Chapter 391: A

Hearing Li Long hadn't expected Section Chief Hu to call, and Section Chief Hu himself hadn't expected that he would end up finding Hearing Li Long.

This year's New Year was in February, so Section Chief Hu wasn't that urgent about the welfare for the factory workers for the New Year, just having mentioned an idea at the factory's shift handover meeting two days ago.

Then the factory director made a joke, saying that the batch of mutton gotten last year was quite good, and the elders at home liked it very much.

This might have been a joke said casually, or it might have had no other meaning.

But Section Chief Hu still remembered this sentence.

He did remember Hearing Li Long, that relatively clever young man. After all, they had dealt with each other more than once; the mutton was once, and the Zongzi and glutinous rice red dates for the Dragon Boat Festival were also not bad.

But to tell the truth, with a scale as big as the sugar factory, for a logistics section chief, his connections were truly not too many. It was very easy to find a supplier who could provide year-end welfare, especially after a few years of reform and opening up, now everyone's vision had opened up, and it wasn't too difficult to get some economical, practical, or good-looking and fresh things.

But Section Chief Hu couldn't just follow his own ideas, after all, the leader's ideas were very important.

And that day, Little Song, who transported sugar dregs, delivered two very beautiful big carp, saying they were sent by the person who brought the mutton for the New Year last year, which made Section Chief Hu couldn't help but think more.

The shift handover meeting had just been held, he had just mentioned the New Year welfare, the leader had said a sentence casually, and then that young man had delivered carp. Was there any connection in this?

Don't blame Section Chief Hu for thinking more. Some coincidences were coincidences in the eyes of ordinary people, but Section Chief Hu would rather think more. If there was any connection in this?

If there wasn't, then consider it thinking too much. If there was, then if he didn't think about it, would he miss something?

Thinking back and forth, anyway, welfare had to be done, so let this young man come this year.

So the phone call went through layer after layer of transfer, from Shicheng Sugar Factory to Red Flag Commune of Maxian, oh, it should be considered Red Flag Township, Xinhu Team, Fourth Small Team, Xu Chengjun here.

After Xu Chengjun called Hearing Li Long over, he scolded with a smile:

"You kid, this phone of mine is almost becoming your dedicated phone, the phone calls I receive in a year are almost not as many as yours."

Of course, it was a joke.

In this day and age, those who could call were basically not ordinary people. Xu Chengjun had thoughts about Hearing Li Long receiving phone calls from time to time. After all, Hearing Li Long had received many phone calls before, all of which brought benefits to the team.

"Is this Little Li? I am Section Chief Hu of the sugar factory, thank you for those two fish, very good!"

"Hello Section Chief Hu, I am Hearing Li Long. The fish was okay to eat? Good, I'll send a few more over when I have time later. The varieties of fish we have here are quite many."

"No need, no need, you have heart. I called this time to tell you something. New Year is coming soon, can you get some things for our factory to distribute as welfare for the New Year this year? Mutton is a must, thirty sheep. For other things, what else do you have there?"

"We have fish here, we have rabbits..." Hearing Li Long was a bit excited, hurriedly introduced, and thought again and said, "I still have wild boars in the pen..."

"Yo, not few things, then like this, sheep are definitely needed, half a month, not urgent, send it to me before the end of January. Rabbits, wild ones, right? Get me one hundred, ones that are uniform, otherwise it's not easy for me to distribute to people here, right? Fish, this size is not forced, after all, you have wild fish, eight hundred kilograms to one ton, I have to distribute ten kilograms to each family, right? Wild boar... let's not have it for now, that meat is coarse."

Big business!

"Good, good, good, I'll go prepare now..."

"For the price, it's a bit lower than the market price, after all, I want a large quantity, you also have to give a wholesale price, right?" Section Chief Hu joked. Of course, he didn't care about this bit of money, calculating by market price would definitely be no problem. In this day and age, whoever could get materials was capable. When New Year approached, ordinary people might not be able to buy meat even with money and meat coupons.

"Alright," Hearing Li Long's brain turned rapidly, and said: "The market price of mutton is one yuan three now, how about I do one yuan one? The market price of fish is one yuan one, I'll do one yuan. We usually sell rabbits for five yuan each, is four yuan okay for your factory?"

"Not bad, not bad, Little Li, I found that you are truly suitable for doing business, just this brain, it's a waste not to do business. Good, it's settled. You find time to come over and we'll sign the agreement. I'll remind you of one thing, everything else is easy to say, that mutton must be the same as last year, how about it?"

"No problem!"

Hanging up the phone, Hearing Li Long let out a long breath. He guessed that Section Chief Hu called, and finding him to get these welfare supplies for the New Year was the main reason, and of course, confirming that he was in the village was another main reason.

After all, the village name he reported at the time was verifiable. Being able to check it meant his background was clean, so Section Chief Hu would have no scruples when doing this, after all, he wasn't a wandering merchant.

And he hoped he would go over to sign an agreement, which was also to indicate that everything was going through formal channels, and also to let himself be at ease.

After all, preparing such a large batch of materials, the capital invested wouldn't be small. Once the other side didn't accept it, that would be a bad thing.

This Section Chief Hu was still quite good!

Hearing Li Long naturally didn't know that Section Chief Hu expressing kindness like this was actually still doing some prevention.

Since Section Chief Hu said so, it meant this procurement was definitely no problem, so next was preparing things.

Fish and rabbits were highly likely to have no problems, mainly still sheep—Hearing Li Long knew he had to go into the mountains as soon as possible and settle this matter with Halimu and the others.

Thirty sheep weren't many for Halimu and the others, but they also needed to be prepared in advance. Hearing Li Long was thinking that since the sugar factory needed year-end welfare, did other factories need it too?

Since he was preparing to resell and make some money, could he have a few more factories?

Hearing Li Long felt it was necessary to go to Li Xiangqian's place to inquire. It was no problem to go and promote to the factories in Shicheng himself, but it was highly likely it wouldn't necessarily work. After all, the situation was different year by year.

Just like this afternoon, Section Chief Hu met another person in the office.

"Old Zhao, it's not that I don't give you face. I didn't refuse those sheep you sent usually, and the price was okay. But this time is different, year-end welfare, the factory director spoke, the feed mutton you got from the food company's channel, it doesn't taste good!"

Old Zhao was originally an employee of the Shicheng Food Company, and later, because of some relatively complicated matters, he came out of the company and ran the channels himself, commonly known as a middleman.

Doing things before was naturally relatively low-key, quietly, in the gray area. Now engaging in a market economy, the state allowed it, as long as it wasn't speculation and profiteering, such things were still allowed.

He was in the food company before, had these connections, and was an old acquaintance with Section Chief Hu and the others. Every year he could get beef and mutton from the sheep flocks under the food company and resell them to the logistics of various factory and mine units, making a price difference.

After all, the food company's supply was relatively planned, prioritizing the protection of the needs of organs, troops, and the masses. And like Old Zhao, it was relatively flexible.

But Section Chief Hu was a clear-headed person, knowing that the mutton Old Zhao got from the food company was strictly controlled by others. The food company had its own sheep flocks, had employees specifically herding, and would regularly pick out some thin and weak ones and ewes that didn't produce lambs from the sheep flocks, pull them to the foot of the mountain to be kept in pens, and feed them with feed to fatten them. The market usually called this feed mutton. The price of feed mutton now was the one yuan two per kilogram Hearing Li Long referred to, because it was a commodity economy, so naturally it had to rise in price.

Old Zhao recently got a batch of feed mutton intending to take advantage of the time before the New Year to sell to various enterprises and make a profit.

Didn't expect Section Chief Hu not to give face.

"Section Chief Hu, this feed mutton is quite good!" Old Zhao was a bit puzzled. Actually, it was truly quite good. At this time, the feed fed was all grain feed, generally speaking, it was not bad.

But sheep, this animal, ate live meat. Why did some people like sheep necks? Wasn't it because they moved a lot? Sheep herded in the mountains, like Halimu and their sheep flocks, even in winter would be herded out to graze, and the things they ate were also different. That mutton tasted better than feed mutton.

No way.

The difference between garden ginseng and wild ginseng, right? Oh, maybe not that big, it should be the difference between garden ginseng and forest-grown ginseng.

Old Zhao was a bit puzzled, but Section Chief Hu naturally couldn't release the factory director's words, so he had to leave. He had to hurry to other factories to see, to avoid this batch of mutton being pressed in his hands.

"Little Long, someone wants to collect rabbits?" Xu Chengjun waited for Hearing Li Long to hang up the phone and hurriedly asked.

"Mm, a factory in Shicheng, isn't New Year coming soon, people want to get some things to distribute as welfare, I said don't we have rabbits here..."

"Then if it's collected, do you collect it there?"

"Collect," Hearing Li Long was actually also ambiguous, but since the team leader spoke, then collect it. One hundred, just relying on himself to catch, couldn't catch much, after all, he still had to go into the mountains to deal with the sheep, and still had to let Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang keep an eye on the fish.

"How much to collect?" Xu Chengjun had just heard Hearing Li Long speak.

"Team Leader, you also heard, just now I reported the actual price, but I have to take risks, pressing money inside. I collect, big rabbits three yuan, smaller ones two yuan five. Ones under three kilograms I won't collect."

One rabbit earned one-plus yuan! Xu Chengjun first thought that Hearing Li Long was quite dark—but thinking about it, normal. People had paths, making money was very normal. Besides, Hearing Li Long also said that he had to take risks. If the other side finally went back on their word, then the rabbits would be pressed in his hands, eat them every day?

"Then what about fish?" Xu Chengjun thought of fish again.

"If I collect, six mao per kilogram, ones that are too small won't be collected." Hearing Li Long gave the quote.

"Do you need to shout with a loudspeaker?" Xu Chengjun asked.

"Don't, I'm afraid that if hundreds of rabbits are sent at once, I won't be able to collect them," Hearing Li Long smiled. "Just let a small range of people know."

Coming out of Xu Chengjun's house, Hearing Li Long first went to his eldest brother Li Jianguo's place.

"Collect rabbits? You want me to collect rabbits?" Li Jianguo was a bit puzzled.

"Yes. I promised the sugar factory, New Year welfare is needed over there, last year I got them some sheep, they felt the sheep were not bad, this year they want more, rabbits, fish, and sheep. I have to go into the mountains to get sheep, this matter of collecting rabbits has to be handled here by you. And fish too, I let Daqiang and Yongqiang go get fish, also collect, but gather it here at your place."

Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang could both be trusted, but they were outsiders after all. The one Hearing Li Long could trust the most was his eldest brother, so he was leaving, then the matter of gathering had to be his eldest brother's.

"Alright," Li Jianguo agreed readily. "You set up the rules, I'll do the work."

!.

"Less than half a month, almost ten days, one hundred rabbits. The team leader knows, his relatives and such might send them. I set snares by the side of East Big Ditch, Daqiang and Yongqiang both know the place, should be able to collect some every day. If collecting rabbits, big ones three yuan, small ones two yuan five, ones under three kilograms don't want them." Hearing Li Long said:

"Fish is collected at six mao per kilogram, however much there is. But don't want crucian carp that are too small, no way to send them to people."

"Alright."

Hearing Li Long took out a thick stack of large denominations and handed them to his eldest brother:

"Eldest Brother, this is eight hundred yuan, use it first, if it's not enough, you pay it first."

One rabbit three yuan, one hundred rabbits three hundred. One kilogram of fish six mao, one ton is six hundred, but actually couldn't collect that much, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang's ten days of work could at least get two or three hundred kilograms of fish and at least twenty or thirty rabbits.

So the money should be enough.

Li Jianguo didn't refuse, and took the money.

When Hearing Li Long was talking about things here, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang also rushed over. They had gone to Little Haizi to get fish after Hearing Li Long took the rabbits back, and Hearing Li Long received a phone call and went to the team leader's house. The two of them didn't go to Little Haizi first, and waited at the horse pen. As a result, they didn't wait for Hearing Li Long to return, and finally ran here.

"I'm going to the county this afternoon, you guys in the next few days, go smooth out the rabbit snares every morning, then go to Little Haizi to get fish, after getting fish send them here. Rabbits too, just record them every day."

"Brother Long, this is... another job?"

"Mm, there's a job at the sugar factory," Hearing Li Long smiled. "Go to Little Haizi and tell the Liang family, later send the fish to my brother here, the price has risen, six mao per kilogram."

"Then if others want to send, do we collect?"

"Collect," Hearing Li Long said. "Collect all."

What he knew more than others was that materials were more valuable than money now. He also had more connections and channels than others.

People in the village guarded these things and couldn't sell them for money, or just conducted small-scale trade in Maxian. Old Man Zhao did go to Shicheng once, wasn't prepared, and ended up being beaten and robbed.

Not many people could accumulate enough capital and expand a large enough circle of connections in such a short period of time like Hearing Li Long.

There were such people, but they simply left the team early and settled in Shicheng or Wucheng, instead of staying here.

After all, in the dual social environment at the time, city people were a cut above others.

This was also the reason why many people couldn't understand Hearing Li Long—with his current family wealth, going to the city could clearly lead a very good life.

After arranging this matter, he ate lunch at his eldest brother's place, and Hearing Li Long rode his bicycle to the county.

On the back seat of the bicycle were two rabbits and two bags of fish. A portion of them was for Gu Xiaoxia and the others to eat, and a portion was to be given to Li Xiangqian.

So Hearing Li Long rode his bicycle to the courtyard first, put the things down, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian was playing cards with two colleagues in the office. There was no big work in the supply and marketing cooperative in winter, usually nothing to do, and now there was no need to sweep snow, either reading newspapers or playing cards. To tell the truth, no one managed such a unit.

"Little Li is here? You sit first, wait for me to finish this round." Li Xiangqian pointed to the wooden row of chairs after seeing Hearing Li Long, and said, "What are you carrying?"

"Wild rabbits caught over there, and a few fish. There's a Little Haizi on the south side of the village, usually nothing to do, smash ice holes to get some fish."

"Not bad, not bad," Li Xiangqian said casually. "It seems your life is also quite good."

"Haha, so-so."

Hearing Li Long sat down and began to watch the cards, no longer speaking.

After one round was finished, Li Xiangqian reached the upper reaches, quite happily mixed the cards, and said:

"Alright, not playing today, I have something here, you guys go do your work."

After the two people smiled and took the cards and left, Li Xiangqian asked:

"Little Li, are you free recently?"

"Not considered free, after sending them away last time, going home is catching rabbits, getting some fish." Hearing Li Long hadn't come to Li Xiangqian's place after sending Qi Jingyue and the others away last time and had gone straight home. He felt it was a bit inappropriate.

"Mm, those three young people praised you a lot to their elders after going back, did well." Li Xiangqian didn't care, and said with a smile:

"Alright, you gained face for me. People called and said they wanted to thank you well, saying the three young people had some changes after going back, no longer looking at everything with contempt. I guess that arrogance was beaten away by you."

"Hehe, not that exaggerated, just took them to hit a few wild things," Hearing Li Long said modestly. "They also wanted to hit big guys, just didn't run into them."

"Don't be modest, being capable is a good thing, let those people in the prefecture also know that there are capable people in our small place," Li Xiangqian said:

"Do you have something in the county this trip?"

"Mm, the Shicheng sugar factory wants some sheep, I intend to go into the mountains to ask those friends. Does our side want any? If not, I'll just get one for you to eat for the New Year. This is much better than the feed mutton of the food company."

"Just get one if you want one. The welfare in the commune is handled by logistics, I don't interfere. This year the food company approved a truck of sheep early, I know your sheep are good, so I didn't want any, waiting for your mutton."

"Then alright, wait until I return from the mountains, I'll pull one over for you," Hearing Li Long said with a smile. "Mountain mutton still tastes better."

"Alright," Li Xiangqian said. "You go do your work, I'll call your team if there's any news here."

Coming out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Hearing Li Long returned to the courtyard. Mainly because it was a bit late to go to Shicheng now, he intended to go over early tomorrow morning, the bus station had short-distance buses, taking that was more convenient.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't finished work yet, Hearing Li Long set up the fire, thawed the frozen rabbits, and processed them.

He intended to make spicy rabbit for Gu Xiaoxia to taste. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 392 =====