Chapter 535

Li Long drove a trailer full of poles back to the courtyard first.

He wasn't a workaholic; there was no need to act like a machine, doing one thing after another.

Family came first, and life came first. Earning money was to make life better, not to crowd out the time for enjoying life.

It was morning when he returned to the courtyard. Seeing that there was still over an hour before it was time to go to Sister Yang's house for a meal, Li Long decided to tidy up the house first.

Those twenty hides had already dried and were stiff as boards. That's how untanned hides were. Anyway, he didn't really know how to tan them, so he would just sell them to the purchasing station.

There were quite a few hides, but with the poles in the tractor and the harvester in front, Li Long carried the hides out in two trips, strapped them to the back seat of his bicycle, and then rode out.

The smell on the hides was very strong, and a pungent, musky odor permeated the air, so Li Long didn't close the door to the side room; it needed to air out, otherwise, if he put other things in later, they would pick up the smell.

The purchasing station's courtyard was quite lively at this time. When Li Long rode over, he found several other people in the courtyard queuing to sell things.

Some had brought things by hand, some had come with donkey carts, and there was only one person on a bicycle.

Li Long propped his bicycle against the wall and went over to look, finding that the things brought to sell were all sorts of items.

Medicinal herbs were the most common. Surprisingly, there was even someone selling fritillaria at this time; it looked like it had been dug in the summer and kept ever since.

There was about a dozen kilograms, which could sell for quite a bit of money.

Li Long remembered there were about ten kilograms of dried goods in the big courtyard, but he didn't intend to sell them.

Someone had brought two deer antlers; he didn't know if they were picked up on the edge of the mountain or deep inside. Looking at the antlers, they should have fallen off this year; they were quite complete and had no cracks.

Someone had pulled a donkey cart of licorice over. It wasn't the season for digging licorice, and looking at the licorice, it was dry; he didn't know if it was left over or newly dug.

To Li Long's surprise, there was even someone who had brought Codonopsis pilosula, but this Codonopsis looked a bit soft and shriveled; it should have been dug recently.

Codonopsis hadn't grown plump yet. This stuff wasn't like ginseng, which could be dug in any season. Even if it was decades-old Codonopsis, if it was dug in May or June, it would still be hollow.

Digging in September or October was best; the best season for harvesting was late autumn.

There used to be an article in the language textbook called "Picking Herbs" that explained it very clearly.

Li Long's hides were the only exception.

There were actually quite a lot of things being purchased at the purchasing station right now, but there really weren't many things that ordinary people could get their hands on.

Although it was said that the people who could run to Northern Xinjiang weren't slow-witted, the bottom line of being law-abiding was basically still there, and after those ten years, no one dared to make any big moves.

Even his eldest brother, Li Jianguo, said that if he had dug up that money vault while plowing the land back then, he wouldn't dare to just pack it up and sell it to the purchasing station now; he would probably have to report it to the team, the brigade, or the commune first.

The smell of the hides on Li Long's bicycle was too strong; logically, it should have been able to drive everyone away, but unexpectedly, two people came over.

Li Long saw that it was exactly the two who had brought the deer antlers and the Codonopsis.

"Little comrade, is this sheepskin? Sheepskin doesn't have much value, right?" the one with the Codonopsis asked.

Before Li Long could speak, the one holding the deer antlers shook his head and said:

"Old brother, you've got it wrong. This isn't ordinary sheepskin. I think it should be wild goat skin; you don't find this stuff outside, only deep in the mountains. This hide is more expensive than ordinary goat skin... Look, there's even roe deer hide and deer hide in here!"

Hearing there was deer hide, others gathered around as well.

Although there were red deer in the mountains, speaking of it, about ninety-nine percent of the people in Maxian had never seen a deer.

Deer were fairy beasts, so these people were naturally very interested.

The man with the deer antlers was about forty years old. He had very little hair—not because it was cut that way, but because he just had very little to begin with. His beard stubble was quite long, and he looked a bit weathered, but he was very polite and didn't touch them directly, instead asking Li Long:

"Little comrade, can I take a look at your deer hide?"

"Sure." Li Long didn't mind; anyway, looking wouldn't take anything away.

The man carefully pulled out the deer hide to show everyone:

"See? Deer hide. It looks like this deer wasn't an adult yet, a young red deer..."

"A young red deer is this big?" Some people had never seen a red deer and were a bit doubtful, yet also a bit amazed.

"Red deer, do you know why they're called red deer? It's because they are as big as horses," the middle-aged man explained. "A full-grown one can weigh two hundred kilograms!"

He looked at the hide, which was very complete, and exclaimed in admiration:

"The person who hunted this red deer is very skilled; they didn't damage the body. This hide is very complete and can be worth quite a bit of money!"

Putting the hide down, others came over to touch it, and the middle-aged man asked Li Long:

"Little brother, is the pizzle there?"

"I gave it away." Li Long was also a bit surprised. This man was selling deer antlers; could it be that he also knew the function of a deer pizzle?

"Oh—! What a pity," the middle-aged man said with a face full of regret. "If you hadn't given it away, I would have bought it for a hundred yuan each... This is good stuff!"

Li Long didn't expect this man to really be willing to pay that price. Not many people knew the function of a deer pizzle in this day and age. He said with a smile:

"There's nothing I can do about that; one deer pizzle and one roe deer pizzle were both given away."

"You really are generous..." The middle-aged man was even more regretful when he heard there was also a roe deer pizzle.

"Little brother, if you have any more in the future, can you save them for me? I'll buy them at a high price." The middle-aged man looked at the thick stack of hides Li Long had and thought for a moment before saying:

"For a big red deer pizzle, I'll buy it for two hundred! Like this red deer, it would only be worth a hundred. A roe deer's is smaller, so also a hundred..."

"Sure," Li Long said noncommittally. "We'll talk about it when the time comes."

Seeing Li Long speak so casually, the man felt it wasn't very reliable, so he added:

"My family is at the bridgehead, and I run a carpentry shop. If you go and ask around, Qiao Baohua is me. I picked up these deer antlers when I went into the mountains to get wood. I wanted to hunt a deer, but unfortunately, I couldn't run into one."

Having given his background, Li Long nodded solemnly.

At this moment, Chen Hongjun inside heard the commotion and walked out. Seeing Li Long, he said with a smile:

"Little Li is here? Are you selling hides? Wait a moment, let me finish purchasing their things first."

"Sure, sure, no problem, I have time," Li Long nodded.

Seeing that Li Long and Chen Hongjun knew each other, this Qiao Baohua felt relieved and continued to say to Li Long:

"Little brother Li, I'm serious. I really need this stuff. If you get any, really save them for me; we can discuss the price!"

He didn't go to ask about Li Long's unit or background, planning to fish for information from Chen Hongjun later.

He also came to the purchasing station to sell things from time to time, and although his relationship with Chen Hongjun wasn't particularly good, they were considered acquaintances.

After the people in front finished selling their things, when it was Li Long's turn, Chen Hongjun came out of the room and asked Li Long to carry the hides down from the bicycle and put them on the ground, and he checked them one by one.

Relationship was relationship, and business was business; they couldn't be mixed together.

Li Long's fritillaria was cleaned well, so Chen Hongjun could naturally put it in the first or special grade. If it were dirty and had many impurities, he would also point it out on the spot.

"Hmm, the hides are good. There are seven with bullet holes in them, so they count as damaged hides; the rest are all complete hides. Although hides from this season aren't as good as winter ones, they are still very good."

Chen Hongjun placed the hides separately. Complete deer hides, roe deer hides, and wolf hides were placed on one side—these were the most valuable. Complete wild goat hides were placed in the second tier, and damaged hides were placed at the very back.

For the twenty-plus hides, Chen Hongjun finally calculated and gave Li Long a total of seven hundred and fifty-three yuan.

Li Long had always recognized Chen Hongjun's professional ability. After signing and taking the money, Li Long chatted with Chen Hongjun for a few sentences and asked:

"Can the Codonopsis dug now still be sold?"

"Yes, we purchase all year round, it's just that the price of Codonopsis now isn't as high as in October. But having said that, the price is still higher than what you sold last year. Right now, a lot of wild medicinal herbs from our side are going to the interior, so the price has gone up."

Well, Li Long finally understood why someone was digging Codonopsis at this time.

It could sell for a high price.

However, he didn't have time to dig, nor did he intend to dig now; he couldn't even keep up with the money right in front of him.

Bidding farewell to Chen Hongjun, Li Long returned to the big courtyard, put down his bicycle, and went to check the side room; the smell hadn't dissipated yet.

The door had to be closed, with at most two windows open.

There was still some time before the meal, but Li Long planned to go over early; otherwise, if Sister Yang didn't make enough food, it would be awkward.

Grain was still quite precious in this day and age. At the level below the county, basically no one dared to waste grain.

Li Long went to change the food and water for the roe deer. These guys had grown another size; seeing Li Long, they called out anxiously, looking like they wanted to come out for some air.

Li Long didn't give them freedom and planned to discuss it with Gu Xiaoxia; they had to be moved back to the horse corral.

They had grown up, weren't cute anymore, and had even learned to kick people!

Arriving at Sister Yang's small courtyard, Li Long saw that Han Fang was also there, thinking that she was on vacation right now.

Han Fang, who was peeling scallions in the courtyard, was stunned for a moment when she saw Li Long, and then shouted with surprise:

"Uncle Li!" Then she turned her head and shouted into the kitchen: "Mom, Uncle Li is here!"

Han Fang had grown taller and slimmer; she had that feeling of shooting up.

Sister Yang came out of the room; today she was stewing fish and steaming rice.

Many villages in Maxian grew rice, so it was convenient to eat rice. Just like survivor bias, many people in Maxian in this day and age felt that rice was relatively easy to get.

But in fact, that wasn't the case. Except for places that grew rice like Miquan, Maxian, and Chaxian in Yili, it wasn't easy to eat rice in other places. Being able to eat pilaf twice a year was considered very difficult.

Even in places in Maxian that grew rice, before the reform and opening up, grain distribution was split eighty-twenty—twenty percent fine grain and eighty percent coarse grain. In that twenty percent of fine grain, flour made up the majority, and rice made up a small part, because most of the rice had to be turned over to the state.

There wasn't much rice distributed to the families, and most of it was broken rice.

Fortunately, neither rice nor flour had their germs extracted, so at least what they ate was the original, authentic stuff.

Unlike later generations, where the rice and flour looked beautiful, but no one could guarantee what had been extracted or what had been added.

Rice with stewed fish—Li Long was about to drool. Of course, he didn't know how good Sister Yang's fish-stewing skills were.

!.

"I was just about to steam the rice when you came, Uncle Li, so I'll add another half bowl of rice," Sister Yang was quite happy.

"Good, good, you guys go ahead and get busy, I'll go see Gu Shu." Li Long had come over just to say hello, asked about Han Fang's summer homework, and then rode his bicycle away.

Gu Xiaoxia was at work, so he couldn't see her, but he could take a look at Gu Bo Yuan's agricultural supplies store.

When there was a car, this kilometer-plus road was nothing; it would take a few minutes. Right now, although there weren't many people on the road, riding it would take a while.

Arriving at the store, Li Long was just parking his bike when he saw someone coming out from inside holding a bottle of pesticide.

Dichlorvos!

There were no restrictions on buying pesticides in this day and age, unlike later generations where you had to register.

This stuff was poisonous!

Of course, everyone's life was positive and upward in this day and age; no matter how difficult it was, they could persist.

The times were different.

Li Long went in and saw Gu Bo Yuan just picking up a book. He glanced at it—yo! Vertical layout! Hey, it was even in traditional characters!

He really was an educated person.

"Why are you back?" Gu Bo Yuan looked up, discovered it was Li Long, and asked with a smile.

"The work in the mountains is finished, and it's time to tie the big brooms, so I came back. Gu Shu, how's business?"

"It's alright," Gu Bo Yuan said concisely.

That meant it wasn't alright.

Li Long thought for a moment and offered a suggestion:

"Gu Shu, why don't you see if you can stock some soybean and cabbage seeds? Now that the wheat has been harvested and the land is lying fallow after plowing, some people plan to sow winter wheat in a while, while others will just leave it until next year to plant.

You can tell the people who come to buy pesticides and fertilizers to plant soybeans and cabbage; that way they can get an extra harvest..."

"That's a way..." Gu Bo Yuan nodded thoughtfully. "Actually, the team has planted them before, but everyone wasn't interested; they didn't want to be extra busy, and besides, the soybeans they grew weren't plump..."

"If they aren't plump, they aren't plump. As long as you don't lose money, it's fine. After harvesting the soybeans, the stalks can feed the sheep, and the soybeans can feed the pigs and cows. And the cabbage can be stored in the cellar for the winter—how great is that!"

"Then I'll give it a try..."

Actually, this method of planting was more popular in Yili; the reason it wasn't planted here was likely because, first, there was too much land, and second, the harvest wasn't good.

But it was still better than planting nothing, right?

Right now, there wasn't as much land as in later generations, and people could still manage it. In a few years, when too much wasteland was opened up, they really wouldn't be able to keep up.

Sitting in the store for a while, Li Long watched; in half an hour, about two or three people came to ask questions, and only one person bought something.

Business really wasn't good, but fortunately, Gu Bo Yuan's mindset was also good.

Seeing that the time was about right, he locked the door to go eat.

Gu Xiaoxia was also very happy, and since the lunch itself was delicious, the few of them ate together, chatting and laughing, which was very lively.

After the meal, Li Long, Gu Bo Yuan, and Gu Xiaoxia rode their bicycles out together. Gu Bo Yuan went straight to the store, as he lived there. Li Long took Gu Xiaoxia to the Education Bureau and took the opportunity to mention his plans.

"After we start tying the big brooms, I plan to go to the village every two days to inspect the big brooms once, and then bring them back to our courtyard. Once the three thousand poles are almost used up, I'll go into the mountains to cut more."

This way, he would spend most of his time in the big courtyard while also taking care of things in the village.

Gu Xiaoxia was very satisfied; she could feel that Li Long wasn't trying to balance things, but was trying his best to use his time at home.

Although he still had to run out from time to time, Gu Xiaoxia understood; after all, he had to earn money and live a better life.

Actually, in her view, their family's living conditions were already among the top tier of her colleagues. The two colleagues who often came over were getting closer and closer to her, and they would come over to visit from time to time.

But since Li Long wanted to develop toward something better, she naturally supported him.

Returning to the courtyard, Li Long took a shower and changed his clothes, taking the opportunity to wash the clothes he had changed out of.

After so many days in the mountains, his clothes had gone sour.

By the time Gu Xiaoxia returned, Li Long had already prepared dinner. Actually, he thought about whether to call Gu Bo Yuan over for dinner, but later thought better of it.

With Gu Bo Yuan's sour temper, he probably wouldn't come over.

The two ate and chatted. School was about to start again, and although Education Bureau cadres didn't teach, they still had to go and inspect the schools' preparations for the start of the semester.

There were many things to do.

Li Long's affairs were relatively simple and clear: the big broom business, earning money.

The woman was in charge of her career, and the man was in charge of earning money to support the family—no problem there.

The next day, Li Long drove the tractor back to the team.

To his surprise, there was a huge pile of needle grass in his eldest brother's courtyard!

He had only told Xu Chengjun about tying the big brooms a few days ago; it was impossible to cut so much in just these few days, right?

"Hey! You went to the mountains to cut grass, and your eldest brother said we were about to tie big brooms, so our family had to prepare early, and we went to cut needle grass."

Li Jianguo wasn't there, but Li Qing Xia was at home. Facing Li Long's confusion, he explained with a smile:

"Once we started cutting, the Lu family next door and several other families realized it too and followed suit. There were even people in the team gossiping, saying that you might not necessarily get the job of tying big brooms today, so some people didn't dare to go cut it, fearing it would be wasted if left at home.

As a result, when the team's loudspeaker announced it a few days ago, those people scrambled to cut it. Our family doesn't need to anymore; we've already cut all the good stuff."

Li Long was amused; his eldest brother's sense for this was quite sharp.

Li Qing Xia and Li Long worked together to unload the poles from the trailer. After unloading, he said with a smile:

"Your eldest brother and sister-in-law are busy in the melon field these two days; they'll come back to tie big brooms as soon as they're done."

Li Long naturally had no objection to his eldest brother and sister-in-law tying big brooms. Just like weaving carrying poles, he would pay the full amount when the time came. As for the others, he planned to pay according to last year's price—the price Li Xiangqian had given was only slightly higher, four yuan per broom.

Li Long had reported three yuan per broom to the team last year, and this year he planned to quote three yuan again. Of course, if they used his poles, it would be two-fifty; the poles counted for fifty cents. If they had their own poles, it would be three yuan.

After all, cutting poles also took effort.

Li Long could understand why the price of big brooms didn't rise as much as carrying poles. After all, carrying poles were basically irreplaceable before pushcarts were widely available, but big brooms had a competing product: bamboo brooms.

Even for a long time into the later generations, needle grass big brooms had been squeezed out of the mass market by bamboo brooms, only having some customers in rural areas and urban-rural fringes.

Fortunately, they slowly returned later on.

It didn't matter; anyway, whether it was needle grass or bamboo, it was all grass.

Grass.

Li Long naturally didn't expect that while he originally thought of a win-win situation with the villagers, there were just a few people who couldn't stand him making big money and wanted to cause him trouble.

After returning and unloading the poles, he found Xu Chengjun to explain the situation. After a two-day inspection, Li Long went back to the county. He thought this matter was already well-established and there was no need to keep an eye on it.

However, to his surprise, when he came to inspect two days later, only a little over a hundred big brooms had been delivered.

Tao Daqiang revealed the news to him: some people were colluding, wanting to hold back the brooms to force him to raise the price.

Li Long heard this and chuckled. (End of chapter)