Chapter 827: Wine Exchanged for Deer Hides and Antlers

Li Xiang Qian called Li Long over, naturally not just to talk about going to Beiting City for the commendation conference.

After finishing two phone calls, Li Xiang Qian brought up another serious matter to Li Long.

"Our supply and marketing system intends to select you as a people's congress representative for our county; make the mental preparation for this, wait until the time comes to go through the procedures, and then learn more about how to fulfill the duties of this representative well.

Let me tell you, this is a great thing. With the title of representative, if anyone wants to move against you in the future, they will have to weigh carefully and see if they have that kind of weight."

Myself? A people's congress representative?

Li Long was a bit dazed; had such a good thing really fallen into his lap?

This thing needs no further explanation; those who understand, understand. This is a hat with even higher gold content than that of an Advanced Individual in Ethnic Unity.

Of course, if one truly becomes a representative, then one must act, must produce proposals useful to the common people, and must speak for the common people.

"Am I qualified for this?" Li Long asked Li Xiang Qian after recovering from the shock and calming down, "I feel like I'm still not quite there yet."

"In what way are you not there?" Li Xiang Qian smiled and said, "You are an Autonomous Region-level Advanced Individual in Ethnic Unity. In these past two years, just from the work you've taken on through our supply and marketing cooperative, haven't you helped quite a few people in your village live better lives?

Moreover, you started helping that herder tribe of Ha Li Mu three or four years ago, raising their living standards and improving their living environment. Added to that, you yourself have worked so hard that you became a ten-thousand-yuan household two or three years ago, right? All these combined are enough to meet the standard for a representative.

To be honest, among the current representatives in the county, not many can achieve what you have done; don't underestimate yourself."

Li Long felt somewhat in a trance; yes, calculating it this way, he had indeed accomplished quite a few things in these past few years. Gathering these matters together, they truly constituted achievements of no small significance.

"Additionally, this is only a preliminary intention; it still needs to be pushed forward step by step, so for now, I am just giving you an advance notice; when the official approval comes through, just be mentally prepared."

Li Xiang Qian actually felt a bit envious himself; he was not yet a county people's congress representative.

Of course, thinking about it, it was normal; when he was Li Long's age, he had not achieved results like what Li Long had now.

But how many people could create such a big stir in this era, while in their twenties?

It was precisely because Li Long had accomplished things year after year in recent years that the leaders took notice, leading to his current opportunity.

Therefore, opportunity is mostly not something airdropped onto someone; more likely, it is after you have done something and gained a certain influence that opportunity falls into your lap.

After this matter was discussed, Li Long originally thought he would head back, but Li Xiang Qian told him he planned to go to Beiting City the day before the conference.

"I remember Section Chief Zhou saying the meeting time is in the morning; if we drive off early in the morning, we'll arrive by noon," Li Long asked puzzledly, "Why go a day early?"

"What else could it be? Naturally, it's for socializing," Li Xiang Qian said as a matter of course, "Didn't you see that in just this short while, two phone calls came in, both saying we should gather and have a meal together when the time comes? If we only go on the day of the conference, even if I eat eight meals a day, I might not be able to handle it all.

Go a day early to gather and chat with Old Wei and the others in the evening; after the conference ends the next day, we can handle other social engagements. You are now a person of status; don't just think about official business; who knows when these connections might come in handy after the conference."

Li Long understood a bit of this, but he always felt such matters had little to do with him.

His current circle seemed to have no use for this kind of approach.

"Do you feel that since you are not an official, there is no need to engage in this?" Li Xiang Qian asked with a smile, seeing through Li Long's thoughts.

"Yes, I feel these things might not even count as adding flowers to the brocade for me," Li Long spoke quite honestly, "The things I am doing haven't reached that level yet."

"Then you are mistaken. It's not just about building good relationships with Director Qian and Wei Zhuren.

Those county supply and marketing cooperative directors, those clerks in the prefecture; once you meet them and become familiar, sharing a drink at the dinner table, later when something comes up, you will have a reason to approach them when you seek help.

Let me tell you, your business will definitely grow bigger in the future; it cannot be limited to just our county. If you truly go out there and encounter some troubles you cannot solve easily on your own, you will indeed need to find these local people.

Do not look down on them because they might be slick and perhaps not as capable in handling affairs as you; at critical moments, they might just be able to give you a hand."

This was Li Xiang Qian's philosophy of conducting oneself and dealing with others: first establish the network of personal connections, and whether it can be used later is a matter for the future.

Li Long could not say whether this was right or wrong, but since Li Xiang Qian spoke sincerely, Li Long listened attentively.

Anyway, when the time comes to go, he is a young man, so he can just follow along.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long returned to the big courtyard. Sister Yang was in the yard with Ming Ming and Hao Hao; Li Long told Sister Yang he was going out now and would only return in the evening.

"Are you going into the mountains again?" Sister Yang asked.

"Yes. The conference is next week, so I'll finish all the work that needs to be done this week."

"Then go ahead and be busy; I'll take care of the yard," Sister Yang said to Li Long.

Li Long drove the Jeep to the oil depot to fill up with fuel, then went first to the market, bought a sheep, split it in half, also bought some onions, potatoes, and other vegetables, along with rice, flour, and oil, and drove them to the livestock team's outpost.

These things were gifts for Ha Li Mu and Brother Brother Yushanjiang's family.

After delivering them, Li Long hurriedly rushed back to the county town, went to the Department Store Building and the free market to buy some supplies. After buying the supplies, seeing that it was already past mealtime, he went to the state-run canteen to eat, and then entered the mountains.

After the work of weaving dam baskets at Little White Poplar Gully was finished, whenever Li Long entered the mountains, he only needed to go to the wooden cabin.

In front of the wooden cabin, Sun Jia Qiang was haggling over prices with a person digging for fritillaria bulbs.

Originally, the person offering the fritillaria bulbs had a rather loud voice, seemingly wanting to raise the price, but upon seeing the Jeep approach, his voice immediately dropped; he hastily finished the exchange with Sun Jia Qiang and hurried off into the mountains carrying his goods.

Li Long always felt that back view was somewhat familiar; he didn't know whether it was someone he had dealt with before or someone who had previously exchanged goods with him.

Sun Jia Qiang carried that sack of approximately seven or eight kilograms of fritillaria bulbs to the spring eye and put it down, then came over to greet Li Long.

"Boss, you are still more formidable; this person insisted I exchange at the price of five yuan per kilogram, saying the price of fritillaria bulbs outside the mountains has risen. I said I hadn't received any notice, and he wanted to argue with me, but as soon as you arrived, he immediately made the exchange and left."

"The exchange price later can be slightly higher," Li Long smiled, not becoming arrogant because Sun Jia Qiang said he was formidable, "The first batch of fritillaria bulbs has already been sold, and the price has indeed risen somewhat. Since their recovery price has risen, our purchase price here should also rise a bit."

"Alright, if anyone comes to exchange this afternoon, I'll raise the price a bit; the people in the mountains will surely be very happy," Sun Jia Qiang said while moving supplies together with Li Long.

"Has there been any situation recently?" After finishing moving the supplies, Li Long and Sun Jia Qiang loaded the fritillaria bulbs onto the vehicle, asking as they loaded.

"Nothing much, still the same; not many people come to exchange goods using fritillaria bulbs. Oh right, there are quite a lot of wolves at night; every night these past few days, wolves have been howling outside."

"Then finish up early and don't linger outside; as soon as the sun sets, go inside the house; the wolves in these mountains are fierce and cruel; don't let them hurt you."

After Li Long finished giving these instructions to Sun Jia Qiang, he started the car and prepared to return.

Sun Jia Qiang hurriedly ran over and said to Li Long through the window:

"Boss, next time you come, could you bring a few razors? My beard has grown long and I need to use one; also, some people coming to exchange goods have very long beards and said they want to exchange for razors too."

"Okay, no problem," Li Long said, "If you lack anything in the future, you can mention it to me."

After driving the car away from the wooden cabin, Li Long did not exit the mountains but drove to another mountain gully; after parking the car and locking it securely, he shouldered his gun, carried his backpack, and entered the mountains.

Northern Tianshan is too vast; it might be difficult to hunt anything good in a short time. Li Long thought that since he was going to visit Director Qian and Wei Zhuren, he might as well bring some mountain specialty: morel mushrooms.

Ordinary people might not know the benefits of morel mushrooms, but Director Qian and the others certainly would.

It is currently the peak season for morel mushrooms; Li Long thought he would pick more, dry them into dried goods over these few days, and bring them along for Director Qian and the others.

In May, the mountains were lush and green; many wildflowers had already bloomed, and a faint, mixed floral scent drifted through the valley.

Li Long, carrying his rifle, arrived beneath a pine forest where a layer of moss covered the ground inside.

The first things to catch his eye were several pine mushrooms and a cluster of enoki mushrooms.

Li Long took a bag from his backpack and began picking these mushrooms.

After harvesting the mushrooms beneath the pines, he walked forward a bit and spotted morel mushrooms poking their heads up amidst the yellow-green moss.

Morels growing on flat ground were mostly round-headed, with pointed ones being relatively rare, and their color was typically gray.

Morels growing in the mountains were mostly pointed, and their color was predominantly brown.

In this patch of moss, Li Long could see at least seven or eight morels of various sizes with just a glance; they looked quite adorable, like curious spirits poking their heads out from the moss to take a look at the world.

Li Long walked over slowly, trying his best to be careful not to step on the mushrooms.

After finishing picking the morels in this area, he continued walking forward.

Due to the scattering of mushroom spores, valuable mushrooms in the mountains, whether morels or tiger-paw mushrooms, always grew in clusters.

Li Long had picked about half a kilogram in this area before the mossy region disappeared; walking further ahead, the ground beneath the pines became dry, and only occasionally could one spot pine mushrooms or other varieties.

Li Long then prepared to change locations.

Before the sun set behind the mountains, Li Long had picked over three kilograms of morels; while the quantity seemed large, once dried, these morels would likely amount to only about half a kilogram.

He packed away the morels, picked up his rifle, and headed to the jeep; today he had crossed three mountains, originally hoping to encounter some game, but unfortunately, in the end, he only saw a wild rabbit fleeing in panic.

Driving the jeep back to the county town, he arrived at the compound just in time for dinner.

"You went into the mountains again?" Gu Gu Bo Yuan asked.

"Mm," Li Long replied, carrying the mushrooms down and spreading them out in the side room before coming out to say, "I'm going to the prefecture for a meeting next week and need to prepare some local specialties for the leaders there."

Speaking of which, he also carried the fritillaria bulbs he had obtained from Sun Jia Qiang into the side room; most of these bulbs were already dry, while a small portion still needed airing.

"Let's eat first, and deal with work after the meal," Gu Gu Bo Yuan said.

"Alright."

During the meal, Li Long shared the plan mentioned by Li Li Xiangqian with his family.

"If we leave early, then we leave early; if the leadership has arrangements, you should just follow them," Gu Gu Bo Yuan said, understanding completely; "I'll take care of things here; you'll be gone for at most two or three days, and if that Boss Jia comes over during those two or three days, I'll ask him to wait for you."

"No need to wait; the fritillaria bulbs are all here in the side room; I'll leave the key, and you can just oversee the sale when the time comes."

"That works too," Gu Gu Bo Yuan nodded; "so, what are you planning to do tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow I'll drive the tractor to the Forestry Team to see how much cargo they've gathered, then bring it back to wash and sort at home."

Li Long valued the goods from the Forestry Team quite highly; although the items were miscellaneous, they made up for it in volume and low price.

By bringing back their goods before leaving, even if Jia Jia Tianlong arrived later, there would be enough to fill his truck.

Li Long suddenly felt a sense of urgency regarding time.

After dinner, Li Long laid out the undried fritillaria bulbs brought from Sun Jia Qiang to air, then spread out the morels as well, while taking the remaining mushrooms to the hand-pump well, washing them clean, and placing them in the kitchen.

These fresh mushrooms did not need drying; it would be better to simply stir-fry and eat them directly tomorrow.

The next morning, Sister Yang used the mushrooms Li Long had brought back to make a mushroom soup and stir-fried mushroom with meat.

The fresh mushrooms had a very rich flavor, and everyone enjoyed eating them.

After the meal, Li Long adjusted the position of the jeep, drove out the tractor, added water and fuel, then went to the Department Store to buy some canned foods, brick tea, and sugar cubes.

He then went to the market to buy some onions and potatoes, finally stopped by the winery to load some alcohol, and then drove the tractor toward the Forestry Team's outpost.

The tractor was indeed slower than the jeep and very bumpy; along the way, amidst the constant put-put-put sounds, Li Long actually found himself a bit unaccustomed to it.

Upon arriving at the Forestry Team's outpost, before even entering, Li Long saw Captain Captain Aili riding a horse out.

Captain Captain Aili also saw Li Long driving the tractor and looked somewhat surprised.

In the past, whenever he saw Li Long, he was always driving a jeep; this was the first time this year he had seen Li Long driving a tractor.

Then, with one sitting on the tractor and the other mounted on a horse, the two exchanged greetings, and Captain Captain Aili said:

"I am just preparing to go to the county town for a meeting; are you coming over to buy those goods?"

"Yes."

"I see you've brought quite a lot of stuff."

"It's for you," Li Long said with a smile; "these things are very convenient to buy in the county town, and easy for me to transport; since it's not very convenient for you to buy them here, I've brought them over for you."

"Good, good, good, thank you; let's go load the goods... though your tractor might not be able to hold it all."

"Is there that much?" Li Long asked, somewhat puzzled; it had only been a week since he last transported a full truckload of goods, and he thought this tractor should surely be sufficient.

"In the past couple of days, many people have tried to transport fritillaria bulbs out from the mountains; we forest rangers have also been working very hard, catching them whenever we encounter them."

Li Long understood.

During the previous period, the Forestry Team's rangers had conducted very strict and tight inspections; those digging for fritillaria bulbs dared not come out, but after some time, their supplies must have been nearly exhausted.

Since exchanging goods with Sun Jia Qiang was relatively cheap, these people were taking risks to come out from the mountains.

With wolves in the mountains at night making it very dangerous, they could only exit the mountains during the day.

Driving the tractor to the warehouse, Captain Captain Aili dismounted, tethered his horse, went to open the warehouse, and showed Li Long some of their results.

This time, there were not many other items in the warehouse; the main contents piled up were all fritillaria bulbs.

Observing that the quantity was not much less than the first time, Li Long made a rough estimate; scattered about, there were at least thirty or forty bags.

Moreover, these bags were generally quite full, unlike the first time when there were half-full bags, mostly full bags, and barely full bags mixed together.

He entered the warehouse, opened a bag to inspect; the fritillaria bulbs inside were semi-dry and very clean.

Opening another one, the fritillaria bulbs inside were dry.

"The fritillaria bulbs are much better this time," Li Long said, putting the bulbs back and clapping his hands; "call for some help; let's unload the goods from the tractor now and then calculate the payment for these fritillaria bulbs."

"Alright," Captain Captain Aili replied crisply, turning around to go out and summon people.

Li Long carried a bag in each hand, walked out, and waited by the tractor.

Captain Captain Aili called over two young men to start helping carry the sacks, while Li Long took out his notebook and pen to begin estimating the value.

This batch of Fritillaria bulbs had no mold and was quite clean; although there were fewer sacks than last time, the thirty-three sacks weighed a total of five hundred and eighty kilograms.

For the Fritillaria bulbs alone, Li Long paid Captain Captain Aili four thousand seven hundred yuan.

"I'll give you the remaining hides and antlers," Captain Captain Aili said, seeing Li Long about to calculate the value of the leftover items. "Since we're friends, and you've brought us so much, consider these things our gift to you."

Then he had someone bring ropes to help Li Long load everything onto the tractor and tie it down securely.

In the end, Li Long did not stand on ceremony; his transactions with the Forestry Team were not the first or second, and just as with Ha Li Mu, once you show sincerity, the other party responds with even greater goodwill.

Since Captain Captain Aili needed to rush off to a meeting, Li Long did not chat with him further; one rode a horse while the other drove the tractor, and they headed toward the county town one after the other.

Upon returning to the large courtyard, Li Long began unloading the vehicle.

Sister Yang originally came over to help, but Li Long refused.

Mingming and Haohao were obviously more active now, having already developed the ability to climb out of their bed-cart; Li Long did not want those two little ones coming over to join the fun while he was unloading, as any injury or bump would be no small matter.

With only half the cargo unloaded, Li Long went to watch the children, while Sister Yang hurried off to prepare the meal.

Although the morning had been busy and hectic, Li Long felt quite happy, as this trip had yielded another substantial harvest; the Fritillaria bulbs in the large courtyard now totaled over one ton,

even more than last time, though some were not yet fully dried and others were not entirely clean, requiring further cleaning.

These were all trivial tasks that could be done during ordinary times. (End of Chapter)