Su Jianguo stood up, patted the dirt off his clothes, took one last look at the small grave mound, and turned to leave.

Time quickly passed and the Lantern Festival arrived.

Lantern Festival.

"Su Ji Vegetable Shop" has reopened.

Su Jianguo stood at the store entrance, watching the four waiters busily arranging the vegetables.

Li Hongmei tiptoed to paste the "Grand Opening" red paper on the door, while Wang Li and Zhang Meili were busy wiping the counter and placing price tags, and Su Yuzhen was setting out the dishes.

"Boss, everything is ready."

Li Hongmei said softly, not daring to look directly at Su Jianguo.

Ever since they learned about what had happened to the boss's family, the three girls who were hired were extra careful in their words and actions, afraid of touching on the owner's painful memories.

Su Jianguo nodded, but there was no smile on his face.

"Open the door."

The door slowly opened, and the customers who had been waiting outside immediately poured in.

Vegetable supplies are tight during the Spring Festival, and "Su Ji's" off-season vegetables are always in high demand. Even on such days, business remains booming.

How much are the cucumbers? Do you have any left?

"Weigh out three pounds of tomatoes for me! And five pounds of bok choy!"

"Do you have any chives left? I'll take three bunches!"

The shouts and calls of vendors soon filled the shop.

Wang Xiulan stood behind the counter collecting money, mechanically repeating the actions of giving change and handing over goods.

She had heavy dark circles under her eyes, her complexion was ashen, and she looked as if all her energy had been drained away.

Around noon.

There were fewer people in the store.

Su Jianguo went to the backyard and lit a cigarette.

The snow on the courtyard wall had begun to melt, dripping onto the ground.

He looked up at the sun overhead and exhaled a long puff of white air.

"dad."

Su Mingfu poked his head out from the back door.

"Uncle Jianjun is here, and he brought Brother Mingchao with him."

Su Jianguo paused for a moment, then stubbed out his cigarette and went back into the shop.

Su Jianjun was directing several workers to unload goods from a tractor. Standing next to him was a young man in military uniform, Su Jianjun's son, Su Mingchao.

"Uncle."

Upon seeing Su Jianguo, Su Mingchao hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

Then, Su Mingchao explained his purpose to Su Jianguo.

It turned out that he had reported Su Jianguo's achievements in vegetable greenhouses to the military, which took it very seriously.

They are stationed in the Northeast, where vegetable greenhouses are needed even more than in Beijing.

Therefore, Su Mingchao was given a great deal of authority, and was put in charge of this project.

Su Jianguo invited Su Mingchao into the house.

Su Mingchao sat down and took out another thick notebook from his bag.

"Uncle, I obtained some documents from the army. Could you take a look?"

Su Jianguo took the notebook and flipped through it. It was filled with all sorts of data and charts, as well as some hand-drawn greenhouse structure diagrams.

"This is..."

"Design drawings for a modern greenhouse."

Su Mingchao leaned closer to explain, his finger tracing patterns on the paper.

"This is greenhouse technology from abroad, which we haven't used in China yet. It uses a steel frame structure and more advanced insulation materials, making it much more efficient than plastic greenhouses."

Su Jianguo listened attentively, nodding occasionally.

Su Mingchao continued.

"Uncle, with this technology, you can definitely expand your business. You don't need to worry about sales or shipping at all. Our military has dedicated channels; we can even sell your vegetables overseas..."

The conversation lasted the entire afternoon.

Su Mingchao explained in detail his plan for renovating the Su family greenhouse, from the greenhouse structure to the irrigation system, from crop rotation to pest and disease control, with clear logic and unique insights.

Su Jianguo's eyes gradually became more lively, and he would ask questions from time to time, which Su Mingchao answered one by one.

"Mingchao."

Su Jianguo concluded with a sigh.

"Your ideas are excellent. I'll find people to expand the scale in the next few days and strive to complete the transformation of the modern greenhouse by the first half of the year."

"Don't worry, Uncle."

Su Mingchao straightened his back.

"I have some friends in the military, and I'll do my best to help you get the vegetable distribution channels sorted out."

As darkness fell, Su Jianjun rose to say goodbye.

Su Jianguo escorted them all the way to the store entrance. Watching the father and son walk away, he felt a long-lost glimmer of hope.

Back at the shop, Wang Xiulan was tidying up the tofu stall.

Su Jianguo walked over and gently pressed his wife's hand.

How are you feeling today?

Wang Xiulan remained silent for a while before speaking in a low voice.

"Mingchao is a good kid, but our business is already so profitable, is it still necessary to..."

Wang Xiulan didn't finish speaking.

However, Su Jianguo already understood what his wife meant.

Wang Xiulan is a very easily satisfied person.

In her eyes, the vegetable shop's current income is already quite frightening.