Chapter 831: Expand the Market to the Neighboring County? That Could Work!

Driving back to the hotel, Li Long helped Xiang Qian into the room; Xiang Qian went to the washroom, stuck his finger down his throat to vomit, then washed his face and returned to the room to sleep.

The attendant had no complaints; seeing such situations was not uncommon at this time, and she had grown accustomed to it.

This was actually the good kind; they didn't cause trouble. There were those who got drunk and made a scene, eventually requiring conference organizers to intervene, otherwise the attendants couldn't handle them.

Sharing a room with Xiang Qian, Li Long had expected the heavily drunk man might make some noise, but unexpectedly, Xiang Qian lay on the bed and fell asleep immediately; apart from loud snoring, he had no other issues.

Not bad.

Li Long slept well; exhausted from the day, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and when he woke up, it was already dawn.

Xiang Qian had not yet awakened, so Li Long dressed quietly and slipped out to wash up.

This was the downside of Northern Xinjiang: in May and June, the sky was already bright by six or seven in the morning—having gone to bed at one a. m., how many hours of sleep was that?

But once it got light, people tended to wake up easily.

There was already activity in the corridor, and quite a few people were washing up in the washroom. The hotel rooms lacked private bathrooms at this time; using the toilet and washing up were all done in dedicated communal facilities.

Three or four people were currently brushing their teeth and washing in the washroom. Some had brought their own toiletries and washed there, while others simply came over, splashed water from the tap on their faces, tilted their heads to catch some water in their mouths for a rinse, and called it done.

Some spoke Han Chinese, others spoke ethnic languages; for a moment, it was quite lively.

In other words, one could observe various life habits right here.

Just as Li Long was washing, someone approached him and asked while washing himself:

"Young man, which unit are you from? Did you accompany a leader here to attend the conference?"

Li Long turned to look; the speaker was a man in his fifties, half-bald, with his hair slicked back, giving an impression of great experience. He wore a smile, but Li Long, having seen countless people, saw through the worldly wisdom beneath that smile. He nodded, spat out the foam in his mouth, and said:

"Mm."

He didn't say much more; this man gave off a hidden sense of slickness, and Li Long wanted no contact with him.

Gradually, more people filled the corridor; some who knew each other started chatting directly, while others, like this middle-aged man, began striking up acquaintances with newcomers.

It was much like several decades later: at any new gathering, there were always those skilled in social maneuvering who quickly made a host of new friends, and others who were mavericks, caring nothing for socializing—perhaps they didn't know how, or perhaps they simply didn't want to. The majority, however, were moderates who just followed the crowd.

By the time Li Long finished washing, the middle-aged man had already found a new conversation partner; he was talking to someone from the three eastern counties, whose Mandarin clearly carried the accent of Lan-Yin Mandarin. That person seemed to be attending a prefectural conference for the first time and appeared somewhat restrained. The slick middle-aged man was subtly displaying his knowledge while simultaneously probing the other's background.

Li Long paid no attention to this; he picked up his basin of toiletries and returned to the room.

Xiang Qian opened his eyes, saw Li Long, then closed them again; after a moment, he opened them once more and slowly sat up.

"Sigh, drinking really makes one feel terrible," Xiang Qian said self-mockingly while getting dressed. "Yet one can't escape it."

Li Long recalled the old wine with twenty or thirty years of history he had accidentally bought in his previous life; after drinking that wine, there were no adverse reactions the next day. It seemed to be among the last batch of liquor brewed using the solid-state method.

After 1992, once the state regulated that the liquid-state brewing method met standards, many distilleries subsequently adopted this approach. Here in Northern Xinjiang, where grain output was high, many county distilleries still maintained the original brewing methods.

At this time, the famous "Yili Laojiao" had not yet emerged; various factories in the Ili River Valley had a history of producing "Yili Laojiao," merely adding their own logos to the labels. For instance, over in Tekes, there was Yili (Double Happiness) Laojiao.

Wine aged twenty-seven or twenty-eight years had turned slightly yellow, yet it still tasted excellent.

Li Long thought that his large courtyard had a cellar, perfectly suitable for storing a batch of wine; if stored for thirty or forty years, it would surely taste wonderful when brought out to drink.

After all, by that future time, a single bottle of twenty-year-old Kuitun Special Curacao cost over a thousand yuan, whereas now it could be bought for just over a yuan.

While Li Long was lost in thought, Xiang Qian had already picked up his basin to go wash his face. Inside his black bag was a small pouch containing his toiletries.

Li Long opened the window to air out the room, which still retained some smell of alcohol.

The hotel served breakfast. To accommodate ethnic brothers, the dining hall was divided into two sections: Han cuisine and Min Sect cuisine. The character for "meal" was written using the Second Simplified Character "歺," which truly gave off a sense of the era.

Xiang Qian went to the Han cuisine section; he wanted a bowl of porridge to gently nourish his stomach and intestines, which had been soaked in alcohol. Li Long, however, went to the Min Sect dining hall; he hadn't had milk tea for some time and planned to eat a piece of nang and drink a bowl of milk tea.

The offerings in the Min Sect dining hall were quite rich; besides milk tea and nang, there were pastries, honey, jam, ghee, cream, and various other accompaniments.

Li Long poured himself some milk tea and took a piece of nang. To his slight surprise, the nang was freshly baked and still warm. Nang came in several varieties; Li Long had taken a Kazakh nang, not the thin, sesame-topped kind, but one more akin to a baked flatbread.

In later times, a saying circulated: "No whole fresh nang ever makes it home." This was mainly because freshly baked nang smelled so enticing, with the aroma of wheat flour wafting through the air, that even when full, one still wanted to tear off a piece and take a bite.

The milk tea was genuinely brewed from pure brick tea and boiled milk, not the kind laden with various "additives" found in later times; its flavor was very rich and mellow.

He then took a small plate of honey and jam, along with a plate of fried potato slices and cold-spiced tiger vegetable salad, and began to eat.

At this time, unit meals usually involved everyone eating together at one table; having it organized as a buffet like this was quite advanced.

Just as Li Long was eating, a Kazakh uncle around forty years old sat down beside him, holding a plate, and said with a smile:

"Friend, am I disturbing you?"

"No disturbance at all, no disturbance at all," Li Long smiled and replied. "It's livelier eating together, Dosan."

"Yes, yes, yes! Friend, Dosan, you are good!" Hearing Li Long say "Dosan," the uncle's eyes lit up. He put down his plate, extended his hand, and said, "Dosan, hello. I am the representative from Hu County; my name is Biersi Bahabai. Very pleased to meet you!"

"My name is Li Long; I am from Maxian." Li Long stood up and shook the other's hand. "Hello, hello."

Biersi Bahabai was very talkative; while eating, he introduced himself as a part-time Min Sect cadre for Lu Dafeng, primarily engaged in work related to ethnic affairs and religion.

Lu Dafeng in Hu County bordered Maxian and was very close. Li Long wasn't very familiar with it, knowing only the name; in his previous life, some young people from his village had gone there to contract land for growing cotton, saying the place was quite good.

Hu County and Maxian were considered brother counties; both had suffered "special treatment" from Beitou Prefecture, so Li Long felt quite favorable toward friends from Hu County.

Moreover, this Biersi Bahabai was very particular about his dining etiquette; he only spoke after finishing his meal, and when speaking, he never faced people directly or aimed at their utensils, nor did he spray food particles or foam from his mouth. This saved Li Long much worry—not an unfounded concern, as some people truly paid no attention to such things.

"Has the state-owned procurement station in your Maxian also been closed?" Biersi asked Li Long a question.

Li Long had finished eating and was about to clear his plate and leave, but upon hearing Biersi's question, he said:

"It's been closed. I suppose they've all been closed across the prefecture?"

"Sigh, here some private individuals have opened procurement stations. A fellow villager of ours went to sell goods, and the prices were suppressed terribly... Let me ask you, I don't know if you know, how much did your side pay for a single hide, the kind of gazelle skin hunted in winter? I recall your area has a leather factory, right?"

"Yes, there is. The leather factory pays fifty yuan, if I remember correctly," Li Long said vaguely. "However, the leather factory buys in bulk; they won't accept small quantities. At my procurement station, if it's a whole hide, we also pay fifty."

"That high? Our county has no leather factory; there are private procurement stations and second-hand dealers buying them, but they only pay thirty-something per hide!" Biersi exclaimed with emotion.

"That is indeed a bit low."

"Do you buy Fritillaria on your side? Dosan, I see you are quite knowledgeable."

"Because in my county, I opened a procurement station," Li Long said with a smile. "So I know all these prices."

"You opened one? Really? You actually buy?"

"Of course. For Fritillaria, for completely dried goods, Grade Special, I buy at forty or fifty. The rest depends on the grade and moisture content; some go for thirty, some for twenty."

"What does 'special grade' mean?"

"It means washed extremely clean, with no impurities or dregs, and the fritillaria bulbs aren't particularly small either," Li Long said.

"Forty or fifty for such quality is acceptable! Our local procurement station only offers thirty-something yuan... The price has even dropped compared to the old state-run station; some of our farmers are truly unwilling, but they have nowhere else to sell."

"You can bring them to my place," Li Long said, taking a final sip of clear tea to rinse his mouth. "My prices will definitely not be that low. Even if you sell in our county and pay extra for freight, the higher price more than makes up for it."

"Is that really possible? You're not deceiving me?" Bie Erxi asked, seeking confirmation.

"I'm not deceiving you. We are both people of status attending this conference; would I dare deceive someone with this? Impossible." Li Long smiled and said, "Go to Maxian, ask for the courtyard of the old procurement station; my new station is located within that same courtyard."

Having said this, Li Long departed.

Since Bie Erxi had talked quite a bit, he ate rather slowly. After Li Long left, he continued pondering the matter until someone reminded him that the meeting was about to start, at which point he hastily finished his meal and departed.

During the commendation assembly, Li Long unexpectedly found himself seated next to Bie Erxi again. Before the meeting, Bie Erxi asked him once more if his words were true, inquired about the prices for items other than fritillaria and argali sheepskins, and jotted everything down in his notebook.

Li Long guessed he intended to take the information back to show those among his people who could enter the mountains and hunt.

It seemed this matter was indeed showing some promise.

Bie Erxi and Li Long went onto the stage together to receive their awards. This truly confirmed it: what this young man said was genuine. Someone worthy of commendation by the prefecture must be trustworthy; surely, he wouldn't dare lie here?

As for whether Bie Erxi could actually guide people to his procurement station, Li Long was uncertain, but expanding the scope of purchased goods was worth a try.

Li Xiang Qian had completely shaken off any signs of drunkenness. When receiving the award for an Advanced Unit, he truly radiated high spirits, smiling throughout; even his somewhat unsuitable hairstyle did not look so glaring at that moment.

The commendation assembly this time was not particularly long, and the leaders' speeches were very concise. Once the meeting concluded, some people returned home directly, while the hotel would still provide a lunch meal.

Li Long was going to Director Qian's home for dinner, while Li Xiang Qian was going to share a drink with old colleagues; the two parted ways to pursue their separate plans.

Li Long walked around for a while and found a food store to buy some fruit. Currently, fruit was indeed quite scarce; all one could buy were old apples and thick-skinned tangerines. Cold storage technology was not yet widespread, so fruit from the previous year could not be preserved; in places that did not produce fruit, the only option for those craving it was canned fruit.

Although the varieties were few, being the prefectural capital was still better than Maxian; the apples and tangerines looked quite decent.

Li Long bought two kilograms of each variety and carried them to Director Qian's home.

Director Qian had already gotten off work and came to open the door upon hearing the knock. Sister Guan, wearing an apron, was stir-frying in the kitchen; seeing Li Long enter, she smiled and greeted him before continuing with her work.

"Why bring anything? Our family isn't lacking," Director Qian chided Li Long, then told him to set the fruit down.

"I couldn't possibly come empty-handed..." Li Long smiled, set down the fruit, and sat on the sofa.

The aroma of steamed rice had already filled the air. On the dining table sat a dish of stir-fried eggs with chili peppers—a fairly common dish in those days. Eating eggs in the city was not as easy as in the countryside, of course, but at Director Qian's level, they lacked for almost nothing; Li Long guessed that perhaps one of the two of them simply enjoyed eating them.

The rice was steamed in an electric rice cooker—a device that had only recently been introduced from Japan. That Director Qian's household already used one truly demonstrated how status and position determined one's standard of living.

Li Long could smell that Sister Guan was cooking twice-cooked pork, and the aroma was excellent.

Director Qian asked Li Long about his recent situation, hinting that the quantity of big brooms might increase further this year, and asked whether Li Long's side could handle the volume.

"That's no problem. To be honest, the quantities over the past two years have fallen far short of our production capacity. The number of feather grass plants in our county is also enormous. Just with these annual big brooms, I've led two villages in the work, truly allowing many people to earn money."

"The price of big brooms won't fluctuate significantly in the short term. If the volume can be increased, it will also benefit your side. Your approach is correct; leading more villages to work together allows more people to earn money, which is also advantageous for your own development."

Director Qian could see Li Long's determination not to enter the official establishment, so he did not raise the matter further. After discussing work-related affairs, he turned the conversation to hunting.

Li Long mentioned encountering a large bear and a small bear while renovating the winter camp. Upon hearing this, Director Qian felt quite wistful, yet he also said:

"You were right not to shoot them. A mother bear and her cub—such a combination should not be hunted. We hunt as a hobby, but we must still maintain basic ethical boundaries..."

Li Long felt ashamed; in the past, he had never concerned himself with such matters at all.

Sister Guan brought out the twice-cooked pork, stir-fried another dish of bean sprouts, and prepared a cold dish of vermicelli with spinach, completing the meal.

"Xiao Long, come, come, don't stand on ceremony. Help me serve the bowls; let's eat."

Li Long naturally did not stand on ceremony. He could sense their sincerity; being overly polite would only betray their good intentions.

The taste was very fragrant. (End of chapter)