Su Jianguo took a deep breath, suppressing his displeasure.
"Director Ma, I'm running a winter vegetable greenhouse, which requires a lot of plastic..."
"Very big?"
Director Ma acted as if he had heard a joke.
"Do you even know how much a ton of plastic film costs? Just for you to grow a few lousy cucumbers? Don't waste my time!"
Just then, the office door was pushed open, and a young female worker peeked in.
"Director Ma, Deputy Factory Director Li wants to see you in the conference room. People from the foreign trade company have arrived."
Director Ma's expression immediately changed, and he hurriedly stood up.
"I'll be there right away."
He turned and waved to Su Jianguo.
"You'd better decide whether to buy it or not. If not, get out of here and stop getting in the way."
Left with no other choice, Su Jianguo had to leave the Fourth Plastics Factory.
Leaving the gate of the Fourth Plastics Factory, Su Jianguo pushed his bicycle and stood on the roadside outside the factory area, the sunlight shining brightly on his face.
He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, glanced back at the tall iron gate and the faded characters "State-owned Fourth Plastics Factory," and felt a lump in his throat.
"They look down on people."
He muttered to himself as he stepped onto his bicycle.
The September sun was still scorching, and Su Jianguo rode his bicycle eastward along Renmin Road.
Soon, the scene on both sides of the street made him slow down.
The streets, which were deserted just a few months ago, are now filled with all sorts of stalls.
The shouts of vendors selling vegetables, meat, and daily necessities rose and fell in a continuous stream.
An older woman wearing a blue headscarf had several baskets of fresh vegetables in front of her and was haggling with a customer.
Next to it was a pork stall, with half a pork carcass on the cutting board, and flies buzzing around it.
Further ahead, an old man wearing a straw hat was pushing an ice cream cart, with a small loudspeaker on the cart playing "ice cream, cream ice cream" on a loop.
"Things are changing so fast."
Su Jianguo muttered to himself.
He remembered that when he came here last month, there were only state-run stores and supply and marketing cooperatives on the street, but now so many individual businesses have sprung up.
The policies are indeed changing, and changing faster than he remembered.
Su Jianguo's stomach suddenly growled, and he realized that he hadn't had a hot meal since morning.
The aroma wafting from a wonton stall by the roadside made his mouth water.
The stall owner was a man in his early forties, who was skillfully wrapping wontons with such speed that it was dazzling.
"Master, how much are the wontons?"
Su Jianguo stopped the car and asked.
"One cent and a half a bowl, lots of meat and delicious soup!"
The stall owner looked up with a simple, honest smile, his hands never stopping their work.
Would you like a bowl?
"Two bowls, please!"
Su Jianguo parked his bicycle by the roadside and sat down on a simple stool.
The vendor immediately put the wontons into the boiling pot. The white dough tumbled in the boiling water and soon floated to the surface.
He ladled a large spoonful of bone broth into a bowl, sprinkled it with chopped green onions, dried shrimp, and seaweed, then scooped in the cooked wontons, and finally drizzled a few drops of sesame oil on top.
Please enjoy your meal.
The stall owner placed the steaming hot wontons in front of Su Jianguo.
Su Jianguo blew on it and couldn't wait to take a bite.
The meat filling was generous, the broth was delicious, and the dough was chewy—it tasted even better than he remembered.
He wolfed down his first bowl, and the stall owner promptly served him a second one.
"Your wontons are really good; there's plenty of meat filling."
Su Jianguo praised the food as he ate.
The stall owner wiped his hands with a smile.
"That's right, the meat was picked out early this morning, it's very fresh. Unlike state-run restaurants, where the minced meat is mixed with half a cabbage stalk."
Su Jianguo nodded and scooped up another wonton and put it in his mouth.
This simple, delicious meal allowed him to temporarily forget the unpleasantness of working at the plastics factory.
"Sir, your business is doing well, isn't it?"
Su Jianguo asked casually.
"It's alright."
The stall owner lowered his voice.
"It's much better than working in a factory. I worked in a machine factory for twenty years, and I only made thirty-eight and fifty cents a month. Now, by setting up a stall, I can earn five or six yuan a day!"
Su Jianguo raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Then why are you still..."
"Still wearing work clothes?"
The stall owner tugged at his faded blue overalls and gave a wry smile.
"The factory is barely surviving; they can't even pay wages. This is considered unpaid leave; if the policy changes, I can go back."
Su Jianguo nodded thoughtfully.
The open spring breeze has indeed reached every corner, but people still have concerns and dare not fully let go.
"Where are you going? You look travel-worn."
The stall owner asked while clearing away the dishes.
"Sigh, don't even mention it."
Su Jianguo sighed.
"I want to buy some plastic film to build vegetable greenhouses, but I've been to several factories and haven't found anything suitable."
"Plastic film?"
The stall owner paused in his work.
What kind of product would you like?
Su Jianguo's eyes lit up.
"It needs to be thick, let light through well, preferably have good insulation, and be wide enough..."
What a coincidence!
The stall owner slapped his thigh.
There's a plastics factory near my house that specializes in producing agricultural film. But...
He lowered his voice.
"It's a small factory, and it's not doing well right now. The workers haven't been paid for several months, and half of them have already left."
Upon hearing this, Su Jianguo immediately perked up.
"Where is it? Can you take me to see it?"
The stall owner glanced at the sky.
"It's still early. My wife will be taking over soon. If you're not in a hurry, I'll give you directions when she gets here."
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