Chapter 172: Turning Information Asymmetry into Profit: A Blessing in Disguise

Li Long put down the bicycle he had been about to push away and walked to the gully entrance.

The members of the sideline team had just finished eating; as they cleared their bowls and chopsticks, their eyes kept watching this way.

Xie Yun Dong had originally wanted to follow along, and Tao Da Qiang had wanted to come too, but Li Long waved his hand to indicate there was no need.

He had actually vaguely guessed the other party's intention.

The two men riding horses saw Li Long approaching and dismounted.

"You said you would buy Fritillaria, is that true?" the ethnic translator asked Li Long.

Li Long thought of something: those two herdsmen, including the others he had seen earlier at the earth cave, were not carrying guns.

Has the Forestry Team stopped issuing guns?

"I do buy," Li Long said, noticing the urea sacks on their horses and feeling a sudden inward surprise.

Those sacks were bulging and contained quite a lot!

"Do you have a scale here?" the man asked. "We have collected some Fritillaria and want to sell it to you. What do you think..."

"I do buy. First, I must inspect the goods, since size affects price. Second, previously because my people dug up your Fritillaria, the price I offered was higher, partly as a penalty paid to you. Now, if I buy again, the price will not be that high."

The translator conveyed these words to the other man.

The team leader's expression changed upon hearing this; he asked a question, and the translator replied:

"Then how much will you pay? We won't sell for less."

"Let's see the condition of the Fritillaria first."

Li Long pointed to the sacks on the horses' backs to express his meaning.

He turned his head and noticed several people from the sideline team staring intently in their direction. Knowing they were worried about him, he smiled to show everything was fine.

The two Forestry Team members untied the sacks from the horses' backs, opened them, and gestured for Li Long to come take a look.

Li Long leaned in for a glance and found most of the Fritillaria inside were about the same size as what Xu Jianjun had dug, though some were smaller, about half the size of a broad bean. Also, the Fritillaria was not very clean, carrying quite a bit of mud, likely dug early in the morning or in a wetter area.

Li Long grabbed the sack's opening and gave it a shake; seeing the contents below seemed roughly consistent, he looked up and said to the man:

"Three yuan per kilogram, how about that?"

Hearing this price, the translator clearly breathed a sigh of relief. Without even translating it to the team leader, he nodded and said:

"Alright, this price is acceptable!"

Li Long hefted the sack and said:

"This sack must be about ten kilograms, right?"

Since the Fritillaria was wet and the urea sack was more than half full, Li Long felt that his estimate should be about right.

"How much are you offering?" the translator asked. He actually didn't know how much was in the sack; in these days, who carried a scale into the mountains? It was mostly just an estimate.

"Thirty yuan," Li Long said, putting the sack down. "No scale, so let's settle it this way."

"Good." The translator turned and told the team leader, who nodded vigorously, and the translator agreed.

Li Long took out money; he still had over fifty yuan in his pocket. He pulled out three ten-yuan notes and handed them to the other party.

The translator quickly reached out to take the money, and the team leader reached over from the side to take it.

Li Long pointed to the ground and said:

"I will be here every day from now on. If you have any, I will still buy."

"Do you still have money?"

"If you have Fritillaria, then I have money," Li Long smiled. "I will definitely buy."

"You will buy any amount?" the translator asked, his voice suddenly rising. "You can buy everything?"

"Yes," Li Long thought, of course I will buy. The price difference on this round trip earns far more than carrying that rifle!

He remembered Chen Hongjun had mentioned that the purchasing station bought dried Fritillaria at thirty-five yuan per kilogram. Spring Fritillaria required five to six kilograms of fresh to make one kilogram of dried; early summer Fritillaria required four to five kilograms of fresh for one kilogram of dried.

That meant fresh Fritillaria was worth about five or six yuan per kilogram. The sack of Fritillaria Li Long was holding could yield about two kilograms of dried goods, so sixty or seventy yuan was certain.

A hundred percent profit, just by moving his lips. How satisfying!

He knew clearly that these Forestry Team members must have been buying Fritillaria from people like Xu Jianjun who dug it up illegally. It was a no-cost deal, so both sides were pleased.

After the two men left, Li Long carried the sack to his bicycle, tied it to the rear rack, and said to Xie Yun Dong:

"Brother Yun Dong, be careful with your safety tonight. Recently, more people have been coming into the mountains, and things are a bit chaotic."

"You too," Xie Yun Dong added a reminder.

"Don't worry, I have a gun," Li Long said, patting the small-caliber rifle on his back, then mounted his bicycle and headed for the winter pasture.

When he returned to the winter pasture, it was nearly dark. He pushed the bicycle directly into the small room, locked the door, then entered the large room, barred the door from inside, and lay down on the wooden kang.

So many things had happened that day; Li Long couldn't fall asleep immediately and reviewed the day's events.

Ili Fritillaria, or Tianshan Fritillaria, was a fairly famous medicinal herb in the region. Li Long guessed that many people would enter the mountains to steal-dig Fritillaria in the near future; this situation would continue uninterrupted until the 1920s of the next century.

Every year, Li Long heard on the news that police or forestry departments had caught people stealing Fritillaria in the mountains, with seized amounts measured in tens of kilograms.

With the Forestry Team helping to buy, Li Long felt it necessary to go down the mountain tomorrow to withdraw some money.

Although both rooms here were locked, Li Long would not leave valuables here, such as guns, money, or jade. He usually took them down the mountain immediately after acquiring them.

Early the next morning, Li Long had a simple breakfast here, packed everything up, loaded all the Fritillaria into one sack, clamped it onto the rear rack of his bicycle, and rode off to Harimu's place.

"Li Long, we will move to the summer pasture in two days. I'm saying goodbye to you in advance," Harimu said as soon as he saw Li Long. "See you in autumn!"

"Good, I will come to see you off the day after tomorrow," Li Long nodded. "Do you need me to bring anything from down the mountain?"

"No need," Harimu quickly waved his hand and pointed to the winter pasture. "Do you know? Because of you, we have now stored much more grain and tools. We will have a very pleasant summer! Those Dosens said the scythes are excellent. They will bring some things over in the next two days. When you come the day after tomorrow, take the things with you."

"Alright." Li Long did not stand on ceremony. After bidding farewell to Harimu and the others, he rode his bicycle back to the county town.

He weighed the Fritillaria first and found the two sacks together weighed less than fourteen kilograms, so his earlier estimate by hefting was quite accurate. Feeling somewhat pleased, he spread the Fritillaria out to dry in the side room of the courtyard. He placed the other jade, hides, and such in an empty room. Afterwards, he went to check the roe deer antlers and found the salt and mud had completely dried. After carefully knocking them open, he saw the antlers inside were also dry. He then carried the two pieces of deer antler to the purchasing station.

"Comrade Chen, hello. I'm here to sell roe deer antlers," Li Long said, greeting him proactively upon seeing Chen Hongjun sitting behind the counter reading a book with nothing else to do.

"Roe deer antlers? That's rare. Let me see," Chen Hongjun said with a smile upon recognizing Li Long. "Comrade Li, you always manage to bring me surprises."

Li Long placed the two pieces of deer antler on the counter. Chen Hongjun picked one up, sniffed it, and examined it closely.

"Not bad, this antler is well preserved," Chen Hongjun praised after finishing his inspection. "Yesterday someone brought a piece of elk antler, but it wasn't stored properly. When I touched it lightly, the outer skin rotted away. Clearly, they didn't know how to preserve it. Yours is very good."

"Using the old folk method," Li Long said with a smile. "Take a look at these two pieces..."

"Roe deer antler isn't the same as elk antler, but the price isn't cheap either. Elk antler prices have risen; it's now sixteen yuan per hundred grams. I'll give you fourteen point five for the roe deer antler."

"Good." Li Long had no objections. Chen Hongjun placed the two pieces on the platform scale to weigh them.

"The two pieces total one kilogram and one hundred fifty grams. That comes to one hundred sixty-six yuan and seventy-five fen. Here, I'll write the receipt; just sign your name."

After putting the money away, Li Long prepared to leave. Chen Hongjun said to him:

"Spring is almost over, and the good things in the mountains are slowly appearing. Whatever you manage to collect, bring it over. During this period, we are concentrating on buying goods, and the prices are good."

"That's perfect. I've collected some fritillaria bulbs. Once they're dried, I'll bring them to you," Li Long said with a smile. "I also have a few hides; I'll bring those along with them."

!.

"Alright, wait for your news," Chen Hongjun said with a smile, watching Li Long leave from behind the counter.

Holding the money, Li Long first went to the Xinhua Bookstore to buy a box of small-caliber bullets. After loading them, he went to the Big Meat Canteen and enjoyed a hearty bowl of mixed noodles.

Manager Zhong Guoqiang saw Li Long and asked with a smile:

"Comrade Li, I haven't seen you recently. What have you been busy with?"

"I've been in the mountains for the past while," Li Long said while peeling garlic. "Manager Zhong, I see quite a few people eating here; much more than before."

"Haha, it's just that the weather is getting hot. More people are coming out to find work or do some small trading. When will you be catching fish again? Some regular customers here say the fish isn't as good as before, but the fish you brought me back then was excellent."

"It'll still be another half month or so," Li Long said, shaking his head. "I'm handling procurement tasks for the supply and marketing cooperative in the mountains. I can't stay down here until the tasks are completed."

"Understood, understood," Zhong Guoqiang nodded. "Then when you come back and have time to catch fish, send me a few big carp."

"Alright, alright, alright."

After finishing the mixed noodles, Li Long returned to the compound. He found two burlap sacks and a shovel, filled them with some corn, pumped up his bicycle tires, and rode off toward the mountains.

Smoke still drifted through the Little Poplar Gully. Li Long found Wei Zhonghua and said to him:

"I plan to dig a pit trap at the spot where you found the wild boar. If we catch a boar, I'll share some of the meat with you."

"Alright, alright, alright," Wei Zhonghua nodded immediately. "Do you want me to go over and dig it?"

"No need," Li Long waved his hand. "Just stick to making the carrying poles. I'm just going to try it out and see if it works."

In fact, if that area hadn't been free of shrubs, Li Long would have considered going there to set snares.

Carrying the shovel, he went down into that gully. The others making carrying poles each looked on with envious eyes. Doing whatever one wanted to do; what a carefree life!

Arriving in the gully, Li Long looked around carefully and was delighted to find fresh signs of digging. This meant the wild boar must have come through early this morning.

Li Long found a suitable spot and began to dig.

This time, he didn't dig it too big; just a pit two meters square and about one meter twenty or thirty centimeters deep. Digging just this one pit took him more than three hours. By the end, he regretted it.

But since he had started digging, he gritted his teeth and dug to the end.

After finishing, Li Long rested for a while, then scattered the excavated earth. He went to the nearby woods to cut some poplar branches, laid them over the pit trap, and cut some grass to camouflage it.

By the time he finished, the sun had set and the mountain breeze had turned cool. He hurriedly scattered the corn kernels he had brought around the pit trap, placing the most of them on the grass covering the pit.

Since this was just an experiment, Li Long was just hoping for luck. Once done, he hurried back.

Passing by Little Poplar Gully and Harimu's winter camp, Li Long didn't stop. He rode straight to his wooden cabin. By the time he arrived, it was completely dark.

Li Long was exhausted and had no energy to cook. He simply locked the door and went to sleep. Fortunately, he had eaten mixed noodles at noon, which was filling; otherwise, he would surely have woken up hungry during the night.

Early the next morning, Li Long got up, built a fire to cook porridge for himself, and after eating, went straight to Harimu's place.

"The young men brought you a few hides, some stones, and a piece of deer antler," Harimu pointed to the items placed in front of the winter camp. "Take them away quickly; we are leaving tomorrow."

"I'll come over this afternoon to get them. Right now, I need to go to Little Poplar Gully to check on my work."

"Alright, just remember to take them," Harimu said. He was busy and didn't have time to entertain Li Long.

Li Long rode his bicycle to Little Poplar Gully. Xie Yun Dong saw him and said:

"Those two people from the other day came again last night. They didn't find you, but said if you're free today, to wait for them tonight."

"Alright," Li Long said. He knew they must have gotten more fritillaria bulbs.

There's quite a lot of this stuff!

Li Long rode his bicycle with a sack to the pit trap location. He was disappointed to find no activity above the pit; the green grass and leaves had already dried, and the pit was showing through in some places.

Li Long brought more grass and leaves to cover the exposed areas tightly, then dug up some loose soil and scattered it on top.

Returning to Little Poplar Gully, Li Long said to Wei Zhonghua, who looked expectant:

"Nothing. The wild boar didn't come through this morning."

Wei Zhonghua was somewhat disappointed, but Li Long comforted him instead:

"This is very normal. Wild boars are highly mobile creatures. There's plenty of food outside right now, so they won't stay in one place all the time."

Waiting until the afternoon, Li Long finally saw the two horsemen from the Forestry Team again.

Seeing Li Long, they visibly relaxed. After dismounting, the translator said to Li Long:

"Yesterday, you weren't here, but we had quite a bit of fritillaria. Today, we turned some in. Take a look at what's left..."

Li Long had already seen it; the urea bags on their horse backs were still quite full, though not as full as that day.

(End of this chapter)