Chapter 856: Han Fang does not want to go play

In June, the wheat in the Beiting Prefecture area is plump and full of grain. The green wheat kernels are already slightly hard, and some children who love to eat have already started roasting wheat in the wild.

They pull a handful of wheat ears, roast them over a fire, and keep turning them. Once the wheat awns are all burned off and the ears are charred black, the green wheat kernels are just about cooked. The next step is to rub them and eat them.

Roasting wheat is actually a technical job. You need to keep the fire only on the wheat ears. During the turning process, you cannot let the fire touch the wheat stalks, because the stalks are relatively thin and cannot withstand the heat; if they burn, they will break, and once broken, the wheat ears will fall into the fire pit and become inedible.

Li Long is speeding along the Wuyi Road in his jeep, looking at the wheat fields on both sides of the road, wondering if he should stop in the middle on the way back, light a fire, and experience the taste of roasted wheat.

It is already 1985, and by this time, there is no longer a shortage of grain in the countryside. If you light a fire by the side of a wheat field to roast wheat, usually no one will care... It is just like the melon field Runtu spoke of; picking a melon to eat, the owner wouldn't call it stealing, they would let you eat it.

Of course, it is just a thought. Li Long's main task now is to rush to Beiting City to find Chen Hongjun and ask him if there are any suitable sales channels for the other items in his purchasing station's warehouse.

If there are, that would be best; if not, he will think about going to the state-run and private companies in Wucheng and Beiting City to look for them.

Although the greenery in Beiting City in June is not as good as in later generations, there are still quite a few trees in the urban area. In addition, there are several parks and botanical gardens that are lush and green, making it not so hot when you are in them.

The last time he saw Chen Hongjun, Li Long already knew the location of his unit, so this time Li Long drove the jeep and found the place directly. Chen Hongjun's unit is along the street and has no courtyard, so Li Long parked the jeep in a suitable spot by the road, got out, locked the door, walked to the entrance of the unit, and used his Beiting City Supply and Marketing Cooperative work ID to register and enter.

When Chen Hongjun heard that someone was looking for him and came out of the office, he was a little surprised to see Li Long.

He is not a leader now and can only share an office with others, so he did not take Li Long to his office, but led him out of the unit to chat under the shade of the trees at the entrance.

"Did you come to find me because something happened?" Chen Hongjun asked straight to the point, "If you've run into any trouble, just say it."

"Old Chen, Brother Chen, your guess is really accurate." Li Long said under the tree shade, "My purchasing station has collected a lot of things, like medicinal herbs and hides. The people you introduced, Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui, have already bought them, but there are some things I don't know where to sell, yet I can't stop collecting them..."

"I understand, I understand," Chen Hongjun laughed as soon as he heard this, "Let me tell you, actually, I was thinking about this when you left last time. I bought that courtyard, and then, taking advantage of the move, I called a few colleagues from our old unit together for a meal."

"During the meal, I told them about this matter, because I felt you might need information in this area."

"Currently, I have already contacted someone willing to buy mushrooms. I estimate that you must have some dried mushrooms like morels there. This buyer will take them, and I've inquired, the price is not bad."

"That would be great." Li Long said with a smile, "Brother Chen, you have really helped me a lot. I was still thinking that if I couldn't find a sales channel, I would have to drive around everywhere looking for buyers."

"Hmm, but there is one thing I must tell you," Chen Hongjun continued, "This client was introduced by one of my colleagues, so after that client buys the things from your side, it would be best if you give my colleague some introduction fee. As for the amount of the introduction fee, it depends on the value of the goods the client buys. What do you think?"

"That's fine, it's a must, this is definitely something that should be done." Li Long said with a smile, "Not only him, Brother Chen, you should also have one. To be honest, I was quite worried myself. Although fritillaria and hides have sales channels and can sell for a lot of money, other things have also tied up a lot of capital. If these things aren't sold, I never feel quite comfortable in my heart."

"You said you have copper coins and such there; those things are actually mainly sold to state-run foundries, metal processing plants, and similar factories. Those things need to be remelted and reprocessed into metal." Chen Hongjun continued:

"This is actually very easy to find a sales channel for. Those scrap collection stations that collect scrap copper and iron also sell to these units. As for other sales channels... I will slowly help you look. However, you shouldn't collect too many miscellaneous items. For some unpopular items that you can't find sales channels for, you can stop collecting them first. You can't just collect whatever people bring you; wouldn't that make you a scrap collector?"

"That's true." Li Long smiled and said, "I've noted it down."

"Alright, after our colleague here contacts the person, they will go find you. Your purchasing station is still at the original address, right? I'll just have them go directly there to find you, right?"

"Hmm, just go there." Li Long said, "I'm usually there at some times. If I'm not, my father-in-law and another helper will be there too, so if you want to collect dried wild mushrooms, just go directly."

"Good." Chen Hongjun then stopped talking about this aspect.

The current purchase price for dried morels at Li Long's station is ten yuan, and the purchase price for dried black tiger palm mushrooms is five to eight yuan.

This is mainly because resources are currently abundant and the quantity is large. If you want to pick them, you can pick quite a lot in a month. Forest rangers will care if you dig for fritillaria in the mountains, but for picking mushrooms, most forest rangers don't care much.

After all, digging for fritillaria is considered damaging the forest environment, but saying that picking mushrooms damages the environment doesn't hold water.

And at that time, the price given by Chen Hongjun and the others was twenty-five to thirty per kilogram for morels, and around twenty for black tiger palm mushrooms.

The difficulty of picking black tiger palm mushrooms is smaller. Once found, they are usually in a cluster, and one cluster can usually be dried into half a kilogram. While even if you find a cluster of morels, you can only dry a few dozen grams.

They cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

It is not very convenient to chat outside, and Chen Hongjun is still at work, so Li Long did not stay long, said a word to Old Chen, and then bid farewell and left.

After watching Li Long leave, Chen Hongjun returned to the office. Several people in the office looked at him, and one couldn't help but ask:

"Old Chen, who was that young man driving the jeep? Is he your relative?"

"Exactly, I saw that he was quite respectful to you. The young man has quite a temperament; is he a driver for some leader?"

Originally, colleagues in the office didn't think much of Chen Hongjun, or rather, Old Chen was considered a marginal person in their eyes.

Someone who came up from a purchasing station in a county below, even if he is a station chief, so what? At this time, cadres at the prefecture and city level still had a sense of superiority when looking down on people from districts and counties.

But Old Chen is quite capable, and the leaders arranged separate work for him, so Old Chen didn't give them any special treatment either. He kept things professional, and there was no need to force integration, which also saved a lot of trouble.

However, seeing the young man driving a jeep come to find Li Long, although they couldn't hear what the two sides were talking about, they clearly felt that the young man was very respectful to Chen Hongjun, looking like he was asking for advice, and these people's hearts became active.

"You mean Li Long? He is not a driver for any leader, just an ordinary employee." Chen Hongjun smiled and explained briefly, "That jeep was assigned to him by the leaders of his unit."

After saying this, he went to busy himself with his own work. He was still thinking about finishing the urgent work at hand and going to tell Qi Zhiguo about this matter, so that he could quickly contact the merchant who buys dried mushrooms to facilitate the connection.

Just as he was thinking about it, Qi Zhiguo had already hurried over. He wasn't in the office and had been sent out by the leader to do work. As soon as he returned, he heard that someone driving a jeep had come to find Chen Hongjun, and he immediately reacted that this must be Li Long.

When he hurried over, the jeep had already left, so he came to find Chen Hongjun.

Seeing Qi Zhiguo come in, Chen Hongjun stood up and pulled him outside. Some things cannot be said here—the crime of speculation has not yet been abolished. As a middleman introducing business, it's not impossible, but here, there is no clear regulation that it can be done, and there is a suspicion of being reported. It's better not to give these office colleagues any ammunition.

Seeing the two go out, someone said sourly:

"It's clear they went to discuss something good. The excitement on that guy surnamed Qi's face is about to overflow."

"Could it really be someone from Maxian? Qi Zhiguo also came from the Maxian purchasing station, right?"

"Why care so much? They clearly have something good, they just won't bring us along."

Chen Hongjun and Qi Zhiguo went out the door and walked to the shade of a tree in the distance. Chen Hongjun said to Qi Zhiguo:

"Li Long has come. I told him about your introducer, and he was very happy. His purchasing station has indeed collected a lot of dried mushrooms and just happens to need to sell them. He also clearly stated that as long as the person you introduce offers a suitable price, he will definitely give you a considerable introduction fee."

"Hey, then I'll contact my friend as soon as possible!" Qi Zhiguo laughed happily. Chen Hongjun bought a courtyard in Beiting, and Qi Zhiguo was quite envious. He also wanted to buy one, but unfortunately, he was short of money. If the introduction fee could be a bit more this time, even if he couldn't buy a big courtyard, buying one in the suburbs or a bungalow would be fine.

After all, living apart in two places is not a good thing.

But contacting someone now is not such an easy thing. Qi Zhiguo knows where the person who buys mushrooms is from, but now that person must be collecting mushrooms in the north and south of Xinjiang, so Qi Zhiguo can only try his best to contact him through his own connections.

After Li Long left Chen Hongjun's unit, he didn't go back, but drove directly to Wucheng.

He is going to bring his family over to play in a few days. He is not clear about the route yet, so he can't just look for it temporarily when the time comes.

Not only does he need to be familiar with the route for driving the jeep, but he also needs to be clear about the route for his family to take the bus.

Fortunately, there is a jeep, and now there are buses in Wucheng. Although it is not as convenient as a taxi, taking a bus from the South Railway Station can also transfer to the zoo and the water park, which is also quite good.

There are very few cars on the streets of Wucheng, and there are more buses and bicycles. Li Long asked for directions while looking for places, and by the way, became familiar with the route.

Wucheng is an old city, and not an old city like Chang'an or Taiyuan; the urban area was built according to the mountains and the terrain, so the roads are never straight. There are many streets and alleys, making it quite difficult to memorize the routes.

Currently, the urban area is relatively small and there are few roads, so it's easier to remember. In a few years, when the urban area grows, the countless large and small roads will be enough to drive some people with no sense of direction crazy—many locals in the city have to use navigation, as the roads here are repaired every year, and you never know when a certain road might be blocked.

Li Long drove in Wucheng for two hours. Only after he became familiar with the roads did he find a state-run canteen to eat. After eating, he drove the jeep to a shady spot to rest for half an hour before driving back to the county seat.

Li Long first went to the acquisition station and told both Gu Bo Yuan and Sun Jia Qiang that someone would come to collect mushrooms later. They should contact him directly when that time came; during this period, he wouldn't be at the big courtyard, but at the supply and marketing cooperative or the Fourth Team.

At first, Li Long was the one collecting things, later it was Li Long and Gu Bo Yuan, and now it is Gu Bo Yuan and Sun Jia Qiang. However, Li Long has always been the one selling the goods. In other words, Li Long controls the output channels of the acquisition station, and in the end, only Li Long knows how much money is earned.

It's not that Li Long does this on purpose; it's mainly because Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui, who collect fritillaria and hides, only recognize Li Long.

After giving these instructions, Li Long told the two of them to let the second-hand dealers who come frequently know that the acquisition station is closed on Sunday, so they shouldn't come then. After that, he went to the big courtyard. Having run around all day, he was tired, so he rested early.

The next day, he got a sheet of white paper, wrote clearly that the acquisition station would be closed this Sunday, and posted it at the entrance of the acquisition station's big courtyard. This could be considered giving those people an explanation.

On Sunday morning, after finishing breakfast, Li Long went to the acquisition station first and gave Sun Jia Qiang the day off. He told him that if he went out, he should lock the main gate, and if he didn't go out, he should watch the gate well and not open the courtyard gate.

The acquisition station had been open for so many days in a row, so it was normal to rest for a day. Even the production team's donkeys have time to rest; surely the acquisition station wouldn't be open three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

After telling Sun Jia Qiang this and returning to the big courtyard, Li Jianguo had already driven the tractor with the family to the big courtyard.

Li Qing Xia and his wife, and Li Jianguo's family of four—all six people had come.

The courtyard suddenly became lively. Li Juan and Li Qiang, both wearing new Warrior-brand sneakers, were teasing Mingming and Haohao. Mingming and Haohao weren't afraid either, and were even standing there asking their sister and brother to hold them, which made the two children very fond of them.

After chatting for a while, Li Long first sent the people going to the bus station off. After returning, he loaded up his mother, Li Juan, Li Qiang, and Mingming and Haohao—originally it was said that the eldest sister-in-law would ride in the jeep, but Liang Yuemei's intention was to let the two children ride in the jeep, as it was more comfortable than the bus.

Parents' hearts are always worrying about their children.

Li Long originally thought about whether to take Han Fang along too, but Han Fang didn't think about going at all; instead, she was determined to stay and keep her mother company.

So he greeted them and left in the jeep.

"You don't want to go?" Sister Yang was also a bit surprised. "If you wanted to go, you actually could have gone just now."

"Mom, I don't want to go." Han Fang said with a smile, "Our school is organizing a trip to Wucheng in a while, so there will be opportunities in the future. Now it's just us two, you tell me, what shall we do?"

"Then let's go to the south courtyard."

And inside the jeep, Li Qiang was already looking forward to going to the zoo to see the monkeys. (End of chapter)