Chapter 220: New identity, new opportunity

This morning, Meng Zhiqiang witnessed Li Long's style of selling fish and also knew why he could make so much money.

Li Long didn't go to Shicheng today, but sold the fish directly at the county morning market.

At the morning market, when Meng Zhiqiang arrived, Li Long was shouting there. A circle of people surrounded his stall. Li Long was weighing fish and collecting money in an orderly manner while reminding everyone to pay attention to their wallets and not to reach into the basin.

Meng Zhiqiang was very impressed—he sold fish, and although it wasn't much each time, everyone would pinch the fish when picking, and some fish would be pinched to death, and in the end, they could only be sold cheaply or even dumped.

But seeing Li Long speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly to those reaching people, he felt that Li Long was very brave. Wasn't he afraid that others wouldn't buy his fish?

But seeing so many people surrounding Li Long, he felt he was overthinking. With so many people, if one or two walked away, there were still plenty of others.

However, Li Long didn't bring many fish today, and he finished selling and left in half an hour.

Meng Zhiqiang was very impressed. He also wanted to learn to shout like Li Long, but he opened his mouth several times and couldn't shout it out.

Is it shameful? Is it embarrassing?

It doesn't seem to be either.

Is it that he cares too much about face?

A little bit...

Li Long actually picked out a portion of the fish and put them in a basin in the big courtyard. After selling the fish, he ate breakfast, came back, changed his clothes in the big courtyard, and took the fish and a bag of reed leaves to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian had just finished the meeting and returned to his office when Li Long arrived.

"If you hadn't come, I would have gone to find you... This big carp is not bad, what is this small fish?"

"We call it ditch fish, it's actually plateau loach, it nourishes the kidneys and strengthens the yang." Li Long explained.

"Then what about this?" Li Xiangqian looked at the bag and asked.

"Take a look, this is reed leaves, this is Ma Lian leaves, for wrapping zongzi. Half I've boiled, boiled ones are easy to wrap, and half I haven't boiled, they can be kept for a period of time, boil them when you want to wrap."

"Oh, that's it, it's the Dragon Boat Festival in less than ten days, you really have a heart, I'll accept this gift." Li Xiangqian laughed.

The reason Li Long used Ma Lian leaves wasn't that he couldn't afford rope, but because he had felt since he was a child that the zongzi wrapped with that rope were very annoying. Ma Lian leaves were at least pure natural things, and after boiling, they were tough enough, and they looked comfortable wrapped.

"How many leaves?"

"This bag has one hundred dry ones and one hundred boiled ones." Li Long said. "Reed leaves are big, two or three leaves can wrap a zongzi, it's enough for the family."

"Hmm." Li Xiangqian nodded and changed the topic:

"Xiao Long, your identity as a forest ranger for the forestry team has been handled. Come, take it." Li Xiangqian took out a folded piece of paper from the drawer and handed it over.

Li Long took the paper, opened it, and looked at it. It was written in official document format appointing Li Long as a forest ranger for the Seventh Forestry Team. It didn't specify the specific management section, but it stated that other forest rangers and forestry team staff were required to cooperate with Li Long's actions.

This was quite impressive.

"It's still your whip that has a big effect." Li Xiangqian said with a smile. He took another look at the ditch fish, thinking about trying it when he went back.

"By the way, there's one more thing. Because this year, everywhere here is contracting production to households, and the Corps is also expanding people, so the production tools are not enough. We have a procurement task here at the supply and marketing cooperative, take a look."

Li Xiangqian took a piece of paper, handwritten, a bit casual. Li Long guessed it should have been recorded by Li Xiangqian during the meeting.

"Three thousand Jiji big brooms?" Li Long was startled. "So many?"

"There are many, but they aren't expensive, the procurement price is three yuan and fifty cents each." Li Xiangqian said. "And the time is uncertain. After the task is officially issued, it might need to be delivered in ten days or half a month. If you want to take this task, you have to prepare in advance—can you handle it?"

"No problem!" Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Our brigade still has some Jiji from last year, and this year's Jiji can be cut in more than a month.

Now it's mainly the problem of the handles. It's not too late for me to prepare this now... Actually, tying big brooms is relatively fast, a skilled hand can tie ten a day without a problem. It's no problem for our brigade to get thirty or forty skilled hands, three or four hundred a day, ten days..."

"Can you really handle it?" Li Xiangqian still didn't quite believe it.

"Don't worry, Section Chief, I'm at least from the countryside, and I even tied a big broom for my niece at school a while ago, the kind that doesn't drop Jiji..."

"Yes, yes, yes, the quality must be qualified, don't drop Jiji."

"Then it can definitely be completed." Li Long confidently accepted this task.

Three thousand, not to mention the commission, just preparing the wooden handles in advance could let him earn another sum.

Once this task was completed, he would basically become a ten-thousand-yuan household.

When Li Long was about to leave, Li Xiangqian suddenly said at the office door:

"Xiao Long, are your reed leaves easy to get?"

"Easy to get!" Li Long said. "Section Chief, how many do you want? It's no problem for me to get three thousand five hundred leaves here?"

"I want to buy." Li Xiangqian said in a low voice. "The Dragon Boat Festival is here, I, the procurement section chief, have to get something trendy. We have glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins in our supply and marketing cooperative. When the time comes, we'll distribute them to everyone together. Won't our staff have to thank me well? By the way, there's a share for you."

"Then how many?"

"How do you plan to sell the leaves?"

"A bundle of twenty leaves, plus ten Ma Lian leaves, sell for six cents..." Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Can wrap seven or eight zongzi, it should be enough for a family..."

"Don't be so stingy. One dime a bundle." Li Xiangqian said. "I'll procure six hundred bundles, when can you deliver them?"

"The day after tomorrow." Li Long said. "Do you want boiled ones or unboiled ones?"

"Boiled ones, save trouble." Li Xiangqian said.

"Alright, I'll deliver them the day after tomorrow morning. By the way, Section Chief, how much are the glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins per kilogram?"

"What? Want to get some to sell?" Li Xiangqian saw through Li Long's thoughts.

"Hehe." Li Long actually thought about getting a batch and selling it cheaply to the people in the brigade when the time came, mainly as a benefit for those working with him, half-selling and half-giving.

"The cost price is eighty-eight cents for glutinous rice, one yuan for red dates, and one yuan and one for raisins." Li Xiangqian said. "You count as one of our own, just add one or two dimes to the cost price. Of course, if you want a lot, each exceeding fifty kilograms, it can be cheaper."

"Alright, thank you Section Chief, I'm leaving!"

Having made the first deal, Li Long left the supply and marketing cooperative excitedly.

He also went to send some reed leaves and fish to Zhong Guo Qiang and Chen Hongjun, which could be considered an early holiday gift.

Chen Hongjun didn't expect Li Long to send this, he was a bit surprised and also very moved:

"Xiao Li, you have a heart."

"Haha, it should be."

The next day, Li Long still sold a portion of fish at the morning market, changed clothes in the big courtyard, and then rode his bike to Shicheng.

He went to Shicheng to find Section Chief Hu of the logistics section of the Bayi Sugar Factory.

Section Chief Hu Xianxu was writing something in his office. Hearing from the guard that someone was looking for him, and it was the person who sold sheep during the New Year, he thought about that young man. He let the guard let the person in, actually wanting to see what this young man had to do.

"Given to me? Fish? Reed leaves?" The fish was decent, but what was that reed leaf? However, these two big carp were truly beautiful. Hu Xianxu, as a logistics section chief, could be considered well-informed, and such beautiful fish were rare.

Hu Xianxu was a bit confused. Li Long hurriedly explained:

"Section Chief Hu, isn't the Dragon Boat Festival coming soon? I thought we didn't have any good things in our village, and these reed leaves and Ma Lian are for wrapping zongzi, so I brought some to express my heart. During the New Year, Section Chief Hu helped us a lot."

"Haha, don't be polite, don't be polite." Knowing that the reed leaves were for wrapping zongzi, Hu Xianxu suddenly realized. Yes, the Dragon Boat Festival was coming soon. He looked at the reed leaves, and his eyes lit up:

"Xiao Li, you have a heart. How many leaves are these, and how many zongzi can they wrap?"

"I brought twenty bundles of dry ones and twenty bundles of boiled ones for you. Twenty leaves per bundle, a total of eight hundred leaves. By the way, there are also Ma Lian leaves. These Ma Lian leaves are just right for wrapping zongzi after boiling, and they have a special fragrance. We produce reeds there, and the reed leaves are big, two or three leaves can wrap a zongzi..."

"In other words, these leaves can wrap two or three hundred zongzi?"

"Yes." Li Long said.

"That's quite good. But just having reed leaves, without glutinous rice and raisins..."

"That's simple." Once Li Long heard this, his eyes lit up. "Section Chief Hu, I am also a purchaser for the county supply and marketing cooperative. We have glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins there, I should be able to get some cheaply for you..."

!.

"Really?" Hu Xianxu didn't quite believe it. After all, when he saw Li Long last time, he was just a villager, and now he had become a purchaser?

Li Long took out the certificate—he kept it well, ensuring he wouldn't take out the wrong one.

Looking at that piece of paper, Hu Xianxu smiled:

"That's good, one thing doesn't bother two masters, you calculate how much these reed leaves, glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins cost."

"Reed leaves are twenty leaves per bundle, plus ten Ma Lian, boiled ones are one dime, unboiled ones are eight cents..." Li Long felt it should be a unified price, so he said, "Glutinous rice is one yuan two, red dates are one yuan five, raisins are one yuan six."

"Like that, sure. Give me one thousand bundles of reed leaves, boiled ones. Five hundred kilograms of glutinous rice, two hundred kilograms each of red dates and raisins."

The price Li Long gave was cheaper than the price in the department store building, Section Chief Hu knew, so he didn't want a small amount.

Of course, there were many sugar factory staff themselves, and distributing one or two kilograms of glutinous rice, half a kilogram of red dates, and half a kilogram of raisins to each family was about enough. The logistics side had to reserve some for emergencies.

After Li Long left, Section Chief Hu thought, this Xiao Li is impressive. He said he came to give things, but actually, he was exploring the way. If this deal is made, he can earn a lot, right?

Li Long naturally earned a lot. One thousand bundles of reed leaves, one hundred yuan, his acquisition price was three cents per bundle, and after turning around and boiling them, he earned seventy. Two dimes earned per kilogram of glutinous rice, five dimes earned per kilogram of red dates and raisins, this was more than three hundred yuan!

He could also earn dozens of yuan at Li Xiangqian's place. The things discussed in these two days were worth ten days of selling fish!

Li Long left happily and went home.

Qin Jiajie borrowed money from the Li family, and this matter seemed to ignite a fuse, and immediately two more families came to the Li family to borrow money.

Li Long used a unified caliber, take reed leaves to exchange.

These people were very happy and immediately took people to the reed lake to pick reed leaves.

Some people came to ask Li Long if he would accept it if they sold reed leaves directly to Li Long.

"Accept, the same price as them, twenty reed leaves per bundle, plus ten Ma Lian is three cents, without Ma Lian is two cents." Li Long said very clearly.

He had already set up a big pot in the courtyard to boil reed leaves.

There was originally a stove in the Li family courtyard, but now it was obviously not enough. They temporarily built another stove, specifically for boiling pig feed and reed leaves.

It was fine as long as the pots used were different.

This time, the whole family was mobilized. After boiling the reed leaves, the whole family was tying them together. Broken leaves were placed on the side, and Li Long was specifically responsible for cutting—he had to cut off the front part of the reed leaves, otherwise, it would be easy to break the leaves when wrapping.

A total of 1,500 bundles of leaves, the Li family finished in two days, and people in the village also sent leaves over.

Four days before the Dragon Boat Festival, Li Long stopped the acquisition.

"Don't want them anymore, today is the last batch." Li Long said to everyone who sent leaves over, including those children.

The matter of the Li family collecting reed leaves spread throughout the village. The children would pick a few bundles of leaves to exchange for a few cents or a dime, and then go to the store to exchange for candy.

Li Long roughly estimated that besides the reed leaves to be sent to the supply and marketing cooperative and the sugar factory, there were about one thousand bundles of leaves left over.

Nearly half of this was sent by Qin Jiajie's family. On his IOU, Li Long exempted forty-one yuan.

The other two families borrowed less money, and the reed leaves were sent late, so the money exempted was also less.

"Then after you finish sending them, what about the remaining so many reed leaves?" Li Jianguo was a bit worried.

"I'll sell the remaining ones when I sell fish." Li Long said. "Today, I'll send the reed leaves to the supply and marketing cooperative and the sugar factory, then set the nets in the afternoon, and sell the reed leaves along with the fish tomorrow."

"Then boil them?"

"Still boil them, they sell well when boiled."

"Sure."

"Big brother, I have to use the horse-drawn carriage."

"Do you need to ask to use it?" Li Jianguo smiled. "Use it, do you need help?"

"No, I'll take Daqiang."

"Remember to let Daqiang run errands, and you have to give him money."

"That's for sure."

Li Long and Tao Daqiang harnessed the horse-drawn carriage and went to the supply and marketing cooperative early. After unloading the five hundred bundles of reed leaves needed by the supply and marketing cooperative, they took the slip approved by Li Xiangqian, went to the finance department to pay, stamped it, and then went to the warehouse to pull glutinous rice, red dates, and raisins.

It was Li Long's first time seeing the warehouse of the supply and marketing cooperative, and he was truly eye-opening.

Barrels of edible oil, bundles of cotton cloth, boxes of wine...

Red dates and raisins were packed in sacks, glutinous rice was in cloth bags, and then the custodian counted them for Li Long bag by bag. Li Long and Tao Daqiang loaded them onto the carriage bag by bag.

After loading the things, Li Long and Tao Daqiang came out, and Tao Daqiang suddenly said a sentence:

"Brother Long, you say if all the things in this warehouse were ours, how good would that be, how many years would that be enough to eat..."

Alright, Li Long felt that the brother he brought was really only destined to mix with him.

Only thinking about eating with so many things, this vision, this horizon, this pattern, still needs to be broadened!

He led the horse-drawn carriage to the big courtyard, unloaded a bag of glutinous rice and some red dates and raisins, loaded an iron shovel, and then the two happily drove the horse-drawn carriage to Shicheng.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 221 =====