Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback
Chapter 354: Glass Greenhouse

Chapter 354: Chapter 354: Glass Greenhouse

"Xiang Yang, this greenhouse you’ve built sure is sturdy, it must have cost at least three times more money than usual."

"There’s no other way?" Qin Xiangyang sighed, "You know my family situation. We’re not professional farmers. My grandmother is old, my sister is still in school, and I’m not in military academy, so I can only trouble you guys."

"What are you talking about?" Li Dongsheng patted Qin Xiangyang on the shoulder, "What’s our relationship? We’re brothers who have been through life and death together, good comrades who support each other. Plus, every time we come over, you’ve never let us go hungry, always letting us eat our fill of meat and eggs. We eat way better than at school, and we save quite a bit of money. If there’s another opportunity like this in the future, remember to include your brothers, okay?"

Saying this, Li Dongsheng patted his chest, "If you see us as outsiders, you’re really not treating us like brothers."

Qin Xiangyang felt somewhat embarrassed, "Don’t worry, you’ll definitely be involved in things like this in the future."

Listening to and joining in the laughter with the group, Jian Zhiqing was holding a notebook in his hand, doodling something from time to time. He was thinking about how to make the greenhouse even sturdier, to avoid having to get up in the middle of the night to sweep snow off it.

Although he wasn’t an architecture major, he knew a bit about construction.

When he returned home that evening, he laid out the drawings he had made in front of Qin Xiangnuan, "Take a look."

Qin Xiangnuan took them, revealing a design for the greenhouse identical to the one they were building in the field, with half of it walled with bricks and a steel frame installed—no, it was supposed to be stainless steel. Stainless steel was much more expensive than iron, but it was lighter and a new material that didn’t rust.

"Is there a problem with this?" Xiang Nuan examined the drawing but couldn’t spot any issues. The design was based on the greenhouses in their village and it was much sturdier than others.

"No big problem," Jian Zhiqing took the drawing back in front of him and pointed at a part of it, "Are you planning to use plastic sheeting?"

"Yeah," Xiang Nuan nodded, "Everyone uses plastic sheeting. What else could we use?"

Jian Zhiqing tapped her forehead, "Think about it, girl. Plastic sheeting is good, it’s light and saves money, but what we want now is not to save money, right? We want to save trouble, right?"

"Yes," Qin Xiangnuan’s intention was exactly that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have replaced the bamboo poles with stainless steel and the mud bricks with regular bricks. Was something wrong with that?

Jian Zhiqing stood up, slipping his right hand into his pocket, "Have you considered making it even sturdier?"

Sturdier? Xiang Nuan’s knowledge was limited; she couldn’t think of anything. In her previous life, though she had lived in the countryside and done lots of farm work, by the time of her death, the only greenhouses used were those reinforced types. They were not widely adopted due to high costs. Most people still used bamboo poles and plastic sheeting because it was cheap and effective. But if not these, then what?

"Have you ever thought about using glass?" Jian Zhiqing suggested a possibility—not just a possibility, because glass greenhouses were already in use, but the cost was too high, frighteningly so. For farmers to use them, it could take over a decade to recoup the investment for one glass greenhouse. Moreover, rural land was not static; it was redistributed every few years based on population changes. When that time came, it was all up to luck whether they could reclaim their previous plots. In that case, would they have to spend a fortune to build another greenhouse?

"Brother Jian, you know about glass greenhouses?" Qin Xiangnuan really was tempted. She actually wasn’t short on money. A greenhouse costing around ten thousand yuan, she could afford it. Not to mention anything else, the piece of land was worth the investment. The current investment would match the returns later on, and it was her own land without the worry of it being divided among others. Besides, a one-time investment meant saving effort and worry for the rest of the year. Why not?

"Just by chance," Jian Zhiqing picked up the pen and sketched a few lines, "I just thought of it today, I happen to have a classmate who’s working in this field. But the cost is really high. If you really want a glass one, Brother Jian will build one and give it to you as a gift."

"No, that’s not necessary," Xiang Nuan wouldn’t want to take Jian Zhiqing’s money.

"Brother Jian, you underestimate me. I have money," Qin Xiangnuan was determined.

"Okay, that’s settled then, but..." She hesitated thinking about a day’s work by the brothers, "Does it mean all that work goes to waste? Do we need to tear it down and rebuild?"

"No need for that," Jian Zhiqing had already calculated it, "Just a little modification and it’ll be a glass-paned greenhouse. However, if you’re not growing vegetables to sell, it might be a bit of a loss."

Loss or not, Qin Xiangnuan didn’t care at the moment; as long as it was less effort daily. In Capital City, it was still chilly, with snowfall at different times throughout the year, sometimes lasting over ten days. Was she expected to clear snow from the greenhouse every day, or just watch helplessly as it collapsed under the weight of snow?

If there was an option that was more trouble-free and labor-saving, she would take it. As for money, she had it; she had just collected the rent, and with the recent rate increase, she had nearly forty thousand yuan at hand. She couldn’t believe she wouldn’t be able to build a few greenhouses with that amount.

"Brother Jian, thanks for your help," Qin Xiangnuan knew that once again, Jian Zhiqing would need to step in. There wasn’t much of a choice, after all, who other than Jian Zhiqing had such influence among them? She wasn’t going to miss out on hugging this big thigh.

"No trouble at all," Jian Zhiqing knew what she was thinking, or else he wouldn’t have brought up the glass greenhouse. The girl was strong-willed; if it were winter and snowing, she would definitely stay up all night clearing the snow. It was better to take a permanent solution. Of course, regarding money, he hadn’t really given it much thought.

After a few days, the person Jian Zhiqing had called for making the glass greenhouse arrived. Qin Xiangnuan was present, so she, Jian Zhiqing, and the technicians were all absorbed in working on the field, planning to add glass to their greenhouse frame.

Fortunately, the frame they had constructed was suitable and didn’t need to be torn down and rebuilt; they just had to add a few things on top. Pure glass was indeed expensive, at least ten times more expensive than using plastic sheeting.

Qin Xiangnuan wasn’t there when the greenhouse was being built. Not that she didn’t want to be, but that day she had to go to school to get her report card and deal with class assignments.

As soon as she arrived at school, she saw that many others were already there. She thought she had come early, but there were plenty who had arrived even earlier. In front of the school’s bulletin board, a crowd had already gathered, all there to check their grades.