Chapter 304: Someone grabbing work? Then look at ability

Li Long let Officer Guo into the big courtyard and said with a smile:

"I just came back from the mountains, it's quite messy here, don't mind."

"What's there to mind, your place is quite good, I'm actually quite envious." Officer Guo looked around, and then said:

"It's like this, more than half of that case has been tried, estimated in ten days or half a month, it can be handed over. I'll briefly tell you the situation here, after all, you played an important role in this."

"Then you speak." Li Long let Officer Guo sit, and he poured a glass of water from the kitchen—Gu Xiaoxia was there, and there was hot water every day.

Officer Guo took the water, sat on the bench, took a sip, and started to tell:

"This case is actually more complex than we imagined. They not only resold fake and shoddy electronic watches, but also sold some contraband. The electric gun that Gu Ermao used to threaten you before was one of them. Among the items we confiscated, there was a batch of anesthetic guns, which is quite serious.

In addition, we also found a standard pistol in that woman's residence. After investigation, it was leaked from a certain military factory outside the district in the form of parts. This clue is very important, it can be considered a shocking case. The sentences of those people might be increased, for example, that Gu Ermao you know, it's highly probable he will be sentenced to over five years, and there is another piece of news..."

Officer Guo glanced at Li Long and said slowly:

"Gu Ermao's right leg is crippled, the heel tendon there was knocked broken by your stick. Our side didn't connect it in time, and it wasn't taken too seriously at the time, so it might just be a limp later."

"Deserved it!" Li Long said hatefully. In front of Officer Guo, he didn't need to cover up.

"Because he is a backbone member of this, we still need to dig deep into him. If there are other criminal facts, his problems will be heavier..."

Li Long nodded.

"In view of the fact that this case is very significant in terms of influence, case value, and other aspects, the higher-ups originally planned to publicly commend and reward you. However, I stopped it. I think it's better for you to be low-key in this aspect. After all, most of the peripheral second-hand dealers are people from surrounding counties and cities, and it's not excluded that there might be retaliation."

"Yeah, thanks."

"And this." Officer Guo took out a small bag, "Originally, the commendation and reward planned by the higher-ups for you was one hundred yuan, plus a silk banner. Later, because you are a temporary worker at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, we notified the Supply and Marketing Cooperative—of course, without explaining the specific case. Regarding the reward for you, I asked them to change it to fifty yuan and ten electronic watches—although this thing is a fake product, it's still fine to run for a while after installing the battery. Look..."

"Okay." Li Long felt quite satisfied. This thing couldn't be used as the watch he was wearing, but it was quite good as a toy to give to someone.

Officer Guo finished explaining the matter and got up to leave. Li Long originally wanted to give him a few codonopsis, but Officer Guo was determined not to take them. Li Long didn't force him anymore; he knew this still had an impact.

Seeing it was still early, Li Long went out to get a haircut, and after returning, he took most of the codonopsis and went to the purchasing station.

Chen Zhanggui wasn't there, and a female purchaser was inside the counter. Seeing Li Long come over, she said with a smile:

"Xiao Li is here, what good things did you bring this time?"

Li Long remembered that this was the one who had stood at the counter with Chen Zhanggui, so he said with a smile:

"Big sister, this time I got some codonopsis, you take a look."

"Okay." That big sister took a large flat bamboo basket. After Li Long poured the codonopsis onto it, she exclaimed:

"Yo, such big codonopsis! Rare, rare, and so many..."

The codonopsis Li Long dug basically wasn't under half a meter, all were large ones. Of course, he left some of the largest ones at home. Although this thing isn't as valuable as ginseng, it's rare to grow so big, so naturally he had to keep some for home use.

"Quite good." The woman rarely saw so many and such large codonopsis. She was really surprised, but soon calmed down. After looking at these codonopsis one by one, she said:

"Comrade Xiao Li, the codonopsis you brought, large size, complete body, good appearance, exceeded the standard of first-grade goods. I'll calculate it for you at the current price of eighteen per kilogram."

Li Long remembered that Chen Zhanggui said before that dried codonopsis was about twelve yuan in autumn. Now being able to give eighteen, it must have risen in price, and of course, it might also be because the quality of the codonopsis he brought was indeed good.

"Okay." Li Long said with a smile, "Weigh it."

"Good." The woman didn't expect Li Long to agree so quickly. She immediately took a platform scale, put a few codonopsis on it, weighed them, and then added the numbers.

"Total is thirty-seven kilograms and two hundred grams—total six hundred sixty-nine yuan and six jiao. Come, I'll open a ticket for you."

One-third was calculated as over six hundred, so the total would be nearly two thousand yuan.

Ten days of income, better than selling fish.

Li Long was calculating here. After resting for two days, he could go into the mountains to dig another wave. The number of codonopsis near the wooden house was less, but he could go to the Big and Small Bai Yang Gully side.

Li Long was calculating here, and after that middle-aged big sister opened the ticket, he took the money, signed, and paid, Li Long left happily with the money.

He returned to the courtyard, took another six codonopsis, wrapped them in cloth, and went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The gatekeeper had changed. Old Man Li wasn't there, and the original gatekeeper wasn't there either. Fortunately, Li Long had proof, and after showing it to the gatekeeper, he entered the door smoothly.

Li Xiangqian was reading a newspaper in the office. Seeing Li Long come in, he put down the newspaper and said with some complaints:

"Where did you run off to? Called your team and didn't answer..."

"I went into

"I went into the mountains." Li Long opened the bag, laid out the six Codonopsis roots, and said, "Section Chief, take a look at this Codonopsis. How is it? Big, right?"

Among the Codonopsis roots Li Long picked for Li Xiangqian, two were human-shaped—meaning they had branches and forks—while the remaining six were standard goods, the kind that looked like sticks, but they all looked thick and large. "This is Codonopsis?" Li Xiangqian was a bit doubtful. "Don't try to fool me. My old mother also grabs Codonopsis to stew chicken; where does Codonopsis grow this big?"

"Haha, Section Chief, I see you don't know either—this is the Codonopsis from our Nanshan. I've been digging for this in the mountains these past few days. These are all decades-old Codonopsis; they can't compare to wild ginseng, but they are definitely very strong for replenishing Qi and such."

"Not bad, not bad." Li Xiangqian laughed. "Then I won't be polite." He put the Codonopsis away, his tone softening as he said, "Recently, the task of collecting reed bundles has arrived. It's been here for several days, and I was in a hurry to find you but couldn't. This task is also quite important, so I distributed some to another person. That person is probably already starting to collect them in your team now."

Li Long heard that Li Xiangqian had left some for him and asked with a smile:

"Then, Section Chief, how much work did you leave for me?"

"This batch is ten thousand reed bundles. Originally it was twenty thousand, and ten thousand were taken by someone else. They might have already started working on it—the quality needs to be high. There should be a second batch, but it's unclear how many are in the second batch; the probability is that it depends on the quality of the first batch."

"Fine, ten thousand is fine too." Li Long nodded. "What kind of specifications are required?"

"You've made reed bundles before, right?" Li Xiangqian didn't answer directly and asked first.

"Of course I have. Section Chief, you also know about our team," Li Long picked up the thermos by the table, poured some into Li Xiangqian's teacup, found another cup to pour for himself, took a sip, and said:

"Cutting reeds, pulling reeds, chopping the heads, pressing the bundles—I've done it all."

Although Li Long had been "pampered" in the Li family for the first two years, he still knew the procedures for basic work. He couldn't do it for long, but he could do a little.

"Since you know, that's good. The scale of a reed bundle is ten reeds per bundle, tied in three places with thin iron wire. I think you should have the tools for pressing the bundles there. The length of the reed bundle should be no less than 2.5 meters; a bit longer is fine, but since they require 2.5 meters, let's go with that... The reeds inside the reed bundle cannot be thin. If it's hairy reeds, the quality will be poor."

"How much for one bundle?"

!.

"Because thin iron wire is needed and special tools are required, and considering that reeds still need to be pulled, one bundle is twenty cents."

Li Long calculated. Last year, before he entered the factory, when the team was pulling reeds, the standard for a reed bundle was about the same as this, at ten cents each. Now that it's doubled, one reason should be the increased demand, and the other should be that the economy is being revitalized now. The prices that were suppressed before can't be suppressed anymore; there is competition, so the price naturally rose.

Thinking that the team had a reed ditch and a reed lake on both sides, there were also many reeds in the small Haizi, and there were some reed ponds above the large Haizi, the quantity of reeds was definitely enough. He then readily said to Li Xiangqian:

"Section Chief, this price is no problem. Then how much time is there to deliver the goods?"

"Ten thousand reed bundles, according to the original scheduled time, it's one month, but several days have already passed." Li Xiangqian calculated. "You have about twenty-five days; can you handle it?"

"Absolutely no problem, maybe even more will be delivered."

"Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. I'll come to collect the goods when the time comes; you mustn't make me lose face."

"Don't worry about that, Section Chief. I'll go back now... No, I have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative first to buy twenty kilograms of thin iron wire."

"Hmm, not bad, you have ideas. Go back and check on that bundle press. After all, the person who took that job is also from your township; be careful of competition."

Li Long's heart sank slightly. If there really is competition, it will be hard to handle.

Aside from his own team, the place with relatively abundant reed resources is a village below the large Haizi. There are some reed ponds nearby, and a junior high student in that team even wrote an essay titled "I Love the Reeds of My Hometown."

However, the amount of reeds there is not as much as here, so if that person is in this township, the probability is that they are already looking for people in their team to cut reeds now.

He is facing a formidable enemy!

Coming out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long went to the retail department to buy twenty kilograms of thin iron wire and put it on the back seat of his bicycle. After thinking about it, he spent money to buy fifty pairs of white cotton gloves. Cutting reeds and such mainly relies on physical strength, but pulling reeds requires gloves; otherwise, one's hands would be ruined.

He hadn't earned a cent yet, and he had already spent dozens of yuan, but Li Long didn't feel the pinch. A workman must sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well.

He turned toward the meat canteen again, bought ten large meat buns, and returned to the compound. By this time, it was already noon, and Gu Xiaoxia and Li Long entered the door one after the other.

"You're back?" Gu Xiaoxia was quite pleasantly surprised. "Did you get a haircut? You look quite spirited."

"Hmm, but I have to go back to the team immediately; there's a big job to do." Li Long put away his bike and raised the buns in his hand, saying, "Don't cook at noon; let's eat buns."

"Alright. What's so urgent in the team?" Gu Xiaoxia asked while mixing seasoning by the kitchen.

"I took a job pressing reed bundles from the supply and marketing cooperative. Someone else in the township also took it, so I have to hurry back and see the situation. If the people in the team have all taken the job from the other side, I'll have to think of another way."

"I heard that the team really did take it." Gu Xiaoxia was a bit worried. "Last time when I went back, my dad said the village head had already called the villagers' group together to discuss it. This matter... is quite troublesome, right?"

"Actually, it's not troublesome. Think about it, there are so many reeds all around our team; we'll get it done no matter what. Maybe there will even be some left over in the end. More work for the team means more money to earn; this is a good thing."

"Hmm." Seeing Li Long so confident, Gu Xiaoxia felt relieved. She placed the mixed sauce in front of herself and Li Long, and the two began to eat the buns.

The meat buns from the meat canteen were still delicious, but Li Long had things on his mind, so he ate quickly, finishing a bun in two or three bites. Gu Xiaoxia hurriedly went to pour hot water, mixed it with cold boiled water to make warm water, and placed it by Li Long's hand.

Li Long smiled at her, picked up the bowl, and took a sip.

After eating, Li Long hurriedly rode his bike and rushed toward the team.

He still didn't know what the situation was like in the team for him. (End of chapter)