In 1982, when it came to greenhouse farming, he already had some experience. So this year, he used greenhouses to cultivate vegetables on both plots of his land and around his house. To his surprise, the outcome was quite good—not only were there no pests, but the vegetables also grew exceedingly fast. He wondered whether it had anything to do with using space water for irrigation; regardless, his vegetables’ growth always drew exclamations from his neighbors.
That year, regulations on speculation and profiteering had already been relaxed somewhat, and some issues warranted consideration.
Firstly, he had to repay his Merit Value—how should he go about that?
He needed to do good deeds, help others, and thus acquire merit.
However, wanting to help others without money was absolutely impossible, so the problem he was about to face was how to earn money.
He had already walked the path of running a restaurant in two lifetimes, so in this life, he did not want to be involved in that line of work.
He had once thought about attending university, but because of the child, he now didn’t even dare to contemplate it. Googlᴇ search novel✦fire.net
Thus, he spent over 100 yuan on a tricycle. Considering the vegetables from his small plot and the ones from the greenhouse at home, he already had enough to start hustling and selling. He could get on with it now, observe the market, and then decide on future directions—there was no rush, as, for the moment, he wasn’t allowed to openly sell vegetables.
He planted a variety of vegetables in his greenhouse, independent of the seasons, using the greenhouse method, of course. The vegetables included seasonally diverse options, mostly common types consumed by people, such as green vegetables, tomatoes, green beans, eggplants, chilis, potatoes, and so on.
He would harvest these vegetables from the ground just as dusk was approaching, clean them, tie them into bundles weighing about a pound each using damp rice straw, and then place them in large basins with a thin layer of water at the bottom to ensure their freshness. Before dawn the next day, he would get up, pedal his tricycle (putting the child in the space), take the vegetables, and deliver them to the nearest, largest vegetable market. He’d park the tricycle near the market and wait for people to come and make their selections.
That’s how older generations sold vegetables. Market stalls charged a fee, and since the vegetables were home-grown and costs were already low, paying extra fees meant it wasn’t worthwhile. Therefore, it was commonly known that vegetables sold outside the market were cheaper than those inside. Moreover, since his vegetables looked clean and fresh, and were reasonably priced—one bundle of green vegetables for eight cents, two bundles for ten cents—and all the green vegetables were priced the same, customers could mix and match when buying.
Aside from selling vegetables, he also made and sold spicy cabbage, dried radishes, Sour and Spicy Seaweed Strips, pickled cabbage in old pots, and Rice Flower Marinated Fish. He didn’t bring much each day, ensuring he could sell out by eight or nine in the morning.
Because of geographical reasons, off-season vegetables weren’t very prominent here, unlike in the Northern regions where selling green vegetables in the dead of winter would stand out. The advantage of leafy vegetables here wasn’t significant, except for garlic shoots, okra, tomatoes, green beans, and such, which could somewhat highlight the seasonality.
No matter if it were windy or rainy, Zheng Long went to the vegetable market every day. Generally, once the vegetables on the tricycle were sold out, and the pickled vegetables too—since the time he arrived was when people were out for the early market—with his vegetables processed cleanly and pickled ones in special plastic bags, he didn’t make much each day, but it was at least an income, wasn’t it?
The child had grown and could play by herself in the space, so he felt very relieved to leave her inside the space. Even if she woke up, it was fine—it made him feel more at ease than letting her stay at home.