The Lunar New Year is approaching, and it's time to prepare for the Lunar New Year. Compared to last year, there are many more markets in the suburbs of Beijing.

During the winter vacation, Wuyi, who arrived home earlier than Ping'an and Liuyi, fulfilled his promise and actually accompanied Miao Lishan and Zhou Jiao, mother and daughter, to go out for two days.

The market is always crowded with people, with people of all kinds stopping in front of various items, comparing them carefully, selecting them slowly, and haggling over them.

Zhou Jiao knew that her son was not used to such a leisurely state, and besides, she and her daughter could still take the guards with them when they went out, so she let him go free.

As people go out early and come back late on May Day, it is said that not only the side rooms of the second courtyard are filled with red spring couplets, but even the main hall is piled with a lot of them.

Zhou Jiao didn't take it seriously when Aunt Yuan, who often brought Wuyi lunch, said this. She still had confidence in her son's ability to get things done.

Besides, her attention had to be focused on the old house during this period, where she was successfully experimenting with a small project of off-season vegetables.

As for why she suddenly had the urge to buy out-of-season vegetables?

This brings us to the fruits and vegetables from the south that Geng Dazhi brought back.

In previous years, when Zhou Jiao had space, she would build some shelves in the kitchen and use them as cover. There were few types of food, so she didn't care much.

But since having these southern fruits and vegetables, not only his parents and Zhang Guoqing's appetites have improved, but even the three Ping'an brothers, who have always been picky eaters, are happy to take a few more bites when they go home on weekends.

Zhou Jiao could not forget how much effort she had put into correcting her sons' picky eating habits, even though they had gotten much better as they grew up.

But if she had the ability to give her children a better life, why not give it a try? She had already bought the oil futures and found a manager.

Now that she has some free time, she is not in a hurry to change jobs. It seems that apart from going to work and coming home, she has nothing else to do for the time being.

As a result, in late autumn and early winter, Zhou Jiao extended her claws to the vegetable patch in the back garden of the old house.

Uncle Yuan and Aunt Yuan are from a farming family and they cherish the vegetable garden the most. In their eyes, no flowers or plants can compare to that vegetable garden.

Thanks to their careful care, by early winter, there were still a few small green seedlings left in the vegetable garden, which was covered with a lot of straw they specially found.

Although he probably wouldn't grow taller due to the cold, it didn't stop Zhou Jiao from really thinking about it.

Because of a sudden impulse.

The ground was almost frozen. In desperation, Zhou Jiao decided to give it a try and used the rice straw and wheat straw used to transport the raw stones and seed materials to burn the ground.

She has theoretical knowledge and connections, and Uncle Yuan, who is bored, is good at farm work.

The two of them worked together perfectly.

Although the vegetable garden in the backyard garden is not very large, a low greenhouse supported by bamboo poles and tarpaulin has been erected.

The Book of Han, Biography of Zhao Xinchen, states: "In the imperial garden, onions, leeks, and cauliflower were grown for winter, covered with a roof, and fires were burned day and night to wait for the warmth to grow..."

Greenhouse vegetables have existed since ancient times, but they have never been popularized and have not formed an industry until now.

Why?

Because it costs too much!

It is not difficult to see from the point of “covered with roofs and burning day and night” that in the past even vegetables had to be grown in the house and needed to be kept warm by burning fire day and night.

Zhou Jiao was familiar with the theory of vegetable greenhouses in later generations. Of course, she couldn't grow them in her own house, but she was limited by the lack of certain materials.

She is just playing around with this little experiment now, and once she decides that it is successful, she will hand it over directly to the Agricultural Department of her unit so that her colleagues can make further detailed plans.

——If we really want to establish an off-season vegetable project, it will not work without their leadership.

There is only this one shed, and it belongs to her. If it were someone else, there would be no way. It would be impossible in an era when things had to be purchased with tickets.

Now is the time to harvest, and Zhou Jiao's attention is all on this.

At this moment, she bent down and squatted on the ground to check the condition of a mushroom on the ground. Then she turned around and looked up at the small rows of leafy vegetables, leeks, etc.

Uncle Yuan, standing by, was already beaming with joy. "I've seen it, the prices have risen quite nicely. We can really eat fresh vegetables in the middle of winter."

"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Yuan."

"What's the trouble? I've picked all the ripe ones for you. Should I send them to the compound, or wait for you to get home from get off work and bring them back?"

"You'd better wait for me to bring it back after get off work. Don't go out in this cold weather. Don't be reluctant to eat it. Remember to ask my aunt to cook a few more dishes for you."

"Hahaha……"

"Don't just laugh. There are only a few people in the family. How much can they eat? If there is more, it will be given away. It's better for you to eat more."

When Uncle Yuan heard her say that, he laughed cheerfully and said, "Okay, let's wait until next year and make a bigger one. We can eat whatever we want then."

"good."

Zhou Jiao agreed immediately.

But he knew he wouldn't have a chance next year. Now it seemed like a success, and he, the veteran in charge of this greenhouse, would undoubtedly be called upon.

However, Zhou Jiao did not say these words in advance.

Anyway, this is a good thing. Maybe Uncle Yuan can even get a formal job. Having a job is good. It's better than guarding the old house. There will be a retirement job in the future.

"Have you seen the yard over there? Wow, they can pull away cartloads of goods early every morning. I see they are very busy.

But I've been watching for several days, and sometimes I get so busy that it's noon and I don't even have time to eat. If you have time, stop by and take a look."

Uncle Yuan had said it several times, but Zhou Jiao didn't take it to heart.

Now he said that the children were so busy that even eating was a problem. She had an idea and looked at the time on her watch and decided to go there in person.

——She has no objection to children making a little money during the holidays, but it is not right if they lose sight of the main goal.

In winter, the alleys have regained their vitality of their early years.

The long-lost popcorn old man appeared in the corner again, and there were children queuing with cloth bags.

The laughter of the children nearby who were making snowmen and playing snowball fights added a breath of life to these scenes.

There is a street not far away, and a nearby grocery store. There is still a thick door curtain hanging at the door, but it can't block out the rich aroma of sugar-roasted chestnuts.

Zhou Jiao glanced at the second courtyard of her house not far away, lifted the door curtain, went in and weighed one pound.

This is the best dish in her family during the May Day holiday, especially in winter.

By the time Zhou Jiao arrived at the second courtyard holding a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts wrapped in oil paper, almost an hour had passed.

Seeing that there was only half an hour left before the afternoon work time, she felt a little annoyed that she was afraid of the cold and found it troublesome, so why didn't she ride a bicycle?

She pushed the gate of the yard and it creaked. It turned out that the bolt was not locked.