Chapter 45: Troublemakers in the 1980s 15 Orchids
People in this era have very limited entertainment options, and everyone likes to grow flowers and plants at home, so there are quite a few stalls in the flower and bird market.
There were many people in the flower and bird market, so Zhou Shengmo asked Chen Qian to push the wheelchair forward. After the two of them looked carefully in front of each stall, Zhou Shengmo found that his wife didn't buy anything.
Seeing that they were almost done shopping at the flower and bird market, Zhou Shengmo couldn't help but turn around and ask her, "What's wrong? Isn't there anything you like?"
Shen Qian thought for a moment and said, "I haven't decided what to plant yet."
She had plans for the various furniture and barrier-free facilities in the house and even drew a plan, but she did not have a plan for planting in the front yard.
In fact, what Shen Qian is best at is not cooking, but planting. Whether it is growing crops or ornamental plants, as long as it is a crop, she can grow it.
There were just too many choices, and she hadn't decided what to plant for a while.
Zhou Shengmo misunderstood, he thought his wife was reluctant to spend money.
Over the past few months, she had given so much for this family, and in order to help him get rid of becoming a complete useless person, she had used all kinds of useful materials on him regardless of the cost.
But at this moment, I am reluctant to buy myself a pot of my favorite flowers.
Zhou Shengmo suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Chen Qian, just buy whatever you want. You don't have to save money for me. Our family can afford it." Zhou Shengmo didn't brag. The three thousand yuan he gave to Chen Qian was just compensation. He still had savings on hand, and with the monthly subsidy, he couldn't spend it all.
Even the budget originally used for decorating the new house was taken over by my parents.
He was eager to spend money on his wife, but when she didn't respond, he added, "If you want too much, ask if they can deliver it. If not, I'll have my fourth brother find a car to move it back."
Shen Qian was amused by his prodigal tone. How could you buy things like that? It's not like you're doing wholesale.
"I really don't see anything I want to plant. Do you have any suggestions?" Shen Qian asked.
For her, planting is a very common thing. Having too many choices is not a good thing. If Zhou Shengmo is interested, it would be nice for her to help with the planting.
Zhou Shengmo thought for a moment and said, "If you don't like flowers, I'm interested in orchids. When I was a child, a relative gave me a few pots of orchids. They bloomed beautifully, and I loved them. I just couldn't keep them alive, which is a pity. I'm afraid they're difficult to raise. Do you want to try?"
He had no hobbies since childhood, and was successful in everything he did. The only regret in his youth was those pots of orchids. Just now, when Shen Qian was pushing his wheelchair over here, he saw several vendors selling orchids. He didn't have any ideas at first, but when Shen Qian asked him to recommend one, he couldn't help but mention orchids.
"Orchid grass, is it difficult to grow?" Shen Qian thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's buy orchid grass."
Chen Qian has some research on orchids, but her knowledge base is from decades ago. In her opinion, orchids are not delicate and are easy to grow as long as you master certain techniques.
However, she had also read some information at that time. Starting from the 1980s in China, there was a period of orchid price speculation that lasted for more than ten to twenty years. Some varieties that were not uncommon in later generations were hyped up to sky-high prices during these years.
Just as she was thinking about it, a skinny old man with a shrewd face came over and asked, "You two are here to buy orchids, right?"
The old man had been observing the two people for a long time. Although the man was sitting in a wheelchair, he had a noble look on his face and it was obvious that he was not an ordinary person. The woman was pretty and did not look like someone who did manual labor. The two people should come from a good family.
The old man happened to hear the man turn around and say to the woman, "No need to save money for me, our family can afford it", and he stared at the two of them.
Zhou Shengmo and Shen Qian looked at the boss at the same time, neither of them saying anything.
The old man enthusiastically wanted to push the wheelchair for him, but Shen Qian didn't let go: "No need."
The old man was also perceptive and quickly said, "Then come and take a look. I have the hottest Clivia on the market right now!"
When they heard about Clivia, Shen Qian and Zhou Shengmo frowned slightly at the same time.
The old man didn't mind the woman not moving, holding a pot of orchid and introducing it enthusiastically: "Look, this is an authentic Clivia. Look at the leaves, a line from the side, and like a fan from the front, how beautiful! I also have the most beautiful "national flag red"! That's not an ordinary Clivia, it's a treasure. Let me tell you secretly, the price of Clivia changes every day, not to mention tomorrow, even if you come in the afternoon, it won't be the current price. It's beautiful and auspicious to buy it back, and it's especially face-saving, and there's room for appreciation!"
The old man praised a pot of Clivia to the sky, but Shen Qian waved his hand: "No, I'm not interested."
After saying that, she was about to push the wheelchair away, but the old man quickly stopped her: "Hey, sister, you haven't even asked the price yet, you should at least understand the current market conditions!"
Chen Qian pushed Zhou Shengmo away mercilessly.
Zhou Shengmo had originally known about the hype surrounding Clivia, and he had just wanted to privately remind his wife about it, but he didn't expect her to react faster than him and directly pushed him away from the store.
Zhou Shengmo turned around and looked at her. Shen Qian thought he was going to say something like his family was not short of money and could afford it.
Shen Qian spoke first: "The price of Clivia is inflated right now. It was reported in the newspaper before, saying that someone is using public funds to speculate on Clivia. I don't think the higher-ups will ignore it. If we spend a lot of money to buy this kind of thing now, we will be completely cheated."
Zhou Shengmo couldn't help laughing. How could this daughter-in-law be so capable and know everything?
She looked very indignant at the moment, very similar to Zhou Shiwei, both of them were cute without realizing it.
Zhou Shengmo was stunned for a moment and forgot to put away the smile on his face.
After Shen Qian finished expressing her views, she was also a little stunned when she saw Zhou Shengmo looking at her with a smile on his face.
Zhou Shengmo is like two different people when he smiles and when he is serious. At this moment, he has a gentle temperament like a spring breeze. Even sitting in a wheelchair, his demeanor is not diminished at all.
Shen Qian sighed, she chose not to divorce, partly because of this face.
Being good-looking is always an advantage no matter what era.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Qian asked again.
"Nothing, I just wonder why I have such good taste."
Chen Qian didn't understand the hidden meaning in his words and thought he was talking about his taste in choosing flowers: "I haven't found the right orchid yet, how can I say I have a good taste."
Zhou Shengmo answered in his heart: The most beautiful grass had already been moved to his backyard by him, so how could he not have a unique vision?
Of course, he didn't dare to say this in front of Shen Qian, so he could only swallow it silently.
With orchids as their goal, Chen Qian took Zhou Shengmo to visit the market again and soon entered a small shop that had quite a variety of orchids.
"These are Jianlan, also known as Four Seasons Orchids. As the name suggests, they can be planted in all seasons. They are currently very popular in other provinces..." The owner of this store introduced very enthusiastically.
"Boss, how much are these orchids for?" Shen Qian asked, pointing to a pile of orchids placed casually on the ground.
"Hey, these are our local varieties, all dug up by farmers from the mountains. I won't sell them individually, I'll take all of them. Just give me fifty yuan."
In fact, fifty yuan is not cheap in this era, but Shen Qian knows their true value.
Zhou Shengmo was about to speak, but Shen Qian held his shoulder with his hand, and he shut up obediently.
With his wife around, he had no right to speak. Even if he couldn't help, he couldn't make things more complicated, so he just quietly stayed as a guest.
"Fifty is too expensive. I just want to try it out for fun. It's not easy to keep a thing dug from the mountains alive. Boss, can you give me a little less? If the price is right, I'll take all of them."
This made sense. It was almost noon and the boss didn't want to waste any more time. Selling the pile of grass would make room for some flowers and plants in pots, which would fetch a higher price.
"Never mind, I'll give you forty-five."
"Thirty, I see you still have flower pots here, I'll buy some from you later."
"That won't work. Thirty isn't enough for me. Thirty-five is the minimum. If it's okay, then it's okay. If it's not, I can't go any lower."
"Okay, then thirty-five."
Zhou Shengmo watched with great interest from the side, and also watched Chen Qian bargain with the boss and buy ten earthenware flower pots.
"Do you need soil? I have humus soil in my store. It's easier for this kind of orchid to survive if you use humus soil. Others use farmland soil. I tell you, they are amateurs. This kind of orchid dug from the mountains can't survive with farmland soil."
Shen Qian smiled and said it was not necessary as she had some at home.
Zhou Shengmo looked at her strangely, but still said nothing.
Coming out of the shop, Zhou Shengmo took the initiative to put the flower pots and orchids he bought in his arms, so that Chen Qian wouldn't have to take care of both at the same time when pushing him, and it would be easier.
After walking for a while, Zhou Shengmo asked curiously, "Didn't the boss recommend the Four Seasons Orchid just now? Why do you prefer this one? This one is dug from the mountains. Although it's a local orchid, it's not easy to keep alive."
Chen Qian said, "Although Four Seasons Orchids are popular all over the country, there are simply too many people growing them. Since we're going to grow them, let's grow something a little more unusual. This orchid is called Spring Sword. It's certainly not popular right now, but I believe there will be people who will appreciate its beauty in the future. As for the problem of it being difficult to grow, I have a solution, don't worry."
Zhou Shengmo certainly knew that this bunch of orchids were Spring Swords. It was this variety that he failed to grow at the beginning. He wanted to know what method Chen Qian had to grow them well.
After Chen Qian sent Zhou Shengmo home, he took a bus to a timber market in the suburbs, where there were timber processing plants and furniture factories.
After asking several times, she finally found what she wanted.
"Here they are. These wood chips and sawdust are piled here. No one wants them. If you want them, take them away yourself."
There are a lot of wood slag and sawdust left over from processing here. Chen Qian originally wanted to spend money to buy them, but people didn't even look down on them. To the workers in the wood processing factory, they are just garbage, but in the eyes of flower growers, they are rare treasures.
She was very lucky today. Not only did she find the fir wood chips that met her requirements, she also found the even better poplar wood chips.
Although the other party didn't want to take money, Shen Qian still went to a nearby store to buy a pack of cigarettes and handed it over. Then he filled several large bags, found a tricycle nearby, and gave some money to ask someone to help take them home.
After seeing this pile of wood chips and sawdust, Zhou Shengmo finally knew Chen Qian's secret.
"You grow orchids without soil, but with wood chips?"
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