family had their own version of happiness, as well as their own difficulties. Old Liu was cunning and unpopular in the village, yet his son hadn’t inherited any of his shrewdness or capability. If he was selling vegetables and could save a catty, he would, and if he could round down to save a dime, he did, too—Vegetable prices were low in the small town, and with such selling practices, he basically made no profit.
So the old man had to support the entire family on his own. Cunning as he might be, he had his own difficulties. He just wanted to live a better life, even if he sometimes went a bit too far.
Seeing Yan Fei approaching, Old Liu’s son was agitated and not very articulate, simply pulling out a cigarette and offering it to Yan Fei. Yan Fei recognized the cigarette, his grandfather didn’t smoke much, but when he did, it was this brand. Unlike other white cigarettes, this one was brown and more intense. It was slightly longer than other cigarettes, a locally popular choice because it was cheap and good value.
Of course, the price of everything has gone up. What used to cost less than two dimes a pack had been inching up penny by penny over the years, and now it was five dimes a pack.
Yan Fei stopped his motorcycle without ceremony, and turned to look toward the greenhouse, "I don’t smoke, is your dad inside?"
Old Liu had already heard the motorcycle and came out. Seeing Yan Fei, he jogged over, "Boss Yan, you’re here. What can I do for you?"
Yan Fei pulled the old man a bit away from his son and asked quietly, "Those families over there who’ve built greenhouses, which among them are not very honest? My workers go to instruct them, and they come back more tired than from working at my place. Are they there to instruct or to be hired muscle? They need to be set straight!"
The old man got the hint and gestured towards a spot farther away, "I reckon it’s the third and fourth greenhouses from the north side. The others don’t look like the type to do such things. I haven’t actually gone to see for myself; it’s just a wild guess, so don’t blame me if I’m wrong..."
The area was flat as far as the eye could see. Although it was quite a distance to the other greenhouses, you could actually see them from here. After getting the information, Yan Fei didn’t bother with his motorcycle and strolled along the tree-shaded side of the road toward them.
As he walked, he reflected that although people didn’t like the old man much, he was quite capable and well-informed. Even though he started building his greenhouses a few days later than the others, with the same number of workers instructing them, he was now able to manage by himself with his son. But what about those others? They were still frequently asking the workers for help. That wasn’t just being clumsy.
While he was contemplating, a hand tractor drove up from behind and stopped next to him, "Boss Yan, heading west? Hop on; it’ll be faster..."
Yan Fei waved his hand, "It’s just a short walk; no need!"
To avoid being called back by those returning from the market, he decisively left the road and headed straight across the farmland towards the greenhouses.
These greenhouses were built quite apart from each other, mainly because there were still apple saplings in many of the fields. The trees were already two years old, and nobody was willing to destroy them easily!
He passed greenhouse after greenhouse, exchanging a few polite words with the people he met. However, it didn’t take him long to find the workers from Guan Village. Old Liu’s information was spot on; the workers were indeed in the two greenhouses he had mentioned.
In a small village, everybody knew each other, especially someone as shrewd and well-informed as Old Liu; he was hardly ever wrong.
Most of the other greenhouses were just like Old Liu’s, capable of operating independently. Only those two greenhouses remained, and Yan Fei could already hear a woman’s voice inside, "Brother Xiao Guan, could you come and take a look at how I’ve done this? I just can’t seem to get it right."
Then came the foolish reply from his own worker, "Leave it, I’ll show you how it’s done..."
By the time Yan Fei arrived, the two simpletons were sweating buckets, giving their ’demonstrations’!
Yan Fei didn’t even bother entering; he took one look from the doorway and went straight to the next greenhouse.
Watching to avoid provoking his anger, the couple from that household – the husband at least holding some tools, standing as if ready to work, and the wife just standing by, hands-free, devoid of any intent to work, as if all she lacked was a bag of melon seeds to snack on. She prattled on with polite words that couldn’t have been more insincere, saying things like "Sorry for the trouble," or "Thank you for your hard work."