Chapter 33

Next, Li Long sold five more fish at the entrance of the Meat Canteen. One of the carp was a bit small, and since the other party didn't want the small fish, he settled for eighty cents.

Six yuan and eighty cents in hand.

Li Long felt this was pretty good, but then someone wearing a Zhongshan suit walked out of the Meat Canteen, speaking quite politely:

"Little brother, I say, little brother, we don't have any objections to you selling things here, but this stuff isn't exactly in line with policy right now. Do you think you could go somewhere else?"

Since the man was advising him kindly, Li Long couldn't very well lash out, so he said with a smile:

"Alright then, big brother, we'll leave right away."

The two of them pulled the sled and headed east.

"Brother Long, where are we going next?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the remaining third of the fish in the bag.

"To the family quarters," Li Long said with a smile. "First, let's go to the Grain Bureau family quarters." He remembered that at this time, both the Grain Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative were considered wealthy units. He didn't dare go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative for fear of being reported, but the Grain Bureau was still manageable.

The Grain Bureau was on the east side of the county town. There were three buildings in the courtyard, and the entrance opened right onto the roadside. When Li Long and the others arrived, the large iron gate was open. Li Long pulled the sled inside, and someone poked their head out of the window of the gatehouse to ask:

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for my uncle, delivering some things," Li Long replied, and the person retreated back inside.

It was too cold outside.

Once inside the courtyard, Li Long pulled the sled and began looking for people. When someone came down from the building, he immediately went over to ask.

In no time at all, he had sold five or six fish.

However, he didn't take all the money; for two of the fish, he traded for a few kilograms of cornmeal and two kilograms of white flour.

Li Long thought this was great, so whenever he ran into someone, he started asking:

"I have fresh fish for sale, trading for rice or flour is fine too!"

Once they heard they could trade for rice and flour, people started asking:

"How are you trading?"

"These big fish of mine are all two kilograms; I'll trade them for two kilograms of rice. Of course, three kilograms of flour is fine too, and if that really won't work, six kilograms of cornmeal will do."

It wasn't easy to get meat at this time, so some people brought rice and flour to trade. Most of it was cornmeal, though there were sporadic trades of rice and white flour, albeit few.

However, not long after, a man in his fifties came out of the gatehouse and pointed at Li Long and the others, shouting:

"You lot get out! If you don't leave, I'm calling people to come and arrest you!"

Li Long hurriedly said:

"Hey uncle, uncle, I'm leaving right now—come, come, let me give you a fish, thanks!" Li Long signaled for Tao Daqiang to hurry up and finish the grain trade, while he pulled a one-kilogram silver carp out of the urea bag and handed it over.

The man hesitated for a moment before taking it, but still said:

"You hurry up and leave. It's almost time to get off work; if the leaders come, you'll be in trouble, and I'll be in trouble too!"

Li Long said with a smile:

"Leaving right away, we're leaving right away."

After finishing this batch of grain trades, Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the heavier sled out of the gate.

There were still a few silver carp and some smaller crucian carp left that no one wanted. The silver carp had too many fine bones, making them too much trouble to eat, and the crucian carp were too small with little meat, so they were shunned.

"Brother Long, what do we do with the rest of the fish?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the grain and flour on the sled.

He felt like he had never seen so much rice and white flour in his life.

Although their production team grew rice too, the amount distributed wasn't much.

Tao Daqiang was getting excited.

"Sell them, keep selling," Li Long looked around. "Find a place and try to sell the rest of the fish, then we go back."

"These fish, I don't think anyone wants them anymore, right?" Tao Daqiang had seen with his own eyes how these fish had been picked over and over; they were all the ones being rejected.

"Don't worry, someone will want them," Li Long smiled and pointed to the figures in the distance behind them. "Believe it or not, if I shout right now that these fish are ten cents each, they'll definitely come over to snatch them up."

Tao Daqiang looked at those who were faintly following them and asked curiously:

"Why are they following us?"

"Looking for a bargain. They're thinking that if we can't sell them and end up throwing the small fish away, they'll definitely run over to pick them up." Li Long had encountered similar things in his previous life; he knew exactly what these people were thinking.

"Then where are we going to sell the fish?" Tao Daqiang finally turned his gaze back to the fish.

"Follow me," Li Long said as he walked. "Our county town used to have some wealthy families; let's go there and ask."

The county town was an ancient city, first established as a county during the Qianlong era, so it had been several hundred years since then; it wasn't strange for it to have produced a few wealthy families.

Although they had gone through some special eras and the family fortunes had changed, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, so Li Long pulled the sled to the northeast of the city.

It was an old-fashioned courtyard with solid wooden gates tightly shut.

Seeing the gate closed, Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long.

"If you want to make money, don't be afraid of trouble," Li Long smiled and stepped forward to knock on the door.

*Bang! *

After knocking a few times, someone shouted from inside:

"What is it? Stop knocking, I'm coming!"

"I'm selling fish, wild fish. Does the elder want to buy any? If not, don't bother opening the door," Li Long said very politely.

"Wait, let me see." The person speaking was over sixty; he opened the wooden door and looked at the sled.

"Silver carp, small crucian carp, what do you think?" Li Long took all the fish out of the urea bag.

"Not bad, not bad, these fish are good. They look quite fresh, perfect for making soup!" The old man nodded. "How are you selling them?"

"Eighty cents for a silver carp. The crucian carp are sold as a pile; there must be two or three kilograms here, how about one yuan for the lot?"

There were only five or six silver carp left, and not many crucian carp either. Li Long didn't want to keep running around. His face was frozen numb, and he was worried that if he stayed any longer, he'd get frostbite.

"Alright, the price is good, and these silver carp are nice too; the meat is fine and delicious."

"You really are a connoisseur!" Li Long gave a thumbs up. "Shall I bring them inside for you?"

"Alright." The old man went into the house to get the money, while Li Long carried the fish inside.

He collected a total of six yuan, and the old man rounded it up for him.

"We'll have something good to eat today," the old man said happily.

Li Long took the opportunity to look at the courtyard; although it was old, the beams didn't look simple.

Even a broken ship has three layers of nails; although they might have been scraped layer after layer during some special eras, there were always ways to cope.

This family was not simple.

The fish were sold out. Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the sled back. As they walked, Li Long said to Tao Daqiang:

"Daqiang, when we get back, you take a piece of meat, some rice and white flour, and some cornmeal. I'll give you another ten yuan. Let's settle the accounts for today."

Tao Daqiang had put in the effort, and Li Long certainly wouldn't let him work for nothing. But as for splitting everything fifty-fifty, Li Long wasn't a fool.

Giving him goods and money was already quite generous.

"No, no, no, Brother Long, same as before, you keep the money. Having the rice, flour, and meat is enough for me." Tao Daqiang hurriedly waved his hands to refuse when he heard Li Long wanted to give him money. "If I take too much, my dad won't let me come anymore."

Fine, Li Long knew this was normal too.

Passing by the grain and oil store, Li Long spent another fifty cents to buy a bucket and five kilograms of vegetable oil, and then it was time to head home.

(End of chapter) *** **CHAPTER 34** **【34-0】 Tao Daqiang Makes a Threat**